Matt Stoller of the Clark Sphere discusses reactionary politics in the Democratic and Republican Parties--based upon his experiences with the Kerryand Clark Campaigns. It's a continuing series of essays. Part II is here.

Musician John Mellencamp and his wife Elaine have published An Open Letter to America: It's Time to Take Back Our Country. Here's a portion.

The Governor of California was removed from office based on finance troubles. And yet George W Bush has lied to us, failed to keep our own borders secure, entered a war under false pretense, endangered lives, and created financial chaos. How is it that he hasn't been recalled? Perhaps this time we could even have a real election . . . but that wouldn't fit the Bush administration's "take what you want and fire people later" policy. Take an election; take an oil field; take advantage of your own people -- a game of political Three-Card Monte.

The fight for freedom in this country has been long, painful, and ongoing. It is time to take back our country. Take it back from political agendas, corporate greed and overall manipulation. It is time to take action here in our land, in our own schools, neighborhoods, farms, and businesses. We have been lied to and terrorized by our own government, and it is time to take action. Now is the time to come together.

To Washington.

Musician John Mellencamp and his wife Elaine have published An Open Letter to America: It's Time to Take Back Our Country. Here's a portion.

The Governor of California was removed from office based on finance troubles. And yet George W Bush has lied to us, failed to keep our own borders secure, entered a war under false pretense, endangered lives, and created financial chaos. How is it that he hasn't been recalled? Perhaps this time we could even have a real election . . . but that wouldn't fit the Bush administration's "take what you want and fire people later" policy. Take an election; take an oil field; take advantage of your own people -- a game of political Three-Card Monte.

The fight for freedom in this country has been long, painful, and ongoing. It is time to take back our country. Take it back from political agendas, corporate greed and overall manipulation. It is time to take action here in our land, in our own schools, neighborhoods, farms, and businesses. We have been lied to and terrorized by our own government, and it is time to take action. Now is the time to come together.

To Washington.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street faces more trouble. Not only was his office bugged, but the feds have subpoenaed his bank records...as well as those of his wife and son.

The subpoena was served Friday at Commerce Bank's Philadelphia headquarters and sought bank records for Street, his wife Naomi Post, his son Sharif Street, and Ronald A. White, a lawyer who has been among Street's closest advisers and who has raised more than $250,000 for his campaigns, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

It does seem like a dirty leaks campaign is going on. Who but law enforcement would know about the subpoena and leak it? Sure, maybe bank employees knew, but what would be their motive to leak it and why would they risk their job to do so? After the leak, a bank spokesman confirmed the existence, but not the scope, of the subpoenas.

Lawyer White had this to say about the seizures:

White, speaking outside a youth foundation event Saturday, said federal authorities had taken "every record I have." Why have they focused this entire investigation on only minority businesses?" White told WPVI-TV. "Are you telling me that minorities are the only people that have contracts in this city? I don't think so."

Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke out today on what he called "valuable progress" in the CIA Leak Probe. It sounds like Ashcroft is at least paying lip service to the criticisms lodged against him for not having turned the investigation over to a special counsel.

Attorney General Ashcroft should recuse himself immediately, and yet we get continued mistakes and continued mishandling of this case," Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York , said on the Senate floor.

"I have not foreclosed any option in this matter," Ashcroft said when asked about a special counsel.

As Taegan Goddard of Political Wire says, this is just priceless:

Bush Order To Stop Leaks Is Leaked

"Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his policies in Iraq, President Bush - living up to his recent declaration that he is in charge - told his top officials to 'stop the leaks' to the media, or else," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"News of Bush's order leaked almost immediately."

Bush told top aides that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed officials, "and that if he did, there would be consequences," according to a "senior administration official who asked that his name not be used."

Helen Thomas writes about President Bush's disconnect with the rest of the country, which she partially attributes to the fact that he doesn't read newspapers.

The President of the United States doesn't read newspapers? We find this astonishing. Apparently, in an interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, Bush said he relies on aides to tell him what's important in the daily papers.

Bush was asked how he gets his news. Answer: He relies on briefings by chief of staff Andrew Card and national security affairs adviser Condoleezza Rice.

He walks into the Oval Office in the morning, Bush said, and asks Card: "What's in the newspapers worth worrying about? I glance at the headlines just to kind of (get) a flavor of what's moving," Bush said. "I rarely read the stories," he said.

Bush said he has been getting his news this way for quite some time.

Busy as he is, Bush would be better acquainted with the daily lives of Americans if he read his daily newspapers. I don't know of many brave White House staffers willing to risk the president's anger by dishing him the bad news.

Instead, Bush is spoon-fed the relevant news from his staff. Top aides usually know the buttons not to push when it comes to bad news. More often they will tell the president what he wants to hear -- the good news if there is any. Or they may just sugar coat the news that is tougher to swallow.

We find Bush's statement pathetically sad for him, and frightening for the rest of us. Sad for him because almost everyone reads a newspaper somewhere. Maybe we all don't subscribe to one, but we all read one--in the taxi cab, at the coffee or donut shop, at the barber's, in the doctor's waiting room, at the car dealership, the airport, hotel lobby, shoe shine stand.... all of us but the President of the United States.

And frightening for the rest of us because here is a man whose awesome responsibilities include making the most important of decisions for our country, those that affect our daily lives and the lives of those in other countries--as well as decisions that shape and define our country's role in the world -- and he fulfills these responsiblities by relying upon second-hand news.

An ethics charge has been brought against Florida's ex-Secretary of State Katherine Harris.

The Florida chapter of the senior's organization Alliance of Retired Americans has requested the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct inquire into Harris' conduct:

The group claims that Harris abused the powers of her office and trampled on First Amendment rights when she had her staff seize printed material -- health care talking points and copies of Harris' voting record -- from retirees who attended a town hall meeting with the congresswoman in Bradenton, Fla., this summer.

Harris' response?

"It is unfortunate that these professional disrupters from Palm Beach seek to lengthen their 15 minutes of fame through a frivolous complaint," Harris' office wrote in an e-mail to the Miami Daily Business Review.

The FBI has confirmed it planted a concealed listening device in the office of Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. The agency refuses to say whether the bug was legally or illegally installed.

The bug was found during a routine sweep of Street's office by police. The Democrat is a locked in a bitter rematch against Republican businessman Sam Katz, and the campaign has been marked by charges of threats and race-baiting. Election Day is Nov. 4.

At a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Street said for the second day that he didn't know who bugged his office or why. "I haven't done anything wrong, and I don't know that anybody in my cabinet or in my staff around me has done anything wrong," Street said. Street's campaign suggested the bugging was instigated by the U.S. Justice Department for political reasons.

If the FBI is publicly acknowledging putting a bug in the Mayor's office, we suspect it one that was lawfully obtained. Meaning the correct procedure was followed to get it. But that doesn't mean it will turn out to be legally valid. That takes months for courts to determine.

Why won't the FBI or Justice Department acknowledge a lawful order now? They may believe they are prohibited from disclosing details about it until a Court authorizes them to do so. Here's how it works:

Maureen Dowd on the Wilson-Plane affair and Bush's promise to hunt down the culprit:

The issue is the administration's credibility, not Joe Wilson's.

The men who won the 2000 election by promising to restore honor and integrity to the White House spent yesterday doing a pretty good imitation of O. J. Simpson, looking for the culprit. You could just picture President Bush with his Sherlock Holmes deerstalker, magnifying glass and bloodhound Barney. Silly. The White House knows who did it. All Mr. Bush has to do is roll heads.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is under increasing pressure from Democrats to appoint a special counsel to investigate the alleged CIA leaks by White House officials. Why? Check out his ties to the subjects of the investigation:

Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, whose possible role in the case has raised questions, was a paid consultant to three of Mr. Ashcroft's campaigns in Missouri, twice for governor and for United States senator, in the 1980's and 1990's, an associate of Mr. Rove said on Wednesday.

Jack Oliver, the deputy finance chairman of Mr. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, was the director of Mr. Ashcroft's 1994 Senate campaign, and later worked as Mr. Ashcroft's deputy chief of staff.

....At the very least, the relationships have given new grist to the Democrats. "This is not like, `Oh, yeah, they're both Republicans, they've been in the same room together,' " said Roy Temple, the former executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party and the former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Mel Carnahan of Missouri. "Karl Rove was once part of John Ashcroft's political strategic team. You have both the actual conflict, and the appearance of conflict. It doesn't matter what's in the deep, dark recesses of their hearts. It stinks."

To high heaven.

Liberal Oasis did the research and comes up with this gem from Attorney General John Ashcroft from October 4, 1997 when he appeared on CNN's Evans & Novak, in which he expresses his support for independent counsel to investigate issues surrounding Al Gore's fundraising:

ASHCROFT: The truth of the matter is that if the law's been violated, we should be able to ascertain that. We can, if we have an independent person without a conflict of interest…

ROWLAND EVANS: …The attorney general has shaved down all the allegations that Vice President Gore apparently down to one single allegation -- which telephone he used to make these fundraising calls from. Do you really think that alone is worthy of a special prosecutor?

ASHCROFT: …you know, a single allegation can be most worthy of a special prosecutor. If you're abusing government property, if you're abusing your status in office, it can be a single fact that makes the difference on that.