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Former DeLay CoS’s payroll records subpoenaed.
A federal grand jury in Washington D.C. has issued a subpoena for the House payroll records of Ed Buckham, former chief of staff to ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). The subpoena “is the first formal notification that Buckham is the focus of a federal corruption probe by the Justice Department.” Buckham is not the [...]

FBI secretly recorded Sen. Stevens’s calls.
The FBI secretly taped telephone calls between Alaska oil contractor Bill Allen and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) as part of a “public corruption sting.” The new revelation suggests that “the Justice Department was eyeing Stevens long before June, when the Republican senator first publicly acknowledged he was under scrutiny.”

Kansas cemetery ‘full’ because of Iraq war.
A Kansas military cemetery “has run out of space after the burial of another casualty of the Iraq war.” “We are full,” said a spokeswoman for the Fort Riley U.S. Army post. “Fort Riley can bury bodies on top of other bodies if family members want to share a plot,” said the spokesperson.

Bachmann rebuffs Bush’s advances.
At the 2007 State of the Union address, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) infamously gripped onto President Bush’s shoulder until he gave her “a kiss and an embrace.” Yesterday, Bachmann boasted to a MN radio station that at the scene of the recent bridge collapse, Bush tried to “embrace” and “kiss” her once again: The President [...]

Harman: Conservatives Falsely Hyped Terror Threat Against U.S. Capitol To Pass FISA Expansion
On August 2, Roll Call issued a breaking news report, warning of a suspected terror threat against the U.S. Capitol:Capitol Police officials have stepped up the department%u2019s security presence on Capitol Hill in response to intelligence indicating the increased possibility of an al-Qaida terrorist attack on Congress sometime between now and Sept. 11.Sen. Trent Lott [...]

San Diego mayor reverses position, supports gay marriage.
After two weeks of deadlock, the City Council of San Diego yesterday voted 5-3 to pass a resolution supporting marriage equality for gays and lesbians. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican, initially indicated that he would veto the measure, but in an emotional about face, Sanders announced today that he would “take a stand [...]

Reid-Feingold withdrawal legislation fails.
Today, the Reid-Feingold legislation, which would have cut off funds for combat in Iraq by June 2008, was rejected 28-70, “32 short of the 60 needed to cut off a GOP filibuster.” In May, the Reid-Feingold legislation failed by a 29-67 vote.

A small price?
Americans United for Change launched this ad today, criticizing Rep. John Boehner’s (R-OH) recent remarks that the U.S. troop casualties would be a “small price to pay” to stay in Iraq over the long-term. Watch the ad:In a recent interview with Fox News, Boehner “dissembled so ostentatiously about his initial comments that even Fox News [...]

McConnell again says public FISA debate will kill Americans.
In an interview with the El Paso Times last month, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell claimed that “Americans are going to die” because of the “public” debate on warrantless wiretapping. During his testimony today before the House Intelligence Committee, McConnell reiterated his morbid claim in an exchange with Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA):ESHOO: After the [...]

Senators Who Forced Debate On MoveOn Ad Earlier Complained Of ‘Wasting Time On Empty Resolutions’
Today, the Senate voted 72-25 to approve Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) bill criticizing MoveOn.org’s Gen. David Petraeus ad in the New York Times. The “sense of the Senate” resolution “strongly” condemns the “personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus.”Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) has now called for an investigation into “possible elections [...]

Pentagon delays security handover in Iraq.
For the second time this year, “the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least next July.” The delay highlights “the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress.”

Malkin: Sally Field Is The Type Of Mom Who ‘Buys Her Teenager Beer And Condoms On Prom Night’
Since actress Sally Field won an Emmy and spoke out against the Iraq war in her acceptance speech, the right wing has been on the attack. In addition to Fox censoring her speech, conservatives continue to criticize Field for speaking out.Taking the slander to a very personal level, right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin attacked Field’s parenting [...]

Bush: Condi is smarter, but ‘look at who’s the president.’
At his press briefing today, President Bush poked fun of Condoleezza Rice, his Secretary of State, pointing out that while she may have a PhD, she’s still not President of the United States. Instead, Bush, who was a “C student,” is: I remind people that, like when I’m with, Condi, I say she’s the Ph.D. [...]

Rumsfeld speech nixed after ‘too many people objected.’
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was supposed to speak to the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce in Kansas on Dec. 4. But today the Wichita Eagle reports that his appearance was quietly canceled last month after “too many people objected.” The Chamber, which is traditionally conservative, is now expecting to hear from former White [...]

GOP Senator Puts Secret Hold On Bill Restoring Public Access To Presidential Records
In Nov. 2001, President Bush signed an executive order that historians called “unprecedented” and “would turn the 1978 Presidential Records Act on its head by allowing such materials to be kept secret ‘in perpetuity.’” In March, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), along with Republican Reps. Russell Platts (PA), Lacy Clay (MO), and Dan Burton (R-IN) [...]

Bush inartfully suggests Saddam killed Mandela.
In a press conference this morning, President Bush tried to assert that Saddam’s brutal rule over Iraq wiped the country clean of potential democratic reformers — individuals who may have possessed leadership skills like former South African President Nelson Mandela. In doing so, Bush inartfully suggested Saddam killed Mandela:I thought an interesting comment was made [...]

Bush: Don’t Ask Me About The Economy, I Got A ‘B In Econ 101′
Today in his press conference, a reporter asked President Bush whether there was a “risk of a recession.” Bush declined to answer, pointing out that he’s never been very good at “Econ 101″:QUESTION: Do you think there’s a risk of a recession? How do you rate that? BUSH: You know, you need to talk to [...]

Long-term presence in Iraq = trillions in taxpayer dollars.
“A new Congressional study finds that President Bush’s plans for the U.S. in Iraq over the next several decades will reach the trillions of dollars, on top of the approximately $567 billion the war has already cost.” Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman has more.

The Decider: ‘People Listen To Petraeus, Not To Me’
President Bush has repeatedly proclaimed that he calls the shots and has the final word on decisions regarding the war in Iraq. On April 18, 2006, Bush rejected calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down, saying, “I’m the decider, and I decide what is best.” Watch it: [...]

ThinkFast: September 20, 2007
“Hundreds of people dressed in black, from college students to veterans of the civil rights movements,” will be in Louisiana today in support of six black teenagers known as the “Jena 6,” who were initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate. More about the Jena 6 HERE.Senate conservatives’ successful effort [...]

Fox’s goddamn hypocrisy.
During the Fox broadcast of the Emmy Awards this week, Actress Sally Field’s acceptance speech was censored because she used the word “goddamn.” “If mothers ruled the world,” Field said, “there would be no god-damned wars in the first place.” Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films catches Fox pundits using the word “goddamn” repeatedly on air. [...]