Schumer on Face the Nation

Schumer: I’ve spoken to Sen. Leahy about this and what we’re thinking of doing is calling Patrick Fitzgerald-the prosecutor before us….and he might have some very interesting things to say.

Finally… a democrat with BALLS!

Sheehan Considers Challenge to Pelosi

AP Exclusive: Sheehan Says She’ll Run Against Pelosi Unless Bush Impeachment Sought
(ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer)

Cindy Sheehan, the soldier’s mother who galvanized the anti-war movement, said Sunday that she plans to seek House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat unless she introduces articles of impeachment against President Bush in the next two weeks.

Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush. That’s when Sheehan and her supporters are to arrive in Washington, D.C., after a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting next week from the group’s war protest site near Bush’s Crawford ranch.

“Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership,” Sheehan told The Associated Press. “We hired them to bring an end to the war. I’m not too far from San Francisco, so it wouldn’t be too big of a move for me. I would give her a run for her money.”

Messages left with Pelosi’s staff were not immediately returned. The White House declined to comment on Sheehan’s plans.

She plans her official candidacy announcement Tuesday. Sunday wrapped up what is expected to be her final weekend at the 5-acre Crawford lot that she sold to California radio talk show host Bree Walker, who plans to keep it open to protesters.

Full article at ABC News
(H/t The Other Buck)

By R.J. Hillhouse

Red alert: Our national security is being outsourced.

The most intriguing secrets of the “war on terror” have nothing to do with al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers. They’re about the mammoth private spying industry that all but runs U.S. intelligence operations today.

Surprised? No wonder. In April, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell was poised to publicize a year-long examination of outsourcing by U.S. intelligence agencies. But the report was inexplicably delayed — and suddenly classified a national secret. What McConnell doesn’t want you to know is that the private spy industry has succeeded where no foreign government has: It has penetrated the CIA and is running the show.

Over the past five years (some say almost a decade), there has been a revolution in the intelligence community toward wide’scale outsourcing. Private companies now perform key intelligence-agency functions, to the tune, I’m told, of more than $42 billion a year. Intelligence professionals tell me that more than 50 percent of the National Clandestine Service (NCS) — the heart, brains and soul of the CIA — has been outsourced to private firms such as Abraxas, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

More at the Washington Post

Sunday Talk
* MTP: David Gregory is guest moderator; Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) talks Iraq & state of the GOP; roundtable of NYT’s David Brooks, WaPo’s Anne Kornblut, Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum, and WaPo’s Eugene Robinson to discuss Libby, Billary
* FTN: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) & Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) discuss Libby and WH subpoenas; roundtable of Des Moines Register’s David Yepsen, CBSNews.com’s Vaugh Ververs, and Politico’s Jeanne Cummings
* This Week: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI); Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX); Mike Gravel (D-AK); NYT’s Nicholas Kristof talks about Africa; roundtable of Fareed Zakaria, The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, and National Review’s Rich Lowry.
* Fox News Sunday: Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) & Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) on Libby commutation; Rep. Pete Hoekstra on terrorism
* Late Edition: Iraqi Natl Security Adv. Mowaffak al-Rubaie; Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN); Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT); Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA); Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch (Cmdr in Iraq); roundtable of Ed Henry, Joe Johns, & Suzanne Malveaux

NOTE: Due to Wimbledon coverage, MTP is airing at special times this Sunday. Click here to see when its airing in your area.

TV Alerts
* Live Earth performances on NBC on 7/7
* Political Capital with Al Hunt (Bloomberg, repeats throughout weekend): John Edwards (D-NC) on 7/6
* Chris Matthews Show 7/7-7/8: David Ignatius, Elisabeth Bumiller, Richard Stengel, Kathleen Parker discuss “Three GOP presidential candidates are cancer survivors — will voters care? Why do the Iowa caucuses still matter?” Quotes here.
* Newsmakers (C-SPAN): Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) on 7/8;
* 60 Minutes: Possible Medicare bankruptcy on 7/8; Indian tigers on 7/8; unadopted foster care children on 7/8;
* Road to the WH (C-SPAN): Michelle Obama on 7/8; Duncan Hunter on 7/8
* Q&A (C-SPAN, 8pm): Asra Q. Nomani on the death of WSJ colleague Daniel Pearl on 7/8;
* The Daily Show: reruns; Josh Rushing on 7/16; Christopher Walken on 7/17; Matt Groening on 7/18; Adam Sandler on 7/19;
* The Colbert Report: reruns; Richard Florida on 7/16; John Mellencamp on 7/17; Mark Moffit on 7/18; Frank Sulloway on 7/19; Simon Schama on 7/23; Anthony Romero on 7/24; Charles Kaiser on 7/25; Robert Shrum on 7/26; Evan Osnos on 7/30; Kathleen Kennedy Townsend on 7/31;
* Jimmy Kimmel Live: Brian Williams on 7/17;
* CNN/YouTube Democratic debate on 7/23

Source: Newsie8200

By MARTIN GRIFFITH
Associated Press Writer

RENO, Nev. - As a heat wave made parched terrain even drier, wildfires dotted the West on Saturday, forcing authorities to evacuate homes and close highways and wilderness areas.

Hundreds of people in Winnemucca were ordered to leave their homes Saturday night because of an 8,000-acre wildfire, one of more than a dozen blazes that charred a combined 55 square miles in northern Nevada.

A 100-mile stretch of Interstate 15 in central Utah was closed when a 160,000-acre wildfire jumped the highway, and other fires burned in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The fire near Winnemucca, a town of 8,000 about 170 miles east of Reno, threatened up to eight blocks of homes and an electrical substation, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jamie Thompson.

“It’s right up to the south edge of town,” he said. “The fire definitely poses a danger to parts of the town. It’s certainly got everyone’s attention.”

The largest of the Nevada fires burned 36 square miles, or 23,000 acres, along the Idaho border, said Mike Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It was 10 percent contained Saturday, officials said. A firefighter was treated at and released from a hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho, with burns.

Another fire blackened 11 square miles, or 7,000 acres, about five miles southwest of Carlin. It burned two mobile homes and several smaller structures, and shut down a section of Interstate 80 for six hours overnight, fire information officer Tracie Winfrey said. On Saturday morning, the fire was 40 percent contained.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

Muddy Waters & Johnny Winters
Walkin Through the Park