federici and the CREA creeps

* the bbc is calling the two iraq senate resolutions the "cut & run" and "cut & jog" proposals. really. the reporter was giving the voting score for each resolution, and she literally used those titles. ( i also heard lehrer use the phrase in the 'headlines' section yesterday. it's quite remarkable)

* tpmm:

"It's pretty plain that Federici is in trouble. And a guilty plea from Federici would be very bad news for J. Steven Griles, the former number two at Interior, and possibly Gale Norton."

yay. i have a particular, unexplainable, dislike for federici and the CREA creeps (and how long till grover gets sucked into an indictment?)

* tpmm:

"The committee somberly notes that it is "troubled" by the inconsistencies between Griles' testimony and others'. I wonder if the Justice Department will be troubled too?"

* emptywheel:

"We know where Abramoff's money came from, after all, but I've never seen a tally of where his money went. Which leaves millions available for purposes that this former apartheid sympathizer (or, in Brent Wilkes' case, former Contra funder) hasn't revealed. The scale is so large and the pattern so consistent, we do need to ask whether there is something more going on."

* begala:

"The only place in the American government where there is an honest and spirited debate over Iraq is within the Democratic Party. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer are not on the same page – and that’s a good thing. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry disagree. Hooray for that.

If anyone tells you the solution to Iraq is easy or obvious, they’re a liar or a fool (a false choice in the case of our president). So why not feature the debate? At least someone is debating what to do."