Hi. Back from a 4th of July holiday and jumping right into the big churn on Iraq. Is it "panic?" A "tipping point?" Or really "stay-the-course-lite?" Also, a Justice Dept. veteran is disgusted, McCain's campaign falls apart, a conservative Senator caught in the DC madam net ... and kitties with an unusual characteristic.

The New York Times leads today with an interview with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker who warns of all kinds of catastrophes that will befall Iraq if American troops leave, (many of which -- civil war? civilians slaughtered? seem to be happening already.)  But blogger/author Glenn Greenwald sees the Times making the same mistakes it made, and apologized for, in the run-up to the war.  This as the Times editorial page and its news coverage are growing apart.  Howard LaFranchi of the Christian Science Monitor thinks he has the future of Iraq policy figured out though- - "We're there to fight al-Qaida." But retired General William Odom says the surge and on-going war represent the opposite of supporting the troops.. who he says are combat exhausted.  And ThinkProgress reminds us that we should just listen to what the White House is actually saying on the surge ... we've only just begun.

Blogger Tigerhawk argues that Democratic/liberal opposition to a war in Iran will actually lead to one.

Christopher Hitchens muses about doctors and violence in the wake of the U.K. terror attempts.  And commentator Mark Steele writes in the London Independent about the absurdities that abound in the wake of these guys' efforts.

For those who think the firing of those U.S. Attorneys by the Bush Justice Department is a non-story, a 25-year veteran prosecutor tries to explain to you why it most certainly is.  And TPM Muckraker talks to some legal experts about where the executive privilege fight may go from here.

John McCain's campaign implodes ... and Americablog's Joe Sudbay puts much of the blame on George Bush.   Rich Lowry talks to some folks behind the scenes.

The Washington Post reports last night's revelation that conservative Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter was a client of the D.C. Madam.  And Greenwald has some Vitter background (with attitude.)  Oh and if you'd like to browse through the phone records yourself, Rawstory links to them.

Do you think that if John Edwards were the one who admitted consulting The Girls' Guide to NASCAR it would have gotten more attention than it did when Rudy Giuliani revealed as much?  Then again, Giuliani just hired notable Iran hawk Norman Podhoretz as a foreign policy adviser. Duck. 

Blogger beware department: last time around I linked to a post about the coming Great Depression by a reporter named Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. Apparently his name isn't the only unusual thing about him. Sorry about that!

And no, it's not nearly as good as the dastardly chipmunk/prairie dog, but check out the best of the kitlers.

Hi. The demise of immigration reform, the rising tensions between Congress and the White House, the nervous jitters on Wall Street, and the long-held dream of a middle-aged geek (a Led Zeppelin reunion?) are the topics today.

Immigration reform  is now clearly, most sincerely D-E-A-D. BullDogPundit takes a victory lap.   Ed Morrissey muses on what to do next.   Patrick O'Conner says the GOP is official breaking up with Bush over this.  And Josh Marshall notes the President's tone in conceding defeat.

The White House is refusing to cooperate with Congressional subpoenas   Andrew Ward has some analysis.  and Glenn Greenwald writes about how much we don't know about the administration's eavesdropping program.

Cheney in the spotlight: Bruce Fein, a former Reagan Administration Justice Department official and rock-ribbed conservative says the Vice President has run amuck and must be stopped.

Andrew Leonard writes in Salon about the current chills Wall Street is experiencing in the wake of the implosion of two Bear Stearns hedge funds. And NYU economist Nouriel Roubini pronounces the outlook for the financial markets and the real economy "fugly and fuglier."  But Steve Chapman thinks Americans' economic pessimism is delusional.  Bloomberg columnist Mark Gilbert has more on those Bear hedge funds, and raises the question of whether the entire derivatives market is nothing more than an elaborate confidence game.  And leave it to the cinematically named Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writing in the London Telegraph to invoke the D-Word.  But hey who's worrying? The Financial Times writes about how the "mega rich" are leaving the "merely wealthy" in the dust. 

Adam B at Daily Kos takes a look at today's Supreme Court decision on school desegregation.. which the Court says does not overturn Brown v. Board of Education, a contention Justice Stevens seems to disagree with in his dissent. 

Your Wall Street Journal might be a little thin tomorrow -- reporters didn't show up for work today in protest of the looming takeover of their parent company by News Corp's Rupert Murdoch.

Disappointed by this summer's crop of movies? Slate looks ahead to next summer!

And the Spice Girls are reuniting? Feh. Now THIS is news!!

Hi. Lots of buzz today over Republican senior statesman Richard Lugar's decision to bolt from the GOP fold on Iraq. Plus, VP Cheney in the spotlight, Obama's first commercials, and the best five seconds of video you've ever seen.

Here's the AP's take on Lugar bolting on Iraq.  But Liberal Oasis says Lugar's position should not define the opposite pole of the Iraq debate.

The Washington Post is in the midst of its jaw-dropping opus on Vice President Cheney. All of it is "Must-Read" as they say.  And Unbossed sums up many a blogger's reaction with the question: what took 'em so long?  Also, ThinkProgress updates us on Cheney's ongoing battle with Congress over his prerogatives.

NoMoreMr.NiceBlog looks at the Cheney series and today's L.A. Times piece on Bush aides reportedly considering a "truce" with Congressional Democrats on Iraq policy and sees "the end of High Bushism." And Parapundit thinks there's a good reason why Bush is in a corner on Iraq policy.. and it's not just because the war is going badly. But blogger Strata-Sphere says everyone should quit wringing their hands because Lugar-be-damned the surge IS working.

Glenn Greenwald picks up on how all of a sudden the entire Iraq insurgency is being referred to as al-Qaida.

Gay Patriot is quoting a London tabloid (hmmmm) to warn us that Iran is trying to provoke a war with the U.S.

Politics: the AP sums up Rudy Giuliani's not-good-very-bad-truly-awful week.

The Washington Post's Sally Quinn HEARTS Fred Thompson (and thinks he should replace Dick Cheney!)   But Thomas Edsall writing at Huffington Post isn't sure how the whole lobbyist thing is going to go down.

Barack Obama is up with his first TV ads in Iowa. See for yourself.

As its Senate sponsors try to revive the immigration bill today, Matthew Spalding at National Review says nay.

The economy: you may have heard something vaguely bad in the past few days about a couple of hedge funds run by big New York investment bank Bear Stearns. The funds trade in mortgage debt -- specifically the subprime mortgage market that's been in free-fall since February. The Economist talks about the systemic risk posed to the financial markets by leveraged trading in derivatives such as those mortgage debt products (called CDOs) and points out that the mortgage debt problem could be just the opening act to something much bigger. (And here's a reminder: Warren Buffett called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction" back in 2003.) Business Week points out that the Bear Stearns funds have gotten the attention of the SEC. (See: barn door closed, horse already out.) Oh and related to The Economist's point about CORPORATE debt ... the Blackstone Group (massive private equity fund) IPO didn't have much staying power.

OK, and now to the chipmunk. If you haven't seen it yet, drop everything. It is just as advertised: the funniest five second video you've ever seen. And Best Week Ever gets all chipmunk-meta.

Hi. A lot of chatter on the blogs today about the court ruling on detainees, the Gonzales no-confidence vote in the Senate yesterday,  more chaos in the Middle East and fresh political polling that has Fred Thompson up and Congress down.

ThinkProgress has several links analyzing yesterday's federal appeals court ruling that the Bush administration cannot legally detain a U.S. resident it believes is an al Qaeda sleeper agent without charging him.

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters thinks the court overreached.

Paul Keil at TPMMuckraker looks at the Democrats' attempted no-confidence vote for Attorney General Gonzales yesterday.

When a former secretary and assistant secretary of defense and a former director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are giving you advice on what to do in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack by terrorists, you might want to listen. In fact, you might want to wonder what's making them feel the need to write this Op-Ed right now. Related?

Andrew Sullivan uses the chaos in Gaza right now as a framework to question neoconservative Middle East doctrine.

The New York Sun's Seth Gitell gives Joe Lieberman's call for military strikes on Iran a big boo-ya.

Glenn Greenwald disagrees.

John Fund blogs at Townhall about the 20th anniversary of Reagan's "Tear Down That Wall" speech.

RawStory picks up on speculation that someone stole the "Albanian Idol's" watch yesterday.

Over at RedState, the heavy hand of Senator Carl Levin is seen in the ouster of Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace. But Digby suspects there's something else at play here.

Greg Sargent at TPMCafe looks at Congress's plummeting approval rating.

As The Economist calmly assesses the first six months of the Democrats' majority.

Dean Barnett posting on Hugh Hewitt's blog at Townhall likes the new Rasmussen poll with its strong showing for Fred Thompson.

The Carpetbagger Report takes issue with Fred Thompson's lobbying career.

If Fred Thompson was a stock, George Will would short him.

On the subject of marriage: Corinne Colbert extols the joys of settling.

And by now, you've heard everyone and his brother opine on the finale of the Sopranos. Now, via the Newark Star-Ledger creator David Chase himself speaks.

The Washington Post looks at a Reader's Digest article that asks the enduring question: am I just a little quirky, or certifiably insane?

And while we're on the subject of self-examination ... I'm a Ford Mustang.

Hi. The developing story of the immigration bill votes in the Senate is a hot topic today on the blogs, but it's mostly speculation since a key vote will come later in the day. Otherwise it's a pretty random collection of politics, debate analysis and Scooter Libby fallout today.

You know something's got people's attention when ideological opposites ThinkProgress and Allahpundit at HotAir both link to the same piece of video on the heated immigration debate.

Residual blogging from Tuesday night's Republican debate finds much of the progressive blogosphere including Matthew Yglesias annoyed that the Mainstream Media hasn't made more of a significant misstatement made by Governor Romney. And Digby expands on that.

Michael Graham, writing in the Boston Herald, loves the GOP field. But conservatives Wynton C. Hall and Peter Schweizer writing in USAToday say something's still missing.

The New York Observer calls Fred Thompson "Reagan without the new ideas." But Haystack posting at RedState doesn't want another Reagan.. and Fred's his man. Speaking of Fred Thompson... he blogged at Townhall about his friend Scooter Libby's sentencing Tuesday.

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters makes the connection between Scooter Libby and... wait for it... Paris Hilton.

Former Bill Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal parses Paul Wolfowitz's letter in support of Libby and finds an unintended effect.

More (alleged) crime and punishment. The Carpetbagger Report pushes back against GOP efforts to argue that Congressman William Jefferson's indictment proves there's a culture of corruption on both sides of the aisle.

Uh-oh. Hillary Clinton made conservative Mary Katharine Ham smile... and even laugh.

Republicans ((HEART)) Obama? RawStory links to a New York Post piece that says yes. Consider the source.

Here's the NYT's coverage of the advance in stem cell research announced yesterday. Slate's William Saletan writes about it today.

Rough night department: RawStory links to a report of a Vermont woman who, after having a few too many cocktails, was arrested for giving a police dog a dirty look.

Sara Mednick at "Good" Magazine says: take a nap! And if you're too hopped-up on Starbucks to take a nap, here's one of those time-wasting games that'll drive you nuts.

Hi. The Scooter Libby sentencing is sure to ignite full-fledged freak-outs from both ends of the political spectrum. Here's a look at how things are getting started as of this afternoon:

First, the facts from the Associated Press on MSNBC.com.

Blogger/author Marcy Wheeler who blogs as emptywheel at Firedoglake literally wrote the book on the Libby Trial. She live blogged the proceeding so if you want to read it for yourself.. here's the link. And here is her early summary.

Also, some pre-analysis from fellow Firedoglaker Christy Harden Smith.

And for an opposing view, Clarice Feldman at American Thinker.

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters compares the Libby prosecution to another.

And the folks at the National Review have a two word response to the sentencing: Pardon Him.

The Smoking Gun posts all the letters in support of Libby, and Digby posts about the "rule of law" talking point.

More crime and punishment. Macsmind notes New Orleans Congressman William Jefferson's indictment yesterday on a multitude of charges.

And Kos posts on DailyKos that he doesn't understand why Jefferson is still a member of the House.

JackandJillpolitics links to TPM's report about Fox's coverage of the indictment, which included quite an interesting voice-over of a different black Congressman. John Conyers is a senior Democrat who is in the thick of several Congressional investigations including the US Attorney firings. And people wonder why the Democrats don't want to debate on Fox.

Rawstory links to an interesting AFP story on the Democratic presidential contenders and faith. (It's worth enduring the horrid pop-up to read it.)

And Andrew Sullivan posts on the same subject.

John Aravosis at Americablog doesn't think President Bush should be lecturing President Putin on Democracy.

The economy and the markets: China's stock market is down 24% in 6 trading sessions. Last week Canada's Globe and Mail posted a fascinating look at what's going on there.

Beach book time ... Salon's summer reads.

And, have you been yearning to hear nearly 1,700 amateur guitarists play the iconic riff from "Smoke on the Water?" I had a feeling you had. The Guinness Record-breaking begins 2:00 in.

Hi. It's an economy edition today, with a lot of discussion on the Internet and in the papers about the GDP and the stock markets.

Huffington Post links to AP's story on Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of the economy which was revised to a scant 0.6% today.

Nouriel Roubini is a bearish economist who has taken a lot of criticism, including  being called an "economic Eeyore" as the stock markets have continued to rise. Today's GDP revision gives his views some validation and his readers more to talk about. (This is one blog where smart people regularly post comments. The comments section is almost always worth looking through.)

And speaking of the markets, RawStory links to the news that the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high yesterday.

Bloomberg analyzes yesterday's Fed Minutes and starts digging into role of the mortgage broker in the subprime fiasco.

Andrew Leonard at Salon talks about the incredible, undaunted American consumer.

And one more economic indicator -- the price of a prime ticket to see The Police at Madison Square Garden: (gulp) $11,500.

Politics: Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters muses about Fred Thompson. As does Glenn Greenwald. And here's Fred Thompson talking about himself.

And if it never occurred to you to set video of tornado destruction to music.. you're not alone. It did occur to the folks at National Geographic though!

The day after Memorial Day finds a lot of debate about America's fighting men and women on the blogs and in the papers -- some loud and conspicuous booing at two very different forums -- and some culinary advice for Brian, who's in Boston today.

Salon's Tim Grieve sums up some stats from Memorial Day 2007.

And Powerline reprints Peter Collier in the WSJ's Opinion Journal on "America's Honor."

Spencer Ackerman of Washington Monthly tells Democrats that supporting the troops by bringing them home doesn't fly with the actual troops.

But there was a good deal of dissent among the troops on display on Memorial Day.

And the anti-war Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich, who lost his son in Iraq, writes about the great divide in this country.

Blogger Digby says the terms of the political debate have become twisted beyond definition.

TPM's Muckraker analyzes an Associated Press report on the President's assertions about American public opinion on the war.

And Boston Globe reporter Peter Canellos writes about how GOP '08ers are conflating Iraq and 9/11.

More politics. Someone posts the New York Observer's story that Rudolph Giuliani supporters have been banned from the conservative forum FreeRepublic on Free Republic.

And the Politico explains why social conservatives are embracing the abortion-and-gay-rights-supporting former mayor.

By the way, Digby hated the NYT's front page "Journeys with Giuliani" today.

Steve Clemons' report that Vice President Cheney wants to do an end-run around his boss and gin up a military conflict with Iran has been around for a few days. Does yesterday's meeting between American and Iranian diplomats make this seem more or less credible?

In a diary at DailyKos, Cindy Sheehan bows out as an anti-war spokesperson. (Watch a July 5, 2006 Hardball interview with Sheehan.) Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters bids her goodbye, as does Raging_Dave at Four Right Wing Whackos though his goodbye is not as friendly.

Booing in the news: Michelle Malkin blogs about anti-Americanism at the Miss Universe pageant.

And Raw Story links to a video showing that U-Mass graduate students (and faculty) didn't take kindly to the awarding of an honorary degree to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.

Technology corner: the Houston Chronicle comments on what may be the first real-life cyber-war.

And the San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board is creeped out by Google's data gathering.

Kid stuff: John Aravosis at Americablog heaps scorn on Poland's attack on Tinky Winky. And Slate recruits pediatrician Sydney Spiesel to add to the body of knowledge about babies and kids and sleep problems. No, this has nothing to do with (yawn) my life.

And in honor of Brian's trip to the ancestral home of his Dad -- and me -- here's Salon with an interview with beloved Boston Chef Jasper White and a link to his recipes for some of New England's finest fare. Brian, it's "chowdah" and "lobstah" rolls for lunch!

Hi. A lot of today's stuff reflects the fact that the Left Blogosphere is livid over the Iraq war supplemental.

Greg Sargent at TPMCafe sums up the state of play for the Democrats. And John Aravosis is not happy after watching the President's news conference this morning. But Jeffrey Feldman at Frameshop argues that the Democrats are not making a mistake with the war bill.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann isn't buying it though. And neither is Kos.

Ed Morrissey, blogging at Heading Right, says the U.N. bears responsibility for the outbreak of violence in Lebanon. But RawStory picks up on Sy Hersh, who sees U.S. blowback.

Real Clear politics links to John Edwards's foreign policy speech from yesterday, in which he argues that the Global War on Terror has backfired on the U.S. -- and the White House response to Edwards's argument.

The Huffington Post links to a USA Today report that the White House has set up a rapid response team to talk back to the blogosphere on the immigration bill.

If you're interested in the fired U.S. attorneys controversy, the place to go is Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, which single-handedly drove the story forward when no one else in the media was reporting it. TPM's Muckraker arm wraps up Monica Goodling's testimony from yesterday.

A big surge in new home sales has the Internet buzzing. Patrick.net is an interesting aggregator of articles/blogs supporting the idea of "doom" in the housing market and links today to an argument that an economic tsunami is coming.

But Victor Davis Hanson says all the hand-wringing over the decline and fall of America is overblown.

And Andrew Sullivan finds something Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Shaq!

Hi. Lots of stuff from the newspapers today, with the focus on Iraq (and Iran).

With gas prices creeping up to inflation-adjusted record levels, the San Francisco Chronicle reports Americans are still buying SUVs.

John Aravosis at Americablog puts Democrats in Congress on notice that the netroots aren't going to accept an Iraq funding bill with no strings attached.

London's Independent reports of an alleged secret U.S. plot to kill the Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr back in 2004, which if true could be complicating efforts to put American troops into Sadr City now.

The Washington Post's Jim Hoagland speculates that President Bush's "plan B" for Iraq may be an attack on Iran-- Think Progress has links. But another London paper, The Guardian, says it's Iran that's plotting an offensive against the U.S. in Iraq.

And Will Bunch is disturbed by the argument for war with Iran in a new best-seller.

Andrew Sullivan picks up on an LA Times story from the weekend that says the war in Iraq is benefiting al-Qaida.

Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters blogs about immigration reform under the heading: "Everybody Hates the Compromise."

McJoan at Daily Kos rounds up recent efforts by several members of Congress to live on a food stamp budget for a week, and Think Progress links to how the TSA complicated one of those efforts.

Can you hear me now? RawStory links to an AFP report about the first-ever cell phone call from the top of Mount Everest.

And after all this seriousness.. a little background music. Here's a link to an oldies jukebox for your desk. Just click on the year (or decade) and it plays itself.

Hi. A lot of politics on the Internet today, most of it serious, but with a little musical challenge thrown in at the end:

BullDogPundit at AnkleBitingPundits sums up conservatives' anger over a possible comprehensive immigration reform bill.

And McJoan at DailyKos points out that netroots Democrats are getting angry at their party's House rank-and-file for stalling on lobbying reform after running against the Republican "Culture of Corruption."

Some Republicans are now calling for Texas Congressman Ron Paul to be excluded from future debates because of his argument that blowback from U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East was a root cause of the 9/11 attacks. (Former New York Mayor Giuliani was pronounced the winner of the debate for telling Paul he'd never heard anyone argue that before, and demanding that Paul retract what he said.)  Jonah Goldberg at National Review tells us why he also thinks Paul is wrong.

But The Nation's John Nichols points out that the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission report are on Paul's side.

The Wall Street Journal thinks James Comey's testimony about the dramatic hospital bedside confrontation between then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and then-White House counsel (and current AG) Alberto Gonzales is a dangerous game of political theater. And Glenn Greenwald thinks the media is missing the real story, which is not the drama of the confrontation but the nature of the program they were arguing about.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton talked to London's Daily Telegraph about what he thinks the U.S. needs to do to stop Iran from producing a nuclear weapon.

But there's a new report that claims CentCom Commander Adm. William Fallon has said military action against Iran won't happen on his watch.

Talk about bad poll numbers. Editor and Publisher has a new poll that shows Americans aren't too happy with the way things are going right now.

Hillary Clinton wants you to help choose her campaign's theme song.

And as someone who spends a lot of time poking around on the Internet, there are few places I look forward to visiting more than Quinn Cummings's blog. Besides being a brilliant observer of the human condition (the condition of motherhood in particular) she also happens to be hilarious.

Hi everyone. The death of Jerry Falwell has set the blogosphere aflame, as you might expect. I'll leave it to you to explore that on your own if you're interested.
In the meantime, here's some other good stuff from the Internet today:

In the wake of the New York Times report on Iran stepping up its nuclear production, commentary ponders whether an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites would be a cakewalk or not.

Every soldier who dies in war deserves attention and respect. "Steve Clemons" writes today about the death of one that's a particularly poignant family tragedy.

Our Justice Department Correspondent Pete Williams highlighted some very dramatic testimony from former Deputy Attorney General James Comey on Capitol Hill today. A good narrative from "Talking Points Memo's" MUCKRAKER arm.

Ed Morrissey of "Captain's Quarters" mocks the idea of a Hagel/Bloomberg independent presidential run

Interesting piece by a very skeptical "Lewis Koch" on the validity of the charges against one-time alleged dirty bomber Jose Padilla.

Provocative arguments department: "Bubbles" are good for the economy.

A bit less provocative: "Debt" is bad.

Bummer. The ashes of Star Trek's "Scotty" didn't exactly "make it" to the final frontier.

And "RawStory" links to CBS's coverage of a very interesting battle of the bands.