Barack Obama set himself up a Flickr account recently, so all the cat lovers, perverts, and Photoshop-abusing goths could look at dozens upon dozens of nearly-identical photos of Barry addressing crowds in his shirtsleeves or Tracee Ellis Ross posing with unidentified people for some reason. And today, whatever poor staffer was in charge of the photostream uploaded a set featuring the wedding of some random, non-Obama people, as well as a cute picture of a dog and a baby. Whoops! It’s all been up for a couple hours now and no one’s noticed, except the Flickr commenters who pretty much always show up to note that every fucking dog (or baby) is soooooo adorable.

Barack Obama’s Photos [Flickr]

Did you know that Mormonoligist Republican presidential candidate Willard “Mitt” Romney is secretly a Mexican? It’s true! We read it in the Salt Lake Tribune! The column is by their editorial cartoonist (this particular story was apparently too complex to be illustrated by, say, drawing Mitt in a large comedy sombrero). And it’s sure to send shockwaves through the Mexican-Morman-Republican community. MORE »

* Heard on the Hill: Nancy Pelosi lowers San Francisco property values… There’s more than one plant Kevin Nealon wants to grow… Sen. Larry Craig honored that Idaho still honors him. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: Harold Ford Jr. engagement details… Clarence Thomas and Al Sharpton have a meeting of the minds. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: Hillary Clinton:12. Barack Obama: 0… Annie Leibovitz remembers the lighter times… Dreams of a White House wedding crushed as Jenna Bush scouts Texas locations. [Examiner]
* Under the Dome: Rep. Jim McDermott is counting down the days… Former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan denies knowing it all along… Rep. Jon Porter misses on a Michael Jackson hit… Nancy Pelosi is willing to let go of a few GOPs. [The Hill]
* Shenanigans: “Washington’s Funniest Celebrity” contest is right around the corner… Ron Paul fans are also fans of stamps. [Politico]
* The Sleuth: Congress debates how best to celebrate Brett Favre. [WP]
* Page Six: Ann Coulter and Andrew Stein cross party lines in the bedroom. [NYP]

If Bush won’t get us out of Iraq, Hillary will. After a number of complicated conditions, most matching ones also highlighted by Bush, are met. [WP]

A House resolution that would recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide as, well, a genocide is running into some problems: America’s strategic interests! You see, we are best (strategic) buds with the internationally despised Turks, because they let us use an air base. And as we all know, access to air bases trumps symbolic recognition of unthinkable acts of evil every time. MORE »

Peter Funt, son of twisted sadist Allen Funt, has had it up to here with all these polls! Who cares what a representative sampling of Americans think about things! Not this not-quite-famous person, that’s for sure! To be fair, The Today Show did apparently have some sort of “America’s Best Sandwich” poll, clear proof that our national obsession with “voting” has gone too far. MORE »

* People need to learn what a privilege it is to be tortured by the United States. [NYT]
* Because we do it better than the Africans do. [NYT]
* Fred talked about what a threat a president who can spell would be. [WP]
* Maybe if we leave Rudy and Mitt alone in a room, they’ll kill each other. [Politico]
* Hillary is a healer. [WP]
* And her presidency is already a really busy one. [The Hill]
* It’s been too long since members of Congress have been indicted for things. Time to mix it up. [Roll Call]

Recently unearthed Nixon White House tapes (always words we are thrilled to read) reveal that Dick could occasionally be sorta lucid and spot-on, while still spouting obscenities and insults in that classic Nixon style. Back in the dark days of Watergate, a young Republican prosecutor named Fred Thompson (whose exciting first debate is being liveblogged below as we speak!) was appointed by the Senate to join Democratic prosecutor Sam Dash in investigating Nixon’s various and sundry crimes. Dick was not particularly happy to hear this. MORE »

Bush-groping FosterMILF was one of 11 congresspeople to vote against assuring the independence of inspectors general offices, a bill supported by nearly everyone else in Congress but staunchly opposed by Bush. No surprise there, right? Anyone who’s willingly made out with the president in public should probably be expected to support even his craziest notions. But then Bachmann decided she’d made a terrible mistake. Is the honeymoon over? Can Bush safely lift the restraining order? MORE »

The GSA (our government’s “Gay-Straight Alliance”) launched a “weblog” as part of fulfilling the president’s long-forgotten 2002 “eGov” initiative. Just like the State Department! It’s called “GovGab”, which is at least much harder to turn into a juvenile pun than “DippinDotGov” or whatever State called their stillborn attempt at Internets Relevance. It’s in the content, though, that GovGab becomes a more embarrassing horror show than State’s boring diplomacy site. Let’s meet the bloggers! MORE »

Senator Larry Craig’s sad airport restroom misadventure, with all its giggle-inducing details of the finer points of toilet cruising, became public more than a month-and-a-half ago, so it’s just about time for Richard Cohen to weigh in. Naturally, today’s column starts off with, wait for it, a “restless leg syndrome” joke that he then feels the need to explain. Further proof that the man does indeed have a fine sense of humor! MORE »