Atrios points to Booman about, as Atrios puts it, "David Brooks s[itting] down and th[inking] to himself, "how can I blame liberals for what happened at Penn State, but in a subtle way." On MTP, Brooks said:

MR. BROOKS: I don't think it was just a Penn State problem. You know, you spend 30 or 40 years muddying the moral waters here. We have lost our clear sense of what evil is, what sin is; and so, when people see things like that, they don't have categories to put it into. They vaguely know it's wrong, but they've been raised in a morality that says, "If it feels all right for you, it's probably OK."

While Brooks' entire thought process is repulsive, I was struck by the "30 or 40 years" line. Obviously Brooks was trying to allude to the 60s I think. That was confirmed by Brooks; discussing the "bystander effect:"

Showtime's Homeland is getting really intense. The Good Wife has an episode on the death penalty. For lighter fare, there's Pan Am and The Next Iron Chef.

In the real world, Mexico says the helicopter crash that killed Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora and others was likely an accident. No signs of engine failure or mechanical problems, no explosion. Here's the transcript of today's press conference (in Spanish, but you can use google translater.) That hasn't stopped suspicions from running high.

A new scandal on Congress and insider information is brewing.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

CBS News has a new report on the U.S. detention program at Bagram in Afghanistan:

Today, there are more than 3,000 detainees at Bagram, or five times the number (around 600) when President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. There are currently 18 times as many detainees at Bagram than at the U.S. military prison at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, whose prisoner population has dwindled from a peak of 780 to 170.

The military has changed the name of the facility to the Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP).

DOD is now reviewing bids from contractors to expand the facility to house up to 5,500 detainees. The project is expected to cost another $25 to $100 million when it is completed by the end of 2012.

In May, 2011, Human Rights First published this report on Bagram, Detained and Denied in Afghanistan. At that time, their were 1,700 detainees at Bagram. "The Department of Defense won't release the names of its Bagram detainees or its reasons for holding them indefinitely."

Atrios:

I'm not one to get on people for being impure in their failure to boycott all the evil institutions in the world, if for no other reason than it's pretty much impossible. But I admit I'm a bit puzzled about the number of self-admitted really hardcore college sports fans who admit the entire enterprise is completely abusive and corrupt.

Regular readers know that I am a hardcore fan of college athletics, particularly college football. I do believe it is "corrupt" (in the sense that the major players in the sport regularly violate the rules and the BCS is a slush fund for a privileged few that deprives the "less well off" in the system of needed funds - see Junker, John) and I believe that players should be paid. I'm not sure what Atrios means by "abusive." Football is a violent sport, but I feel positive that most of the participants are playing because they want to, not because they are forced to. I played football and very few things in life gave me more satisfaction. I loved it. I do not see how recognizing the terrible flaws in the system requires foregoing enjoying the sport. FTR, I also love boxing but also accept that it probably should be banned. Also too, concussions in the NFL.

Atrios' comment perplexes me.

Open Thread.

Paris Hilton is tweeting up a storm about how much she loves Bali. It's her first visit. She tweeted a few hours ago, "Make a wish. 11.1l.11"

Since I've stood up for Paris on TalkLeft so many times during her various legal difficulties, I thought I'd ask her a favor. I tweeted her in reply:

[More...]

Law Professor David Cole in the New York Times Review of Books writes about the secret memo of authorizing the extra-judicial, targeted killing of American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and drone attacks. Shorter version: We need established defined rules and transparency.

In a democracy the state’s power to take the lives of its own citizens, and indeed of any human being, must be subject to democratic deliberation and debate. War of course necessarily involves killing, but it is essential that the state’s power to kill be clearly defined and stated in public—particularly when the definition of the enemy and the lines demarcating war and peace are as murky as they are in the current conflict.

Secret memos, with or without leaked accounts to The New York Times, are no substitute for legal or democratic process. As long as the Obama administration insists on the power to kill the people it was elected to represent—and to do so in secret, on the basis of secret legal memos—can we really claim that we live in a democracy ruled by law?

[More...]

Newt Gingrich, via the New York Times, said in 1995, while he was weighing whether to run for the Presidency:

Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Friday that he would ask Congress to enact legislation imposing the death penalty on drug smugglers, and he suggested that mass executions of people convicted under such a law might prove an effective deterrent.

..."The first time we execute 27 or 30 or 35 people at one time, and they go around Colombia and France and Thailand and Mexico, and they say, 'Hi, would you like to carry some drugs into the U.S.?' the price of carrying drugs will have gone up dramatically."

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Do any of these Republicans know what they are talking about? For whatever reason, there's another Republican debate tonight. Newt Gingrich falsely claimed Anwar al-Awlaki was convicted. When the moderator challenged him on it, he said something like "well he was convicted by a military report given to the President." When challenged that's not what the law means by conviction, he said he's an enemy combatent so that's exactly what it means.

I'd bet he wasn't paying attention and confused al-Awlaki with someone else (a brain lapse), and instead of admitting it, tried to swim out of it. He sank.

We've got big snow in the mountains and fierce winds in Denver. If you're in the neighborhood of either and looking for something to do tonight, and a fan of vintage clothing or the Bachelor/Bachelorette, head up to Breckenridge for the opening party for Vintage Sweet and Chic, at 215 South Main. (photo here).

The store is co-owned by former Bachelor contestant Ann Csincsak, married to former Bachelorette winner and snowboarder Jesse Csincsak, and Katie Meyer. A bunch of former Bach/B'ette contestants will be there, as well as Evel Dick from Big Brother and some current and former Survivor contestants. [More...]

William Cellini, a co-defendant of Rod Blagojevich who went to trial separately and was convicted a few weeks ago, will file a motion for a mistrial based on a juror's lying about her past criminal record. She had two felonies and denied having any both on her questionnaire and in jury selection.

Illinois automatically restores the right to sit on a jury to felony and misdemeanor offenders once they have been released from jail or prison or discharged from probation.

Illinois law does not exclude convicted persons from jury service, nor is a prior conviction grounds for a juror challenge for cause, though jurors must to be “[f[ree from all legal exception, of fair character, of approved integrity, [and] of sound judgment.” 705 Ill. Comp. Stat. 305/2.

Federal law only disqualifies convicted felons from serving on juries if their right to do so has not been restored by the state. This juror's rights were automatically restored.
[More...]

Here are my picks:

I've ridden Stanford all year. But I am taking Oregon +3½ today, BEST BET (9 units). In other important BCS games - Oklahoma State -17 over Texas Tech (4 unite) and Boise State -15 over TCU (5 units).

They will play a game today in Happy Valley. Without commenting on whether they should, I believe Penn State will play extremely well and Nebraska will be unnerved. I like Penn St(+4).

Other games-Notre Dame -21 over Maryland, Arizona State -11 over Washington State, Nevada -16 over Hawaii, Alabama -18 over Mississippi State, UCLA +7 over Utah (3 units), Idaho +21 over BYU, Cincinnati -3½ over West Virginia, Louisville -3 over Pittsburgh (3 units),Army +7½ over Rutgers, Missouri +1 over Texas (5 units), Clemson -17 over Wake Forest, USC -12 over Washington, Illinois +1 over Michigan, Colorado +11 over Arizona, Michigan State -3 over Iowa (4 units), Miami (Florida) +9 over Florida State (5 units), Auburn +13 over Georgia, Kansas State +5 over Texas A&M, Baylor -20 over Kansas (3 units.)

Go Gators!

Just another sign Republicans are all about grandstanding. They don't even care about winning the election. The latest CBS News Poll finds Republicans overwhelmingly believe Mitt Romney is the only one who can beat Obama, but they still would rather see someone who thinks like them get the nomination -- like Cain, who they believe only has a 20% chance of beating Obama. Perry and Gingrich's odds are even less than Cain's in their eyes.

Four out of ten Republicans believe Mitt Romney would be the most likely candidate to beat President Obama in the general election, according to a new CBS News poll....

[Romney] led Herman Cain by a 2-to-1 margin with 40 percent support. Cain trailed in the category with just 20 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, each with six percent.

58% said it's more important that their candidate agree with them on issues than beat Obama.

They just want to make noise. No wonder I've tuned them out. [More...]