Up to this point, we’ve been enthusiastic supporters of Rep. Jack Kingston’s forays into the world of new media — his homemade videos on YouTube, his interns’ liveblogging during the Rayburn gunfire scare, etc. MORE »

The Bush Administration’s preliminary reactions to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld are in — and they’re not terribly exciting or surprising.

At a press conference earlier today with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, President Bush got peppered with questions about the decision. Pretty much every non-Asian journalist in the room asked about Hamdan. Bush said that “we take them [the Supreme Court] very seriously.” Glad to hear it; so do we. He also stated that “we will conform to the Supreme Court.” Nothing controversial there.

Tony Snow’s PM presser wasn’t much more exciting. Every journalist present tried to get Snow to admit that the SCOTUS handed the White House its ass on a platter. But Snow didn’t take the bait, refusing to admit that the executive branch got housed by the judiciary. Quoth Tony: “You don’t sit around going, ‘Oh my gosh, the Supreme Court ruling!’ You try and deal with it.”

A few more remarks, after the jump.

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This just in: the Federal Reserve Board just raised the federal funds rate to 5.25 percent. This is the 17th consecutive rate hike, and the rate now stands at its highest level in more than five years.

Meanwhile, while Fed chair Ben Bernanke has fun raising interest rates, his predecessor Alan Greenspan has to suffer through jury duty. The full story, after the jump.

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• Reliable Source: First daughter Jenna Bush is leaving Washington for a teaching gig in Latin America; twin sis Barbara Bush recently landed a job in educational programming at New York’s Cooper Hewitt Museum. [WP]

• Heard on the Hill: Sen. Mel Martinez autographs photos of himself while presiding over the Senate debate on the flag-burning amendment. [Roll Call]
• Under the Dome: Big Connecticut unions have endorsed Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) in primary battle against Ned Lamont, but they’re not exactly huge fans of the senator. [The Hill]
• Rush & Molloy: Loews CEO Jonathan Tisch is contemplating a run for New York mayor. [NYDN]

Love him or hate him, Chris Matthews is a force to be reckoned with. The Hardball host has “an almost transparent knowledge of your soul.” And he’s a really good wrestler — or at least better than Stephen Colbert: MORE »

Just this morning, the Supreme Court struck down the Bush Administration’s plan to try Guantanamo detainees before military commissions, as violative of both U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions. The decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld was 5-3, with the conservatives — Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito — in dissent. (Chief Justice Roberts was recused, since he had ruled on the case — in favor of the government — as a lower court judge.) MORE »

• The Supreme Court upholds most of the GOP-designed redistricting plan for Texas, but strikes down the redrawing of one district as violating the Voting Rights Act. The Court’s ruling may encourage more gerrymandering in the future. [NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT, WP]

• Former House majority leader Tom DeLay hails the Supreme Court’s ruling as “a victory for the Constitution and a victory for the people of Texas”; but the criminal case against him remains unaffected. [WP]
• Israeli forces continue attacks in Gaza and seize several Hamas leaders. Palestinian gunmen claim to have killed an Israeli settler. [WP, NYT]
• As midterm elections approach, Bush takes the offensive against congressional Democrats and the news media, casting them as uncooperative in the war on terror. [WP, NYT]

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* Soledad O’Brien: Wednesday’s “Hump Day Hussy.” [Evil Discussor] MORE »

* Late to work? Blame it on Canada. [Movering] MORE »

The TV people were faked out by the Court today too. And unlike us, they brought all this crap with them.

Earlier today, we brought you the first installment of pictures from our field trip to the Supreme Court this morning. We thought it would be the final day of the Term. We thought wrong.

Now, the rest of our photo essay. Check out the pics, after the jump.

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Okay, this really doesn’t have much to do with politics or current affairs. Immigration, maybe? MORE »

Today Wonkette took a field trip to the U.S. Supreme Court. We were all excited, ’cause we — like many others — thought it might be the last day of the Term.

The Court would hand down decisions in all its big-ticket cases — like the Texas redistricting case, and the Guantanamo Bay detainee case. Maybe a justice would announce his or her retirement. We might be present for the making of history.

As it turned out, the SCOTUS faked us out. Moving into overtime, they announced that tomorrow will be the last day of the Term. Perhaps their recent night at the movies caused the justices to fall behind in their work.

Nevertheless, our visit to the Court was worthwhile. Even though the decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld will have to wait until tomorrow, we did get to watch Justice Kennedy try to explain the confusing raft of opinions in the Texas redistricting case. And we swooned when the hunky Chief Justice started talkin’ dirty to us, about Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on “Consular Relations”…

After the jump, part one of our two-part photo essay on our day with the Supremes.

Update: Part Two is available here.

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If you’re like us, you’re annoyed that the Daily Show’s list of what Dick Cheney finds offensive and inoffensive, shown on last night’s show, flashed on the screen for about two seconds. Fortunately, we have a screen cap. Here it is: MORE »