President Obama's statement this afternoon on Iran:

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

Timesman David Rohde, whose kidnapping by the Taliban last November in Afghanistan had been kept hush-hush by the Times and other media outlets, managed to escape his captors Friday night and is now safe with U.S. troops.

The New York Times reports that statistically speaking, Sonia Sotomayor is objectively not an activist -- though the label itself is meaningless. That and other political news in today's TPMDC Saturday Roundup.

Yesterday in 100 Seconds: The Ayatollah Speaks

"Mr. President:

Momentum for universal health care is slowing dramatically on Capitol Hill. Moderates are worried, Republicans are digging in, and the medical-industrial complex is firing up its lobbying and propaganda machine ..."

Read the rest here.

All those anonymous claims emanating from the Ensign camp that the Hamptons were trying to extort him for money? Well, now Ensign's spokesperson says it was "exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits" made through an attorney and that the matter was referred to Ensign's lawyer.

Maybe the Hamptons' attorney is a klutz and botched the pre-lawsuit negotiations with demands that amounted to actionable extortion. But as the Las Vegas Sun has reported, neither the FBI nor local law enforcement is investigating any alleged extortion here.

So far this just looks like the usual run-up to a lawsuit. I guess Ensign gets more sympathy from his buddies in the Senate by telling them he's being extorted. You know how it is ...

Late Update: From TPM Reader AK:

Ensign's behavior may be questionable, but so is Hampton's. In his initial statement put out by his attorney, Hampton talks about a personal matter they were trying to keep private while five days earlier he wrote an odd and dramatic letter to a Fox News anchor trying to make this personal matter as public as possible.

No doubt.

The new "Congressional Sovereignty Caucus" -- opposed to "transnational bodies" that undermine America's "vibrant Judeo-Christian heritage" -- launches next week with an event featuring transnational players Oliver North, Frank Gaffney and Doug Feith.

A playbill of sorts for followers of the Ensign scandal: a photo gallery of the cast of characters and a timeline of the key events. Theatre glasses, anyone?

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

TPM Reader MM:

Isn't it funny that conservative who used to complain about Obama's use of rhetorical powers as "just words" now think his relative caution in speaking out about Iran is a deep betrayal of everything American?

While Norm Coleman was battling for his political life in 2008 in a race he ultimately lost to Al Franken by a mere 312 votes, his colleague John Ensign -- whose job as chairman of the NRSC was helping GOP senators like Norm get re-elected -- was off having an affair and finding jobs for his mistress' family.

Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) turns down personal meeting/courtesy call with Judge Sotomayor.

We noted yesterday that Sen. Ensign was backing off his staff's original claims that he came forward with the news of his affair because cuckolded husband Doug Hampton was trying to extort cash from the senator in exchange for keeping the story quiet. Ensign now seems to be conceding that he arranged for employment for Hampton during a period in which Hampton was repeatedly confronting him to demand Ensign stop sleeping with his wife. But now we're getting another version of just what prompted Ensign to come forward on Tuesday.

Five days earlier Hampton sent a letter to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly asking her to help him expose Ensign's "heinous conduct and relentless pursuit" of his wife. "Please help me," he begged the comely Kelly.

He actually described one of the confrontations ...

In fact, one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his (Ensign's) home in Washington D.C. with a group of his peers. One of the attendees was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, as well as several other men who are close to the senator.

It's a pretty over-the-top letter, which is odd at some level since the affair had supposedly ended almost a year earlier. Interestingly, Hampton suggested that he only thought it was proper to bring the news to right-wing news organization. Now we're trying to find out how Ensign found out about the overture to Fox News.

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Just takes a moment. And you'll be filled with a feeling of inner peace.

I promise.

Iranian protestors call for solidarity with oppressed House Republicans. Jon Stewart reports.

There are actually two parts: one and two.

Sen. Ensign: Sure I helped my mistress' husband find work after he left my staff, but I do that for all my former staffers.

No public option in latest draft of health care reform bill from the Senate Finance Committee. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Duncan Black (aka 'Atrios') and Amanda Marcotte join our discussion of the future of the liberal blogosphere and Eric Boehlert's Bloggers on the Bus at TPMCafe Book Club.

WaPo editorialists imagine they're driving forward the Revolution in Iran and attack Obama for not joining them on the ramparts.

Jacob Heilbrunn picks apart the inanity.