Roger Simon hits the nail on the head, here.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On behalf of the media, I would like to say we are sorry.

On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry.

We have asked questions this week that we should never have asked.

We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? And was she his first choice?

Bad questions. Bad media. Bad.

It is not our job to ask questions. Or it shouldn’t be. To hear from the pols at the Republican National Convention this week, our job is to endorse and support the decisions of the pols.

…

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Colombian writer and Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez hailed journalism as the best profession, in rare public comments in northern Mexico.

"There's no better job" than journalism, said the 81-year-old author of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' who started out as a journalist and often says he writes to avoid having to speak.

…

Still does.

When I go on big cleaning rampages, I frequently re-organize things and in so doing, mess up my mental picture of where things are. For the last week, I haven't been able to put my hands on my ProTools install CD. Haven't really needed it, but couldn't find it. Knew that I'd handled it recently. Knew that it and the serial number on the back of it was worth money. Knew it was very likely within six feet of my desk, but I Just. Couldn't. Find. It.

Just found it. Whew.

Now if I could just find my damn bluetooth earpiece.

A more detailed writeup to come.

This is what we call an unalloyed piece of good, if LONG !@#$ OVERDUE, news. The Supreme Court has affirmed that those pesky rights and protections in the Constitution that some of us still think might be sorta, maybe, kinda important to apply equally to everyone, well, they even apply to people our government alleges have committed heinous crimes.

<Samuel L. Jackson>
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, MOTHERF-CKERS — DID YOU READ IT?
</Samuel L. Jackson>

This is going to put a spring in my step all day. Sad comment that simply reaffirming rights that are unambiguously spelled out in our country's founding documents can cheer me up like this, but there you go.

Also, as of this writing, CNN.com's link for this story off their front page says "Gitmo detainees win round at Supreme Court." I'm pretty sure that when you win a decision at the "Supreme" Court, that's not just winning a "round."

After all, what's the government going to do? Come up with some other flimsy legal pretext to keep a bunch of detainees acquired under dubious circumstances from having private conversations with their lawyers, having the same access to evidence as their prosecution, or having any chance of seeing as fair and impartial a trial as America can provide before the next administration comes in to deal with the legal mess left behind by this one?

… Naaaaah.

But I'll relish this small reminder that we might just live in a nation of laws after all.

Suspected terrorists and foreign fighters held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in federal court, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The decision marked another legal blow to the Bush administrations war on terrorism policies.

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said the U.S. military lacks the legal autonomy to prosecute as many as 300 prisoners.

At issue were the rights of the detainees to contest their imprisonment as well as the rules established to try them in military tribunals.

A congressional law passed in 2006 would limit court jurisdiction to hear such challenges.

It is a legal question the justices have tackled three times since 2004, including Thursdays ruling.

Each time the high court ruled against the governments claim that it has the authority to hold people it labels "enemy combatants."

Neat service pulling intriguing Tweets by how many times they've been marked as someone's favorite — something like Flickr's "interestingness" algorithm. I went to check out the page (at the above link) and noted this little gem, from Twitter user hotdogsladiesкомпютри:

Clinton fans tell us they'll protest by supporting McCain. Many also vow to protest gas prices by shitting in their cars. Back to you, Tom.

I would not have the degree without Kate, who every day makes new adventures — big and small — possible in ways I never imagined. And Jason Haas, who first put the notion in my head that graduate school was perhaps the way out of the stasis I was in; and Aira, who first put the notion in my head that journalism done well might be something I could attain; and my grandma Marzi, who made it financially possible; and the Upper Valley crew who supported us in living and packing and moving… The Academy, parents, little people, &c.

I could go on, but I need to go find some water and a stiff cup of tea, now. After a week of getting up at 0430, staying up until 0300 dancing and drinking has left me feeling like my head's on backwards and inside out.

I seriously can't recommend attending one's spouse's 10-year college reunion highly enough. Had a blast this past weekend at Smith: saw good friends, made more friends, met friends' adorable children, and somehow ate dinner with several lethal secret agents (two of them pictured here.)

Jake is not yet a secret agent, but is working on the "hiding in unusual places" skillset he'll eventually need.

The frequently-sagacious Rands on why he likes Twitter — struck a chord with me.

[...]

Twitter is a social network, yes, but it’s a social network without the superpoke scrabtaculous zombie noise and, for that, I’m thankful, because I’ve got work to do. Yes, I could spend days tidying my profile and scrubbing my friends list, but to what end? I want to know more people, and sure, it’s interesting to see what they’re up to, but what I really want to know is what is going on inside their heads with a minimum of fuss.

I want to see how they see the world. This is why I follow people on Twitter. This is why they follow me.

[...]

and, from another post of his on Twitter:

Twitter is an informational yard sale. You simply never know when that off-the-cuff comment you toss will alter a person’s day.