That might explain this:

McCain: Michael O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack have uncovered a truth that seems to escape congressional Democrats: General Petraeus’s new strategy has shown remarkable progress. […]

I cannot guarantee success. But I do guarantee that, should Congress fail to sustain the effort, and should it pay no heed to the lessons drawn by Mr. Pollack and Mr. O’Hanlon, [blah, blah, blah] Think Progress http://tinyurl.com/22htd7

I haven't seen any of the other Republican contenders refer to the Pollack-O'Hanlon op-ed. Rasmussen says, “...many commentators continued to identify Arizona Senator John McCain as the frontrunner.”

Glenn's panel discussion might also be webcast here: http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/ustream

According to a recent WaPo article, Schmidt is senior adviser to McCain's campaign: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061202017_pf.html

and Mercury is also working on McCain's campaign, apparently: http://www.observer.com/node/31884 and http://www.mercurypublicaffairs.com/team.htm

I'm trying to listen to Glenn.

http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/ustream

WE'RE trying to listen to Glenn. kthx

None of the other webcasts I saw had as many viewers.

Try closing & re-opening your browser.

tpmmuckraker.com is keeping a close eye on this today:

Congress is moving forward with legislation updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act despite President Bush's objections. We've got the text of the House bill here.

The bill is also available here: http://www.cnss.org/HR%203356%202007.pdf

http://ustream.tv/channel/yearlykos-convention-2007

Click the first UStream icon under "past clips."

the video at the below link is incomplete - it cuts off at Glenn's opening statement. They may post the rest of it soon, though.

A few others who are there are posting video from the panels - if I find a good one I'll post the link. I missed a big chunk of the panel due to a conference call I couldn't miss. In the meantime, this is nice:

Greenwald takes a very different (and less conciliatory) tack. He points out that while many establishment journalists blog (see Time's Swampland) and many bloggers have been co-opted by the traditional media (see Greenwald's work for Salon), there is still a vast difference between how the groups approach the government (reverential vs. skeptical) and how willing they are to state the truth when it is harsh (for example, no establishment media actually stated the NSA wiretapping program was a violation of an American law, which it was, when it was revealed). Greenwald followed Allen and Carney's kind words for the blogosphere by ripping the media, Time and Politico specifically, at great length.

Take home point from Greenwald: Journalists think bloggers want them to become partisan. Actually, bloggers just want journalists to be adversarial and skeptical.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/08/5084_bloggers_and_ms.html

FISA legislation and a bill related to the Minnesota bridge.

Live on C-span: http://www.cspan.org/watch/cs_cspan_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

(They're discussing the bridge at the moment.)

Thanks ondolette - I haven't had a chance to actually read the bill yet.

I probably shouldn't be joking at this point. I haven't seen this discussed anywhere, so it could be a dumb question, but does the below affect the AT&T and telecom lawsuits? Could it mean that those activities are now (or may shortly be) legal - if the orders for them are still in effect, that is?

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PROCEDURE FOR AUTHORIZING CERTAIN ACQUISITIONS OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION.

‘‘SEC. 105B. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, may for periods of up to one year authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States if the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General determine, based on the information provided to them, that—

‘‘(3) the acquisition involves obtaining the foreign intelligence information from or with the assistance of a communications service provider, custodian, or other person (including any officer, employee, agent, or other specified person of such service provider, custodian, or other person) who has access to communications, either as they are transmitted or while they are stored, or equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store such communications;”...

9 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PROCEDURES.

(b) TRANSITION PROCEDURES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any order in effect on the date of enactment of this Act issued pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 17 1801 et seq.) shall remain in effect until the date of expiration of such order, and, at the request of the applicant, the court established under section 103(a) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)) shall reauthorize such order as long as the facts and circumstances continue to justify issuance of such order under the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as in effect on the day before the applicable effective date of this Act.

http://tinyurl.com/2s7ova