Ron Suskind introduced the term “reality-based community” to the world in an October 2004 New York Times magazine story on the Bush administration. The context was an exchange between Suskind and an unnamed “senior Bush advisor” that took place in mid-summer of 2002, and the gist of it was the Suskind and other members of the reality-based community — pretty much everyone outside the White House, as it turns out — were about to eat the dust of those who operated in a realm beyond reality.

Leave it to the clever Brits to come up with the perfect description of the current state of the Bush-Blair special relationship.

A Gregg Easterbrook review of Al Gore’s new film prompts Atrios to question the degree of contempt in which Slate Magazine holds its readers. I can help out on that.

In a decision sure to aggravate relations between the institutional press and bloggers, a California court has established the right of bloggers to protect their sources. The decision arises from a case in which Apple Computer sought to compel bloggers to identify individuals who leaked information about a new Apple product.

UPDATE: Congressional leaders have now acknowledged that the raid on Jefferson’s office was constitutionally permissible and are working on a deal with Gonzales regarding procedures for future raids. Bill Frist says “I want to know exactly what would happen if there is a similar sort of thing” in his neck of the woods.

For the second time in recent months, Justice Department officials took a strong stand against compromising evidence in an investigation. This time, the action involved keeping the evidence available to investigators rather than denying them access to it.

A homophobic far right Christian group is targeting Vice president Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary Cheney, in a new fund raising effort.

AP reported a few weeks ago that Justice Department lawyers were denied security clearances necessary to investigate legal findings authorizing domestic warrantless wiretaps. At the time, the common assumption was that the clearances were denied by the National Security Agency. Now, perhaps not so much.

Iraq didn’t attack the US. Iraq didn’t threaten the US. The Iraqi civilians murdered at Haditha died because George W. Bush needlessly put them in harm’s way.

John Dickerson has identified the biggest problems Al Gore would face in a second run for the presidency: Democratic consultants and the press.