It's a jail day for me, here's an open thread for you. All topics welcome.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has officially declared himself a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. He and Mitt Romney are now considered frontrunners.

No matter how disappointed you are with Obama and the Democrats, any Republican would be far worse.

I don't want Republicans picking Supreme Court Justices. I don't want them making economic policy. They would be the worst by far on crime policy.

Things are bad now, but there's no need to make them worse.

The gang of 12 henchman for the Deficit Budget Committee is now in place. Nancy Pelosi named the Democratic House appointees today. They are:

Democratic Reps. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Xavier Becerra (Calif.) and James Clyburn (S.C.).

On the Republican House side:

House Speaker John Boehner tapped House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to serve as co-chair of the committee. He also appointed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., to the committee.

[More...]

Remember the corrupt juvenile judge scheme in Pennsylvania the prosecutors dubbed "Cash for Kids?" The scheme involved the judges taking money from private detention centers in exchange for sentencing kids to the facilities.

Defiant former Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., convicted of racketeering, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Ciavarella, known for his harsh and autocratic courtroom demeanor, filled the beds of the private lockups with children as young as 10, many of them first-time offenders convicted of petty theft and other minor crimes.

....In the wake of the scandal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

[More...]

Travel Day.

Open Thread.

Here is how I think the posturing on the super commission on the debt will play out - Dems will be for Simpson-Bowles (Kerry and Murray said yes to Simpson-Bowles. Baucus said no, but, come on, it's Baucus.) Republicans will be for no new taxes. Joan McCarter fills us in on the GOP picks:

John Boehner (R-Ohio) has appointed Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) to serve on the deficit supercommittee. [. . .] Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appointed his deputy Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), former Bush budget director Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Tea Party favorite Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.)

The kicker - all six are slaves to Grover Norquist and his no new revenues pledge.

So we now see what the atmospherics will be. What about the result? No deal means automatic cuts. Is there room for a no revenues deal? Only the President knows. I assume Yes.

Speaking for me only

Via Atrios, this story about how cable is losing customers contains this "gem" of a comment from DISH CEO Joseph Clayton:

Dish Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton said yesterday that one of his goals is to reposition the company away from marketing to lower-income customers. Instead, he wants Dish to rely on its technology and promotions to persuade customers to buy more expensive offerings and increase average revenue per user.Clayton rejected the idea of relaxing credit standards to appeal to lower-income people, saying he’s “looking for a better class of customer.”

I look forward to the day DISH files for bankruptcy. What an a**hole.

Speaking for me only

Another wild day at the track in lower Manhattan?

Open Thread.

Sen. Harry Reid today named the Democratic Senate appointees to the Deficit Committee:

Reid tapped Sen. Patty Murray of Washington to co-chair the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, and also named Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Republicans have until next Tuesday to name their appointees.

Congratulations to Armando, aka Big Tent Democrat, who will be the co-host of Daily Kos Radio on Sirius beginning this Saturday. What a great choice.

NEW YORK, NY– August 8, 2011 - Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that it will launch a live, interactive four-week radio series with Daily Kos, the influential online progressive political community, news organization and activist hub.

Daily Kos Radio will launch on August 13 at 10:00 am ET, and air Saturdays through September 3 live from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET on liberal/progressive talk channel SiriusXM Left, ch. 127. Daily Kos contributing editors David Waldman and Armando Llorens will co-host the show from SiriusXM’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, breaking down headlines and issues with other members of the Daily Kos community to bring the interactive experience of the blogosphere to SiriusXM listeners coast to coast.

Don't forget to tune in. And not to worry, BTD will be continuing to blog here at TalkLeft.

Amazing photos of the London riots which continue. 16,000 officers are now patrolling the streets.

One of the crimes to be charged: inciting violence through social media. How will they find the rioters not caught in the act? Camera images.

What's the deeper cause behind the riots? No one seems to agree on that.

Busy day. Open Thread.