Funny enough we laughed out loud reading it. Wonkette definitely rules.

From last night's "Newsnight," Aaron Brown confesses:
Good evening again, everyone. We begin tonight with a confession: I dated John Edwards' wife. Well, not dated like plural, dated like singular. We went out to dinner. Well, we didn't actually go out to dinner. We went to a dinner, just the two of us -- and 2,000 other people. CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown; Aired July 6, 2004 [CNN]

Well, not dinner. More like a snack. And it wasn't really John Edwards's wife. It was this woman I met on the street. A prostitute, actually. Maybe I shouldn't go into detail like this.

[link via Xoverboard]

We'll be filling in for Atrios tonight at 8:30 ET on Air America Radio's Majority Report with Janeane Garafolo and Sam Seder. You can listen on the internet if the station doesn't broadcast in your area. The show has its own blog where you can leave comments.

Update: It was really fun to do the show. A half-hour went by like lightening. We got to bash the death penalty, Ashcroft, Bush's judicial picks--with no one arguing the other side. That's a first for us.

In other Air America Radio news, Eric of the Hamster is authoring the O'Franken blog this week. Excellent choice.

Bump: Joe Trippi's excellent book, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, hits the bookstores tomorrow. You can order at Amazon and get 32% off.

Joe Trippi, of course, is the man responsible for revolutionizing the way political candidates use the internet. As Howard Dean's campaign manager, Trippi launched the most impressive internet campaign in history, raising more than $50 million--mostly with donations of under $100. He also presided over the creation of Dean's incredible grass-roots organization which by the end, included 640,000 people.

Trippi's book is not just about the Dean campaign or the internet. He walks us into the future, with ideas on how businesses and government leaders, in fact, all Americans, can best use our most valuable tool--Democracy.

Trippi explains how internet democracy is transforming our way of life by evenly distributing power. He provides his list of "seven inviolable, irrefutable, ingenious things" businesses and institutions can do to rise to the top--or not.

Death on the 4th of July
The Story of a Killing, A Trial, and Hate Crime in America
by David Neiwert

Just released, it's time to order your copy. Journalist and Author David Neiwert is known to many as the writer of the blog Orcinus. Here's a snippet of what the book is about:

On July 4, 2000, Minh Hong and his twin brother, Hung, arrived in Ocean Shores, Wash., to celebrate the holiday. When they stopped at a convenience store to buy fireworks, they were met by a group of drunken young white men—who resembled skinheads—yelling racial slurs. A fight erupted, leaving the leader of the group of white men, Chris Kinison, dead. Minh Hong was charged with manslaughter for killing Kinison, and suddenly the victim of a hate crime became the suspect in a criminal trial. Freelance journalist Neiwert, who became acquainted with the Hong family through eating at their teriyaki shop in Seattle, provides a fast-paced account of the events surrounding this altercation and Hong's trial. The circumstances surrounding the events of that day divided the town, uncovering racist feelings below the thin veneer of smalltown sociability.

P.S. David advises us that TalkLeft is cited in the book in a footnote, we think it's for this post or this one in which we outlined our opposition to enhanced criminal penalties for hate crimes.

by TChris

Transcripts of a closed hearing in Kobe Bryant's case may soon enter the realm of public information. After a court reporter mistakenly emailed the transcripts to seven media organizations, District Judge Terry Ruckriegle ordered the organizations to destroy the transcripts without publishing their contents.

Now the Colorado Supreme Court is reminding Judge Ruckriegle that the First Amendment generally bars courts from imposing a prior restraint upon the press. Since Judge Ruckriegle's order not to publish the transcripts plainly constitutes a restraint against publication, the state supreme court wants him to justify the order. No explanation is likely to overcome the media's First Amendment right to report the news, even if a court meant to keep it behind closed doors.

Whether or not the transcripts are newsworthy, they certainly contain the kind of subject matter that sells newspapers.

The transcripts deal with attempts by Bryant's attorneys to introduce information about the accuser's sex life and about money she has received under the state Crime Victims Compensation program.

The supreme court will consider the legality of Judge Ruckriegle's order after July 7, the deadline for the media to reply to the judge's explanation.

by TChris

The best remedy for detested speech is the counterforce of opposing speech. More power, then, to the Michael Moore foes who want to showcase conservative documentaries at the American Film Renaissance (a/k/a The Right Wing Film Festival) in Dallas. Filmmakers bankrolled by some "big-time conservative donors" will show films like "Michael Moore Hates America" -- generating even more publicity for Michael Moore and his documentary as he hits the media to answer his critics. This is the way the marketplace of ideas is supposed to work, making the film festival a more reasoned response to Moore than the effort to suppress advertisement of his documentary reported yesterday.

Update (by TL): SKBubba saw Moore's film today and gives it a great review.

David Kelley's new reality show featuring lawyers trying cases is now casting:

Emmy Award-winning writer-producer David E. Kelley ("The Practice," "Ally McBeal," "L.A. Law") returns to NBC to create his first reality drama, in an eight-episode commitment that will feature competitive legal eagles.

NOW CASTING
Looking for smart, outgoing, and industrious men and women who are ready to argue real cases on this exciting new primetime show. You must be a member of the Bar Association in good standing and trial experience is a must. Contestants will compete for large cash prize.

Check out the application (pdf). As Smythesworld says, the qualifications are more rigorous than those for getting a job as a federal judge in the Bush Administration.

by TChris

Some supporters of the Bush administration are hoping that the Federal Elections Commission will overlook Michael Moore's constititutional right to free speech by banning broadcast advertising of his documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11.

In a draft advisory opinion placed on the FEC’s agenda for today’s meeting, the agency’s general counsel states that political documentary filmmakers may not air television or radio ads referring to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.

The FEC would presumably have no authority over ads for Fahrenheit 9/11 that don't mention Bush, but since the movie is about Bush, Moore would effectively be banned from running ads that tell the public what his movie is about. And Moore isn't the only documentary maker affected by the potential ruling.

The FEC ruling may also affect promotion of a slew of other upcoming political documentaries and films, such as “Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War,” which opens in August, “The Corporation,” about democratic institutions being subsumed by the corporate agenda, or “Silver City,” a recently finished film by John Sayles that criticizes the Bush administration.

The First Amendment prohibits the government from regulating the content of political documentaries. Should the government be entitled to prevent documentary makers from telling potential audiences what to expect from their films?

A lot of visitors are coming to TL from this page on Air America Radio which says that we will be on the Majority Report tonight, filling in for Atrios. Actually, we will be on the show July 7, not tonight. But welcome anyway, stick around a while, we hope you find us interesting.

This just in from NORML -- Place your Bid today!

You can own an original Doonesbury comic strip relating to medical marijuana while at the same time supporting NORML's marijuana law reform efforts. Click here to view and bid on the original comic strip. The comic strip's creator and longtime NORML supporter Garry Trudeau recently donated to NORML a funny-and poignant-original Doonesbury comic strip.

We feel grateful at NORML that since the early 1970's Garry has been a
major, and humorous, advocate for marijuana law reform via his award winning political cartoon. An original marijuana policy-specific Doonesbury comic is truly a collector's item! Do not delay because this NORML online auction only lasts until 12:30 PM Eastern on June 29.

If you're going to be in San Francisco this week, check out the new street art. The downtown area has been papered with 'got democracy?' posters, questioning U.S. policy in Iraq:

In the past five days, the posters have appeared mysteriously on walls and buildings across San Francisco. They feature the most enduring image of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal -- the Iraqi man, hooded, his hands tied with electrodes -- but this time, the prisoner is set against an American flag, and this time, the image is juxtaposed with a headline that reads, "got democracy?"

The poster is designed to make people question whether the United States is adhering to democratic ideals if American soldiers have been guilty of widespread prison abuse, if the Patriot Act continues to trample civil liberties, and if Washington continues to instigate questionable policies, says the poster's co-creator, San Francisco novelist Robert Mailer Anderson.

Here's the author's reasoning:

The New York Times got a copy of Bill Clinton's memoirs....here's their review.

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