ABC’s Bob Woodruff reported tonight on Army Sgt. James Coons, an Iraq war veteran. Coons developed symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD during combat, apparently triggered by seeing a fellow soldier at a morgue. He was sent to Walter Reed hospital, where he was neglected and eventually hanged himself with a bed sheet in his room. Years later, his parents still can’t get the Army to turn over his medical records and personal belongings.

UPDATE: John Aravosis calls it “one of the most sickening, infuriating reports ever on ABC.”

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The St. Petersburg Times reports:

The FBI has asked U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney for information about his dealings with Jack Abramoff as part of its ongoing investigation into the lobbyist convicted of defrauding clients.

FBI agent Kevin Luebke refused to say whether Feeney, a Republican from the Orlando area, is under federal investigation.

Federal agents also have asked the St. Petersburg Times for an email sent to the newspaper by Feeney’s office describing a golfing trip the congressman took with Abramoff to Scotland in 2003.”

Feeney is one of three House members who “accompanied Abramoff to Scotland on trips that included rounds of golf at the legendary Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews.” The other two: former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who is serving prison time for corruption, and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), currently under criminal indictment.

Feeney said in a statement that he “considers this an embarrassing episode in his 17-year career as an elected official and an expensive lesson for him as a public servant.”

UPDATE: More bad news for Feeney. He is listed as “Representative #3” in Justice Department documents filed in federal court today on Mark Zachares, “a former Bush administration official and House GOP aide who is expected to plead guilty tomorrow on a federal corruption charge” related to Abramoff.

Medical experts speak out about the court’s ruling upholding what the right wing terms “partial birth” abortion:

At Bellevue’s Reproductive Choice Unit, for example, unnerved residents circulated stories about the hospital’s sordid past, when floors were once full of women who attempted termination on their own. “I don’t think many of us know what partial birth is — it’s not a medical term at all,” said Kiran Chawal, a third-year resident there. “We’ve all looked it up to figure out what they’re talking about. It’s difficult to understand or interpret.”

The legislation of medicine is what angers doctors most, regardless of their political leanings. “It’s not a pro-choice issue as much as it is a medical issue,” says Chawal. “You’re telling doctors how to perform a procedure. Are they going to tell me next week that I can’t use a speculum to do a Pap smear?” Jessica Salas, one of the chief OB residents at Bellevue, doesn’t perform abortions because of her own moral concerns, but she is nevertheless opposed to the ban. … “It’s a sad day for practitioners in general. They’re telling us how to do our jobs and to do something that’s not safe for the patient.”

UPDATE: Ilene Jaroslaw writes in Newsweek: “I needed that now-banned procedure known as ‘partial-birth’ abortion. Why the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw it was a dark day for American women.”

9 U.S. soldiers killed in blast in Diyala province, Iraq, MSNBC reports.

UPDATE: “Nine U.S. soldiers were killed Monday after a suicide bomber exploded a vehicle in Diyala province, the U.S. military reported. Twenty soldiers and one Iraqi civilian were wounded in the blast.”

In an interview with Larry King tonight, President George H. W. Bush acknowledges that the country is suffering from “a little bit of Bush fatigue.”

It’s more than “a little bit.”

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“Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said on Monday he was likely to propose the withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq at the next meeting of the country’s defense council. … ‘It will be just about announcing a political decision that will eventually materialize in a withdrawal calendar agreed with our partners and allies.’”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered a major policy speech today focusing attention on the threat posed by global climate change. McCain said, “The world is already feeling the powerful effects of global warming, and far more dire consequences are predicted if we let the growing deluge of greenhouse gas emissions continue, and wreak havoc with Gods creation.”

Also today, McCain released a statement proudly announcing that former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger has “endorsed John McCain for President and will advise his campaign on energy and national security issues.”

The man who McCain tagged to advise him on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a prominent global warming denier. Some highlights of Schlesinger’s record on global warming:

Nonetheless, solar irradiance and its variation seem highly likely to be a principal cause of long-term climatic change. Their role in longer-term weather cycles needs to be better understood. There is an idea among the public that “the science is settled.” Aside from the limited facts I cited earlier, that remains far from the truth. … We need to be more modest. [7/7/03]

We cannot tell how much of the recent warming trend can be attributed to the greenhouse effect and how much to other factors. In climate change, we have only a limited grasp on the overall forces at work. [7/26/03]

The issue of climate change urgently needs to be brought down from the level of theology to what we actually know. It is, of course, quite likely that the greenhouse effect has to some extent contributed to global warming–but we simply do not know to what extent. The insistence that global warming is primarily the consequence of human activity leaves scant room for variation in solar intensity or cyclical phenomena generally. [8/13/05]

Schlesinger’s position on global warming was so warmly embraced by the right wing that Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), the Senate’s chief global warming skeptic, cited one of Schlesinger’s op-eds in a Senate floor speech on “The Science of Climate Change.” United Nations environmental expert Kilaparti Ramakrishna said Schlesinger’s viewpoints “distort[ed] the facts” and had “obvious misrepresentations” of climate change science and policy. Chris Mooney explains that Schlesinger’s global warming position can be traced to his energy-industry ties.

The Crypt reports:

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this Friday, a week after his boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was grilled by the panel.

McNulty will be questioned about what he knew and when he knew it regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) just told reporters.

UPDATE: The Politico updates its story: “McNulty will be interviewed behind closed doors by the Senate Judiciary Committee this Friday… William Moschella, the principal deputy attorney general, is set to be interviewed on Tuesday, according to House and Senate Democratic aides.”