John Bolton and the IC's New Sourcing Rules
John Bolton says the NIE is wrong because it was written by those at State who tried to correct his delusions about Iraq. But it seems they've brought some sound sourcing requirements that were precisely the kind of thing Bolton tried to avoid when he drummed up the war in Iraq.
Hillary: Bashing the Youth Vote
Hillary's attack on Obama's college caucus-goers in IA betrays not just cynicism, but real ignorance about how HAVA has affected college voters.
Scruggs Update: Balducci Did Flip
Balducci's plea agreement tells us what we all suspected about the Dickie Scruggs case: Balducci, the guy who originally offered the bribe, did flip on the other alleged co-conspirators.
NIE Timeline, Take Three
A timeline of the drafting of the NIE and related items.
The NIE and Israel
It sure looks like the withdraw of support for a UN statement supporting the Annapolis peace plan relates to the release of the NIE.
I Dunno. It Looks Like a Banana Republic to Me.
Zalmay Khalilzad schools Condi on what it means to run a bureaucracy in a Banana Republic.
Scottish Haggis' Latest "Compromise"
Arlen "Scottish Haggis" Specter strikes again with another wishy-washy legal compromise.
Big Shitpile Data Point
Is it a coincidence the mortgage companies bilked in mortgage fraud are the ones buried under the shitpile?
Why Would Orrin Hatch Need a Defense Fund?
Most of the Members of Congress that CQ describes as having a defense fund make sense. But why does Orrin Hatch need one?
August 2007 PDB: Iran Not Determined to Get Nukes
Do Administration claims about when Bush got the Iran intelligence remind you of the August 6, 2001 PDB? Or the report from Joe Wilson's trip that never got read?
Intelligence Puts a Crimp in Dick's War-Mongering
After telling us they wouldn't release key judgments of the NIE on Iran, DNI did just that. More on why they did so.
Tommy K "In Custody"
Tommy K, Duke Cunningham's mysterious briber, has been placed "in custody" for apparent ongoing lawbreaking.
Fox Wants to See the Shredded Scraps of Our Constitution
Fox News refuses to run an ad that says Bush has shredded our Constitution. I guess they won't recognize attacks on our Constitution unless it affects them personally?
The Republican Notion of Oversight
The latest document dump proves what we've long suspected: Congressional Republicans were getting talking points from Gonzales' DOJ.
Waxman Still after Fitz's FBI Files
Does it surprise you that the White House is preventing Fitzgerald from turning over the FBI files from White House officials?
Lookie here! My own digs!
In case you've been wondering what I've been bubbling about over the past few weeks, it was this move. I'm really grateful that Jane invited me to build a shack in her back yard. She and Pach and Jamie have been doing superb work setting up the new mega site. I'd like to thank Caz, too, who designed the site; I was not a very easy person to work with on
Jeb Bush, Worse than Neil?
Via Atrios, people are beginning to wonder whether Jeb Bush was responsible for approving Florida's purchase of a hefty chunk of the shitpile when he was Governor.
Agovernment money market debacle unfolding in Florida is raisingquestions about former governor and presidential brother Jeb Bush'spossible involvement in the mess.
Florida froze withdrawalsfrom a state investment fund earlier this week when local governmentswithdrew billions of dollars out of concern for the fund's financialstability.
In the
Wolfie's Back?
Bmaz sent me Isikoff's latest, which thankfully does more than report on events from his past as if they were news. It reports the frightening news that Condi's about to appoint Paul Wolfowitz to an advisory position at State.
Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitzresigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormydeparture as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that heimproperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he's in
The FISA Document Dump, An Inventory
I've put together an excel file listing the documents included in Friday's document dump on the communications DNI McConnell had regarding the FISA amendment. I've still got a turkey hangover, so let me know if you spot any errors.
Here's what I've noticed:There's a weird chronology behind the response to the FOIA requestThe DNI's definition of duplicative is different than my definition of duplicativeThe DNI must consider Republican correspondence classifiedThe DNI
What Did the Blue Dogs Promise to DNI McConnell?
My house guests are gone, I'm recovering from the turkey (on the heritage turkey? It is better, but I'm not sure it's enough better to justify the price tag), and now I'm wading through Friday's document dump. These are the documents the EFF forced DNI to release after he had been stalling on their release; he was supposed to provide all correspondence between Congress and DNI and between the telecoms and