I’m not one to pile on to stories, but the Valerie Plame case is one in which someone in the White House — and perhaps more than one person — committed a serious crime.

Reuters’ Donna Smith has filed a very good article on the role blogs are playing in the arena of political commentary and research. She notes that the last time there was a Supreme Court nomination, there were no blogs and consdiders their role in the upcoming battle.

TWN is on a transatlantic flight right now trying to deal with the fact that sleep is impossible for this writer on these planes. I have been giving some thought to the battle over John Bolton’s nomination as Ambassador to the United Nations — and the implications for other political battles ahead.

The next three weeks will be amazing. Stay tuned. John Bolton is now quite a low priority for the White House. Open thread.

Have fun. . .I am going to a meeting to discuss strategy in launching some new foreign policy initiatives. I’ll be on line from France. But until then, learn from each other.

I have spent much of the day trying to learn what, if anything, came from an alleged strategy session between White House top brass and State Department legislative strategists on the nomination of John Bolton to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. There is no news. Absolute silence.

Today I attended a National Press Club lunch meeting with Virginia Governor Mark Warner. My host was veteran political strategist Jeff Trammell, who thought it would be a good idea for me to kick the tires of this presidential aspirant. Warner’s speech was not substantively poor, but it wasn’t memorable.

AP’s Liz Sidoti has a good article out that surveys the political consequences for various tracks the Bush administration may take on the Bolton nomination. Her piece yet again confirms what TWN noted earlier today — that withdrawing Bolton is not being seriously considered.

A highly placed State Department official has conveyed to TWN that this is “decision week” on the Bolton nomination. According to the source, “State Department and Administration principals will be deciding stategy — recess appointment or a further vote(s).” Note that there was no mention of withdrawal.

TWN hopes everyone is having a refreshing 4th of July weekend — and remembering that this Republic we have requires some hard work to keep. Squaring off over the replacement of retiring Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court will dominate the attentions of this town for some time.