Bob Woodward's book on the division between Obama and his advisors on the war in Afghanistan is making big news. Republicans hope they can play it up and gain votes in November. Sample over-the-top headline: The Guardian, which proclaims " Obama Presidency hobbled by discord."

The Obama presidency is hobbled by discord and mutual contempt among its senior policy-makers and top generals according to a new book which is likely to damage the administration in November's congressional elections and undermine its efforts in Afghanistan.

The book, Obama's Wars, by the veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward, is out on Monday, but extracts published overnight by the Washington Post and the New York Times make it clear that it will hurt the administration in the runup to mid-term elections, in which Democrats are already struggling and in which they are expected to lose control of the House of Representatives.

I hope that was written by a Guardian opinion writer rather than a news journalist, because the conclusions it draws are anything but "clear" and "likely." The WaPo excerpt of the book is here. The White House says it's pleased with the book.

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

Update: Paris has left Japan.

*****

Do celebrities get harsher treatment than others? With respect to Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, it seems that way to me.

The ink wasn't even dry on Paris Hilton's plea and sentencing documents when she flew from Las Vegas to Tokyo for legitimate and lucrative business reasons. Yet she was denied entry into Japan and told to wait at an airport hotel. She's now been asked to wait another day, while Japanese officials make up their mind whether to allow her entry. The two reasons I've seen given: They don't allow people on probation or people with drug offenses to visit Japan.

On Thursday, Teresa Lewis will be the first woman to be executed in Virginia since 1912. (Background here:)

Teresa Lewis didn't pull the trigger. She confessed, pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities. She has an IQ of 70, right on the border of mental retardation. She has no prior criminal record, and no prior history of violence. The triggermen in the murder got life without parole.

The Supreme Court has denied her request for a stay of execution. Her August, 2010 petition for clemency, denied by VA Gov. Robert McDonnell, is here. Gov. McDonnell yesterday again refused to grant clemency.

The execution is scheduled for September 23, 2010, 9:00 p.m., Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia.

Update: Peter G in comments below reports thee bill was pulled from the calendar last night and is headed to the Judiciary Committee.

Via Drug Policy Alliance, the House is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a sneaky and misleading bill, courtesy of your drug warriors in Congress.

The bill is the "Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010 (H.R. 5231)." It's the lame-brain idea of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the only congressperson to speak out in opposition to to reforming the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity.

Why is it misleading? Because it doesn't just apply to traffickers, but also to those who simply possess drugs. More from Drug Policy Alliance:

Even though this bill references drug trafficking in the title, it also criminalizes conspiring to possess and use marijuana or other drugs in other countries if more than one person is involved - even if drug use is decriminalized in that country. Thus, it imposes America’s harsh drug policies on other countries, and further criminalizes a health issue. The bill’s title is very misleading.

Here's the full text of the bill. Why is this bill even coming to a vote? It has It has one cosponsor (Adam Schiff, CA) and was never considered in committee. [More...]

Is Jesse Jackson, Jr. in trouble? A new report on the Blagojevich senate seat for play scandal may implicate him in a plan involving $6 million. The source: Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayaka.

Maybe he shouldn't have been so cocky about it last week.

In a radio interview about the mayor's race last week, Jackson challenged federal prosecutors to "bring it on" if they have evidence he was a conspirator in Blagojevich's corruption case.

In TV news, who will be the first to go home on DWTS tonight?I'll guess David Hasselback, Florence Henderson, or Margaret Cho. A new season of Biggest Loser starts, and a new cop show, DETROIT 1-8-7, starring Michael Imperioli from the Sopranos. Do we need more cop shows? I don't think so.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

California's largest union, with 700,000 members, has endorsed Proposition 19, California's legislative initiative to legalize possession of marijuana for personal use.

The union did not say what resources it would provide along with its support.

Most union resources will go toward supporting Jerry Brown in the governor's race.

Other unions supporting the measure are the Northern California council of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union and Communications Workers of America Local 9415.

Some medical marijuana groups are now opposing the measure: [More...]

Why am I not surprised? The Republicans have stalled consideration of the DREAM Act and the repeal of DADT.

Here's CBS on what's next.

One of the arguments forwarded during the health bill debate was that the provisions would get stronger over time, as a constituency for new services developed. I thought it a doubtful assertion at the time (consider that no new government program - yes, a public insurance program - was created) and I imagine folks who argued that assertion are thinking it is doubtful now too. From today's NYTimes:

For starters, Republicans say they will try to withhold money that federal officials need to administer and enforce the law. [. . .] “They’ll get not one dime from us,” the House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer recently. “Not a dime. There is no fixing this.”

[. . . ] Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on the Finance Committee, has introduced a bill that would eliminate a linchpin of the new law: a requirement for many employers to offer insurance to employees or pay a tax penalty.

[. . .] Republicans say they will also try to scale back the expansion of Medicaid if states continue to object to the costs of adding millions of people to the rolls of the program for low-income people.

What you will have left is an individual mandate and state based exchanges (with inadequate subsidies.) Would that still be "the biggest progressive accomplishment in 40 years?"

Speaking for me only

In a glancing justification for the lack of reaction to The American Prospect's publication of Robert Kuttner's February 2010 article American Taliban, Adam Serwer writes:

As for Kuttner's piece, I didn't remember it until it was pointed out to me, but plenty of people write things in this magazine I disagree with. Moulitsas' book is considerably more high-profile.

(Emphasis supplied.) Robert Kuttner is a fairly big cheese in Dem circles in the Beltway. Beyond that, in the initial salvo from TAPPED on the subject, Jamelle Bouie wrote:

Now, to be sure, American Taliban is clearly meant for activist consumption. Unlike myself, Moulitsas isn't a journalist, and his job isn't to be an honest broker for ideas; no, it's to rally progressives and score points against conservatives.

(Emphasis supplied.) Now Bouie and Serwer can't have it both ways - either Markos is not their (or Robert Kuttner's) journalistic equal, or he is their "higher profile" superior, with a higher responsibility to be "careful" about his comparisons. Frankly, this continued flailing to justify their strange war against Markos is hard to explain. Having started the fight, they seem unable to extricate themselves from it. Here's a suggestion for them - let it go.

Speaking for me only

I've been out all day and am just getting to the day's news. Did anyone watch Bristol Palin on DWTS? How did she do?

The Justice Department has asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc review of its decision holding a warrant is required for GPS surveillance. In August, a 3 judge panel reversed a conviction and life sentence in a drug case because the defendant was tracked through a GPS device installed on his car without a warrant. The earlier opinion is here.

Paris Hilton was placed on a year's unsupervised probation on two misdemeanors today. The judge gave her a strong warning: [More...]

Think Progress: