President Obama today was asked whether he supports a boycott of Arizona due to its immigration law. He dodged.

"I'm the president of the United States, I don't endorse boycotts or not endorse boycotts," he replied. "That's something that private citizens can make a decision about."

At least he repeated his opposition to the law:

Mr. Obama reiterated his disapproval of the measure at this press conference, complaining about potential risks to civil liberties as well as the potential the measure has to help create a "patchwork of 50 different immigration laws around the country in an area that is inherently the job of the federal government."

He also again called for a "comprehensive approach" to immigration reform, one that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who learn English, pay a fine and "get in the back of the line" when it comes to attaining legal status.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is considering a strong boycott measure: [More...]

The House of Representatives has voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." 168 Republicans and 26 Democrats voted against the amendment which is contained in the annual Pentagon policy bill.

The provision would allow military commanders to repeal the ban, which would permit gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military for the first time....The repeal would be allowed 60 days after a Pentagon report is completed on the ramifications of allowing openly gay service members. The report is due by Dec. 1.

A similar provision passed the Senate Armed Services Committee today. The vote was 16 to 12, and one Democrat Jim Webb of Virginia, voted against it.

Sen. John McCain vows to keep fighting the repeal: "“I think it’s really going to be really harmful to the morale and battle effectiveness of our military,” he said.

Also today, the full Senate "approved a nearly $60 billion measure to pay for continuing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq." The vote: 67 to 28. The House will now consider its own war funding bill which provides for even more money.

73 people died in Jamaica this week as the Government searched for alleged drug trafficker Christopher "Dudus" Coke, whom the U.S. wants to extradite. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is facing heavy criticism for the bloodshed.

Coke continues to elude authorities. Is he even in Jamaica? How about Bermuda, Aruba, Antigua, Martinique, Montserrat, Mustique, the Bahamas or....Kokomo.

The song, from the 1988 movie "Cocktail" was the Beach Boys best selling song ever.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

More thread.

I'm still in a busy period but next week will be better.

However, my free time will be devoted to a relaunch of SportsLeft to coincide with the World Cup, the NBA Finals and Wimbledon. I also will be doing some previewing of the Tour de France

The next big political event for me will be the Kagan hearings, scheduled to begin June 28. For me at least (not sure how J is doing schedule wise), political blogging will be light until then.

Open Thread.

[C]razy, kooky, extreme actions are perpetrated by establishment centrists far more often than by marginalized libertarians. -Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf writes:

Forced to name the “craziest” policy favored by American politicians, I’d say the multibillion-dollar war on drugs, which no one thinks is winnable. Asked about the most “extreme,” I’d cite the invasion of Iraq, a war of choice that has cost many billions of dollars and countless innocent lives. The “kookiest” policy is arguably farm subsidies for corn, sugar, and tobacco—products that people ought to consume less, not more.

Friedersdorf is discussing the mindlessness of the Beltway, with its acceptance of the views of Very Serious People as non-kooky while pretending that Rand Paul's views are nuts. (To be clear, Paul's views are indeed nuts, imo. But they also are, for the most part, the views of the mainstream Republican Party.)

Perhaps the kookiest view pressed by the Very Serious People of the Beltway is the idea that we need to cut government spending in the midst of a jobs crisis and a stagnant economy on the precipice of a second recession dip. Meteor Blades explains:

the House Homeland Security Agency (Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism) will hold a hearing on President Obama's plan to extend the Merida Initiative with Mexico, began under President Bush, with a plan to spend 1.3 billion on the war on drugs.

The heaering is called "“U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation: Next Steps for the Merida Initiative.

You can watch the live feed here.

Testimony at Hearing will be provided by: [more...]

President Obama will announce a moratorium on oil drilling today:

President Barack Obama planned to announce Thursday that a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling permits will be continued for six months while a presidential commission investigates, a White House aide said.

Controversial lease sales off the coast of Alaska will be delayed pending the results of the commission's investigation, and lease sales planned in the Western Gulf and off the coast of Virginia will be canceled, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a midday Obama news conference.

BP says it should know this afternoon if Top Kill is working. And if it falis?

If the top kill fails, BP says it has several backup plans, including sealing the well's blowout preventer with a smaller cap, which would contain the oil.

No spoilers on the winner in comments, please. The American Idol finale is just beginning here.

Crystal or Lee? I'm rooting for Crystal and I think she will win. It's also Simon Cowell's last night, I for one will miss him.

This is an American Idol live thread -- I hope I'm not the only one here who's watching.

Update 7:06: Whoever designed those plaid outfits should be fired. Alice Cooper is the first performer. He's hardly aged. I feel like I'm back in Ann Arbor in 1973. [More...]

Via Sentencing Law and Policy, Attorney General Eric Holder has issued a new directive to prosecutors on federal sentencing. You can read it here.

Ashcroft's sentencing memo, "Department Policy Concerning Charging Criminal Offenses, Disposition of Charges, and Sentencings" directed prosecutors to charge the most serious provable offense. I posted it here back in 2003. Former Deputy AG James Comey's January 28, 2005 sentencing directive is here. Professor Berman says of today's Holder memo:

Distilled to its essence, it seems that instead of a general policy that federal prosecutors "must" charge and pursue the most serious offense and must advocate a within-guideline sentence, this new Holder memo now asserts that federal prosecutors "ordinarily should" charge and pursue the most serious offense and "should generally" continue to advocate a within-guideline sentence. In other words, in appears that this new Holder memo is a fairly subtle change in policy, but that subtle change may still prove to be very consequential in practice.

I think the memo is a welcome change. [More....]

Facebook announced its new privacy features today. You can read more here. The changes seem to be generating praise.

Facebook has become so complicated and so perilous. About the only feature I use regularly is "send a private message." If I want to comment on what a friend wrote, I don't want every other friend getting a message on their page saying I commented on X's status or I like what X wrote or I wished X a happy birthday.

And while I like seeing what my friends put on their pages, I feel like a voyeur reading about who they became friends with, who they like or what they think about someone else's photos and postings. [More...]

More thread.