The Daily Muck

The Senate confirmed Mike Mukasey as the next Attorney General by a vote of 53-40. That’s the fewest votes for an AG since 1952. (Washington Post)

The headline says it all: “Justice Department Returns to Enforcing Voter Laws.” For the first time since the U.S. Attorney scandal, the agency is showing signs that it will reclaim its legal responsibility to facilitate voter registration for minorities. Despite his tortured statements on interrogation, Attorney General Mike Mukasey has spoken strongly on the need for an independent Justice Department, which is crucial to this type of enforcement. Keep your eyes open. (McClatchy)

Yesterday, the government informed defense attorneys for Omar Khadr (the Canadian terrorism suspect who was shipped to Guantanamo at age fifteen) that they would like to share some evidence relevant to Khadr’s defense – an eyewitness who could exonerate Khadr. The government has known about the eyewitness since 2002 but had classified the witnesses testimony. Even if the testimony exonerates Khadr, experts say that the Pentagon will likely detain Khadr indefinitely as a threat to the U.S. (LA Times)

Hustler Magazine keeps up its holy quest to out hypocritical conservatives. The publication is set to publish a tell-all interview with a New Orleans prostitute who had a relationship with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). (Huffington Post)

An internal inquiry into FEMA’s “press conference” has determined that the press secretary planned the event, coached his employees and made sure to end the briefing on a final, scripted question. He has since resigned (or was that staged too?). (Washington Post)

Let’s get this straight. It took FEMA months -years even- to acknowledge that their temporary trailers might have had formaldehyde in them, which were poisoning the inhabitants. But for the past four months, FEMA has refused to inspect a single trailer. Why??? Because they DON’T WANT THEIR EMPLOYEES GETTING POISONED!!! So I guess the mystery of why trailer residents were sick is solved now. (Washington Post)

To meet its recruitment goal of 80,000 new troops, the Army is dumbing down and paying up. The unpopular war has led to declining numbers of high school graduates and more recruits with lower scores on skills and physical tests (Category IV recruits). The number of Category IV recruits has quadrupled since 2002 while the Army is shelling out recruiting bonuses of up to $20,000 and pay raises for current soldiers that top inflation by 21%. (McClatchy)

Senator Collins (R-ME) has vowed to protect taxpayer dollars from the “purchases of unusable trailers for hurricane victims, shoddy construction of schools and clinics in Iraq, or abuse of purchase cards by government employees.” To that end, she sponsored a recently approved senate bill to “tighten up scandal-prone contracting practices across government.” (Washington Post)

Speaking of taxpayer dollars, the new $471.2 billion defense bill approved by the House includes more than 2,000 earmarks worth $5 billion. New laws that mandate the disclosure of earmarks have apparently helped. The 2007 defense bill had 2,653 earmarks worth close to $11.3 billion. (The Hill)