The Republicans come out against imperialism...from New York and California imposing cap and trade policy on the Midwest, that is. That and other political news in today's TPMDC Saturday Roundup.

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

I had not heard that Amos Elon, the great Israeli writer and intellectual, had died. Bernie Avishai remembers him.

If you're not familiar with Elon you can pick a copy of this book to get some sense of the loss.

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

We explained earlier how the Sotomayor battle has blown up the until-now simmering fight between GOP pragmatists (want to get reelected) and fire breathers (want to fundraise and burn heretics at the stake) by injecting the explosive issues of race, nativism and gender into the equation. Now Newt Gingrich has responded to Sen. Cornyn's call to basically shut the hell up by turning the volume way up on the Sotomayor as anti-American racist freak by invoking the Civil War, civil rights and arguing that American civilization itself may be at stake if her brand of 'racism' isn't defeated.

The NYT's Adam Liptak was on MSNBC this afternoon defending his Sotomayor-is-temperamental story.

Rush Limbaugh says that nominating Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is like appointing David Duke.

So why isn't he supporting her?

G. Gordon Liddy: Let's hope Sotomayor isn't "menstruating" at key Supreme Court conferences.

We've got video of Sam Alito's 2006 confirmation hearing where he goes on at some length about how he he can't help but relate immigration and discrimination cases before him to his own family's experiences. "I do take that into account," Alito told senators.

Posted on the website of the Times Observer in Warren, Pa.:

An errant classified "personal" ad which appeared in Thursday's Times Observer has drawn the attention of law enforcement officials.

A person from Warren placed the ad, which apparently alludes to the wish that President Obama meet an untimely end by linking him with four assassinated presidents. The ad representative didn't make the connection among the four other presidents mentioned and mistakenly allowed the ad to run.

Upon realizing the mistake early Thursday morning, the ad was immediately discontinued and the identity of the person who placed the ad was turned over to Warren City Police as per newspaper policy. The local police department forwarded the information to federal authorities, as per department policy.

The Times Observer apologizes for the oversight.

Catching fire on the right-wing websites, here's the Young Cons rapping the "Young Con Anthem." Basically two nerdy right-winger twenty-somethings preachin' it to liberal power-structure, yo ...

Seriously, you have to see it.

While making his boffo La Raza/KKK analogy, Trancredo also manages to get his mottos confused, with a special assist from Michelle Malkin.

The American Spectator: What If Sotomayor Were White?

Jefferson Morley explains how Judge Sotomayor helped puncture the Vince Foster conspiracy theory bubble.

The new Quinnipiac poll has Americans approving of the Sotomayor pick by 54% to 24%.

Dems almost unanimously support, while Republicans oppose. But critically, independents support the nomination 48% to 31%.

Sen. John Cornyn's swipe at Gingrich and Limbaugh yesterday on the Sotomayor candidacy shows what's emerging as a critical effect of the confirmation battle. We know that a key dilemma for the GOP in the early Obama era is that they are increasingly divided between people who want to get the party back into the business of winning elections and ultras who want to go totally off the deep end with often extreme rhetoric and quests for ideological purity. What's more, these 'pragmatists, for lack of a better word, are cowed by the ultras because in a shrunken GOP the ultras make up a much larger percentage of the party.

The truth though is that taxes and fiscal policy, while key issues for conservatives, simply aren't visceral and divisive in anywhere near the way race and gender are. So while this schism has been there for months, the Sotomayor battle -- still only three days old -- has thrown gasoline on the fire and intensified the rift dramatically.

Here's more on the story.

George W. Bush, defending torture policies last night in Michigan: "The information we got saved lives." That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

War is very cool. Especially for those who survive it. Even more for those who can read about it and watch it on TV.

TPM Reader DW condenses the conservative logic: "If the Republicans make legitimate arguments against Sotomayor, they'll be accused of doing it because of her race; thus, they're left with only racial arguments."