"Values":

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran. He should not be allowed to do so — not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. . . . Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison’s favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible.

James Joyner discusses rights:

I would point Mr. Prager to Article VI of the Constitution of the United States, specifically the third paragraph:

. . . [N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Nothing in the Constitution requires the taking of the Oath on a Bible, or any other book. Indeed, doing so would obviously constitute a “religious test.” There’s also the little matter of the 1st Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion . . . .

What would Jim Wallis say?

Khaled el-Masri reasonably believes he's entitled to an explanation, or at least an apology, for the U.S. government's decision to kidnap him, fly him to Afghanistan, and torture him before realizing he wasn't a terrorist. His lawsuit was thrown out, however, on the theory that the government can't be held accountable without revealing "state secrets." How shockingly illegal conduct can legitimately be kept secret, particularly after it's been revealed, is a mystery.

"I think courts are beginning to recognize that this administration is using secrecy to avoid accountability," says ACLU attorney Ben Wizner, who argued El-Masri’s appeal Tuesday in Richmond.

Don't expect the Fourth Circuit to be one of those courts.

Masri is thinking about suing Boeing (which presumably has no state secrets since it isn't a state), because one of its subsidiaries apparently played a role in his rendition.

After the Radical Right spent years attacking progressives as the "Loony Left" and "moonbats," I can't say this is not making me smile:

It's the wrong strategy, being pursued and driven by all the usual suspects: social conservatives; immigration fanatics; ethically-challenged pork addicts who the former two groups are now calling "moderates" in a fatuous and cynical attempt to portray themselves as the party's real standard bearers, which they are not (please remind me just when Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan proposed amending the Constitution to deal with a social concern, or when either claimed that there was simply no more fat to trim from the federal budget). As Silver suggests in his post, too many moderate and libertarian-leaning Republicans are staying silent on this subject, instead of standing up and pointing the finger for our loss squarely where it belongs: not with the Arnold Schwarzeneggers, John McCains, Rudy Giulianis, Susan Collinses, Jim Kolbes or Mary Bonos of this world, but rather with the Tom DeLays, Rick Santorums, Marilyn Musgraves, John Kyls, Jim Inhofes and Conrad Burnses-- a.k.a., the loss-makers.

The extremist elements of the GOP hoisted on its own petard. Delicious.

Today David Ignatius discovers the virtues of opposing the Iraq Debacle, if you are a Republican:

What would make a Hagel candidacy interesting is that he can claim to have been right about Iraq and other key issues earlier than almost any national politician, Republican or Democratic. Though a Vietnam veteran and a hawk on many national security issues, he had prescient misgivings about the Iraq war -- and, more important, the political courage to express these doubts clearly, at a time when many politicians were running for cover.

Apparently that is a good thing if you are a Republican but not if you are a Democrat. You see, Ignatius wrote this in January 2003:

[General Wesley] Clark's argument, in simple terms, is that unless the United States can bring a strong coalition into a war against Iraq, it may put itself in greater danger. The chief threat to U.S. security right now is al Qaeda, he argues. Disarming Iraq is important too, he says, but it's not the most urgent task.

The Bush administration's mistake in Iraq, says Clark, is one of priorities. "They picked war over law. They picked a unilateralist approach over a multilateral approach. They picked conventional forces over special-operations forces. And they picked Saddam Hussein as a target over Osama bin Laden."

Clark worries that the Iraq policy is fatally flawed because it's likely to create new recruits for America's main enemy -- the Islamic fundamentalists who destroyed the World Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He recalls a military dictum from his days as commander of the Army's National Training Center: "There are only two kinds of plans -- ones that might work and ones that won't work. You have to avoid a plan with a fatal flaw."

. . . Clark doesn't doubt that overwhelming U.S. military power would quickly crush Saddam Hussein's relatively weak forces. Indeed, he gave a dazzling briefing for global leaders at the World Economic Forum here this week about how U.S.-led forces will move toward Baghdad. His concern, instead, is about what comes after -- "the unpredictability of consequences," as he puts it. Clark fears that the new dangers generated by a war in Iraq might outweigh any gains from disarming Saddam Hussein.

How come Ignatius has never extolled the virtues of a Clark candidacy? This appears to be the Ignatius corollary to IOKIYAR theory - Republicans against the Iraq Debacle are Presidential timber, Democrats against it are part of the Loony Left. I wonder if Ignatius realizes how brainwashed he has become - you would think he would favor Presidential candidates named Romney.

Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth, will be on Larry King Live tonight discussing the extradition proceedings lodged against him in Mexico.

The Mexican federal courts will hear all of the evidence gathered by Bollard’s team at the Constitutional Hearing beginning on Monday, December 4, 2006 in Guadalajara. The district court will have to decide whether the charges against Duane, Leland and Tim Chapman should be dismissed or whether the extradition case should proceed further.

Dog says he is "haunted" by the proceedings and he's dying inside.

28 members of Congress are behind Dog, and have written to Condoleeza Rice asking her to help spare him from extradition. It's probably the only constructive request Tom Tancredo has ever made.

Bush's nominee to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, Robert Gates, has submitted written testimony to Congress. Shorter version: no speedy pullout.

Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to become the next secretary of defense, said he opposes a swift pullout from Iraq, arguing in written testimony submitted yesterday to Congress that "leaving Iraq in chaos would have dangerous consequences both in the region and globally for many years to come."

Gates was a member of the Iraq Study Group.

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride, a new documentary about the life and death of Hunter Thompson, looks like a terrific film.

From Electric Artists:

Interviewees Include Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Bill Murray, John Cusack, Benicio Del Toro,Tom Wolfe, George McGovern, Ed Bradley, William F. Buckley and Many Others. Narrated By Nick Nolte.

The best part may be that you don't have to go to a theater to see it. It will be airing on the Starz movie channel on December 12.

The original documentary is a personal, intimate look at Thompson with a special emphasis on his Hollywood relationships. It will capture the legacy and “gonzo” spirit of one of this century’s most notorious figures – a man whose life and work regularly intersected with some of the biggest names in the world of film, politics, journalism and sports.

Our great friend Chris Bowers writes about our good friends Ed Kilgore and Tom Schaller, and Dems and Dixie:

During my four years in the netroots, I have become a firm believer in coalition politics, and that it takes a wide range of people to form a governing majority. . . One of the keys to building this coalition is that we work together. . . . Ed Kilgore is someone who recognizes these needs. . .

I have been good friends with Ed since early 2005 and have long enjoyed discussing all manner of political issues with him, but especially about the South. And while Ed's post is presented as a counter to Tom Schaller's, I think their views are more similar than Tom, Ed AND Chris think. I'll explain on the flip.

The war on Christmas wreaths (or maybe it was a war on peace) has ended. TalkLeft recently featured a story about a Colorado woman who was threatened with a fine for placing a "divisive" wreath, shaped like a peace symbol, on her door. In a show of solidarity, other residents of Pagosa Springs expressed their support for peace:

Tuesday morning, 20 people marched through the center carrying peace signs and then stomped a giant peace sign in the snow perhaps 300 feet across on a soccer field, where it could be seen from about just everywhere by just about everyone.

The daffy members of the Loma Linda homeowners assocation board who thought the peace symbol might be a sign of the devil have resigned, and the threat to fine the homeowner has been rescinded.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins (Los Angeles) issued a 55 page ruling today declaring part of an order by President Bush allowing the seizure of funds by associates of alleged terror groups to be unconsitutional.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins found that part of the law, signed by Bush on September 23, 2001 and used to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations, violated the Constitution because it put no apparent limit on the president's powers to place groups on that list.

Ruling in a lawsuit brought against the Treasury Department in 2005 by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Collins also threw out a portion of Bush's order which applied the law to those who associate with the designated organizations.

In a nutshell,

It's official. Alcee Hastings is out of the running for Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Nancy Pelosi doesn't want him.

Reportedly, despite the support of the "Blue Dog Democrats," Jane Harman is out as well.

That leaves, according to McClatchy news reporters:

Reps. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, Sanford Bishop Jr. of Georgia and Norm Dicks of Washington state. Reyes has the edge, Pelosi allies indicated. He was a 26-year agent and supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol before his 1996 election to Congress, and currently is a senior member of the Intelligence panel.

Who are the "Blue Dog Democrats?" A group of 44 centrist Democrats in the House.

Bump and Update: Jeb Bush writes this letter (pdf)to Tancredo complaining about his remarks.

*******
Tom Tancredo Calls Miami A Third World Country

Is there nothing Tom Tancredo won't do for a soundbite?

He's now called Miami a "third world country."

In South Florida to attend Restoration Weekend, a gathering of conservative activists, the Colorado Republican, whose district includes suburbs of Denver, pointed to Miami as an example of how ''the nature of America can be changed by uncontrolled immigration,'' the story says.

''Look at what has happened to Miami,'' the WorldNetDaily quotes Tancredo as saying in an interview. ``It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country.''

Talk about viewing the world through a cracked lens.

Here is a response to Barack Obama's reachout to "values voters":

As the Chicago Tribune reported recently, Obama is set to attend a huge evangelical gathering in California on Dec. 1, at the invitation of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical superstar who wrote The Purpose-Driven Life. Analysts have interpreted Obama's scheduled appearance as a sign he's working much harder than Dems ordinarily do to win over Evangelicals.

But the appearance is now provoking an intense backlash from leaders of the Christian right. They are calling on Warren to disinvite Obama from the event because of his liberal positions, especially abortion rights — or as one of those leaders put it, Obama's support of "the murder of babies in the womb."

Obama's efforts are running into fierce resistance. For instance, an open letter from a group of Christian-Right figures — including Phylis Schlafly, Tim Wildmon and others — criticizes the invitiation by citing Obama's pro-choice stance and his support for condom distribution in answer to the AIDS epidemic, "not chaste behavior as directed by the Bible." The letter ends, "No, Mr. Warren, Mr. Obama, we will never work with those can support the murder of babies in the womb."

I told you so:

[T]there is only one thing that will satisfy "values" voters enough to put them in play for Democrats -- he knows it, Amy Sullivan knows it, you know it. Abandon a woman's right to choose.

So what say you now Senator Obama? What does Jim Wallis, who is anti-choice, think of this? Reality bites. More.

7 former prison guards and a nurse have been charged with manslaughter in the beating death of juvenile offender Martin Lee Anderson, age 14.

The surveillance tape showed guards kneeing and punching the boy repeatedly during a 30-minute encounter. Guards said he was uncooperative and had refused to participate in exercises.

The death sparked protests at the state Capitol and led to the elimination of the state's military-style boot camp system and the resignation of Florida's top law enforcement officer. If convicted, the former guards and the nurse - who authorities say watched the melee - could get up to 30 years in prison.

Lee later collapsed and died in the excercise yard. Lee was incarcerated for violating probation on a theft case. Here's much more on the case. Here's the video of the beating.

Newt Gingrich was in New Hampshire this week. He gave a talk in which he said that free speech will be forced to curtailed in the name of the war on terror.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

The event he was speaking at?

Gingrich spoke to about 400 state and local power brokers last night at the annual Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment award dinner, which fetes people and organizations that stand up for freedom of speech.

Other Gingrich positions included this on the separation of church and state: