Welcome lawyer / author,  Thomas Geoghegan, and Host Masaccio. [To go to comments for this Book Salon please click on this link] [As a courtesy to our guests, please keep comments to the book.  Please take other conversations to a previous thread.  - bev] Were You Born On the Wrong Continent?: How the European Model [...]

Just as soon as Omar Khadr’s trial began, it’s stopped; Khadr’s lawyer, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, collapsed in the courthouse late yesterday. The military commission is now recessed for thirty days; does the recess help or hinder the process?

At a dinner ceremony honoring the holiday of Ramadan, President Obama waded into the controversy over the Cordoba House project, strongly and unequivocally supporting the construction of the Islamic Center near Ground Zero in Manhattan. Not only that, he supported the proposition of allowing Muslims to build their own houses of worship anywhere in America, as part of the free exercise of religion.

Okay, the title may be a tad unfair to the fine folks in the 9th Circuit, some of whom I know, and almost all of whom I appreciate greatly (there is the Bybee thing). But this just flat out cracked me up. Now, as you know, Judge Vaughn Walker of the NDCA little more than a week ago issued his landmark decision in Perry Prop 8 case and just yesterday issued the much awaited decision to deny the Defendant-Intervenors’ Motion for Stay Pending appeal.

Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been created, everyone is waiting for Obama to nominate someone to head it. The longer this drags on, it becomes a less a question of “Who?” and more a question of “Why not Elizabeth Warren?”

That’s a question that the Obama White House does NOT want to answer.

If the President truly is interested in protecting Social Security from the privatizers, and not just demagoguing the issue for political advantage, he sure assembled a strange crew for the job. Extra points for appointing defense contractor CEO David M. Cote of Honeywell to the commission. It was recently reported that Cote opposed cutting defense contracting to reduce the deficit, and instead wanted military personnel to pay for their own healthcare.

The latest SurveyUSA poll of California found Republican Meg Whitman with a single-point lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in the race for governor, and incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer trailing Carly Fiorina in her re-election bid.

Minnesota Republican ratbleeper Tom Mason is quite likely one of the reasons you’re reading this blog right now. But to show this requires me to go back nearly eight years, back to the birth of the progressive side of the blogosphere.

It’s that time of year again, and it’s bleeping hot. How are you coping with the heat? Are you running through the sprinklers, wading in the kiddie pool, spending your evenings in the movie theater, sending your ice cream fetcher out on frequent ice cream runs?

Beast Of The Week and other goodies on The Muppet Show, Episode 1, Season 2, with guest star Don Knotts.

Grab your popcorn, put your feet up on the seatback in front of ya, and no spitballs aimed at the ushers please. This is Late Late Night FireDogLake, where off topic is the topic … so dive in. What’s on your mind?