Good news for the 10 jailed Americans in Haiti, suspected of child trafficking for trying to remove Haitian children to the U.S. The Judge reportedly has decided to release them, as early as tomorrow:

"One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions on the part of the people involved and there is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans," the [judicial]source said.

Haitian jails have always been miserable places. I hope this report is correct.

Now its windy and getting colder. Yes, a winter wonderland.

This is an Open Thread.

Below I critiqued Jon Chait for writing "[t]he left has [. . .] help[ed] convince many liberals that the health care bill [. . .] is a worthless compromise not worth fighting for." Ironically, I then found this from Ezra Klein:

One of the problems with the health-care reform bill, I think, is that it's been oversold. [. . .] [I]t's not nearly so big as people think.

Ezra links to an earlier post, where he writes "We're doing a lot on health-care reform this year, but we're not doing that much. And we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking otherwise. We'll be back at this again, and soon." Define soon, Ezra. The problem for the Senate bill proponents is the bill really is almost nothing in terms of reform. The undiluted progressive good in the bill is the expansion of Medicaid. Want to sell the bill to progressives? Stick to that point. The rest of the bill is not convincing at all.

Speaking for me only

Greg Sargent has the transcript:

QUESTION: Let’s talk bonuses for a minute: Lloyd Blankfein, $9 million; Jamie Dimon, $17 million. Now, granted, those were in stock and less than what some had expected. But are those numbers okay?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, first of all, I know both those guys. They’re very savvy businessmen. And I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That’s part of the free market system. I do think that the compensation packages that we’ve seen over the last decade at least have not matched up always to performance. I think that shareholders oftentimes have not had any significant say in the pay structures for CEOs.

[MORE . . .]

I had my fun with some Village bloggers regarding their arguments defending President Obama as not being able to control the Congress, so I must admit to an internal chuckle when I read this from Ezra Klein today:

Bush had this right. In his first year in office, he was using recess appointments and running major legislation through the reconciliation process. That normalized those moves for the rest of his administration. Using those tools wasn't a story. The Obama White House, by contrast, is holding those moves in reserve, which has allowed Republicans to paint them as extraordinary measures. But they're not extraordinary measures. They're basic elements of governance in an era of polarization and procedural obstructionism, and the White House should treat them that way.

Now he tells us. For a year, he told us Obama could not do such things. Well, better late than never.

Speaking for me only

Jon Chait writes:

The left has often played a destructive role in the health care saga, ultimately helping convince many liberals that the health care bill currently fighting for its life is a worthless compromise not worth fighting for.

The other day, Kevin Drum took the same line. Indeed, it is the consensus Village Dem line.

I do not understand the point anymore. Whether you think the Senate bill is the "most progressive legislation since 1965" (the Villagers) or just marginally better than the status quo (me), it simply is not very persuasive or helpful to attack the people you want to help you pass that bill. The irony in all this is that the folks they need to convince - the unions - do not care what "the Left" thinks, or what the Village thinks or any of this. They want the excise tax fixed. And if that does not happen, they will oppose the Senate bill. Why is this political reality never absorbed? Rahm Emanuel said "'There are no liberals left to get' in the Senate[.]" Perhaps so, but he needs to get "liberals" in the House. And that won't happen without union support. That is the political reality.

Speaking for me only

Last night I flew from Florida to a winter wonderland in New York. Ugh.

This is an Open Thread.

BTD is traveling. I'm still working.

What's on TV tonight? The Hollywood rounds begin on American Idol and Ellen DeGeneres debuts as a show co-host. It's Jay Leno's last prime time show, will anyone notice?

There's also Lost (which I don't watch) and The Good Wife.

In other news, Radley Balko writes of the 250th DNA exoneration and asks, how many more innocents in prison are there?

Is Iran bluffing? Sure sounds like it.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld San Francisco's policy of strip-searching arrestees without individualized suspicion they were concealing contraband. The opinion is here.

"The record reveals a pervasive and serious problem with contraband inside San Francisco's jails, as well as numerous instances in which contraband was found during a search, indicating that arrestees' use of body cavities as a method of smuggling drugs, weapons, and items used to escape custody is an immediate and troubling problem for San Francisco jail administrators," Ikuta wrote for the majority. She said the policy was reasonably adopted by the jail for "maintaining security for inmates and employees by preventing contraband smuggling."

..."[W]e conclude that San Francisco's policy requiring strip searches of all arrestees classified for custodial housing in the general population was facially reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, notwithstanding the lack of individualized reasonable suspicion as to the individuals searched."

Hopefully the case will now get to the Supreme Court as other federal districts disagree. In fact, even the Supreme Court this year put some limits on strip searches. [More...]

Mohammed Zazi, the father of Najibullah Zazi, pleaded not guilty to a charge he conspired to obstruct the grand jury investigation into his son's alleged terror-related activities. According to the Indictment, the object of the conspiracy was to destroy or conceal items such as glasses and chemicals to impair their availability to the grand jury.

Mr. Zazi was ordered held without bond today, but the Judge said his lawyers could reopen the matter and submit a bond application and package either to the Magistrate Judge or the District Court Judge. His lawyer said she had not prepared a bond package, probably because she had just been appointed. The Judge did not detain Mr. Zazi as a danger to the community, only as a flight risk, since he hadn't presented sufficient sureties to assure his future appearance. (Order here, Minutes of hearing here.) [More...]

I'm busy at work today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former NY Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik is scheduled to be sentenced in a few weeks on his guilty plea to various tax offenses and false statement charges. Both sides filed lengthy sentencing statements yesterday.

Both parties have agreed to a guideline sentence in the range of 27 to 33 months. The Government is clearly hoping for the max of 33 months. Bernie is asking for 27 months.

Having read through the Government's 61 page sentencing memo and Bernie's (234 pages, including many letters), I have to wonder why the Government is making such a big fuss over 6 months. By pleading guilty, he saved the Government an enormous expense of time and resources that would have been required for a trial that would have lasted many months.

The case is largely based on the same conduct to which he pleaded guilty in the Bronx, and received no jail time. [More..]