More on Mike.  —  Below (via Atrios) I flagged this Huffington Post Mike McCurry post about the Net Neutrality debate.  But I wanted to focus in on this one paragraph where Mike is discussing not so much the NN debate as the culture of the blogosphere and the relationship between blogs and the mainstream media ...

Libby Versus The Press  —  Libby's team continues their tussle with the press.  I intend to post the documents shortly. … Hmm, I am looking at more than 45 pages here.  —  1. Here is Part 1 of the Consolidated response (23 page .pdf)  —  2. Here is Part 2 (27 page .pdf)

Time to stop feeling guilty and start really bombing  —  (updated below)  —  The Wall St. Journal's Opinion Journal today published an Op-Ed by Shelby Steele that advances one of the most truly incoherent and just plain inane arguments I have read in a long time.

The Cole Report  —  When it comes to Iran, he distorts, you decide.  —  In some ways, the continuing row over his call for the complete destruction of Israel must baffle Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  All he did, after all, was to turn up at a routine anti-Zionist event and repeat …

UPDATE: The National Anthem At Bush's First Inaugural  —  UPDATE: Contemporaneous media accounts (see here for example) report that Secada was singing "America the Beautiful," not the national anthem.  The story from Cox News below, reporting that Secada sang the national anthem in Spanish, appears to be in error.

U.S. and Europe Draft U.N. Resolution on Iran  —  PARIS, May 2 — The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today.

I Gotcher Bad Taste For Ya Rite-chia  —  I'm listening to Scarborough dissect Colbert's performance with Ana Marie Cox and Michael Sherer from Salon and I can't believe how vapid it is.  They all agree that Colbert is usually hilarious but he wasn't entirely successful at the white house …

Politics wasn't first on list of NY Sen. Clinton's career picks  —  PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) _ She's a former first lady, a United States senator, and a potential 2008 presidential candidate.  But to hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tell it, all of that pales in comparison to her real childhood dreams.

MARY CHENEY SAYS HER FATHER SAID EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED TO HEAR WHEN SHE TOLD HIM SHE WAS GAY  —  Vice president tells VANITY FAIR his image might be better if he spent more time trying to improve it, "but that's not why I'm here"  —  New York, N.Y. - In her new memoir, NOW IT'S MY TURN …

Bush, Hill Republicans Agree To Extend Expiring Tax Cuts  —  Democrats Point to Deficit and Benefits for the Rich  —  President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

New Army documents reveal US knew of and approved torture before Abu Ghraib scandal  —  New Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union today reveal that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to "go to the outer limits" to get information from detainees.

Pakistan Detains al-Qaida Fugitive Nasar  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - A top al-Qaida leader whose links stretch from Osama bin Laden's training camps to extremist networks in Europe has been captured in Pakistan, a U.S. law enforcement official confirms for the first time.

Bush's Disapproval In Gallup Within MoE of All-Time Record  —  Gallup shows Bush at 34 / 63, for an overall net of -29.  A net disapproval of -29 puts him only 2 points behind the all-time worst of Bush Sr. and Carter, who both cratered at -31.  However, I want to emphasize the importance …

After reports, New Jersey senator calls on CIA director to conduct Plame damage assessment  —  In light of reports that CIA Agent Valerie Plame was working to track Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons when her identity was leaked, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today called …

Gangs claim their turf in Iraq  —  file:iraq2  —  The Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings and Vice Lords were born decades ago in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods.  Now, their gang graffiti is showing up 6,400 miles away in one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods — Iraq.

The Self-Inflicted Wounds of the Academic Left  —  Truly this is a bizarre time for the life of the mind in America.  The airwaves and best-seller lists are noisy with anti-intellectual jeers.  The ruling party embraces the nostrums of "No Child Left Behind" while tossing the teaching …

Bush in 'ceaseless push for power'  —  President George W. Bush had shown disdain and indifference for the US constitution by adopting an "astonishingly broad" view of presidential powers, a leading libertarian think-tank said on Monday.  —  The critique from the Cato Institute reflects growing criticism …

Hookergate: What About the Limo Service?  —  Ah, the Shirlington Limousine Service.  —  I dismissed the angle at first, despite the curious details surfacing about the car company which ferried the hookers to Wilkes' parties, and also brought Cunningham to the hookers, according to reports.