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ABC's 9/11 fakeumentary continues to dominate the discussion, with Americablog leading the pack today on strategy. I have a feeling this controversy will not die out with the ending credits on the program. I have some hope it will energize the media reform movement in a larger context. It's useful to remember that ABC's latest fraud is only one in a long string of politically driven decisions at all the major media outlets.

Bush has belatedly flooded the field with CIA operatives to find bin Laden, but the CIA reports the trail is stone cold. As I pointed out in my Detroit News blog, it's easy to see a nexus between the CIA's inability to cultivate useful informants and the outing of Plame and Khan.

The NYT reports Cheney's influence is fading. That may be true to some extent. He no longer enjoys an automatic rubberstamp from Congress, but I'm with the Heretik on this one. Cheney is still a formidable force in the White House and I won't rest easy until he's out of office.

Mark Kleiman notices Bush tacitly admitted to war crimes.

And this pretty well sums up the GOP's desperation over the November ballot.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads.

The hope is that a vigorous effort to "define" opponents, in the parlance of GOP operatives, can help Republicans shift the midterm debate away from Iraq and limit losses this fall. ...

These ads of course will be delivered by political committees and allegedly independent "Swift Boaters" in an attempt to distance the candidates from the mud they'll be slinging. Unsurprising, the pundits are predicting 06 will see the most negative campaigning in recent history, since neither party has much to brag about in terms of accomplishments.

It's going to be a long couple of months.