• A federal judge invalidates the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, saying it “blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights.” Oh, burn! [NYT, WP]
• Elsewhere in the federal judiciary, smoking causes cancer (and cigarette companies knew it). So long, “low tar” cigs. [WP, WSJ]
• Internal investigations suggest the Marine Corps withheld and destroyed information regarding the November killing of 24 Iraqis at Haditha. [NYT]
• Civilian contractor convicted in the beating death of an Iraqi prisoner. [LAT]
• The veracity of John Karr’s confession in the JonBenet Ramsey case is being questioned. Hey, 12 hours in a Thai prison and you’d confess to her murder, too. [ABC News] MORE »

Terrorist Surveillance Program ruled to be in violation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Osama bin Laden, reached by phone, calls news “thrilling.”
NSA officials forced to put giant glass to walls of telecommunications companies, lean in close. MORE »

• Israel will continue to bomb Lebanon for another week or two; then the US will send in Condoleezza Rice. Meanwhile, as a debate continues over Israel’s use of possibly “disproportionate” force, hundreds of Americans were evacuated from Beirut. [NYT, NYT, WP]

• Bush’s seeming inability or unwillingness to handle North Korea and Iran with the same swagger that met foreign threats of his first term has angered conservative intellectuals and pundits. [WP]
• The USDA somehow ended up in a crooked powdered-milk racket. [WP]
• Stem cell research has slowed over the last few years, and the bill passed by the Senate yesterday would help reverse that trend — if not for Bush’s expected veto, which congress is not expected to overturn. [NYT, WP]
• In what some critics call “a politically motivated interference in Justice Department affairs,” President Bush blocked the DoJ’s own internal affairs office from investigating the NSA wiretapping program. [WP]
• The Senate unanimously passed a resolution endorsing Israel’s bombing campaign against Lebanon yesterday. [WP]
• President Bush will address the NAACP at its national convention. [WP]
• A House hearing on immigration reform devolved into sniping at the Senate and the president. [NYT]

• Ever wonder what passive-aggressive uptight agriculture administrators do when they boil over? Now you know.

• Katherine Harris’s senate campaign reminds us of a kitchy 60’s feminist empowerment fantasy but we’re not sure which one. Oh well, there’s not many better ways to spend a weekend then smoking a joint and watching them all.
• When times are desperate, and you just have to meet Tim Russert, you might want to try showing up on Nebraska Ave. Sunday morning - you know what time - with a nice floral arrangement and a card addressed to, “the most interesting and important man on television.” We’re not sayin’, we’re just sayin’.
• As the Vanity Fair cover fades from memory, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame decide it’s time to get theirs, hold press conference to let us know. Dick Cheney is shaking in his Allen Edmonds.
• Thanks to Arlen Specter using his “serious face” in negotiations with the White House, a secret court is now allowed to put it’s quarter in the slot and get a 30 second peek at the steamy domestic spying program.
• Is this heaven Osama? No. It’s Indiana, the place where terrorists’ dreams come true.
• We love going Bananas for the semi-monthly “Castro’s dead” rumors.
• The National Press Club makes an honest reporter out of the new and improved Jeff Gannon.
• Wonk’d, Washington’s celebrity sighting column of record, is entered as “Exhibit-W” in the trial for infamous Duke “laxer” Collin Finnerty.

Arlen Specter announced today that the administration has tentatively agreed to let the secret FISA court do a “one-time review” of the illegal NSA domestic spying program that has been in operation for years and will continue to be in operation indefinitely. President Bush reserves the right to change any bit of the deal he feels like changing. Mr. Specter said the agreement reflected the fact that “the president does not have a blank check.” MORE »

• The would-be Sears Tower attackers rounded up in Florida last week were incompetent boobs who thought jihadists wore uniforms. The undercover agent who caught them provided them with pretend Islamic Army Boots. [Herald-Sun]

• Arlen Specter says the White House and Congress are close to an agreement to put the NSA wiretapping program under court authority. [NYT]
• Peter King, head of the House Homeland Security Committee, would like to prosecute the New York Times for revealing the existence of the administration’s secret financial-monitoring program. [WP]
• Torrential weekend rain crippled much of Washington, flooding much of the area and felling a tree on the White House lawn. [WP]
• As more Americans embrace calls for withdrawal, congressional Democrats are complaining that a privately-presented Pentagon Iraq plan closely resembles their failed “troop drawdown” resolution. [WP, WP]

• President Bush is turning 60 next week. [WP

* This is how the world will end, not with a bang, but a clank, and the thump of a pneumatic hammer on an elevator. We’re relieved that no one was hurt, but it sure was exciting covering all the action. Er, whatever it is that passes for action. In the end, the biggest danger of the day was the risk of some soiled gabardine, but even that was averted. MORE »

Michael Hayden has been confirmed! Holy shit! This Friday is FULL OF SURPRISES! MORE »

• Oh yeah, we heard you patting yourself on the back for not being a dumb ol’ AT&T customer. “The NSA can’t find me! Ha ha ha!” Well, if you’re reading this, they can. [Rox Populi]

• Once we croak, it’s first-come, first-serve for the inevitable lawsuits. Start buttering us up now. You could start by buying us a carton or two. [Hit & Run]
• The Corner: “Things turned around when folks decided that Dan Quayle was right.” Do you really want context? [The Corner]
• Just in case you missed it: New School student Jean Rohe defies noted cockblocker Bob Kerrey, gives speech mocking John McCain right before his commencement speech, posts it on HuffPo (natch). McCain’s Chief of Staff, Mark Salter, responds angrily in the comments, calls her a commie or something, it’s sorta long. Rohe says, stop being mean to me. She’s a music major, lay off! [HuffPo]

* The Senate confirmation hearings for soon-to-be CIA Director Michael Hayden began this week. In the great tradition of the adult film industry, there will be two versions of the hearing; one for cable and one for pay-per-view, er, Senate Members’ Ears Only. We were actually pretty relieved that the hardcore hearings were closed, that shit was long enough. Finally, the denouement: he’s an idiot. MORE »

3:10 — Hayden: “if I had no lawful authority to do something that needed to be done to protect this country, of course I would do it.”

Russ: “Can you explain to me why we even need to pass laws in this Congress?” if the Pres is going to get all Article 2 on us. Well, Russ, uh, no. Have you been paying attention? TIME OF WAR.

We aren’t liveblogging that much because Feingold actually asked interesting questions. Hayden didn’t answer them, but they were interesting questions. And now we’re on to Chambliss, so BRING ON THE CRAZY!

3:00– Yes! Russ “See Ya!” Feingold! The program is illegal, the President mislead the country! And WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US? “What kind of CIA director will he be? Will General Hayden follow the law?” You could ask him, Russ, he’s sitting right there.

Hayden — You have to look at the context in which I lied. “I knew in my own heart and mind that we were not talking about domestic-to-domestic.” But his voice failed to make that distinction. “I think that was the speech where I talked about Osama bin Laden traveling from Niagra Falls to New York.” OSAMA BIN LADEN HAS DEVELOPED BARREL TECHNOLOGY. Why would Hayden want to remind anyone of that speech? It’s the stupidest hypothetical ever. Seriously. And we already heard the “WILL YOU CALL RUMMY BACK” bit earlier.

2:40 — Don’t crowd the ball! Focus on the scoreboard! No “I” in team! A lot of it is attitudinal! Should the head of the CIA be a complete idiot? Does that make their lack of oversight more or less dangerous? We usedta think “less,” but complete idiots have demonstrated an alarming ability to fuck things up a lot these last couple years.

“For every 10 analysts with fewer than four years service, we only have one experiences analysts with between 10 and 14 years service.” No one in the CIA knows what the the hell they’re doing.

We are cheering ourselves up by watching this.

MORE »