Swampland

I corresponded with one of the court clerks about the seating for Tuesday’s hearing this morning; I was worried about getting in since I’ve somehow lost the badges they gave us the first time around. She told me she was trusting the press to “police themselves.”

And they say irony is dead.

It’s hard to tell from Jay’s post, but if you click through, you’ll see Dan has officially given “spend more time with my family” as his departure line:

With twin, 3-year-old boys and another son born in January, Bartlett said it was time to pursue a new chapter of his life and “reacquaint myself with my family.” His wife, Allyson, had

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Dan Bartlett went to work for George W. Bush straight out of college, 14 years ago, when Bush was making his first run for governor of Texas. During the 2000 campaign, Bartlett’s job was to know everything about Bush’s past and Texas record. He has been a constant in Bush’s political life. Now Bartlett, 36 today and the father of three …

I was wondering what Valerie Plame was doing in New York yesterday when I saw her across the lobby of my hotel. Turns out she was here to file suit in federal court against the CIA, which has blocked the publication of her memoir. It’s always amazing how Washington scandals metastasize.

Karen has a piece in the new print magazine about Barack Obama’s penchant for telling audiences things they don’t want to hear. Read it slowly — Karen is off for the next few weeks!

The Scooter Libby sentencing hearing takes place on Tuesday at 9:30am. It sounds like a SRO event:

Members of the media should be aware that the courtroom passes from the trial will apply to the sentencing. Please discuss the seating with your organization and decide on a representative – seating is expected to be quite limited!

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When Bob Novak, the Prince of both Darkness and conservative punditry, reviewed Fred Thompson’s much-anticipated May 4 speech at the Orange County Lincoln Club, his critique was so negative that you could almost hear the air hissing out of the Thompson 08 campaign balloon.

Novak’s occasional apostasy is what makes him a must-read for …

From Arkansas comes the sound of another shoe dropping in the Justice Department scandal. Via Amanda Terkel at Think Progress, the Arkansas Times is reporting that Karl Rove protege Tim Griffin has resigned as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Griffin got the post after previous U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins was …

Thanks to Jonathan Chait for reading the Corner so we don’t have to. He catches Mark Steyn piously bemoaning the state of political debate:

I respect the President and I appreciate that his sincerity on this issue has been obvious for his entire political career. But I don’t think he should impugn the good faith of those who, equally

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Thanks to the commenter that reminded me about the NYT piece on the torture report released this month. It’s sobering but not surprising reading for those that have been following the debate, most succinctly summed up by University of South Florida professor Randy Borum, “There’s an assumption that often passes for common sense that …

People all over are weighing in on how Fred Thompson’s entry into the GOP race will affect other campaigns. I continue to believe that he’s the Wesley Clark of the right and will flame out rather quickly, once he realizes that running for president requires more of him than sitting in an overstuffed leather chair dispensing gruff wisdom …