ASSOCIATED PRESS: WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s political support eroded significantly Wednesday as three fellow Republicans in Congress called for his resignation and party leaders pushed him from senior committee posts. The White House expressed its disappointment, too and not a word of support for the 62-year-old lawmaker, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge stemming from an undercover police operation in an airport men’s room. Craig “represents the Republican party,” said Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the first fellow GOP member of Congress to urge a resignation. Craig said Tuesday he had committed no wrongdoing and […]

NEW YORK TIMES: Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom. On Tuesday, Mr. Craig, 62, held a news conference to defend himself, calling the guilty plea “a mistake” and declaring, “I am not gay” — even as the Senate Republican leadership asked for an Ethics Committee review. It was a bizarre spectacle, and only the latest in a string of accusations of […]

BY JAMES GLAN & ERIC SCHMITT OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BAGHDAD, Aug. 27 — Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here. The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. […]

VIA ROLL CALL: Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon. Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on […]

CRAWFORD, Texas — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, ending a months-long standoff with Republican and Democratic critics who called for his ouster over the Justice Department’s botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firing of U.S. attorneys, officials said Monday. The likely temporary replacement for Gonzales is Solicitor General Paul Clement, who would take over until a permanent replacement is found, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two administration officials speaking on grounds of anonymity said that Gonzales had submitted a resignation letter last Friday.These officials declined to be identified because the […]

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Several individuals and groups are organized in vocal opposition to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations, including: *StopHerNow.com: This is both a Web site and an independent expenditure group dedicated to “rescuing America from the radical ideas of Hillary Clinton.” It includes cartoons called “The Hillary Show,” a “Jetsons”-like satire that portrays Clinton as a mean talk show host. The group is run and funded by Richard Collins in Dallas. Republican consultant Arthur Finkelstein founded the site and now is an adviser.   *Citizens United: This conservative organization is releasing a film this fall about Clinton that “aims to […]

“We’ve begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Al Anbar province, it’s working.” –Hillary Clinton’s Remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Missouri RELATED: The humanitarian disaster in Iraq is being compounded by a mass exodus of their medical staff fleeing chronic violence and lawlessness. A report by Oxfam International shows the lack of doctors and nurses is fracturing a health system on the brink of collapse. The research revealed that many hospitals, and medical teaching facilities in Baghdad have lost up to 80 per cent of their teaching staff. The lack […]

The FBI recently announced it is changing its policy of not hiring people with a history of marijuana or other illegal drug use because the policy disqualifies so many people the agency cannot fill needed positions. Asking job applicants about past drug use during polygraph tests was “tripping people up” said Mark S. Zaid, a defense lawyer who works on FBI employment disputes. According to Zaid, in an interview in the August 7, Washington Post, the FBI realized that their drug policy was causing them to “lose too many good people.” Despite 30 years of “Just Say No” rhetoric and […]

FORBES: For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods. There were times, huddled on the floor in solitary confinement with that head-banging music blaring dawn to dusk and interrogators yelling the same questions over and over, that Vance began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut. He had thought he was doing a good and noble thing when he started telling the FBI about the guns and the land mines and the rocket-launchers – all […]

PEREZHILTON: “Sources reveal exclusively to PerezHilton.com that U.S. officials will be holding a press conference shortly to announce the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. South Florida police organizations are calling in reinforcements before the announcement is made, we?re told.” THE AGE: “Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque today said President Fidel Castro was still recovering from his operation last year and was keeping busy, having personally instructed him on his visit to Brazil. While attending the Forum for East Asia Latin American Co-operation (FEALAC), Roque, in an interview with AFP, dispelled rumours about Castro’s health taking a turn for […]

WARNING: Crass language and moronic antics. Interesting that out of the entire field of presidential candidates, he only threatens to gun-rape (orally and otherwise) minorities and women. What a tough guy.