A Few Notable Items

It Ain't Over Til Somebody Sings Raw Story reports that Henry Waxman has asked for a congressional investigation "that would provide public accountability and address unanswered questions" about Rove's involvement in the exposure of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Raw Story provides the text of Waxman's letter to Committee on Government Reform Chairman [Tom] Davis. via TPM Muckraker --- Get Rid Of The Messenger Greg Mitchell and Joe Strupp for E&P report that Rumsfeld has expelled reporters from Guantanamo. In the aftermath of the three suicides at the notorious Guantanamo prison facility in Cuba last Saturday, reporters with the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald were ordered by the office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to leave the island today. A third reporter and a photographer with the Charlotte Observer were given the option of staying until Saturday but, E&P has learned, were told that their access to the prison camp was now denied. An E&P "Pressing Issues" column on Tuesday covered an eye-opening dispatch by the Observer's Michael Gordon carried widely in other papers. He had listened in, with permission, as the camp commander gave frank instructions to staff on how to respond to the suicides. … The Committee for Constitutional Rights in New York, which was representing the three men who committed suicide, released a statement today: "At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there. This press crackdown is the administration's latest betrayal of fundamental American values. The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws." via Raw Story --- Write Your Own Headline Wonkette reports on an exchange between Bush and Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times, at a press briefing this morning: Bush: You gonna ask your question with shades on? Wallsten: Yes… Bush: But there’s no sun out here. Wallsten: It depends on your perspective. Bush: Touché. … Wallsten is legally blind. via kos --- "You're The Guy Who Has To Spray Perfume On These Turds" Jon Stewart interviews Ken Mehlman. Norm at onegoodmove has the video.