Wednesday News

• Why Bush Gave Scooter Libby a Pass


• 'Panic Mode' Over GOP Revolt on Iraq


• Fred Thompson is Dumb As Hell


• DC Madam Exposes GOP Senator as Hypocritical Whoremonger

  "While Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) was busy defending the sanctity of marriage against gays and the "Hollywood left" publicly, he was busy denigrating it behind closed doors with prostitutes."

• 62 Immigrants Die in US Jails

  "Sixty-two immigrants have died in US jails since 2004 for lack of medical care, human rights groups told members of the US Congress Monday. 'Deficient medical care in immigration detention is a systematic problem and needs to be addressed,' said Tom Jawetz, of the American Civil Liberties Union, the largest US group defending civil rights," reports Agence France-Presse.

• EU Mediterranean States Call for Middle East Peace Conference

  "Francois Murphy reports for Reuters that the foreign ministers of EU's Mediterranean states - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Romania and Slovenia have welcomed Arab states' efforts for peace following the failed US-backed 'road map.' The EU states have called for an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying Israel should make more concessions for peace."

• Iraq Study Group plan puts Dems in defense-bill bind

  Elana Schor and Manu Raju of The Hill report, "A bipartisan proposal to implement the Iraq Study Group's recommendations is gaining momentum among Senate Republicans, but is putting Democrats in a tough position with an anti-war base that wants the chamber to take a much harder line during this month's Iraq war debate."

• Official: Iraq Gov't Missed All Targets

  Anne Flaherty and Anne Gearan report for the Associated Press: "A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the US-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reforms. 'The 'pivot point' for addressing the matter will no longer be September 15, as initially envisioned, when a full report on Bush's so-called 'surge' plan is due, but instead will come this week when the interim mid-July assessment is released,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft is still under discussion."

• Gonzales Was Told of FBI Violations

  John Solomon of the Washington Post reports: "As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. 'There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse,' Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005. Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act."