Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon is running a new TV campaign ad touting his work with Barack Obama.

Our sources suggest that reports that the FBI raided the office of former Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) back in 2006 are not accurate.

TPM Reader AB’s lament …

I’m 23 years old and I have yet to make it as an international arms dealer, despite majoring in international relations in college. I sometimes give my weapons pitch on street corners or at open mic nights, hoping to be scouted. I’ve sent out demo tapes to all of the major government agencies, including the Defense department, State Department, and CIA. I was very surprised when only the FBI responded, even though I hadn’t sent them a copy. At the moment I have a job at a coffee shop to pay the bills. I worry that maybe I’ll never make it, that I’ll be stuck serving coffee for the rest of my life. However every time I feel down, I think of Efraim Diveroli. I tell myself, if he can make it, so can I.

I was out of the office for almost all of today (helluva day considering today’s release on the Justice Department IG report). So the next few posts may have me catching up on some of the day’s news. But I wanted to start by making sure you saw the TPMCafe Book Club we’re hosting this week on Philip Gourevitch’s new book Standard Operating Procedure.

It doesn’t really do the book justice to say it’s about Abu Ghraib. But if this is the first you’re hearing about it, that is the general topic. The book is a collaboration of sorts between Gourevitch and the documentary film maker Errol Morris, who shared with Gourevitch transcripts of interviews of American service men and women who’d served at Abu Ghraib. I’m tempted to take a crack at explaining the book and trying to impart some of its flavor. But far better that I point you to the author himself.

Here’s Philip’s introductory post, kicking off the discussion yesterday. He’s also discussing the book with readers at great length in the comments section. So it’s really a great opportunity — a treat you shouldn’t miss — to dig into this vividly awful, shameful story with a writer of non-fiction who can turn a mirror on us with the art and moral insight of the finest novelists.

Of course, it’s a discussion. So joining Philip are poet and essayist Mary Karr, author Rory Stewart, Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly, E.J. Graff, senior correspondent at The American Prospect and novelist Robert Stone. And you can follow the unfolding discussion here.

At TPM, as you know, our core mission is news and reporting. But having a venue where we can host these kinds of more searching discussions — less tied to the immediacy of the news cycle — into politics, culture, foreign affairs, the arts, etc. has always been a goal of mine. But it’s one we’ve — or, I’ll take responsibility for it, I’ve — not always had the resources or the focus to follow through on in the way we’d like.

But your readership — both in loyalty and expanding numbers — has allowed us to slowly build up our ad revenues. And that makes it possible for us to hire new employees who make more of this stuff possible. So with that segue, let me also take the opportunity to introduce you to our newest staffer, Lila Shapiro. Lila is our newest associate editor. And among other tasks, she’s takings over the site editorship of TPMCafe from Andrew Golis. So in the coming weeks and months she’ll be organizing new book clubs, table for ones and more at TPMCafe. So if you have ideas in mind, drop Lila a line.

With the general election matchup finally set, it’s time for the respective nominees to engage in the rigorous process of vetting potential candidates for running mate. Today TPMtv presents its own special vetting of much-discussed prospective McCain pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) …

High-res version at Veracifier.com.

As TPM Election Central’s Eric Kleefeld noted early this evening, there was a hotly contested GOP house primary tonight in Utah’s 3rd district, the seat currently held by Rep. Chris Cannon (R). You may remember Cannon for talking up the benefits women get from polygamy or pointing out that those teenage pages were just “egging [Rep. Mark Foley] on.”

As Kleefeld aptly described it, this was a face off between a “right-wing buffoon versus a right-wing suit.” But one might also say that it was a face between a very right-wing incumbent versus a very, very right-wing challenger.

And as TPM Reader BT has just pointed out, with 79% reporting, challenger Jason Chaffetz is clobbering Cannon 60%-40%. Unless, there’s some really weird geographic skew in how the votes are coming, I’d say this probably means Cannon’s toast.

When a Republican incumbent loses to an even more ideologically extreme challenger, Dems often think they may have a shot.

On the other hand, this district voted 77% for President Bush in 2004. So I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) went down in a crushing 20-point defeat yesterday in the GOP primary in Utah.

Here’s Cannon, the ranking member of a House Judiciary subcommittee, at the height of his powers of buffoonery, explaining how throwing the book at Scooter Libby helped heal the nation of the damage caused when Bill Clinton wasn’t prosecuted for perjury and obstruction:

The Obama campaign is putting resources into 14 states won by President Bush in 2004. That and the other latest political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.

What do you do if the Supreme Court rejects your legal position on greenhouse gas emissions and orders the EPA to make a ruling?

If you’re the White House, you stall, delay, and then, when push comes to shove, you simply refuse to open the email from the EPA that contains the new ruling.

DOJ has canceled its e-discovery training session for Scott Bloch’s morale-boosting office retreat today, after TPMmuckraker reported about it last week.

Bloch, you’ll recall, is the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is alleged to have, among other things, scrubbed his office hard drive clean. So e-discovery is a sensitive subject in that office.

A scheduling snafu, DOJ tell us.