Sportswire.

“It’s an exceptional show, and I’m not even sure ‘exceptional’ is a strong enough word.” I’ve had considerable issues with Bill “Sports Guy” Simmons in the past, but, now that he’s become a fellow Wire enthusiast (see the last few paragraphs), I’m inclined to feel more charitable towards him. “After plowing through the first 37 episodes of ‘The Wire‘ in three weeks this summer, I agree with others who argue that it’s the most important television show of all-time, surpassing even ‘The Sopranos’ because of its ambition and social relevance.”

Feral Lapdog?

“The disclosures so far have been devastating. The book paints the administration as clueless, dishonest, and dysfunctional.”Slate‘s John Dickerson surveys the likely political impact of Bob Woodward’s State of Denial, which broke today (in the NYT, strangely enough) and which is apparently much more critical of the neocons than his last two puff pieces, Plan of Attack and Bush at War. Of course, we’ve all known that the Dubya White House is chock-full of scheming, untrustworthy, incompetent loons for years now, but apparently, when Bob Woodward finally figures it out, it’s suddenly newsworthy. Oh well, I’ll take it.

Foley’s Tomfoolery.

The GOP’s annus horribilis continues: Another once-safe House seat comes into play as Florida Republican Mark Foley abruptly resigns in the wake of a growing scandal involving inappropriate (or “sick sick sick“) e-mails sent to a 16-year-old page. “Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.” Foley was the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Ten Doctors, Twelve Cylons.

Season 2 of BBC’s Doctor Who revival premieres tonight on Sci-Fi, with — as most of y’all know — David Tennant (a.k.a. Barty Crouch, Jr. of Goblet of Fire) filling in for Christopher Eccleston as the second/tenth Doc. Meanwhile, season 3 of Battlestar Galactica doesn’t begin until October 6, so you still have a week to catch up on the Vichy/Resistance webisodes online.

The United States of Torture.

We don’t blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won’t remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration. They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.Abu Ghraib becomes standard operating procedure as Dubya’s terror bill — horrifying as it ispasses the House 253-168 (roll call) and the Senate 65-34 (roll call.) Twelve Senate Dems (well, eleven Senate Dems and Lieberman) voted for the bill: Carper, Johnson, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Menendez, Nelson, Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Stabenow. Chafee was the only Republican to vote against it, Snowe abstained.

Shameful, pitiful, demoralizing, pathetic. What else is there to say? As Rebecca Blood sums it up (via Medley): “We have lost the war on torture. It’s devastating.

Trouble Among Allen’s Confederates.

“We’re all aware, ourselves included, of the statements that got him into this. The infamous macaca statement. He’s using our flag to wipe the muck from his shoes that he’s now stepped in.” With his penchant for the N-word revealed and his bizarre reaction to his Jewish roots, George Allen was already having a bad week. (Allen’s still up on Webb, but barely.) Now, the Sons of Confederate Veterans want an apology for his recent remarks on their battle flag, which Allen recently discovered (at the age of 54) is offensive to most African Americans. Here’s a tip, George: So’s the noose.

Secret Agent Man.

Angelina Jolie feels neglected while Matt Damon looks to a long future of waterboarding and cherry-picking intelligence for political reasons in the new trailer for Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd, also starring De Niro, John Turturro, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, Joe Pesci, and Michael Gambon.

Revolving Door Redux.

A new report by the House Committee on Government Reform finds that Casino Jack and his associates billed the White House for 485 visits, ten of which were with Karl Rove. The White House says he’s lying, but really now: 485 sounds closer to the mark than two.

The Knights who say NIE.

“Four underlying factors are fueling the spread of the jihadist movement: (1) Entrenched grievances, such as corruption, injustice, and fear of Western domination, leading to anger, humiliation, and a sense of powerlessness; (2) the Iraq ‘jihad;’ (3) the slow pace of real and sustained economic, social, and political reforms in many Muslim majority nations; and (4) pervasive anti-US sentiment among most Muslims — all of which jihadists exploit.” In a sorry attempt at a document-dump diversion, the precis of the National Intelligence Estimate report cited over the weekend has been declassified by order of the Dubya administration, so as to help blur one of its central contentions in the public mind (point #2 above): The Iraq War has served to fuel the expansion of terrorism against the US and its allies. (Update: If you’re here from Daniel Drezner’s blog, welcome, and have a look around.)