News diary. It's going to be short:

Ed Schultz interviews Rep. Rush Holt and asks "Why did Democrats roll over?" [paraphrased] Rep. Holt says: "It was fear mongering. They said 'If you go home and something happens, we're going to say it's your fault for not giving us the tools we need to protect America.'" [again paraphrased]

My, what an active day was yesterday! While most of us were focused on Legalizing Torture, Denying the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and Senator Specter's "hearing of questionable timing" on such things, another very interesting hearing was taking place:

June 30 Bloomberg.com Article states:

The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.

This came up in a case against two major telecommunications carriers Bell South and Verizon following the disclosure of illegal NSA domestic surveillance.

The suit alleges that the three carriers [BellSouth, Verizon and AT&T], the NSA and President George W. Bush violated the Telecommunications Act of 1934 and the U.S. Constitution, and seeks money damages [on behalf of BellSouth and Verizon customers].

Two extremely troubling items in today's headlines:

NYT Editorial: Conspiring Against the Voters

The Village Voice: Justice Probe of Spy Leak Could Shield Bush -- President gives self excuse not to talk about wiretaps

Discussion on the flip:

From the diaries by Armando. Edited.

Just saw this AP article and decided to post it as a diary since the open thread is specific to Bush Admin. Just reporting here, haven't decided what to think about it yet but my first reaction is "It's about time!"

Clinton, whose 2004 memoir "My Life" was a best seller, drew roaring applause during his speech from the several hundred people gathered in the Texas House chamber to kick off the 10th annual Texas Book Festival, an event started by first lady Laura Bush when her husband was governor.

"You can't say, 'Please don't be mean to me. Please let me win sometimes.' Give me a break here," Clinton said. "If you don't want to fight for the future and you can't figure out how to beat these people then find something else to do."

Finally, President Clinton speaks. This, I hope, is about to become a trend. It's long past due, but never too late for a "democracy check."