Edwards' Bloggers Regret Critical Posts  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Thursday he was personally offended by the provocative messages two of his campaign bloggers wrote criticizing the Catholic church, but he's not firing them.

Edwards Blogger Flap Discomforts Religious Left  —  As the flap over alleged anti-Catholic writings by two John Edwards campaign bloggers devolves into a shouting match between conservative religious voices and liberal bloggers, some members of the "religious left" say they feel - again - shoved to the margins of the Democratic Party.

About My Personal Blog  —  My writings on my personal blog Pandagon on the issue of religion are generally satirical in nature and always intended strictly as a criticism of public policies and politics.  My intention is never to offend anyone for his or her personal beliefs …

Okay, so maybe a few more words on this whole Marcotte dustup.  Because Oprah tells me I need closure, and because, well, it dovetails nicely with some of my site themes (UPDATED)  —  Via Bumperstickerist, here is word from the Edwards campaign, which has decided to keep Marcotte and McEwan onboard the Edwards Express:

Sign Up  —  The Edwards campaign is standing by their bloggers as they came under assault by the rightwing noise machine and good for them.  —  But this is going to be the pattern unless the news media recognises that they have a substantial number of readers who will not tolerate a reprise …

The Trouble With Mary  —  (Graphics luv to commenter Andrea of the Huffington Post who sent this to Arianna.  Seemed so appropriate for today, somehow.)  —  It's just been one of those weeks for Mary Matalin, with all [Cheney's] her own words coming home to roost.

Mary Matalin is Dazed and Confused  —  Her appearance on Imus this morning was just bizarre.  The main point Imus wanted to cover is if she actually told Libby that Tim Russert hated Chris Matthews.  I edited some stuff out (it's still a long clip) and tried to focus on her responses to this point and the Libby trial.

Dispatches From the Scooter Libby Trial  —  2:29 p.m.: All morning, we listened to audio tapes of Scooter Libby's grand jury testimony.  Along with yesterday, that makes eight hours of tapes in all.  Toward the end of this droning saga, the courtroom gallery was becoming rather sparsely populated.

Dissent grows in Iran  —  Critics of President Ahmadinejad's defiance of the U.S. and U.N. become bolder.  —  TEHRAN — Iran's leadership is facing mounting public unease and the seeds of mutiny in parliament over the combative nature of its nuclear diplomacy.