It has been rumored for a while that this was in the works ... Luke Russert (son of the late Tim Russert is to join NBC News to cover youth issues during the 2008 election cycle. It will be nice to see a fresh new face on there.

Dianne Feinstin describes meeting between Obama and Hillary.

The New York Times have article this morning on the meeting between Obama and Hillary. It took place at Dianne Feinstein's home near American University. This while CNN had someone camped out watching Hillary's DC home.

AP reports another superdelegate for Obama.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — One of Minnesota's last uncommitted Democratic superdelegates is backing Barack Obama, the Obama campaign announced Sunday.

Nancy Larson, of Dassel, a Democratic National Committee member, told The Associated Press she decided to support Obama because his campaign will bring new people into the political process, and she believes he has the best chance of winning in November.

Today Connecticut named its add-on superdelegate. They chose Don Williams

Under the arcane Democratic rules, Connecticut had 11 superdelegates -- people whose status was determined by their political offices or positions in the Democratic Party -- plus an add-on to be chosen by the other delegates this week. That was Williams.

Williams is technically unpledged, as are all superdelegates, but he is a leader of the Obama campaign in Connecticut.

Ejup Ganić was the acting Bosnian president who greeted Hillary Clinton on her trip to Bosnia in 1996. He says he met with her for "about 20 minutes."

Eric Jansson, who worked as   a journalist in Eastern Europe for nine years, has been in touch with Ejup Ganić by e-mail. So did he back up Hillary's story?
Not exactly ...

Ganić told Eric Jansson that there wasn’t any sniper fire and none had been anticipated.

We didn't expect snipers, although we Bosnians were rather comfortable with the situation since for four years we had bullets fired over our heads on a daily basis.

He also added: "By talking to the First Lady, I was under the impression that she had an agenda for her own advancement and I am not surprised of her desire to win the current elections." His e-mail to Jansson is here.

It was confirmed back in February that Bill Clinton would visit Northern Ireland to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The event it to take place on 10 April.

Trina Vargo, President of the US-Ireland Alliance, welcomed confirmation of the former president's visit.

"President Clinton's involvement was crucial in bringing peace to Northern Ireland," she said.

"I am sure that President Clinton's presence will inspire the young leaders participating in this event to make their own contributions to the process and to the relationship between the US and the island of Ireland."

The BBC does not say whether the invitation included Hillary  Clinton, who of course has made much of her role in Northern Ireland.

Today I received an e-mail that I found highly offensive. The subject line was "If Obama wins!" There was no text, just seven images that seemed to be an attempt to show what would happen if Obama was elected in November. The images used come from a contest titled  "What if the US Loses" hosted by www.worth1000.com. The contest took place in December 2002, long before Obama was even mentioned as a presidential candidate.

Yet these images have been pulled as-is from the website and circulated to show the horrors of a possible Obama presidency. So we are being offered the equation  "What If the US Loses?" = "Obama Wins"

I'm not going to include any of the images here, but you can follow the link below to see them on the contest page - and in their original context.

Yesterday, the BBC has a article titled The meaning of Obama's robes This refers to the 2006 photo of Barack Obama taken in the Wajir region of north-east Kenya. The gist of it is that the clothing has no religious significance whatsoever.

The head turban is especially used by elderly people as a suggestion of respect. It is something that has no meaning whatsoever in Somalia culture.

If you see someone dressed like that in Somalia, you think it is a nomadic person - that is all.

There is no religious significance to it whatsoever. It is mainly the nomadic people who use it. Some of them are religious, some are not.

I'm hoping the Hawaii caucus doesn't turn into a circus. I'm concerned that voters in Hawaii are very confused in going to the polls today. From a conversation with a colleague, it seems that there is confusion ... about time, about polling places and about the caucus process itself.

Vitter's predecessor in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bob Livingston, urges Vitter to charge forward

NEW ORLEANS —  Robert Livingston, the former Louisiana congressman who resigned in the late 1990s after admitting to extramarital affairs, said his situation is not at all like U.S. Sen. David Vitter's, and he urged Vitter not to resign.

Livingston, in an interview with WWL TV, said he had urged the fellow Republican "to pick himself up and charge forward. We need him."

Livingston was in line to be House speaker when he resigned during hearings to impeach President Clinton in 1998, after admitting to an extrmarital affair. Hustler publisher, Larry Flynt, who investigated Livingston, took credit for his resignation. During a press conference on Wednesday (11 July), Flynt released the phone record that led to Sen. David Vitter's (R-LA) admission that he'd been a customer of the escort service run by the D.C. Madam.

Jack Burkman, described as COP political operative and conservative is the latest name to appear.

The phone number for GOP political operative/conservative pundit, John (Jack) M. Burkman Jr. - Principal J.M. Burkman & Associates, Arlington, VA - appears in the database of phone records of the 'DC Madam.'

Source: Citizens for Legitimate Government

About Jack:

Jack Burkman, founder and President of Burkman Associates, LLC, is one of Washington's premier political consultants and strategists. He has handled complex lobbying problems for corporations large and small as well as issues of crisis communications in the national media. A former Fox News political analyst, Burkman is routinely invited to speak to major organizations all over the country and appears frequently on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and others. He is a regular guest on MSNBC's primetime hit "Scarborough Country." Burkman was also a longtime guest on ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.

Hacker forces 1,500 Pentagon computers offline

PENTAGON - The Defense Department took as many as 1,500 computers off line because of a cyber attack, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

Few details were released about the attack, which happened Wednesday, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the computer systems would be working again soon.

Gates said the Pentagon sees hundreds of attacks a day, and this one had no adverse impact on department operations. Employees whose computers were affected could still use their handheld BlackBerries.

I see this reported in the Guardian UK. As Cannes waits with bated breath for the opening of Michael Moore's movie today, Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the film, says that the US Government is trying to impound the negative of the film.

Documents released today by the DOJ include a 93-page collection of letters and e-mails regarding the US attorney firings and the congressional hearings on those.

I was looking through the PDF DOJ Document Set 2 Released on 3-28-2007 and found a draft letter that was being prepared in response to Harry Reids's letter, dated 8 February 2007, re Cummings.

There is a cover e-mail (see page 74 of 93) from Kyle Sampson to Christopher G. Oprison:

From: Sampson, Kyle
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 6:02 PM
To: ‘Oprison, Christopher G.
Cc: Hertling, Richard
Subject: Reid letter v.4
Importance: High
Attachments: reid letter re cummins-griffin v.4.doc

Chris, I accepted your changes and then made some changes -- most are for accuracy (though a couple are stylistic). Call me (I need to leave in 5 minutes for my daughter’s dance recital!).

As reported in Hornito's diary on the rec list, the the House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee (CAL) voted to authorize the full committee Chairman John Conyers to issue subpoenas for current and former White House and Justice Department officials Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, William Kelley, Scott Jennings and Kyle Sampson, as well as documents that the Committee has not yet received.

As Eugene comments below, the earlier diary may give the false impression that subpoenas have already been issued. They have not, the subcommittee just voted to authorize the full committee to proceed with issuing subpoenas. However, so far there is nothing on the schedule for the full committee regarding the issuing of subpoenas. I presume they would have to meet first? It wouldn't be the case that Conyers can issue the subpoenas without a further vote in front of the full committee, would it?

The Judiciary Committee have released the following:

This is a gonna be quick. Apparently the POTUS is in Old Greenwich, CT, at the moment for a fundraiser in a private house. My brother was in the area just after the motorcade drove through. There were a sprinking of protestors there and only ONE SINGLE supporter carrying an American flag. This is Old Greenwich, traditionally a Republican stronghold!

This story is so weird. This was no ordinary fender-bender.

Early this morning a flatbed truck traveling south on I-95 carrying a tomahawk test missile (without warhead attached) lost its cargo. The truck stalled and as driver tried to make it onto the exit ramp, another truck rear-ended it causing the tomahawk to spill onto the road. The bomb squad was called in to ensure it was safe.

Just when his image seems to be about as bad as it can get!

Mr Bush was heard telling UK Prime Minister Tony Blair privately that Syria should press the Lebanese militants to "stop doing this shit".

These word uttered while speaking with his mouth full. Did Barbs never tell him not to talk with his mouth open?
Bush lunch chat is caught on tape