Monday weekend wrap-up:

The Washington Post tackles the impeachment question. Well, the British press has discovered another leaked memo that says troops are to come home despite what Bush and Blair say, and the Post notes that half of the US forces should be home before next year. (thanks to iocaste)

The Telegraph says more liberty, not more laws, is the way to face the attackers in London.

Now, Congress is likely to restore cut funds for security on mass transit. My question: what exactly do they consider to be security?

Westar Energy Co. has admitted it paid $25,000 to meet with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay so he could influence pending energy legislation. Has anyone in Congress actually noticed this yet? More from Mother Jones. And Molly Ivins wonders how Tom DeLay dares to lecture anyone about good manners.

The Democratic Party has its own credit card now; find out how to get it here.
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dargie quotes Rob McKay on moderating opinions against Gonzales for the Supreme Court, on the grounds that Gonzales isn't considered right-wing enough by the far right. Sorry, but I disagree completely. This whole "slam-Gonzales" campaign is a set-up by Rove and the White House to make him look like a moderate when he isn't. Buying into it buys us nothing; it plays into the White House's hands, and the Democrats don't win a thing by that. This is not Caspar Q. Milquetoaste being nominated, it's the Architect of Abu Ghraib, who thinks torture is just fine and comes up with reasons why, who made sure Bush as Texas governor never heard the reasons for appeals to keep prisoners from being executed.
TruthOut observes that even Antonin Scalia was outraged that Gonzales asserted that the executive branch could suspend the law to fight terrorism. ( Read more... )

The Supreme Court Nomination blog continues to review Sandra Day O'Connor's voting record; this is part 5, with previous parts linked. Also, Bush's neoCon right-wing-tip judges are already making a mark in the appellate courts.

The Post asks why 49.3 percent of Americans (who didn't apparently vote for Bush) shouldn't have a say in what happens in the courts in the next twenty years. The Village Voice observes that "Only in the muck of this Zero Decade could we actually find ourselves hoping that William Rehnquist will stay on the Supreme Court."

Maybe it takes being in Boston, where historical monuments to the signers of the Declaration and the Constitution are everywhere, to see through the smoke: the real question before the court is whether the US will be "good" (holy) or "great" -- in which case sectional or sectarian interests can't be allowed to undermine national authority. Don't be distracted by the variety of cases -- this is the major question underlying them. Who will run the United States? A small group of people adhering to a particular religious ideology, allowed to bend everything to fit their narrow scope? Or the broad and inclusive mass of the rest of us? Maybe judges should be elected, rather than appointed.

iocaste thinks Roe v Wade won't be overturned, but nibbled away by restrictions -- as is happening now, with parental notification laws in Texas, for instance, that apply even in cases of incest.
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Plame - Rove - who said what and when:

Daily Kos tracks the timing and finds that Rove's claims don't line up with Novak's publication date. In other words, Rove lied. Also, when did the Plame outing really start? Well before Novak's column?

Only 17 members of Congress have had the guts to sign Rep. John Conyers' letter asking Karl Rove to explain his role in outing Valerie Plame or resign his job.

Talking Points Memo assesses why Robert Novak, who wrote the Plame outing story, doesn't seem to be in as much trouble as anyone else.

The LA Times reviews the situation, and notes that Rove's lawyer thinks he didn't do anything wrong. David Corn says that Newsweek nailed Karl Rove and lists the details here.

BuzzFlash talks with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife is Valerie Plame, about the smear campaign against him and his wife. Ambassador Joe Wilson: In my judgment, a smear campaign operated out of the White House is unethical, to say the least. The First Amendment specifically says that nothing should be done to abridge a citizen's right to petition his government to redress a grievance. The attack on me, through the compromise of Valerie's identity, is an assault on not just my petition to redress a grievance, but it is also a deterrent to other citizens who might step forward. That is why I have always argued that Rove should be fired, even if no indictments are forthcoming. It goes without saying that I found his comment to Chris Matthews, that Valerie was fair game, to be repugnant.

The NY Times correctly assumes that we're not in the Watergate era any more. ( Read more... ) Is this editorial self-serving? To some degree, yes. But it's also accurate, on the nose on this whole matter. Read it all. Meanwhile, The Post says it's the right principle but the wrong context. This isn't about the press's right to publish information. It is about a right to keep information secret.

AlterNet briefly notes that the major media silence on the Plame situation and Rove and the war is due to the Dan Rather effect -- nobody wants to be torn apart by the White House. Frameshop has more.
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Bartholomew's Notes evaluates the debate over Kennewick Man, and the access of researchers to religious artifacts. ( Read more... )

A new study on emergency contraception shows that nonprescription access doesn't increase unsafe sex, and teens educated in birth control and contraception are no more likely to be promiscuous than those who aren't -- but when they do have sex, it's safer. Religious Right, please note.
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Action Alert: Tell your Congressperson to support the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, which is up for reauthorization. Background info is here. More here from shekkara.
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E & P considers the longest-running newspaper strike in current history --nine months of the Newspaper Guild against The Vindicator of Youngstown, Ohio.

ljdemocrats summarizes the reality base of Bush's actions this term, and finds them (and him) wanting.

Tom Paine has some questions and complaints on eminent domain seizures for the "public good", including questions on what exactly constitutes the public good.

In California, is the National Guard spying on citizens? Also there, the Pentagon doesn't want to do the work of cleaning up heavily polluted McClellan Air Force Base.

In North Carolina, tackling global warming.

In Ohio, a push for universal health care, since it's not happening at the national level.

In Texas, dealing with nuclear waste, or attempting to deal with it. Also, the state of free speech in Crawford, Texas: ( Read more... )

In Florida, Jeb Bush wants every public school to host a Christian-based program to increase fathers' participation in families. Yes, it's violating separation of church and state, and some schools like it.

In Minnesota, back to work.

In Massachusetts, a federal prosecutor urged a judge to dismiss a legal challenge to the 'don't ask/don't tell' rule, on the grounds that only Congress can change it. Hmm. Isn't that saying that judicial review doesn't exist for the military?
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This is what freedom of the press in America has come to: the Cleveland Plain Dealer is holding two investigative stories based on leaked documents because they don't want to end up in court like the NY Times. Washington Monthly notes that Ohio does have a shield law on the books to protect reporters who have unpublishable sources, unlike New York.
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Shopping for God in the store that has everything.

LJ academics, please note: committees hiring professional academics are starting to consider you a liability, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fathers, husbands, rebels -- and priests, the married priests of the Roman Catholic church.

An appreciation of chick lit.

Green ideas: free wind-powered webhosting at SustainableMarketing.