Clark Hoyt, Public Editor of the New York Times, writes:

Why Bush and the military are emphasizing Al Qaeda to the virtual exclusion of other sources of violence in Iraq is an important story. So is the question of how well their version of events squares with the facts of a murky and rapidly changing situation on the ground. But these are stories you haven’t been reading in The Times in recent weeks as the newspaper has slipped into a routine of quoting the president and the military uncritically about Al Qaeda’s role in Iraq — and sometimes citing the group itself without attribution.

The answer is simple. The leadership at the New York Times is lacking. The editorship has gone from bad to worse with the departure of the awful Howell Raines to be replaced by the awful Bill Keller. The Times' leadership simply will not rein in the Judy Milleresque elements in its news operations. Perhaps this wake up call from the Public Editor can help change things.

I watched Live Earth non-stop from the opening of Sydney to the after Rio concert replays.

Here are links to videos of some of my favorite performances:

John Colson, writing in the Aspen Times, supports one emerging theory of the Scooter Libby commutation: Bush and Cheney couldn't let a caged Scooter sing:

Cheney, better than anyone, knows what a weak link Libby is. All you have to do is look at the guy to know, without any doubt, that within two weeks of incarceration he would sing like a lark on a bright spring morning. And the notes of his song would not be good for Cheney, Bush or the entire construct of deceit and destruction that the Bush presidency has become.

Libby certainly knows who decided Plame’s identity should be leaked to the media. He certainly knows who was in on the discussions leading to that decision. And he undoubtedly knows where the papers are that could prove any assertions of those points, although it’s entirely possible that Cheney is smarter than Richard Nixon was and already has shredded, electronically scrubbed and otherwise obliterated all the evidence.

The question then becomes:

Bill Clinton spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival Saturday night, suggesting that if Hillary is elected President, an appropriate title for him would be "First Laddy."

He also spoke of terrorists and made a point that too few acknowledge:

Terrorism highlights the problem of identity, Clinton said. The suspects in the Britain bombing plot did not feel like they belonged in the world they were in, he said.

An appropriate foreign policy to address those issues, he said, includes a security policy and a policy "to make more partners and fewer terrorists." The world's poor and disenfranchised are "just as good as we are and need to be given a chance to feel that life has more meaning," Clinton said.

And yes, Bill Clinton is enough of a celebrity that even those in star-jaded Aspen gawk when he passes by.

The New York Times in an editorial today says we have to begin redeployment of troops from Iraq and end the war.

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

It's a sobering piece. The Times opines it's not as simple as just coming home. Logistics won't be easy and we may need to use other country's bases to effectuate it. It's a process that will take months. Which is why the Times says we have to set a date now.

The Times is justifiably harsh in its criticism of Bush:

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Friday 8:00 pm MT: The Live Earth concert has begun in Australia. Blue King Brown is up, to be followed by Toni Collette. News coverage here.

You can watch all the concerts here.

Next up is Japan at 3:00 GMT and then China at 11:00 GMT.

Scroll down for updates.

The internet connection seems jumpy, maybe it's just mine. Television listings are here.

Update: 7:00 a.m. MT: You can now watch on Sundance and Bravo. The end of the Sydney concert was strange. Crowded House was on but there was no light on stage or in the audience, they were singing in the dark. Sundance just changed coverage to London Hamburg. There are almost no chirons so its difficult to tell where they are or who's playing if you don't know.

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In a very good post, MissLaura discusses Harry Reid's determination to end the war in Iraq, as reported by the NYTimes:

Democratic voters are not the only ones bitter over their party’s failure to use new Congressional power to force a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Senator Harry Reid, the occasionally obstreperous Democratic leader, is upset as well. “We haven’t done enough,” said Mr. Reid, a onetime moderate who has evolved into one of the party’s most fervent critics of the war.

That view captures not only Mr. Reid’s sentiment but also the shifting political dynamic on the war, as public frustration remains high, the conflict dominates the presidential campaign landscape and senior Republicans have chosen to break with President Bush even as the administration has urged patience.

Sensing momentum from the new Republican defections, Mr. Reid and other leading Democrats intend to force a series of votes over the next two weeks on proposals to withdraw troops and limit spending. Democrats are increasingly confident they can assemble majority opposition to administration policies.

There is political gamesmanship in Reid's words here. I do not imagine he expects Republicans to rally to the cause of ending the Debacle, as his comments regarding Pete Domenici made clear, but he must invite them to join Democrats in the drive to end the Debacle.

NYTimes:

A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture senior members of Al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal areas was aborted at the last minute after top Bush administration officials decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Pakistan, according to intelligence and military officials.

The target was a meeting of Qaeda leaders that intelligence officials thought included Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy and the man believed to run the terrorist group’s operations.

But the mission was called off after Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, rejected the 11th-hour appeal of Porter J. Goss, then the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, officials said. Members of a Navy Seals unit in parachute gear had already boarded C-130 cargo planes in Afghanistan when the mission was canceled, said a former senior intelligence official involved in the planning.

WWJBD? What Would Jack Bauer Do?

Here we praised Montana, and here Maine, for opposing the Real ID Act. Today we celebrate New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch last week signed into law a bill that forbids New Hampshire government agencies from complying with the controversial federal national identification act, or Real ID bill.

Lynch explains:

"Real ID is intended to make us all safer, which I think we can all agree is a laudable goal," said Lynch in a statement. "However, I strongly believe Real ID's proposed haphazard implementation and onerous provisions would have the exact opposite effect. The federal government obviously did not think this burdensome system through and that is why we in New Hampshire are right to reject it."

Matt Yglesias writes:

With sentiment on the question of impeaching Bush running at a pretty strong 39 percent for giving him the boot (with 49 percent opposed), I think this needs to enter the mainstream conversation. . . . The fact remains, however, that impeaching and convicting Bush means, in practice, only that Dick Cheney becomes President. . . . Removing Bush doesn't accomplish anything. I suppose you could impeach Cheney, and then impeach Bush before confirming a new vice president, and then Nancy Pelosi becomes president. And that, of course, is going to get 67 votes in the Senate sometime after they establish congressional representation for flying pigs.

So it's never going to happen. But Yglesias says:

You're still left with the problem that this is only getting the requisite votes in fantasyland, but I think it's a perfectly cogent political agenda.

This confuses me. How is a political agenda whose chance for success resides in fantasyland be cogent? More.

Via Marcy Wheeler at Next Hurrah, Scooter Libby has added another lawyer to his defense team, Greg Poe of Robbins, Russell. Laurence Robbins joined earlier to assist with sentencing and appeal issues.

Marcy thinks Poe has been added to try and get Libby out of serving his two year supervised release term. I suspect she's right, although I would expect him to stay on for the duration of Libby's appeal.

I'm going to switch hats again here, and go from bashing Libby's commutation (for which I blame Bush not Libby) to praising defense lawyers such as Libby's latest addition who in the ordinary course of their practice challenge mandatory minimums and the unfairness of the Sentencing Guidelines.

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The news today from Iraq:

Suicide bombings across Iraq killed nearly 150 and injured scores, including a massive truck assault in a northern Shiite village that ripped through a crowded market, officials said Saturday.

The violence came as the U.S. military on Saturday reported the deaths of eight American soldiers over the past two days, all killed in combat or by roadside bombs in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar. A British soldier was reported killed in fighting in southern Iraq.

The worst carnage unfolded in the Shiite Turkoman village of Amarly, 50 miles south of Kirkuk, when a suicide bomber rammed a truck laden with explosives into the central market, which is near a police station, officials said. The attack killed at least 115 people and wounded at least 210, according to district and hospital officials, adding that they expected the death toll to rise.