Bob Novak, unhappy at being interrupted by James Carville, who then made fun of Novak, said to Carville on the air, "This is bullsh*t" and walked off the set. Crooks and Liars has the video.

The segment began with Novak joking about the Katherine Harris make-up flap. Novak proceeds to political analysis of Harris's chances in the Senate race. Carville interrupts him, and he asks to finish. Carville responds:

Carville: "You've gotta show these right-wingers some kind of backbone, you know, the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you show them you're tough."

Novak says "that's bullsh*t. Then he says "Let it go." But, the segment host, Dan Harris Ed Henry, threw the next question to Carville instead of letting Novak finish his answer. So Novak walked off the set.

Media Bistro reports a CNN spokesperson later said:

"Bob Novak's behavior on CNN today was inexcusable and unacceptable. Mr. Novak has apologized to CNN, and CNN apologizes to its viewers for his language and actions. We've asked Mr. Novak to take some time off," a CNN spokeswoman told us.

The AP now has the story.

by TChris

While it's difficult to predict the kind of Supreme Court Justice that John Roberts might become, it is increasingly apparent that his memory is a bit fuzzy. First he didn't remember being on the steering committee of the Washington chapter of the Federalist Society. Then he neglected to disclose that he had been a registered lobbyist for the cosmetics industry.

In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Roberts explained that his firm had registered him as a lobbyist because he met with government lawyers as part of his work representing the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Assn. At the time, the association sought to block a proposed labeling regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

...Roberts explained that because his work for the association consisted of preparation for litigation, "the question about lobbying on the questionnaire did not trigger a memory of those meetings."

Anyone feel like taking the reins here for the afternoon? I've said all I have to say - it's your turn.

Investigative reporter Murray Waas and Joseph Wilson were on Demcracy Now today discussing RoveGate, the White House Iraq Group and the Cheney connections. Here's the transcript, it's good stuff.

As I opined here, for me,

All roads still lead to the White House Iraq Group, Office of Special Plans and Defense Policy Board: Libby, Luti,John Hannah, Stephen Hadley, Robert Joseph, to name a few.

Not to forget, of course, that Karl Rove attended most of the White House Iraq group meetings.

Two of Michael Jackson's jurors are going to write books saying they believed he was guilty. No surprise here, the way guilt sells in America.

There ought to be a constitutional way to pass a law prohibiting jurors from writing books profiting off their experiences. Who will speak their mind during deliberations knowing their fellow jurors may pen a tell-all afterwards?

What happens inside the jury room should stay in the jury room. It's none of our business. The verdict is all we need. If something improper happened, like extraneous evidence was introduced, the jurors should tell the lawyers in the case or the Judge who will then decide how to deal with it.

A Press Release from Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette, co-author of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810) today condems Focus on the Family's James Dobson's likening of stem cell research to Nazi experiments in World War II. (received by e-mail.)

James Dobson's remarks were extremely ignorant and insulting. While it's sad that they warrant a response, his comments diminish the enormity of the Nazis' atrocities and are an appalling distortion of the debate," said Rep. DeGette. "In a perfect world, everyone would ignore such inflammatory rhetoric. Barring that, it must be condemned by all rational people. I hope my Republican colleagues express the same outrage with Dobson that they have expressed for partisan purposes in the past."

Dobson's comments, delivered on the August 3 broadcast of the Focus on the Family radio show, were first reported by Media Matters. They can be heard online here . On the show, Dobson said:

No, Fitzerald, Cooper, Sauber, Rove , Luskin and Ginsberg is not the name of a law firm. Here are the dots.

I've been wondering why there has been no comment from Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, since the information came out about Rove's right and left hand aides being called to the grand jury last Friday. The LA Times reports Luskin declined comment. I haven't found anything with a comment from Luskin, but think this August 1 Legal Times interview (subscription required) with Richard Sauber, Matt Cooper's lawyer, is interesting and may shed some light on Luskin's silence. Sauber says that Fitzgerald isn't disclosing his hand, either in conversation or in body language.

LT: From all that you've heard and all of the people you have spoken to, what do you think Fitzgerald is aiming for?

RS: I spent a lot of time on the phone [with Fitzgerald] and in person. He was so careful not to give away anything -- even with body language -- any indication of what he was looking at or where he was going. It was quite astonishing how uncommunicative he was. So the short answer is, I don't know.

But the only clue is that he submitted some fairly extensive material under seal. Every judge who has commented on that [has said] how impressive the showing is and how important this case is to national security. All I can surmise is that he has a substantial amount of evidence to continue a fairly robust investigation. And it does involve classified material.

The ACLU will be filing suit today against random subway bag searches.

The lawsuit, to be filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, contends that the searches are "virtually certain neither to catch any person trying to carry explosives into the subway nor to deter such an effort." It also says that many riders have been selected in a "discriminatory and arbitrary" manner, creating the potential for racial profiling.

Also check out TalkLeft's 4th Amendment subway tote (click on larger version.) Somehow, it seems appropriate to hand a bag that reminds the officer of the wording of that great Amendment as he or she is searching through your personal items without a warrant or probable cause.

Amnesty International will be releasing a report later today that accuses the U.S. of torturing ghost detainees, including two Yemeni nationals.

In a report to be released later today, Amnesty International details the stories of two Yemeni men who were both tortured for four days in Jordan before spending 18 months in secret detention. Amnesty says the men are still being held in prison in Yemen at the behest of US authorities, without being charged.

Amnesty believes the men's stories are part of a broader picture of US secret detentions centres around the world.

While much attention is paid to Judge John Roberts' position on Roe v. Wade and the right to privacy, there is another critical issue that he needs to be questioned on: his views towards capital punishment.

The Washington Post reports that at his 2003 confirmation hearing for his seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Russ Feingold had the following exchange with him:

Normally, I don't quote Newt Gingrich as an authoriative source. But I'm making an exception this one time, for his comments on the results of the Schmidt-Hackett race in Ohio:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) warned fellow Republicans yesterday not to ignore the implications of the party's narrow victory in Tuesday's special election in Ohio, saying the public mood heading into next year's midterm elections appears to helping Democrats and hurting Republicans.

"It should serve as a wake-up call to Republicans, and I certainly take it very seriously in analyzing how the public mood evidences itself," Gingrich said. "Who is willing to show up and vote is different than who answers a public opinion poll. Clearly, there's a pretty strong signal for Republicans thinking about 2006 that they need to do some very serious planning and not just assume that everything is going to be automatically okay."

Did Martha Stewart break the rules of her home confinement? Her lawyer confirms she has agreed to a three week extension of her home arrest which was supposed to end next week.

The New York Post reported Sunday that Stewart was seen riding an off-road vehicle on her estate and attended a yoga class nearby.

More here.