I just posted a short piece at Huffington Post on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s antics about not letting the press see any aspect of DoD budget specifics until “after” the press meeting with him.

I have my doubts, but I also think that we have no choice as a nation but to try and purge the self-destructive, anti-democratic, politically hackish behaviors out of the military and national intelligence bureaucracies.

Dennis Ross is raising money for Scooter Libby’s Legal Defense Fund. Some might ask why I’m bothered by this. After all, James Woolsey, an alleged Democrat from Tulsa who once headed Bill Clinton’s CIA, was Ahmed Chalabi’s lawyer.

Ward Sutton says it all (well, most of it anyway): reprinted with permission — Steve Clemons Ed. Note: Thanks to Jim Terr for sending this my way.

Air America Radio’s Al Franken wants to discuss what John Bolton is up to and has some thoughts on the launch of Bolton Watch. Listen in tomorrow (Monday) at 1:30 p.m. Eastern In anticipation of the show, here is my latest post on a good chunk of John Bolton’s “shake the UN apart” agenda.

Bolton Watch is up! This section will always appear at TPM Cafe, but TWN will frequently link to what I and others are writing there. However, today, I am reposting the first Bolton Watch post here.

This is great news. Some time tonight, Bolton Watch will launch at www.BoltonWatch.TPMCafe.com. (The site is not loaded yet, so clicking now will only take you to TPM Cafe.

Danny Glover of National Journal‘s “Beltway Blogroll” has a superb piece on the question of what lines ought to divide elite political bloggers and the subject of their posts.

Chris Nelson shares some fun insider gossip in today’s Nelson Report about Deputy Secretary of State Bob Zoellick’s recent “Panda Diplomacy” at a “Principals Meeting” in the White House: BUSH NAMES…in the amusing gossip department, we hear Deputy Secretary of State Bob Zoellick was presented with a large stuffed Panda at a Principals Meeting at…

This is a bit of a bummer. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton wanted Libby’s trial to begin in September 2006, which would have been a nice reminder to American citizens of the abuses of power that have occurred in the lead up to and prosecution of the war against Iraq.