Crooks and Liars has the video from last night's Saturday Night Live Funhouse With Bush. It's great, go give it a watch.

Every time Bush, Cheney or Rummy say something that has ultimately turned out wrong, someone, animal or thing spits water or soup on them. Karl Rove scurries into the frame each time and makes them do another take. All the audio is of course the real thing. Another excellent job by Robert Smigel and Matt O'Brien.

The FBI was busy tonight executing a search warrant at the Congressional office of William Jefferson (D-LA).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that the unusual raid on a Congressional office began about 7:15 p.m., when agents entered Mr. Jefferson's suite of offices in the Rayburn House Office Building, and was being conducted as part of an "ongoing corruption investigation."

An F.B.I. spokesman told the Times it is the first ever raid of a Congressperson's office. Jefferson's lawyer is angry.

Bruce Schneier has an excellent article up at Wired, The Eternal Value of Privacy, examining security and privacy in the context of the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

After examining privacy rights, and the intent of the framers of the Constitution in this regard, he writes:

How many of us have paused during conversation in the past four-and-a-half years, suddenly aware that we might be eavesdropped on? Probably it was a phone conversation, although maybe it was an e-mail or instant-message exchange or a conversation in a public place. Maybe the topic was terrorism, or politics, or Islam. We stop suddenly, momentarily afraid that our words might be taken out of context, then we laugh at our paranoia and go on. But our demeanor has changed, and our words are subtly altered.

This is the loss of freedom we face when our privacy is taken from us. This is life in former East Germany, or life in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And it's our future as we allow an ever-intrusive eye into our personal, private lives.

Tim Grieves at Salon does an excellent job today interviewing Marc Ash at Truthout about why he only issued a partial apology for Jason Leopold's article last Saturday stating sources had told him Rove had been indicted.

Marc's partial apology stated:

The time has now come, however, to issue a partial apology to our readership for this story. While we paid very careful attention to the sourcing on this story, we erred in getting too far out in front of the news-cycle. In moving as quickly as we did, we caused more confusion than clarity. And that was a disservice to our readership and we regret it. As such, we will be taking the wait-and-see approach for the time being. We will keep you posted.

The New York Daily News reports today that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage may be a key witness for the Government in the case against Scooter Libby and may have incriminating evidence against Karl Rove.

Raw Story adds:

The Daily News' story comes just a day after a post by Washington insider Steve Clemons and coverage by RAW STORY which signaled that Armitage's role in the CIA leak investigation had been understated. According to Clemons, Armitage testified three times before the grand jury.

Has Iraq turned into the new Bosnia? The Independent/UK reports:

Across central Iraq, there is an exodus of people fleeing for their lives as sectarian assassins and death squads hunt them down. At ground level, Iraq is disintegrating as ethnic cleansing takes hold on a massive scale.

On a related note, the New York Times has an in-depth report on how misjudgements marred U.S. plans for the creation of the Iraqi police force. It begins:

by Last Night in Little Rock

Primary day in Arkansas is Tuesday, May 23d. I first notice this about three weeks ago but had to confirm it first: Republicans are not admitting it.

A friend of mine, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is running for Lt. Gov., and there is a primary. Neither candidate has "Republican" on their yard signs.

There is a contested Republican primary for the Second District of Congress between two seemingly nice fellows, one with cheesy ads playing on the "Mayberry" theme because that's his name: Andy Mayberry. The other is irrelevant to you if you're outside this District. (The Democratic incumbent, Vic Snyder, lives two blocks from me. He's one of the few to vote against the "permanent tax cuts" that have gutted the economy.)

Our last Duke thread on this week's court hearing is full. Here's a new one for all topics related to the Duke lacrosse player's rape case.

Bump and Update: This just in from Karl Rove spokesman Mark Corallo [via e-mail in response to a question I e-mailed him]:

Nothing going on. I was told by several journalists who were down at the courthouse that the Grand Jury was not meeting today. Of course, the GJ may be meeting at the undisclosed location (as VP Cheney is out of town and not using it today...)

Thanks, Mark!

Update: Truthout Executive Director Mark Ash issues a "partial apology" regarding Jason Leopold's Saturday article.

The time has now come, however, to issue a partial apology to our readership for this story. While we paid very careful attention to the sourcing on this story, we erred in getting too far out in front of the news-cycle. In moving as quickly as we did, we caused more confusion than clarity. And that was a disservice to our readership and we regret it. As such, we will be taking the wait-and-see approach for the time being. We will keep you posted.

The AP reports:

Prisoners wielding improvised weapons clashed with guards trying to stop a detainee from committing suicide at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the military said Friday. The fight occurred Thursday in a medium-security section of the camp as guards were responding to the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention center on the U.S. Navy base, Cmdr. Robert Durand said.

Detainees used fans, light fixtures and other improvised weapons to attack the guards as they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner trying to hang himself, Durand said. Earlier in the day, three detainees in another part of the prison attempted suicide by swallowing prescription medicine they had been hoarding.

Time to listen to the U.N. and the wise counsel of other nations: Close Gitmo.

Update: This just in from Mark Corallo:

Nothing going on. I was told by several journalists who were down at the courthouse that the Grand Jury was not meeting today. Of course, the GJ may be meeting at the undisclosed location (as VP Cheney is out of town and not using it today...)

Thanks, Mark!

******
original post:

Okay, I don't think Karl Rove is on pins and needles any more. He obviously knows if there has been or will be action today. If the answer is "no," he's breathing a temporary sigh of relief. So he's leaving the hot seat on the pincushion. The rest of us are still on it.

But, there's no news. We've already speculated on just about every possible outcome, so how about a thread to talk about things unrelated to Rove to take our mind off the waiting. I'm headed to the gym for a boxing lesson. Then I'm going to finish my seminar outline on Terrorism and the War on Drugs that's due today for the NORML Aspen Legal seminar June 1-3.

Tell us what you're doing to pass the time -- or talk about other news and issues, your choice.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The Senate voted to make English the "national" or "common" language, according to CNN.com. Press Secretary Tony Snow said that the President supports it, too.

Too bad the Senate cannot make minimal competence in the language a requirement, too.