TOADWATCH
(Maybe best to read yesterday first.)
Today Karl Rove – described last night by Jon Stewart as "the only man in Washington with flesh-colored hair" – mounted his counterattack....

As told by MSNBC...
The GOP continues to believe that the best defense is offense, and true to form, Republican talkers are starting to try to change the subject and/or once again question Joe Wilson's veracity. Among those who have come to Rove's offense: President Bush, via Scott McClellan, who said yesterday that Rove has Bush's confidence; Laura Bush, who called Rove a very good friend; Newt Gingrich, via TODAY; Tom DeLay, via The Hill newspaper; and RNC chair Ken Mehlman, who has offered the staunchest backing of Rove by far. But Mehlman leaves Washington for Iowa today, which may cut into his media availability. Add to the list the Wall Street Journal editorial page, which today praises Rove for "turning out to be the real 'whistleblower' in this whole sorry pseudo-scandal," and notes that "there's no evidence that [he] broke any laws."

Before Mehlman lammed it out of town he left the following Rove-style "talkingpoint" that will be repeated by all the TV shrieking heads...

WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ken Mehlman on the partisan attack on Karl Rove:
"It's disappointing that once again, so many Democrat leaders are taking their political cues from the far-left, Moveon wing of the party. The bottom line is Karl Rove was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story based on a false premise and the Democrats are engaging in blatant partisan political attacks."

Meanwhile in other news...
"President Bush called Tuesday for the release of an Iranian journalist jailed for writing articles linking government officials to murder."

Meanwhile Wonkette has a suggestion...
Okay, we admit it, we were overthinking the whole Rove-Plame thing. In speculating that this wouldn't destroy him or the White House, we had been hung up on how he didn't break the law. What we realize now is that liberals finally have an issue where the headline hurts Republicans more than it hurts them: "White House Aide Identified Undercover CIA Agent." Now, shut up. Shhh. Zip it. ZZZip. No, really, quiet. Repress natural urge to pedantry. For once, allow Americans' short attention span work for you. And whatever happens, do not let Michael Moore make a movie about it. Let the Republicans shoulder the responsibility of having to explain how Karl didn't do anything illegal, or how when he identified the agent it was in a context that wasn't so bad, or that it's Matt Cooper's fault, or why this is all just a massive smear campaign. Soon, they'll be debating the definition of "is" and you can start rumors about Laura being a lesbian. Fun! http://www.wonkette.com/

MEANWHILE (again)...
Over at the NY Times, you can find a fascinating story on audio hallucination.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/health/psychology/12musi.html?incamp=article_popular

AND FINALLY SOMETHING WEIRD...
Two nights ago when the insomnia was bad, I scoured the cable grid for something to watch. By default, I clicked on one of the Encore Channels for Meryl Streep in Postcards From The Edge, but found to by surprise that John Walters' Pink Flamingos was being aired. Okay, so errors do happen on the cable schedule, but Pink Flamingos is pretty sturdy stuff even for premium cable what with its cock-sucking, shit-eating, talking-asshole, cop-eating cannibalism, and general overall theme of a drag-queen Manson Family, not to mention the dead chicken and all those eggs. I have heard nothing since, but, then again, it was the time of day when only Travis Bickel and I are watching TV. I do wonder, however, if some subversive out there is deliberate slipping in such raunch in very wee hours.

BUT LET’S LEAVE THE LAST WORD TO TRAVIS...
You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who do the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh, yeah? Ok.