Lori Berenson, who was granted parole and freed from prison, only to have the decision appealed and lose, resulting in her return to a Peruvian prison in August, has again been ordered freed.

She and her son should leave prison in a few days, but they won't be able to leave Peru. The prosecutor says he's going to appeal again. Her family's statement is here. They say the process could take another two to three months.

Peru is treating her like a ping pong ball. Enough already. The judge today said she should be released on parole because she has fulfilled d all necessary requirements. Send her home.

It's the weekend but I'm still working. Here's an open thread for those not similarly constrained. All topics welcome.

Re: Keith Olbermann's suspension. Like BTD, I'm not a fan or a viewer. But I agree the explanation of his suspension rings hollow and something else is going on.

I've always viewed Olbermann as a talk show host not a news journalist. More here.

Olbermann has never been in the same position as Brian Williams, David Gregory or Tom Brokaw. No one looks to him to report the news, but to comment on it. On MSNBC's election night coverage this week, when I tuned in, he and Matthews were commentators to host David Gregory. As a commentator, I don't see why he can't make political contributions. It's not like his leanings aren't already known.

Documents were unsealed today in the felony sex case against Colorado District Attorney Myrl Serra. Serra is the elected DA for the 7th District, which includes Telluride, Montrose, Delta, and Gunnison. Serra was arrested September 30, but few factual details were released, other than it was sex related and may be related to an affair gone bad. First, the charges:

Serra, 48, is charged with felony unlawful sexual contact, felony criminal extortion and five misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and unlawful sexual contact. He has denied the allegations.

The documents released today allege Serra harassed three women employees in his office, exposing himself, demanding sexual favors, and threatening their job positions if they didn't go along. [More...]

When a police officer breaks the law, shouldn't they be treated the same as anyone else? Or even more harshly if they abused their power as guardians of community safety? Not in Oakland, where former Bart cop Johannes Mehserle was sentenced today to the minimum two years in prison for killing unarmed 22 year old Oscar Grant. The shooting was captured on videocamera and went viral on You Tube. (Raw footage here, news version here.)

Mehserle was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter. He testified he mistook his firearm for his Taser and accidentally shot Grant. The jury found he acted negligently and that he unlawfully took Grant's life but didn't intend to kill Grant.

The jury also found Mehserle had used a gun during the crime, a sentencing enhancer, but the Judge threw that out today, "saying it was not supported by the evidence." With credit for time already served, Mehserle will be eligible for parole in 7 months. [More...]

And he actually makes sense:

MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann is ludicrous. First, he donated money to candidates he liked. He didn’t take money, or favors, in a way that influenced his reporting. Second, he’s not a reporter. It’s an opinion show. If Olbermann wants to put his money where his mouth is, more power to him. Third, GE, the corporate parent of MSNBC, gives money to political organizations. GE executives and, I’m sure, NBC executives give money. Why can’t Olbermann?

Perhaps Olbermann violated NBC News “policy and standards.” But NBC doesn’t have real news standards for MSNBC—otherwise the channel wouldn’t exist. It’s a little strange to get all high and mighty now.

He's right.

Interesting news day today. I'm not sure much of actual import happened, but lots to talk about.

Open Thread.

So many questions:

So Many Questions

TPM Reader EA:

I don't get why Democrats would want to maintain the same leadership personalities in the House. Don't people all around the country really really hate Nancy Pelosi and probably James Clyburn too? Don't we have any 'young guns' to showcase over the next couple of years? Doesn't an even more 'liberal' minority leadership structure only increase the likelihood we'll see the dreaded triangulation from the President? [. . .] What's the strategy here? Is it more about convention and entitlement than strategy?

(Emphasis supplied.) Interesting. Though there clearly is one easy answer on the "triangulation" question - if the President is going to triangulate, better that he triangulate against a more progressive position in the House Dem caucus, than against a "moderate" position in the House Dem caucus. But I do find the anti-Pelosi TPM position quite fascinating. I wonder what that's about.

Update: TPM posts a counterpoint. Maybe they don't oppose Pelosi after all. Or maybe they don't want to appear to be opposing her. In any event, strange stuff.

Speaking for me only

Daily Kos has a lot on this.

I'm not an MSNBC or Olbermann viewer or fan so the part that interests me is why Olbermann did it? He must have known it violated his contract. Is he trying to get out? Is he at war with Phil Griffin, the MSNBC President? And what is MSNBC's thinking on this? Obviously this is not going to help their ratings.

And of course MSNBC has double standards as it has allowed Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan to give to candidates. The whole opinion vs. reporters line is pretty weak, given that Olbermann has not been a reporter for a pretty long time now.

No, this is an office politics dispute for sure. Maybe MSNBC wants to go back to being the Beltway network they were before Olbermann lifted them out from irrelevancy. As I said, I'm no Olbermann fan, but he clearly had the better business strategy for MSNBC than Griffin. Will Griffin go after Maddow next? Will it be a network of Tweetys and Lawrence O'Donnells? That would certainly be a business mistake. Maybe Griffin wants to be the new Jeff Zucker (the guy who destroyed NBC the broadcast network.) Clearly there is more here going on than meets the eye.

Speaking for me only

Like Atrios, I've been screaming about HAMP, the anti-HOLC, since last year. Atrios says it best:

Keeping people in their homes should always have been the goal, and smart people should have set up a reasonable incentive system of carrots and sticks, with that lovely $50 billion budget, to do this. Foreclosures are incredibly costly, both for the people getting kicked out of their homes and the surrounding communities. They're also costly for the investors.

I'm in looking forward mode, so I guess I should be thinking about what should happen now. Seems to me that since most of the HAMP money is still sitting around, the Obama Administration can still do a HOLC. I'd at least find out if I could if I was Obama. What Hillary Clinton said in September 2008 was true then and it is true today:

If we do not take action to address the crisis facing borrowers, we'll never solve the crisis facing lenders. These problems go hand in hand. And if we are going to take on the mortgage debt of storied Wall Street giants, we ought to extend the same help to struggling, middle-class families.

Speaking for me only

Markos takes apart the dishonest Third Way:

[Third Way]: [T]he liberal cognoscenti who dominate the Democratic Party have proclaimed that Tuesday’s debacle was caused by President Barack Obama and a Congress that didn’t move far enough left. If this argument prevails, it’s Mondale-vile for Democrats for a long time. Returns show, once again, that the voters who drive elections are self-identified moderates and independents, and largely middle class. They ran for the hills this cycle.

Let's see the exit polls. The crazy liberals in the House scared moderates into ... voting Democratic 55-42. Double digits. And as for those independents?

PPP asked independents who did vote in 2010 who they had supported in 2008. The results: Fifty one percent of independents who voted this time supported McCain last time, versus only 42 percent who backed Obama last time. In 2008, Obama won indies by eight percent.

(Emphasis supplied.) The biggest problem with The Third Way is not that they are wrong, it is that they are liars. I do not want them in my Big Tent.

Speaking for me only

The better jobs report released today has many people scrambling to figure out who will get credit for the the coming economic recovery. My take is decidedly different. The improvement in the jobs situation is very tepid, but certainly better than it was in 2009. But the incoming GOP House is poised to insist on policies (slashing government spending in particular) that will certainly do great damage to the economy, particularly with regard to job creation. The question in my mind is not who gets the credit, but rather who will be blamed for the coming 1937-like economic slump, particularly with regard to jobs.

The answer to that question will not only be critical to deciding who wins the 2012 election, but whether the nation can escape this economic malaise.It is my view that the GOP policies will be enacted and the key for Democrats is to make sure that the policies are seen as GOP policies. Then in 2012, Dems and Obama need to run against the result of the GOP policies. Which I expect to be near catastrophic for the economy.

Speaking for me only

Better news:

The economy generated a net gain in jobs for the first time in five months in October, as businesses stepped up their painfully slow pace of hiring.But the unemployment rate, measured by a separate survey of households, remained stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month.

The Labor Department said Friday its survey of employers showed a net gain of 151,000 jobs last month, the first increase since May. Private employers hired 159,000 workers, the best since April.

While this level of job growth will not lower the unemployment rate, at least it stops the bleeding. It also puts the the incoming GOP Congress on the spot. The Obama Administration has stopped the bleeding (or so the numbers suggest) -- slashing government spending will almost certainly accelerate unemployment - if in the next 2 years unemployment goes up, it will be on the GOP's watch. Dems and Obama need to state clearly their views of what needs to be done and then when the GOP prevails on the policy, the GOP will own the result.

Speaking for me only