Howard Dean has clarified (or reversed, depending on how you view it) his position on what should happen to Osama bin Laden if caught. This was his position Thursday, according to a New Hampshire newspaper. In a nutshell, Dean said it's premature to say what penalty Osama should face because he hasn't been tried or convicted yet.

Friday, after a significant amount of fallout from the article, Dean told the AP in a phone interview that Osama should be put to death:

''As a president, I would have to defend the process of the rule of law. But as an American, I want to make sure he gets the death penalty he deserves,'' Dean told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Dean's first position was the correct one. Otherwise it's back to Alice in Wonderland and "No, No," said the Queen. "First the punishment, then the verdict."

We stopped by Howard Dean's website today, just to take a look, and were very pleasantly surprised to see him state these positions on criminal justice issues:

• I will work to ensure that racial profiling ends and I will direct my Attorney General to use regulatory authority under existing anti-discrimination laws the 1964 Civil Rights Act to define racial profiling as discrimination, and to withhold federal funds from state and local law enforcement that violate those regulations.

• I will appoint an Attorney General who sees our constitution not as a document to be manipulated, ignored, and violated, but who recognizes and respects it as the fabric that binds the American community together.

• I will oppose expansion of the Patriot Act, efforts to remove sunset clauses included in the act, and I will seek to repeal the portions of the Patriot Act that are unconstitutional.

• I will put the weight of my office behind the Innocence Protection Act, proposed by Senator Patrick Leahy, which would expand access to DNA testing and strengthen the quality of lawyers for defendants facing the death penalty.

• I will protect the civil rights of immigrants detained by the Department of Homeland Security.

• I will work for federal legislation to restore the right to vote in any federal election for ex-felons who have paid their debt to society.

Joe Lieberman is in hot water over his abortion stand. A New Hampshire paper, The Union Leader, says he would re-examine Roe v. Wade. (We couldn't find the article online). Nonsense, says Lieberman, clarifying his position.

Today Lieberman describes himself as pro-choice, and says if he were President, abortions would be safe, legal....and rare. Rare? If it's a woman's choice, Joe, who are you to say the procedure should be rare? Your position still sounds muddled to us.

Howard Dean says it's too early to judge Bin Laden:

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean says it's premature to recommend what penalty Osama bin Laden should face before he's been legally determined to be guilty of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Asked whether bin Laden should be tried in the United States and put to death, Dean told the Concord Monitor: "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

In an interview with the New Hampshire newspaper for Friday editions, Dean added: "I'm sure that is the correct sentiment of most Americans, but I do think if you're running for president, or if you are president, it's best to say that the full range of penalties should be available. But it's not so great to prejudge the judicial system."

Calling Iraq "probably the best place" for Saddam Hussein to be tried, Dean said he is willing "to be flexible about that because I don't think it's essential to the security interests of the United States." Dean said he plans to keep reminding Democrats that he, unlike his major rivals for the nomination, opposed the Iraq war, in spite of polls showing the vast majority of the American public supporting the invasion at the time.

We have no problem with Saddam being tried in Iraq, provided the trial is conducted by a UN tribunal and not the recently formed Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal. Our reasons are here.

Atrios and Daily Kos report via the New York Times that Bush has developed a strategy to defeat Dean. It's to portray Dean as pessimistic.

Atrios did an Nexis search back to October and found the first purveyors of the false theory: Laura Ingraham and Mary Matalin.

Nathan Newman says that since Dean thinks he can get rid of Bush and solve our economic problems, that makes him optimistic. "So I'd say this calls for a positive google bomb promoting the idea that Dean is optimistic."

Dennis Kucinich has qualified for matching funds. He's raised at least $100,000, with $5,000 coming from people in 20 states, in individual contribution amounts of $250 or less.

The Federal Election Commission has declared Rep. Dennis Kucinich qualified to receive federal matching funds, making the Ohio congressman eligible for up to $18.6 million, the FEC said Wednesday.

We hope this means the press will put reporters back on his campaign. Doesn't this make him a bona fide candidate worthy of media coverage? We think he has the best stand on issues, so we want more people to hear what he has to say.

Meanwhile, John Kerry has taken out a personal mortgage of $6.5 million on his home to finance his campaign. Maybe Kerry is thinking Dean will peak early and that the nomination is Dean's to lose. That's a big risk, but who knows?

Howard Dean is touting his Christianity. We wish he wouldn't.

Presidential contender Howard B. Dean, who has said little about religion while campaigning except to emphasize the separation of church and state, described himself in an interview with the Globe as a committed believer in Jesus Christ and said he expects to increasingly include references to Jesus and God in his speeches as he stumps in the South.

Eric Alterman's new Nation column is up--read why Howard Dean is a true threat to Washington.

Ralph Nader is still considering a presidential run, but it will not be as a Green Party candidate. Ralph informed the Greens of this today--if he runs, it will be as an Independent.

Democratic contender Joe Lieberman and his wife have rented a two bedroom apartment and are moving to New Hampshire until the Jan. 27 primary. We must say, ole' Joe is making the most of his temporary surge resulting from Gore's backing of Howard Dean (the sympathy factor) and the capture of Saddam (as a pro-war candidate.)

Daily Kos reports Joe's surge has already peaked and is on the wane.

Newsweek gives Liberman the bad news -- the crocodile tears are helping him no longer. Poll conducted 12/18-19. MoE 6%. (12/11-12 results in parenthesis)

Dean 26 (24)
Don't Know 20 (14)
Clark 15 (12)
Lieberman 7 (12)
Sharpton 7 (5)
Kerry 6 (5)
Gephardt 5 (10)
Edwards 5 (5)
Braun 1 (3)
Kucinich 1 (2)

We admire Lieberman's spunk. We hope he loses.

Wesley Clark says Howard Dean offered him the VP slot on his ticket if Dean got the nomination. Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, denies it.

Speaking in a taped interview on ABC's "This Week," Clark said Dean had asked him to be his running mate should Dean win the Democratic nomination in a conversation before Clark entered the race.

After the interview was broadcast, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi said on the same program that such a conversation never happened. And after that, Clark's communications director disputed Trippi's response. "Joe Trippi may want to check in with his candidate before talking," Matt Bennett said in a statement from Clark headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Howard Dean did in fact offer Wes Clark a place on the ticket in a one-on-one meeting that Trippi did not attend."

What does Dean say?

Update: The LA Times reports Clark's campaign is advancing after early missteps.

Update 12/22: Dean denies it:

"No, I did not," Dean told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I think Wes is a good guy. I think he'd be a good running mate, but I think it would be highly foolish of me to offer anybody the running mate spot."

Move On is sponsoring a political advertisng contest called Bush in 30 Seconds. It is seeking home-grown amateur anti-Bush commericials. The winning ad will be televised during the week of the President's State of the Union Address next month.

The top 15 finalists will be sent out to our panel of celebrity judges which includes Michael Moore, Donna Brazile, Jack Black, Janeane Garofalo, Margaret Cho and Gus Van Sant.

Go here to register to vote. The first round of voting is now open.

The right to vote took a step forward Friday for ex-felons in Florida:

A federal appeals court Friday ordered a trial in a lawsuit that claims Florida's law barring felons from voting is unconstitutional because it discriminates against blacks. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, reversing a lower court ruling dismissing the case, decided there are enough relevant facts for the case to go to trial.

...Roughly 600,000 Floridians are banned from voting because of felony convictions, according to the Florida Equal Rights Voting Project. A disproportionate number of them more than a third are black, according to American Civil Liberties Union estimates.

Update: Here's the latest on the court decision.