Linda Greenhouse writes:

[W]hy do other countries not suffer from the same toxic confirmation battles that we do? It’s not because the United States Supreme Court maintains a hotter docket. Courts in other countries frequently decide cases with major implications for domestic politics. The Canadian Supreme Court declared that country’s abortion law unconstitutional in 1988. In 1995, the brand-new South African Constitutional Court struck down the death penalty.

Rather, structural differences are what seem to matter: how justices are appointed, how long they serve — and also how they behave once on the bench. No other country has adopted the U.S. model of life tenure for judges. High-court judges typically serve for a single nonrenewable term of 9 to 12 years — a period during which Supreme Court justices in the United States are just getting warmed up.

Therein lies the answer - the Supreme Court is a political institution - one of the three political branches of the federal government. But unlike the others, once in office, Supreme Court Justices are exempt from the accountability the other two political branches face - elections. Because of that, all of the politics of the Supreme Court show up in the confirmation hearings and, to a lesser extent, in Presidential elections (a real shame imo, it should be a first line issue in every Presidential election.) More . . .

Thursday, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich subpoenaed President Obama. Today, Dick Durbin said he's been served with one.

Durbin had a well-publicized telephone conversation with Blagojevich shortly after the November 2008 election when politicians were starting to focus on who would get the Senate seat Obama was vacating. By all accounts, they discussed a number of candidates.

"I had one conversation with this governor and I've reported it to you and everybody else over and over again," Durbin said at the news conference. "And if he or the government wants to call me in, I'll tell the same story."And Team Blago told Fox News Harry Reid is also being called.

Why Harry Reid? Blago claims Reid pressured him not to appoint Jesse Jackson, Jr. to Obama's vacant senate seat. Nor, according to Blago, did Reid want Danny Davis or Emil Jones to get it. He feared they'd have a tough time winning re-election.[More...]

Zarein Ahmedzay, a high school friend of Najibullah Zazi's who traveled to Pakistan with him, has pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

He said he, admitted plotter Najibullah Zazi and a third, unidentified man met with the leaders in Pakistan in in the summer of 2008, where they offered to join the Taliban and fight U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

''They told us we would be more useful if we returned to New York City ... to conduct operations,'' he said. Asked by the judge what kind of operations, he responded, ''Suicide-bombing operations.''

Ahmedzay faces a maximum life sentence but his lawyer says he expects a benefit from his guilty plea.

The third friend, Adis Medunjanin, is still fighting the charges. His lawyer says his case is different.

Ronnie Lee Gardner, his appeals exhausted after 25 years on daath row, has chosen the firing squad for his June 18 execution.

How is it carried out? From a TalkLeft post in 2003 quoting a news article no longer online:

....A hood will be put over the condemned man's head and a target will be pinned over his heart. The executioners will fire simultaneously from gun portals in a separate room at the inmate, seated in a chair about 30 feet away. One of the five rifles will contain a blank so that no one will know who fired the fatal shots.

[More...]

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today signed the draconian anti-immigrant bill passed by the legislature into law. (Background here.) Before the signing, President Obama criticized it:

The Arizona law, he added, threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

The bill blatantly encourages racial and ethnic profiling. While it goes into effect in August, court challenges are expected immediately. The ACLU says the bill threatens civil rights and public safety. [More...]

Think good thoughts for Bret Michaels, who is in ICU after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage today.

TMZ reports he's awake and talking. The next few days will be critical.

Here's the original video to the song, what a classic.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I am so nonplussed by this post by Chris Bowers, that I do not even know what to say other than you have got to be kidding me Chris.

In comments, Paul Rosenberg has an intelligent response:

I get to put this in the "Colorado News" section. As I have stated repeatedly, though I live and die with the Gators, Tim Tebow does not have the skills to be a good NFL QB. The Broncos made a mistake here imo.

That said, picking Tebow is certainly better than picking the most overrated player in this draft - Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen. While it is conceivable that Tebow can be made into a good NFL QB, in my view, Clausen has no upside. He is as good as he will ever be, and that is not even conceivably good enough.

Sam Bradford, assuming the medical issues are settled, is not only a good pick because he was by far the best QB prospect, he was the best player in the draft (better than Suh, Berry and McCoy.) 3 Gators were picked in the 1st round, Tebow at 25, CB Joe Haden at 7 by the Browns and Maurkice Pouncey at 18 by the Steelers. Pouncey is a sure thing. Haden was picked too high, but I love him.

I'll make this an Open Thread.

Update: Cameron ended up at the prison camp at Lewisburg after all.

****

When Cameron Douglas was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday, the Court agreed to recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that he serve his time at the satellite prison camp at Lewisburg.

A day later, his lawyers wrote the judge and said, oops, BOP doesn't think they can send him to a camp right away. They asked the judge to change his recommendation to the FCI at Ft. Dix so he can continue therapy with the doctor who has been treating his addiction while at MCC and because it's convenient for his family to visit.

The Judge said no dice. He said he gave both sides numerous opportunities to address the issue and the rules don't allow him to change his order, absent a clerical or mathematical error.

The Judgment has been publicly filed. In addition to the five years in prison, followed by five years on supervised release (similar to parole) and 450 hours of community service, Cameron was fined $25,000. and ordered to forfeit $300,0000. as proceeds of his crime. And the specific conditions of his supervised release are really onerous: [More...]

For some reason, the comments got really ugly here today. I've read and cleaned two threads, but am turning my attention now to other things...like Survivor and Nurse Jackie. Please stop attacking each other.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Senate has passed a bill eliminating their cost of living increase for the year. They did the same last year.

The Senate on Thursday passed legislation to scrap its $1600 cost-of-living pay raise for 2011. Lawmakers automatically receive the pay hike unless they vote each year to stop it. The bill was introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who has adamantly protested the the annual pay raise since his election in 1992.

Sen. Mark Udall says:

“Coloradans have been fighting to keep their heads above water in a tough economy. Members of Congress shouldn’t get a raise while the constituents who put us into office are struggling to find jobs and afford to pay their bills. This is about doing what is right for the people and the country.”

California's Second Appellate District has denied Roman Polanski's petition for writ of mandate. He filed the petition in March, seeking a sentence of time served in his 1977 sex case, based on new evidence of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct contained in previously undisclosed sealed transcripts of improper communications between the Judge and prosecutors. He also sought to have the new transcripts disclosed to the Swiss.

Also today, the court rejected a bid by the victim to dismiss the case.

The order in Polanski's case reads: (obtained from Court docket): [More...]