emptywheel

So I trudged out to Mile High with David Neiwert, Lindsay, and Ian (Spencer scored some great seats on the 50 Yard Line, so he's here, but with a better seat); the line was miles long. Remarkably, there were only a handful of cops there--but everyone was pleasant and well-behaved. We'll be watching the proceedings from behind the ABC News tent, out in the sun.

Joe Biden's speech.

Judge Bates isn't helping BushCo sustain their USA purge cover-up and stall. Today, he denied the White House's motion for a stay of his earlier order pending appeal. He got a bit snarky in his opinion denying the stay--I imagine David Addington is having fits right now.

The biggest news from a blogger chat with Patrick Leahy at the DNC today came in response to question I threw out as we adjourned--about whether or not he was convinced with the FBI's case in the anthrax case. We had this exchange: emptywheel: Do you think Ivins acted alone? Are you convinced Ivins sent the anthrax letters? Leahy: No, I'm not satisfied. I think someone was involved either before or after. I'm not satisfied with the answers I've gotten.

Christy asks Bobby Kennedy Jr. about the problems with the media.

The FBI's explanation for when and how Bruce Ivins drove to Princeton to mail the anthrax continues to "evolve"--and even still, they can't come up with evidence that puts him in NJ.

The White House has started to panic over a July 9 meeting between Condi Rice and Mikhiel Saakashvili, desperate to suggest they didn't encourage Georgia's crack-down in South Ossetia. Given that panic, I wonder whether Karl Rove had any similar chats with Saakashvili when they were in Yalta together just days later?

That the Appeals Court threw out the Wilsons' suit is not surprising. That the logic in Sentelle's opinion is so crappy and ignorant is. It basically argues that because Valerie Wilson has no recourse to the Privacy Act wrt Cheney and Libby and Rove, those thugs can violate Joe Wilson's First and Fifth Amendment rights too!

The Bush Administration has known well how to avoid punishment for Hatch Act violations: simply to have those who commit those violations to quit. Therefore, it should be no surprise that Mukasey has announced Goodling and her friends will avoid any charges for their violations.

John McCain's campaign seems to have a serial problem with plagiarism. First there was the Passion Fruit Mousse and then there were the Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. Now, apparently, McCain's stooped to stealing his foreign policy plans from others. And of all sources, he's stealing from Wikipedia!