Today David Broder reveals the silliness of his bipartisanship fetish for all the world to see:

It was not nostalgia or a desire for companionship that brought four former Senate leaders together in a meeting room on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning, but rather a sense of alarm at the breakdown in civility and at the fierce partisanship that has infected Congress and blocked action on national priorities. . . . Tom Daschle of South Dakota said, "Our goal is not to find common ground among the four of us on every single issue but to find those areas on which common ground can be found, and then see if we can become the catalyst for bringing that common ground to Congress."

Um, thanks Tom. You did a fine job of rolling over finding common ground when you and Senate Dems voted for the Iraq Debacle in 2002. A little too much bipartisanship then don't you think?

Via Greg Sargent, after not reaching agreement with Dem leadership, the Out Of Iraq Caucus will unveil its Iraq proposal tomorrow:

[The Out of Iraq Caucus is] going to present their plan to the public. Tomorrow morning, a group of them -- including Reps. Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Jerrold Nadler and others -- will hold a press conference to detail the specifics of their plan. It'll be interesting to see how the House Dem leadership reacts.

As we also reported yesterday, the liberal Dems are privately circulating a "dear colleague" letter designed to win over other House members to their approach[:]

Dear Colleague,

We write to share our thoughts with you about Congressional action regarding the ongoing occupation of Iraq and to make the case for fully funding the safe withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq over a clear timeline.

By framing their discussion of the war in terms of winning and losing, the Bush administration seeks to portray critics of their policies as opposed to victory, or supportive of defeat.

. . . There is no question that moving to stop this folly carries a political risk - the accusation that Democrats gave up on the Vietnam War, despite all evidence that it was an unwinnable conflict, hurt the party's credibility on national security issues for a generation.

But we must consider the very real cost of not acting. We are spending $8 billion a month occupying Iraq, with an average of 67 U.S. troops being killed and 500 being wounded. The cost to our security of having our military bogged down in Iraq indefinitely is unsustainable, and is not only sapping vital funds from efforts to fight global terrorism, but is strengthening jihadist recruitment efforts internationally. The longer we allow the administration to delay meaningful movement, and the longer we fail to extract ourselves from this quagmire, the more dangerous this failed foreign policy becomes to America and the rest of the world.

Wonders never cease. A juror in the Scooter Libby trial recommends he be spared jail and receive a pardon from President Bush.

“He seemed like a ton of fun. ... I didn’t want to see him and his wife and say he was guilty of a crime,” Redington told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. But she she said she had no choice given the evidence.

“I think he got caught in a difficult situation where he got caught in the initial lie, and it just snowballed,” she said.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

A "ton of fun?" He sat silent at counsel table for five weeks. What seemed fun about him?

Meanwhile, the White House is trying to tone down the pardon speculation. Tony Snow talked about the long legal road ahead for Libby.

More...

Is the Surge working?

For the second straight day, insurgents struck at Shiite pilgrims and other civilians across central Iraq on Wednesday, apparently seeking to reignite a cycle of sectarian retribution as hundreds of thousands of Shiites made their pilgrimage to Karbala to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.

. . . At least 70 people were reported killed across Iraq on Wednesday, victims of bombs, drive-by shootings and assassination, according to hospitals and local police officials.

. . . Attacks against Shiite pilgrims making their way to Karbala for the Arbaeen holiday coming this weekend continued on Wednesday, though none were as bad as the coordinated bombings that killed at least 113 people on Tuesday at a false aid station for pilgrims in Hilla.

Not so much.

The feds have gone and done it again, this time in New Bedford, Mass.

Dozens of young children were stranded at schools and with baby sitters after their parents were rounded up by federal authorities who raided a leather goods maker suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, authorities said Wednesday.

Immigration officials said 327 of the 500 employees of Michael Bianco Inc., mostly women, were detained Tuesday by immigration officials for possible deportation as illegal aliens.

About 100 children were stuck with baby sitters, caretakers and others, said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.

"We're continuing to get stories today about infants that were left behind," she said. "It's been a widespread humanitarian crisis here in New Bedford." (my emphasis)

More...

Crooks and Liars has the video of faux right wing pundit Stephen Colbert's take last night on the Scooter Libby trial. Pretty funny.

New Mexico Governor and Democrat presidential contender Bill Richardson supports medical marijuana:

"We've only got a few days to go, and I'm urging very quick action on the ethics package," he said. "I'm urging very quick, strong action on predatory
lending. I want that cockfighting bill, I want medical marijuana, I want my tax cuts."

It has long been speculated that Poland is one of the countries that housed CIA secret prisoners in the war on terror. A report by the European Commission over a year ago found evidence the U.S. outsourced torture, but none that facilities were located in Poland.

Larisa Alexandrovna and David Dastych, writing for Raw Story today, confirm it, based upon interviews with British and Polish intelligence officials.

More....

One divorce, okay, maybe evangelicals would give a candidate a break. But three marriages? No way.

Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Associated Press that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover.

"I mean, this is divorce on steroids," Land said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."

Bald faced lying when everyone can see you are lying:

Domenici then got on the phone for a conversation that lasted "one to two minutes," Iglesias recalled. "Are these going to be filed before November?" Domenici asked, Iglesias testified, referring to the kickback case. Unnerved by the call, Iglesias said he responded that they were not. "I'm sorry to hear that," Domenici replied, according to Iglesias, who added that the senator then hung up. . . . Domenici stressed in a statement issued yesterday that Iglesias "confirmed" that the senator never mentioned the November election and that he had no idea why the prosecutor felt "violated."

Amazing.

Republican "federalism":

Another prosecutor, John McKay of Seattle, said he received a call in late 2004 from Ed Cassidy, a former chief of staff to Representative Doc Hastings, Republican of Washington. At the time, Mr. McKay was weighing whether to convene a grand jury to investigate accusations of voter fraud in a close election for governor. He said Mr. Cassidy called to inquire about the status of the investigation. . . . In remarks after the hearings, McKay said that officials in the White House counsel's office, including then-counsel Harriet E. Miers, asked him to explain why he had "mishandled" the governor's race during an interview for a federal judgeship in September 2006.

It gets even better:

Timothy Griffin, Karl Rove’s assistant, the President’s pick as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas . . . was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election. Key voters on Griffin’s hit list: Black soldiers and homeless men and women. . . .

Libby Juror #9, Denis Collins, a journalist and author, made the rounds of every network yesterday. On Larry King Live, he said he'd be writing about his experiences but hadn't yet decided in what form.

Today, his 7 page online account of what happened inside the jury room appears exclusively at Huffington Post.

Update: Also check out Technorati's Buzz TV with a cutie named Aaron. He highlights juror #9 Denis Collins first hand account at HuffPo and this TalkLeft post. I really like the fast moving video at the beginning, the images flash as as fast as this one.