Valleywag points out that Google’s spokesman, Australian Rob Shilkin, penned several pieces four years ago praising the Iraq war. From a June 20, 2003 article:

Yet the members of Australia’s anti-war brigade still refuse to accept that this has all happened. Ever since the fall of Baghdad, they have been bitterly carping from the sidelines. The current furore over Iraq’s “missing” weapons of mass-destruction is the latest effort from among their ranks.

This particular issue has been dressed up as a debate on flawed intelligence reports. But no one could sensibly assert that the West fabricated Saddam’s WMD ambitions.

Valleywag adds, “Google, more than ever, needs brassy PR people who aren’t afraid to assert boldly that black is white, ignorance is freedom, and evil is good.”

On MSNBC’s Hardball this evening, host Chris Matthews briefly spoke to former New York Times reporter Judy Miller about her role in the “Scooter” Libby trial. At the end of the conversation, Matthews remarked “You can’t talk about the case, I completely understand that. I sympathize with you. And I sometimes even sympathize with Scooter Libby.” Watch it:

This week’s report that officials in the Office of National Drug Control Policy made politically motivated appearances in the months leading up to the 2006 elections are only the latest example of the Bush administration’s misuse of federal employees.

For example, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2003 that Karl Rove or his top aide, Ken Mehlman, “visited nearly every agency to outline White House campaign priorities, review polling data and, on occasion, call attention to tight House, Senate and gubernatorial races that could be affected by regulatory action.”

Partisan campaign or electoral activities on federal government property are illegal. This prohibition, however, has not stopped the Bush administration from politicizing virtually every agency under its control. Below is a quick review of the extent of the White House’s efforts to politicize the federal agencies:

Office of Faith Based Initiatives: The office was “used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities. The office’s primary mission, providing financial support to charities that serve the poor, never got the presidential support it needed to succeed.” [MSNBC, 10/13/06]

General Services Administration: After a GSA meeting during which White House deputy director of political affairs Scott Jennings gave a PowerPoint presentation that included slides listing Democratic and Republican seats the White House viewed as vulnerable in 2008, a map of contested Senate seats and other information on 2008 election strategy, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan asked how GSA could help “our candidates.” Special Counsel Scott Bloch has since advised the President that Doan should “be disciplined to the fullest extent for her serious violation of the Hatch Act.” [Congress Daily, 6/12/07]

Department of Justice:

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In his political report today, Robert Novak hints that other members of President Bush’s Cabinet would like to follow the example of VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and resign:

The sudden resignation by Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson came as a huge surprise in Washington. Nicholson says he is feeling his age at 70 years, and there are a number of cabinet members who would like to leave. He has no political plans.

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) raced to the television cameras this afternoon to offer hyperbolic attacks against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, following Reid’s decision to pull the entire Defense Authorization bill from consideration. McCain and Kyl were quick to dishonestly politicize Reid’s maneuver, after obstructing passage of the bill over opposition to an Iraq redeployment amendment:

MCCAIN: What have we done by not passing the Defense Authorization bill? We are not allowing a 3 1/2 percent pay raise to men and women in the military. We’re not modernizing their equipment, including MRAP. We are not passing the wounded warriors legislation, which we all know is vitally needed to care for our wounded veterans. We have placed the care of our wounded veterans in a lower priority than a debate over Iraq.

KYL: It’s an act of petulance, it seems to me. But it’s also a very wreckless and irresponsible action because the troops depend upon the Defense Authorization bill passing. That’s what the bill authorizes…the care that they get, the weapons that they get, the training and all the other things they need to carry out the mission.

“It’s a commentary on where the priorities are of those who brought down this bill,” fumed McCain. “It clearly cannot be the welfare and benefit and arming and training of both of our active duty military and the medical care for our veterans,” he added. Watch it:

McCain and Kyl’s argument that Reid’s maneuver will deny pay raises, equipment, and medical care to American troops is false on its face. Here are the facts:

1) The troops have all the funding they need. The defense authorization bill being debated in the Senate is for fiscal year 2008, which begins on October 1. Funding for the troops — including emergency appropriations — has already been earmarked through September 30th, 2007.

2) Conservatives are responsible for stalling passage of the bill. While McCain claims that Reid “brought down this bill,” in fact, Reid only resorted to pulling the bill after McCain and other pro-war senators blustered and stalled, refusing to allow an up-down vote on the Levin-Reed Iraq redeployment amendment. In fact, in his floor speech this morning, Reid specifically names McCain as one of “a handful of dedicated obstructionists” using procedural moves to block the vote.

Craig S. Morford, currently the U.S. attorney in Nashville, has been named to replace Paul McNulty as acting Deputy Attorney General. Morford is “best known for his case against former Rep. James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat convicted in 2002 of accepting bribes and gifts from businessmen in exchange for intervening with government agencies.”