From the Times:

President Bush expressed revulsion today over photographs strengthening reports that some United States soldiers had abused and humiliated Iraqi prisoners. He said that the soldiers responsible would be punished, and that such conduct did not reflect the values of the American military or the American people.

As for those responsible, Mr. Bush said, “there will be an investigation, and they’ll be taken care of.”

Let’s hope so.

John McCain to Sinclair Broadcast Group:

There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in what I assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from completely appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans serving in Iraq. War is an awful, but sometimes necessary business. Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war’s terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most certainly deserves…I supported the president’s decision to go to war in Iraq, and remain a strong supporter of that decision. But every American has a responsibility to understand fully the terrible costs of war and the extraordinary sacrifices it requires of those brave men and women who volunteer to defend the rest of us.

Another shill for the anti-war movement?

Rebecca Traister reports that the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau has finally found a way to make pay inequity, reproductive health, and other issues disappear – just take them down from the website.

In case anyone wondered where Arlen Specter’s loyalties are:

On a rainy night in late March, Specter was the featured speaker at the annual Crawford County Republican dinner in Meadville. He told the gathering that one reason to vote for him over the conservative Toomey was that he would be able to help Bush win Pennsylvania, a crucial presidential battleground, by “keeping the vote down in Philadelphia.”

I needn’t remind you what Philadelphia’s demographic looks like.

Matthew Yglesias highlights this quote from the Commander-in-Chief:

Mr. Bush chuckled at the suggestion that he and Mr. Cheney had chosen to be interviewed together so they could prop each other up or prevent discrepancies in their answers. “If we had something to hide, we wouldn’t have met with them in the first place,” he said.

Bush is chuckling, but, as Yglesias points out, not meeting with them in the first place is exactly what he tried to do.

Sister Souljah Watch:

…in interviews over the last week, more than a dozen minority elected officials and political strategists voiced concerns about what they said was the dearth of representation in Mr. Kerry’s inner circle and worried that he was taking black and Hispanic votes for granted.

Separately, in a letter addressed to Mr. Kerry, Raul Yzaguirre, the president of the National Council of La Raza, denounced the ‘remarkable and unacceptable absence of Latinos in your campaign…Relegating all of your minority staff to the important but limited role of outreach only reinforces perceptions that your campaign views Hispanics as a voting constituency to be mobilized, but not as experts to be consulted in shaping policy,’ wrote Mr. Yzaguirre, whose group is among the oldest, largest and most influential representing Hispanics.

From the Courant:

The national fight over health benefits and job security is playing out here in Connecticut in the contract battles of two large unions: machinists at Hamilton Sundstrand and telephone workers at SBC Communications. Members of the two bargaining units, which together represent about 6,500 workers in the state, could be walking picket lines within days if a resolution to their respective contract disputes is not found…

‘In every contract – I don’t care what union you’re talking about – the escalating cost of health care is a huge issue,’ said James Parent, chief negotiator for the roughly 1,000 union machinists at the Hamilton Sundstrand division of United Technologies Corp. in Windsor Locks.

The title of this article says it all:

The American Civil Liberties Union disclosed yesterday that it filed a lawsuit three weeks ago challenging the FBI’s methods of obtaining many business records, but the group was barred from revealing even the existence of the case until now. The lawsuit was filed April 6 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, but the case was kept under seal to avoid violating secrecy rules contained in the USA Patriot Act, the ACLU said. The group was allowed to release a redacted version of the lawsuit after weeks of negotiations with the government.

Scott McClellan: The White House is “disappointed” in the Justice Department’s campaign to discredit Jamie Gorelick.

Domestic partnership now legal in Maine:

The new law, which takes effect 90 days after the signing, extends domestic partnership rights to heterosexual or gay adults who live together under long-term arrangements. It also gives domestic partners the same inheritance rights as a spouse when a married partner dies without a will.

“From the beginning, this has been about fairness and justice for what are today’s families here in Maine, and giving them the same protections that certain married couples have already,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ben Dudley, D-Portland.

Day Eight of the Columbia strike brings John Sweeney and a thousand picketers:

After eight days of striking, the University’s policy is still to wait until the NLRB rules on its 2002 appeal. To minimize disruption during the strike, provost Alan Brinkley has demanded that every student receive marks in all classes and that seniors’ grades be reported in time for them to graduate…

“We’re standing with you. We’ll fight beside you as long as it takes to bring Columbia to justice,” Sweeny said. Sweeny has tried to meet with University President Bollinger to discuss the strike, but Bollinger has not returned his calls.