As Big Tent Democrat predicted the other day, Herman Cain has begun the walk-back from his seemingly pro-choice statements made the other day to Piers Morgan.

Via Kos, he said today abortions should be illegal but it's up to each family to decide whether to have one.

So it's up to each family to decide whether to break the law? [More...]

President Barack Obama today said the Iraq War is over and American troops will be leaving.

"After nearly 9 years, America's war in Iraq will be over," said Mr. Obama, who said the last American troops will depart the country "with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the american people stand united in our support for our troops" by January 1st. ..."Our troops are finally coming home,"

Iraq, he said, will now be our equal.

"it will be a normal relationship between sovereign nations, an equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect."

The season finale of Project Runway begins (it's a two-parter). I hope Anna wins. And the Jersey Shore folks say goodbye to Italy. There's also Gray's Anatomy and Private Practice, neither of which have been impressive this season.

Who shot Qaddafi? Was it his bodyguards? CBS has graphic photos showing him alive after being shot -- really awful. (again, warning, very graphic.)

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon said in an interview he believes Chapo Guzman, alleged billionaire drug lord with a $5 million award out for his capture, is in the U.S.

His wife, an American citizen, gave birth to twins at a hospital in Los Angeles in August. The U.S. was watching her, but didn't detain her because there are no charges pending against her.

Calderon added:

"The surprising thing here is that he or his wife are so comfortable in the United States, which leads me to ask, well, how many families or how many Mexican drug lords could be living more calmly on the north side of the border than on the south side? What leads Chapo Guzman to keep his family in the United States?'"

Here's the complete interview in Spanish, published by the NY Tinmes.

The ACLU unveiled "Mapping the FBI" today, a project documenting surveillance abuses and racial profiling by the FBI, particularly in Muslim communities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is collecting racial and ethnic information and “mapping” American communities around the country based on crude stereotypes about which groups commit different types of crimes. Nationwide, the FBI is gathering reports on innocent Americans' so-called “suspicious activity” and sharing it with unknown numbers of federal, state and local government agencies.

The ACLU has posted all the supporting documents, and they are searchable by numerous categories. [More...]

Three former detainees at Guantanamo and/or Afghan detention facilities, and one current Guantanamo detainee got a Canadian justice of the peace to file their lawsuit against George Bush alleging torture. A hearing date has been set for Jan. 12. The Complaint, called a Private Prosecution, and supporting sworn documents are here. The factual and legal basis for prosecuting Bush under the Canadian Criminal Code and Convention Against Torture begins on page 20.

The detainees are: Hassan bin Attash, Sami el-Hajj, Muhammed Khan Tumani and Murat Kurnaz:

[E]ach endured years of inhumane treatment including beatings, chaining to cell walls, being hung from walls or ceilings while handcuffed, lack of access to toilets, sleep, food and water-deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload and deprivation, and other horrific and illegal treatment while in U.S. custody at military bases in Afghanistan and/or at the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay.

More...

ICE Agent and deportation officer Jason Lowery was arrested in Arizona after taking police on a high speed chase as he tossed "bundles" of marijuana from his government vehicle. It was a government sting operation.

A U.S. immigration officer in Arizona was arrested on drug charges after leading authorities on a high-speed chase as he tossed bundles of marijuana from his government truck, state troopers said on Wednesday.

Jason Lowery, a deportation officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was taken into custody on Tuesday in southern Arizona following a 45-minute pursuit that ended when his vehicle flipped, troopers said. Lowery, 34, suffered minor injuries.

[More...]

Bon Jovi has opened his "pay what you can" JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, N.J. The menus offer upscale, gourmet food with no prices listed. Instead, an envelope is left on the table where diners can leave any amount, or nothing.

"This is not a soup kitchen," [Bon Jovi] emphasizes. "You can come here with the dignity of linens and silver, and you're served a healthy, nutritious meal. This is not burgers and fries.... If you can't afford to eat, you can bus tables, you can wait tables, you can work in the kitchen as a dishwasher or sous chef," he said.

...."If you come in and say, 'I'm hungry,' we'll feed you," Bon Jovi said. "But we're going to need you to do something. It's very important to what we're trying to achieve....This is not an entitlement thing......This is about empowering people because you have to earn that gift certificate.""

The restaurant's website is here. The details are here.

Muammar Gaddafi has been killed by fighters in Libya.

[His death] was announced by several officials of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and backed up by a photograph of a bloodied face ringed by familiar, Gaddafi-style curly hair.

"He was killed in an attack by the fighters. There is footage of that," the NTC's information minister, Mahmoud Shammam, told Reuters.

Herman Cain on Feb. 23, 2011 said he would sign federal legislation that protects the sanctity of life

I am a firm believer in the dignity of life and support a ban on partial birth abortion. If I were president, I would sign legislation that would protect the sanctity of life. Additionally, I would be in favor of any legislation that would encourage adoptions as a loving and safe alternative to abortion.

Herman Cain at the Value Voters Summit:

• "I believe in life from conception, no exceptions."

• "I would have asked the Department of Justice to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act"

[More...]

Mediate reports on Herman Cain's statements on abortion rights to CNN's Piers Morgan:

[I]t’s not the government’s role — or anybody else’s role — to make that decision. Secondly, if you look at the statistical incidents, you’re not talking about that big a number. So what I’m saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. Not me as president. Not some politician. Not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn’t try to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive decision.

Rick Perry is smiling today.

Kevin Drum points us to this Washington Monthly article that unearths a 1994 clip of Herman Cain questioning President Bill Clinton on the employer mandate proposal in the President's health care proposal. Drum focuses on Cain's SOP of making stuff up and Clinton's political skills:

I was actually struck by Cain's embrace of the concept of predatory pricing, an antitrust concept much derided by conservatives. Cain, then the CEO of Godfather's Pizza, said: