BREAKING NEWS

TWO stories in the category of NEWS YOU NEVER BELIEVED YOU'D HEAR:

From TPM:

The House Judiciary Committee has just voted to hold Karl Rove in contempt for failing to respond to a subpoena to face questioning from the Committee on the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

AND
from Federal Times
IG: Justice illegally weighed political leanings of job applicants

Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales violated federal law and Justice Department policy by using political affiliation as a factor in hiring decisions — a process that slowed the hiring process and left key positions unfilled, according to a new report from the department’s inspector general.

In one case, an experienced prosecutor, with more than 15 years in criminal law, was turned down for a job on a counterterrorism detail because his wife was an elected Democratic official. The job went to a Republican prosecutor with less than three years’ experience. Another candidate was recommended for a job because she was “pro-God in public life” and “pro-marriage, anti-civil union.”

Watch the video of the Inspector General testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on c-span (link in the blogroll on the right). Since it happened this morning, there's no permanent link to post yet, but the video is available on the front page of the c-span site.

Oh, one more irresistible quote from the Federal Times:

Goodling also used the Internet to search for information about candidates’ political and ideological beliefs, running searches for terms like “sex,” “NAFTA,” “Iran-Contra” and “spotted owl.”

What an amazing day!

Is it early today or late yesterday?

From Politico via Common Dreams:

“Today’s report describes ‘systematic’ violations of federal law by several former leaders of the Department of Justice,” Conyers said in a statement released by his office. “Apparently, the political screening was so pervasive that even qualified Republican applicants were rejected from Department positions because they were ‘not Republican enough’ for Monica Goodling and others. ...... The Report also indicates that Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, and Alberto Gonzales may have lied to the Congress about these matters. I have directed my staff to closely review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed.”

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Every week I download the podcast, The Campaign Trail, from the New Yorker, and either listen to it online or on my ipod. In this week's podcast, David Remnick, Hendrik Hertzberg, Ryan Lizza, and George Packer discuss Obama’s visit to Germany and the future of the war in Iraq.

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From The Independent:

With $33m (£16.5m) in venture capital funds, Anne Patterson and two other Google alumni – Russell Power and Louis Monier – yesterday took the wraps off [a new search engine,] Cuil.com. ... If it's out there, Cuil will find it for you. ... Cuil (pronounced "cool") will be easier and nicer to use and will have a longer reach.

Then check it out yourself! cuil.com

(Not to be confused with my friend, Sheila's website, kkooll !)

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ABC reports Homeland Security is instituting a POHA (period of heightened alert) from now until July, 2009.

The reasons: There are no specifics indicating an attack on the U.S. is imminent, and U.S. officials do not want to be accused of trying to inject themselves into the presidential campaign.

"That's a balancing act," said Jerry Hauer, former Homeland Security official and ABC News consultant. "They really have to focus on these events and this critical time we're going through as a nation, but they have to be very careful about the public message to not make it look political or like they're fearmongering."

Right.

In pointing to the piece, Talking Points Memo titled the link, "US to be place on 'heightened terror alert' in response to Republican efforts to maintain hold on presidency."

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