Well, fancy that: A TPM Cafe blogger noticed how a passage in Maureen Dowd's Sunday op-ed column was very similar to a Talking Points Memo column, posted on Thursday, by TPM editor Josh Marshall. Dowd's passage read, "More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq." Marshall's was exactly the same, except he used "we were" instead of "the Bush crowd was." Dowd later admitted to the Huffington Post that it was a mistake—she was discussing the column with a friend "who suggested I make this point, expressing it in a cogent -- and I assumed spontaneous -- way and I wanted to weave the idea into my column. but, clearly, my friend must have read josh marshall without mentioning that to me." Gawker calls it BS and Politico's Michael Calderone has emailed Dowd, asking "if it's common practice to take an entire passage from a friend and weave it into her column." In the meantime, Dowd's column is updated, acknowledging Marshall. more ›

Okay, so we've heard about how Rudy Giuliani's mayoral administration billed his police security detail expenses - accrued during trips to the Hamptons, possibly visiting then-mistress Judi Nathan - to various obscure city agencies. And then there are reports that Nathan, now married to the former mayor, used her NYPD security detail to chauffeur friends and family. Naturally, now there's talk of the police security expenses of Giuliani's then-wife Donna Hanover. The Post's David Seifman... more ›

Sam Seder, Director / Writer / Comedian / Co-Host, "The Majority Report" more ›

The NY Times had special Democratic Convention section, in addition to their Campaign 2004 site. And here's the Washington Post's extensive convention site. Talking Points Memo's Joshua Micah Marshall writes how MSNBC's convention coverage site (here) has "absorbed the blogging model to something like a mind-bending degree." It's true - MSNBC has a blog, Hardblogger, (heh!) and Gothamist was shocked Chris Matthews' posts weren't in all caps or bold....an assistant must have posted 'em. more ›

CNN says VP speculation is fast and furious; check out the latest speculation and punditry once Kerry choose at Times on the Trail, Atrios and Talking Points Memo. And Gothamist likes this Children of the Corn photo Wonkette has of Kerry and some kids. more ›

Animal Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing, by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett, explains that animals should wear clothing "because a snake would lose it, a billy goat would eat it for lunch, and it would always be wet on a walrus!" And Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss, is the story of Sam-I-Am who "mounts a determined campaign to convince another Seuss character to eat a plate of green eggs and ham." more ›

If you're a registered Democrat, find out where you're supposed to vote from the Board of Elections. Polls are open until 9PM. This year's election calendar from USA Today. And all the politicizing you need: Times on the Trail, Talking Points Memo, Instapundit, Atrios, Wonkette. more ›