Wonkette

• Senate approves bill on terror detainees that detains civil rights. [WP, NYT]

• House approves warrantless wiretapping program, making it less illegal than it sounds. [NYT]
• Congressional races use “think globally, pander locally” campaign approach. [WP]
• Jack Abramoff claims he was at the White House 400 times over 3 years. Of course, he “had a penchant for exaggerating.” [WP, NYT]
• “The Hewlett-Packard scandal turned into a spectacle Thursday as a House committee brought all those involved to a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill.” [NYT, LAT]
• Bob Woodward’s new book piles on criticism of the Bush White House. [NYT]
• Just like the battle of Bull Run: George Allen attacked on his flank - by the confederacy. [WP]

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]

• Yesterday Bush appeared with Nouri al-Maliki at The White House for the first time. He announced a new Iraq strategy which involves moving existing troops to Baghdad. “Bush sounded unusually dour and acknowledged that the situation in Iraq in many ways has worsened lately.” [WP]

• The White House drafts a proposal for bringing terror detainees to trial: “The draft bill specifies that no matter how it is gathered, evidence ’shall be admissible if the military judge’ determines it has ‘probative value.’” [NYT]
• The Senate voted 65 to 34 to prohibit anyone from helping pregnant minors cross state lines (to get around parental consent laws) for abortion care. [WP]
• 25 days before they adjourn, Congress introduces two energy bills to ease reliance on foreign oil. [WSJ]
• Milbloggers hope to counteract MSM, “Does Abu Ghraib need to be told 40 times above the fold in the New York Times when half your readers couldn’t name the guy who won the Medal of Honor?” [WSJ]

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