An Italian tv show secretly tested the sweat of Italian lawmakers (comedy ain’t pretty, etc) for drug use within the last 36 hours. The results: 12 potheads and 4 coke fiends. Considering that this is the Italian parliament we’re talking about, we’re shocked at how many of them are governing sober. And hell, the US of A could beat that record with one house tied behind our back — our guys are popping pills, crashing into stationary traffic barriers, punching out cops, texting journalists drunk, checking themselves into rehab left and right, and fucking pages. The entire Illinois delegation is probably freebasing right now. MORE »

• Bush stresses need for US to remain in Iraq, he fears, “We will have lost our soul as a nation” if forces are removed. [WP]

• Scotland Yard charges 11 in “liquid bomb” plot, yesterday’s press conference more CSI than Sherlock Holmes. [NYT, WP]
• Italy to lead peacekeeping force in Lebanon, provided standing around in stylish blue helmets is the extent of the “leading.” [BBC]
• Obama now carrying hopes of Democratic party and all of African continent on shoulders. [LAT]
• Uptight, “Washington Type-A” parents fear humiliation from what their kids write on these new “blogs.” [WP]

The Nation’s blog (called, irritatingly, “The Notion”) has a charming little piece about the Italian Elections, a fitting political obituary for Silvio Berlusconi: MORE »

* Names & Faces: Bono says he feels “exploited” by the use of his photo in campaign literature for Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi. [WP]
* Washington Whispers: Playboy and Penthouse are banned from State Department newsstands at the request of Condoleezza Rice. . . Josh Bolten recently cut work to watch a few Washington Nationals games. . . Fidel Castro could die within the next few years, American officials contend. . . Frank Luntz has a favorable view of Mark Warner. . . Rep. Nancy Pelosi misses the chocolate she gave up for lent. [USN&WR]
* Page Six: Site indicates Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) may have kept a “love nest” with his former chief of staff. . . Jenna once woke Bush up and made him call her then-boyfriend Blake Gottesman after they fought. [NYP]
* Lloyd Groves’s Lowdown: Gore blames Bush for failures surrounding Katrina and 9/11 in the “green issue” of Vanity Fair. [NYDN]
* The Scoop: Susan Sarandon wants national elections to be monitored by a third party: “The last one was an embarrassment. Everybody knew there was fraud, but nothing was done about it.” [MSNBC]

Update: Correction Appended MORE »

Oh, Silvio. Silvio Silvio Silvio. MORE »