At the end of the day

Campaigning in Cal-ee-for-nee-ah -- "Home to nearly one in eight Americans, California is a giant, diverse political landscape, enormously expensive for candidates yet offering the campaign's largest batch of delegates." Who's doing what from AP.

Joe Conason asked, Will the Press Get Over Its Love for McCain? Hmmm, probably not. But wingnut heads continued to explode over McCain's perceived liberal bent. Oh, those crazy wabbits!

Paul Krugman spoke glowingly of John Edwards: "If 2008 is different, it will be largely thanks to Mr. Edwards. He made a habit of introducing bold policy proposals — and they were met with such enthusiasm among Democrats that his rivals were more or less forced to follow suit." Amen to that! Also, from Krugman, "Obama does Harry and Louise, again."

Republican fraud? -- Say it isn't so! "As part of our ongoing efforts to institute and strengthen financial controls at the National Republican Congressional Committee, we learned earlier this week of irregularities in our financial audit process. Since these irregularities may include fraud, we have notified the appropriate law enforcement authorities. We are aggressively and thoroughly investigating the matter and, while we determine the details, we have terminated our relationship with a former employee who was engaged as an outside vendor." TPM

Quote of the day -- Sen. Saxby Chambliss spokeswoman on whether the senator would endorse John McCain: “We have a lot of balls in the air..." Oh? She had nothing more to report on the, um, endorsement.

James Risen subpoena -- Risen's attorney David N. Kelley said "the subpoena issued last week seeks the source of information for a chapter of James Risen's book "State of War regarding CIA efforts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program." Spencer Ackerman pointed out, "The Justice Department is going after New York Times reporter Jim Risen for the non-crime of revealing President Bush’s illegal domestic surveillance program. It’s pathetic and unsurprising—a fixture of Bush Justice—that the activity DOJ pursues isn’t the blatant illegality of Bush violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but instead the fact that government sources blew the whistle to a great investigative reporter."

Spinning Gates -- "Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates attempted to spin the negative downturn in Afghanistan, claiming that 'NATO has had a very successful year in 2007' and that the significant increase in suicide bombings in 2007 was the 'manifestations of a group that has lost in regular military terms.' “ Uh huh. "Arguing that increased acts of violence are signs of progress is a common Bush administration tactic." Oh, yeah. Via TP.

The deadliest day since the Surge™ began -- 70+ dead, 170 wounded in Baghdad killed by two women suicide bombers who "were Down's Syndrome victims exploited by al Qaida.... The explosives were detonated by remote control in a co-ordinated attack after the women walked into separate crowded markets, said the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad General Qassim al-Moussawi." WaPo reported that the "two bombings killed 58 people, according to Iraqi police, and wounded more than 170 others."

Starting Monday -- At FDL, "the assault on civil rights laws in the last few years, with the impact of the Roberts Court on years of civil rights precedents front and center..."

From the land of absurdity -- What passes as American journalism continued to spread the lie about Clinton's remarks on the economy and global warming and "a new right-wing meme emerges." Carpetbagger Report

[That's all...no more after the jump.]