Wonkette

• MUSHARRAF HAS HAD IT: “Faced with desertions by his political supporters and the neutrality of the Pakistani military, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, an important ally of the United States, is expected to resign in the next few days rather than face impeachment charges, Pakistani politicians and Western diplomats said Thursday.” Ha, so much for that guy. Will Benazir Bhutto take over by default now? Oh right, she’s very dead. We should squeeze Mitt Romney in a little box and mail him to Pakistan and be like, “this guy’s awesome, let him take over.” That would be so great, they’d have no idea. [NYT]

Each week, The Comics Curmudgeon helps explain Today’s Cartoons. Most political discourse is a bunch of blah blah blah talky talky jaw jaw crappy crap. Political cartoons have the unique ability to short-circuit all that, with their purely visual representation of important world and national events (assuming they don’t get out of control with labeling everything). But what if political cartoonists used the power of visual images … for evil? MORE »

As anyone who has seen White Nights can attest, there is one force in the world more dangerous and powerful than love. Or democracy. Wonkette operative “Ivan” sends us this image captured by the New York Times, in which we see secret agents smuggling this highly volatile substance into a major metropolitan area in Pakistan. MORE »

The mini-horserace among presidential candidates over Who Can Exploit That Assassination Better saw John Edwards transform into, essentially, a starstruck 13-year-old girl outside TRL. Apparently he kept calling and calling Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan like, all morning, and then Musharraf TOTES called him back! OMG a real live embattled president who has lots of shit on his plate today actually called to chat! I bet it was soooo awks, because he probably didn’t even know who John Edwards was! I guess we have to vote for John Edwards now. MORE »

Pakistani President Pervez “Uncle Pervy” Musharraf stepped down today as army commander so he can try ruling the country he took over in a military coup a while back as strictly a civilian. Reports are that he wept at having to hand over the “ceremonial baton,” but I don’t think that’s actually a euphemism for anything. Not that he wept for the shitty state he’s gotten Pakistan into or anything, he was just really, really sad that he doesn’t get to wear the fun uniform anymore. [Yahoo News]

Delayed due to technical difficulties/epic hangover

• Terror detainee bill passes House, will “authorize the indefinite detention of non-citizens without access to courts - even if they are not charged with any crime.” [WP, NYT, LAT]

• Democrats could win 6 seats and take control of Senate, “if the stars continue to align.” [NYT]
• Jeb Bush talks smack about George Bush’s No Child Left Behind program, “not saying it’s bad, but needs to be better.” [NYT]
• Bush “chaperoned” dinner for passive-aggressive Presidents Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai last night. [BBC, NYT, CNN]
• Kazakh president to be feted at White House state dinner Friday while accusations of rampant corruption, murder, and Borat obstructionism continue to hound him. [NYT, NYT]
• Full NIE dealing with Iraq will not be released. [CNN, W$J]
• Chelsea Clinton to host her dad’s 60th birthday party/fundraiser in New York. Guest list and activities humiliate the CakeLove cupcakes and six-pack you got. [WP]

• Under pressure, White House declassifies portions of the National Intelligence Estimate. [NYT, WP, LAT, USAT, W$J]

• What does it say? What does it mean? The big papers are handy with analysis. [NYT, WP, LAT]
• New campaign ads debuted yesterday, fueling “the most toxic midterm campaign environment in memory.” [NYT]
• Government rat and former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow sentenced to only 6 years. [WP]
• Senate Democrats propose bill to reimburse states for cost of using paper ballots in mid-term election. [NYT]
• Local woman who was the “first female graduate of West Point to die in Iraq” given a soldiers funeral yesterday. [WP]
• Jon Stewart serves President Musharraf a twinkie, hilarity ensues. [WP]

• Oprah’s not running, gives Larry King her “O-face” tonight, wants Obama in ‘08. [The Swamp]

• Pervez “Perv” Musharraf to announce on The Daily Show tonight that’d he’d gladly give up his nuclear arsenal to get in “the sheets with Angelina Jolie.” [The Corsair]
• White House plans to declassify National Intelligence Estimate, but just that part that says, “we’re safer, bitches.” [Shakespeare's Sister]
• George Allen’s two favorite words on display together at the Zoo. [Andrew Sullivan]
• Vote for Montana Senate candidate Jon Tester because he’s a hunka hot man, also because he’s not Conrad Burns. [Boozhy]
• Trendsetter Hugo Chavez inspires Jerry Falwell to return to his roots making sure we all know who the devil really is. [Think Progress]
• The counter-terrorism plan Bill Clinton claims he left in place? It had to be scrapped because the ninja’s inability to get security-clearances after 9/11. [IMAO]
• Bloggers invited to the Coburn-Obama signing! Luckily, not us.[TPMMuckraker]

* Top White House staffers are “physically and emotionally exhausted, battered by scandal and drained by political setbacks,” say “insiders.” [WP]
* Bush has come to embrace globalization and interconnectedness. Close aide: “We’re seeing it in everything. Iraq. The ferocity of an irrational argument over the ports. Guest workers. China and India.” [NYT]
* Sen. Feingold (D-Wis.) calls for censure of Bush: “The president has broken the law, and, in some way, he must be held accountable.” [NYT, LAT]
* Most Republican presidential contenders agree that federal spending should be reduced and an optimistic tone should be presented. [NYT, USAT, LAT]
* Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf insisted that Bush stay the night, and he obeyed despite security concerns. [NYT]
* Texas pharmacists complain to Karl Rove about the shortcomings of the new Medicare plan. [NYT]