Full Text of Email Reveals Greenwald Mischaracterizations  —  Welcome, fellow minions of the lgf New World Odor  —  Glenn Greenwald, as he had promised in his post at Salon, has forwarded the email he says he received from Colonel Steven A. Boylan, Public Affairs Officer for General Petraeus.

President Bush Announces Recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom  —  President George W. Bush today announced recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civil award.  Established by Executive Order 11085 in 1963, the Medal may be awarded by the President …

Obama issues 3-page memo defending gay-basher spokesman, explaining that McClurkin has no problem with "happy" gays  —  Obama's campaign now says that McClurkin only wants to cure the unhappy gays.  (The rest of us are, I guess, fine to continue trying to kill America's children.)  —  From the Washington Post:

Iraqi troops free tribal leaders kidnapped by Mahdi Army commander  —  Just 24 hours after the capture of 11 Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi Army has freed eight of the sheikhs.  Meanwhile, Multinational Forces Iraq has identified the Mahdi Army commander responsible …

Man behind fake FEMA briefing loses new job  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The man who oversaw public affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency when it held a fake news conference last week will no longer be taking over as head of public relations for the director of national intelligence.

Looming Catastrophe as Campaign Opportunity  —  If Obama is hoping for an issue to gain traction with vis a vis Hillary, he's really muffed it picking Social Security.  In itself the idea of removing or significantly restructuring the 'cap' on payroll taxes is a good one, at least one with a lot to recommend it.

GIULIANI'S LATEST....The Washington Post notes that Rudy Giuliani will be running a new radio ad in New Hampshire starting today: … You will be unsurprised to learn that Giuliani is full of s**t.  As you can see from the chart on the right, Britain and the United States have virtually identical mortality rates from prostate cancer.

Authority Figure  —  The childhood roots of Giuliani's strange views of liberty.  —  At a town hall meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire, last month, local resident Bob Roughsedge introduced Rudy Giuliani as "the next mayor of the United States."  No one tittered or spoke up.

AIDS virus invaded U.S. from Haiti: study  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AIDS virus invaded the United States in about 1969 from Haiti, carried most likely by a single infected immigrant who set the stage for it to sweep the world in a tragic epidemic, scientists said on Monday.

KRUGMAN ON IRAN AND 9/11  —  I tend to agree with Paul Krugman's argument that "Islamofascism" has "no chance of collapsing the United States, let alone taking over the world."  However, this is a remarkable claim...  Here are passages from Chapter 7 of the 9/11 Commission Report.

Sarkozy storms out of "60 minutes" interview  —  PARIS: "No, no. This is stupid," President Nicolas Sarkozy snorted, abruptly unplugging his microphone and calling his press secretary an "imbecile" for setting up an interview with American television network CBS on a busy day.

Strengthening of Consumer Agency Opposed by Its Boss  —  The top official for consumer product safety has asked Congress in recent days to reject legislation that would strengthen the agency that polices thousands of consumer goods, from toys to tools.  —  On the eve of an important Senate …

The horror is getting to Matt Taibbi  —  Matt Taibbi, our newest Scrogue, is perhaps the premier political writer of his generation.  He made his bones with Mark Ames at Russia's legendary expat rag The eXile before moving on to The Beast and New York Press.

Giuliani: Dems Will Change Minds on Iraq  —  LONDONDERRY, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Monday that two of the Democratic candidates will change their minds again about the Iraq war and agree that it was the right decision.  —  Asked at a town-hall meeting …

The Audacity of Homophobia  —  I could spend all day unpacking this Obama statement, but I'll try to stick to my usual terse self. … Aside from the adoption of right wing frames, this kind of statement is incredibly insulting to both the LGBT community who are apparently …