NY Times' Maureen Dowd Plagiarizes TPM's Josh Marshall  —  Maureen Dowd in today's NY Times: … TPM's Josh Marshall on Thurs: … All Dowd did was change “we were” to “the Bush crowd was”.  —  Now, I'm all for cutting & pasting.  As a blogger I do it all the time, but I always give credit.

Some on left souring on Obama  —  When President Barack Obama speaks to the Notre Dame commencement Sunday afternoon, television cameras will search the sea of graduates, looking for turned backs and defaced mortar boards that abortion opponents will likely use to register their disagreement with the president.

Text of Obama's Notre Dame speech  — Text of President Barack Obama's commencement address Sunday as the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., as released before delivery by the White House.  The Rev. John Jenkins is the school's president.  The Rev. Theodore Hesburgh is Jenkins' predecessor.

Biden Reveals Location of Secret VP Bunker  —  The vice president, well-known for his verbal gaffes, confirms at a dinner the existence and location of a secret hidden bunker that Cheney is believed to have used after the 9/11 attacks.  —  FOXNews.com  —  Vice President Joe Biden …

Death From Above, Outrage Down Below  —  IN recent days, the Pentagon has made two major changes in its strategy to defeat the Taliban, Al Qaeda and their affiliates in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  First came the announcement that Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal would take over as the top United States commander in Afghanistan.

Distorting public opinion on torture investigations  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Last Friday, CNN hosted a panel debate on torture and investigations with two conservatives and two liberals (Daily Kos' David Waldman and Center for American Progress' Erica Williams).

Has the Public Become More Opposed to Abortion?  —  These Gallup and Pew data are receiving a lot of attention.  Both polls show a shift in opinion.  In the Gallup data, the percentage of people who call themselves “pro-life” has increased and, for the first time in their polling …

“The Righteous Nation”  —  Steve already mentioned GQ's article about Donald Rumsfeld.  You should really read the whole thing.  I just thought I'd highlight this bit, about the Biblically-themed cover sheets that Rumsfeld attached to the President's daily intelligence briefings on Iraq:

Seemingly Invincible Tamil Tigers Declare Defeat Amid Report Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran Dead  —  After waging a 26 year battle to carve out their own homeland, the once seemingly invincible Tamil Tigers have admitted defeat in their bloody fight against the Sri Lanka government.

A Highly Logical Approach … From the magazine issue dated May 25, 2009  —  In a 30-minute interview aboard Air Force One en route from Washington to Phoenix last Wednesday, President Obama talked with NEWSWEEK's Jon Meacham about Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Dick Cheney—and Star Trek.

I don't advocate secession  —  About a month ago, I stood with a bipartisan group of Texas legislators to speak in support of a resolution honoring the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The resolution simply restates the Constitution's principle of federalism …

Sunday Morning  —  Frank Rich's lead:  —  Obama Can't Turn the Page on Bush  —  By FRANK RICH  —  TO paraphrase Al Pacino in “Godfather III,” just when we thought we were out, the Bush mob keeps pulling us back in.  And will keep doing so.  No matter how hard President Obama tries …