This is a video of a press conference Jerry Sandusky's attorney Joseph Amendola held after an abbreviated court appearance Tuesday where Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Waving the preliminary hearing was a media savvy move on the part of Sandusky and his lawyer, because it means the prosecution's case will not be heard ahead of the actual trial, nor will witnesses have to testify ahead of trial.

However, Amendola went one step too far in his press conference afterwards. When questioned about Mike McQueary's testimony and how they planned to attack his credibility, Amendola went through about a two minute description of what one would have to believe in order to believe McQueary. Right at the end, he says this:

If anyone is naive enough to think for one minute that Tim Curley, Joe Paterno, Gary Schultz and for that matter Graham Spanier, University President, were told by Mike McQueary, that he observed Jerry Sandusky having anal sex with a 10-year old looking kid in a shower room at Penn State or Penn State property and their response was simply to tell Jerry Sandusky that "don't go in the shower any more with kids," I suggest you dial 1-800-REALITY.

Well, someone at Deadspin.com did just that, and discovered that it's a real 800 number for a gay phone sex line. Deadspin has the audio of the intro to prove it. Yes, for 99 cents per minute, you too can "join the fun."

You seriously cannot make this stuff up. I'm sure Amendola thought he was being snarky, but next time he might want to leave off the 800 number reference.

Amendola made it clear during his press conference after the abbreviated court appearance that Sandusky will go after the credibility of each and every victim along with McQueary. They fully intend to challenge the veracity of Mike McQueary's testimony, which the Grand Jury said they found very credible, as well as the eight victims' credibility. I'm sure this is why the attorney for Victim #1 spoke out after the hearing and said he hoped for an acceptable plea bargain. Even with eight victims whose stories touch one another's in different ways, there will be a concerted effort in public and behind closed doors to intimidate, challenge and otherwise discourage each of them from testifying.

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Hoffmania!

Wow. Bill Frist is getting a lesson on what happens to a wingnut who decides to take just one independent stand on just one issue. They're turning on him like a rabid dawg. If it's not becoming painfully obvious to Frist now, it will. When he runs for preznit in 2008 (and he will - it explains his jumping on this populist issue), how many of his GOP opponents will sic the 527s on him? You can hear it now.
"Bill Frist supports the mutilation of human embryos for speculative science. Human embryos which are completely capable of becoming a son or daughter to a good Christian family like your own. Is this the sort of man YOU want making YOUR moral and ethical decisions for your country? Bill Frist. Wrong on embryos. Wrong for America."

Frist won't tolerate losing this valuable hillbilly vote. And the flip-flop clock is counting down. 
Read on...

Yet Another Question For Judge Roberts         Old Fashioned Patriot

The Supreme Court will soon be asked to rule on the legality of depriving brown men with beards who aren't Christian or Jewish the legality of suspending constitutional guarantees like trial by jury, habeas corpus and other long standing American judicial principles. What are your thoughts on this issue?
If it's not becoming painfully obvious to Frist now, it will. When he runs for preznit in 2008 (and he will - it explains his jumping on this populist issue), how many of his GOP opponents will sic the 527s on him? You can hear it now.
"Bill Frist supports the mutilation of human embryos for speculative science. Human embryos which are completely capable of becoming a son or daughter to a good Christian family like your own. Is this the sort of man YOU want making YOUR moral and ethical decisions for your country? Bill Frist. Wrong on embryos. Wrong for America."

Frist won't tolerate losing this valuable hillbilly vote. And the flip-flop clock is counting down.
Read on...

Old Fashioned Patriot

The Supreme Court will soon be asked to rule on the legality of depriving brown men with beards who aren't Christian or Jewish the legality of suspending constitutional guarantees like trial by jury, habeas corpus and other long standing American judicial principles. What are your thoughts on this issue?

NYTimes:

LOS ANGELES, May 11 - Before Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser went on trial here for underreporting donations to her Senate campaign, political speculation has revolved around what if anything Mrs. Clinton knew about his alleged transgressions, as well as what if anything the trial would do to her presidential aspirations (assuming she has them)

A federal prosecutor tried to answer at least one of those questions in his opening statement on Wednesday in Federal District Court, when he told the jury, "You will hear no evidence that Hillary Clinton was involved in any way, shape or form." ....read on

Let's see how our 24/7 does with this news. They are looking to hang this case around her neck, so don't be surprised to hear the talking heads make all sorts of allegations contrary to this report.

" Mr. Fitton said he did not find the prosecutor's statement about Mrs. Clinton's lack of involvement very credible. Furthermore, he added, "The idea that David Rosen pulled a fast one on the campaign is baloney."

Thomas J. Fitton, is the president of Judicial Watch and will be all over this trial and the 24/7 toones as well.

Uptdate: Daily Howler has more: On Hardball, they strung her up anyway

WTF? The Immoral Minority

Public Citizen

American businesses file four times as many lawsuits as do individuals represented by trial attorneys, and they are penalized by judges much more often for pursuing frivolous litigation, according to a report issued today by Public Citizen.

The survey of case filings in two states (Arkansas and Mississippi) and two local jurisdictions (Cook County, Ill., and Philadelphia, Pa.) in 2001 found that businesses were 3.3 to 5.8 times more likely to file lawsuits than were individuals. This comes as businesses and politicians are campaigning to limit citizens rights to sue over everything from malpractice damages to defective products. By way of comparison, the number of American consumers (281 million) outnumbers the number of businesses in America (7 million) 40 times. To read the report, click here.

Wapo:

A federal judge ruled today that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will face trial in Washington next month, denying Stevens's request to transfer the case to a court in his home state.

...Stevens, 84, was indicted July 29 by a federal grand jury on charges he failed to report on Senate financial disclosure forms that he accepted more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from executives of Veco, a now-defunct Alaska oil services company.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that moving the trial to a federal court in Alaska would cause "delay and additional expense."

Aw gee, Judge Sullivan, I'm sure there are some former Veco executives who would be happy to help with the cost (snark).

We've posted about artist Chris Jordan's work before. Here's his latest. It's an 8 foot by 25 foot mural in five panels showing the heading of the Constitution, rendered entirely with 83,000 pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoners, equal to the number of people who have been arrested and held at US-run detention facilities with no trial or other due process of law, during the Bush Administration's war on terror. Click here to see a close up.

Could it be any clearer that this?

The Defense Department was mum Friday on the reasons for the abrupt removal of a Guantánamo war court judge who had threatened to suspend the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr in a showdown with the controversial prison camp.

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Military prosecutors had been pressing Brownback to set a trial date, but he has repeatedly directed them first to satisfy defense requests for access to potential evidence. At a hearing earlier this month, he threatened to suspend the proceedings altogether unless the detention center provided records of Khadr's confinement....read on