“Sen. David Vitter, R-La., apologized Monday night for ‘a very serious sin in my past‘ after his telephone number appeared among those associated with an escort service operated by the so-called ‘D.C. Madam.’” Vitter released the following statement:

This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there-with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.

In 2005, Vitter attacked “the Hollywood left” for “redefining the most basic institution in human history.”

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) appearing on CNBC this afternoon expressed his opposition to an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), which would require troops to rest for as much or more time as they are deployed. “Give the American soldiers a break,” Lieberman said. “It’s as if the American troops have the enemy on one side and Congress is sniping at their heels on the other side.” He added that Congress is advocating a “defeat, retreat strategy.” Watch it:

ABC News reports that White House is “in panic mode” over the recent defections of Republican senators on the President’s Iraq policy:

Senior Bush administration officials are deep in discussion about how to find a compromise that will “appease Democrats and keep wobbly Republicans on board,” a senior White House official tells ABC News.

The official said the White House “is in panic mode,” despite Monday’s on-the-record briefing by White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who played down any concern over the recent spate of GOP senators who have spoken out publicly in support of changing course in Iraq.

The Republican defections are seen as “a crack in the dike,” according to the senior White House official, and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley is most concerned.

Today, the American Enterprise Institute, a neoconservative think tank, held a discussion entitled “Assessing the Surge in Iraq,” featuring prominent Iraq war proponents like Fred Kagan, Gen. Jack Keane, and James Miller of the Center for a New American Security.

Bush’s escalation was largely inspired by a October 2006 paper written by Kagan, who stated that the U.S. needed to “re-enter Iraq in large numbers.” In today’s conference, Kagan claimed there was a “general agreement” that “violence overall is down” but refused to provide any factual evidence for those arguments:

The worst that can be said of [the escalation] at this point is that the results have been mixed. I frankly think the results are less mixed…We can argue about statistics, but at the end of the day, that argument is not going to get us anywhere right now. … Whatever you can say about the current strategy, it has not failed.

Watch it:

Desperate to defend his failing strategy, Kagan refused to provide statistical backup for his broad assertions that escalation is showing progress. In April, he claimed “we are turning a corner in Iraq,” again without statistical backup, only to see May become deadliest month for American troops this year.

Looking at some key statistics, it is clear that the escalation has been a bloody failure. Even by simply looking at the past couple of months — when Kagan alleges the escalation officially began — the situation has deteriorated:

– A recent bombing killed over 150 in Baghdad, “one of the deadliest single bombings, if not the deadliest, since the 2003 invasion.”

– 108 coalition soldiers died in June, the third deadliest month this year. So far in July, 28 have died.

– Approximately 2,600 Iraqi civilians died in June and 3,000 in May, up from 2,500 in February, when the first troops of the escalation began to arrive.

UPDATE: Laura Rozen has more from the AEI event.

On July 5, hate radio host Michael Savage discussed a recent hunger strike organized by five students in the San Francisco area to show their support for the immigration bill:

Then there’s the story of college students who are fasting out here in the Bay Area. They’re illegal aliens and they want green cards simply because they’re students. … I would say, let them fast until they starve to death, then that solves the problem. Because then we won’t have a problem about giving them green cards because they’re illegal aliens; they don’t belong here to begin with. [...]

We don’t need you as engineers. Go back to where you came from. Go back to where you came from and be an engineer. That’s all. Go give your talents to your home country. Go be an engineer there. You stole the education from us; now give it back to your home country. Go make a bomb where you came from. This is unbelievable.

Earlier today, President Bush invoked executive privilege to block former aides Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers from testifying to Congress. But, according to Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson Tracy Schmaler, Taylor will still appear before the committee as scheduled on Wednesday.