“Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ ‘Cat’s Cradle’ and ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’ caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died Wednesday night in Manhattan. He was 84.”

From a 2003 interview with In These Times:

I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or “PPs.”

Video of Vonnegut interviewed on the Daily Show is HERE.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is “poised to vote” tomorrow on a motion by committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for “the power to issue subpoenas for a raft” of Justice Department documents in the U.S. attorney case.

“The White House said Wednesday it had mishandled Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen presidential aides, resulting in the loss of an undetermined number of e-mails concerning official White House business.”

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel “could not say what had been lost, and said the White House is working to recover as many as they can. The White House has now shut off employees’ ability to delete e-mails on the separate accounts, and is briefing staffers on how to better make determinations about when — and when not — to use them, Stanzel said.”

UPDATE: The Politico has more details:

This is a big problem for the White House, and Waxman said it raised ‘serious legal and security concerns’ about the e-mail related activities of Bush administration aides.

Waxman’s staff are supposed to meet with RNC officials on Thursday about the “rnchq” and “gwb.43″ e-mail accounts, which some White House officials, like Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, use for authorized political work. Waxman suspects that White House aides were using the accounts to evade presidential record-keeping requirements.

The Politico also reports that the White House held a private briefing on the situation for some reporters, who relayed the message, “it’s really bad for the White House.”

Digg It!

“For the second time in nine months, the Senate today passed a bill that would loosen President Bush’s restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research, but once again falling short of the 67 votes needed to override a promised veto.” Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), the critical swing vote, sided with President Bush and voted against stem cell research.

UPDATE: Blue Hampshire has more on Sununu.

UPDATE II: Towleroad notes on the very day conservatives voted against this bill, a medical study was published documenting how hematopoietic stem cells were used to cure insulin-dependent diabetics.

“MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the ‘Imus in the Morning’ radio program, responding to growing outrage over the radio host’s racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team. … But it did not end calls for Imus to be fired from the radio portion of his program. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp. For its part, CBS has not announced plans to discontinue the show.”

UPDATE: Media Matters statement is HERE.

UPDATE II: Another question: Where’s Russert?

In 2006, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) championed the nomination of Rachel Paulose to U.S. attorney in Minnesota. Last week, four top staffers to Paulose voluntarily demoted themselves in protest of Paulose’s “highly dictatorial style” of managing. Immediately after the resignations, Coleman’s office issued a statement of unqualified support for Paulose:

Rachel Paulose was nominated to be U.S. Attorney based solely on her exemplary qualifications and experience. She was confirmed with the bipartisan support of Senator Coleman, former Senator Dayton, and the entire United States Senate. She replaced someone who resigned, not someone who was fired, and her nomination should not be confused with the current controversy over the recent dismissal of several U.S. attorneys in other jurisdictions.

But a look at Paulose’s background indicates that she was handpicked by the Justice Department because of her personal connections, rather than her professional qualifications. “She was a special assistant to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, worked as a senior counsel for deputy attorney general Paul McNulty and is best buds with [former Justice official] Monica Goodling.”

With the national media now highlighting the Paulose case, Coleman is backing away from his previous statements of support, saying that Paulose needs to explain her situation “given the recent issues related to the U.S. attorneys nationwide.” In a letter to Paulose he wrote:

As you know, your confirmation to be U.S. attorney enjoyed bipartisan support and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate because of your outstanding qualifications. At the same time, there are clearly managerial issues that need to be acknowledged and rectified. … Given recent issues related to U.S. attorneys nationwide that have now extended to your own position, I urge you to take immediate action to shed light on the resignations and address the concerns which have been raised relative to your management skills.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) has called on Congress to look into the case, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has written to the Justice Department requesting information that shows “any political pressure by the Justice Department or White House.”

Jane Hamsher has more details on the Republican Jewish Coalition, which is bankrolling a series of attack ads on Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) over her trip to Syria: “The board is quite the rogues gallery and includes Ari Fleischer, David Frum, Sheldon Adelson, Lewis M. Eisenberg and Ken Mehlman. They also financed ads for Lieberman during his senate race, and has some lovely overlap with the Scooter Libby Defense Fund.”

“A bipartisan deal on the supplemental appropriations bill to finance the Iraq war appears to be in the books, with less talk now of a presidential veto and a subsequent crisis over funding the troops in the field. The final version probably will contain the benchmarks opposed by President George W. Bush, but with no cutoff of funding.”

Last night on Fox News, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham apparently couldn’t stand the incessant bickering of Hannity, Colmes, and their guests about the Don Imus controversy and walked off the show. Via News Hounds:

Ingraham tried to break in to say something but could not get a word in. “This is why I do radio,” she said. “I can’t deal with this. This is a nightmare.”

Hannity broke in to end the discussion, even though Colmes had received little more than a minute of air time while Hannity had used more than three. With great relish, Hannity said, “When we come back, I’ve got a tape of outrageous things Democrats have said.”

Terrell threw his hands up. “Here we go again.”

“And we’ll get Laura Ingraham’s take on it when we come back,” Hannity continued.

“No, I’m not speaking. I’m boycotting you,” Ingraham said. “I’m out.”

Despite being advertised, she didn’t return for the following segment.

Watch it: