Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and member of the Global Drug Commision, has an op-ed at CNN on the failure of the war on drugs.

Here we are, four decades after Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs in 1971 and $1 trillion spent since then. What do we have to show for it?

The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world, with about 2.3 million behind bars. More than half a million of those people are incarcerated for a drug law violation. What a waste of young lives.

[More...]

In November, Washington voters passed I-502 (full text here) which provides that adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or specified amounts of marijuana-infused products is not a state crime and creates a regulatory scheme to license sellers. The initiative is now law and went into effect today.

The vote on Colorado's Amendment 64, legalizing adult possession and setting up a regulatory framework to distribute and sell it, was certified by the Secretary of State today, and will become law by January 5.

The New York Times reports the Justice Department and Obama Administration are considering filing lawsuits to upend both states' laws, but a decision doesn't appear to be on the immediate horizon. [More...]

George Zimmerman has filed his defamation lawsuit against NBC and three reporters for their false editing of his non-emergency call to police to report Trayvon Martin. The reporters are Ron Allen, Lilia Lucianno and Jeff Burnside. Luciano and Burnside were since fired. The complaint is here and a website for the case is here.

On Thursday, December 6, 2012, George Zimmerman filed a legal complaint against NBCUniversal Media, LLC and three individuals who were employed by NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Inc. during the time relevant to the complaint: Ron Allen, Lilia Rodriguez Luciano, and Jeff Burnside. The 24-page complaint alleges “NBC News saw the death of Trayvon Martin not as a tragedy but as an opportunity to increase ratings, and so set about to create the myth that George Zimmerman was a racist and predatory villain.” The complaint, filed in Seminole County, demands a trial by jury, and demands damages sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court.

The complaint was filed in the Seminole County Circuit Court. His lawyers are Mark O'Mara and The Beasley Law Firm in Philadelphia. [More...]

Chris Christie's decision to block health insurance exchanges in New Jersey brings forward the percolating question regarding an IRS ruling (PDF) that the ACA tax credits will be available on federally run exchanges.

Oklahoma is seeking to challenge the IRS ruling. While the challenge seems extremely weak to me on the merits, that's never stopped the Roberts 5 before.

However, the standing issue seems even more clear cut - what is Oklahoma's injury here? Howe would they have standing? Indeed, no one seems injured at all. A discussion of the standing issue on the flip.

Harry Enten.

Your turn.

The 11 Show, starring me, today at 11. Topics for today: The debt ceiling is unconstitutional, the GOP's orderly surrender on the fiscal cliff, and more.

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Open Thread.

Kim Dotcom is still on track to having a Merry Christmas. New Zealand High Court Judge J Winkelmann today ruled Kim Dotcom can add the Attorney General, in his capacity as representative of the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau, to his claim for monetary damages resulting from the the illegal search of his mansion and over-the-top commando style raid to effectuate his arrest. She also ruled in his favor on several discovery requests pertaining to the FBI's involvement in the case and NZ's illegal interception of his communications. You can access the opinion here.

To put it in context, the Judge writes: [More..]

Me and David Waldman on Daily Kos Radio:

On the agenda today: the continuing attacks on Susan Rice; is it too soon to ponder the 2016 presidential race; new PPP poll on Republican nuttery, and of course; more on filibuster reform. In particular, how well do comparisons of the 2005 nuclear option fight and today's filibuster reform effort really hold up? And why do editorial writers, misty-eyed for the days of the "Gang of 14" agreement, always forget that it enshrined the right and ability of the majority to change the rules by majority vote? Finally, a hint at a discussion to come: the NYT investigation into the value and efficacy of state and local government incentives granted to businesses in the hopes of bolstering job creation and retention.

Open thread.

New York Magazine reports Roger Ailes has put out a memo: No bookings of Karl Rove or Dick Morris without permission.

Ailes’s deputy, Fox News programming chief Bill Shine, has sent out orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove or Morris....A Fox spokesperson confirmed the new booking rules for Rove and Morris, and explained that Shine’s message was “the election’s over.”

Multiple sources told NY Mag that Rove's election night tantrum when Fox called the race for Obama made Ailes angry. That was one of the most bizarre episodes of punditing in recent memory -- and embarrassing for the network.

I'm on Daily Kos Radio right now. Tune in.

Oh, here's the Hillary story:

Carried by a new high in personal popularity and broad approval of her work as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton closes out her diplomatic career with majority support as a candidate for president in 2016. Fifty-seven percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they’d back a run by Clinton to succeed Barack Obama, vs. 37 percent opposed. That includes a broad gender gap – 66 percent support for Clinton among women, dropping to 49 percent among men.

The Senate has unanimously passed its $631 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), by a vote of 98 to 0. The House version was $634 billion.

Feinstein's Amendment to bar military detention of American citizens was agreed to on November 29, but so was Sen. Kelly Ayotte's Amendment, which permanently bars the use of funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees. [More...]

The State's Attorney's Office today published non-protected material contained in the 9th Supplemental Discovery Release. It consists of additional FBI reports and interviews, some photographs, one recorded interview and some FDLE reports (short summaries of actions taken.) Zimmerman's attorneys have made some of the FBI reports available here.

What I found most interesting were three FDLE reports on for April 2, 2012, the day the state interviewed Witness #8, aka Trayvon's phone friend "Dee Dee." (background here.)[More...]

The 11 Show, starring me, today at 11. Topics for today: The BCS and the travesty that is Northern Illinois' inclusion, Mayor Hillary?, the fiscal cliff, and why being a "unique body" with "unlimited debate" is not a good thing for the Senate.

Your options to listen LIVE:

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Listen LIVE here:The Daily Kos Radio Player

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Open Thread.

This is the photo Sanford Police Officer Mike Wagner took of George Zimmerman sitting in the patrol car the night Trayvon Martin was shot.
The state finally turned it over to the defense. Previously, it sent them a black and white xerox of the photo. The defense had to file motions and argue in court for the production of the original photo. [More...]

I find myself in the strange position of defending President Obama's current negotiation approach on the austerity bomb while at the same time having to defend my criticism of his negotiating style in the past. It is strange to me because I believe the President has changed his approach to political bargaining - a change I believe began in August 2011 (see, e.g., How Occupy Defined the Election.) This appears to be a widespread view now - see the NYTimes' article Criticized as Weak in Past Talks, Obama Takes Harder Line.

I think I should applaud this change (even when Tim Geithner, someone I have been harshly critical of, is the chosen messenger.)

So what do I make of Glenn Greenwald's column today mocking progressive pundits moving to be "constructively critical" of President Obama? My own view is Glenn, who I consider a friend, is better off making his substantive critiques of the Obama Administration instead of keeping tabs on how MSNBC and The Nation are doing. More on the flip.