Stage 7 of the Tour de France is going on today, ending at the summit of Arcalis in the Pyrenees. You can watch online here. UPDATE - Contador proves he is the man of this Tour, even though he is not yet wearing the yellow jersey. He sprints away from Armstrong and all the other main contenders at the summit. With 2 more days in the Pyrenees, Contador will likely be the Maillot Jaune in the next days and at the end of the Tour.

In other news, the NYTimes endorses the BTD Plan (snark) for the Honduran crisis.

This is an Open Thread.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, asked whether criticisms of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's intelligence and attitude are gender-based, gave this spot-on answer:

I can’t say that it was just that she was a woman. There are some people in Congress who would criticize severely anyone President Obama nominated. They’ll seize on any handle. One is that she’s a woman, another is that she made the remark about Latina women. [In 2001 Sotomayor said: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”] And I thought it was ridiculous for them to make a big deal out of that. Think of how many times you’ve said something that you didn’t get out quite right, and you would edit your statement if you could. I’m sure she meant no more than what I mean when I say: Yes, women bring a different life experience to the table. All of our differences make the conference better. That I’m a woman, that’s part of it, that I’m Jewish, that’s part of it, that I grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and I went to summer camp in the Adirondacks, all these things are part of me.

The importance of judicial diversity is exactly the point conservatives refuse to acknowledge when they contend that only conservative judges (who not coincidentally are overwhelmingly white males) "follow the law." [more ...]

We're grilling tequila lime chicken and watching Weeds (tivo'd from Monday) tonight.

For the one or two readers who watch The Bachelorette, don't miss Reality Steve’s interview of Wes Hayden (podcast link here). He's not the villain ABC has portrayed him to be.

What are you all doing and thinking about? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Bernie Madoff's lawyer has confirmed that Bernie won't appeal his 150 year sentence. He thinks any sentence Bernie would get, even under the guidelines, would be a life sentence.

Can someone remind me what Bernie Madoff's lawyers' accomplished for him? He could have stayed with his wife in his apartment on bond for another year or two while fighting the case. He got no agreement that his family and friends wouldn't be investigated or charged. He and his wife gave up all his assets (except $2.5 million his wife gets to keep), including those that would have been difficult for the Government to prove were forfeitable, he got no sentence concession, no agreement on place of incarceration. And now they won't appeal the sentence.

What's left for Bernie? Any bets on whether he'll file a 2255 to overturn his guilty plea and sentence based on ineffective assistance of counsel? It wouldn't have a snowball's chance in h*ll but he's got a lot of time on his hands and a year to file it. As I've said a few times, what more could the Government have done to him --we don't have life plus cancer as a penalty (yet.)

This is pretty funny. Officials at Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado have turned down an inmate's request to read the two books written by President Obama. Why?

The federal government's most secure prison has determined two books written by President Barack Obama contain material "potentially detrimental to national security" ....

What standards did the use to make the determination? Ones supplied by the F.B.I. Who requested the books?

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is serving a 30-year sentence at the federal supermax prison in Florence for joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush.

Here is one of the funniest dkos diaries and threads I have read in some time. I think that most of the humor is unintentional. I admit to uncertainty on that point.

There has been a lot of "news" on the Sotomayor confirmation that I have not written about. I have chosen not to because well, they are pretty much just staged endorsement rollouts by the Obama Administration that, to me at least, add nothing to the story. I know they are doing their political job on this, and good for them, but I have no interest in writing about press releases on endorsements. I will return to the Sotomayor confirmation story when the confirmation hearings start and hope to see a real discussion about judicial philosophies. That would be of interest to me.

One last thing, the Tour de France begins in earnest tomorrow in Stage 7 with the first trip into the mountains. Can Armstrong or anyone stay with Contador? I say no. We'll see.

This is an Open Thread.

Glenn Greenwald highlights a superb piece of reporting by McClatchey reporter Nancy Youssef on the injustices of the detention regime of the Bush Administration. But I was struck by this part of Greenwald's post:

It cannot be overstated how flimsy is the basis for so many accusations of "enemy combatant" status from the U.S. Government. Wakil is someone who -- as the Bush administration knew and admitted since as early as 2004 when it conducted a status review hearing -- actively opposed the Taliban and al Qaeda . . . Despite all of that, the Pentagon continued to keep him in a cage for four more years based on extremely vague associations that led them to insist that he was an "enemy combatant." . . .

This is one of the reasons why I support a preventive detention regime that complies with the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions (read here and here.) Greenwald rightfully disdains the thoughtless defenses of preventive detention after acquittal. More . . .

The Obama administration has asked Congress to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would increase access to financial services markets while protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices. It would also consolidate consumer protection responsibilities that are presently scattered among different financial industry regulators. Barney Frank introduced the legislation yesterday "with 12 Democratic co-sponsors but no Republicans."

Republicans who oppose the bill adhere to the conservative philosophy that government is the problem and that regulation is the root cause of all evil. At a hearing before a congressional committee yesterday: [more ...]

Tanya Eiserer has an interesting post in the Dallas Morning News crime blog. The post relates to a story she wrote about a Dallas police officer who pepper sprayed a man and a second officer who lied about it to internal affairs investigators. The two officers cooked up a story to explain the use of the pepper spray. A rookie officer who was also present failed to report the incident immediately because he feared retaliation. He eventually told investigators that he saw an officer pepper spray the man without provocation.

The officer who wielded the pepper spray explained why the rookie's account matched the victim's:

"Rookie officers interpret and see things differently than more mature veteran officers."

In other words, rookies in the Dallas Police Department haven't learned to lie to protect other officers. [more ...]

Julianne Moore was scheduled to play Hillary Clinton in the HBO film "The Special Relationship" which "chronicles the unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between newly installed British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s." A scheduling conflict forced her to drop out. She's being replaced by Hope Davis, who (to my eye at least) more closely resembles Hillary.

Bill Clinton will be played by Dennis Quaid, while Michael Sheen will take on (for the third time) the role of Tony Blair.

Arthur Whitfield could use some money. He served almost 22 years in prison for two rapes that occurred in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood. DNA testing recently ruled out his involvement. As is common, his wrongful conviction resulted from the victim's mistaken identification.

Whitfield's freedom is largely attributable to two government employees who deserve praise for doing their jobs well.

[more ...]

Big Tent Democrat wrote here about the Obama Administration's position on continued detention of detainees who may be acquitted.

There were two Guantanamo-related hearings this week. One was yesterday, before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The other was today, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The ACLU provided testimony at the second hearing, and reports on both. As to yesterday's hearing:

Justice Department official David Kris testified that the Due Process Clause of the Constitution should indeed apply to the commissions system. However, in other testimony, Defense Department official Jeh Johnson stated that the United States can continue to indefinitely hold detainees who have been acquitted of crimes.

[More....]