From CNN:

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, 28, died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province, the Department of Defense said. It did not immediately release further information.

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) issued a statement quoted here:

"Phillip was an incredible person, a dedicated Marine, a loving son and husband, and a proud Montanan and American," the senator said. "He heroically served the country he loved and he gave it his all."

CBS News reports:

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said that he received a "troubling" call from Sen. Baucus this morning, who indicated "that he wouldn't be here this week."

Reid emphasized that Sen. Baucus "comes from a very, very close-knit family" and his "nephew, a boy by the name of Phillip, is like a son to [him]."

Later on Tuesday, Reid interrupted debate on the Senate floor over the defense spending bill to notify Senators and staffers.

"On behalf of the entire Senate, the entire Senate family, I express through the chair to our dear friend Max Baucus, our sympathy [and] condolences."

Well, I voted this morning. Kind of.

I arrived at the John Yehall Chen school on Broadway here in San Francisco to cast my ballot, just in time to overhear one of the poll workers on the phone with an election official, being walked through the process to correct an error with the optical ballot reader.

The problem? The machine wasn't reading any ballots. It thought the polls were closed.

From the PoliticalMoneyLine email update:

The Tom DeLay Legal Expense Trust reported raising $314,435 and spending $312,465, including $280,000 for legal services. They paid $125,000 to Bracewell & Giuliani (TX), $110,000 to Dick DeGuerin (TX), $40,000 to McGuire Woods, and $5,000 to Winstead Sechrest & Minick (TX). Thirty-five individuals gave $5,000 each. Campaign committee, PACs, and a few corporations gave $138,935. Corporations giving $5,000 included BNSF Railway Company, Panda Energy, Maxxam Inc, Laser Shot Inc., and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

REUTERS:

Suspected Taliban guerillas dragged from a classroom of teenagers in southern Afghnaistan and executed him at the school after he ignored their orders to stop teaching girls, police said Friday.

"He had received many warning letters from the Taliban to stop teaching, but he continued to do so happily and honestly - he liked to teach boys and girls," [Helmand police chief Abdul Rahman] Samir said.

He identified the teacher by a single name, Laghmani.

The saga of electronic voting in California just took a turn a lot of people were hoping it would. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson has agreed to allow a computer hacker to hammer on Diebold's system to see if he can break it.

Harri Hursti, a computer security expert from Finland, will show how it is possible to turn over the the Diebold Election System and put who ever you want in power.

Chuck Hagel (R-NE) blasts the Bush Administration in a speech today to the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The Iraq war should not be debated in the United States on a partisan political platform. This debases our country, trivializes the seriousness of war and cheapens the service and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. War is not a Republican or Democrat issue. The casualties of war are from both parties. The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years. The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the Administration's policies."

I have to commend Sue Pleming, the writer of this Reuter's piece for her wit:

"More and more Iraqis are seeing their future in politics and not in violence," [Rice] said.

Rice and a small group of senior state department officials arrived in Mosul wearing body armor and helmets and flew from the airport in heavily armed helicopters.

From this story "U.S. Secretary of State makes surprise visit to Iraq."

The other day I diaried about Libby's literary efforts and the bravery of The New Yorker's Lauren Collins in reading the book.

But now Nerve.com has gone even further, excerpting the passages Collins cited for even more jaw-dropping bizzarity. (yup, I made that word up - I'm sure there's a German equivalent or something but I'm pressed for time.)

Homoeroticism. Incest. Bestiality.

In this week's The New Yorker, Lauren Collins does the unimaginable: She reads Scooter Libby's novel, The Apprentice.

No, Donald Trump is not the central character. But if you think Libby's various tales to Patrick Fitzgerald are weird, wait til you get a load of what The New Yorker learned from his novel.

Sex with bears? Why sure:

At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest.

The Apprentice, by I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby

Actual caption from Yahoo!

An Iraqi inmate, dark blue outfit, is registered before casting his vote in Iraq's referrendum on the new constitution in Kirkuk, Iraq, Thursday Oct. 13, 2005. Hospitals and prisons organized voting two days ahead of the official date with thousands of Iraqi detainees who have not been brought to trial allowed to vote early in the constitutional referendum at U.S. prisons such as the Abu Ghraib detention center.(AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)

Welcome to Kaleefourneeyah Senator! Why you're out here shilling for a man who's approval rating is barely better than George W. Bush's I'll never know. Every time you do something laudable, like your anti-torture amendment, you tend to follow it up with a seriously boneheaded move. Like campaigning with Arnold. In Oakland.

Our resident receptionist/jazz saxophonist Igor also happens to be one of the finest writers I know. Each day here at work, he writes up an email summary of who's out of the office, and at the end of the email, includes brief bios for some of the famous and infamous folks who were born that day. I thought his musings today on the life of Walter Winchell were especially good.

I spent the weekend in Toronto and picked up a copy of the Globe and Mail... a few days away from the unfolding story (Gannonuckert had just declared his 'voice' silenced) left me wondering what was up.

Here's how the Canadians saw it:

In spite of the immediate claims of large voter turnout. In spite of the percentages gleefully bandied about (without much statistical support) by the Bush Administration, the truth about the actual numbers of Iraqi voters is beginning to become apparent.

It's been a week since the historic vote, and so far it appears that of a population of about 24,000,000, there are a grand total of 4 million voters.

Midway through a story about Fuel fucking up the 'America Sings' show by saying 'fuck' onstage I found this gem

Depending on the course of our country and history over the next two years, the 2006 midterm elections will either be a reckoning for Bush and his cronies and their policies or an affirmation of them.

How will we manage to change the Red seats in the House to Blue? And how will we regain control of the Senate?

The interesting numbers for me in the upcoming days will be the Bush approval rating - is it really that low? - and the right track/wrong track numbers. Or are those numbers as wrong as the exit polling was? I suspect Bush's rating is more or less accurate, but will it change substantially either direction in the next 2 years? Enough to flip the Senate or help us make gains in the House?

Seriously. Before&After magazine is running an online survey on the design of the Bush/Cheney and Kerry/Edwards logos.

Kerry/Edwards is way behind in this poll.

Be nice, offer sincere insights.

The magazine itself believes the Bush/Cheney design is the better of the two, but to my eye the Bush/Cheney design is merely an outward expression of the men it trumpets. Right-leaning, overbearing and representative of only half the country.

Tonight, I walked in the door from the market to find the phone ringing. I checked the caller ID - it's the Democratic National Committee, hitting me up for some extra cash.

So as I'm unloading the groceries into the refrigerator, I allow the guy on the other end of the phone to talk me into one more donation (eased by the fact that they've got a dollar for dollar match right now.)

I fold up the kraft paper bags and put the last of the stuff away before going downstairs to check the mail for the absentee ballot - a ballot I've been expecting since I sent off my request back on October 2nd (or maybe I've been expecting it since the Supremes handed the country over to Bush 4 years ago.)

And there it is.