Atrios writes:

I'm quite happy bashing the media, as usual, but I think they're getting a bit of a bum rap. They're covering the deficit in large part because both major political parties are mostly talking about the deficit. If some charismatic politician with the ability to get people to point some cameras at him spent more time talking about jobs and coming up with policies for jobs and talking about those the media would be talking about that too.

The Obama Administration decided to NOT talk about the deficit when it extended the Bush tax cuts in The Deal made with Republicans in December 2010. Because they didn't, the deficit discussion now entirely ignores the Bush/Obama tax cuts. If the Deal was not struck in December, I feel confident that the stagnant economy and jobs would be a focal point of discussion now. Instead, the argument is about how much Medicare should be cut. Hell, people might have even done something about jobs and the economy. The Obama Administration made a terrible mistake when it cut the Deal in December.

Speaking for me only

American Idol seems so lackluster without James Durbin. I really don't get Hailey. To my ear, she shrieks, yodels and is off key. I did find something to like about her performance tonight -- her father (who played guitar while she did her first song.) The judges are overly nice to her. They even praised her tripping and falling. Scotty was terrific, but he's very one-dimensional. While I didn't think Lauren shone tonight, I do think she's the best singer left. But none of these three should be American Idol.

Steven Tyler (and to a lesser extent Jennifer Lopez) all that's propping up American Idol and the only reason to keep watching. Idol also seems like amateur hour compared to The Voice. Not only in terms of the talent, but production. Every one of the contestants, and every performances is outstanding.

On to the finale of America's Next Top Model, which also had a lackluster (at best) group of contestants this year.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

An anonymous jury has been selected in the Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Denmark news agency.

The jury is composed of 8 women and 4 men, most of whom are minorities. The six alternates include 4 men and 2 women.

Opening arguments begin Monday. The Government will be relying on the testimony of admitted co-plotter and former DEA informant David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani. Both Headley and Rana have said current members of Pakistan's intelligence agency and former military officers were working in concert with the terrorists. All of our prior coverage is available here.

I wonder if the Government will be successful in keeping all references to the ISI and military out of the trial, or if we'll finally find out who Major Iqbal is.

Andrew Fastow, Enron's Chief Financial Officer who cooperated with the Government and was sentenced to 6 years in prison, was moved to a halfway house today.

Fastow testified against Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Skilling got 24 years, although he's due for a resentencing after the Supreme Court tossed the "honest fraud" portion of the fraud statute. The 5th Circuit let the convictions stand, but remanded for resentenicng because the trial judge miscalculated some of the guidelines. His wife served a year at the MCC in Houston. The Fastows also forfeited $30 million.

Fastow's release date is Dec. 17. He'll probably transition to home confinement sometime between now and then.

Lawyers for IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn have filed a new application for bail. It will be heard tomorrow in the New York's Supreme Court, by a different judge than the judge who denied bail Monday. Friday's appearance is for the return of the grand jury indictment. (The accuser testified today.)

The defense is again proposing bail in the amount of $1 million, coupled with an ankle monitor and residence at a New York apartment. Does he stand a better chance? Probably, particularly if the defense is also arranging for a private security company to monitor him at the apartment 24/7.

Ben Brafman told CNBC he's out of town and co-counsel William Taylor will handle the hearing. Taylor was at Rikers' today visiting their client.

The accused's lawyer is all over TV promoting her veracity and her impoverished immigrant status. He's a personal injury lawyer who met her for the first time Sunday, after the alleged encounter. [More...]

Here's an open thread for those interested in topics besides Arnold. Actually, all topics are welcome.

TMZ and other outlets have disclosed that the former household worker for Arnold Schwarzenegger is 50 year old Mildred Patricia Baena. While they posted a picture of her and her son, at least they blocked the face of the son. They said he looks very much like Arnold.

It only takes a bit of internet sleuthing to find the pictures on My Space. The mother only has one "friend" on My Space, the My Space employee that every new member gets, which makes me wonder if it's really her My Space account, or one that the person who leaked this all to the media set up to post the photos. It's hard to tell though, because the photos have a date, which I assume is the posting date, of October, 2008. [More...]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on a suicide watch at Rikers Island.

The official said the action, which will put him under closer supervision, was taken as a result of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s intake evaluation, which was based on the nature of the charges, whether he had ever been in jail before and other factors, rather than on any gesture or attempt.

He has court again on Friday. Will his lawyers make a new bail proposal with more restrictive conditions, for either the judge presiding over Friday's hearing or a higher court? I would think so. He could live in an apartment in New York, with private guards as bail sitters, like Bernie Madoff, Mark Dreier and Cameron Douglas. Or, instead of a regular ankle bracelet, they could make him submit to GPS monitoring. Aside from its greater tracking abilities, no way could someone get through airport security without it going off.

I don't think Strauss-Kahn's lawyer has said the defense would assert consensual sex as a defense. He hasn't admitted any sexual act took place. The news media is intuiting this from his statement in court, "The evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter". (He didn't say "forcible sexual encounter." ) [More...]

BTD is busy at work and I'm off to the dentist. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Ohio today executed Daniel Bedford with pentobarbital, a drug used to euthanize animals, that may or may not be effective in blocking pain.

Bedford's attorneys say because of dementia and mental disability, he has no memory of the crime and may not understand he is being put to death.
There apparently were problems finding a vein, requiring him to be "stuck" several times. [More...]

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has provided the LA Times with a statement admitting he fathered a child with a household staffer more than ten years ago.

The mother of the child worked for the family for 20 years, until January. She left on good terms. Arnold financially provided for the child since birth. [More...]

8 of the 15 men charged with piracy in the deaths of two American couples on the Quest vessel hijacked in the Gulf of Aden will plead guilty . At least one (and likely at least three) will be sentenced to life in prison.

The lawyer for one who is pleading to a mandatory life sentence says, ""My guy doesn't know who pulled the trigger....He was trying to resolve the problem." But absent the plea, the lawyer says, he could face a death penalty charge. [More...]