Kurt Eichenwald writes in The New York Times that the negligence on the part of the Bush Administration leading up to 9/11 was far worse than is already known. Using his knowledge of classified and declassified memos leading up to the infamous "Bin Laden Determined to Attack" memo that Condoleeza Rice—impossibly, sill a right-wing fave—blithely testified about to Congress, Eichenwald presents a damning article that should make every American's blood boil.

George W. Bush is one of the dignitaries (to use the term loosely) who'll appear at the 10th anniversary service commemorating 9/11. Which is only fitting since 9/11 really wouldn't have been the same without him.

I don't agree with Peggy Noonan too often, but I have to agree when she rips Sarah Palin a new asshole over Palin's assertion that her doing a reality TV show in any way relates to Ronald Reagan's Hollywood career:

"Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin. Reagan people quietly flipped their lids, but I'll voice their consternation to make a larger point. Ronald Reagan was an artist who willed himself into leadership as president of a major American labor union (Screen Actors Guild, seven terms, 1947-59.) He led that union successfully through major upheavals (the Hollywood communist wars, labor-management struggles); discovered and honed his ability to speak persuasively by talking to workers on the line at General Electric for eight years; was elected to and completed two full terms as governor of California; challenged and almost unseated an incumbent president of his own party; and went on to popularize modern conservative political philosophy without the help of a conservative infrastructure. Then he was elected president."

Palin's too much of a dolt to take the point, but she better get ready because the long knives are coming out for her now that she is the (incorrectly) presumptive front-runner for the Republican nomination in '12. I think Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee will ultimately win the nomination, and I'm willing to bet two things here and now: Either of them has a female running mate, and that female is NOT Sarah Palin but instead someone more broadly accepted like Condoleeza Rice (bonus points for not being white).

With Elena Kagan the odds-on favorite to be named President Obama's Supreme Court pick (which doesn't mean she'll prevail—ask Evan Bayh about odds-on favoritism), speculation that she is a lesbian has been swatted down with somewhat embarrassing zeal by the White House.

Plagiarist/blogger Ben Domenech wrote a blog post for CBSNews.com in which he noted Kagan has the potential to be "the first openly gay justice." This is a legitimately interesting possibility...if she's even gay.

Anita Dunn, who's working with the White House on its pick, says:

"The fact that [CBS has] chosen to become enablers of people posting lies on their site tells us where the journalistic standards of CBS are in 2010."

She goes on to say Domench is "applying old stereotypes to single women with successful careers."

Secretary of State Clinton leads the way on gay issues: She is going to extend the same benefits to gay diplomats as straight, in a change that was long overdue and widely expected. Former SOS Rice—a dyke, sue me if you're not—didn't even do this.

I'm thinking people will use this bit of info in different ways—Clinton is more pro-gay than Obama because she's taking action (well, she doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected or passing legislation; I suspect if she were prez and he were SOS, she'd be moving cautiously on gay issues and he'd be changing this policy as well), Clinton is deliberately ratcheting up the heat on Obama over gay issues (she works for the man, I don't see her continuing their adversarial relationship), Clinton is just plain doing the right thing (not to be undersold because while it's easy as pie for her to do with zero fall-out, plenty of leaders inexplicably don't do things that would be easy as pie to do with zero fall-out).

Regardless of any behind-the-scenes activity leading up to this, I'm thrilled she's doing it and I'm sure her boss is, too. Hopefully she is encouraging Obama to get more aggressive on gay issues. It won't be easy as pie for him, but it wouldn't be the kind of momentum-killer that it was for President Clinton back in 1993.