Maverick rebel maybe-candidate Chuck Hagel finally snapped last night and hacked Duncan Hunter’s website, which now promotes … Chuck Hagel. Sort of. MORE »

John McCain has a hundred soldiers protecting him as he braves markets in California, Karen Hughes atones for the Administration’s moral failings one spoonful at a time, Rahm Emanuel stuffs his own face every night of the week, Trent Lott names things after himself, Christopher Hitchens is surprisingly solvent, Chuck Hagel’s offspring is surprisingly not repellent, and our favorite Marine can’t stay semper fi to just one lady.

MORE »

David Brooks was right: Red and blue America are different. In blue America, if you buck your party on the Iraq War, you get challenged by a nondescript-looking anti-war liberal. In red America, the gauntlet gets tossed down by a guy who looks like a cross between Sam Brownback and that doctor in the Spider-Man movies who eventually turns into the the Lizard.

Attorney General Jon Bruning has changed his mind. He now is considering challenging fellow Republican Chuck Hagel in Nebraska’s U.S. Senate primary next year.
…
Hagel helped Senate Democrats approve a $123 billion spending bill that includes a call for U.S. troops to begin withdrawing this year, with a goal of ending combat operations by March 31, 2008. MORE »

* Rudy G. and Steve Forbes are two crazy peas in one crazy pod. [Shakespeare's Sister]
* Chuck Hagel will show you what maverick means: If think you got his vote for something, fuck it, he’s against it — that’s what real mavericks do. [Political Wire, Hotline on Call]
* Hippy horticulturalists get peace sign to grow on Capitol lawn, man. [Fishwrap]
* Virginia gun owners don’t want their stereotype to go to waste. [Freakonomics]
* Links to more ridiculous shit about Walnuts! [The Left Coaster, Informed Comment]
* Obama campaign gets the page views by any means necessary. [PrezVid]

* Heard on the Hill: Harry Reid and Sen. Olympia Snowe want to bring Al Gore’s stupid Live Aid rip-off show to DC… Jeff Bingaman, the man responsible for the stupid new daylight savings time start date, hates it as much as we do… Stevie Wonder, India.Arie, Chaka Khan, Smokey Robinson and Tony Bennett are all at the Capitol for some reason. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: Crazy Kiefer Sutherland exhausts RS with his rocking. This is awesome, though, we’ll give ‘em that… Dan Snyder’s nanny is suing him. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: George Casey hurt himself jumping a fence. Pussy… Busboys and Poets named a ridiculous parody of hippie veganism after Dennis Kucinich… Everyone loves firefighters! [Examiner]
* Under the Dome: More on Gore’s concert: The Mall is booked that day… Dem Rep. Jim Oberstar hates all of you, especially Steny Hoyer. [The Hill]
* Shenanigans: Chuck Hagel skipped a fundraiser for wounded veterans because he HATES OUR TROOPS. [Politico]

Charles Dana, 19th century editor and publisher, was a giant in the field of journalism. 21st century columnist Dana Milbank? Realllllly reaching with this business: MORE »

We’ll let you know what the hell he’s on about. Just REFRESH LIKE MAD. MORE »

* Waning paranoia about the Patriot Act goes back up to “red” as the FBI is cited for surfing Americans’ personal information like you surf for porn. [WP, NYT]
* If an Iraq War spending plan gets rewritten a thousand times, then vetoed, will Nancy Pelosi cry on teevee? [WP, NYT, LAT]
* Alberto Gonzalez has never met a shady “fire ‘n replace” scheme he didn’t like. Arlen Specter has never met an Attorney General that he did like. [WP]
* Chuck Hagel asks John McCain, “Must you betray me with a kiss?” [WP]
* “Bush Doctrine” of suspicious first-punch throwing will influence the next President, whoever she is. [WP]
* Morally unassailable poor kids’ health insurance program woefully under funded. [USAT]
* Newt Gingrich: hate him for the hypocrisy, love him for the skirt chasing. [AP]

America’s favorite ultra-conservative liberal sweetheart gets the full pornographic Esquire treatment this month, with enough homoerotic tough-guy imagery to make Norman Mailer glance wistfully at his shriveled member. For instance, Hagel’s “face is too meaty for poetics, its tectonics shaped by old football injuries and one horrible day in the Mekong Delta when the flesh of it bubbled and burned.” Get a room, dude. MORE »

* Chuck Hagel will announce his ‘08 candidacy on Monday. Or he’ll do something else. Or he’ll do nothing. [Political Wire]
* Iranian defense minister defects to U.S. with decades of knowledge of government-backed terror operations, secret hummus recipe. [Passport]
* Scooter’s SCOTUS drinking buddies control whether he’ll have new soap-on-a-rope shower buddies. [Inside Court TV]
* It takes more than just a flat head to get Jon Tester’s hair like that. [The Sleuth]
* Air America knows you’re no one until you failed spectacularly, twice. [MoJo]
* Pete Domenici’s new lawyer feels the same way. [TPM Muckraker]
* They may not be real Mitt Romney supporters, but they play ‘em on the Internet. [techPresident]
* Henry Kissinger uses panel discussions on global poverty to get ass. [Radar]
* Monopolist talks competitiveness with communist congressmen — yay America! [The Swamp]

* Heard on the Hill: “Why did Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) miss 19 House votes over four days in mid-January? He was playing golf in Palm Springs. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: The MPAA brought in Will Smith to make lawmakers like Hollywood again… Sufjan Stevens drank at the Watergate. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: Joaquin Phoenix stood next to Dennis Kucinich at a Department of Peace press conference, refused to say anything. [Examiner]
* The Sleuth: Nebraska odd couple Chuck Hagel and Ben Nelson are getting along! Finally! [WP]
* Shenanigans: Democratic Whip James Clyburn loves Jack Daniels soooo much they asked him to be their spokesman… Sen. Debbie Stabenow ripped off the Nicholson monologue from A Few Good Men on the floor of the Senate. [Politico]