The Daily Muck

Did anyone ever think the surge was going to work? The Washington Post walks through the history of the surge, from the fallacy of the “Anbar miracle,” the false assurances of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the reluctance of the Maliki government. Most striking is the raging dissension between Petraeus and his commanding officer, who is responsible for the greater Middle East region (Afghanistan, anyone? Horn of Africa?). With Petraeus on the Hill this week, it is easy to get lost in the minutiae; take a few minutes to refresh yourself on how far the policy has strayed. (Washington Post)

The bombs are dropping in six minutes! Well, not quite that dramatic, but getting close from CIA Director Michael Hayden, who claimed Friday that the waning public and political support for new “aggressive” CIA methods was creating a world that felt an awful lot like September 10th. (LA Times)

Remember back in the day when you had to be on the government’s A-list to get one of those coveted National Security Letters? It turns out they weren’t as exclusive as we thought. The FBI, until recently, had been obtaining information (without the use of warrants) about targeted suspects and their “community of interest”- aka anyone with whom they are in contact. (NY Times)

Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) slept on the couch of his former chief of staff Neil Volz. Take a second to let that one sink in, then check out information released in Volz’s recent court letters. Apparently Ney wasn’t exactly an ideal roommate. (The Plain Dealer)

Want to hear more from David Petraeus? You’re going to have to tune in to his one-hour EXCLUSIVE interview on Fox News. As in, no other networks get a shot. Not even TPM! (Think Progress)

Letter-writing: it’s the new earmarking. While members of Congress are working hard to cut down their reliance on tagging specific funds through legislation, they are also appealing directly to agencies in order to secure funds for special interests. And as new methods for securing funds become more anonymous, they also become more aggressive. (Washington Post)

It’s been a bad couple of months for Norman Hsu. First, the millionaire businessman and Democratic fundraiser was embarrassed by a 15-year-old arrest warrant. Then, he skipped his court hearing and was founded headed east on a train. Now, the FBI is looking into how exactly this self-made man made his money. (LA Times)

Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) isn’t too sure about the White House’s claim that he was fully briefed about the nature of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping. In fact, Graham points out on many of the days the administration “briefed” him in the Vice President’s office, Graham didn’t even visit the White House. Come to think of it, on some of those days he wasn’t even in Washington. (Think Progress)

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) has entered a fury of motions into the court recently. He’s trying to have his conversations with FBI officials expunged, and he wants the trial moved. He claims that the government willfully manipulated his trial location to make sure that the black lawmaker was tried in a predominantly white community. (Roll Call)