Wonkette

Happy Almost Fourth of July, Patriots! Here is your president George W. Bush mumbling about how the Supreme Court’s ruling on Guantanamo is now the Law of the Land, so he’ll follow it. Clearly, the terrorists have taken the real George Bush and hidden him under the White House bowling alley, leaving this suspicious clone to run out the clock on his presidency. Either that or George Bush is high. WHATEVERS MAN IT IS ALMOST VACATION TIME SO WATCH THIS OR DON’T. [RedLasso]

Judge Henry Kennedy, about whom we had so much hope earlier this week, declined this afternoon to immediately hold a hearing to determine why the CIA reportedly destroyed evidence he ordered preserved. It seems at least partly like the fault of the detainees’ lawyers, whose best argument was “we can’t trust them” when asked why the Mukasey investigation shouldn’t be allowed to continue. While that works great in political circles, it’s basically telling a judge that the other lawyer is planning on violating the law (and a complete no-no in court, I’m told) and isn’t going to fly as a legal argument. Plus, it’s not a great response to a whole list of technical legal arguments brought up by the government. Like, seriously? If you want to win instead of just get on TV, how about spending more time on your briefs and less making political points for the teevee cameras. Otherwise, we’re all probably going to lose. [NY Times]

The Supreme Court, reversing course, agreed Friday to eventually decide 5-4 that Guantanamo Bay detainees may not go to federal court to challenge their indefinite confinement. MORE »

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• Years of debate preceded announcement of secret prison closing, sites could be ready to use again on minutes notice. [WP]

• Military tribunals also taking years to prepare. Republicans split on classified evidence issue, no consensus on horizon. [NYT, CNN, W$J]
• Tomato/tomáto argument continues over “terrorist surveillance” or “warrantless eavesdropping” program as Bush asks congress for more authority to catch devious email-using criminals. [WP]
• John Bolton still unconfirmed, spittle collecting in mustache as he grumbles his discontent. [WP, USAT]
• Richard Armitage is so sorry. “I value my ability to keep state secrets. This was bad, and I really felt badly about this.” [NYT]

• Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic primary last night to Ned Lamont. He will run as a “petitioning Democrat,” which is a thing he made up. [NYT, WP]

• Representative Cynthia McKinney lost her primary runoff to Hank Johnson in Georgia, signalling the end of her vaunted “political machine.” [AJC, AJC]
• The White House will call on Congress to alter the War Crimes act to eliminate the threat of prosecution for “political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners.” [WP]
• The Fed is done raising interest rates (for now). [NYT]
• Despite being forced to remain on the ballot, Tom DeLay will not seek reelection to Congress. [NYT]

• Things continued to spiral ever more out-of-control in Israel and Lebanon, with Hezbollah firing 200 rockets into Israel Wednesday and Israel’s ground troops engaging in “fierce fighting” throughout Lebanon. Agreements for an international peacekeeping force are being hashed out. [NYT]

• American Orthodox Jews are being courted by Republicans, who see themselves as being more staunchly pro-Israel than their opponents. [WP
• A number of members of congress have children or close relatives serving in the Armed Forces in Iraq. "A White House aide, who requested anonymity because his information was preliminary, said Wednesday that he knew of no top Bush administration official who had a relative who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan." [NYT]
• The out-going British Ambassador to Iraq warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that civil war is more likely in Iraq than Democracy. He said it would be “messy” for 5-10 years. [BBC]
• Connecticut Senate primary race: “[Ned] Lamont, a political novice, has support from 54 percent of likely Democratic voters in the Quinnipiac University poll, while [Sen. Joe] Lieberman has support from 41 percent of voters.” [AP]
• The Administration will present legislation to Congress giving “clarity” to the Supreme Court’s detainee treatment rulings. [NYT]
• If the Democrats fail to take Congress this year, veteran Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY) will quit. [NYT]
• It’s hot. [NOAA]

Oh fer chrissakes. MORE »

• House Republicans took up military tribunals for detainees yesterday, embracing a significantly more conservative position than their Senate counterparts. Meanwhile, President Bush has asked Congress to ratify the tribunals already set up by the Defense Department. [WP, NYT]

• Between Israel’s new war in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran’s nukes, and Iraq just being Iraq, the Bush administration is in a bit of trouble mideast-wise, and it’s all Iran’s fault. [WP]
• Hillary Clinton faces an electorate made up of people who have already made up their minds about her. [WP]
• Congressional Democrats present their own gay marriage political lightning rod: the minimum wage raise. With state ballot initiatives and everything. [NYT]
• The Emergency Broadcast System is being updated to eventually include disaster text messages from your federal government. [NYT]
• Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Michael Scanlon, and Neil Volz are all being sued by an Indian tribe for fraudulently closing said tribe’s casino while working for a rival. [NYT]

This is what we get for just leaving the penny candy out where terrorists can reach it. MORE »