How does McCain justify showing up at tonight’s debate even if a bailout plan hasn’t passed? Move the bar a bit.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) now says: “What’s more important than anything that when we go to Mississippi tonight, both candidates can say that the Congress is working …”

Stunt over.

McCain resumes all campaign activities. Will debate tonight.

Fox News falling all over itself to explain why the campaign ploy that led to torpedoed bailout plan was an “accomplishment” for McCain. Embarrassing even to watch.

Murray Waas has a new report out on one particular aspect of the DOJ Inspector General’s investigation into former Attorney General and former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales:

In reauthorizing the [warrantless] surveillance program over the objections of his own Justice Department, President Bush later claimed to have relied on notes made by Gonzales about a meeting that had taken place the day before (March 10), in which Gonzales and Vice President Cheney had met with eight congressional leaders–also known as the “Gang of Eight”–who receive briefings about covert intelligence programs. According to Gonzales’s notes, the congressional leaders had said in the meeting that they wanted the surveillance program to continue despite the attorney general’s refusal to certify that it was legal.

But four of the congressional leaders present at the meeting say that’s not true; they never encouraged the White House to sidestep the objections of the attorney general and continue the program without his approval.

Investigators are skeptical of the notes because Gonzales did not write them until days after the meeting with the congressional leaders, and he wrote them after both Bush and Gonzales had together signed a reauthorization of the surveillance program.

Late Update: Waas also reports, in a second piece, that Gonzo has admitted to investigators that President Bush directed him to go to the then-Attorney General John Ashcroft’s hospital bedside in that dramatic late night showdown over the warrantless wiretapping program. Gonzales has previously refused to answer congressional questions on that point in this testimonial trainwreck from July 2007:

Didn’t Barack Obama just make John McCain flinch?

Late Update: Numerous readers are informing me that I am incorrect — that McCain didn’t ‘flinch’ but rather ‘blinked’. I can live with that.

Tracking polls are inherently volatile. But the initial results suggest that McCain’s suspension/debate cancellation stunt has been a big bust.

I know we’re focusing on the collapse of our financial system. But the live fire fights we’re getting into with the Pakistani military would seem to throw our alliance with them into some question, no?

MSNBC yanks a TV ad from Dem-leaning independent groups today after Bill O’Reilly called out NBC corporate execs on his show last night.

John McCain is saying that now that he’s gotten the bailout negotiations back on track he can resume his campaign and show up tonight at the debate. But every news report I’m seeing says they were moving along smoothly until John McCain showed up and they fell apart.

Who can help me here?

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TPMmuckraker has learned that the long-awaited report by the Justice Department’s Inspector General on its investigation into the U.S. Attorney firings of 2006-07 will be released Monday morning.