Steven Waldman: “Itâs as if progressives feel that if they can prove that the Founders were Deists rather than serious Christians, then that will strengthen the case for separation of church and state.”
Not a good sign when your criminal defense lawyers precede you into your resignation press conference.
The governor’s resignation will be effective as of next Monday:
And that’s it. Took no questions.
Hillary’s top fundraisers will be sitting down to a private meeting with her today in D.C. for a pep talk and a wide-ranging look at the state of the race, TPM Election Central has learned.
The House last night voted to create an outside panel to review ethics complaints. Let’s just say that it passed over very strenuous objections from some quarters.
We’ve put together some of the best quotes from the debate.
My favorite, from Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS): “If you have a single ounce of self-preservation, you’ll vote no.”
U.S. Capitol building being evacuated because of air-space violation of no-fly zone over D.C., CNN reports.
Late Update: It appears to be an unintended incursion into the restricted airspace by a private plane.
From a statement just put out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for SDNY:
In response to press speculation, MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: “There is no agreement between this Office and Governor Eliot Spitzer, relating to his resignation or any other matter.”
Will Bunch, on why “Archie Bunker’s congresswoman” wasn’t off-message for the Clinton campaign at all.
The other night McClatchy broke the news that a huge Pentagon study of Iraqi archives had concluded that there was no Saddam-al Qaeda link. That’s been followed by reports in other media on the contours of the report, which was supposed to be released today followed by a Pentagon briefing.
But not any more.
ABC News reports:
The Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report’s release and will no longer make the report available online.
The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more. The report will be made available only to those who ask for it, and it will be sent via U.S. mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
It won’t be emailed to reporters and it won’t be posted online. â¦
Asked why the report would not be posted online and could not be emailed, the spokesman for Joint Forces Command said: “We’re making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we’ll send it out via CD in the mail.”
Another Pentagon official said initial press reports on the study made it “too politically sensitive.”
Late Update: Needless to say, this is a clownish effort at best. Nothing prevents anyone from obtaining the report and publishing it in its entirety. Paul Kiel has more.
McCain’s new spirtual advisor says America was founded to destroy Islam.
Gerry Ferraro is catching a lot of flak these days. But here at TPM we want to thank her. It’s been an exhausting primary season. And we’ve needed some comic relief in a big way. Saying Barack Obama was lucky to be black may only have been one more ‘unfortunate’ statement in a string of beauts this election cycle. But going on every show currently on the air to express her outrage at the response to her comments has simply been comedy gold. Check out some of the best moments in today’s episode of TPMtv …