This Barrons columnist thinks that a rift between West Coast funders and the party establishment in DC equals a "party divided". Hogwash, it means funders are taking their money out of an ineffective establishment and building the institutions to challenge the VRWC. That's not a party divided -- that's a party re-prioritizing its spending.
Duncan makes a point that easily rebuts all the apologists thinking unauthorized spying of Americans is somehow justifiable:
We don't know who the president was spying on. No matter what it was against the law, but even if you're so frightened by monsters under your bed that you think a little dictatorship is necessary at this time the administration has not given a satisfactory explanation about why this is necessary. FISA warrants can be obtained, retroactively, up to 72 hours after the fact.
Feingold has taken the lead on this scandal. But there are Republicans who also realize the danger of Bush's theory of unchecked power. People like Lindsey Graham and Bob Barr. (Update: It was Bob Graham, not Lindsay Graham.)
Bolivia is the latest country to elect a head of state based on which candidate hates the United States most. Another triumph of neocon foreign policy.
King Kong off to slow start. The movie grossed $50 million in its first weekend, but it was expected to make $90 million.
Scott Shields muses about Bush's presser today.
Dems still lack a candidate in IL-18, and today is the filing deadline. I don't know what filing requirements are, but if possible, and you live in the district, file! The party can easily replace you later if a more serious candidate arises. But we need to hold the ballot position.
To steal Atrios' tagline, it's time for another blogger ethics conference. At least two columnists were paid by Abramoff to write favorable op-eds. One of them -- Peter Ferrara -- was dumped by the Washington Times and Machester Union Leader (that's some serious wingnuttery in those two papers).
Ferrara, a prominent advocate of Social Security reform, told BusinessWeek Online last week that he takes payments from lobbyists "all the time" to write articles favorable to their clients and did not see anything wrong with the practice.
Update: We got our candidate in IL-18. Sweet!