There They Go Again

The surge may not be temporary, and Americablog's John Aravosis is steamed:

"What a surprise. Now the surge of only 21,000 troops -- now 30,000 troops -- is a permanent escalation that may last to the end of Bush's term. In other words, Bush is running out the clock, he has no intention of ever leaving Iraq, and plans on handing his disaster off to the next president. This is atrocious."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, is putting restrictions on which officials can testify before Congress. I didn't know you could do that.

Kargo X at Kos hammers The Hammer:

"What is it with Republican crooks and their need to hide behind the skirts of their women?

" Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is calling on the Justice Department either to drop its investigation of his wife and former political associates or else to bring charges quickly.

"DeLay said he has given the FBI documents exonerating his wife, but an associate of the former lawmaker said that agents have followed up with a fresh round of subpoenas.

"The inquiry appears to be focused on determining whether DeLay's wife, Christine, earned her pay from two organizations controlled by Ed Buckham, a lobbyist once closely affiliated with the former Republican leader, according to sources interviewed by federal investigators. Several former employees of the groups have received subpoenas for documents, some in the past few weeks.

"That's reminiscent, of course, of the recent FBI raids on the businesses of the wives of fellow Republicans Rick Renzi and John Doolittle.

"I haven't really figured out yet whether my position on graft is more the 'traditional values' kind -- from the days when men were men, and they didn't hide their bribes in their wives' petticoats -- or the 'progressive' kind, where women on the take get to keep their ill-gotten gains for themselves, instead of just being a pass-through to support their husbands' foppish Euro-golfing and Freudian cigar puffing habits."

Did Nancy Pelosi do anything wrong when she sponsored a $25 million earmark for a waterfront-redevelopment project near several properties in which her husband has a financial stake? National Review takes a look.

So does TPM's Greg Sargent, who considers the story hogwash:

"The GOP is hammering Pelosi for including a provision for $25 million in waterfront improvements in San Francisco in a big water redevelopment bill passed by the House in April. The GOP is insinuating that the provision was included by Pelosi because it could boost the value of land her husband owns in the city.

"The AP jumped at the GOP's accusations late Tuesday, moving this story about the GOP's attack.

"As the AP story noted, Pelosi's aides are defending her by pointing out that 'the waterfront improvements were requested by the Port of San Francisco,' not by Pelosi, and noting that the rental properties owned by Pelosi's husband are at least a mile away from the project."

Now this strikes me as outright entrapment, not to mention cruel and unusual. The Hill reports:

"The minds behind TMZ.com, the Hollywood gossip site that attracts millions of readers a month by chronicling the misadventures of Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and other celebrities, are contemplating a juicy prank for Washington's less-dazzling glitterati. To attract viewers and buzz to a proposed D.C.-based gossip site, TMZ's brain trust has batted around the idea of a 'cleavage cam,' according to a source who discussed editorial plans with TMZ.

"Their idea is to conceal a camera in the cleavage of a gal who is -- how shall we put this? -- well able to conceal it, and then send her to events and receptions on Capitol Hill and around town to catch celebrity Washingtonians failing to keep custody of their eyes."

You've been warned.