. . . is hosed. It's just that simple. I doubt he'll last until Friday.

During a rousing March 13th sermon marking 20 years of the group he founded, ACT UP, 71 year old author and gay rights leader Larry Kramer argued that the current crop of Presidential candidates did not deserve gay votes. Kramer said they, the candidates, would all “sell us down the river given half a chance.”

Singling out Democrat Hillary Clinton, the candidate he predicts to win, Kramer said “the woman does not even know how to make simple declarative statements that involve definite details.”

Kramer couldn’t have planned the next day’s news cycle better himself. An answer Senator Clinton gave ABC News in response to a question about gay people suggested that Larry Kramer owns a mystical political crystal ball.

More here.

As we've noted before, internet radio is about to be destroyed by the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board to radically increase royalty fees for playing music over the internet.

The argument is simple - if FM stations don't have to pay, why should streaming ones?

If Democrats (insert your specific politician here) are smart, they will see this as an opportunity to radicalize young voters to their side. Remember - how a person votes in their twenties is usually how they vote for life. Millenials are trending Dem, but locking them in is smart, and showing that Democrats understand the new world, and are on the side of the future, not the past, is how you do it.

But, fundamentally, IP law is screwed up, bigtime.

There's an online petition here. Signing it is a start, but only a start and won't save internet radio.

What the issue needs is a sponsor - a congressperson with guts and vision, who's willing to sponsor a bill to stop this. And then we move to whip lists and we pile the pressure on.

The politician who does this will reap great rewards - and so will the party.

. . . just keeps getting more heartbreaking the more we learn.

Jonathan Owen | London | March 18

The Independent - In 1997, this newspaper launched a campaign to decriminalise the drug. If only we had known then what we can reveal today...

Record numbers of teenagers are requiring drug treatment as a result of smoking skunk, the highly potent cannabis strain that is 25 times stronger than resin sold a decade ago.

More than 22,000 people were treated last year for cannabis addiction - and almost half of those affected were under 18. With doctors and drugs experts warning that skunk can be as damaging as cocaine and heroin, leading to mental health problems and psychosis for thousands of teenagers, The Independent on Sunday has today reversed its landmark campaign for cannabis use to be decriminalised.

. . . Abu Gonzales step down? Should he resign? If so, sign the petition.

. . . of the other shoe dropping? Sounds that way to me, as Republican Senator John Sununu, Jr. calls for Abu Gonzales to resign. That makes 4 senators on record for Gonzales' resignation. Popcorn, anyone?

More here.

. . . is brewing here in Texas about Kos, the netroots and a possible Noriega run for the Senate. I'll keep everyone updated.

. . . for the resignation of Abu Gonzales? So, how many Senators does that make? The better question is how many Senators until Bush digs his heels in?

You can also see Josh Marshall on Olbermann, here.

. . . in the life of this blog when I would find myself in deep, deep trouble with some of the readers, the more centrist minded readers, for even hinting that there was a creepy and creeping authoritarianism in this country.

Looks like they were wrong. Who knew we'd be discussing whether anti-authoritarianism is the proper basis for sensible politics in this country in a little over 4 years?

I'll be talking about this subject on the radio later this week and I am sure Ian and I will discuss this afternoon on Radio Agonist. We need more sunlight.

Nota bene: The "Clinton Did It Too Defense" doesn't work on this one.

. . . of FBI abuses of the USA Patriot Act are serious and extremely worrisome for those of us who care about civil liberties.

Equally worrisome, but even more explosive than the FBI news, is this column by Paul Krugman about the burgeoning US Attorneys scandal. Krugman puts a few pieces together and comes up with a pretty nasty conclusion, one that Josh Marshall adds more to.

Looks like it might be an interesting Friday in Washington.

To our wives, sisters, mothers and daughters today we celebrate you.

Happy International Women's Day.

More here and here.I'll link to more sites throughout the day.

. . . or he isn't a journalist. It's what he was doing. He was doing journalism and it is on that basis that he should be 'judged.'

I wonder what kind of 'major scheduling problems' would keep a US Senator from one of the most critical committee meetings he could possibly have this year? From the Washington Post:

Aides to Cornyn said he has a major scheduling conflict which could force him to miss testimony in a case with huge political ramifications for the White House as well as Domenici and at least one other Republican lawmaker.

I doubt the hometown boy will be here in San Antonio tomorrow preparing for the John Edwards Campaign Rally on Wednesday, right?

I'll see if I can make a few phone calls tomorrow.

. . . about the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities that TPM highlighted yesterday were sucked down the memory hole. I had an inkling that would happen so I made screencaps of them, here.

DailyKos

March 5

Sibel Edmonds has got her hands on an explosive official report from an FBI agent which demonstrates that the US Government was illegally spying on "high-profile U.S. public officials"

They were illegally using the rubber-stamping FISA court to do it (you know, FISA, the court they had to ignore in the illegal NSA wire-tapping case). FISA is supposed to be for "Foreign" persons only - not for domestic surveillance.

But here's the thing: Sibel worked for this particular agent when she was at the FBI - so this illegal spying uncovered all of the criminal activity that Sibel knows about "large-scale drug deals and of selling classified military technologies to the highest bidder" - and to top it off, no action has been taken, no arrests, no idictments, and they buried the enitre case by gagging Sibel, and congress - by claiming 'national security.'

. . . Ann Coulter's losing advertisers over her comments at CPAC this weekend (Crooks and Liars has a her Hannity and Colmes appearance here). If true, it's well deserved. She's free to say what she wishes and her advertisers are free to advertise somewhere else.

I promise, this is my last 'culture war' post for a while. I don't normally get involved in these things, but since Chris had me on his show today, well, you know.

. . . egregious than prior restraint. It's censorship with a fancy, lawyerly label slapped onto it, is all.

Just in case google deep-sixes the caches (here and here), well, I made screen shots.

. . . in right field it's hard to take her seriously, but scary because so many people do.

Remember the Denver Three? Well, turns out they were ordered to be kicked out of the event by White House staffers. This might get interesting. Anyone have any popcorn?

Want some action on this? Go to ProgressNow and sign the petition.

Web exclusive
By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball
Newsweek
Updated: 7:32 p.m. ET Feb. 28, 2007

Feb. 28, 2007 - A federal judge ruled today that suspected Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla is mentally competent, paving the way for his long-delayed case to proceed to trial, at long last, in April. But the ruling by U.S. Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami leaves open what may be more intriguing questions than those surrounding the defendant’s mental health: what happened to a crucial video recording of Padilla being interrogated in a U.S. military brig that has mysteriously disappeared?

Folks, please, do not under any circumstances repost entire articles in the NewsWire or in the Diaries. It's illegal and I could get in serious trouble. A one paragraph teaser, two at the max is ok, but not the whole article. I had an unpleasant email from the good folks at Ars Technica this morning about copyright issues, so please, stay within fair use bounds.

. . . telling us about all those immigrants who aren't assimilating. What about those immigrants who are trying to assimilate by learning English except they can't because there aren't enough English language classes. You think Lou will report that?

. . . that Chicago Dyke and others have read this letter one way and I read it in a completely different manner. I can't go into any detail as I have a hard deadline but to me the letter is sad and so is his story. Looking beyond the author's inarguable lack of tolerance and outright bigotry, the reason I posted the letter was that at the end of his letter I sensed a man who was clearly disillusioned and possibly quite unhappy with the choice he made.

Perhaps I read too much into his letter, my own assumptions and preconceptions, however, I don't think so. Regardless, Chicago Dyke's post is worth a read.

This is so disturbing on so many different levels I don't know where to start. Yeah, I know, everyone here in San Antonio lauds AT&T, walking in lockstep with the "they're keeping us safe from terrorism" mantra of the era. Not me.

I was listening to a podcast on Electric Politics last week and the interviewee said that civil liberties just didn't get Americans upset any more.

Sadly, it looks like he might be right.