Gee Thanks, Bernie

post from Firedoglake on 30 November 2007 09:15:59 PM. © Firedoglake

With friends like that: Bernard B. Kerik, who was Mr. Giuliani?s police commissioner when some of the charges were billed, said in an interview yesterday that the security detail?s travel expenses would normally come out of the Police Department?s[...]

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Conviction Reversed After Jurors Consult MySpace

post from TalkLeft on 30 November 2007 09:15:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Appellate courts often tell us that jurors are presumed to follow the trial court's instructions. Every now and then, reality intrudes. Jurors are always instructed to base their verdict on the law and evidence presented during the trial; they are not to consult sources of information outside the courtroom. That didn't stop jurors from trying to look up a witness' MySpace page in a sexual assault trial after hearing evidence about the page's content.

During the trial, the two jurors ended up looking for the home page of KJ, one of the alleged victims, whose mother had testified that she was withdrawn and not interested in older males.
The fact that KJ had a MySpace profile had come up during testimony. KJ had posted a comment on her page saying "remember my face because I'm going to be famous someday" and, according to the defense, used the account to communicate with older boys.

The bulk of the page had been restricted to invited friends by the time the jurors viewed it, but the West Virginia Supreme Court sensibly reversed the conviction to protect the integrity of the verdict.

more...

The court said:

We are mindful that the independent investigation conducted by two of the jurors did not bear fruit, which arguably lessens the prejudicial effect, but notwithstanding that fact, the mere fact that members of a jury in a serious felony case conducted any extrajudicial investigation on their own is gross juror misconduct which simply cannot be permitted. Without meaningful censure, failure to properly punish such behavior would encourage or allow its repetition. Given the independent investigation by these jurors and the fact that another juror advised that the alleged victims' testimony should be given more weight than that of the appellant contrary to the judge's instructions and our law, we have no choice but to vacate the appellant's convictions.

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C&L Book of the Month: Takeover: The Return of
the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy

post from Crooks and Liars on 30 November 2007 09:01:54 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy By Charlie Savage?Charlie Savage?s Takeover reads like a political thriller because it is one: the story of Dick Cheney and his hapless boss pushing the presidency off its constitutional foundation.?John W. Dean, former Nixon White House CounselIn Takeover, author Charlie Savage takes [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/30/cl-book-of-the-month-takeover-the-return
-of-the-imperial-presidency-and-the-subversion-of-american-democracy/

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I have a cell phone!

post from Talking in Circles on 30 November 2007 08:54:36 PM. © Talking in Circles

Yup, I’ve joined the 21st century. I have a shiny new Blackberry Pearl 8100 with the unlimited data plan from T-Mobile, and I’m loving it! I got GTalk and Opera Mini on it, and they both run great. The EDGE network is supposed to be slow, but I don’t really have any complaints. I love [...]

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Rahm, wheres the money for 0H-05

post from Crooks and Liars on 30 November 2007 08:20:59 PM. © Crooks and Liars

There’s been a bit of a struggle going on at the DCCC because many members want to help finance Robin Weirauch’s run in the special election on December 11th, but Rahm Emanuel is stubbornly opposed to opening up the wallet to help a grass roots progressive pick up a very winnable seat. Both Sherrod Brown [...]

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A Review of Bobby

post from THE LIBERAL JOURNAL on 30 November 2007 07:59:00 PM. © THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

I really wanted to watch Bobby in theatres. It was released almost exactly one year ago. But I hate going out in the winter months. In fact, if a movie is released after November 1 and before March 1, it is near certain that I didn?t see in the theatres. So I waited to catch it on DVD.

Now, Bobby didn?t do very well in the box office and got mixed reviews from critics. There are two real flaws to the film. The first is the number of characters and subplots?there were too many. The second was an inherent flaw, if one could call it that. It wasn?t a problem for me, but could be a problem for some: you almost have to be a liberal to appreciate it. I hope there were some conservatives who could look past this, but I know the impact it had on me was probably greater than it would have been if it was about someone I disagreed with politically.

From my perspective, the movie was similar to a baseball pitcher who gives up a couple of runs in the first inning, then gains his bearings in the middle innings, then throws nothing but strikes at the end.

The movie begins by cycling through a lot of different characters. At first, I found myself spotting actors more than paying attention to the movie. A ton of well known actors and celebrities were in the movie. (And I laughed when I first saw Ashton Kutcher play the role of a hippie.) It was very similar in style to the movie Crash, but it had even more subplots, making it harder to grasp. So the movie seemed to wander a bit in the first 30 minutes.

Also, some characters were absolutely unnecessary. Anthony Hopkins and Harry Belafonte played their two characters well, but their roles added little, if nothing, to the story. But the worst casting was director Emilio Estevez himself, playing a completely extraneous character, and looking very, very goofy in a mustache. As for the acting, almost everyone did a very good job?even teeny boppers Nick Cannon and Lindsey Lohan. However, I had a problem with Emilio, and even his real life father Martin Sheen, who appeared too happy to play a depressed character.

Despite these mistakes, Bobby still succeeds. By dividing the film into multiple storylines it achieved the objective of capturing a lot of the different themes of the time. Racism, sexism, 60s counterculture, voter suppression, the Vietnam War, even the lack of understanding of mental illnesses at the time are all brought out by the different characters and subplots of the film.

I knew the basic format of the story going in, but found myself wondering how they would actually tie Bobby Kennedy himself into the story. They only really do so at the very end. The individual storylines are kind of left hanging, but it doesn?t matter. The movie gets to its true purpose in going through the assassination moment by moment. The characters all become paralyzed by the moment, just as the viewer is. In a nice twist, some of the characters become part of the moment. I don?t want to spoil too much if you haven?t seen it but there?s also a reconciliation theme which I thought was very naturally brought out.

The movie moves in slow motion at the end. It had me in tears, and I can?t say many movies do that. You really captured everything Bobby Kennedy and his assassination stood for in a few minutes. In a way, the slow windup in the beginning was necessary to contrast to this emotional ending.

A movie strictly about Bobby Kennedy wouldn?t have given proper emphasis to these final words. And neither would a movie strictly about the characters. I can?t give the movie 5 stars because of the excessive characters, and Emilio selfishly inserting himself pretty much knocks this movie down a peg. But only a peg.

If you come in with high expectations for the character development, as you would with most other movies (which is why many criticized it), or are a staunch conservative, you simply won?t like it. For everyone else, I definitely recommend it.

I?d rate this movie:

4 out of 5 Antiwar Protests

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http://liberaljournal.blogspot.com/2007/12/review-of-bobby.html

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Crazy Evel is dead! Long live Evel!

post from Reality Frame on 30 November 2007 07:54:00 PM. © Reality Frame

Evel strapped into the X-1 Skycyle prior to his Snake River debacleEvel Knievel passed away yesterday at the age of 69.Even if you didn't buy into his particular brand of insanity (he set a world record for breaking 40 bones during the course of his career) you had to admire the man's ambition and stick-to-itivness; for instance, his attempt to leap the freaking Snake River on a

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-live-evel.html

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Republican NH Polls

On the Republican side, in addition to Fox News, there is also a new Rasmussen poll (881 LVs, 11/29, MOE +/-3%) and the ARG poll (600 LVs, Nov. 26-29) from earlier today, which I've included below as well. Here we have some seriously mixed messages[...]

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Countdowns Worst Persons: Robertson vs McCain vs
BillO

Download (115) | Play (136) Download (98) | Play (87) Pat Robertson took the Bronze award in Tuesday’s Worst Person in the World segment on Countdown, for telling a Rudy Giuliani supporter that yoga is eeevil. (who knew?) The Silver went to Senator John McCain for invoking Hitler during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate and the Gold went to the [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/30/countdowns-worst-persons-robertson-vs-mc
cain-vs-billo/

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From The Department Of Trussed Up Turkeys

I group wingnut blather that issues forth from reporters into two categories: (1) things they say because they're just repeating what conventional wisdom is in their circles, and (2) bullshit they know to be untrue but don't defy because that's the[...]

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/30/from-the-department-of-trussed-up-turkeys/

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