“went up by more than 50 percent last year, going from 4,400 cases to 6,600 in 2005,” according to a new GAO report.

This morning on CNN, Arianna Huffington blasted CNN journalist Chuck Roberts for suggesting that Ned Lamont “is the Al Qaeda candidate,” and demanded more accountability from journalists. David Brock, CEO of MediaMatters, has written CNN and urged them to discipline Roberts.

of possibly calling a 20-year-old volunteer of Indian descent on his opponent’s campaign a “monkey” (macaca). “This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He’s with my opponent. … Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.” The volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, was born and raised in Virginia. (Video here.)

UPDATE: Atrios has more.

Over the weekend, the television airwaves were inundated with conservatives calling for unity in response to the London terror plot. “No one should use this event or this war for political advantage,” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) said on Fox News Sunday. “[M]y goodness,” Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) said yesterday, “if we can’t get national unity and take politics out of this in terms of an attack like this, I don’t know what’s going to happen to us.”

Much remains to be done to improve homeland security. For example, the administration has “yet to comprehensively improve sharing of counterterrorism information.” But rather than focus on policies to prepare against future terrorism, conservatives spent last week politicizing news of the London plot:

- “US President George W. Bush seized on a foiled London airline bomb plot to hammer unnamed critics he accused of having all but forgotten the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. ["¦] ‘Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big,’ said another White House official.” [Agence France Presse, 8/10/06]

- “This week’s dramatic new terrorism threat may help remind voters Republicans have provided ‘strong leadership on that issue that won’t vacillate,’ Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said Friday. ‘People will focus on that issue this November,’ Thune said.” [Lincoln Journal Star, 8/12/06]

- “‘Defeatocrats!’ declared a statement issued by office of the House majority leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, capturing the tone of Republican rhetoric as the news unfolded.” [New York Times, 8/11/06]

- “Today, President Bush faces a similar challenge. In the middle of a war on terror, we need to remain focused on furthering Republican ideas more than ever before. We can’t turn back now. [...] That’s why I am emailing to ask you for a favor: will you click here to make a contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50, $35 or $25 to show your strong commitment to our Party and our principles?” [Rudy Giuliani Fundraising Email, 8/10/06]

Apparently the right wing is not yet unified around the concept of national unity in the face of terrorism.

takes time out from the Middle East crisis for a one-on-one interview with a right-wing blogger who believes Islam is a “religious rationale for Arab imperialism.” (Bolton Watch has more.)

imams at a London mosque into talking on air by claiming he was “a priest working in Rome.”

Labor Department deputy assistant secretary Karen Czarnecki has repeatedly appeared on television — including Fox News and PBS — as a pundit. While she apparently filed leave papers before heading to the studios and was cleared by the department’s ethics staff (political activity by federal employees is restricted by the Hatch Act), Czarnecki never revealed her government position. Instead she identified herself as a “conservative analyst.”

Some highlights of Czarnecki’s off-duty conservative analyses on PBS:

On abstinence:

CZARNECKI: Absolutely [abstinence is an option for African women], if Uganda can reduce its HIV infected population 50% to 60 over the years, it’s definitely an option.

HOST: It’s no more an option than to tell them their option is to marry a millionaire.

CZARNECKI: If you have free — you have free choice to choose abstinence. [7/16/06]

On intelligent design: Read more

Bush’s approval rating remains stuck “where it was a month ago,” according to a new CBS News poll. 28 percent of Americans view the war in Iraq as the country’s “most important problem.”