And the War Came?

“Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week’s bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad’s main morgue.” While the Iraqi cabinet disputes the 1300 figure as “inaccurate and exaggerated,” the news from Baghdad is still tragic and horrifying: After the bombing of the Golden Mosque last week, Iraq appears to be in freefall, with 68 more casualties just today, and civil war looms. Dubya’s response so far: Civil war won’t happen, and, if it does, it’s y’all’s problem.

Face/Off.

Lots of Co. points the way to a fun timekiller: the MyHeritage Facial Recognition Analyzer, wherein you can compare a photo of yourself with their celebrity database. To be honest, the results seem kinda arbitrary. I tried three pics and never got the same result. In fact, I got:

Pic 1: Jeff Bridges, Sean Astin, Bela Bartok, Ashley Olson
Pic 2: Chloe Sevigny, Natalie Wood, Jude Law, Matt Damon
Pic 3: Ernst Lubitch, Carrie Underwood, Billy Boyd, Rupert Grint

So, I seem to look androgynous and hobbitlike…but, hey, at least Anthony Michael Hall didn’t come up.

Earmarks to the Ground.

In round one of the Senate legislative response to Casino Jack, Trent Lott circulates a reform bill that would stifle earmarks and mandate the disclosure of meals paid for by lobbyists. Well, it’s a start…but for now, Dems seem wary of the bill, “which seemed to be less stringent on several points than legislation they have proposed.”

Think of the Children.

In response to a GOP bill prohibiting gay adoption, Ohio State Senator Robert Hagan proposes a bill to ban adoption by Republicans. “To further lampoon Hood’s bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that ‘credible research’ shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing ’emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities.’” (By way of Do You Feel Loved.)

Scooter.com.

“Scooter Libby has a Web site. He’s not running for office, but the site makes it looks like he is. The lead picture on the front page shows him with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Other snapshots portray him in soft focus and at oblique angles, the kinds of images candidates use to make themselves look more huggable.” Slate‘s John Dickerson evaluates the web presence of the Libby Legal Defense Trust (put together by Scooter’s big-ticket friends), and what it tells us about Libby’s probable defense strategy.

Dubya’s Best Friend.

According to a new poll by CBS News (whose sampling, admittedly, might be skewed left), Dubya’s numbers have hit a new low, with only 34% of the country approving of his performance and 59% disapproving. Well, on the bright side for this administration, at least they’ve got Bin Laden’s vote, which, as Dubya himself now admits, helped him out in 2004.

Diebold Another Day.

“Let’s make this clear, folks. The docs Heller is accused of exposing were important evidence. First, they show that Diebold and their attorneys, Jones Day, conspired to mislead the California secretary of state, and that the lie they told was material, and resulted directly in the disenfranchisement of voters. Second, another document demonstrates that Diebold lied to the secretary of state when it represented that certain problems with its software were ‘fixed.’ This document, the release notes for the new software, showed that the problems were not fixed. Third, the documents showed that Diebold had been advised by Jones Day that what it had been doing with its uncertified software was illegal. Fourth, the documents show that Jones Day advised Diebold that it was subject to criminal prosecution. So in a nutshell, Diebold was defrauding the state government and taxpayers of California, and disenfranchising the voters of California. And the documents PROVE it.”

In keeping with recent GOP tales of hounding whistleblowers and using the long arm of government to attack critics, Stephen Heller — the man who exposed some severe shadiness on the part of voting machine maker Diebold and their corporate lawyers, Jones Day — is now facing now three felony counts for raising the alarm. “Heller’s lawyer believes the 2 year wait to file charges was due to the then-impending 2004 election, and that Diebold and their attorneys didn’t want the information to be made public in the lead up to the election.” Flashback: Diebold’s right-wing CEO guaranteed Dubya would win Ohio in the last campaign, and he may well have delivered. (Via Medley.)

McClellan: Hunt the Whistleblowers.

Arlen Specter, who has clearly given up on his oversight and impeachment talk of a few short weeks ago, tries at least to bring future NSA wiretap inquiries before the FISA court. Meanwhile, the White House nixes a call by 18 House Dems to appoint an independent counsel to delve into the NSA matter, opting instead for more of their patented Shoot-the-Messenger defense: “‘I think that where these Democrats who are calling for this ought to spend their time is on what was the source of the unauthorized disclosure of this vital, incredible program in the war on terrorism,’ White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. ‘I really don’t think there is any basis for a special counsel. … But the fact that this information was disclosed about the existence of this program has given the enemy some of our playbook.’“