The Constitution, the Justice Department and The Wall Street Journal (As Three Unrelated Items)

It's getting sort of late, and I'm getting sleepy, and I'm sure there's a rule that you shouldn't blog tired. That said, I just want to toss out a couple things that make me happy tonight.

The first is the decision reached by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, VA, that the indefinite detention of US citizens without being charged--no matter if an individual is labeled an enemy combatant or not--is unconstitutional.

“To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians," Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote, “even if the President calls them ‘enemy combatants,’ would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution — and the country.”

Yup. I have little to add, other than to voice my support for Kevin Drum's assertion that the lone dissenting judge, Henry Hudson, should be ashamed of himself for his take on the issue.

Next on the list, I am spirited to learn that yet more emails have been released--only because certain individuals who will testify this week may make mention of said emails, and then the DOJ and White House will have a bigger problem on their hands than the mere manipulation of the Dept of Justice for political gain--showing close handling of DOJ issues by White House personnel. We're not talking about a smoking gun here, where Karl Rove spells it out for his young staff in no uncertain terms, but the letters continue to connect the dots. ThinkProgress links to the emails at the bottom of their post. Thanks to the folks at FireDogLake for keeping a close eye on this tonight.

Finally tonight, I am pleased to read that the Bancroft family, in the face of a (sort of) hostile bid against Dow Jones & Company by media magnate Rupert Murdoch, continues to express their determination to maintain journalistic integrity at The Wall Street Journal. The New York Times reports: "The Bancrofts’ goal is to keep the appointment of The Journal’s top editors out of Mr. Murdoch’s hands." No telling how this all plays out, but I'll be rooting for the reporters and editors at The Journal, and hoping like hell the paper doesn't simply become a mouthpiece for Murdoch's News Corporation.