I really didn't intend to watch the ESPN series on O.J. Simpson (OJ: Made in America.) I happened upon Episode 3 while channel-clicking and there was the Bronco chase.

So far I much prefer this documentary to the American Crime Story version. It's reality. It's pretty much how I remember the case as it happened. I just wish the series relied less on commentary by cops, the D.A. and reporters (except for Jeffrey Toobin.) The cops are a real turn-off, the prosecutors are typically biased and the reporters (other than Toobin) add absolutely nothing. [More...]

President Obama and Hillary Clinton unleashed powerful attacks on Donald Trump today. Maybe together they will knock him out.

Speaking 250 miles apart Tuesday, but as if reading from the same hymnal, President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton delivered simultaneous withering critiques of Donald Trump's response to the Orlando terror attack.

The seemingly coordinated salvo from the Democratic Party's two biggest heavyweights is a preview of the months to come, when Clinton will have at her disposal at least two popular presidents, the vice president, her Democratic primary opponent, and a slew of other high-profile Democrats.

As for Trump, he's on his own. His party's heavy-weights seem content to have him dangle in the wind.[More...]

Hillary Clinton trounced Bernie Sanders in the Washington, D.C. primary.

The Associated Press said with 83 percent of the precincts reporting, Clinton has 67,156 votes, compared to 17,983 for Sanders.

Hey, Bernie, are you done now? It's not clear. Hillary and Bernie met tonight. So far, both are being mum. As for his demands that the platform accommodate his issues, they aren't "his" issues. Democrats have always been the party fighting for economic and social equality. Bernie just got the issues more attention. He gets props for that, but not the issues themselves or positions he's advocating. He didn't come up with them -- especially his views on criminal justice. Many of his positions are taken from years of advocacy by others, like criminal defense lawyers. Where was Bernie's voice in 1994? I never heard it.

It's Hillary vs. Trump. Bernie Sanders needs to step aside or be labeled part of the problem.

I've been busy with work. But I am following a few things, mostly the transfer of Hector Luis "El Guero" Palma-Salazar (former compatriot of El Chapo) to Mexico upon completion of his U.S. sentence, but also, the murder of a 20 year old who worked as security at the prison Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is being held, reports about the Orlando killer, and the ISIS-inspired attack on a French policeman and his companion in France. (The killer live-streamed his allegiance to ISIS with a child in the video (reports are he spared the child.)

Check out James Corden's latest carpool karaoke with the Red Hot Chile Peppers. It's really fun. Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda were on his Late Late Show again last night. Lily said she's not keen on imitating heterosexuals (she's now married to her partner of 45 years.) Jane talked about whether she and Robert Redford ever got it on. Her story seemed very out of school -- a total kiss and tell.

I keep trying to write a post about Palma-Salazar since there is a lot of sloppy and erroneous reporting out there, but it's such a long story with so many different aspects (from his years at Supermax to the murder of his wife, whose head was sent to him in a box after she was killed by the Venezuelan trafficker who had run off with her, got her to withdraw millions of dollars from his accounts and then killed her in San Francisco, before taking El Guero's two small kids to Venezuela where he threw them off a bridge and killed them, filming the incident, to the 1995 plane crash in Mexico that resulted in his arrest) I never quite finish.

While I try again, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I have no patience with the moronic comments of Donald Trump.

The Orlando attacker, Omar Mateen, was born in New York -- he's an American. Nonetheless, Donald Trump used today's tragedy as an occasion to renew his idiotic call for a ban on Muslims.

Orlando police say 50 people died. An official list of victims is here. The police chief sent out an email referring to the "lone terrorist."

The weapons used by Mateen were lawfully acquired. He had a security guard's license and worked for the same company since 2007. [More...]

James Corden nails the Tony's. What a great opening. He brings such energy, positivity and glee to everything he does. I think he's so great.

This is a Tony's thread, I'll put up an open thread soon.

I've always thought the state prescription monitoring databases are a huge abuse of patient privacy in the name of the futile war on drugs. The Daily Beast reports on DEA's fight for access to your medical records without a warrant or court order.

The DEA has claimed for years that under federal law it has the authority to access the state’s Prescription Drug Monitor Program database using only an “administrative subpoena.” These are unilaterally issued orders that do not require a showing of probable cause before a court, like what’s required to obtain a warrant.

Thankfully, a judge in Oregon balked (but read on) [More...]:

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Bernie Sanders didn't quite get the reaction he wanted by his Washington trip. He got eclipsed in the name of Democratic party unity.

Bernie Sanders remains insistent on competing in the D.C. primary. He says after that, he'll work to defeat Trump. Bernie Sanders is tone-deaf. His view of his self-importance is very inflated. He is not the story any longer. The story is Hillary vs Trump. [More...]

Still a very busy week here. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update: 12:00 am: Unbelievable. He's going to fight for every vote in Washington DC's primary next week and keep fighting until Philadelphia. He was not even gracious enough to acknowledge Hillary has won the delegate votes necessary for the nomination. When he did mention that she called him tonight to congratulate him on how well he's done, his supporters booed at the mention of her name. He didn't stop them.

Update 11:43 pm. Here's Bernie finally, fist raised. Smiling. The rally music is Power to the People and Talking About a Revolution. He tells everyone they are part of the political revolution. He's recapping his campaign accomplishments- touting his 10 million votes and the support of "young people." He's optimistic about the future of the country. There he goes -- acting like he invented social justice, economic justice, environmental justice. His young fans love it.

He says we will not allow right wing Republicans like Donald Trump dictate our future. The American people will never support a candidate whose major theme is bigotry. Who insults Mexicans, Muslims and African Americans. We will not allow Donald Trump to become President of the United States. But wait, here it comes: "Our mission is more than defeating Trump, it is transforming our country." [More...]

Great speech. Great moment.

Oh BTW, I predicted this moment in November 2008.

Just sayin.

It's just about over. After her win this weekend in Puerto Rico, Hillary Clinton is expected to reach the magic number tomorrow and become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party.

As for Bernie, I hope he goes off for a long overdue nap.

The LA Times endorsed Hillary, but not Donald Trump. The Times calls Trump "an astoundingly unqualified candidate." It refused to make a Republican endorsement.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman confirmed that Arnold, who will be succeeding Trump as host of Celebrity Apprentice, mailed in his ballot with a vote for John Kasich.

This thread is for all things election-related.

It was June 7, 2008 that Hillary Clinton withdrew from the Democratic presidential nomination race. I remember it well, since I was in Aspen for a NORML legal seminar and watched the speech on TV there.

Sanders, apparently, is not dropping out. No matter. He could win California and it still won't matter.

A whopping total of 475 delegates are at stake, but if it’s as close as the polls suggest, the winner stands to net a mere 20 or 30 delegates. Using this excellent delegate calculator, let’s go through all the remaining races and then circle back to the big prize, bearing in mind that right now, among pledged delegates, it’s Clinton up by 268, 1,769 to 1,501.

[More...]

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." RI.P. Muhammad Ali.

Authorities say Prince died of a self-administered Fentanyl overdose.

Weldon Angelos, who was sentenced to 55 years for marijuana, has been released after 12 years. He lost in the 10th Circuit and the Supreme Court. His clemency petition dangled for 3 years. Ultimately, his lawyer says, a prosecutor put in motion events to set him free.

He had no criminal record before he was convicted of selling $350 worth of marijuana to a police informant three times.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

We close comments at 200, so please don't hog the thread. (No one should be commenting 30 times in a single thread.)

Where has this week gone? I've am just swamped with work and have a lot to do before I can focus on the news and blogging. Hopefully, I'll catch up over the weekend.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.