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 ...

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 …

NYT Editor Bill Keller: Slayer of Straw Men; Inventor of Privileges  —  Like most Americans, the Wall Street Journal's editors have a low opinion of leakers passing top secret material to "reporters" who in fact act as fax machines to the front page.  —  New York Times' editor Bill Keller responds …

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)

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.

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 …

McClellan Says White House Records Won't Show Everything  —  Those White House visitor logs that were supposed to show all of Jack Abramoff's comings and goings?  —  The infuriating exchange from this morning's press gaggle:  —  QUESTION: Scott, the Secret Service has agreed to turn …

In the Roberts Court, More Room for Argument  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — This is the week that the Supreme Court, done with its regular argument sessions, enters the stretch run.  —  While it is too soon for substantive appraisals of the first year of the Roberts court, it is not too soon …

Hollywood star Robbins blasts US media ignorance of 'high crimes' in Iraq  —  Acclaimed American actor/director Tim Robbins blasted the US government's policy on terrorism — and the US media's failure to examine it critically — at a news conference in Athens promoting his stage version of George Orwell's "1984".

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …