fatster linked to this CQ article, quoting a former CIA ops officer admitting the CIA dissembles to Congress–and suggesting the CIA likes this controversy, because it makes them look tough.

Newt Gingrich, amoral monster

As she faces what is already expected to be a host of hostile questions from the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in her confirmation hearings, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, should remember one thing: that it is not she who will be on trial, but the Republican Party.

Since the GOP pushback on Sonia Sotomayor consists mainly of screaming “identity politics!” and “empathy!”, it’s worth remembering — once again — IOKIYAR.

Fourteen more members of the House of Representatives have responded to Alan Grayson’s call and agreed to cosponsor the Federal Reserve Transparency Act:

Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] – 5/20/2009
Rep Brown-Waite, Ginny [FL-5] – 5/20/2009
Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4] – 5/20/2009
Rep Latta, Robert E. [OH-5] – 5/20/2009
Rep Reichert, David G.

California’s Supreme Court, in a decision yesterday, upheld Prop 8 and a ban on same sex marriage. At the same time, a host of states (Iowa, Vermont, and Maine) have legalized gay marriage in recent months. What’s next for the LGBT movement? Joel Silberman, Jewelle Gomez of the Horizon Foundation, and New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell discuss the California ruling and the gay rights movement.

Barack Obama’s selection of Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter as Supreme Court justice has already set off a fierce response from conservatives and the Republican Party. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic justice and only the third woman to serve on the nation’s highest court. The Republicans are sure to attack Sotomayor for various reasons even though she was first appointed to the bench by George H.W. Bush and confirmed by some of the more rabidly conservative Senators, including Jesse Helms and Rick Santorum. Glenn Greenwald lays out some of the likely attacks here. But what is the significance of Obama’s decision?

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you:

Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik was indicted on charges of making false statements to White House officials vetting him for the secretary’s seat at the Department of Homeland Security in 2004, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Kerik, who served as commissioner from 1998 to 2002, allegedly gave false and misleading answers to Bush administration officials about his relationship with contractors who renovated his Riverdale apartment, according to the indictment handed up by a Washington grand jury.

Here we have the very essence, the core if you will, of right wing objections to Judge Sotomayor’s nomination. I give you the intellectual stylings and logical superiority of Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton:
David Shuster: “What evidence do you have that she would put her feelings and politics above the rule of law?” Tom Fitton: “Because President Obama chose her.”

• “One more nail in the GOP’s image coffin in terms of Latino voters.”
• Gerson needs to understand that no one cares what he thinks.
• Fredo’s off the reservation.
• This isn’t good.
• This is worse.
• A trip to Vegas with Harry Reid.
• Bankruptcy for GM?
• Know when to fold ‘em, GOP.
• She’s a wastrel, too!