Via (538), Robert Frank discusses practical ways to raise revenues, and decrease waste, in the current economic and political environment in order to pay for services Americans value in this article from The American Prospect. The American Prospect is great because not only is it solutions focused, their solutions are based on the real world realities of the current political situation, they don't, for example, propose ideas they know couldn't pass the congress or be adopted by American public sentiment.

Our [The American Prospect's] mission, simply put, is to rise to the momentous occasion that confronts all Americans who seek a just society built on our greatest traditions. Contemporary conservatism stands to thwart those traditions; it advances its agenda by way of stealth, fear-mongering, and a massive propaganda apparatus. It is our mission to expose that agenda and the lies that support it.

Rising to our historical occasion also means reviving and rebuilding liberalism, renewing its connections both to American history and to people's lives in the 21st century, and giving progressive political leaders the weapons they need for battle. Through dogged reporting, cool analysis, witty commentary and passionate argument, the Prospect strives to beat back the right wing and to build a majority of true patriots who understand what really makes America great.

The Prospect's articles generate debate, further ideas, and set agendas. We explore and challenge the conservative views of policy and politics that have been so seductive in this era. Political leaders and journalists look to the Prospect to see what smart, resolute liberals have to say. The American Prospect does not back political candidates, nor does it attempt to achieve unanimity or even consistency among its writers. It seeks to provide a forum for working through the heated controversies and hard choices that vex its editors and writers as much as other Americans.

Our readers include notables and ordinary citizens who want a practical politics for a progressive America. It is a magazine of public ideas, firmly committed -- however unfashionably -- to public improvement.

We founded the Prospect out of a conviction that the conservative undertow in American political life is profoundly influenced by the dominance of conservative media and think tanks. Our conservative counterparts have played a critical role in pulling the entire national debate to the right. We intend to take it back.

Their blog's tapped and Ezra Klein are also excellent.

Via PBS and George Washington University,

The documentary TORTURING DEMOCRACY tells the story of how the United States government circumvented tradition and law to adopt torture as official policy. The film, produced by award-winning filmmaker Sherry Jones, draws on interviews, archival footage, and recently declassified documents to piece together the development and dissemination of torture tactics from Bagram in Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib -- and the document trail leads right to the top of the chain of command.

Film Maker: Sherry Jones is an award-winning producer with dozens of television documentaries to her credit. Based in Washington, D.C. she heads Washington Media Associates, an independent production company.

Jones' films have won eight Emmy Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, three George Foster Peabody Awards for significant and meritorious achievement in broadcasting, two Robert F. Kennedy awards for outstanding coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged, three Edward R. Murrow awards from the Overseas Press Club of America, and two consecutive Silver Baton awards from the American Bar Association.

Frontline-World on PBS has an excellent, insightful end of season from inside Pakistan, Swat, Karachi, extravaganza. Well worth watching.


http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/

Interesting article from NY Times Magazine on the current goings-on of Bill Clinton.

CQ has an interactive chart plotting Sotomayor's course to nomination in relation to the other SCOTUS confirmation processes. Sotomayor should be confirmed in-between 80-120 days.

Insider Tips for a Smooth Confirmation Process via PW:

Former Reagan Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein -- who also guided Justices William Kennedy, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas through their Senate confirmation process -- shares 10 secrets for a smooth trip to the High Court.

Personal stories are compelling every time.

Begin your senatorial courtesy calls almost immediately.

Practice, practice, practice.

Be prepared for the kitchen sink at the hearings.

The Constitution stops at the foot of Capitol Hill.

Tell the truth, always.

Senators welcome mea culpas in your oral testimony.

Pause for seven seconds before you answer any question.

Have an answer for the one question you didn't want to be asked -- because you will undoubtedly be asked that question.

Senators usually depart when the cameras are turned off, but remember: The microphone will still be on.

He adds a bonus: "You have the best lobbyist in the world at your disposal... the president of the United States, and a popular one at that. Use the president's influence judiciously -- but use it."

Anyone who could get Clarence Thomas confirmed is worth listening to.

Ezra Klein:

"A Supreme Court nomination is an important story. But it is not necessarily a dramatic one. The last nominee to actually be defeated -- Harriett Miers was withdrawn, remember, and withdrawn due to conservative unrest -- was Robert Bork. And he was a conservative choice facing a Senate with 55 Democrats. Sotomayor is a Democratic president's nominee who will come before a Democratic Senate... If Sotomayor falls, another Democratic nominee takes her place, with similarly left-of-center positions, to be voted on by a Democratic Senate... As opposed to an issue like cap and trade or health reform, where the defeat of a bill might mean the death of the effort, this is not, in the long-run, an issue that Obama can lose."

That about sums it up.

Consevtaive Journal of Deep Thought, Bitsblog:

Not surprisingly, Obama appears to be focusing demographics and not judicial factors. Obama isn’t looking for a liberal Scalia. He looking for a spic chic. Enter Sonia Sotomayor….

via Poorman

From PW on Sonia Sotomayor pending appointment to the Supreme Court

The President's Approach:

The President believes that selecting someone to replace Justice Souter is one of his most serious responsibilities. He vowed to seek someone with a sharp and independent mind, and a record of excellence and integrity. As a former constitutional law professor, he believes it paramount to select someone who rejects ideology and shares his deep respect for the Constitutional values on which this nation was founded.

But, as the President has made clear, upholding those constitutional values requires more than just the intellectual ability to apply a legal rule to a set of facts. It requires a common sense understanding of how laws affect the daily realities of people's lives.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor embodies those qualities -- as someone who brings not only brilliance in the law but a common sense understanding of how the law practically works.

Her American story and three decade career in nearly every aspect of the law provide Judge Sotomayor with unique qualifications to be the next Supreme Court justice.

She has been hailed as "a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess and integrity" for her ascent to the federal bench from an upbringing in a South Bronx housing project, and as "one of the ablest federal judges currently sitting" for her thoughtful opinions.

Judge Sotomayor's Background:

Born to a Puerto Rican family, Judge Sotomayor grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx. Driven by her mother's belief in the power of education and her own indefatigable work ethic, Sotomayor excelled in school, graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and winning a scholarship to Princeton University. After graduating summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa, she entered Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Out of law school, Judge Sotomayor became an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where she tried dozens of serious criminal cases over five years and was known as a "fearless and effective prosecutor."
She entered private practice in 1984, and worked as an international corporate litigator handling cases involving everything from intellectual property to banking, real estate and contract law.

Judge Sotomayor's Judicial Track Record

If confirmed for the Supreme Court, Judge Sotomayor would bring more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years. She has been a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator, a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court, and an appellate judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Before she was promoted to the Second Circuit by President Clinton in 1998, she was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush - a show of bipartisan support that proves good judging transcends political party.

As a trial judge, she earned a reputation as a sharp and fearless jurist who does not let powerful interests bully her into departing from the rule of law. In 1995, Judge Sotomayor ended the baseball strike by issuing an injunction against major league baseball owners.

In 1998, Judge Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one of the most demanding circuits in the country. She has participated in over 3000 panel decisions and authored roughly 400 opinions, handling difficult issues of constitutional law, to complex procedural matters, to lawsuits involving complicated business organizations.

Judge Sotomayor is widely admired as a judge with a sophisticated grasp of legal doctrine and a keen awareness of the law's impact on everyday life. She understands that upholding the rule of law means going beyond legal theory to ensure consistent, fair, common-sense application of the law to real-world facts.

Known as a moderate on the court, Sotomayor often forges consensus and agreeing with her more conservative nominees far more frequently than she disagrees with them. In cases where Sotomayor and at least one judge appointed by a Republican president were on the three-judge panel, Sotomayor and the Republican appointee(s) agreed on the outcome 95% of the time

Judge Richard C. Wesley, a George W. Bush appointee to the Second Circuit, said "Sonia is an outstanding colleague with a keen legal mind. She brings a wealth of knowledge and hard work to all her endeavors on our court. It is both a pleasure and an honor to serve with her. "

Sotomayor should have little problem getting confirmed by the US Senate. The GOP just doesn't have the political capital to oppose a practical Judge like Sotomayor with the votes they have, besides can the GOP afford to further alienate Latinos or Women?No.

On June 25, 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the seat she now holds, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. Her nomination was approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but became "embroiled in the sometimes tortured judicial politics of the Senate," as some Republicans said they did not want to consider the nomination because elevating Sotomayor to the Appeals Court would enhance her prospects of being appointed to the Supreme Court.[19][20] An anonymous senator put a secret hold on her nomination, blocking it for over a year. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy called the length of the hold "disturbing," "petty," and "shameful," also noting that at that time, "[o]f the 10 judicial nominees whose nominations have been pending the longest before the Senate, eight are women and racial or ethnic minority candidates."[21]
In 1998, several Hispanic organizations organized a petition drive in New York State, generating hundreds of signatures from New Yorkers to try to convince New York Republican Senator Al D'Amato to push the Senate leadership to bring Sotomayor's nomination to a vote.[22] Her nomination had been pending for over a year when Majority Leader Trent Lott scheduled the vote. Many Republicans, including then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and six other Republicans who are still in the Senate today, voted for Sotomayor's confirmation to the Second Circuit.[19] With solid Democratic support, and support from about half of Republicans, Sotomayor was confirmed on October 2, 1998, in a 67-29 vote,[23] and she received her commission on October 7.

OK, I dare the GOP to oppose this nomination.

Link via This Week with Barack Obama.