Last month, the Justice Department’s inspector general released a report finding that former Bush DOJ officials Esther Slater McDonald and Michael J. Elston “broke civil service laws by rejecting scores of young applicants who had links to Democrats or liberal organizations.” Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed bar complaints against the two lawyers, arguing that their actions violated bar rules against engaging in conduct involving dishonesty and conduct that “seriously interferes with the administration of justice.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was in Denver, CO, today for a town hall meeting. The event, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, was billed as “open to the public.” Yet Carol Kreck, a 61-year-old librarian carrying a “McCain=Bush” sign, was taken away by police for trespassing. A police officer told Kreck:

You have two choices. You can keep your sign here and receive a ticket for trespassing, or you can remove the sign and stay in line and attend this town hall meeting.

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Kreck received a ticket for trespassing and her court date is July 23. McCain has apparently taken a page from the Bush playbook. In 2005, the White House had three activists expelled from a Denver public forum with President Bush because it was the administration’s policy “to exclude potentially disruptive guests from Bush’s appearances nationwide.”

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A new report released today by four retired senior military officers endorses a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). The study, sponsored by the Palm Center in California, marks “the first time a Marine Corps general has ever called publicly for an end to the gay ban.” From its findings:

– The law locks the military’s position into stasis and does not accord any trust to the Pentagon to adapt policy to changing circumstances.

– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has forced some commanders to choose between breaking the law and undermining the cohesion of their units.

– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has prevented some gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members from obtaining psychological and medical care as well as religious counseling.

– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has caused the military to lose some talented service members.

– Military attitudes towards gays and lesbians are changing.

– Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline, or cohesion.

The Palm Center’s report also notes that DADT is outdated, as many “gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are serving openly” in the military already. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reports more than 500 U.S. soldiers who are “out” to their colleagues and continue to serve. A December 2006 survey of servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan found that 73 percent of those polled were “comfortable with lesbians and gays.”

General John Shalikashvili, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who previously favored DADT but reversed course last year in an op-ed in the New York Times, endorsed the study, saying it “ought to be given serious consideration by both Congress and the Joint Chiefs.”

In the past year, there has been increased interest in repealing DADT. Former senator Sam Nunn, once a powerful advocate for the ban, recently said that it may be “appropriate” to consider repealing it. In May, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen told graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy that the military was ready to accept gay servicemembers if Congress repeals the law.

Yesterday on ABC’s This Week roundtable, Ted Koppel said the U.S. needs to stay in Iraq because of the “huge amount of oil and natural gas there”:

KOPPEL: U.S. troops are in a part of the world that produces a huge amount of oil and natural gas. We will have U.S. troops in that region for years to come, whether we want to or not. … And with the price of oil going up to a 4.5 dollars a gallon, imagine what would happen to the price of oil if we precipitously pull troops out of the Persian Gulf. It’s not going to happen.

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Koppel also suggested that the U.S. stay in Iraq to contain Iran. “You talked a little bit about Iran, and the dangers of Iran. This is not a time to say we’re going to pull all the U.S. troops out of there,” he said.

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