Clinton supporters still at it:

Hillary Clinton supporters will march through Denver during the Democratic National Convention to show appreciation for the New York senator's historic primary run and urge the party to place her name in nomination.

The city issued a permit Tuesday to Colorado Women Count/Women Vote for a parade on Aug. 26 - the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage and the date Clinton is rumored to be speaking at the DNC.

The group also will team with 18 Million Voices, a national organization of Clinton supporters, for a rally in a yet-to-be-determined Denver park.

"We just want to celebrate Hillary's accomplishments and what she's done for the country as a whole and women in particular," said Katherine Vincent, 55, of Louisville, who is organizing the parade and rally.

Vincent is among those passionate followers who believe Clinton's delegates have a right to vote for her at the convention.

Best Democratic primary ev-- ah, hell, you know the drill.

More: Howard Fineman discusses Obama's troubles with the Clintons:

On Tuesday, I was on the phone with one of Hillary ClintonÂ’s leading fundraisers, a woman who agreed to speak with me only if I promised not to name names.

She was on vacation along the coast of New England, and was telling me that she and her wealthy, well-connected Hillary-loving friends remain mystified and annoyed.

"ItÂ’s not that weÂ’re being dismissed," she said. "The Obama people are perfectly happy to have our support. But their attitude seems to be, 'we can win without you.' And I guess thatÂ’s why none of us is going from rah-rah Hillary to rah-rah Obama."

Go read the whole thing. Ponder especially why we're hearing so much about Dick Cheney not speaking at the GOP convention and nothing about how Bill Clinton, a popular (for them) former president, has no role set for the Denver convention.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:07 AM | Comments (30)
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Here's a story combining two popular recent posts: an Ohio death row inmate says that it would be unconstitutional to kill him by lethal injection because he is overweight. Conveniently, lethal injection is the sole method of capital punishment in Ohio.

Cooey's public-defender attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday contending that his weight, the difficulty of finding veins suitable for lethal injection, and a drug he's taking for migraines and seizures mean that Cooey might suffer "unnecessary pain in the execution of the death sentence."

The lawsuit said that would violate Cooey's constitutional rights.

Cooey, 41, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 275 pounds on May 19, the last time he was on the scale at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. A prison official said Cooey has gained weight in the past two months.

It sounds to me like the answer is to put Cooey on a crash diet. They have until October 14 to find a vein.

(h/t Jonathan Adler at Volokh Conspiracy.)

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:32 AM | Comments (46)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:47 AM | Comments (13)
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Slublog says Fox News is reporting a guilty verdict.

CNN says split verdict...guilty on providing material support for terrorists, not guilty on conspiracy to intend to carry out an attack.

A U.S. military jury found Osama Bin Laden's former driver guilty of five counts of material support to a terror organization in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In a split verdict, jurors found Salim Hamdan not guilty of conspiracy to aid a terror organization, in this case al Qaeda.

The panel of six U.S. military officers began deliberating charges in the terror trial Monday, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

The trial is being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility where he is being held.

Prosecutors allege that Hamdan, who was picked up in November 2001 in Afghanistan, overheard conversations about 9/11 and had other information that showed he was part of Osama bin Laden's inner circle and aided and abetted the attacks.

But the defense said Hamdan was a low-level driver who knew little about the workings of bin Laden's al Qaeda network. They said he worked for wages, not to wage attacks against America. He pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.

(I've updated the blockquote to reflect the new information added by CNN at the same link.)

Original post below the fold. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 06:28 AM | Comments (17)
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Texas executed convicted murderer Jose Medellin this evening after a three hour delay while the Supreme Court reconsidered his case. The court voted 5-4, usual suspects, to allow the execution to proceed (PDF). Justice Stevens switched from his agreement with Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and Alito in Medellin v. Texas (PDF), which was decided just five months ago.

Medellin's case took on international significance after the World Court (to which the U.S. is a party) ruled that his execution should not proceed. Medellin, a Mexican national, was properly convicted under the statues of Texas and in compliance with the Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. However, he was not afforded the proper procedural protections under various treaties the U.S. has signed and ratified. The Supreme Court's March decision held that those treaties were not self-executing and could not be applied to the State of Texas absent some federal enabling legislation (legislation which has not been forthcoming in the five months since the decision).

Just after it was handed down, I wrote about Medellin v. Texas and the case's importance to the War on Terror. I'm as grateful now that Chief Justice Roberts is on the court as I was then.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:12 PM | Comments (214)
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Paris Hilton cut a Funny or Die clip, announcing her bid for presidency. She proposed both expanded drilling (with environmental safeguards) and tax incentives for alternate energy development.

She pitched this (or rather her writers pitched this) as a sensible "All of the Above" alternative to Obama's and McCain's plans.

Trouble is, it's not an alternative to McCain's plan; it's actually McCain's plan (as well as the plan of the Republicans generally).

In the unkindest cut of all, McCain’s spokesperson Tucker Bounds tells TMZ that on the subject of energy, Paris is deeper than Barack. He says, “Sounds like Paris is taking the ‘All of the Above’ energy approach that John McCain has advocated — both alternatives and drilling. Perhaps the reality is that Paris has a more substantive energy plan than Barack Obama.”

Winner: McCain. Runner-up: Paris Hilton.

Loser: Obama.

In related news, Paris Hilton immediately accused herself of stirring up racial fears of miscegenation by even mentioning Obama by name.

Takeaway: Even leftwing comedy writers, hopelessly in the bag for Barack Obama, struggle to find any sense in Obama's doctrinaire no drilling, no way policy.

And they're trying to support him, mind you. But when they try to support him, they wind up endorsing Republican energy policy.

Posted by: Ace at 05:38 PM | Comments (74)
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Patriotism questioned? Check.

Find out where he lives. Find out where his office is. If you've got some chutzpah - which is a word that you don't hear often - if you've really got it, find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is; picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time. They can't take the heat; deliver it to them. We have to stop laying down to these injustices.

The prosecutor's crime, once again, is compelling terrorist Sami Al-Arian to give up what he knows about Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, two terrorist organizations he was a top leader in.

Posted by: Ace at 05:20 PM | Comments (53)
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No, really.

TV's biggest names are doing what they can to combat the worst economic slump in 80 years.

...

"We're not using water bottles at home any more," says Kate Walsh of ABC's "Private Practice." "We're drinking out of the tap."

...

"We are not taking a vacation this year," says Valerie Bertinelli, star of the upcoming Lifetime original movie "True Confessions of A Hollywood Starlet."

...

Actors have taken it especially hard in the wallet this year. The recent four-month Hollywood writers' strike cost the entertainment industry more than $500 million, according to a recent report.

"I think we really need to rethink how we spend our money," says Carnie Wilson, who appears in the upcoming reality series "Outsiders Inn."

"I don't know how to make gas prices drop," she says. "But I can try to control how many things I buy at Target for f-k sake! I go crazy there."

As Hard News Man Dan Rather suggested: Courage.

In related news, John Edwards and Reille Hunter are being forced to economize on hotel amenities used during late-night trysts. "Just bring your own pornography and bi-curious erotica to the room," the former presidential contender suggests. "It's not like that $20.00 'Adult Movie Package' is so great or anything. Frankly, in a lot of hotels, they cut out the good parts, and by 'the good parts,' I mean busty she-males with rock-hard pneumatic he-throbbers."

Even Al Gore is Economizing: Note his James Bond Archvillain Level houseboat does not have the standard-issue James Bond Archvillain helipad.

Thanks to DrewM for that.

Even More Economizing! George Clooney's fundraiser for fellow Hollywood celebrity Barack Obama will be held in downscale Geneva, Switzerland, rather than in ritzy Cleveland, where the event was originally booked.

Oh, I can't wait to hear Hollywood's elites whining about global warming from Geneva in an event that could easily have taken place in Burbank.

Via Hot Air.

And Yet Some Persevere: Marget Cho to star in series about supermodel who dies and is reincarnated in body of frumpy lawyer.

Here's the sad news: Although Cho would have been just plum terrific at playing frumpy, she actually gets to play the lawyer's... assistant.

Perhaps we should stop talking so much about Hollywood's Blacklist and instead talk about its Whitelist -- archliberal/leftist industry favorites, such as Cho and George Clooney, who just keep getting work no matter how many times they fail to draw an audience.

Thanks to DPUD.

Posted by: Ace at 02:43 PM | Comments (74)
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TheBronze wrote this about the Republicans and their energy agenda:

They'll get to the 5-yard-line and fumble the ball, just like they always do.

I responded, and since I've wanted to write this for a while, I'm moving it up to a post:

I think discontent with Republicans by Republicans confuses two different things:

1) They're doing all the wrong things, ergo, they're posers undeserving of our votes.

2) They're not winning -- ergo, they're losers undeserving of our votes.

Let's not let #2 get confused with #1. No one likes a loser, of course, but if Republicans are doing the *right* things for once (at least in a few areas -- and they are), let's give them a break on being hapless losers who couldn't score with the public if it collectively sat on their faces.

Bear in mind, for a long time (1994-2004) Republicans seemed incapable of *losing,* no matter how hard they tried to, no matter how much they sold out and indulged in corruption and RINOism. They had a groove for a while; they could get it back.

Doing so begins with doing the right things -- which they are.

Or at least some of them are doing the right things in some situations.

It's important to separate complaints about the GOP (or any party) into the two different categories. Pursuing proper policy and politics is within their control: If they fail here, it's entirely on them, and they deserve to be castigated.

But actually succeeding at elections, and convincing a majority of Americans to vote for them, is not entirely within their control, not by a long shot. Not only do they have the media against them, and a dimwitted public which apparently believes they're still the congressional incumbent party, and an ailing economy (which hurts because, well, the dimwitted public wrongly thinks they're setting the congressional economic agenda), they also have the legacy of corruption to handle-- past sins which they might or might not handle properly going forward, but even if they do remake themselves as the real reform party, they're still going to have the weight of Craig and Stevens and Foley around their necks.

Also, it has to be noted: To win electorally when the environment is so very anti-Republican and anti-conservative would require them to tack even further to the left, most likely. (Or at least that's one possible solution.) So let's keep in mind that pursuing conservative solutions and winning elections are not always compatible goals, and while of course we'd prefer both, sometimes we have to choose between them.

The Republicans have been on a three year losing streak. This year may very well be a fourth. And that losing streak might extend ten years into the future.

But let's be careful about holding their failure to win elections against them too much. Certainly we ought not praise them for losing elections, but we also have to remember that winning, we mostly believe, begins with pursuing the right policies in the right way.

And if the GOP is finally showing some signs of actual conservativism, let's give them a break.

It might be they're backing into conservative appeals only because they have nothing else to try. Even so, however they got here, perhaps just out of desperation and cynicism, let's welcome them back.

Posted by: Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (69)
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The only surprise here is, "Why on earth would House Democratic aids admit the obvious?"

California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle.

But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes sheÂ’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill.

Pelosi’s gambit rests on one big assumption: that Democrats will own Washington after the election and will be able to craft a sweeping energy policy that is heavy on conservation and fuel alternatives while allowing for some new oil drilling. Democrats see no need to make major concessions on energy policy with a party poised to lose seats in both chambers in just three months — even if recess-averse Republicans continue to pound away on the issue.

...

Democratic House aides say the energy agenda has been carefully gamed out in strategy sessions, and Pelosi always intended to take heat on gas prices while tacitly encouraging more vulnerable Democrats to publicly disagree with her and show their independence.

...

To some extent, House Republicans seem to be playing right along with the strategy, taking PelosiÂ’s name in vain dozens of times during their rebel House sessions over the past few days and making her the villain who wonÂ’t allow oil drilling votes.

But that last part is changing. I wrote about this transparent bit of Kabuki last week, noting that of course vulnerable Dems would pretend to be in favor of drilling, while permitting Pelosi to block actual votes. I also wrote, possibly incorrectly, that they'd get away with it, because I thought there was nothing tangible these Kabuki Democrats could be expected to do to show they were really pro-drilling rather than merely pro-reelection.

I may have been wrong about that last point. Minority Leader Boehner says there is something they can do -- sign a discharge petition to force the drilling bills to the floor over Pelosi's objection.

“My message to Democratic lawmakers is this: if you’re really for increased American energy production, then prove it by putting it in writing. Sign the discharge petitions House Republicans are circulating that will force votes on energy legislation Speaker Pelosi refuses to bring to the floor. And sign onto the American Energy Act, our ‘all of the above’ plan to increase conservation, innovation, and American energy production, instead of doing the Speaker’s bidding by voting against bringing it to a vote. If you aren’t willing to put it in writing, you’re fooling no one. You’re siding with the Speaker of the Drill-Nothing Congress and radical special interests that favor higher gas prices, at the expense of energy-strapped American families.”

“This cynical strategy is disgustingly dishonest. Without any real solutions to help Americans who are struggling with record-high gas prices, it appears the Democratic leadership has hit on a new plan: deceive. Deceive the press, deceive its members, and deceive the American people. Democratic members have a ‘pass’ from their leaders to talk about drilling at home, while the liberal Democratic leadership – which is beholden to special interests that want higher gas prices – plays ‘rope-a-dope’ back in Washington, ensuring there is no vote to help the American people before November. It’s cynical, dishonest, and wrong – and it won’t work.”

It will work, actually, unless Republicans not only turn the amplifiers up to 11 on this, but keep them at 11. The media will obviously assist Pelosi and the Kabuki "moderates" by pretending there's nothing these poor "moderate" Democrats can do to force the issue. The media will not discuss discharge petitions, nor will they discuss the cynical fraud being perpetrated on the public here. The only way to get this out to the public at all is to run ads on it, talk about it every single day, dropping just about every issue in favor of this one.

Either break the Pelosi one-woman-veto or expose the "moderate," "pro-energy" Democrats as liars subverting the national interest in favor of their own personal and party interests. One way or the other, the GOP must win on this issue to even have a chance of a fair showing in November.

Everything rides on this -- everything. Pelosi knows that. So do her "moderate" Democratic coconspirators. The Republicans had better know it too, and act like they know it.

Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM | Comments (22)
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