It sounds like Chris Christie’s loan to an AUSA in his office ought to count as a gift under federal ethics laws.

A few days ago I wrote about how bad legislation in the form of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 has turned federal juries and appellate courts into “death panels” by limiting and accelerating the appeal process, and thus the execution, of defendants in capital cases. The Supreme Court has just added to the voices against the Habeas limiting act by granting Troy Davis a new trial.

Does anyone thing it curious that Chris Christie gave the current First AUSA in the NJ Office a $46,000 personal loan?

There’s a keystone to understanding the story from David Johnston (who frequently regurgitates highly motivated leaks) and Mark Mazzetti (CIA’s guy at NYT) on Dusty Foggo’s role in setting up the black sites run by the CIA: Foggo’s testimony in the torture tape investigation.

Jane’s responds to Andrea Mitchell’s flaccid beltway CW with the facts that Mitchell herself should be presenting.

In the kind of speech that Dick Cheney used to press for war against Iraq, Obama is using to honor our service men and women.

Specter seems to have stopped his campaign to get Grassley to really negotiate on health care.

It’s time to start blaming Rahm for our lack of accountability on torture.

Kobe beef, that is.

This is a pic that RevDeb took last night when a bunch of us went out to dinner (that’s Gregg Levine warning me that Jane’s gonna be pissed). Between Eli and Ian and Scarecrow and Rayne, they couldn’t stop me from eating Kobe.

I’m home now from Netroots Nation, lying on the couch trying to ingratiate myself with McCaffrey the MilleniaLab (who is upset that I watched parts

Danny Heitman has a quirkily fascinating op-ed up in the New York Times on the attempt in the mid to late 50s by Ford Motor Company to enlist a poet laureate to help sell its products:The question is brought to mind by the story of Marianne Moore, the famous American writer, who served for a brief season as the Ford Motor Company’s unofficial poet laureate….A Ford executive wrote that the company