Gonzo Gate:  What has looked like a flat-footed lie by the Attorney General to the Senate, was explained by the Administration -- until dinner-time tonight -- by its catch-all phrase, "sorry, it's classified."  Our fifth story on the Countdown: suddenly, tonight, it isn't classified.  In a ritual as old as the Bush Presidency itself, it has been declassified.  This, after former judges and prosecutors... including former Justice Department staff... all of whom now serve in Congress... unveiled a resolution calling for the House to begin investigating the impeachment of Alberto Gonzales for abuses of the FISA surveillance laws,  the "Thursday Night Massacre" of US attorneys, and for lying to Congress.  But fortunately we have the explanation for that apparent lie.  Fortunately and suddenly.  And conveniently.  The dispute concerns whether Mr. Gonzales lied when he repeatedly denied any internal disagreements about the government's warrantless, i-e, illegal, surveillance program.  This morning, Tony Snow backed Mr. Gonzales-- with perhaps a subconscious caveat.

Investigating Stevens:   Only in our Legislative Branch.  Same day they pass new ethics rules the longest-serving Republican Senator ever is questioned, after the F-B-I raids his home.  Going so far as to photograph his wine rack.
ODDBALL:  A senior citizen flashes his rear, and a kid swallows his grill.

Murdoch is Jonesin':   At some point, fear of Rupert Murdoch's reputation may overcome the lure of his money, but in our third story on the Countdown, not yet.  Murdoch will now add to his media empire, a newspaper with the second-highest circulation in the United States.  The deal is pretty much done: for Murdoch's News Corp. to buy Dow Jones and Company, publishers of the Wall Street Journal.

Strippers on the Links:  If it is an epedemic of lawlessness and lewdness at least it's going to be an entertaining one.  Our number two story on the Countdown: first the Poconos, now Metropolitan Philadelphia, rocked by a story of strippers on a golf course.  I know, I know, why would you need anything besides golf to make a golf course interesting?  And how many bad jokes could you make about a sport that includes the familiar terms: "hole in one," "you're hooking to the left," and of course "i had trouble with my putts all day"?  From our NBC station in Philadelphia, WCAU, our correspondent is Harry Hairston.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Rudolph the former mayor, a woman who works for New York City's current mayor, and the Department of Homeland Security vie for tonight's top honors.

Sexy Time:  To the top of the Countdown and our number one story tonight.  Sex.  Not how people get it, or how people have it...but why people do it.  Apparently it's not just biology or chemistry, there are 237 other reasons too.

Why the guy up there...

give the guy down here $2,300?

The list of the Fred Thompson's donors is out...among the more notable donors:

Peyton W. Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts gave $2300.

Douglas J. Feith, former Defense Department official and now teaching at Georgetown University, gave $2300.

Timothy Ryan, an executive at JP Morgan Chase, who withdrew a Bush nomination to the Treasury Dept citing "personal reasons," gave $2300.

Richard A. Wolf, the producer of NBC's "Law and Order," contributed $2300.

George J. Terwilliger, an attorney and one of the leaders of George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida election recount, gave $2300.

A wise man onece said "He is to propriety what the Marquis de Sade was to chastity. When it comes to money and power, he is carnivorous, all appetite, no taste."

He's gorging himself again today.

From TV Newser:

CNBC: Murdoch Wins Bid For Dow Jones

Let's see a show of hands of those headed off to summer vacation today...

and a show of hands for those who are not.

Iraqi Parliament Adjourns for August

Monday July 30, 2007 8:31 PM

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's parliament on Monday shrugged off U.S. criticism and adjourned for a month, as key lawmakers declared there was no point waiting any longer for the prime minister to deliver Washington-demanded benchmark legislation for their vote.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani closed the final three-hour session without a quorum present and declared lawmakers would not reconvene until Sept. 4. That date is just 11 days before the top U.S. military and political officials in Iraq must report to Congress on American progress in taming violence and organizing conditions for sectarian reconciliation.

The recess, coupled with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's failure to get the key draft laws before legislators, may nourish growing opposition to the war among U.S. lawmakers, who could refuse to fund it.

Critics have questioned how Iraqi legislators could take a summer break while U.S. forces are fighting and dying to create conditions under which important laws could be passed in the service of ending sectarian political divisions and bloodshed.

But in leaving parliament, many lawmakers blamed al-Maliki.

``Even if we sit next month, there's no guarantee that important business will be done,'' said Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish legislator. The parliament had already extended its session by a month, having initially planned a recess for July and August.

``There are Iraqi-Iraqi and Iraqi-American differences that have not been resolved,'' Othman said of the benchmark legislation. ``The government throws the ball in our court, but we say that it is in the government's court and that of the politicians. They sent us nothing (to debate or vote).''

The September reports by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus were to assess progress by the Iraqi government and its security forces on 18 political and security benchmarks.

Those include a so-called oil law that would set out rules for foreign investment and the fair distribution of revenue to all of Iraq's sects and ethnic groups.

``We gave the government a good chance by continuing to sit in July. We can still return for an emergency session if that's required, but I don't think that this is necessary because the draft legislation is not complete,'' said Salem Abdullah, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the key Sunni bloc in parliament.

In Washington, the State Department was unusually silent on the matter, declining to criticize the lawmakers for the break.

``There's a lot of work to be done in Iraq,'' deputy spokesman Tom Casey said. ``I'll leave it to the parliamentary leaders themselves to explain why this might be a good time to take a break.''

He said the United States would continue to push for work on critical legislation, including pieces like the oil law, during the vacation.

``Whether the parliament is in session or not, I think we expect that all of Iraq's political leadership is going to be continuing to work on those kinds of issues and work out the kinds of compromises so that when the parliament does come back into session, there'll be something there for them to vote on and them to act on,'' Casey said.

``This is not just about having the votes,'' he said. ``It's about doing the work in advance so that there's actually legislation there that folks can agree on.''

Meanwhile, al-Maliki faces a revolt within his party by factions that want him out as Iraqi leader, according to officials in his office and the political party he leads.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, al-Maliki's predecessor, leads the challenge and already has approached leaders of the country's two main Kurdish parties, parliament's two Sunni Arab blocs and lawmakers loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Jaafari's campaign, the officials said, was based on his concerns that al-Maliki's policies had led Iraq into turmoil because the prime minister was doing too little to promote national reconciliation.

The former prime minister also has approached Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, proposing a ``national salvation'' government to replace the al-Maliki coalition. The Iranian-born al-Sistani refused to endorse the proposal, the officials said.

``Al-Jaafari is proposing a national and nonsectarian political plan to save the nation,'' Faleh al-Fayadh, a Dawa party lawmaker familiar with the former prime minister's contacts.

Other officials, however, said al-Jaafari had only an outside chance of replacing or ousting al-Maliki. But they said the challenge could undermine al-Maliki and further entangle efforts at meeting important legislative benchmarks sought by Washington.

All the officials spoke of the sensitive political wrangling only on condition of anonymity.

Also Monday, a small bus exploded in a central Baghdad market district, killing at least six people - a brutal reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis who celebrated in the streets by the tens of thousands Sunday night after their national team won the prestigious Asian Cup soccer tournament.

Black smoke rose into the air after the blast struck a transit point near Tayaran Square, damaging several nearby cars and kiosks selling clothes, fruit and juice, police and hospital officials said. The minibus was one of several waiting for passengers heading to predominantly Shiite areas in eastern Baghdad.

At least 31 people were wounded, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

A total of 42 Iraqis were killed or found dead nationwide, according to police, hospital and morgue officials.

The U.S. military said three soldiers were killed in fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad on Thursday. At least 3,651 members of the U.S. military have died since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

FBI searches home of Alaska Sen. Stevens

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - The FBI and IRS have searched the home of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in a ski resort in Alaska as part of an investigation into his links with an oil-services company, officials said on Monday.

"The FBI and IRS are conducting a court-authorized search warrant in Girdwood, Alaska," an FBI spokesman said in Washington, but gave no further details.

The Alaskan politician, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S Senate in history, issued a statement saying: "My attorneys were advised this morning that federal agents wished to search my home in Girdwood in connection with an ongoing investigation.

"I continue to believe this investigation should proceed to its conclusion without any appearance that I have attempted to influence the outcome," the statement said.

Girdwood is about 40 miles south of Anchorage, the state's largest city.

Stevens is the subject of a grand-jury investigation into his links with managers of VECO Corp., the state's largest oil-services company, as well as numerous unrelated fisheries matters.

In May, Bill Allen, then the chief executive of VECO, along with a vice president, Rick Smith, pleaded guilty to several federal corruption charges. The two admitted paying over $400,000 to bribe Alaska lawmakers.

Allen had been a financial supporter of Stevens' campaigns and a partner with him on a race horse. He also oversaw the a project to remodel Stevens' Girdwood home in 2000, vetting bills and construction work.

The Anchorage Daily News has reported that contractors who worked on the remodeling of Stevens' home had their records subpoenaed by the federal grand jury.

Stevens is the former chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. During his tenure as chairman of the committee, Stevens developed a reputation of delivering federal funds to public works projects in the state. (Additional reporting by Dai Wakabayashi in Seattle)

Gonzo-gate Continues:  "I'm a big fan of Al's." Those, the words of Dick Cheney, to CBS radio this afternoon.  Our fifth story on the Countdown -- he wasn't talking about Gore.  Or Franken.  The Vice President and the President, at this hour anyway, the only people left in the White House, perhaps even in Washington, who are willing to defend Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Dogged In Iraq:  President Bush is counting on him to execute and sell the surge.  But Iraqi politicians apparently don't think as highly as General Petraeus...  Of course, they're all on vacation.  Even the ones who are stealing both governments blind.

ODDBALL:  A belly flop contest and the largest jimmy hat you've ever seen.

Faux News/Opinion:  It was a revelation.  When Ann Coulter suggested that the Democrat's most recent debate should be bought and played relentlessly during the general election... since it was filled with "liberal conspiracy theories that would frighten normal Americans."  But Coultergeist said that Fox News should do it... perhaps inadvertently underscoring the obvious.  That "Fixed News" is more akin to an arm of the Republican Party... churning out "Republican Talking Points".  Our third story on the Countdown, how to call an Opinion Network, "an opinion network".

In Memoriam:  It is hard to recall a day when so many different and  disparate aspects of American culture were simultaneously touched by sadness. From sports to television news to film.  Our number two story on the Countdown, ask not for whom the bell tolls...the loss tonight of Tom Snyder, Bill Walsh, Bill Robinson and Ingmar Bergman.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Brit Hume, Rush Limbaugh and Michael O'Hanlon vie for top honors this evening.

The Lisa Simpson Inteview:  The studio expected it to make 45 million dollars on opening weekend.  Instead it made nearly 72 million in North America alone; 168 million world-wide.   Our number one story on the Countdown: The Simpsons, The Movie, and Lisa is talking.

In the latest "is this guy serious?" moment of the 2008 Primary Campaign, former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney apparently isn't a fan of snowmen, and has all but said no to CNN's Republican YouTube debate.

He told CSPAN....

You know, I do think that there is a degree of respectfulness that ought to be associated with the process of selecting a nominee for each party, and I think from what I've heard that, that, that level of respectfulness was breached, you know I don't that it makes sense to have people running for president, answering questions from, posed from snowmen. Uh, so, with things of that nature, I'd look for a format that's a little more, uh, a little more respectful if possible.

Here he is on CSPAN via YouTube re: CNN and YouTube:

[YouTube:jA5JAuGAkaY]

TPMCafe makes the case that Mitt doesn't like the YouTube because, well, YouTube hasn't been bery bery good to him.

This Week in Scandal:  Tomorrow morning, Vice President Cheney will undergo surgery to have the battery replaced on his heart defibrillator.  Which means in an exact reversal of last weekend's colonoscopy and invocation of the 25th Amendment:  For a few hours, at least, George W. Bush will actually get to be president.  Our fifth story on the Countdown: Let's hope he uses his "alone time" wisely...because today his administration was again reduced to trying to transform clear reality into foggy myth, with a dedication of language parsing that makes Bill Clinton look like a chronic generalizer.

Drinks in Space:  The cliches of manned space flight all suddenly have new meaning tonight:  "Flying High"..."The Right Stuff"... And especially "lift-off, we have lift-off."  An independent NASA study suggesting at least twice, American astronauts have been boldly going where no man has gone before - while drunk.

ODDBALL:  A parrot on the Deputy Defense Secretary's Shoulder, and a drive thru store that wasn't really a drive thru store.

Rowling Along:   To our third story on the Countdown, and new revelations about Harry Potter.  Once again, a warning if you are slowly savoring the final book, there are some spoilers ahead.  As author JK Rowling tells Meredith Vieira just what the very end of the book was meant to be, and why she changed it.  And gives us some insight into why the actor who plays the boy wizard in the movies, Daniel Radcliffe, would have said three weeks ago on "The Today Show" that he thought his character might die, but he wasn't certain, even though he had not yet read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

Simpsonize Me:   At number two tonight: our nightly round-up of celebrity and entertainment news, Keeping Tabs 20 years after it debuted as a skit on the Tracey Ullman show  17 years after it became a full-length series...finally the Simpsons have made it on the big screen  Opening across the country tonight after what seems like months of wily promotion.  Of course, marketing a movie using corporate tie-ins is nothing new.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Bill-O, Glenn-B, and Barry B on the list tonight.

Fully Loaded?:   Lindsay Lohan's new movie "I Know Who Killed Me"  has not been reviewed because no advance screenings were held for critics.  Which means, of course, that however bad or good it might be, the film can't possibly be as watchable as her life.  But in our number one story on the Countdown, we already know who's killing Lohan's career.  That would be her.  As eyewitnesses from the night of her arrest tell TMZ.com that Lohan commandeered the vehicle she used to chase her assistant.  And that she said she couldn't get into trouble... because she's a celebrity.  Well that worked out well.

The Federal Communications Commission is usually busy helping rich people buy up all the media outlets. But lately, they took some time out of their schedule to approve requests from two new TV stations for call letters that would have made Lenny Bruce proud. If a local columnist  had not started asking questions, residents of Wailuku, Maui, would soon be able to get their local news straight from KUNT. And when Arizona TV watchers had any questions about the programming on their new station, they could simply ask KWTF. 

Kevin Bae, the man who puts the "vice" in "vice president" at KM Communications, owner of both stations, said he'll file to change the call letters.  Spoilsport.

Keith reported on this tonight, but the AP write up is worth a read.  This is just brutal.

SAN FRANCISCO -

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident

The Gonzo Investigation:  More fascinating than a Senate Subpoena for Karl Rove, or even a possible Justice Department perjury investigation of the man running the Justice Department, Alberto Gonzales, or even the Director of the F-B-I seemingly agreeing that Mr. Gonzales was not truthful...Is the White House response to the dizzying day of scandal and deceit, about what is statistically the least popular administration since Richard Nixon's final week, and empirically the most corrupt since Richard Nixon's last cover-up:  That the Democrats are refusing to do the "people's business"...Even if, one might note, defending the people from a rogue President and a lawless Executive Branch, would seem to be business item number one.

The Edelman Letter:  The Senator asks about troop withdrawal plans...The kind the Pentagon is already war-gaming.  The Under Secretary of Defense writes back, saying the Senator is reinforcing "enemy propaganda."  Today, his boss says nobody thinks she did that.  Somehow, the Under Secretary is still employed.  General Wesley Clark joins us.

ODDBALL:  Dog on the runway, and a basketball backboard that just won't cooperate.

"Dry Run" Post Mortem:    A prominent office building in Washington housing the local headquarters of ABC News was evacuated today after workmen found a suspicious powder in the basement.  Aspirin.  The airport in Long Beach, California was evacuated today after the discovery of a "suspicious device."  A video game.  Our third story on the Countdown: you can't do anything but evacuate, and you can't keep it a secret when you do. But once again, if the government finds something initially suspicious in, say, airport baggage, does it have the right to reveal its suspicions, without revealing the later innocent explanations.  What was theorized and proclaimed a possible terrorist "dry run" turns out to have been a leaky "cold pack" inside the luggage of a woman in her 60's.  And once again we must examine the nexus of politics and terror.

Danger Kitty:  Part of it makes perfect, rational sense.  Part of it, has the makings of an episode of "The Twilight Zone" or M. Night Shyamalan's next movie.  Our number two story on the Countdown: if dogs can warn their owners when a seizure is imminent, and helper monkeys can aid their unconscious human masters, why shouldn't a cat in a Rhode Island nursing home, be able to sense when a patient... is about to die.  On the other hand, this cat appears to be able to sense when a patient is about to die.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  The head of public works for a North Carolina town, Ann Coulter, and a certain large-headed FOX Host breaks his own lifetime record for worsties.                                                   
Rowling is Talking:  It's earned the author an estimated 1 point 12 billion dollars.  It's earned the American publishers at least a billion dollars  It's earned the movie makers around 4 billion dollars. And in our number one story on the Countdown tonight: Harry Potter is set to earn everybody even more.

Four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have called on Solicitor General Paul Clement to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges of perjury, saying in a letter to Mr. Clement this afternoon that "It has become apparent that the attorney general has provided at a minimum half-truths and misleading statements." Ya think? Oh, and it gets better dear Newshole readers. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy also announced the subpoena Karl Rove, Turdblossom-in-Chief.

As for whether the Special Counsel investigation ever actually happens, we'd advise you to refer back to the title of this post.

Okay, not really. The Newshole is fully cognizant that Attorney General Gonzales is here to stay, but boy did he stick his foot in it this time… and then put his foot in his mouth. The fallout continues today over the discovery of documents released last year that contradict the AG's sworn Senate testimony Tuesday. Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer calls the memo the smoking gun that Mr. Gonzales was not truthful: "It seemed clear to just about everyone on the committee that the attorney general was deceiving us when he said the dissent was about other intelligence activities and this memo is even more evidence that helps confirm our suspicions." In hindsight, Mr. Schumer's questioning of the witness will prove to be a particularly important exchange. Here's just a small sample:

Gonzales: "The disagreement on the 10th was about other intelligence activities"
Schumer: "Not the TSP"?
Gonzales: "It was not."
Schumer: "Was it about the TSP? Yes, or no, please? That's vital to whether you're telling the truth to this committee?"
Gonzales: "It was about other intelligence activities."

Here's the most karma-rific part. The memo – another selective declassification by the administration – was apparently released in an effort to show that Congress had been fully briefed about the domestic spying program all along.

As for diminished credibility, so much for Tony Snow's claim yesterday that "nobody's really laid a glove" on the Attorney General yet.

In a post script, the Newshole – while not surprised – is disappointed that this story did not seem to find its way into the major papers this morning, let alone onto their front pages.

J.K ROWLING AND THE TEDIOUS TASKS:  In the five days since "Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows" has been released, author J.K. Rowling has helped her two-year-old daughter set up a doll house, cleaned out a fish tank, and gone to the store for chicken. Now imagine how much faster Mrs. Weasley could have accomplished all of that. She's also finally ready to talk about what happens to Harry.                

EQUAL TIMING:  If you've been among those wondering what else (besides relatively paltry fundraising totals - $3 million?) has been keeping Fred Thompson from officially entering the race for president, the Newshole thinks it may have stumbled upon an answer while listening to the radio this morning. It looks like NBC has asked him to hold off on a final decision until the last summer repeat of "Law & Order" with him in it has aired, so that no other candidate can claim equal time. Question: Did equal time issues ever come up with late –night repeats of "Bedtime for Bonzo"?  And with that, this post has come full circle…

Digging a Deeper Hole:   Breaking news at this hour of documentary evidence that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to the Senate yesterday when he repeatedly testified that eight Congressional leaders were not briefed in 2004 about the administration's domestic spying program, but rather about another program.  Our fifth story on the Countdown: the dramatic revelation, based on documents from the Bush Administration's own Director of National Intelligence, obscuring what had already been the first vote charging Criminal Contempt of Congress since 1998 against two of the President's other Senior staffers.  Tonight, Keith's interview with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman.

How Low Can You Go?:  He argued the nuances and subtleties of why President Clinton actually required Impeachment.  Tonight he will explain why he feels President Bush deserves the same.   Bruce Fein, who served President Reagan as deputy attorney general, and is an old colleague from what seems like nine lifetimes ago, the original "White House In Crisis" program on this network, joins us.

ODDBALL:  The Swiss Alphorn Festival, the Smokey Bandit, and Beyonce goes boom in tonight's cavalcade of stupid.

Failing the Wounded Warriors:  The White House calls it:  "The Presidents Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors".  Noble words. Ones which could make you forget the reason for appointing the commission in the first place, embarrassing news stories of shameful medical treatment and crumbling facilities for badly wounded war veterans.  Or that the president is threatening to veto an increase passed by the senate today to address those problems.  It's gotten so bad that this week, two veterans groups sued the government over how it treats injured vets, especially those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  Our third story on the Countdown, judging from the final report just released by that bi-partisan commission, they may have a good case.

Oh Baby Baby!:  Britney Spears just can't catch a break.  OK! Magazine says that she was a massive mess at a photo shoot.  Her own mother reportedly prefers the company of her own ex-son-in-law, Kevin Federline.  Keeping Tabs -- our number two story on the Countdown -- and ol' Fed-Ex himself is ready to battle for sole custody of their two kids.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  A New Hampshire Republican Party Leader for selling tickets to a machine gun shoot em up as a fundraiser, Australian PM John Howard and a certain large headed FOX Noise host breaks his own record for lifetime worsties.

Bye Bye Bat Boy:  Keith and Paul F. Tompkins recall some of all time great World Weekly News headlines as the paper announces it will stop printing paper copies next month. 

             Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee joins Keith to talk about Alberto Gonazales and contempt of congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers escalated their battle with the White House on Wednesday by recommending contempt citations against an aide and a former aide of President George W. Bush who refused to cooperate in a probe of the firing of federal prosecutors.

On a 22-17 party-line vote, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee urged the full House to seek contempt charges against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers for refusing to comply with subpoenas that demanded information about the dismissals.

If the full House approves contempt citations, the matter would be sent to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to pursue grand jury indictments. Contempt of Congress carries a penalty of up to $1,000 fine and one year in prison.

Unless a compromise is reached, a court fight seems certain over Bush's claim that his right of executive privilege permits him to withhold documents or testimony from current or former aides.

McClatchy has an interesting article detailing the failed sales efforts of the Bush Presidency:

He's never really sold the country or Congress something it didn't already want. And when he's tried to sell something the people or the politicians didn't want, he's fallen flat.

They cite immigration, social security etc...however we're not sure that Congress and the American people were raring to go into another war in 2003 when Mr. Bush rolled out his Iraq War Plan.  That said, the article is an interesting read.

                                                      May flight's of Angels sign thee to thine rest.  First the Wall Street Journal gets devoured by Murdoch...now this.

Rough Justice:  "Your credibility," the Senator says to the Attorney General, "has been breached to the point of being actionable."  It would be one thing if it were Arlen Specter saying that to Janet Reno...  Or even Pat Leahy saying that to Alberto Gonzales.  But in our fifth story on the Countdown: our government of the people, by the president, for the president... is so far gone... That that was Republican Arlen Specter today, saying that to Republican Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The good news is, the Attorney General wrote new material.

First Casualty of War:   The supposed September deadline to decide for how much longer we stay in Iraq?  Apparently the President has already decided.  We probably should have double-checked that he meant September 2007...Because he didn't.

ODDBALL:  A plane makes an emergency landing on highway, rubber dolls and a dam explosion tonight.
 
Decision 2008:  It's Jerry Seinfeld's joke.  He still remembers when there was no "You Tube" -- only "We Tube."  Our third story on the Countdown: perhaps the stand-out problem with the first "You-Tube" debate was that while the questions came from "You-Tubers"... they were still selected by "We-Tubers"... and most of the candidates' answers seemed like they'd already had several thousand "views" apiece.  With one particular exception: the answer to the inquiry about whether a new President should be willing to use diplomacy first, instead of force.. whether to meet directly with the leaders of so called "rogue states" like Iran, Venezuela and North Korea..That answer has been answered itself with a charge of naievete and irresponsibility.

Rowling Along:  J.K.'s first interview since the big release of the big Harry Potter finale.  Meredith Vieira does the honors.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Sean Hannity returns to the list, the Vice President makes a rare and deserved appearance, and a certain large headed Fox News host once again breaks his own record for most "worsties" in a lifetime.

Lock-up Lindsay Lohan:   The ridiculous: Lindsay Lohan's assistant quits.  Ms. Lohan, enraged, chases the assistant, and the assistant's mother.  The deadly serious:  Ms. Lohan gave chase in an S-U-V, while allegedly intoxicated.  The ridiculous again:  The place she chases them to is about half a block from police headquarters in Santa Monica, California.  Our number one story on the Countdown, this, only eleven days after Ms. Lohan left rehab.  And only eight weeks after her last alleged drunk driving incident over the Memorial Day weekend.  Paris Hilton: move over... that is Lindsay Lohan in your rear view mirror.  And I might mean that, literally. 

Some of what we're working on for tonight....

One day after the Dems painted the town blue, President Bush heads to Charleston, SC today where he will make remarks on the war on terror...and, once and for all, explain the difference between Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in Iraq.  This should be good.

Speaking of last night...the Newshole tips its hat to CNN, who kept the questions interesting and the candidates on topic in last night's debate.  And if you missed the debate, the candidate's own youtube-style ads were decent with the John Edwards ad stealing the show.

[YouTube:Y1qG6m9SnWI]

Lastly, today Alberto Gonzales denies former deputy attorney general James Comey's account of that showdown in the hospital in which Comey says Gonzales and Andy Card  tried to persuade John Ashcroft (who was laid up in the intensive care unit) to reauthorize Bush's domestic surveillance program, which the Justice Dept. had just determined was illegal.  Great stuff from Gonzo today...we'll recount it all tonight.

Dick Cheney and the Deathly Hallows:  In the last week alone, he has reportedly all but shoved Secretary of State Rice out of the diplomacy business, if not the cabinet itself...And he's been acting president for 125 minutes...And he's had a lawsuit from Valerie Plame against himself and others, dismissed...And he saw his old friends at Halliburton report that their second-quarter income from last year doubled to one and a half billion dollars.  Yet -- in our fifth story on the Countdown: Dick Cheney is newly portrayed as a power-obsessed prophet of doom.  And that was by the most sympathetic biographer in the world.

Sign Language:  It's almost common-place to see dumb people link the names "Obama" and "Osama"...But what happens when the sign making that connection...Is held up by a Republican presidential candidate?

ODDBALL:  Sneaky seagull, sneaky raccoon, hula robots.

Space Junk:  In the eighteen-fifties, pioneers littered the praries with tons of useless junk to lighten their conestoga wagons.   In the nineteen-fifties you could toss garbage out the window of your Studebaker onto almost any mile of the brand-new inter-state highway system. So, you expect 21st century space travel should be any different?  The third story in the Countdown.. astronauts aboard the international space station doing some light, as in weightless, house-cleaning today..                         

Bad Sports:  Not a good time in pro basketball or pro football.  Our number two story on the Countdown: He's already been indicted on dog-fighting charges -- there might yet be worse on the way -- his team is going to decide what to do about him tomorrow.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Fran Townsend, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly vie for top honors.

The Trouble with Tom:   That Tom Cruise the actor, is well-known as Tom Cruise, the scientologist, seems to be how he would have it.  But the role of scientology's un-official poster boy has its drawbacks.  There are the jokes...But also... serious curiosity about what the heck scientology is.  In our number one story on the Countdown, a blunt answer, from the German Protestant Church... that scientology is a -- quote -- "totalitarian organization".

Some of what we're working on for tonight....

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has responded to Senator Hillary Clinton's response to Under Secretary Eric Edelman's response to the senator's initial request for the administration's plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. (Got that?) In short, Mr. Gates says he is looking into the concerns raised in her letter and will get back to her early this week. While there is no doubt the defense secretary has a loose cannon on his hands in Mr. Edelman (Vice President Cheney never wanted Rummy gone; Edelman is a Cheney flunky) it remains to be seen how much he is able – and willing – to do about it. 

DICK CHENEY AND THE DEATHY HALLOWS:  Lots of juicy stuff in the new Cheney biography. In addition to the Rummy tidbit above, we learn that no less than the current Director of National Intelligence thinks the Bush administration manipulated the intelligence on Iraq "because they didn't like the answers." Ya think? Of course, that wasn't enough to keep Adm. Mike McConnell from taking his relatively new gig. Or from backing wayyyyyy off the statements he'd given biographer Stephen Hayes in an interview on Meet The Press yesterday.

"MR. RUSSERT:  But did the policy makers hype the intelligence?

Admiral McCONNELL:  I—that's a judgment that I think  the American  people   will have to make.  I have paid very close attention to hyping of intelligence, and what I can tell you in personal experience is the decision makers are making every attempt to call it straightforward based on the information that we provide to them, and we are not being asked to cherry-pick or to go down one path or another path,
but to give them complete information or the best assessments we can."

Notice his use of the present tense.

TORTURED LOGIC:  The torture professionals at the CIA are back in business. President Bush signed an executive order Friday putting them back to work. Sleep deprivation and so-called stress positions? Go for it. Knock yourself (or those pesky detainees) out. Actually, everybody's still left guessing as to what techniques the Bush administration now deems permissible, because that's not in the executive order – that's in a separate, secret document. The folks at Human Rights Watch are skeptical. Washington Director Tom Malinowski saying, "All the order really does is have the president say, 'Everything in that other document that I'm not showing you is legal – trust me.'"

MITT HAPPENS:  The Newshole thinks Governor Romney's got some splainin' to do. Especially since he held the sign himself, don't you think? Extra demerits for spelling.

                                       We're sure the item about Romney's staffer playing dress-up with the phony badges will fly under the radar of the 24 hour newscycle, the pictures shown above will not.  Honest people (Wolf Blitzer's CNN graphics) can make honest mistakes (Teddy Kennedy flubbing the name) about the unfortunate rhyming of "Osama" and "Obama".  But when it's used as a partisan punch-line or talking point (Roger Ailes takes a veiled poke at Obama) there's going to be a backlash.

TPM Cafe has comfirmed the veracity of the photos, and adds some further info and a response by the Romney Campaign.

*********UPDATE**********

Looks like Romney is not following the lead of the current President and weeding out the non-friendly audience members in his campaign stops.  Here's Mitt Romney responding to an audience question regarding said picture.

[YouTube:rLyod-8WCPA]

Underling's Low Blow:  With the war in Iraq in its fifth year, here's evidence that these are toxic times:  A straightforward request from a United States Senator, on the Armed Services Committee, to the Pentagon is met with a charge from the Pentagon that the Senator may be aiding the enemy in Iraq.  Now, in our fifth story on the Countdown, that senator, Hillary Clinton , says oh yeah.   And she wants to know if Defense Secretary Robert Gates agrees with his Under Secretary who made the charge that discussing withdrawal plans for Iraq quote "reinforces enemy propaganda".

The Bush Factor:  The Democrats are beating the Republicans in a big way in the '08 money race. Is a backlash against President Bush at the root of the problem? 

ODDBALL:  More Tour de France zaniness, women in bikinis mowing lawns, and the greatest mentos related clip ever.

The GOP Horserace:  If you think the paparazzi are the result of the multimedia, multiplatform, oversaturared marketplace...not true.  Way back in 1958, an Italian photographer snapped an enraged King Farouk of Egypy overturning a table in a restaurant...and the rest is tabloid history.  The word paparazzi comes froma fellini film, and is based on a particularly loud buzzing mosquito.  And you know what you do to mosquitos?  You swat them.  So it would follow, that is exactly what some celebrities are doing now the the photographers who follow them everywhere.  The latest, bloody example from NBC's Michael Okwu in LA.

Harry Time:  Keith is live at the Scholastic Book headquarters reading the first guy to ever read the last chapter of the Harry Potter series. 

Keith's Spoiler (unless he's completely wrong):  Keith's detailed version of what the ending in the Harry Potter series could be.  It's a great package...trust us. 

It's time for the Friday evening presidential campaign aide dump.  This time it's Mitt Romney's guy quitting because...

A published report today says Garrity used fake badges so he and Romney's advance staff could get into closed areas and, at least once, avoid a highway toll.

But a spokeswoman for the law firm retained by Garrity says the campaign staff did not have badges, but a (quote) "round metal disc with the seal of the governor's office."

The AP goes on....

Garrity was already on leave from the campaign for allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

What else could a "round metal disc witht the seal of the governor's office" be?  An ashtray?  A bad frisbee?  The Newshole guesses the law enforcement shake-down of this Romney aide went something like this.  Anyeay...the full AP report after the jump.

Romney aide accused of creating fake badgesBOSTON (AP) -- An aide to presidential candidate Mitt Romney who was under investigation for impersonating a law enforcement officer has resigned from the campaign.

Jay Garrity says he doesn't want media attention to become a distraction to the former governor's White House bid.

A published report today says Garrity used fake badges so he and Romney's advance staff could get into closed areas and, at least once, avoid a highway toll.

But a spokeswoman for the law firm retained by Garrity says the campaign staff did not have badges, but a (quote) "round metal disc with the seal of the governor's office."

Nancy Sterling also says Garrity never used the I-D to avoid paying a toll, but usually rode in a state vehicle with a free-toll pass.

Garrity was already on leave from the campaign for allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.