Toluu : Crooks and Liars

Crooks and Liars

C&L's Late Night Music Club with Edwin StarrYesterday

Please allow me, with your help, to conduct an impromptu survey:

Can you listen to this song without feeling the urge to bob your head, tap your fingers and/or toes, or shake your hips and/or caboose? Please record your reactions in the comments section. Thank you.

Was Pinstripe Patronage Richardson's Downfall?Yesterday

Interesting. If this happened, you'd have to be a trusting soul to think the chief of staff was some loose cannon who acted on his own. But this sounds all too familiar - political "pay to play" contributions are common, especially for bond firms:

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Federal prosecutors are asking if New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s former chief of staff told a state agency to hire a bond adviser that donated $100,000 to Richardson’s political committees, people familiar with the matter said.

A witness who testified before a federal grand jury in Albuquerque last month said he was asked if David Contarino, the former chief of staff, ordered New Mexties the same bond advisorico Finance Authority officials to hire Beverly Hills, California-based CDR Financial Products Inc. Another person familiar with the investigation said Contarino, 47, is a subject of the inquiry and that prosecutors are looking at whether he solicited contributions from firms that worked on finance authority bond deals.

Contarino “is a very effective political professional,” said Edward Romero, a former U.S. ambassador to Spain and the national finance chairman for Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign. “He’s a hard worker.” R

Matt of the HillYesterday

Matt is a good friend of mine so I'm really pleased with his announcement yesterday. He said he wanted to get some Hill experience to see how it all works up close and in person.

I've taken a job inside the House of Representatives (more on that when I've cleared what I can say) to see how the place works and to help create the space for more progressive policies. Ultimately what I've learned, from many of you as much as from the task of writing for the public for the last five years, is that there is a serious leadership gap in this country.

And by leadership gap, I mean something very specific, so specific that I'm going to give it a name. I call it a 'rootsgap'...read on

I think they can learn a few things from Matt.

DOJ to Prosecute New York Times over NSA Story?Yesterday

In a Newsweek exclusive three week ago, former Justice Department official Thomas Tamm revealed his role in helping the New York Times make public President Bush's program of illegal domestic surveillance. Now Salon's Glenn Greenwald has details on the DOJ's efforts to punish the whistleblower. And as it turns out (and as I suggested back in 2007), the Bush administration's ultimate target may be the New York Times itself.

As Greenwald spells out today, the Justice Department investigation is not pursuing the White House cabal behind the violation of FISA's prohibitions on warrantless eavesdropping of American citizens, but instead those who revealed it. Tamm, whose life has been turned upside-down since the FBI raided his home in August 2007, will likely be subpoenaed to testify what he knows about James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, the Times reporters who broke the story in December 2005.

That's the message