The Daily Muck

Just last week Dyncorp’s CEO Herb Lanese distanced his employees from those of Blackwater by stressing his firm’s cautious rules of engagement. But according to several eyewitnesses, a Dyncorp guard shot an unarmed Iraqi taxi driver on Saturday and just “drove away.” A Dyncorp spokesman commented that “we knew that we had fired at the front of the vehicle,” but “we were kind of surprised that there was a death.” (NY Times)

We’re a year away from the election, and you know what that means… soft money battles! Seems oddly fitting that this season, the first independent 501c(4)s to surface would be backing Sen. Campaign Finance Reform himself John McCain (R-AZ).

When Pete Kott, the former Republican speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives admitted, “I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie… Exxon’s happy. BP’s happy. I’ll sell my soul to the devil,” a lobbyist assured him that this “will stay in this room.” But this conversation was just one of the many corrupt Alaskan political deals caught on tape by the FBI. Nobody knows what the feds’ extensive video collection will ultimately mean for other operators in the state, such as Representative Don Young (R-AK) or Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK). But according to Ray “Disco Ray” Metcalfe, a former Republican state legislator, “It was common knowledge that everything was corrupt,” “but “nobody wanted to talk about it.” (Washington Post)

Though some Foreign Service officers have described it as a death sentence, the State Department is likely to proceed with plans to force postings to 26 vacant positions in Iraq. Only about half of the vacant positions have been filled by volunteers. No wonder Secretary Rice’s management has recently come under fire. (Washington Post)

John Washburn was upset that his governor, Rick Perry (R-TX), was deleting all staff emails after seven days (a policy begun under Gov. George Bush). So John started sending requests for all staffers’ emails. Twice a week. Every week. Under Texas law, public records can’t be destroyed if they are requested, so the governor’s staff had to preserve its email every time John asked for them. Now, the policy is being changed and the email deleting will stop. (AP)

The Clinton campaign has taken a lesson from FEMA. At a recent Iowa event, Hillary’s staffers coached a Grinnell student to ask the presidential hopeful, “I’m worried about the long-term effects of global warming. How does your plan combat climate change?” (LA Times)

A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing evidence about the Canadian citizen (Maher Arar) who was detained in and “act of rendition” at a Kentucky airport and then sent to Syria where he was tortured. (No word on whether Arar’s special flight was one of the 47 rendition flights that passed through Spain). Arar’s suit against the U.S was dismissed based on a state secrets claim but could be revived under appeal. (New York Times)