Yesterday I asked TalkLeft's readers whether I should go to New York and blog live during the Republican convention . The responses left in the comments were overwhelmingly in favor of going. So, it's a done deal. And I am psyched. I had the best time in Boston I have had anywhere in years. Being surrounded by exuberant, self-defined and self-assured kids who so graciously accepted me into their fold. I was in heaven.

The plane ticket has been purchased. Blogger status and wi-fi at The Tank--the performance art space near the Garden that has graciously agreed to host progressive bloggers and provide wi-fi and internet access-- and where the RNC events will be displayed live on a big screen--has been arranged for. It will also serve as a clearing house for protest activities.

The real story for TalkLeft will be the action in the streets--the protesters, the security, the riot police and their attitudes. I'll have my digital camera, tape recorder , ipod and laptop. I have recruited two volunteers so far to capture the images on the streets, so TalkLeft can upload and bring them to you as they are happening.

Do I need help to do this? Yes, it's not cheap to spend a week in New York City--and it means losing another week at work. But, it will cost less than Boston, mainly because being a Native New Yorker and still frequent visitor, I know my way around. If you're in a position to assist, you can do so here via PayPal. If you'd like to donate anonymously, use Amazon. Both are secure. Many, many thanks.

If you need further convincing, read on:

Don't you just love when the media takes a stand....for one of their own? New York Times Reporter Judith Miller has been subpoenaed to the grand jury investigating the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. The grand jury wants to know who is responsible for the leak, and whether reports are true that the offending parties are senior Bush Administration officials. Here's the Times' response:

"We regret that the special prosecutor has chosen to issue a subpoena that seeks to compel Judy Miller to reveal her confidential sources," Mr. Sulzberger said. "Journalists should not have to face the prospect of imprisonment for doing nothing more than aggressively seeking to report on the government's actions. Such subpoenas make it less likely that sources will be willing to talk candidly with reporters and ultimately it is the public that suffers.''

Lawyers for The Times said the paper expected that it would be served a separate subpoena for its records. They said the paper would fight that subpoena, too.

N. J. Governor James McGreevey resigned today, saying, "I am a gay American." Here's the text of his statement. Wonkette comments:

This was the speech of the year. The most high profile outing, well, ever, and McGreevey handled it with grace and dignity. He sort of makes me want to go gay, too. We hope that someday it won't mean much to go on national television and announce, "I am a gay American." Someday, we hope that kind of announcement comes at the beginning of someone's political career, not the end.

Wonkette rocks.

I agree with Eric Alterman. John Kerry is doing a poor job in explaining his position on the war in Iraq. Here's what Eric says Kerry should be telling us:

• 1. President Bush misled the country and the Congress into war and has conducted it incompetently.
• 2. The war also turns out to have been a dangerous diversion in the war against terrorism.
• 3. Even though we were misled, and even though we would be better off working with our (former?) allies to conduct a truly effective global war against terrorism, in Afghanistan and at home, we have no choice but to try to clean up this mess we’ve created.
• 4. But we should try and do so as quickly, inexpensively and painlessly as possible, so we can begin to repair some of the damage that’s been done to our nation’s reputation and get on with the business of defending the nation with the help and cooperation of our allies, as well as freeing up the resources we need to protect our homeland.

Kerry's recent pronouncements sound like an endorsement of Bush's policy and an after-the-fact justification for his earlier vote in favor of going to war. He's falling into a Bush trap by trying at all costs not to appear that he's "flip-flopped." In doing so, he's not making sense, which is far worse than acknowledging an honest change of heart based upon previous misinformation supplied by the Bush administration.

Kerry staffers, are you listening?

The prosecution is wringing every last drop of crud out of the Amber Frey-Scott Peterson tapes--playing them to the jury in their entirety. Some have strange coincidences--like Scott Peterson saying his favorite movie was The Shining (in which a man unsuccessfully tries to kill his wife and son). Most show a guy who was more interested in some side action than worrying about his missing pregnant wife. He was so intent on preserving the liasion with Amber that he lied to her about everything under the sun. But he also hesitated a nanosecond at times when discussing their future together.

They met in a bar on a blind date. Two dates later she gives him keys to her house and lets him pick up her toddler at day care. Three dates later, they're discussing plans to be together permanently. Something is wrong with this picture, and it's not just Scott Peterson's duplicity.

The tapes are titillating, nothing more. Everyone knew before the trial began that Scott Peterson was a lying philanderer. Does that make him a murderer? Hardly. Nonetheless, he will be one of the most vilified men in America when this trial is over, even if he is acquitted

Don't forget that you are hearing only the prosecution's evidence. The defense likely will have some pretty big aces up its sleeve when it gets its turn. In the meantime, all Geragos and team can do is maintain composure and act like this is all old hat and nothing new. The defense acknowledged that Scott lied to Amber during opening statement. While hearing the words will leave an emotional impact on some of the jurors, others are bound to question Amber's lack of judgment and wonder about this single mother who jumped into a relationship with a virtual stranger so fast and so obsessively. The tapes may be a wash in the end.

More details of Amber's testimony and the tapes here.

Say hello to the Deadline Blog--by the creators of the acclaimed death penalty documentary Deadline. From the about page:

Welcome to Deadline’s official blog! As you might not know, a film like ours getting such a large broadcast is a huge opportunity for us (and the documentary film world at large). We are launching an ambitious outreach campaign and learning as we go. Here we’ll chronicle some of the highlights of the ride we’ve all been on. The writers are either the filmmakers themselves, or have been officially invited to post entries. Some upcoming guest bloggers include Diann Rust-Tierney from the ACLU and Governor Ryan himself so check back often. In addition, daily, we will have an open thread where you can ask questions, talk to us (and one another) and most importantly keep the dialogue going about what is going on in the criminal justice system in the United States. We hope you enjoy it!

Unbelievable. Robert Carroll Coney is now 76. A judge has vacated his conviction, finding that his confession was forced by cops who broke his hand. He was released today after serving a whopping 41 years in jail. And he's not bitter.

A 76-year-old prisoner walked out of jail, a free man for the first time in 41 years, after a judge dismissed the conviction against him. Robert Carroll Coney, convicted of a 1962 robbery, exhibited a surprising lack of bitterness as he left Angelina County Jail with his wife on Tuesday. "I'm going to try to pick up the pieces," Coney told the Lufkin Daily News in Wednesday's editions. "If I was angry, what could I do about it?"

Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin on the day of the crime: March 7, 1962. Court documents state Coney falsely confessed to the crime after Angelina County deputies broke his hand, the Daily News reported. State District Judge David Wilson, who dismissed Coney's charges, investigated the case and found that then-Angelina County Sheriff Leon Jones and his deputies used physical force to extract confessions, often crushing prisoners' fingers between jail cell bars. (emphasis supplied.)

A great space has been made available for progressive bloggers to blog the Republican Convention live from New York. I had intended to pass. Now I'm having second thoughts. Covering the convention, the protests, the security measures and the extent to which New York is accomodating the Bush Administration vs. the protesters, is becoming an irresistable draw.

Add to the equation that the TL Kid is in New York and that he has offered to volunteer his computer skills and services to the blogging space and bloggers--I'm seriously thinking of joining the group.

Let me know what you think. Can TalkLeft can provide more valuable or insightful coverage blogging from Colorado while watching the mainstream media coverage on cable news? It certainly would be less taxing, both in dollars and physical exertion. Or should it jump into the fray and take a stab at covering that which the mainstream media may just gloss over?

The Judge in the criminal case pending against former Illinois Governor George Ryan today issued an opinion denying Ryan and a co-defendant's motion to dismiss the charges.

The charges against Ryan are part of a federal investigation that began by focusing on bribes paid for commercial driver's licenses and branched into political corruption. Charges have been filed against more than 70 state employees or others, and more than 60 have been convicted or have pleaded guilty. Ryan, a Republican, was secretary of state - the official whose office handles motor vehicle licenses - from 1991 to 1999 and governor from 1999 to 2003. He gained nationwide attention as governor for his actions against the death penalty.

Ryan is charged with " racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud, filing false tax returns and making false statements. " The Judge also denied Ryan's request for a separate trial.

Update: The Guardian has news of the latest police strategies for handling protesters.

**************
Slate's Dahlia Lithwick is a guest columnist this month for the New York Times. Today she tackles planned restrictions of protesters at the RNC in New York.

So it has come down to this: You are at liberty to exercise your First Amendment right to assemble and to protest, so long as you do so from behind chain-link fences and razor wire, or miles from the audience you seek to address.

The largely ignored "free-speech zone" at the Democratic convention in Boston last month was an affront to the spirit of the Constitution. The situation will be only slightly better when the Republicans gather this month in New York, where indiscriminate searches and the use of glorified veal cages for protesters have been limited by a federal judge. So far, the only protesters with access to the area next to Madison Square Garden are some anti-abortion Christians. High-fiving delegates evidently fosters little risk of violence.

Where, Dahlia asks, is the connection between protesters and terrorists? Nowhere, except in the minds of Bush and Ashcroft:

Wilton Dedge walked out of the Broward County Jail today, 22 years after being wrongfully convicted of rape. The reasons for his wrongful conviction: faulty eye-witness testimony and the testimony of a "notorious jailhouse snitch." The reason for his freedom: DNA testing proved his innocence:

A man who served 22 years in prison for rape was freed early Thursday after DNA evidence proved he was not the attacker. Wilton A. Dedge, 42, walked out of the Brevard County Jail with his parents just hours after the test results, which had been ordered last month by a judge. The state Legislature in 2001 passed a law that allowed DNA retesting in older cases.

There should be no time limits to obtaining DNA testing.

A Judge has had a motion to dismiss the convictions in the Ashcroft-heralded Detroit Terror trials under advisement for months. Prosecutorial misconduct is one issue. Now there's another:

The Bush administration's already troubled case against an accused terror cell in Detroit is being dealt another blow with revelations that a witness came forward after the trial to undercut a key piece of video evidence presented to jurors.
Lawyers and Justice Department officials said Wednesday night that a man shown in a videotape of landmarks in New York, Las Vegas and California has told investigators the tape was an amateur film and not surveillance as prosecutors portrayed at the trial of four suspected terrorists.

The witness interview was conducted in January, months after the trial in Detroit ended, and was turned over this summer to defense lawyers. It could deal a significant blow to the Bush administration's first major terror prosecution since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Here's a recap of the previously known problems with the case which are under investigation by the Justice Department:

Nathan Rudy is running for Freeholder in Somerset, New Jersey. He's doing some fundraising, if you can help him, please do.

The Rudy for Freeholder campaign is holding a fundraising drive called "A Thousand Fifties" where we are asking for a thousand people to donate just fifty dollars in the fifty days from August 11 to September 30, 2004. It follows the theme of our volunteer efforts that no one can do everything but everyone can do something.

Here are some of his positions on issues.

TalkLeft received an e-mail asking that it publicize a case of a wrongful conviction. I'm not familiar with it, so I submit it to you readers with the caveat, I'm reporting, you decide.

An Islamic website aired a new beheading video today, claiming that the man who was beheaded is a CIA operative. A U.S. spokesman says all CIA personnel are accounted for.

The Internet site, which Islamic extremists often use to post tapes and statements, displayed footage of eight militants surrounding a seated man. A sign around the man's neck showed his photograph and carried a message saying he was a CIA agent and what appeared to be an official pass bearing the word "visitor" written in English.

The footage, titled "Video of the beheading of an American CIA operative in Iraq," lasted more than four minutes and included several scenes, including a masked militant holding a large knife to the captive's throat. On the tape, a man was heard telling the captive in Arabic "put down your hand, this is the last time, next time I will gouge your eyes out." Then in English, he tells the captive, "open your eyes, open your eyes."

There are three Americans missing in Iraq: U.S. Army Spc. Keith M. Maupin and civilian contract workers William Bradley and Timothy Bell. Here are some of the gruesome details in the video:

U.S. officials are further refining the expected terror attack:

U.S. intelligence officials say a high-profile political assassination, triggered by the public release of a new message from Osama bin Laden, will lead off the next major al Qaeda terrorist attack...."The goal of the next attack is twofold: to damage the U.S. economy and to undermine the U.S. election," the official said. "The view of al Qaeda is 'anybody but Bush.' "

The officials also said the terrorist group has begun using female members for preattack surveillance and possibly as suicide bombers, thinking that women will have an easier time getting past security checkpoints at airports, borders and ports. The al Qaeda attack plans call for bombings using trucks and cars, and hijacked aircraft, including commercial airliners and helicopters. "There is a particular concern that chemical trucks will be used," one official said.

Officials say we will hear from bin Laden soon:

Regarding the new bin Laden message, the officials said there are intelligence reports, some of them sketchy, that a new tape from the al Qaeda leader will surface soon.

[thread got hijacked, comments closed]

This is not a good omen. While the Administration claims this is being done for the purpose of preventing terrorist attacks, remember, that once the Government gets new power, it rarely gives it back.

Citing concerns about terrorists crossing the nation's borders, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday that it planned to give border patrol agents sweeping new powers to deport illegal aliens from the frontiers with Mexico and Canada without providing them the opportunity to make their case before an immigration judge.

The move, which will take effect this month, represents a broad expansion of the authority of the thousands of law enforcement agents who patrol the nation's borders. Until now, border patrol agents typically delivered undocumented immigrants to the custody of the immigration courts, where judges determined whether they should be deported or remain in the United States.

The ACLU has every right to be concerned as the Govenment seeks to expand the no-fly list:

The Sept. 11 Commission wants the government to expand the no-fly list airlines now check to keep suspected terrorists off planes, consolidating as many as 12 secret lists maintained by different intelligence agencies. That worries the American Civil Liberties Union, which has already sued the government, saying the airlines' effort to keep terror suspects and other dangerous people off planes ensnares innocent passengers and subjects them to unnecessary searches and delays. Also, the government provides no way for those wrongly named to get themselves removed.

"Right now, if you're on the list, you're in a no-fly jail. There is now no way out of this," said Barry Steinhardt, the director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Project.