New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney today takes readers on a 36-hour tour of Washington, D.C.

Truly special, and at times fantastic, in the delusional sense of the term.

Here's Adam discussing "Hymns and Prayers," with a quick look at St. John's Church, just north of the White House on N. 16th St., N.W.:

On Lafayette Square, you will find St. John’s Church, where, as the placard on the outside wall will tell you, every president since James Madison has come to pray. If President Bush is in town, the chances are pretty good that you will see him and his wife, Laura, show up for services at this small Episcopal church.

"[C]hances are pretty good[.]" Really? Is that true? Says who? What is the source -- or evidence -- for that observation? Because everything reliable I've read reveals that President See You Monday rarely attends church services, whether he's in Washington, Kennebunkport, Maine, or Crawford, Texas, and isn't even an Episcopalian.

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Pam Oshry is back, and she's talking and shrieking and tweaking . . . and swimming, or maybe just performing an ideological mikvah in the waters of South Florida.

I can honestly say, after watching her frightening "vlog," that I had never heard the term "Palis" before today.

Pam uses the word in reference to the Palestinians, I think, because even though she's screaming, as always, she's difficult to follow.

Regardless, it's certain that for Pam, "Palis" is an intentionally demeaning and racist remark, one for which her crazed readers will cheer her endlessly, all the while focused as much on her words as on her dubious chest.

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The art of the well-written obituary is not, well, dead. Click through the link; read and learn.

Alexander Cushing, Newport, R.I.: heir, socialite, bridge player, skier, Olympic games bidder and organizer, and lawyer, 1913-2006.

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Shorter Jonathan Last ("Start Spreadin' the News"):

Philadelphia's professional sports teams lose a whole lot of games but maybe the rest of the country will jump over and root for our side -- I say our side even though I don't live there anymore, as Philly is suddenly cool -- because Americans really like cheesesteaks.

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Is this woman for real? She can't be. This is just one big, colossal joke, right? Someone's kooky idea of pedaling a Jewish counterpart to Ann Coulter's tiresome schtik?

I'm talking about Pam Oshry, the walking, talking (and talking!), shrieking, overly manicured, and otherwise tweaking embodiment of every stereotype I can recall having been harshed upon during my days at the University at Albany.

Watch for yourself -- and pay close attention to Pam's advice regarding cosmetics and grooming devices!

Note as well how much Pam hates America, or at least, in her words, "the useful idiots that are running this country." (Pam is big on Stalin-era phraseology.)

Somehow I'm guessing she's not in this instance referring to President Your Call Condi, whom she otherwise considers some kind of Likudnik boy genius.

(Here's Pam on that last point, and I'm paraphrasing only slightly: Did I campaig;n for Bibi?1! I di~d! I campagned my heart out! Luv luv luv the bibi!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See; my post............here!.!. But did I have a vote? No I didnt. I am and american! ........... Olmert -------- a DUISGRACE! .............. Moore frOm Debbie Schlussel here................THis is HUDNA!!^!!!#!!...............What is with the dhimmi-CRATS???@???$??@??@>@????)

[Post-publication addendum: By the way, did Oshry get the permission of her comrade-in-arms, Martin Peretz, and the publishers of the New Republic to post on her blog, in full and word-for-word, his misguided yet thoroughly predictable -- and copyrighted -- defense of this country's interim, still-not-approved representative to the United Nations, John Bolton, and if so, why?]

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US Airways finds itself having difficulties maintaining an adequate staff of baggage handlers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in an article today by Tom Belden.

Sure, the company offers health-care and retirement benefits and free or reduced-rate travel, but the starting wage can be as low at $7.52 an hour ($9.59 for those working outdoors) and tops out at $17 an hour, weekend work is required, shift assignments change every couple of months, the work is grueling, and the technology in place to guide the process is woefully inadequate ("The main bag-sorting conveyor system now misreads up to 30 percent of the luggage tags it scans, which means workers sort bags one at a time.").

Why is anyone surprised?

Meanwhile, Northwest Airlines recently offered involuntarily departed employees a helpful little handbook, "101 Ways to Save Money," which suggested, among other things, patronizing pawnshops and junkyards, taking shorter showers, making homemade gifts, asking doctors for samples of prescription drugs, and shrugging off the shame associated with forays into trash cans.

This advice may be true, if not good, of course, but "adding insult to injury" barely begins to describe it, though a baggage handler grossing $7.52 an hour might as well have been offered similar counsel.

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The fact that the suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey case was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, completely creeps me out, given that country's reputation as a destination for degenerates on perpetual prowl.

I hope they're right, that they have the right man. I admit that back in the day, when the case was the equivalent, though more so, of the Natalee [sic] Holloway extravaganza, that I was inclined to think JonBenet's brother was involved somehow.

For shame and all that.

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Boats in the Water [*]
George Jepsen, an adviser to Connecticut Democratic primary winner and nominee Ned Lamont, observes: "So, the swift-boating begins."

George Allen's Mess
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) has apologized, in that way politicians often do, for directing an apparent racial epithet at S.R. Sidarth, a University of Virginia student working as a volunteer on the campaign of Allen's Democratic opponent, Jim Webb. The Washington Post reports ("Allen Quip Provokes Outrage, Apology," by Tim Craig and Michael D. Shear):

Reached Monday evening, Allen said that the word had no derogatory meaning for him and that he was sorry. "I would never want to demean him as an individual. I do apologize if he's offended by that. That was no way the point."

Asked what macaca means, Allen said: "I don't know what it means." He said the word sounds similar to "mohawk," a term that his campaign staff had nicknamed Sidarth because of his haircut. Sidarth said his hairstyle is a mullet -- tight on top, long in the back.

But Ryan Lizza of the New Republic has a good catch this morning: "Not only is macaque apparently a French slur used to describe North Africans, Allen would have good reason to know it is. His mother is French Tunisian (yeah, that's in North Africa), and Allen speaks French."

Note that Sen. Allen said he wouldn't want to demean Mr. Sidarth "as an individual," which would leave open the possibility he might want to demean a larger community of people.

(See also: "George Allen's America," an editorial in today's Washington Post.)

[* Note: Additional items may be posted to "Political Notes" after initial publication but only on the day of publication, excluding post-publication addenda. Such items, when posted, are designated by an asterisk.]

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Hadassah Lieberman:

What you see with Joe is what you get. And if some people don't like it, that's their problem. Being a leader doesn't mean you take polls every time to tell you what to believe.

And it also apparently means you don't listen to voters at the polls telling you something you don't want to believe.

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Photos of Weirdos [*]
Michelle Malkin and the gang aren't going to like this. The New York Times today begins a new series, American Album, summarized on the home page this way: "In a new print and online feature appearing every other Monday, portraits of offbeat Americans by Charlie LeDuff. Today, a Minuteman at the Mexican border named Britt Craig." Who are you calling "offbeat," Mr. Smartypants Mainstream Media?

Our Own Public Idaho
Carole King, yes that Carole King, for those of you old enough to remember someone named Carole King, has an op-ed piece in today's Los Angeles Times about a new, soon-to-be (probably) Congressionally sanctioned land grab in Idaho (where King owns property [Ed.: Corrected.]), the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act.

Sartorial Dis-splendor
Glad to see Gawker is keeping up the Lloyd Grove watch. (Bonus for link hoppers: A photo of yet another of Grove's seemingly endless supply of bad shirt-and-tie combinations!)

There's something else strange at Gawker today: a reference, in a piece about New York subways, to "the green line." When I lived in New York I cringed when I heard people referring to subway lines by their colors, rather than their assigned letters or numbers (or better, IRT, IND, BMT). It's just so, I don't know, Washington.

[* Note: Additional items may be posted to "Political Notes" after initial publication but only on the day of publication, excluding post-publication addenda. Such items, when posted, are designated by an asterisk.]

Dirty-book writer Denise Hamilton, writing in today's Los Angeles Times ("Just Hold Your Nose and Read"):

Words by themselves don't have power, I told myself. It's the symbolism we invest in them that gives words meaning. My husband, David, and I occasionally swear at home. But I've carefully explained the origins of most Anglo-Saxon expletives to the kids, with the hope that demystifying them will remove their allure.

What's worse, a mother who swears or one who swears and then engages her children in needless discourses in etymology, possibly even before breakfast?

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I haven't blogged about the case, one that caught my avid attention from day one -- in part because I grew up and went to college in the region, and otherwise because it was just generally captivating -- but I was very pleased to hear earlier this evening that an Orange County, N.Y., jury (location of the trial resulting from a change of venue) found Christopher Porco, of Delmar, N.Y., guilty of murdering his father, Peter Porco, and of attempting to kill his mother, Joan Porco.

Gratefully and correctly, it didn't take the jury very long to decide the matter.

Congratulations and appreciation to the Bethlehem Police Department and the Albany Country District Attorney's Office for their outstanding and successful efforts surrounding the case against this very dangerous young man, and to the Albany Times Union and WNYT for their excellent coverage of the case and the trial.

The system works.

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An irritated traveler interviewed by an Associated Press reporter :

In the Atlanta airport, Brenda Lee was annoyed with the lines and having to remove items from her luggage. The 52-year-old commercial real estate appraiser from Snellville, Georgia, had to throw away her shampoo, but she said she was keeping her contact lens solution in her carry-on luggage.

How quickly they forget. Also from the A.P. today:

The threat first appeared in January 1995 in the Philippines, when police stumbled on a suspected al-Qaeda plot to target U.S.-bound planes with bombs based on nitroglycerine carried on board in containers for contact lens solution.

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In Say Goodnight, Joe," by Bruce Shapiro, posted at The Nation's web site today, I caught this look at the Connecticut primary voting that ought to have Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman thinking twice:

Does Lieberman have the strength to win as an independent? Don't be deceived by the close final numbers in the Lieberman-Lamont primary. Lamont ran a consistent eight points or more ahead in most of the state, from affluent suburbs in Fairfield County to devastated mill towns in the state's northeast. Lieberman finally pulled within striking distance of Lamont only because a handful of municipal Democratic organizations in the old Naugatuck Valley industrial zone, the last remnants of old-line party hacks, pulled out the stops on primary day.

And old-line party hacks don't have a great deal of leverage in general elections.

(Note: The Hartford Courant has town-by-town results [Scroll down to the third list.], interesting for those who know their way around the state.)

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Soon-to-be former senator Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) today lost the Democratic primary to his underdog challenger, Ned Lamont.

It is imperative that the Democratic Party's leadership understand, recognize, appreciate, and respect the will of party members and primary-election voters in Connecticut who convincingly gave the nod to Lamont over the heavily funded and thoroughly rejected three-term incumbent.

And it is essential that Democrats everywhere insist that their own representatives in the party, by which I mean their senators and representatives, line up behind Lamont immediately and enthusiastically, in order to ensure that the will of Connecticut Democrats carries through the November election.

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More later, at which point you will understand, but earlier this evening I ran into Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) in Center City Philadelphia -- at the "opening" of the new Franklin Square -- and I asked him, after introducing myself and presenting my affiliation ("my affiliation" these days means, well, The Rittenhouse Review, for what that's worth), what he would do tomorrow if Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) lost today's primary, which appears pretty likely at this moment (9:20 p.m., EDT).

Gov. Rendell told me, and I'm paraphrasing, but accurately, I think: I'm focused on Pennsylvania. We have a lot going on here this year and that's what I'm focused on.

I then mentioned that I thought it was extremely important that we all focus on Bob Casey's challenge to the incumbent Republican, Senator Tweedle Dum, adding that I was aware that recent media reports emphasized Gov. Rendell's good working relationship with said Dum. (Okay, I didn't use the phrase "Tweedle Dum," but I think he caught my drift.)

Gov. Rendell told me, "Much too much has been made of that. I'm completely behind Bob Casey. Remember, I cleared the way for Casey to run this race. I'm behind him 100 percent."

And there you have it.

[Post-publication addendum: Crazy close as of 10:35 p.m.: Lamont ahead, 51.9 to 48.1 percent.]

[Update: 11:05 p.m. (EDT) KYW 1060 AM is carrying Lieberman's "concession" speech, if that's what we're to call it. I can't believe what a whining, bitter, nasty, out-of-touch loser he's being about this. Truly pathetic.]

[Post-publication addendum (2) (August 9): For background on the Rendell-Casey relationship and more about their joint appearance yesterday, see "Democrats Unify as Gov. Rendell Embraces Casey," by Carrie Budoff in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.]

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The focus in Connecticut is, of course, on the primary pitting Ned Lamont against Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, what with this being a battle for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party and an election that will determine its very future, or some other such rot.

Tensions are running high among the "centrists," with the Lieberman camp blaming bloggers for their web site's demise. (What a mighty lot we are!) And someone let Martin Peretz out of his straps long enough for him to crank out a piece for the gang at The Wall Street Journal in which he calls Lamont a Stalinist.

Big fun for such a small state.

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It appears tomorrow's Democratic primary in Connecticut will feature a close race between challenger Ned Lamont and incumbent U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman. The Hartford Courant today carries an A.P. story, "Lieberman Cuts Into Lamont's Lead," citing a Quinnipiac poll that puts Lamont ahead of Lieberman by 51 to 45 percent among likely voters. Further:

Only 4 percent of respondents said they were undecided and 90 percent of voters who name a candidate say their mind is made up.

John Nichols of The Nation has a good post on his Online Beat blog, "Desperate Measures," that convincingly portrays Lieberman as being a little late to his own Party.

Post-publication addendum: In today's New York Times Patrick Healy and Jennifer Medina report on Lieberman's "last-ditch attempt to explain his support for the war and to win back doubting voters" in "Lieberman Explains His Stance on Iraq":

Mr. Lieberman said that while he believed his vote to authorize the war in 2002 was correct, he now felt a "heavy responsibility" to end the war quickly. He said he wanted to withdraw American troops "as fast as anyone," yet insisted that leaving Iraq now would be a "disaster" that could worsen the sectarian violence there. And while President Bush may share that view, he added, Connecticut voters were free not to.

"I not only respect your right to disagree or question the president or anyone else, including me, I value your right to disagree," he said at a community center in East Haven.

"I value your right to disagree," he says. Well, maybe not so much: "Advisers to Mr. Lieberman said yesterday that he still planned to run as an independent if he loses to Mr. Lamont[.]"

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