meme orandum
A newfangled news tangle
Archive Edition for   Wednesday, July 6, 2005Go to Current Page
Google
Web News


memeorandum presents an automated hourly synopsis of the latest online news and opinion, combining weblog commentary with traditional news reports.   (More)

Site Notices

Subscribe:   XML   (Help)
  •Add to My Yahoo!
  •Add to My MSN
  •Add to Bloglines
  •Add to NewsGator


Recent archives:



Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Agence France Presse
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
AMERICAblog
  Joe @AmericaBlog
  Michael @AmericaBlog
Amygdala
  Gary Farber
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
Associated Press
  Pete Yost
  John J. Lumpkin
  Ken Ritter
  Stephen Wilson
  Deb Riechmann
  Kimberly Hefling
  Nicholas K. Geranios
Asymmetrical Information
  Jane Galt
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  Scott Shepard
Balkinization
  Jack Balkin
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
BBC
BeldarBlog
  William J. Dyer
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
BLACKFIVE
  Blackfive
The Blogging of the President
  Stirling Newberry
Boston Globe
  Robert Kuttner
  John Donnelly
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Centerfield
  William Swann
  Abel Rabinowitz
Chicago Tribune
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
Chronicle of the Conspiracy
  Don
The Claremont Institute
  Ken Masugi
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
  Clayton Cramer
The Corner
  K. J. Lopez
  Jonah Goldberg
  Warren Bell
  Ramesh Ponnuru
  Rod Dreher
  John Podhoretz
  Cliff May
  Jack Fowler
  John J. Miller
  Stanley Kurtz
  Jonathan H. Adler
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
  Riggsveda @Corrente
  Tresy @Corrente
Crescat Sententia
  Will Baude
Crooked Timber
  Maria @CrookedTimber
Daily Kos
  Kos @DailyKos
  Hunter @DailyKos
  Plutonium Page
Dallas Morning News
  Kimberly Durnan
danieldrezner.com
  Daniel Drezner
Demagogue
  Eugene Oregon
  Zoe Kentucky
  Frederick Maryland
democracyarsenal.org
  Derek Chollet
Democratic Veteran
  Jo Fish
DER SPIEGEL
Drudge Report
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
  Echidne
EconoPundit
  Steve Antler
Ed Driscoll.com
  Ed Driscoll
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Editor and Publisher
  Bill Israel
Electablog
  David Allan Pell
Eschaton
  Atrios
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
Fafblog!
  Medium Lobster
Financial Times
  Ft Reporters
Fraters Libertas
  Saint l
  Atomizer l
gregransom.com/prestopundit/
  Greg Ransom
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
The Hill
  Geoff Earle
Hit and Run
  Tim Cavanaugh
The Huffington Post
  Arianna Huffington
  Craig Crawford
  Michelle Pilecki
  Lawrence O'Donnell
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
INDC Journal
  Bill @INDCJournal
The Indepundit
  Smash
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
INTEL DUMP
  Phillip Carter
Jeff Quinton
  Jeff Quinton
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
Kudlow's Money Politic$
  Larry Kudlow
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
Left in the West
  Matt Singer
Libertarian Jackass
  Libertarian Jackass
The Light Of Reason
  Arthur Silber
Los Angeles Times
  Richard B. Schmitt
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Matt Welch
  Matt Welch
mediabistro
  Garrett M. Graff
  Brian Stelter
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MSNBC
MyDD
  Chris Bowers
The Nation
National Review
New York Times
  Phillip Carter
  Adam Liptak
  Lynn Zinser
  Sarah Vowell
  Tim Golden
  Steven A. Holmes
  Nicholas D. Kristof
  John Tierney
  Todd S. Purdum
Newsday
  Sheryl Mccarthy
NewsHog
  Cernig
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
normblog
  Norm Geras
NY Daily News
One Hand Clapping
  Donald Sensing
Opinion Journal
  James Taranto
  Roy S. Moore
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
OxBlog
  David
Pandagon
  Amanda Marcotte
  Jesse Taylor
Patrick Ruffini '05
  Patrick Ruffini
Patterico's Pontifications
  Patterico
  Angry Clam
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
Personal Democracy Forum blogs
  Michael Bassik
PoliBlog
  Steven L.
PoliPundit.com
  Alexander K. McClure
  Jayson @PoliPundit
  PoliPundit
  Lorie Byrd
Power Line
  John @PowerLine
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
Publius Pundit
  Robert Mayer
The QandO Online Magazine
  Dale Franks
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reason
  Matt Welch
Reuters
  Alan Elsner
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
Rising Hegemon
  Attaturk
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Samizdata.net
  David Carr
  Robert Clayton Dean
San Francisco Chronicle
Seattle Times
  Lornet Turnbull
  Alicia Mundy
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Sirotablog
  David Sirota
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Skippy
  Cookie Jill
Slate
  William Saletan
  Bruce Reed
  Christopher Hitchens
South Knox Bubba
  SK Bubba
Southern Appeal
  Feddie @SouthernAppeal
  Justin @SouthernAppeal
  Michael DeBow
  Nate F.
The Spoons Experience
  Spoons
Stephen Pollard
  Stephen Pollard
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susie Madrak
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
The Talent Show
  Greg @TheTalentShow
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
  TChris
TAPPED
  Matthew Yglesias
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
TheAgitator.com
  Radley Balko
Think Progress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
  Think Progress
  Nico @ThinkProgress
This Modern World
  Tom Tomorrow
Townhall.com
  Thomas Sowell
Unfogged
  Fontana Labs
  Unf @Unfogged
USA Today
Vodkapundit
  Will Collier
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Orin Kerr
  Eugene Volokh
  Todd Zywicki
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  William Branigin
  Dan Froomkin
  Griff Witte
  Jonathan Weisman
  Anne Applebaum
  Ellen Nakashima
  Andy Mosher
  Daniela Deane
  David Cho
  David A. Fahrenthold
  Peter S. Goodman
Washington Times
  Gareth Harding
Weekly Standard
  John Hinderaker
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Joe Katzman
Wizbang
  Rob @Wizbang
  Jay Tea
  Will Franklin



Judge Orders Times Writer Jailed for Refusing to Reveal Source
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to divulge her source to a grand jury investigating the Bush administration's leak of an undercover CIA operative's name.
Brian Stelter: Here's the thing about Miller. She hasn't been convicted of a crime. She hasn't even been accused of a crime.
Laura Rozen: Grim day. This case was useful precisely because so many people don't find Miller a sympathetic reporter. This is just grim.
Barbara O'Brien: Update update: Perp walk for Judy, but Matt will testify. | bar.jpg
Tom Maguire: The NY Times account poses a few questions to which we have answers.
Garrett M. Graff: > The New York Times has lept at the opportunity to flog its record here, and posted a variety of articles about the...
Jim Romenesko: NYT reporter Miller sent to jail for refusing to name source — New York Times "There is still a realistic possibility...
Also: Jeralyn Merritt, David Allan Pell, John Cole, Orin Kerr, DavidNYC @DailyKos, Attaturk, Atrios

Judge Orders Jail for N.Y. Times Reporter
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Wednesday jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to divulge her source to a grand jury investigating who in the Bush administration leaked an undercover CIA operative's name.
John @PowerLine: This Associated Press article is by Pete Yost. For the most part, it is a straightforward account of Judith Miller's appearance in court today.
Jeralyn Merritt: Judith Miller's lawyer, Floyd Abrams, said today: "Asked why prosecutors sought Miller's testimony when she never wrote...
Kevin Roderick: Judith Miller in custody — The New York Times reporter who looked into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name...
Susie Madrak: UPDATE: .Judy's in jail WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Wednesday jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Boo Freakin' Hoo — Twenty years ago this story might actually have garnered the lede on this evening's network...
James Joyner: Judge Orders Plame Reporter Judith Miller Jailed — CNN Breaking News: [snipped quote] Update: AP has more: Judge Orders...
Also: Orrin Judd, Joe @AmericaBlog

N.Y. Times Reporter Jailed for Refusing to Reveal Source
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
A federal judge today ordered the jailing of a New York Times reporter for refusing to divulge a confidential source, but a Time magazine reporter facing possible jail time in the same case reversed course and agreed to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity.
Tom Maguire: From their account of today's activities: "It was not immediately clear whether the same person was a source for both Miller and Cooper.
Atrios: Judy Judy Judy — Still proved f**king right! Miller told the judge that if U.S. troops could risk death in their fight...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Miller off to jail — Cooper got the green light from his source — Update from AP: Miller: "A federal judge today...
Steve Soto: Judy Miller Goes To Jail — Judith Miller was just taken into custody, and will immediately serve a 120-day sentence in...
Jeralyn Merritt: Judith Miller Jailed, Cooper Agrees to Testify — Update: New York Times Reporter Judith Miller was jailed today.

SEN. SCHUMER CAUGHT ON CELLPHONE: 'WE ARE GOING TO WAR' OVER SUPREME COURT
  Drudge Report   —   Permalink 
Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer got busy plotting away on the cellphone aboard a Washington, DC-New York Amtrak — plotting Democrat strategy for the upcoming Supreme Court battle.
Captain Ed: Schumer: Go To The Mattresses No Matter Who It Is — Matt Drudge reports today that Senator Chuck Schumer has no...
John @PowerLine: Schumer Says Democrats "Going to War" Regardless of Who Nominee Is — Matt Drudge is reporting on an intercepted cell...
Steve Bainbridge: Drudge reports: [snipped quote] It seems increasingly unlikely that the majority of Senate Democrats will give any SCOTUS nominee a fair hearing.
Angry Clam: To Hell With Consensus- Grind them into the Dirt [Posted by Angry Clam] Senator Schumer got busted promising all out...
Will Collier: Thanks to Drudge, Chuck Schumer is getting a similar lesson today. You don't just have to worry about your pals in the press any more, boys.
PoliPundit: Quote of the Day — Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), on the upcoming SCOTUS nomination battle: "Even William Rehnquist is more moderate than they expected.
Also: Feddie @SouthernAppeal, K. J. Lopez

U.S. Holding 5 Americans for Iraq Activity
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
They were captured separately and don't appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
Rob @Wizbang: Five Americans Suspected Of Treason Held Captive In Iraq — Washington Post - The U.S. military is holding five U.S...
Jeff Goldstein: The relativity of wartime transgressions — From the Washington Post: [snipped quote] Well, traitors, sure.
Michelle Malkin: They're suspected of insurgent activities: [snipped quote] Eugene Volokh's assessment on whether these activities constitute treason: "Sounds like the real thing, not hyperbole."
TChris: Detaining Cyrus Kar — Update: The Washington Post writes about the four other U.S. citizens detained by the U.S. after being arrested in Iraq.
James Joyner: U.S. Holding 5 Americans for Iraq Activity (AP - WaPo) [snipped quote] via Rusty Shackleford, who agrees with Eugene Volokh and Jay Tea that this is textbook "treason."
Eugene Volokh: Treason: Sounds like the real thing, not hyperbole. Thanks to Rusty Shackleford for the pointer.

So Who Are the Activists?
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WHEN Democrats or Republicans seek to criticize judges or judicial nominees, they often resort to the same language. They say that the judge is "activist." But the word "activist" is rarely defined. Often it simply means that the judge makes decisions with which the critic disagrees.
Will Baude: My former T.A. Chad Golder along with Yale Law Prof Paul Gewirtz have an op-ed in today's New York Times.
Susie Madrak: Activist Judges From the Times: When Democrats or Republicans seek to criticize judges or judicial nominees, they often resort to the same language.
Jack Balkin: Activism and Federalism JB Paul Gewirtz and Chad Golder's op-ed in today's New York Times points out that if one...
Brad DeLong: So Who Are the Activists? - New York Times Gewirtz and Golder on "judicial activism": So Who Are the Activists?
Hunter @DailyKos: The Most Activist Judge: Clarence Thomas — This New York Times op-ed by Paul Gewirtz and Chad Golder suggests an actual...
Orin Kerr: Judicial Activism, One More Time: In today's New York Times, Yale Law's Paul Gewirtz and Chad Golder have an op-ed that...
Also: Tom Maguire, TChris

The Quiet Man
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The Op-Ed page in some copies of Wednesday's newspaper carried an incorrect version of the below article about military recruitment. The article also briefly appeared on NYTimes.com before it was removed.
Brad DeLong: (Yet Another New York Times Edition) The mind boggles: The Quiet Man - New York Times: The Op-Ed page in some copies of...
Kevin Drum: OOPS....This is sure an embarrassing editor's note. I sometimes think that op-ed editors don't realize they aren't editing straight news.
Tom Maguire: Call Missing Persons — I am reading, in my Dead Tree Times, a cogent op-ed piece by Phillip Carter, blogger and recently called up Army reserve officer.
Ed Cone: Uncle Sam wants you — An NYT op-ed by Phillip Carter on our overstretched military: "Although the Army recruited its...
Glenn Reynolds: PHIL CARTER'S OPED, missing in action this morning, is now up on the New York Times website, with a correction and an apology.
Phillip Carter: A Call to Arms — From the op-ed page of today's New York Times: "The Quiet Man By Phillip Carter LOS ANGELES — AMERICA is facing a military manpower meltdown.

Reid: Gonzales qualified for high court
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday pronounced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales qualified to sit on the Supreme Court but added, "I don't know if he'd have an easy way through" Senate confirmation.
Kos @DailyKos: Reid agrees, as long as the proper confirmation process is followed through (and there's no doubt it should). But all's not lost.
Betsy Newmark: Harry Reid is out there defending Alberto Gonzales and saying that he could be confirmed. Q and O translates this for us.
James Joyner: Reid: Gonzales Qualified for High Court — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid all but endorsed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the Supreme Cour this afternoon.
Orrin Judd: TOO CLEVER BY HALF: Reid: Gonzales qualified for high court (KEN RITTER, July 6, 2005, Associated Press)

Politics taints probe of CIA leak
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
SOMETHING STINKS to high heaven about the threat to send New York Times reporter Judith Miller to jail. Miller refused to betray sources she interviewed in trying to learn who leaked the name of a CIA agent to conservative pundit Robert Novak.
John @PowerLine: Even more egregious, though perhaps less surprising, is Robert Kuttner's column in today's Boston Globe.
John Podhoretz: NO WONDER THEY CALL HIM 'CRAZY BOB' — Robert Kuttner has a demented op-ed in today's Boston Globe alleging the most...
Jim Romenesko: (NYT) > "This case is particularly outrageous because a partisan prosecutor is training his guns on the wrong culprits,...
Garrett M. Graff: Everyone from the Hartford Courant's Jim Shea to Newsday's Ellis Henicanto to the Globe's Robert Kuttner to the NY Daily...
Barbara O'Brien: But what about Bob? Robert Kuttner writes in today's Boston Globe: "But what about Novak? He obviously knows who leaked the name to him.
Echidne: Robert Kuttner has a good and angry opinion piece on the Rove scandal in the Boston Globe: [snipped quote] Good stuff.
Also: Alan Dershowitz, Laura Rozen

Shield Journalism, Not Journalists
  By / Reason   —   Permalink 
Everyone has at least one dog to kick in the endless Valerie Plame/Robert Novak/Joseph Wilson/Judith Miller/Matthew Cooper/Karl Rove saga, which is scheduled to end up with the New York Times reporter being sentenced this afternoon.
Kevin Drum: Let's argue it out in Congress and then pass something that makes it clear what counts as "journalism," what protection sources can expect, and exactly how far prosecutors can go.
Matt Welch: New Column — "Shield Journalism, Not Journalists: Three simple solutions to Judith Miller's messy legal problem":...
Glenn Reynolds: SHIELD JOURNALISM, NOT JOURNALISTS: Matt Welch has some thoughts on how we should respond to the Miller/Cooper affair

Circumcision may offer Africa AIDS hope
  San Francisco Chronicle   —   Permalink 
French and South African AIDS researchers have called an early halt to a study of adult male circumcision to reduce HIV infection after initial results reportedly showed that men who had the procedure dramatically lowered their risk of contracting the virus.
Clayton Cramer: Circumcision and AIDS — This was a bit of a surprise—a study in Africa that was examining whether circumcision reduces...
Orrin Judd: APPARENTLY HE TAKES THESE COVENANTS PRETTY SERIOUSLY (via Jim Yates): Circumcision may offer Africa AIDS hope: Procedure...
Andrew Sullivan: RE-THINKING CIRCUMCISION: The data seems clear enough to me; and certainly clear enough for there to be a push for...
Ann Althouse: How good is circumcision? This good.

The Roe Effect
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Roe v. Wade is a study in unanticipated consequences. By establishing a constitutional right to abortion, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court no doubt thought they were settling the issue for good, accelerating a process of liberalization that was already under way in 1973.
Barbara O'Brien: For example, check out what flaming idiot James Taranto wrote for WSJ. Taranto argues that abortion has been a winning issue for the GOP and a losing issue for Democrats.
Betsy Newmark: James Taranto makes a compelling case for what he calls the Roe effect.
PoliPundit: The Roe Effect — James Taranto, whose Roe Effect theory I've long supported, has written an excellent clip-n-save explanation of the theory.
John Hawkins: [quote]"— James Taranto [end quote] That's an intriguing analysis. Could the Dems be slowly aborting themselves into political oblivion?
Jesse Taylor: Abortion Math Is For Dummies — James Taranto, an exceptionally worthless man whose major talent seems to be pretending...

London beats Paris to 2012 Games
  BBC   —   Permalink 
The 2012 Olympic Games will be held in London, the International Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday.
London won a two-way fight with Paris by 54 votes to 50 at the IOC meeting in Singapore, after bids from Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated.
David Carr: Be still my beating heart!! Three cheers and hip, hip, hooray for London will indeed host the 2012 Olympics.
Norm Geras: Two cheers (updated) I'm not entirely sure why I'm pleased about this. But I am. This is one, but only one, reason.
Smash: London Gets 2012 Games — LONDON beat out Paris, Madrid, New York, and Moscow to play host to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Plutonium Page: Midday open thread — Tony Blair's a happy boy today. London will host the 2012 Olympic Games. In other news... here's an open thread for you.
Maria @CrookedTimber: It's London! Les rosbifs ont gagne! London has beaten Paris to host the 2012 Olympics. I'm amazed at how happy this makes me.
Stephen Pollard: But I'm afraid the cost is too high even for that delicious prospect.) UPDATE: I'm left with no alternative. I'm moving to Paris.
Also: David T

Republicans want to speed up death penalty
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress have launched a new effort to speed up executions in the United States by limiting the ability of those sentenced to death to appeal to federal courts.
Amanda Marcotte: We could be killing people even faster — August Pollak reports that the Republicans are looking for a remedy for...
Alexander K. McClure: Death Penalty Politics — Republicans in Congress want the death penalty process sped up by limiting the ability of those on death row to appeal in federal courts.
Jeralyn Merritt: Republicans Try to Speed Up Death Penalty — Republicans have introduced a bill to speed up the death penalty by limiting habeas appeals.
Cookie Jill: repubs want to rev up ole sparky hey...rove might want to take note of this. isn't the crime of treason punishable by death?

Judge orders NY Times reporter to jail
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
Judith Miller, New York Times reporter, was ordered to jail by a US district court judge for refusing to tell prosecutors the name of her source in a case revolving around the leak of a CIA operative's name.
Skippy: matt cooper will not be spending any time in the martha stewart iron bar hotel, because he's singing like pink floyd at the live 8 concert.
Tim Cavanaugh: "The public has no right to know" — Chief US District Judge Thomas Hogan has thrown Judith Miller in jail.
Saint l: Until then, we'll amuse ourselves with real stories of American justice in action.

Are a Nominee's Views Fair Game?
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
The White House and Senate Democrats headed toward a collision yesterday over the role ideology should play in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice, outlining a key conflict that could define the nomination battle over a successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Ann Althouse: I'm giving the prize to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) — one of the fourteen compromisers — who took this postion: "A...
Betsy Newmark: The Democrats are sounding the word that they are going to be looking at ideology in assessing a candidate.
Orrin Judd: EXTRAORDINARY ORDNANCE: Are a Nominee's Views Fair Game?
Hugh Hewitt: SCOTUS must-reads: "Are a Nominee's Views Fair Game," from the Washington Post.
Stirling Newberry: But there is another prong - namely to make Gonzo a stealth nominee. saying there is no litmus test but also an "up or down" vote.

Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan and Faryar Shirzad
  White House   —   Permalink 
MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good afternoon, everybody. I've got Faryar Shirzad, our Sherpa for the G8 here with me. He will do a quick summary of what to expect ahead of us, and then we'll be here for whatever questions you have.
MR. SHIRZAD: Hi, how are you?
Arianna Huffington: But if you do a text search for the word "Rove," you'll see that not a single press person thought that the fact that...
Judd @ThinkProgress: No one asked him about Karl Rove's role in outing undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Wanted: African-American campers
  By / Seattle Times   —   Permalink 
Chukundi Salisbury knows better than to try to talk his 60-year-old mother into taking a family camping trip this summer — or ever.
Roughing it, she long ago told him, doesn't sound like much fun to her.
Michelle Malkin: P.C. FOLLIES AT THE PARK — From Washington state... State officials, worried that too many whites go camping and not...
John Cole: Good Grief — Unless someone can come up with a really good explanation, I am with Malkin and Sharkansky on this one:...

Rapper Lil' Kim Gets a Year for Perjury
  AP   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK (AP) — Grammy-winning rapper Lil' Kim was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in prison and fined $50,000 for lying to a federal grand jury to protect friends involved in a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station.
Jeralyn Merritt: It's now one of my first stops. Lil' Kim was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for perjury today.
Orin Kerr: In New York, Lil' Kim has been sent to jail for testifying falsely before a federal grand jury to protect her friends.

The Impeachment Question
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
More than four in 10 Americans, according to a recent Zogby poll, say that if President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.
Ace: Zogby Poll: 42% Want Impeachement Hearings If Bush Lied About Iraq War — Sort of surprising... but then not so surprising.
David Allan Pell: Voting Actually Works Pretty Well — In a recent poll, more than 40% of Americans indicated that Congress should...
Lambert @Corrente: So, if a blowjob is good for impeachment, why not a war based on lies?

The Coming Web Attack on the Court Nominee
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Anti-Bush groups say they are "hoping for peace but arming for war."
NARAL Pro-Choice America, which has taken a leading role in the fight against several of President Bush's judicial nominees, has purchased the web addresses stopgonzales.com,...
Dale Franks: Maybe Gonzalez Isn't Acceptable... Byron York reports that despite all the rumblings about Attorney General Alberto...
K. J. Lopez: BYRON HAS A NEW PIECE UP on the likely web war to come on SCOTUS. But Bench Memos readers know that already.

Ship young Pataki straight to Iraq
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
I'm sure Teddy Pataki is a nice young man. And the fact that he signed up for the Marine Corps' officers training program while he was still an undergraduate at Yale suggests a willingness to serve his country.
Blackfive: Everyone from draft-loving Charlie Rangel to Atrios to the denizens of Kos are slobbering over this as another rich guy...
Atrios: While I certainly sympathize with the sentiment in the final paragraph, I'm also confused about precisely...
Radley Balko: Pataki — Here, a few choice quotes from George Pataki on the war in Iraq: [quote] "Saddam Hussein was one of the most evil,...[end quote]

G.O.P. Asks Conservative Allies to Cool Rhetoric Over the Court
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, July 5 - The White House and the Senate Republican leadership are pushing back against pressure from some of their conservative allies about the coming Supreme Court nomination, urging them to stop attacking Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales as a potential nominee and to tone down their talk of a culture war.
Michael @AmericaBlog: Bush is urging the far right to tone down the heated rhetoric about the opening on the Supreme Court.
Hugh Hewitt: The New York Times has "GOP Asks Conservative Allies to Cool Rhetoric Over the Court," wherein it is reported that...
Riggsveda @Corrente: Oddly, the possiblility has put the Reactionary Right's wingnuts on alert, and the grumblings from Outer Slobbovia on...
Steve M.: In fact, let me quote the passage from today's New York Times that everyone else in Blogistan is quoting: The White...
Ann Althouse: Here's the front-page NYT story about the request to tone down the rhetoric on the Supreme Court appointment.
Tbogg: Don't tip off your agenda: The White House and the Senate Republican leadership are pushing back against pressure from...
Also: Joe Gandelman, John Cole, Stirling Newberry, Robert Tagorda, Atrios, Kevin Drum, Robert G., Justin @SouthernAppeal, Joe @AmericaBlog

Halliburton's Higher Bill
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Army has ordered nearly $5 billion in work from Halliburton Co. to provide logistics support to U.S. troops in Iraq over the next year, $1 billion above what the Army paid for similar services the previous year.
Amanda Marcotte: It's been the profit bonanza! [snipped quote] What's good for bidness is good for America, ladies and gentlemen.
Jo Fish: Bidness as Usual — Hey, Good Morning and Guess What!
Michael @AmericaBlog: So the Pentagon re-upped with a Halliburton subsidiary about two months ago, plans to pay them about $5 billion instead...
Cookie Jill: those who steal, lie and cheat should be rewarded that seems to be what this administration truly believes.

Bush Involved in Bike Crash in Scotland
  AP   —   Permalink 
GLENEAGLES, Scotland - President Bush collided with a local police officer and fell during a bike ride on the grounds of the Gleneagles golf resort while attending a meeting of world leaders Wednesday.
The accident occurred on asphalt, McClellan said.
Lambert @Corrente: Bush runs down a cop and falls off his bike (again) Well, this time, it was raining (unlike the last time, when they lied and said it was, back).
Attaturk: Unfortunately, he did not sink into a bog. Can we just get the jagoff a trike?

New York Times Reporter Is Jailed for Keeping Source Secret
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, July 6 - A federal judge today ordered Judith Miller of The New York Times to be jailed immediately after she again refused to cooperate with a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative.
Hunter @DailyKos: Update [2005-7-6 17:15:26 by DavidNYC]: Judy Miller sent to jail for contempt.
Fontana Labs: Ode to schadenfreude — Requesting that Judith "I was proved f**king right" Miller serve her time in a DC metro jail,...

Once-mighty pen gives way to legal swordplay
  NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
A monkey in silks is still a monkey. I thought of that old streetwise philosophy while witnessing Time magazine's fancy excuse for selling out its reporter and the First Amendment on the grounds of the Rule of Law.
Skippy: miller says his "source" gave him "permission." (also his "boss" already turned over his "notes" anyway).
Jim Romenesko: Can you say five-part series? > "The media no longer have the Congress," writes Sidney Zion. "Nor the public.

New York Bid Falls Short as London Is Chosen for Olympics
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
SINGAPORE, July 6 - In a surprising upset over front-running Paris, London snatched away the 2012 Olympics today, capping a comeback in a bidding race it seemed nearly out of just a year ago.
Steve M.: New York Bid Falls Short as London Is Chosen for Olympics — Well, it's still hard for me to think about New York's...
Matt Singer: London Gets the Olympics — Um. OK. London seems quite excited. Good for them. I'm just not quite sure why they care.
Don: From today's New York Times: In a surprising upset...London snatched away the 2012 Olympics today...
John J. Miller: NICE LIFT — Here's the NYT on HRC and the failed NYC Olympic bid: "The city's bid had also seemed to get a lift from...

New York Times Reporter Is Jailed for Keeping Source Secret
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to divulge her source to a grand jury investigating the Bush administration's leak of an undercover CIA operative's name.
Echidne: Matthew Cooper has agreed to testify: [snipped quote] Touching.
Riggsveda @Corrente: Squeal Like A Pig — Well, this should prove entertaining as hell.

Rove v. Wade
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
In the three decades since Roe v. Wade, pro-lifers have marched, prayed, and licked envelopes in the hope that a pro-life president might change the Supreme Court. Friday morning, they got their wish: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced she would retire.
Barbara O'Brien: William Saletan writes in Slate, "In the three decades since Roe v. Wade, pro-lifers have marched, prayed, and licked...
Frederick Maryland: Then, in this article, William Saletan offers an assessment of why he believes Bush will feel compelled to nominate a...
Jane Galt: William Saletan repeats a belief I've heard often from my compadres on the pro-choice side: [snipped quote] I'm afraid I don't buy it.

A Pat on the Back
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Since I have been hired, temporarily, to write about the news, here's some: seeing Pat Robertson on television cheered me up. Until recently, about the nicest thing I would have said about this televangelist is that he isn't boring.
Ann Althouse: Toning up the rhetoric, paying attention. Hey, Sarah Vowell is the new guest columnist at the NYT. I love her hilarious, never-padded writing.
Ed Cone: Strange bedfellows — Sarah Vowell in the NYT on her new-found respect for Pat Robertson: "Seeing Robertson in that...
Ezra Klein: Viva Vowell! This is the best idea ever. Sarah Vowell filling in for Maureen Dowd. There must be a way to make this permanent.
K. J. Lopez: THIS IS LIKE SO WORTHY OF BEING IN THE MODO SPOT — Brilliant insights from Sarah Vowell in the NYTimes today: "That...

The Judy Miller Media Hug-Fest
  LAT   —   Permalink 
In the midst of the media's love-fest for Judith Miller, 1st Amendment Martyr, it's easy to forget that Miller's questionable journalistic ethics left her in the doghouse only a year ago.
Barbara O'Brien: Rosa Brooks writes in today's Los Angeles Times: "It was Miller, more than any other reporter, who helped the White House sell its WMD-in-Iraq hokum to the American public.
Jim Romenesko: "I don't buy the new Miller-as-heroine story," says Brooks — Los Angeles Times Rosa Brooks reminds us: "It was [Judith]...

Ex-Sen. Thompson to Oversee Court Nominee
  AP   —   Permalink 
GLENEAGLES, Scotland - President Bush has named former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson to help shepherd his yet-to-be named Supreme Court nominee through the Senate, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday.
Think Progress: EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Former Senator And Law & Order Star Fred Thompson » null Today, the White House...
SK Bubba: If he didn't he would be negligent and totally irresponsible. Well, OK, maybe there's a chance he doesn't have a list.

Yes, sir, courtesies are changing
  By / Dallas Morning News   —   Permalink 
"No, sir." "Yes, ma'am."
Catherine Lundberg raised 12-year-old Cameron to say "Yes, sir" and "No, ma'am." But such niceties seem to be in decline.
University Park mom Catherine Lundberg likes hearing those conversational niceties.
Rod Dreher: GONE WITH THE WIND — Use of "sir" and "ma'am" is dying out among the young, even here in Texas. Man, I hate to see this.
Justin @SouthernAppeal: Nice post from Rod Dreher over at the Corner: [snipped quote] Me: He makes a good point. I still say "yes sir" and "no ma'am."

"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"
  DER SPIEGEL   —   Permalink 
The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.
Steven L.: Kenyan Economist Advocates Tough Love for Africa — James Shikwati, an Economist interviewed in der Spiegel, says bluntly that aid to Africa is counterproductive.
Rob @Wizbang: Please Stop The Aid — Excerpt from a Spiegel interview with Kenyan economist James Shikwati: SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the...
Robert Mayer: Here's the whole thing. Good find. Couldn't say it any better myself.
Don: Der Spiegel carries a must-read interview with James Shikwati, who claims that aid does far more harm than good.
Donald Sensing: The other is an interview in the German magazine Spiegel with Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, who "says that aid to Africa does more harm than good."
Will Collier: A sample: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing (and send a copy to Bono and Saint Bob).
Also: Tim Cavanaugh, Kate @OTB

London Upsets Paris to Win 2012 Olympics
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
SINGAPORE - Britain vs. France. Blair vs. Chirac. Two historic rival cities convinced they were long overdue. London prevailed — upsetting Paris to secure the 2012 Olympics.

Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated in the first three rounds.
Jayson @PoliPundit: London Calling for 2012. As a native New Yawkah, I would have loved to have seen the Olympic Games being conducted over there.
James Joyner: London Awarded 2012 Olympic Games — London Awarded 2012 Olympic Games (AP) [snipped quote] While I'd have preferred New...

From Filmmaker in Los Angeles to Iraq Detainee
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
LOS ANGELES, July 5 - Like a lot of aspiring filmmakers in Los Angeles, Cyrus Kar was obsessed with his project, a documentary about an ancient Persian king who championed tolerance and human rights even as he built an empire that stretched across the Near East.
TChris: Kay was busted in Bhagdad, supposedly because "suspected bomb parts" were in the taxi in which he was riding.
James Joyner: Five American Terrorists Arrested in Iraq — The U.S. military has arrested five American citizens in recent months for anti-American terrorist activity in Iraq.

Theft, extortion and AIDS
  Chicago Tribune   —   Permalink 
Two illegal and counterproductive tactics—extortion and theft—threaten to taint Brazil's otherwise successful campaign against HIV/AIDS. The Brazilians have given Abbott Laboratories of North Chicago an ultimatum to cut nearly in half the price of an AIDS drug.
Spoons: A Chicago Tribune editorial tells the story: [snipped quote] Take a good look.
Daniel Drezner: I'm somewhat sympathetic to the excessive IPR argument - but click here to read a Chicago Tribune editorial about why...

CAFTA Reflects Democrats' Shift From Trade Bills
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Twelve years ago, amid heated rhetoric over job losses and heavy union pressure, the House passed the North American Free Trade Agreement with 102 Democratic votes. This month, as President Bush pushes the far less economically significant Central American Free Trade Agreement, he will be lucky to get more than 10.
Brad DeLong: Its conclusion is very different, very different indeed: CAFTA: [A] core group of as many as 50 pro-trade Democrats...
David Sirota: Wash Post: The Good, Bad & Ugly on CAFTA — The Washington Post fronts a story about the House wrangling over the...
Daniel Drezner: Jonathan Weisman documents the death of the free trade Democrat in the Washington Post: "Twelve years ago, amid heated...
Ezra Klein: This, from the Washington Post's big piece on CAFTA, strikes me as a very strange paragraph: "But the Democrats'...
Susie Madrak: Democrats Waking Up You'll notice in this WashPo article that the author assumes that voters are suspicious of a party that supports trade unions.
Orrin Judd: THE POST-CLINTON DEMOCRATS: SMOOT, SMUT, & SMEAL (via mc): CAFTA Reflects Democrats' Shift From Trade Bills (Jonathan...
Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh

Bush daughter is said to volunteer in S. Africa
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
CAPE TOWN — At the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, children sit on their mothers' laps in waiting rooms, waddle down hallways, and wail inside the burn unit, where nurses carefully wrap gauze around their arms, legs, and heads.
Jay Tea: Well, according to this story, in Barbara's case it just might be true... And in a true sign of classiness, one notes...
Betsy Newmark: Barbara Bush, the President's daughter, has apparently been working for the past month and a half in a chilcren's hospital in Capetown, South Africa.

"We Care!"
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Grace on the cheap.
According to Bob Geldof, two billion people watched his snazzy Live8 concert thingamajig. Therefore, he declared, "It's now for the leaders to act." He also added, "Now feel the force of the gale that's hit you."
Ed Driscoll: Not Now John, We've Got To Get On With The Show — Jonah Goldberg looks at Live8 through a gimlet eye: "You may be...
Warren Bell: Then Jonah's piece this morning made it click — Live 8 is "Hands Across America" with music. Remember that?

Not Yet Dead
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Full Disclosure: Before covering the Martha Stewart trial for Slate, Henry Blodget wrote an exhaustive statement disclosing potential conflicts of interest. It is a classic of the genre, more direct, self-aware, and revealing in its disclosures than most of us could ever hope to produce.
Eugene Volokh: Advice to the President of the Democratic Leadership Council, at least assuming the DLC is trying to figure out how to...
Taegan Goddard: Reed Blogs — Former Clinton policy advisor Bruce Reed has a blog for Slate titled Not Yet Dead, about returning Democrats to power.

Bush: Abortion Won't Decide Court Nominee
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - President Bush, shadowed in Europe by a pressing concern back in Washington, said Wednesday he will not select a Supreme Court nominee based on his or her views on abortion or other hot-button political issues.
William Swann: And now he says that the abortion decision won't determine his nominee, and makes another plea for a "dignified" process.
Larry Kudlow: One of the most interesting: [snipped quote] Read the AP story here. As a side note, check out Tradesports to follow the ups and downs of the nomination futures.

Live 8 Meets Big 2
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
For reasons that don't merit elaboration, I spent several hours over the past weekend stuck in European airports. That unexpected chunk of downtime — a little gift from the airline industry — gave me the equally unexpected opportunity to read all of the British and French newspapers, or at least all of the ones they sell at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Andrew Sullivan: Anne Applebaum puts it well: "[A]mong those who work seriously on Africa, it has long been clear that what Africans...
Cliff May: Anne Applebaum this morning makes a good point about European and American trade policy helping to keep Africans poor.
David: When it comes to fighting poverty, I tend to approach the issue the same way as Anne Applebaum: "Each European cow costs...

London Awarded 2012 Olympic Games
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
SINGAPORE (AP) - London was awarded the 2012 Olympics on Wednesday, defeating European rival Paris in the final round of voting to take the games back to the British capital for the first time since 1948.
Betsy Newmark: Oh, darn. And if London's winning bid helps Tony Blair, then that's all the better.
Robert Clayton Dean: Condolences to London.

James Stockdale, Perot's Running Mate in '92, Dies at 81
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale, a highly decorated Navy pilot who inspired fellow prisoners of war in North Vietnam and later ran for vice president as H. Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, died on Tuesday in Coronado, Calif. He was 81.
D. L. Gorton/The New York Times
Will Baude: Admiral Stockdale, R.I.P. Admiral Stockdale, Ross Perot's 1992 running mate and a real honest-to-God war hero, is dead.
Michelle Malkin: Update: Here's the NY Times obit. Reader Sean O'Brien notes... [quote] Note how this is a "warts and all" portrait. Yuck.[end quote]
Orin Kerr: The New York Times obituary is here. (Hat tip: Crescat) Admimal Stockdale may have been the most unusual vice Presidential candidate of a major nominee in recent history.

London Beats Paris to Host 2012 Games
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
SINGAPORE, July 6 — London won the right Wednesday to host to 2012 summer Olympics, defeating rivals New York, Moscow, Madrid and Paris.
The International Olympic Committee chose London in the hottest competition ever to host an Olympic games.
Hugh Hewitt: If it couldn't be NYC, then London is the best that could be hoped for. Congratulations to our strong ally.
Avedon Carol: My congratulations to New Yorkers, who have escaped. Why couldn't they have picked Paris? (No link yet for the bad news.)

New York Olympic Team Puts a Star on the Pedestal
  NYT   —   Permalink 
SINGAPORE, Wednesday, July 6 - As New York pushed to be the host city for the 2012 Olympics, its top officials tried desperately on Wednesday to meet with the all-powerful delegates of the International Olympic Committee who are deciding the fate of their bid.
Don: TIMING IS EVERYTHING — From yesterday's New York Times puff-piece on Hillary Clinton [hat tip: Mediacrity]: Senator...
K. J. Lopez: MIKE WHO? Can a supernova become stronger?

Judicial havoc
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
Our era might be described in the famous phrase used to describe the era of the French Revolution — "the best of times and the worst of times."
It is the best of times in terms of life expectancy and a level of economic prosperity exceeding anything our grandparents would have imagined.
Greg Ransom: Sowell on the Judges — Quotable: "When we look at which people and institutions have produced the best of times [in...
Betsy Newmark: Thomas Sowell describes how these are the best of times and the worst of times. Then he traces how many problems stemmed from Court rulings.

2 Muslim diplomats attacked in Baghdad
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD — Gunmen attacked two foreign diplomats yesterday in what appeared to be a coordinated campaign to kidnap or kill envoys from Muslim nations.
Hassan Malallah Ansari, the top-ranking diplomat at Bahrain's Baghdad mission, was shot and wounded...
Cori Dauber: Attacks on Muslim Country Diplomats — Now the terrorists are moving to attack diplomatic representatives of Muslim countries in Iraq.
Juan Cole: AP also says: [snipped quote] The Washington Post reveals that the Association for Muslim Scholars has rejected an appeal...

James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dies
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.
The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Fontana Labs: In memoriam — Admiral James Stockdale died yesterday at 81: obituary here. Sad that such a person should be remembered for his low public moment.
Jeff Quinton: VADM James Stockdale dies at age of 81 — AP/WaPo [snipped quote] Stockdale was also President of The Citadel.
Will Franklin: R.I.P. Vice Admiral Stockdale. stockdale.jpg James Stockdale, Medal of Honor winner and 1992 running mate of Ross Perot,...

After O'Connor
  Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
When President Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor for the Supreme Court in 1981, former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, a Democrat, declared, "I don't know the lady, but if she's a good lawyer and believes in the Constitution, she'll be all right."
Ann Althouse: The Wall Street Journal makes the argument — and makes it well — that Bush should appoint a strong conservative to replace Justice O'Connor.
Michael DeBow: Senator Cornyn's essay on the Supreme Court for NRO today is well worth reading, as is this Wall Street Journal editorial, and this Mark Steyn column.
Hugh Hewitt: The Wall Street Journal editorializes for a Scalia/Thomas choice: "After O'Connor: The president owes his supporters a nominee in the Scalia-Thomas mode."
Jonah Goldberg: WSJ & O'CONNOR — They have a very sensible editorial.

War hero, politician James Stockdale dead at 81
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.
The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Jeff Quinton: The subhead on MSNBC's version of the AP article makes the common faux-pas of calling Stockdale a "winner" of the MOH rather than the correct term of "recipient."
Michelle Malkin: From AP: "During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965.

Sens. resist grass roots on Gonzales
  By / The Hill   —   Permalink 
Despite resistance from conservative groups, Senate Republicans say that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales remains a viable candidate to be President Bush's Supreme Court nominee.
Senate GOP support of a potential Gonzales selection comes after the president strongly defended Gonzales in a USA Today interview.
Riggsveda @Corrente: , Bill Nelson (Fla.), Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.) could believe, after all we know, that Alberto Gonzales...
Feddie @SouthernAppeal: "Sens. resist grass roots on Gonzales": This just goes to show that the "inside the beltway" Republican establishment doesn't get its conservative base, and takes us for granted.
Joe Gandelman: Key quote in the story: [snipped quote] Update II: A report in The Hill suggests that picking Gonzales would actually be...
Orrin Judd: NOT A THING THAT YOU CAN DO: Sens. resist grass roots on Gonzales (Geoff Earle, 7/06/05, The Hill) "Despite resistance...

Prosecutor Demands Time Reporter Testimony
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
A federal prosecutor demanded Tuesday that Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper testify before a grand jury even though the magazine recently handed over the reporter's confidential notes in the investigation of a leak of a CIA officer's identity.
Hunter @DailyKos: Plame Investigation Open Thread — Just a side note — quite a few people are pondering the meaning of the WaPo article...
Garrett M. Graff: Matt Cooper, Superdad mattcooperday.jpgAs you'll hear all day from many sources. Today's The Day.
Barbara O'Brien: [Cross-posted to The American Street] Update: Carol D. Leonnig writes in today's Washington Post that "Sources close to...
Rob @Wizbang: Hmm... Fitzgerald's investigation has included interviews with President Bush; former secretary of state Colin L...
Joe @AmericaBlog: Wash. Post on Karl Rove, barely — The Post has one newsworthy item in the Plame affair story: "Fitzgerald may learn more details from Cooper's notes.
Betsy Newmark: Here are some intriguing tidbits from the Washington Post story on all this brouhaha. Michelle Malkin notes this, [snipped quote] Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Also: Jim Romenesko, Attaturk, Josh Marshall, Steve Soto, Eriposte @LeftCoaster, Susie Madrak, Michelle Malkin, Atrios, Laura Rozen

Dean slam at GOP puts Democrats in tricky spot
  By / Atlanta Journal-Constitution   —   Permalink 
Washington — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party responsible for the "culture of corruption" he sees in Washington, but Dean is getting virtually no help from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Chris Bowers: In case you weren't sold, he is an article that makes it clear why he is clearly one cat we need to support: ...
Kos @DailyKos: Congressional Dems wary of Dean's anti-corruption crusade — This is the kind of thing that makes me want to scream.
Taegan Goddard: Dean Slams GOP For "Culture of Corruption" — DNC Chairman Howard Dean "is trying to get voters to hold the Republican...
Susie Madrak: Sometimes it's hard not to scream: Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: SHOUTING ALONE INTO THE WIND — This article informs us that Howard Dean is virtually alone in trying to create a groundswell against Republicans based on the "corruption" issue.
Avedon Carol: For some reason, I'm supposed to be worried because Howard Dean "is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party...
Also: David Sirota, Lambert @Corrente, Joe @AmericaBlog, Matt Singer, Orrin Judd

Karl Rove: Using Reporters--and Abusing the First Amendment
  By / Editor and Publisher   —   Permalink 
In 99.9 percent of cases I know, journalists must not break the bonds of appropriate confidentiality, to protect their ability to report, and to defend the First Amendment. I’ve testified in court to that end, and would do so again.
Arthur Silber: For some excellent treatments of this subject, I recommend this piece by David Ehrenstein (and the deliciously wicked...
Barbara O'Brien: Bill Israel writes in Editor & Publisher: "In 99.9 percent of cases I know, journalists must not break the bonds of...
Betsy Newmark: Bill Israel, who apparently taught a class once with Karl Rove on politics and the press thinks that Karl Rove is the reincarnation of Machiavelli and Richard Nixon.
Joe @AmericaBlog: He really does view the media as patsies.
Medium Lobster: Like Matt Cooper, Judith Miller, or any good member of the press, O'Donnell sat on this information for months to protect the sanctity of reporter-reporter privilege.
Avedon Carol: Everybody's talkin' — Must read: Bill Israel's Save the First Amendment—from Karl Rove in E&P, which intros like this:...
Also: Hunter @DailyKos, Stirling Newberry, Jim Romenesko

Casualties and Causalities
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Hannah Allam's moving obituary for Yasser Salihee, one of Knight Ridder's Iraqi correspondents in Baghdad, would be upsetting enough on its own if it were not for two additional considerations. The first is that Yasser Salihee joins a list of three intrepid Iraqi reporters and broadcasters killed in Baghdad last week.
Jesse Taylor: Changing The News, One Body At A Time — [snipped quote] Such is the vomit of Christopher Hitchens, who will be...
Lorie Byrd: Excellent Points About Iraq Casualties And Much More — When I read this article by Christopher Hitchens I had several V-8 moments.
Judd @ThinkProgress: In columnist Christopher Hitchens' eyes, you are part of the problem: "But the truly sobering reflection is that crimes...
Cernig: Here he is, blethering (Scots word: babbling utter crap) for Slate about recent prominent and tragic accidental...
Avedon Carol: Hitchens really needs to believe. Now we're not supposed to care about people being killed, even our own soldiers.
Glenn Reynolds: CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS writes that worrying too much about American casualties empowers the insurgency.

Santorum Criticizes Views of Sen. Clinton
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) compares abortion to slavery in his new book "It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good," which is promoted as an alternative to the views of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Tbogg: The Washington Post chimes in: "The African proverb says, 'It takes a village to raise a child,'" Santorum writes.
Jayson @PoliPundit: The AP Discovers Rick Santorum — The AP managed to get through 20 grafs on U.S. Senator, Rick Santorum, without exploding or having a Ted Rall moment.
John Cole: This is not one of them: [snipped quote] Rick Santorum IS NOT CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH to some people? The mind boggles.
Jack Fowler: SANTORUM BOOK OUT — Senator Rick Santorum's new book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, is out and...
Attaturk: Little Ricky Goin' Down — I encourage Santorum to continue to publish these statements: [snipped quote] Oh that's comforting.

Second Thoughts on Kelo
  By / Weekly Standard   —   Permalink 
THE SUPREME COURT'S DECISION in Kelo v. City of New London has sparked a great deal of comment, most of it critical. Conservatives, in particular, have denounced Kelo's holding that economic development projects are a "public use" that municipalities and other government units can use eminent domain to carry out.
Unf @Unfogged: The Rocket flies true — It gives me hives just to write this, but this article is probably the best thing written on the Kelo decision that I've seen.
Jeff Goldstein: Whence come our private property rights?
John @PowerLine: My heretical views on the case are set out in this week's Weekly Standard article: "Second Thoughts On Kelo".
Ken Masugi: Further Kelo Ruminations: Powerline Dissents, We Respond — John Hinderaker of Powerline gives the standard...
Michelle Malkin: "Now that's one circus I don't want to miss." *** Power Line's John Hinderaker has a heretical take on the ruling that's sure to spark debate.
Libertarian Jackass: More reason to hate PowerLine conservatives: [snipped quote] I see absolutely no reason to sympathize with municipalities.
Also: Ann Althouse

Is Rove It?
  The Nation   —   Permalink 
Is it Karl Rove?
This past weekend, a pundit and a journalist each reported that Rove, Bush's uber-strategist (and now, officially, the deputy White House chief of staff), was a source for Time magazine's Matt Cooper, who has resisted cooperating with a...
Steve Antler: David Corn says... Rove's not it. Heck, that's enough for me.
Jim Romenesko: > Corn: It was Rove who revealed Plame's identity? Not so fast! (Nation)
Andrew Sullivan: NOT SO FAST: David Corn examines the evidence allegedly fingering Karl Rove as Matt Cooper's source for outing Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA operative.
Avedon Carol: David Corn points out that the name to get isn't who talked to Matthew Cooper so much as who talked to Robert Novak -...
Laura Rozen: Is it Rove? Not so fast, argue David Corn and Murray Waas.

Bush, a Friend of Africa
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Those who care about Africa tend to think that the appropriate attitude toward President Bush is a medley of fury and contempt.
But the fact is that Mr. Bush has done much more for Africa than Bill Clinton ever did, increasing the money actually spent for aid there by two-thirds so far, and setting in motion an eventual tripling of aid for Africa.
Eugene Oregon: Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations — Yesterday, Nicholas Kristof published a column entitled "Bush, a Friend of Africa"...
Tresy @Corrente: STFU — Is there a bigger ass in print than Nick Kristof?
Don: Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column today: ...Mr. Bush has done much more for Africa than Bill Clinton ever did, ...
Avedon Carol: With a little help from The Stakeholder. Honestly, does Kristof believe everything Bush says?
Justin @SouthernAppeal: Kristof says it all too well in today's NYTimes op-ed, Bush, a Friend of Africa — On two fronts: "(1) But the fact is...
Roger L. Simon: Africa - Keep the Sequels for Hollywood — Nick Kristof's column in the NYT begins with a surprise (to some): Those who...
Also: Stefan Beck, Laura Rozen, Lorie Byrd, Betsy Newmark, James Joyner, Marc @USSNeverdock, Orrin Judd

McDermott makes list of author's 100 worst Americans
  By / Seattle Times   —   Permalink 
Paris Hilton's parents; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the guy who gave us "Fear Factor;" and Rep. Jim McDermott.
At first glance, they don't have a lot in common. But they are linked for eternity in a new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37)."
Avedon Carol: Bernie Goldberg has a new book that lists 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37).
Norbizness: From this article, I was able to compile this partial list: 1. Michael Moore, filmmaker. I think it's because he's fat. 2.
Don: LOOK WHO MADE THE HIT PARADE — Paul Krugman is number eight among the 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America — Bernard Goldberg's new book.
Bill @INDCJournal: A Surprising "Second" and Bernie Goldberg's New Book — Checking the server logs, I noticed that a mainstream media web site actually linked INDC Journal as a reference in a piece.
Joe Gandelman: But you can see by this list run in the Seatte Times that his top 10 do reflect a certain....ahem...bias: 1.
Betsy Newmark: Bernard Goldberg's new book, 100 People Who are Screwing Up America, is now out and the Seattle Times has information on who made his list.
Also: Lorie Byrd

Analysis: Reforming Europe's social model
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has never been one to shy away from discussions about taboo topics, so it was hardly a surprise that on the first day of the U.K. presidency of the European Union Friday, he called for a special summit of leaders in October to debate the European social model.
Patrick Ruffini: BTW, how good must it feel to be Tony Blair right now: The G8, the Olympics, and the opportunity to knock some sense into the EUrocrats, all in one week?
John @PowerLine: On Friday, Tony Blair called for a special summit of European leaders to "debate the European social model."
Michael DeBow: Gareth Harding, the UPI's "chief European correspondent," provides some relevant statistics: "Without radical reform, the future does indeed look bleak for Europe's social model.
Arthur Chrenkoff: Blair to Europe - face the music: "Some have suggested I want to abandon Europe's social model... But tell me: what type...
Stanley Kurtz: THE DEMOGRAPHIC CRUNCH AND US — Meanwhile, here's a good piece on the current politics of demography and the welfare state in Europe.
Glenn Reynolds: TONY BLAIR SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER: [snipped quote] But Bill Quick thinks it's too little, too late.

Politicians Deal With Newcomer, The Blog
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
David and Shayna Englin are all too familiar with the power of bloggers. Courting these off-the-cuff Internet columnists helped David Englin, a relative unknown, win a Democratic primary for a Northern Virginia House seat last month.
John Hawkins: Here's the crux of the WAPO's article: [quote] "First came this posting on the site virginia2005.blogspot.com : "David isn't the only Englin with designs on public office.[end quote]
Michael Bassik: Blogs to Candidates: Pack You Own Life Preserver — The Washington Post reports today about anonymous blog postings and their influence on local races in Virginia.
Taegan Goddard: Dealing With Anonymous Blogs — Using examples from Virginia races, a Washington Post articles discusses the challenges poised to politicians by anonymous blogs.
Avedon Carol: The thing I found notable about this WaPo story about bloggers is that, once again, their "even-handedness" precluded...
Jeff Jarvis: Telling a story about someone who speculated on a blog that someone was running for a seat in Virginia politics —...
Stirling Newberry: Shaula should weigh in on this WP story — Blogging in VA politics. Permalink Stirling Newberry - Comments (1)

Cool off rhetoric on court, Bush says
  USA Today   —   Permalink 
President Bush said Monday that special-interest groups running TV ads and mobilizing supporters for a fight over his choice of a successor to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor should "tone down the heated rhetoric."
"When a friend gets attacked, I don't like it."
Ramesh Ponnuru: I don't like it at all." He has also said: "Al Gonzales is a great friend of mine. When a friend gets attacked, I don't like it."
Kevin Drum: COURT WATCH....Didn't I say yesterday that I wasn't going to blog much about the Supreme Court until Bush actually nominates someone?
Jeralyn Merritt: Bush Gives Interview On Supreme Court Nominee — Judy Keen of USA Today interviewed President Bush Monday about his...
Steve Soto: Second, Bush has already put the word out to his American Taliban base that his friendship with Gonzales counts for more than pleasing them.
Michelle Malkin: NO, YOU "TONE IT DOWN" — He said shut up - he said shut up Oh God can't you keep it down Voices carry* The feisty Laura...

Videotape Shows Girl, Suspected Abductor
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(07-05) 14:02 PDT COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) —
A newly discovered videotape shows Shasta Groene and her alleged abductor at a store hours before she was rescued, and an officer said Tuesday it looks as if the 8-year-old girl was trying to get someone to recognize her.
Joe Gandelman: This update of the case reports the newest twist: it shows a surveillance tape with the 8-year-old Shasta Groene trying to get people in a store to recognize her.
Radley Balko: Blogging's Icky Milestone — Turns out the convicted sex offender accused of kidnapping Shasta Groene, and suspected of killing her brother Dylan, was a blogger.
Jeralyn Merritt: Sex Offender Was a Blogger — I'm getting quite a few e-mails letting me know that murder suspect Joseph Duncan, accused...

Prosecutor Demands Time Reporter Testimony
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - A federal prosecutor on Tuesday demanded that Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity, even though Time Inc. has surrendered e-mails and other documents in the probe.
Craig Crawford: Craig Crawford: Matt, Do The Perp Walk Now — Matt Cooper is one of the niftiest guys I ever met in this town.
Greg @TheTalentShow: Hardball — Patrick Fitzgerald is a tough muffuga : [snipped quote] On the other hand, now that I've shed my blogger status, I can see that these special privledges apply to me too.
Jim Romenesko: Fitzgerald still wants Cooper to testify before grand jury — Associated Press Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is...
Atrios: Behind Bars — Well, Fitzgerald says Cooper and Miller have to testify even after Time handed over the notes.

Pentagon Weighs Strategy Change to Deter Terror
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, July 4 - The Pentagon's most senior planners are challenging the longstanding strategy that requires the armed forces to be prepared to fight two major wars at a time.
Matthew Yglesias: Derek Chollet at Democracy Arsenal has some worthwhile thoughts on the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, which, we're...
Hugh Hewitt: A serious article on the GWOT is in the New York Times, focused on the internal Pentagon debate on the war's impact on force structure and procurement.
Avedon Carol: News nits — I get a kick out of studies like this: [snipped quote] Why do I think this is funny?
Cori Dauber: The lead article in the New York Times makes it sound as if we currently have a strategy based on the ability to...
Derek Chollet: Rumsfeld's Review — Today's right lead in the New York Times is a must read about one of those Washington exercises...
Gary Farber: THE END OF 1-4-2-1? Be happy, Jim Henley! Well, a little, anyway; think of it as a start.
Also: Pudentilla, John Cole

Your Land Is My Land
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
PITTSBURGH — Two questions I'd like to ask candidates for Sandra Day O'Connor's job:
1. Does the Constitution forbid the government from seizing your home and giving it to someone else?
2. If you're not sure, would you be willing to tour Pittsburgh before taking this job?
Ken Masugi: NY Times columnist John Tierney quotes the mayor of Pittsburgh approving of Kelo: "'eminent domain' is a great equalizer when you're having a conversation with people."
Tom Tomorrow: Tom Tomorrow: Kelo Astonishingly, I agree with Tierney this morning.
Michelle Pilecki: I usually don't much agree or disagree with the conservative New York Times columnist, but when he uses a series of...
Joe Katzman: Your Land Is My Land: Pittsburgh Planners Perform Poorly — In Your Land is My Land, John Tierney has a couple of simple...

In D.C., 'W' Spells More Than Baseball
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
A free association exercise: Think of a Washington Nationals baseball cap. What's the next thing that pops into your head?
Some people think of the old Senators, whose caps inspired the new team's logo. Some think of the first-place team they now root for, or of hometown pride.
Zoe Kentucky: In a city where a large percentage of the fan base is involved in politics one way or another? Apparently not. [snipped quote] Duh.
John J. Miller: GO NATIONALS — I'm going to my first Washington Nationals game tonight, and I'll be wearing my red W hat — which is...
Orrin Judd: DOUBLE DUTY: In D.C.
Garrett M. Graff: A Tad Much Hometown Pride? nationals.jpgThere was a little Romenesko-led flap last week over whether it was appropriate...
Taegan Goddard: W Stands for More Than Washington — Many Democratic fans of the Washington Nationals are buying baseball caps with an...
Todd Zywicki: There are many good things about living in Washington, D.C., but sometimes it all gets a bit tiresome: [snipped quote] Give me a break.
Also: Betsy Newmark

Rove Talked But Did Not Tattle, Attorney Says
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Karl Rove, one of President Bush's closest advisors, spoke with a Time magazine reporter days before the name of a CIA operative surfaced in the press, but did not leak the confidential information, a lawyer for Rove said Saturday in a new admission in the case.
Lawrence O'Donnell: Luskin spent the weekend on the phone with reporters from Newsweek, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times trying to put out the fire I started on Friday.
Nico @ThinkProgress: In interviews with Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, Rove's lawyer Robert Luskin repeated two points: that 1) Rove...

A Higher Authority
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
"All told this Court's jurisprudence leaves courts, governments, and believers and nonbelievers alike confused—an observation that is hardly new." With these words Justice Clarence Thomas accurately described the Supreme Court's latest efforts in McCreary...
Nate F.: His WSJ opinion piece is as succinct and articulate an explanation of his interpretation of the First Amendment as I have heard to date.
Jonathan H. Adler: NO MORE MOORE — Of all the folks the WSJ could have chosen to critique the Supreme Court's Ten Commandments rulings,...
Justin @SouthernAppeal: The Next Governor of Alabama writes in the Opinion Journal today, "A Higher Authority: May God save the United States from this honorable court."

Bush arrives in Denmark to angry protests
  AFP   —   Permalink 
COPENHAGEN (AFP) - US President George W. Bush arrived for his first-ever visit to Denmark, as hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets of Copenhagen to protest against the US-led war in Iraq.
Will Franklin: In the meantime, behold, Denmark's anti-Bush brain trust: fakbush.jpg burningflag.jpg bushpamphlet.jpg The caption for...
Jayson @PoliPundit: De Facto Compliment — Using Reagan's legacy as the guide, you know a Prez simply isn't doing a very good job unless the...

China Tells Congress To Back Off Businesses
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
SHANGHAI, July 4 — The Chinese government on Monday sharply criticized the United States for threatening to erect barriers aimed at preventing the attempted takeover of the American oil company Unocal Corp. by one of China's three largest energy firms, CNOOC Ltd.
Daniel Drezner: Gonna be a fun takeover battle — Peter S. Goodman reports in the Washington Post that the Chinese Foreign Ministry...
Steve Antler: Does China really think it gains points by using the rhetoric of competitive capitalism — in threatening terms, no less...
Joe Gandelman: China To Congress: Unocal Is None Of Your Business — China has sent an exceedingly blunt message to the U.S. Congress...
Jo Fish: Your Cheap EDLP s**t is about to become as endangered as the spotted owl. [snipped quote] Ahh, the Chinese simpletons, trying to make money.

Presidents, Picking Justices, Can Have Backfires
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, July 4 - In July 1902, confident that he had found a judge opposed to "big railroad men and other members of large corporations," Theodore Roosevelt named Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. as his first appointee to the Supreme Court, delighted with a...
Ann Althouse: Todd Purdum has this piece in the NYT about the way Supreme Court Justices have disappointed the Presidents who chose them.
Susie Madrak: Don't worry, be happy! Democrats are not allowed to ask questions about… well, as far as I can tell, anything.
Matthew Yglesias: In today's New York Times, Todd Purdum notes that presidents don't always wind up happy with the judges they pick.
Atrios: Don't worry, be happy! Democrats are not allowed to ask questions about... well, as far as I can tell, anything.

Prosecutor Urges Judge to Jail Reporters Who Refused to Testify
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of The New York Times should be jailed for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative, the special prosecutor in the case said in court papers filed today.
William J. Dyer: But comes now scofflaw Judith Miller, whose supportive employer, the New York Times, writes this about her continued...
Garrett M. Graff: Adam Liptak updates the latest Cooper/Miller stuff and how much Peter Fitzgerald hates both reporters—but especially Judy and the NYT.

Astrologer Sues NASA Over Comet Mission
  AP   —   Permalink 
MOSCOW (AP) - NASA's mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust - it also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.
Atomizer l: She has sued NASA claiming the Deep Impact collision has somehow disturbed "the natural balance of forces in the...
Abel Rabinowitz: Other than the Russian astrologer who is suing NASA for screwing with her horoscope by blowing up a comet, there's just not much going on.

Bush Cool to Blair on Climate
  LAT   —   Permalink 
LONDON — As world leaders prepared for a major summit, President Bush said Monday that he would not substantially change his stance on global warming to reward British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his support of the war in Iraq.
Patterico: Tell the Truth About Kyoto I have no use for a front-page article like this one from the L.A. Times, which is a love...
Matthew Yglesias: "I really don't view our relationship as one of quid pro quo," the president said today, rejecting the notion that it...