Contingency?  Irony?  Solidarity!  —  Young Ezra observes that "One could easily imagine a left win that's closer to the Dobbsian/Christian Democrat compromise of social conservatism with economic progressivism."  And, as he says, it's easy to imagine a situation in which politics takes place …

DoJ Purge Figure Resigns  —  Nothing like a Friday afternoon resignation to end the week.  —  From the AP: … Update: Some highlights from Elston's tenure at DoJ:  — He allegedly called three of the fired U.S. attorneys and made an implicit threat that the Justice Department …

Conservative bloggers revolt over immigration … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Different conservative blogs have different pet issues — government transparency, federal judges, Fred Thompson, to name a few.  —  But no issue in recent memory has united conservative bloggers like the debate over immigration.

Clinton Spokesman: Drudge Version Misses a Detail About Pay Day  —  Drudge is taking Bill Clinton to task for giving a $100,000 speech via satellite to a group of investors in Hong Kong on the 5th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.  —  But Clinton's press office now says that although …

Inside the Ring  —  China arming terrorists  —  New intelligence reveals China is covertly supplying large quantities of small arms and weapons to insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, through Iran.  —  U.S. government appeals to China to check some of the arms shipments …

The Best Days Of My Life  —  After spending all week trying to think of a poignant way of making this announcement, and drawing nothing but blanks, I have decided to just say it as plainly as I can.  Today, after more than three years, I am stepping down as the lead writer and managing editor of MyDD.

Duke Case Prosecutor Says He Will Resign  —  Durham County district attorney Michael B. Nifong said today he plans to resign his job, after admitting that he had "crossed the line" of ethical standards in some of the public statements he made about the Duke University lacrosse players he charged with rape.

Watergate's 35th Anniversary: Would That Story Have Been Broken Today?  —  Who knows, someone with a cell phone camera working in the parking garage might have snapped a photo of Woodward chatting with this unknown source.  Or a blogger would have blown the whistle.  —  Sunday will be a memorable day for me, for two reasons.

Vote for me, dimwit  —  How the electorate is irrational  —  ANYONE who follows an election campaign too closely will sometimes get the feeling that politicians think voters are idiots.  A new book says they are.  Or rather, Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University …

Tancredo wins surprise immigration vote  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives this morning voted to withhold federal emergency services funding for "sanctuary cities" that protect illegal immigrants.  —  Anti-illegal immigration champion Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. …

Senator Blocks Vote on Subpoenas Over Eavesdropping  —  A Republican senator blocked a vote in the Judiciary Committee on whether to authorize subpoenas to the Justice Department to obtain secret legal opinions and other documents related to the National Security Agency's program of domestic eavesdropping.

Palestine's Party of God  —  As the world watches the Hamas coup in Gaza unfold, it is worth considering that Hamas's emulation of the Hezbollah was not unexpected.  Consider the following, from the concluding section of my book HAMAS: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad:

Leading  —  Atrios writes: … One of the most dismaying artifacts of modern politics is how little leadership we actually see from our top Democrats.  And by "top" Democrats, I mean those who can get on TV at the snap of a finger, or who are "serious" presidential candidates …

www.trentlott.com  —  ***update: Rush on Lott—"You've got Republicans talking about talk radio like liberals talk about talk radio.  That tells you something."  Yes, it does.  It tells you that the Republican Party is in deep, deep doo-doo.  Speaking of doo-doo, the literal kind apparently turned up in the Capitol today.