Per an article in the Tennessean:

The head of an electric cooperative trade group said Thursday that Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, was being investigated by the FBI for entering the group's private Web site.

Glenn English, chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, made the revelation at the end of a contentious House investigative hearing that Cooper instigated to look at the practices of cooperatives.

Cooper acknowledged that someone had given him the password to the internal site but denied any wrongdoing.

The investigation centered on a Texas electric co-op and some questionable salaries and spending practices.  Cooper used the investigation to begin probing into electrical co-ops nationwide.  

I was struck by the paragraphs in the Washington Post article about the Virginia Senate race that brownsox quoted in the House & Senate Roundup, 6/16 this afternoon.

They seemed ripe for a rewrite and application to the presidential race.  So, below the fold is my toungue tongue in cheek reinterpretation of those two paragraphs as they apply to John McCain's presidential candidacy.

As we've learned recently, it seems the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement has encountered some trouble.

From today's Washington Post:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday denounced demands made by the United States to extend the presence of American troops in Iraq, saying that the two sides are deadlocked and far from reaching an agreement.

"We found out that the demands of the American side are strongly violating the sovereignty of Iraq, something we could never accept," Maliki said.

Could this impasse possibly be planned to give W. an out?

I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR this morning.  They did a brief bit on the economy and the potential effects of continuing high energy prices on it.

The guest for the segment was David Wessel from the Wall Street Journal.  The gist of the interview centered on how high energy prices mean consumers pay more for gas, heat, and electricity.  This drop in disposable income available reduces spending and sours consumer confidence, etc.

One line struck me though, after the jump.

Just heard on Rachel Maddow's radio show, and I couldn't belive it, but I searched nypost.com and it's true.

New York Post GOSSIP columnist Richard Johnson has published Keith Olbermann's RESIDENTIAL address, right down to his apartment number.

I refuse to put up a link to the story, but if you search their site you can find it.

Reprehensible, disgusting, appalling.  I don't think there are words enough to condemn this.

Sure, for the intrepid it would likely be easy enough to search public records to find this information, but to publish it in a newspaper?

Am I over-reactng?  Given the ongoing rivalry between MSNBC's Olbermann and Murdoch owned Fox "News" Channel's Bill O'Reilly, this smacks of a disgusting breach of journalistic integrity and taking a profesional feud into the personal.

Here are a few contacts where you can lodge a complaint:

Online Editorial and News: Erle Norton webeditor@nypost.com  
Letters to the Editor: letters@nypost.com  
Editorials, Columnists: letters@nypost.com  
Page Six: Richard Johnson rjohnson@nypost.com
Administration: Anne Aquilina aaquilina@nypost.com

Update: Corrected Mrs. Black's name from the comments

Well, I screwed up with TiVo and lost my buffer trying to get the interview stored, so I'm not going to be able to quote the interview verbatim, but I'll provide the gist, which is STUNNING, below the fold.

I'm afraid I can't stick around to follow up on this as I have to head in to work, but I thought it important to get this out there.

Hey all!  My wife and I went to see Jon Stewart at the Ryman Auditorium here in Nashville Friday night (would have had this up sooner, but we spent the weekend helping her parents move).  

After picking up beverages at the bar - a couple of Yazoo Pale Ale's for me and a virgin margarita for my pregnant wife - we settled in to our balcony seats to await the fun.

Some highlights below fold.

Not that we didn't know that already, but on today's Morning Joe he dropped a gem of a quote that nearly made my head pop for it's idiocy. I've never liked him, but I didn't realize he was this stupid. Below the fold.

You may have seen this story soon after the last FISA vote.

Well, I just got my letter from Rep. Cooper.  Short and to the point, but wrong.  Below the fold.

This from Utah Rep. Chris Cannon:

There is nothing wrong with firing a U.S. attorney for reasons of politics. The fact is, the Democrats have been alleging corruption, (but) there is nothing on the table yet that would indicate corruption. U.S. attorneys are political, and they exist to pursue the agenda of the president, not their own."

If Hillary becomes the Democratic nominee, and then wins the Presidential election then by the end of her term America will have been run by TWO families for 24 or 28 years (depending on whether she wins a second term).

However, I'd prefer Murtha.  At the very least I'd like to see him get some serious consideration and for there to be some debate about the prospect.

Jump if you care to hear my reasoning.

The American Conservative has a devastating editorial urging conservatives to vote democratic

Here's the kicker: the editorial is in an "online preview" of the November 20 issue.

I'm not a subscriber.  Anyone know when their issues come out?  I know many magazines come out well before what they are dated.

Jump for a taste.

People are trying to take what he said and turn it in a way that it plays the way they'd like to see it play.

Was someone defending John Kerry on the botched joke?
Nope

Was someone defending the excerpts Jim Webb's novel?
Nope

It was FREAKING Rumsfeld regarding a statement by Gen. Casey on Iraq troop levels.

This from the Jedi Master Sith Lord of spin and obfuscation!

Since then I've done just a little digging and I believe there is a case to be made that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 should be stuck down as having been pocket vetoed!

I hope this makes for a legit first diary.  If not I'll remove it.

UPDATE: I suppose this is what happens when one gets a little too excited about a first diary. Had I taken a little more time I would have found the info about when the clock starts ticking - when presented to the White House, and when this bill was actually presented - Oct 10. Looks like W. got it in with a few days to spare.