In comments, Mark Kernes suggests* an appropriate date for mass protests against the destruction of our Constitution: "Sept. 17: Constitution Day." Unfortunately, it's a Wednesday, and inconvenient for anyone who is in school - or works at one.

So, the Democrats - yes, Democrats, not Republicans - are raising the whole "free speech zone" thing to a higher art, by planning to put demonstrators in cages at the Denver convention. "zones destroy the power of dissenting viewpoints to foment debate and bring about change. Just imagine if the hundreds of thousands of participants in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which culminated with Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial, had been forced into free speech zones. There likely would not have been a 1964 Civil Rights Act."

Fred Hiatt earned Atrios' Wanker of the Day Award. Attaturk awards Hiatt a new title: Editorial Jackass.

Eric Boehlert has a good article up this week on the AP's Ron Fournier problem, and extra kudos for giving Julia credit where it's due for noticing the problem months before the anyone else picked up on it.

Greg Mitchell was sufficiently disgusted with an article he saw about Netroots Nation in The Austin American-Statesman that he passed the word around, and they must've gotten a lot of complaints, because they pulled the article and apologized for it. And, we learn in an update, the author's wife wrote in to correct what she felt were misapprehensions, and also noted that the article has now been restored on the paper's site.

Alabama's Attorney General thinks he's allowed to change the law to prevent pot smokers from voting. The ACLU is suing on the grounds that the AG is not a legislator.

Krugman mentioned at Netroots Nation that the NYT tried to lean on him to lay off the Bush administration - but he says they stopped doing it after 2005.

At PowerPopSteve Simels has some t Girl on Girl Action! And in other videos, Priest Off! Repellent Spray For Kids.