In light of the recent anti-primary posts at daily kos, one can see a split developing in the Netroots when you compare those posts to this one at MYDD:

Labor is the pillar of the progressive community, and is openly being dismissed as irrelevant. . . . The progressive movement on the internet isn't recognizing these realities either. . . . The people in charge of the political system are the swing votes and the people that those voters want to work with. Steny Hoyer and Rahm Emanuel have positioned themselves to be this swing vote, and they have chosen to basically throw some crumbs our way (minimum wage) while voting with the Republicans on the big issues, like Iraq. This isn't permanent. . . . [W]e can broaden out and build bridges between progressives and independents. We can learn to educate and/or cut off people like Udall, and encourage labor to stand up harder for workers.

And primaries, one presumes, will be central to that. If that is the case, no member of the Netroots should ever argue against ANY primary. Do they propose that Netroots leaders get to decide when primaries are good?

In the U.S., tragic crimes too often spawn criminal laws that are based on headline potential rather than sound policy. In the wake of a murder committed by a pedophile in Britain, a British proposal ("Sarah's Law") to emulate the American approach to sex offender registration has been rejected on the sensible ground that open registries cause more harm than they prevent.

The NSPCC, a leading children's charity, welcomed the development saying "open access" could force convicted paedophiles underground and place youngsters at greater risk of assault.

The latest guilty plea in the Jack Abramoff scandal came yesterday, as Italia Federici admitted her tax evasion and obstruction of Congress. TalkLeft discussed Federici's connection to Abramoff and former Deputy Secretary of the Interior Stephen Griles here.

As head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, Federici, 37, had close ties to senior Interior Department officials, including former Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Founded by Federici and Norton in 1997, CREA is a nonprofit group that touts Republicans' environmental accomplishments and criticizes established environmental groups like the Sierra Club.

According to the plea agreement, Abramoff and his clients donated half a million dollars to CREA.

Federici also admitted to failing to pay $77,243 in taxes she owed on the $233,955 she earned between 2001 and 2003 as head of CREA.

You have to love the name Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Federici was an advocate for herself, her boyfriend Griles, and Abramoff. The environment, not so much.

Sure to enrage Beltway Dems and some in the Netroots, Howard Dean speaks some truth:

The American people hired Democrats last November to ensure that we end this war," Dean said during the weekly Democratic radio address. "So let me be clear, we know that if we don't keep our promise, we may find ourselves the minority again."

Are you sure "we know" Governor Dean? I am not sure that is true. I hope it is.

At daily kos, there seems to be a new approach to Crashing the Gates. It involves clearing the field. DavidNYC writes:

Earlier this week, Markos also took note of fears that a primary could be unnecessarily divisive. There's no question that to have a shot at beating Sessions, Alabama Dems will have to be completely united. Primaries can often be a good thing, but not always, and this race might fall into the latter category. And if Ron Sparks says so, I'm inclined to believe him.

To be fair to Markos, he really did not say that:

[M]oney isn't wasted in contested primaries if it keeps the eventual victor's name in the news and interest in the race high. It gives candidates a chance to hone their message and forces them to test their field operation before the November contest. In fact, primary victors often get a bump as a bandwagon effect takes hold. Our two most dramatic victories in 2008 -- in Red states Virginia and Montana -- featured Democrats who first had to make it through primaries. Primaries shouldn't be feared.

More

As a service for Joe Klein to enable him to better understand the "extremism" of the Left blogs in their critique of the Media, I will be periodically pointing out instances where the Media "reporting" and "analysis" is fact free. In today's edition, I point to ABC's Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous and the Washington Post's Dan Balz. Balz writes:

The collapse of comprehensive immigration revision in the Senate last night represents a political defeat for President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) . . .The defeat of the legislation can be laid at the doorstep of opponents on the right and left, on congressional leaders who couldn't move their troops . . .

As reported by Kevin Drum, Gibson and Stephanopolous said:

Their conclusion? It was killed by extremists on both sides: liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans overwhelmed the centrists.

The facts? Not present in the reporting. As Kevin Drum wrote:

Last night, on Countdown, Jon Alter repeated his belief that this fall and after, Republicans will pressure Bush into setting a course for getting out of Iraq. The point of reference was the Salazar (D-CO)-Smith (R-OR) proposal:

[F]ive GOP senators signed on to separate legislation that would enact the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which envisioned most U.S. combat troops coming home by early 2008. That legislation — proposed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) — has the backing of several GOP loyalists, including Sens. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Robert F. Bennett of Utah.

I sincerely hope Alter is right. I am extremely confident he is wrong. Indeed the details of the bill show it for what it is, Republican cover bill:

Neither bill sets a firm deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, a key demand of antiwar Democrats, who have fought for months to force Republican lawmakers and the White House to accept such a plan.

It is, to coin a phrase, weak tea. And bad politics for the Democratic Party.

Matt Bai, in the Sunday Times Magazine, writes about the John Edwards campaign:

And yet, even taking that personal ordeal into account, there is something surprisingly arduous, even joyless at times, about Edwards’s second bid for the White House. Modern presidential campaigns tend to be aggressively upbeat and personality-driven; sure, every candidate has his favorite issues, but those issues generally exist mostly to color the candidate’s driving ambition with some shade of higher purpose. Edwards’s campaign feels oddly inverted. There’s no doubt he wants very badly to win, and yet there are times when the entire campaign seems little more than an excuse for him to talk about the issue with which he is now most closely identified: the case for the 37 million Americans living in poverty.

I think Matt Bai should realize that a normal person can feel no real joy with the current state of America.

The story of the moment assures us that the sponsors of the immigration bill, secure in the knowledge that the Decider supports their tireless work, intend to soldier on despite a notable lack of enthusiasm for compromise in the legislature. The more interesting story is the right wingers' continuing separation from their fearless leader.

[T]hey now think they see in Bush the heart of a man who thinks he is morally superior to them even as his own incompetence drags them over a political cliff.

Bush infamously said, on two separate occasions, that opponents of the immigration bill are deliberately trying to "frighten" the public, that they "don't want to do what's right for America," and other calumnies - all while his Cabinet secretaries, former chief speechwriter, and other close allies have called the opponents "bigots," "nativists," "anti-Hispanic," and other insults.

There will always be Bush loyalists, but their numbers are dwindling toward insignificance. Reasonable conservatives abandoned Bush because of his fiscal irresponsibility, his incompetence, or Iraq. His newly-revealed contempt for non-monied conservatives has peeled away more supporters. More Bushies will walk away if Bush doesn't show reciprocal loyalty to the conservative cause by saving Scooter Libby from imprisonment.

Poor George. Do you think his mom still loves him? Do you suppose he cares?

A million thanks to Jason Leopold of Truthout who just sent me a copy of the 103 page Scooter Libby sentencing transcript he purchased from the court reporter.

If a major media outlet doesn't publish it, I'm not going to post the whole thing or share it because this is how court reporters make their money and as a practicing lawyer, I don't want to break any rules.

I will read it late tonight and post pertinent excepts. If there's any part you particularly would like to read, let me know in the comments.

In other Libby news, via How Appealing, Judge Walton is allowing an amicus brief to be filed regarding the appeal bond issue. His order is here (pdf) and Howard says to check out the disparaging footnote.

The amicus brief by law profs is here.

(larger and original version here, via TMZ.com.)

Bump and Update: Paris has been ordered back to jail. Via TMZ.com.

Paris Hilton was just ordered back to jail in Lynwood. Hilton left the courtoom in tears, screaming, "Mom, Mom, Mom."

One witness described the scene as being "physically dragged" out of the courtroom by a female deputy.

Update: The court spokesman says at 12:30 pm PT after the hearing that the Sheriff called the court and asked if he would modify his sentence. The Court told the Sheriff to file the appropriate pleadings and the Sheriff never did. The issue of her medical condition never came up at the hearing because no papers were ever filed about it.

Get ready for the appeal and a fight over whether the appeals court will stay the court's order today pending the outcome. She could be out today if the appeals court stays the order. But nothing will happen before Monday.

More below the fold:

It's all Paris, all the time.

Earlier posts with background and my views here and here.

The judge in the Paris Hilton case flip-flops again. First he says Paris can appear by phone. Then the City Attorney complains and he orders her to come in. They are now waiting for Paris to arrive.

I'm riveted to the tv. I can't stand all the prosecutor heads screaming for blood. All three of the cable networks have them front and center. It's Gladiator Central.

But I'm watching as I'm packing and getting ready to leave town and will try to make to the finish.

Update: Hearing now scheduled for "midday" local time. The Sheriff's van is on its way to Paris' house to pick her up. They are going to do a perp walk? How disgusting. Her bodyguard has umbrellas in hand. The scene at her home is a complete circus. I haven't seen anything like this since the OJ road chase.

Continued updates below the fold.