judges love terrorists.

* cannon has an intriguing, speculative post about Duke Cunningham. He ends thusly:

"First, we cannot be sure that the secret program mentioned in (Duke's) letter has any direct relationship to Cunningham's dealings with "foreign nationals," or with MZM's bizarre foray into the world of office furnishings. But the human mind naturally works in a connect-the-dots fashion. Was someone in the USAF spying on the White House? Is someone in the USAF sharing information with either Israel or some other Middle Eastern nation?

Or should we place the "Air Force" secret and the "foreign nationals" secret in two separate categories?"

With any luck, we may have another piece of that puzzle in the next day or two. Watch this space.

* Today, everyone is pointing to my post from the other day about Foleybeing a longtime Bush family friend. Cannon, Buzzflash, Americablog for starters.

* nyt:

"Lynne F. Stewart, the radical defense lawyer, was sentenced yesterday to two years and four months in prison on charges that she smuggled messages from an imprisoned terrorist client to his violent followers in Egypt.

The sentence, handed down by Judge John G. Koeltl in Federal District Court in Manhattan, was significantly lower than the 30 years sought by prosecutors. He cited the service Ms. Stewart, who is 67, had provided in her three-decade career as a government-appointed lawyer for unsavory criminals and penniless outcasts.

The judge allowed her to remain free on bail while a higher court hears her appeal, saying there was a possibility that her conviction might be overturned."

judges love terrorists. amy goodman on this story today and yesterday

* laura has a new piece in Prospect on Weldon:

"Since presumably the FBI has more investigatory powers than The Los Angeles Times, and many of the facts of the case were available anyhow in public records, one does have reason to wonder if something new came to light that prompted the impaneling of the grand jury in May.
[]
But a Washington lobbying expert who asked to speak on background has another theory: someone cooperating with the Justice Department on another matter might have tipped them off to Weldon. That person: Jack Abramoff.

“I think that Abramoff told them that his Russian clients told him this Russian company [Itera] had an in with Weldon,” he said. “The info provided by Abramoff would have been sufficient for the FBI to get a warrant for the wiretaps.”"

* bowers:

" I am starting to wonder if any Republican seats, apart from the ten where we did not field challengers, are safe. "

* soros:

Unfortunately, the "war on terror" metaphor was uncritically accepted by the American public as the obvious response to 9/11. It is now widely admitted that the invasion of Iraq was a blunder. But the war on terror remains the frame into which American policy has to fit. Most Democratic politicians subscribe to it for fear of being tagged as weak on defense."

* rimone went to london, came home with stories. go read.

* mike whitney:

"It seems improbable that Bush would allow a takeover in the House and Senate knowing that unpleasant investigations into 9-11, war crimes, and executive abuses of power could quickly follow.

So, what's he up to?

Who knows? But we do know that the present occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. are high-stakes gamblers who are bound to roll-the-dice to keep their chestnuts out of the bonfire.

Something is bound to snap, and fairly soon, too. Bush and Cheney didn't assemble all the levers of tyrannical rule (including the repeal of habeas corpus, due process, and the laws banning cruel and unusual punishment) just to transfer that authority to Democratic leaders in the congress. That simply won't happen.
[]
Nothing in the present Bush-system is transferable. It is a "one-shot deal" tailor-made for fanatical neocons, who play for keeps.

Winner take all.

I have no idea what the Bush troupe is planning, but we'll all have a better idea by November 7; so, buckle up!"