Team Libby has finished cross-examining Judith Miller. She was stronger today than yesterday and Bill Jeffress did not (in my opinion) make any inroads with her or trip her up. I think that the jury will find her credible.

Bottom Line: She is sure that Scooter Libby was the first to tell her that Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and that it happened on June 23 and again on July 8. She can't say it with 100% certainty but that's her belief based upon her memory and her notes and she has zero recollection of anyone else telling her.

Libby told investigators and the grand jury he learned of Wilson's wife from Tim Russert on July 10th. He says he was so preoccupied with pressing national issues, he forgot that he first learned of Valerie Wilson from Dick Cheney.

If he was so busy with other matters, why was he having a two hour meeting during the workday with Judith Miller at the St. Regis on July 8?

Fitzgerald redirects, a little bumpy, no big deal. Then the legal wrangling starts over Miller's notes and Libby's Aspen letter to Judy.

Barack Obama has been criticized often by me for lacking sufficient commitment to a politics of contrast. My view was well explained by Paul Krugman in his recent column On Partisanship:

Barack Obama recently lamented the fact that “politics has become so bitter and partisan” — which it certainly has. But he then went on to say that partisanship is why “we can’t tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that’s what we have to change first.” Um, no. If history is any guide, what we need are political leaders willing to tackle the big problems despite bitter partisan opposition. . . . Or to put it another way: what we need now is another F.D.R., not another Dwight Eisenhower. . . .

Thus it is very encouraging to see Obama take a strong contrasting view on Iraq. And not just for the contrast, but because Iraq CAN be the key to a lasting realignment in favor of the Democrats.

When policy and science collide in the Bush administration, it's like an 18-wheeler smashing into a Yugo. Science doesn't survive, as witnesses (including Rick Piltz, formerly of the federal Climate Change Science Program) told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform yesterday.

Part of his job, Mr. Piltz said, was to compile periodic assessments of government climate research for the Congress. “This report has essentially been made to vanish by the Bush administration,” he said.

The testimony coincides with the release of a report that documents and criticizes the administration's "widespread political interference in federal climate science." The Union of Concerned Scientists surveyed climate scientists, with disturbing results.

What an afternoon at the Scooter Libby trial. This is what I came to Washington for -- that sense of being right in the middle of the action, totally engrossed in the moment, never once looking at my watch, and when 5:00 came, wishing we didn't have to go home.

The day began slowly enough, with David Addington still on the stand and Libby lawyer Ted Wells questioning him about documents for almost two hours. Enough about that.

The main attraction was journalist and former New York Times reporter Judith Miller. She looked stunning, very pretty and impeccably groomed. The reporters in the courtroom all turned to watch her stride into the courtroom, chin up. Her lawyer, Washington powerhouse Bob Bennett, took a seat behind the Government's table. She was calm as she took the stand.

Judith Miller testified today in the Scooter Libby trial. She sailed through Fitzgerald's direct examination but started on a downhill course as soon as Bill Jeffress began cross-examining her.

The lawyers and judge are in deep debate over Paragraph 5 to Judith Miller's affidavit in support of a motion to quash.

I'll have details at Firedoglake later tonight. In the meantime, check out Marcy's live-blogging of the testimony, as well as Rory and Clarice at Mediabloggers.

This is how the Tampa police treated a woman who reported being raped.

Polife officers helping the 21-year-old woman search for her attacker jailed her after finding that she failed to pay back money she owed after a 2003 theft arrest. A jail worker later refused to give her a second dose of a morning-after pill to prevent pregnancy because of religious convictions, said Vic Moore, the college student's attorney.

Moral: don't report a rape if you've ever failed to pay a court obligation. Second moral: if the jailer won't let you take your emergency contraception, call the press.

[T]he woman was allowed to take the second emergency contraceptive pill Monday afternoon, a day late, and then only after reporters started calling police and jail officials. Authorities then arranged a special emergency bond hearing on Monday afternoon.

A public school that wants to search a student's urine for evidence of alcohol consumption should seek a warrant based on probable cause. The shortcut taken by Pequannock Township (NJ) High School is offensive: random urinalysis using a dubious screening test.

Urine screenings look for ethyl glucuronide, produced by the body after it metabolizes alcohol. School officials acknowledge the test is sensitive, and false positive readings can be the result of using products containing ethanol, including mouthwash and Balsamic vinegar.

The test claims to detect alcohol consumption up to 80 hours before the urine is collected. Accuracy issues notwithstanding, whether students consume alcohol when they aren't at school, perhaps with a parent's permission, should be addressed by parents, not schools.

"Medical care and treatment are issues between parents and children," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Residents of New York City should question whether the NYPD is spending their tax dollars wisely. A woman who had been severely beaten was discovered outside a Hell's Angels Clubhouse in the East Village. Witnesses said she was thrown out of the building, so the police obtained a warrant to search for evidence of an assault. So far, so good, but before knocking and seeking entry, the police assembled a "heavily armed Emergency Service Unit."

Police helicopters circled overhead, sharpshooters were stationed on nearby roofs and officers were armed for a siege ... After several hours, as police prepared to raid the club, a Hells Angels official arrived, examined the warrant and invited them inside.

An attorney for the Hells Angels said police overreacted. "The helicopters, the SWAT teams, the boys and all the toys, the armored personnel carrier -- I think it's a little much," said Ron Kuby, the attorney.

Robert Stein, the former comptroller and funding officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, was sentenced to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and money laundering charges.

He admitted conspiring with Philip H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen with businesses in Romania, Bruce D. Hopfengardner, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, and others including several high-ranking Army officers. Bloom, who controlled companies in Iraq and Romania, bid on projects using dummy corporations and Stein ensured that one of the firms was awarded the contract, according to court documents. ...

The businessman allegedly showered Hopfengardner and Stein with luxury gifts such as cash, premium airline seats, jewelry and sexual favors from women at his Baghdad villa.

Bloom and Hopfengardner await sentencing.

Opponents of the president's desire to keep a substantial number of troops in harm's way in Iraq (much less to increase their numbers) have differed in their proposals to bring the troops home. Sen. Russ Feingold began a hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, entitled "Exercising Congress’s Constitutional Power to End a War," with this statement, in which he calls upon the legislature to exercise its power to defund the war.

Excerts:

Tomorrow, I will introduce legislation that will prohibit the use of funds to continue the deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq six months after enactment. By prohibiting funds after a specific deadline, Congress can force the President to bring our forces out of Iraq and out of harm’s way. ...

We are here to find out from [expert witnesses] not what Congress should do, but what Congress can do. Ultimately, it rests with Congress to decide whether to use its constitutional powers to end the war.

The answer should be clear. Since the President is adamant about pursuing his failed policies in Iraq, Congress has the duty to stand up and use its power to stop him. If Congress doesn’t stop this war, it’s not because it doesn’t have the power. It’s because it doesn’t have the will.

I'm sitting in the media room at the courthouse in D.C., laptop set up on the table in front of me, my Starbucks in hand. Judith Miller is today's big witness, but first we have to finish David Addington, Cheney's former counsel and current chief of staff. I'm going to watch Addington from here, and then go in the courtroom for Miller.

Marcy will be live-blogging the testimony at Firedoglake.

Here's a place for you to discuss the news of day or whatever else is on your mindws.

It's week two in the Scooter Libby trial. Marcy has done a great job of live-blogging todays testimony. Today was my first day at the trial. I spent most of it in the courtroom, seated behind Mrs. Libby, and some in the media room. There were a lot of veteran PlameGate reporters on hand: David Corn of the Nation, David Schuster of MSNBC, Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, Byron York of the National Review and John Dickerson of Time, to name a few. Also following the action: Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News, David Stout of the New York Times, Nina Totenberg of NPR.

Being in the courtroom has advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you get the big picture, being able to watch the interaction between the prosecution and defense teams, Scooter Libby and his lawyers, the jury and the Judge. You also get to see what seems of interest to the jurors, what they smile and laugh at and what doesn't faze them.

On the minus side, it was stifling hot, many of us (including the Judge at one point) were using paper to fan ourselves and if you leave while court is in session, you can't get back in. Also, you are reduced to handwritten notes since no laptops are allowed in the courtroom.  This is not a high-tech trial. The lawyers aren't tapping away at computers. The exhibits aren't fancy. There are a lot of assistants on both sides.

Now for the substance. Cathie Martin, Cheney's former press secretary, was the first witness of the day, where she underwent cross-examination by Libby lawyer Ted Wells. He took her through a chronological version of her testimony from last week.

If there was anything new, I didn't learn it. If he had a point, I didn't get it.