• 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]

Yeah, this is pretty much just what it says. We don’t have too much to say about it except to note that that picture is life-changing and, oh yes, there are burgers too. MORE »

• As Israel moves “thousands of soldiers” into Lebanon, the EU called for an immediate cease-fire, and the US insisted that there couldn’t be one without “a solid plan in place to disarm Hezbollah.” [WP, WP, NYT]

• George W. Bush has always been a staunch defender of Israel, promising to “use force to protect Israel” in his first term, and putting him at odds with the policies of his father, who considered himself a “neutral arbiter.” [NYT]
• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi attacked Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean for not spending enough on get-out-the-vote efforts. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rahm Emanuel (not speaking to Dean) asked for more donor money to fund a new turnout program. [WP]
• Cuban President Fidel Castro is “stable” (though no pictures or recordings of him have surfaced) after surgery at an undisclosed location. Some observers see his handover of temporary power to his brother as a test drive for how he’d like the nation to deal with his death. [NYT, WP]
• A Marine involved in the alleged Haditha massacre is suing Representative John Murtha for defamation, for remarks Murtha made earlier this year, before the incident had been made public. [WP]
• Members of the 9/11 commission knew the Pentagon was lying to them about its response on that day, declined to press charges or go public about it until now. [WP]
• The heat wave across much of the US has shattered records of electrical use. [NYT]

Welcome to a very special someone-forgot-to-post-last-week Monday edition of Cartoon Violence, the nation’s favorite way of reading Today’s Cartoons without having to read Today’s Cartoons.

After the jump, resident cartoon expert the Comics Curmudgeon rouses himself from his Sunday funnies-strewn bed and examines the back pages of our nation’s A-sections for your edification.

MORE »

• Non-voting congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton stubbornly refutes Stephen Colbert’s claim that DC is not in the United States. Even though his mind is made up, she continues trying to confuse him with facts.

• We suspected there might have been some photoshop foul play, but it turned out Katherine Harris just wasn’t in the front of the picture. First time for everything.
• Montana Senator Conrad Burns boldly ignores post-9/11 decorum and balls out a team of firefighters. Burns’s own performance review to be completed in November.
• No surprises here, the worst campaign in America, is run by exactly who you think it is.
• Ann Coulter (pot) calls Bill Clinton (kettle) gay (black).
• Eliot Spitzer loves the wacky-backy as much as you do.
• If any OMB fraud auditors mess with Elaine L. Chao, they’ll end up with a government contracting officer’s severed head beneath their sheets.
• Dana Milbank sets the chattering class a chattering with a mystery quote from a republican candidate. But, as we all know nothing in DC stays a secret very long.

MORE »

• Think Progress posts line from today’s NYT: “In the past two weeks, more Iraqi civilians have been killed than have died in Lebanon and Israel.” Commenter quotes Jeane Kirkpatrick from 1979: “Vietnam presumably taught us that the United States could not serve as the world’s policeman; it should also have taught us the dangers of trying to be the world’s midwife to democracy when the birth is scheduled to take place under conditions of guerrilla war.” [Think Progress]

• Eschaton really hates Lieberman a lot. [Eschaton]
• Psalm 83: “They say, ‘Come, let us wipe out their nation; let Israel’s name be mentioned no more!’” [The Jawa Report]
• Glenn Reynolds: “DIPLOMACY is the art of saying ‘nice doggie’ while reaching for a stick.’ Condi is saying ‘nice doggie.’ Israel is the stick. One may disapprove of this strategy, but complaints that Condi isn’t accomplishing anything merely indicate that the complainer doesn’t know what’s going on.” [Instapundit]
• Miss Indonesia targeted by jihadis in her home country for insulting Indonesian “dignity and women.” She may face jail time. Commenter says: “Leftist Feminists, of course, would agree with the militant Muslims in this case.” [Dhimmi Watch]

• Lebanese author Riad Kassis doesn’t know what to tell his 7-year-old daughter about the “bombs falling in Lebanon.” Slice of Laodicea asks: “Maybe his seven-year-old daughter could sympathize with those Israeli children who have died because of this ongoing terrorist activity.” Burn. [Slice of Laodicea]

• “Some Democrats are privately hoping they lose in November so Pelosi will not get a promotion.” [Red State]
• Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams to hundreds of schoolchildren yesterday: “‘Right now, I would love to kill George Bush.’ Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.” [Blogs for Bush]
• “Cases are currently moving through the federal courts that challenge the legality of Bush’s domestic surveillance program and they have the potential to provide the first substantive oversight of spying taking place outside of FISA. Specter’s legislation would make meaningful judicial review virtually impossible - and thus give the Bush administration freedom to operate as they please without having to worry about Congress or the courts stepping in to check their expansion of powers.” Firedoglake provides phone and fax numbers. [Firedoglake]
• CNN organizes Mortal Kombat-style martial arts tournament for Middle East correspondents. Anderson Cooper, Test Your Might! [Eschaton]

MORE »

The conservatives at National Review (the ones who aren’t William F. Buckley) are paralyzed with giggles over Sen. John Kerry’s latest (D-Mass.) bon mot. Grabbing a swiss cheese and Charolais beef burger (I’m guessing) at Honest John’s (oh, God) bar, Kerry groused that the Bush administration’s unfolding fuck-up in the Middle East fueled the Israel-Hezbollah crisis. “If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened.” Says NR’s pinch-hitter John Podhoretz:

John Kerry has said some pretty idiotic things, but claiming that a Kerry presidency would have meant there would be no hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah may be his crowning achievement.

Seriously! That’s almost as stupid as using the Israel-Hezbollah conflict as a reason to vote Republican. Which no one would… oh, godammit.

Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday pointed to the fighting between
Israel and Hezbollah as fresh evidence of the ongoing battle against terrorism that underscores the need to keep President Bush’s Republican allies in control of Congress. MORE »

From the Wikipedia entry on the Israel-Lebanon conflict, earlier today (since fixed). MORE »

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals discusses the forgotten victims of bloodshed in Beirut and Lebanon: MORE »

• CIA confirms it’s still the evilest motherfucker on the block by firing DC blogger “Econo-Girl” for a post stating, “torture is wrong.” [Econo-Girl]

• The Brookings Institute focuses the full intellect of their army of PhDs and comes up with “it sucks to be poor.” [NYT]
• Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan: who got served? [Sweetness & Light]
• Web-editors of Hezbollah’s official website live in fear that one day they will forget to put “Israel ” in quotation marks, and find an envelope on their desks with more than a pink slip in it. [ Alghaliboun.net]
• Annoying Emergency Broadcast System “beeeeep” to be replaced by whatever annoying ringtone you happen to be using. Which actually might not be a bad idea. [WFMU; The Local]
• Why does the government spend so much money? You gotta pander to win. [Heritage.org]