California mothers speak out for Prop 19 and marijuana legalization.

With a group of mothers around her, attorney Hanna Liebman Dershowitz uttered some words likely not yet heard in this wild election season: Legal marijuana is "safer for our children."

[More...]

Thanks to Marijuana Policy Project for publishing this list of marijuana initiatives on local Colorado ballots this year.

The following jurisdictions will ask their citizens if medical marijuana dispensaries should be ALLOWED – Vote“Yes” on dispensary measures in the following jurisdictions.

• Antonito
• DeBeque
• Dinosaur
• Hot Sulphur Springs
• Lake City
• Loveland
• Ouray
• Paonia (two questions)
• Ramah
• Conejos County
• Eagle County

The following jurisdictions (some municipal, some county)will ask their citizens if medical marijuana dispensaries should be PROHIBITED – Vote “No” on dispensary measures in the following jurisdictions. [More...]

In the news: The Obama Administration files it appeal of the order staying DADT; a profile of San Francisco DA Kamala Harris, who is running for California Attorney General against Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley; the voicemail Clarence Thomas' wife left for Anita Hill:

"I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband."

Professor Hill's response:

I have no intention of apologizing because I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony," said Hill in a statement released last night.

Tbis is an open thread, all topics welcome.

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" - Christine O'Donnell

The absurd controversy over Markos' use of the title American Taliban in his latest book has papered over the real issue for liberals and progressives - the unending drive of the Right to constitutionalize government promotion and imposition of religion. The above quote from Christine O'Donnell has drawn a great deal of attention in the Left blogs, but I think the focus on O'Donnell's ignorance with regard to the Establishment clause misses the larger point - O'Donnell was merely parroting the standard line of the Republican Party and the Right on the separation of church and state. Consider National Review's Ramesh Ponnoru's defense of O'Donnell:

[O'Donnell] denies is that the First Amendment requires “the separation of church and state.” Here’s something I wrote about this question several years ago that, I think, is on point: [. . .] People mean different things when they talk about “theocrats,” “the separation of church and state,” and “secularism.” The word “secular” can describe both irreligion and neutrality about religion.

Ponnoru is not writing in a vacuum. The drive to change the meaning of "separation of church and state" is a program of longstanding for the Right. Consider the 2002 case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, where Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote:

Warren Carter pleaded guilty to stealing copper wire from the Little Nell Residences in Aspen. The judge sentenced him to three years. Upon hearing the sentence, he bolted from the courtroom and was caught 7 minutes later.

Yesterday, Carter agreed to plead guilty to escape for his 7 minutes on the lam. The agreed upon sentence: three years, consecutive to the three years on the original charge. Carter will plead on November 1. Until then, it looks like he'll remain a guest of the Pitkin County Jail.

True, he has a lengthy record, and could have been charged as a habitual offender and faced much more time, but labeling someone a "fugitive" for a 7 minute panic attack seems a little excessive.

Update: The Women’s Marijuana Movement and Just Say Now today launched an online phone banking tool for women marijuana activists from across the country to place phone calls to women voters in California, a key demographic to turn out for Proposition 19.

"If Prop 19 is going to pass in California, it needs the votes of women and mothers,” said Jeralyn Merritt, a criminal defense attorney and board member of Just Say Now. “Prop 19 is the safe, smart choice for California communities. Thanks to this new organizing tool, women marijuana activists can speak directly with women voters in California about the benefits of Prop 19 and get out the vote. This is a great way to empower women voters and let them know their votes not only count, but can make a real difference on a critical issue facing California communities.”

Original Post:

Jane at Firedoglake reports the Just Say Now phone bank operation (sign up here) is experiencing something unique: voters love getting the calls. [More...]

I'm not invested in Jack Conway's run for Senate from Kentucky. Would he be better than Rand Paul? Obviously. But he'll just be a Blue Dog Dem. Russ Feingold's race is the one that matters most to me.

But I was amused by the Beltway Blogger storm over Conway's "disgraceful" Aqua Buddha ad. I think the ad is ineffective, but the idea that it was disgraceful is just plain funny. What world do these Beltway Bloggers live in? But I especially like the outrage ringleader's defense of his outrage:

[T]here's a difference between the role of the journalist and the role of the politician. [. . .] So even if Conway is right to kick Rand Paul in the groin, I'm also right for pointing out that's what he's doing.

But "the Left" is wrong to do it about Obama's policies and are idiots for doing so according to Chait. He's a "journalist" you see. What a clown.

Speaking for me only

Dean Baker fisks this WaPo "news" article:

The Washington Post appears to have outdone itself in a discussion of the politics surrounding the foreclosure crisis. For beginners, it told readers that:

[. . . T]he White House, which is looking past the midterm elections, has been restrained. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan wrote over the weekend that 'a national, blanket moratorium on all foreclosure sales would do far more harm than good, hurting homeowners and home buyers alike.'"

Okay, it's fun with logic time. Secretary Donovan wants more foreclosures, presumably to further depress prices. [. . .] If Donovan thinks it is good to speed up the foreclosure process then why is the administration pushing HAMP? [. . .] That may make sense to the Washington Post, but probably not to anyone else. [. . .] The article then gives us a quote from a Democratic consultant without a name: "But shutting down foreclosures has the potential of shutting down the whole housing market, which isn't helpful to anybody."

Let's see, we have how many hundreds of thousands of homes that non-foreclosed sellers are putting on the market each month, plus a backlog of several hundred thousand foreclosed homes already in the banks' possession. How exactly does a moratorium on foreclosures shut down the whole housing market?

Of course it doesn't. But the cloud on titles to homes does. The Obama Administration wants to sweep reality under the rug. Baker does not mention one WaPo "fact" that astounded me:

105 tons of marijuana seized in Mexico. (Lots more pictures below the fold.) The Mexican authorities at a press conference held by Brigadier General Staff commander of the Second Military Zone, Alfonso Duarte Mujica, said it began with a random observation by the Tijuana municipal police who noticed a convoy of vehicles accompanying a tractor trailer. A shootout ensued and they called for backup and the military and other law enforcement groups quickly arrived. They detained a bunch of people who took them to houses in three different poor neighborhoods of the city, and then they got to a warehouse where they located six tractor trailers loaded with the pot.

So whose pot was it? Apparently not the cartels'. Gen. Duarte Mujica says there are no more cartels in Baja and Tijuana. [More...]

Bristol Palin came in at the bottom of the leaderboard tonight. It wasn't the monkey suit, but that she forgot most of the moves. The Baltimore Sun critic says:

“It’s like kid-forgets-the-words-during-the-talent-show painful, except on national television.”

She's still getting "polite" criticism from the judges, all of whom called her out on forgetting the moves. Will tea partiers text in to save her? I wouldn't be surprised. Right above her: Kyle and Lacey. Kyle was much better than Bristol, plus he's entertaining to watch, but I won't be suprised if he doesn't get as many viewer votes and ends up going home.

Let's Go Yankees!

Open Thread.

The Supreme Court today announced it will review the case of former detainee and material witness Abdullah al-Kidd against former Attorney General John Ashcroft. Al-Kidd is a U.S.-born American citizen:

Al-Kidd, a one-time University of Idaho football star who converted to Islam, was arrested at Dulles International Airport in 2003 as he was boarding a plane for Saudi Arabia, where he planned to study.

He was held for 15 nights as a material witness in a broader terrorism probe. But he claims that was simply a pretext for a larger plan approved by Ashcroft to sweep up Muslim men it could not prove had any ties to terrorism.

The 9th Circuit rejected personal immunity for Ashcroft. En Banc hearing was denied.

The Obama Administration is representing Ashcroft and asking the Supreme Court to overturn the decision. The ACLU says more than 70 people have similar complaints about their detention as material witnesses. More on the abuse of the material witness statute is here.