"Our strategy has been to allow this process to advance to the point where it made sense for the president to take the baton. Now's that time," said senior adviser David Axelrod. "I don't know whether he will Twitter or tweet. But he's going to be very, very visible." Another senior White House aide added: "It's time to raise the stakes on this."

Obama today:

A few weeks ago I stated that I believed Obama would go to the mat for health care reform. I think he is doing that.

Speaking for me only

Via Huffington Post and Mashable, Apple has approved a medical marijuana app for iPhones:

Apple has approved a new $2.99 iPhone app, aptly named Cannabis [iTunes link]. It’s made by the also appropriately-named Ajnag.com. The purpose of the app is to help locate legal medical marijuana in states and locations where it can be found. Will this app lead thousands of iPhone users to cannabis, or is it a tool of a movement in favor of marijuana legalization? The answer, surprisingly, is both:

CREW advises that tomorrow morning, Judge Emmett Sullivan will hear arguments in its FOIA lawsuit on whether Dick Cheney's FBI interview in the Valerie Plame leaks investigation should be released to the public.

On April 8, 2009, CREW requested that the Obama administration release the interview in light of President Obama’s oft-stated claims of a commitment to transparency and accountability and Attorney General Holder’s promise of a presumption of openness. The current administration has refused to release the interview, siding with the Bush administration in keeping secret a document that would shed light on the former vice president’s role in destroying Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert CIA career and jeopardizing the lives of others with whom she came in contact.

[More....]

Monday mornings usually bring good news stories. Maybe it's early yet, but here's what I'm seeing:

Vanity Fair puts its copy editors to work on Sarah Palin's resignation speech to show just how poorly written it was. The Boston Phoenix has a five page article on just how much money conservatives will throw at Sarah Palin.

Paula Abdul may not return to American Idol. (694 articles on it according to Google News.) Michael Jackson's mother may challenge the appointment of estate executors, Jackson's doctors may not be charged with murder and lots of people want to raise his kids (1,165 Google news articles).

If you're finding better things to talk about, or want to add to the list of news you could care less about, here's an open thread. I'm off to work and will be back later.

An hour after former President Bush signed the new FISA bill into law, the ACLU and other civil liberties groups filed a federal lawsuit in New York challenging it. Oral arguments will be heard Wednesday. (Received by e-mail, no link yet.)

The American Civil Liberties Union will be in court Wednesday for oral arguments in its landmark challenge to the unconstitutional FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which gives the government virtually unchecked power to intercept Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls. The ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop the government from spying under the FAA less than an hour after the Act was signed into law by President Bush on July 10, 2008. Recent news reports have indicated that the National Security Agency has exceeded the already overbroad limits granted to it under the FAA.

More...

The New York Times reports AOL, in its spinoff from its "disasterous" acquisition of Time Warner, is making significant changes and planning for a comeback.

Could it work? I'm one the few who still use AOL for e-mail. I started in 1996 and old habits die hard. While I also use gmail and prefer that for my law practice, I think AOL has some advantages for personal and blog-related e-mail. I'm not talking about the internet version but the version you install on your computer. (You can download it from their home page.) The installed version loads quicker and requires fewer clicks for mass actions -- like deleting mail with one click, without having to click a checkbox next to the items before you delete it.

One of AOL's new features is, get this, reduced ads on its site. [More...]

Who's got something to say? It's been a slow weekend for me.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Detroit corruption case that snagged Monica Conyers, wife of Rep. John Conyers, continues to grow. Political adviser Sam Riddle (well known in Colorado for his representation of the family of Isaiah Shoels, a student killed at Columbine) and his significant other, Mary Waters pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in federal court Thursday. The charges were expected and both have maintained their innocence, reportedly refusing to consider plea offers. Ms. Waters' attorney, Todd Flood, had a great line after court:

Asked how Waters is holding up, Flood replied, "She continues to inspire me."

Riddle said:

"I will not be a fall guy for the privileged or well-connected."

After his arraignment, he tweeted:

My arraignment in Fed Ct was intense-had to take deep breath to respond to judge. My lawyer David Stiengold w/30 years fed exp chills me out.”

Tom Watson goes for history - trying to become the oldest winner of a golf major, in this case the British Open. The final round at Turnberry (where Watson had his legendary (for golf fans anyway) duel with Nicklaus) is must watching for golf aficionados (Spanish is IN, as Larry Wilmore might say.) You can follow online here. One interesting sidebar - Watson's closest opponent, Englishman Ross Fisher, has said he will leave the final round if his wife goes into labor today (she is due apparently.) Interesting question - is he a mensch for doing this or a louse for playing the tournament in the first place?

The Tour de France heads to the Swiss Alps today with a mountain top finish. Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel (team manager of Astana, the Armstrong team (Contador is ostensibly the team leader, but Bruyneel is working for Armstrong)) spent the night deflecting criticism from George Hincapie. It seems not to have worked. The NYTImes late filing has this: "Rich Hincapie said that his brother was saddened that the Garmin-Slipstream team and Astana had been working out at the front of the pack Saturday, while the breakaway struggled to stay out front. . . . “I don’t think he has called the Astana guys or the Garmin guys to say anything, but there have been an awful lot of excuses flying around,” he said. “Why do they feel like they have to explain anything if they haven’t done anything wrong? They are obviously guilty or worried.”" Yep. Anyway, today's stage should be dramatic. You can watch it on Versus or online here.

Update - Contador explodes up the mountain. Demolishes the field. Takes yellow.

This is an Open Thread. You can even talk about politics or the criminal law if you like.

Congratulations to bloggers Chris Bowers (Open Left) and Natasha Chart who got married today.

Political adviser Joe Trippi has an apology up for having blogged without disclosing some of his professional relationships. It's very personal and more than he should have had to explain. I've always liked Joe, more than most of the candidates he represents, I hope this is a non-issue that blows over like yesterday.

McJoan at Daily Kos has a wrap-up of the week's Health Care Reform news.

Medical Marijuana is now bringing big bucks to the economy in California. And, you can order it and have it delivered as fast as a pizza. [More...]

The Wall St. Journal reports today that President Obama may be considering a big change in the way the U.S. interrogates high-value detainees.

The Obama administration is considering overhauling the way terror suspects are interrogated by creating a small team of professionals drawn from across the government, according to people familiar with a proposal that will be submitted to the White House.

The new unit, comprising members of spy services and law-enforcement agencies, would be used for so-called high-value detainees, they said. In a switch from Bush-era efforts, it wouldn't be run by the Central Intelligence Agency, though who might be in charge isn't specified.

Among the expected changes: [More...]

Reuters:

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya agreed on Saturday to give his enemies a share of power if he is allowed to return to office, but they rejected any deal that puts him back in the presidency. Zelaya, who was toppled in a military coup on June 28 and is in exile in neighboring Nicaragua, backed the proposal for a government of national reconciliation put forward by the mediator in talks aimed at ending Honduras' political crisis.

. . . Costa Rica's Nobel Peace Prize-winning president, Oscar Arias la[id] out seven points for discussion, including Zelaya's return to power to complete his term ending in January 2010 and the formation of a coalition government with all the country's political parties represented. Arias also proposed an amnesty for any political crimes committed after the coup and that Zelaya abandon his plans to hold a referendum on extending presidential terms. But a spokesman for Micheletti's interim government again insisted it will not allow Zelaya's return to power.

(Emphasis supplied.) Strange that. Seems the logical compromise. I wonder what is behind this refusal. Zelaya obviously has given up the dream of becoming the Honduran Chavez.

Speaking for me only