"Tony Rudy, a former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, has agreed to plead guilty to charges in the widening federal investigation of lobbyist fraud, a law enforcement official said Friday....read on"

Jon Stewart takes a look at the newly released memo that states -President Bush targeted March10th-as the date to go to war no matter if WMD's were found or not.

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Why-Katherine Harris made it into a calendar. Good for her.

Among the witnesses testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on Sen. Feingold's Censure Resolution is former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean. Dean has frequently compared the abuses of the Bush Administration generally to those of the Nixon Administration, and has specifically compared the illegal eavesdropping activities of the two Administrations.

While we know that the eavesdropping ordered by President Bush is exactly the eavesdropping which FISA makes it a criminal offense to engage in, we do not yet know -- thanks to the frenzied efforts of Bush defenders to suppress any and all investigations into the Administration's eavesdropping activities -- the nature and extent of Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program. We do not, for instance, know which Americans were eavesdropped on, how many Americans were subject to this illegal surveillance, how it was determined who would be eavesdropped on, what was done with the information, whether purely innocent Americans had their communications intercepted without judicial approval, etc.

The White House has repeatedly assured us that there is no reason for us to know any of this, and there is nothing for us to worry about, because they are only eavesdropping only -- to use a The White House's formulation -- on the "very bad people."

In that regard, John Dean is an excellent witness for the hearings today, since he was part of an Administration which invoked exactly the same rationale. According to this July 25, 1969 article from Time Magazine, which was reporting on public fears over new surveillance powers given to the Administration by the Congress, Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell told Americans they had nothing to worry about:

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Mike's Blog Round Up

Corporate Crime Reporter: Political fix is in on prosecution of Custer Battles...

Pam's House Blend: The desperation of religious extremists as they suddenly realize their influence with the public is waning. One particularly perverse scold is even cruising gay message boards doing "research," while huckster Tom DeLay continues to manipulate the faithful with his phony "martyr" routine. Get off the cross, we need the wood.

Blah3: Afghans believe the US is in league with...the Taliban!

Lassiter Space: Ex-death row inmate telss of his exoneration by DNA in podcast interview

And Doctor Biobrain's Response Is...: Apparently, Secretary of the Treasury is just sort of a cheerleading position from which to tout the BUSHCO message. Insiders speculate that Rumsfeld may finally have worn out his welcome. One thing is certain, Republicans want to see some changes.

Blah3: Afghans believe the US is in league with...the Taliban!

Lassiter Space: Ex-death row inmate telss of his exoneration by DNA in podcast interview

And Doctor Biobrain's Response Is...: Apparently, Secretary of the Treasury is just sort of a cheerleading position from which to tout the BUSHCO message. Insiders speculate that Rumsfeld may finally have worn out his welcome. One thing is certain, Republicans want to see some changes.

New York Magazine: A look at the questions surrounding New York's most terrible day.
New York Magazine: A look at the questions surrounding New York's most terrible day

Late Night Open Thread: Bush in Cancun: The first photo

Late Night funnies.

Will Bunch has got the snap shot and the story.

Update: Ned Lamont needs only 300 more donations to hit the mark he's looking for. Can you spare a dime?

It's interesting to see that Joementum got booed at a dinner tonight. Here's the news story in Real Audio. Obama realized that the crowd wasn't the most jovial to Joe said:

"Obama wasted little time getting to that point, calling it the "elephant in the room" but praising Lieberman's intellect, character and qualifications."

Alex Koppleman takes a look at Malkin's embrace of the Aztlan and reconquista theme.

tbogg has more: "Another American Flag Down"

"Yes. Because if there is one thing that the people of this great nation need it's important breaking news involving a Florida condo association."

Booman has a great analysis of Murray's new piece dealing with the aluminum tubes.

Josh has the latest fantasy from Howard Kaloogian:

"The candidate said he hadn't recognized the error because "the military asked us to use our discretion and put things on the Internet that were nondescriptive ... (because) if we posted something that was easily identifiable, it could be a target."

In typical fashion, Hewitt attacks Markos in the exact same way he says that left wing blogs attack others. I'm sure his being in the front lines of New York really has him rattled.
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Newshounds:

Hewitt, who lost most of his credibility in the previous segment, when he called George Bush the Republicans' best asset in 2006, lost the rest of it during this one. "That’s an accurate representation. It does not go to name-calling. It goes to the facts of the Democratic left." He claimed "a strain" has taken over the blogosphere on the left and ruined the Democratic Party. Colmes responded that the right is very guilty of accusing the left of being anti-religious, hateful and bigoted.

Hewitt, in another fit of "not name-calling," went on to refer to the Daily Kos blog as "vulgar and profane." When Colmes defended Kos as one that he likes and one that is the most popular, Hewitt said, "So has Larry Flynt got a lot of readership… They are the same line of rhetoric."...read on

Comparing Markos to a pornographer isn't vulgar and profane? It's pretty pathetic really. He talks about cutting taxes, but on Feb.18th-05, Hewitt was on with Joe Scarborough, and said that it was OK to raise taxes to help Social Security. Joe said: "All right, Let me write this down. Hugh Hewitt, OK with tax increases. I will remember this when there‘s a Democrat in the White House." So much for being a conservative.

Was it racist for Ben Domench to call Coretta Scott King a Communist, repeating the accusations of southern bigots who tried to smear Martin Luther King during the Montgomery bus boycotts? The washingtonpost.com's Jim Brady said Domenech's comments were "silly." I wonder if the African-American community of Washington DC will think it's silly?

Let's find out. The brilliant Mike Stark, threatened by O'Reilly for saying the dreaded word "Olbermann" on his radio show, is signing people up to help him get in contact with Washington DC radio shows and take it to the streets. The Post seems to think it works for the White House. Maybe they need to be reminded that it is their subscribers who draw in advertisers and pay the bills.

We'll be doing a lot on this along with Steve Gilliard, Taylor Marsh, FDL and others. Please go help Mike out at DailyKos and hit the "recommend" button. It is time that the Post got a reminder about who they work for.

FDL has more...