Wonkette

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• Venezuelan owned CITGO gas stations facing boycott by people whose giant vehicles need the most refilling. [GOP and the City]

• George Allen’s “ethnic rally” from the point of view of the “ethnics” in attendance. [Shaking Her Assets]
• Flight Attendants resort to lying to get you off your damn phone. [Freakonomics]
• Why are oil prices dropping? Because of the growing stability in Iraq and the decreasing possibility of an invasion of Iran, duh. [Blogs For Bush]
• Ever relevant Consumer Product Safety Commission wants you to take product safety TO THE EXTREME! [Consumerist]
• Tragically misunderstood Mahmoud Ahmadinejad respects Jews like George Allen, has several Jewish friendsters. [Captain's Quarters]
• Richard “Leakmeister” Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan “back to the stone age.” Unless he didn’t; buy President Musharraf’s book on Monday to know for sure! [ChicagoTrib]
• Lynn Westmoreland thinks torture is fucking hilarious. [Echidne of the Snakes]

• 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]

• Parades, prayer, music mark Katrina anniversary. Bush admits “government at all levels that fell short of its responsibilities.” [WP, NYT]

• Rumsfeld gives speech calling Iraq war “a series of catastrophes that results in victory,” demands Americans’ unwavering support for more catastrophes. [WP, NYT]
• Kenneth Tomlinson, still corrupt after all these years, currently being ousted from the Broadcasting Board of Governors after getting the boot at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting last year. [NYT]
• Richard Armitage finally admits to being “leaker” in Plamegate. [NYT]
• Census Bureau reports income numbers, showing “glimmer of improvement.” Also shows record number of Americans have no health insurance. [NYT]
• Burbs of DC, however, are paid out the frame. [WP]

• Whatever Mahmoud has, Muammar wants - and thus the state blog of Libya is born. [AlGathafi Speaks via Hot Air]

• To some, the glass is always half-empty; to Republicans it’s always totally full no matter what. Like, even if it spills, its still full. [Unclaimed Territory]
• Armitage still only tip of iceberg in Plamegate, everyone still lying.[Political Animal]
• Marines in Iraq forcibly showing the South Park to Saddam — you know, the part where he’s Satan’s bottom. [Yahoo! News]
• Bloggers move one step closer to outing Anonymous pork loving senator, by sending “is it you?” emails. [Dean's World]

Richard Armitage, formerly of the State Department, is now more or less outed as the first guy to tell the first reporter who Valerie Plame worked for. Much, much, much more interesting: WTF was he doing meeting with TOM CRUISE the SAME DAY? Along with two Church of Scientology bigwigs? We demand the lapdog press look into this. MORE »

• Tehran is ready to negotiate with the UN on a range of issues not named “uranium enrichment.” [WP, NYT, BBC]

• Poll shows most Americans are still plenty scared of Bin Laden. [CNN]
• Marines to begin recalling reserves to active duty, as recruitment goals fall short. [LAT]
• Aid money flowing to Lebanon having a hard time finding relief agencies other than Hezbollah. [NYT]
• Israel halts withdraw from West Bank settlements as Lebanon becomes focus of government apparently incapable of multitasking. [WP]
• Senator Hillary Clinton is dithering on a AIDS funding bill — either to get more cash for New York or to make herself look good in the south. [WP]
• Americans tired of Iraq, want to go home. [NYT]
• Richard Armitage, number two at the State Department, met with Bob Woodward around the time Bob Woodward says he learned Valerie Plame’s identity and top secret job. [NYT]
• Anna Taylor Diggs, the federal judge who ruled against Bush and his NSA warrantless wiretapping, is a card-carrying member of the ACLU. [NYT]
• More states adding online “meth registries” to help connect redneck speed freaks. [USAT]

• On DC’s new curfew: “It’s not that city officials want to play parent to every kid in the district. It’s just that, gosh, turns out law enforcement professionals are better parents .” [Hit&Run]
• America is bad at jobs. [Eschaton]
• “The chorus calling for Syrian involvement in crafting a Lebanon ceasefire solution now includes Richard Armitage, Warren Christopher, and Mr. Flat World himself, Tom Friedman. ” [Political Animal]
• Report from the Promise Keepers meeting — it was titled “Unleashed,” and involved clips from The Matrix. [Slice of Laodicea]

* Libby reveals that Bush, Cheney authorized the leaking of classified information to defend the war in Iraq; Rove, Fleisher, Powell, Armitage, Tenet will likely be called to testify. Bush in 2003: “If there’s a leak out of the administration, I want to know who it is. And if a person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
* Development makes Bush a central player in leak story; court papers “implicate Bush as knowing about efforts to disseminate sensitive information — and also as orchestrating them.” Senior White House official says Bush sees a difference between leaks and what he reportedly condoned. [WP]
* Bush had the legal authority to approve disclosure, say experts, but “the leak was highly unusual and amounted to using sensitive intelligence data for political gain.” [WP]
* Senators leaders agree on immigration legislation –a “shot at citizenship” for most of the country’s illegal population, a guest-worker program, and tougher security– though passage is “uncertain.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Gonzales says Bush could authorize warrantless eavesdropping of domestic calls: “I’m not going to rule it out.” [WP, NYT]
* McKinney: “I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all, and I regret its escalation. And I apologize.” [WP, WP, USAT]

MORE »

* Ben Bradlee says Richard Armitage probably revealed Valerie Plame’s identity to Bob Woodward. [NYT]
* Sen. Feingold’s call for a censure of Bush has caused a “fierce debate on Capitol Hill that is likely to persist throughout the congressional campaign season.” [WP]
* Fellow Democratic senators refuse to comment on censure resolution; Sens. Clinton and Kerry deflect inquires. [WP]
* Rumsfeld suggests that troop levels in Iraq could temporarily increase to coincide with religious pilgrimage. [NYT]
* Senate Judiciary Committee takes testimony from executives of top oil corporations, this time under oath. [WP, NYT, W$J]
* Bush, on brief tour to tout Medicare, says drug plan is “a good deal” and “makes a lot of sense.” [WP, NYT]
* FBI photographed Pittsburgh antiwar group in 2002. [WP]
* House Republicans support temporary restrictions on lobbying. [NYT]
* Senate Republicans reject new budget rule that would have made fiscal changes harder to pass. [NYT]