John Edwards will announce a plan against terrorism tomorrow.

The former North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential candidate is planning to propose creating a "Counterterrorism and Intelligence Treaty Organization." This would serve as a kind of modern-day NATO, giving member countries a way to better track terrorists' communications, recruiting and financing, on the theory that breaking up plots requires cross-border cooperation, as shown in Germany's foiling of an alleged plot this week.

....The new structure is needed, say those advising Edwards, given that NATO does not include many countries in which Islamic terrorists operate, and given that other international bodies, such as the UN and Interpol, include countries that have contributed to the world terror threat. To belong to the new international body, countries would have to pledge to tough criteria for pursuing extremists or terrorism financing within their own borders, and nations that declined to take part would be singled out, which could encourage more assistance from nations such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Edwards's advisers say.

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Michelle Obama has an interview in Glamour magazine. Do we really need to know this?

In an interview with Glamour magazine, Michelle Obama reveals that her husband, Barack, is so “snore-y and stinky” when he wakes up in the morning that their daughters won’t crawl into bed with him.

Context:

Referring to their daughters, Mrs. Obama says: “We have this ritual in the morning. They come in my bed, and Dad isn’t there — because he’s too snore-y and stinky, they don’t want to ever get into bed with him. But we cuddle up and we talk about everything from what is a period to the big topic of when we get a dog: what kind?”

Mrs. Obama thinks these sorts of disclosures will prevent Obama from being deified and then knocked down. I think it's information I'd rather not know.

I'd also rather not wonder whether the comment means they sleep in separate beds ("my bed" -- "he's not there") -- some things should stay private and that's one of them.

Update: Glamour Magazine has "corrected" the quote from Mrs. Obama, adding the word "if", which eliminates the interpretation that they sleep in separate beds. See below:

Rudy Giuliani is promising to appoint conservative, "strict constructionist" judges if elected. Who's helping him decide who they should be? Ted Olson and Miguel Estrada.

Giuliani has even created a Justice Advisory Committee populated by bright conservative lights including former Bush solicitor general Theodore Olson as the committee's chairman; Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi, a Northwestern University law professor; and Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada, who was denied a federal appeals court bid in 2003 because Democrats feared he was too conservative

He's also courting the Federalist Society. Anyone who thinks Ted Olson wouldn't run a partisan Department of Justice if appointed Attorney General should think again.

Olson was in the room at the first meeting of the Federalist Society in 1982....The idea was to launch a counter-cultural legal movement in which conservative lawyers and scholars would roll back what they viewed as the excessive intrusion of judges into American life.

....The plan was to sow talented conservatives at every level of the federal judiciary and ultimately gain a foothold at the Supreme Court. "That was very much on our minds," Olson said.

I don't have much interest in the Republican debate (I'll be watching former President Clinton on Larry King Live)but I think it's telling that Fred Thompson is skipping the debate and will appear on the Tonight Show instead to announce his candidacy.

He's been losing staffers in droves. New Hampshire voters don't sound pleased they're being snubbed:

"There is a genuine interest in Senator Thompson here, a real curiosity about him," New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen said Tuesday. "But that curiosity is giving way to skepticism and maybe even cynicism about him in part because of how he's handling his grand entrance. For him to then go on Jay Leno the same night and be trading jokes while other candidates are having a substantive discussion on issues is not going to be missed by New Hampshire voters."

The other candidates have an 8 month lead on him and more money.

I don't think any Republican candidate has warmed the hearts and minds of voters. Not that I'm complaining.

Sen. John McCain, who thankfully appears to have little chance of winning his party's nomination, let alone the Presidency, is now advocating stepping up the domestic war on drugs.

We are creating the demand. We are creating the demand for these drugs coming across our border, which maybe means that we should go back more trying to make some progress and in telling Americans, particularly young Americans, that the use of drugs is a terrible thing for them to do," he said.

Yes, lets jail some more non-violent drug offenders, that will work. (strong sarcasm.)

I think I have been the most virulently anti-Castro "progressive" (I'm a centrist remember?) blogger you'll find. So, if you read Steve Clemons, you'd think I would favor Hillary Clinton's stance:

Hillary Clinton has stated quite clearly that she is content to stick with past policies -- those of President Bush -- when it comes to Cuba.

You'd be wrong. I oppose the embargo. I prefer Chris Dodd's approach; on the merits:

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson has had his problems with expressing his views on gays. Today, in commenting on Sen. Larry Craig's resignation, he stepped in it again.

I remember him fondly. But he did the right thing (by resigning). He obviously did a terrible thing.

Wow. I'd expect that comment from a Republican, family values guy, but from a progressive Democrat? If that's how he views gay sex, he's going to have an even bigger problem with the gay community than he did before.

The Chicago Tribune has an interview with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. It sounds like he's supporting Barack Obama:

If it's a national poll, Hillary Clinton will always run ahead of Barack Obama. Even though we [Illinoisans] know Barack personally, and his kids' names and everything, only 60 percent of Americans do. Now go to the states where they're working and you'll find that the polling is much closer between the two of them and Barack at this point is either tied or ahead in most of these states.

So I feel good about it. I would say at this point that he still has that magic. He is bringing the fortysomethings in as John Kennedy did in '60. It's not just the volunteers and the voters, but it's a lot of business people and community leaders who are in that age range [and] who think it's their turn. And that's good for us.

While Hillary, Al Franken, Bill Richardson and others are returning Norman Hsu's campaign contributions, Obama is not.

Hsu also made donations to the Illinois senatorial campaign of Barack Obama in 2004. Yesterday, spokesman Jen Psaki said Obama, who has criticized Clinton for taking contributions that could undermine her independence, had no plans to return Hsu's donations.

I'm not going to criticize Obama for not returning the money. I think returning it was premature since it hasn't been determined there is anything illegal about the donations and as I said here, felons should be encouraged to participate in the political process, particularly after they've served their time (yes, I know Hsu doesn't fall in that category but his crime was 15 years ago and he's been law-abiding since.)

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Looks like the outstanding California arrest warrant for Norman Hsu was the breaking point for Hillary Clinton and other Democrats' campaigns. They are giving his donations to charity.

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said the $23,000 included contributions from Hsu to Clinton's presidential campaign, her Senate re-election and her political action committee. The campaign did not plan to return any money Hsu raised from other donors, Singer said.

"In light of the information regarding Mr. Hsu's outstanding warrant in California we will be giving his contribution to charity," Singer said.

Also divesting themselves of Hsu's funds: Al Franken and Rep. Michael Honda of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania. I expect that Obama's campaign will make a similar statement:

Federal Election Commission records show that Hsu has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. Though a fundraiser for Clinton, he also donated to Sen. Barack Obama's Senate campaign in 2004 and to Obama's political action committee.

One note: The money is not being returned because the contributions were illegal. It's being returned because of Hsu's criminal conviction.

As Rep. Honda's spokeswoman said,

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After yesterday's Wall St. Journal article on fundraising bundler Norman Hsu who is a big contributor this year to Hillary Clinton and who has contributed to many other Democrats in the past three years, his lawyer responded and the media got its interest piqued.

There's still no indication there are any problems with Hsu's political contributions or activities, which began about three years ago, but the LA Times is reporting a "teaser" for a story today that Hsu pleaded guilty to grand theft and agreed to serve a three year prison sentence, but never showed up, making him a fugitive.

I did check California's criminal records database and there are entries in San Mateo County for San Francisco Municipal Court and Redwoods Superior Court for a Norman Hsu....back in 1991. No other details are included.

Hsu's lawyer says he has no recollection of pleading guilty or agreeing to prison time.

Today the Journal follows through, apparently not knowing about the criminal charges, and explains why "bundling" is a legal practice:

It is legal for individuals to ask friends, colleagues and family members to make donations to political candidates, though not to reimburse people for such donations.

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Rudy Giuliani will be speaking at the sixth anniversary remembrance of 9/11, but not everyone is thrilled, to put it mildly:

"He's cashing in on 9/11 like it's his own personal tragedy. It's a photo op on a campaign swing for him," said Jimmy Riches, a deputy fire chief whose son was among the 343 firefighters killed.

Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was also killed, said she was stunned that the city would ask a presidential candidate to speak there.

"They should have every other single presidential candidate then, because this is outrageous," Regenhard said. "This is going to be seen across the country as a blanket endorsement from us. It's totally inappropriate."

If, as the organizers say, he'll merely be reading aloud from a text, that's one thing. If he gives a speech and mentions his candidacy for President, I hope he gets booed off the stage.