THE ONE MEME TO HAVE, when you’re having more than one.

HOWARD KURTZ: “Among the many depressing aspects of the downfall of Mark Foley–who has now done the inevitable checking-into-rehab thing–is that a number of young people could have blown the whistle on this deceptive congressman in recent years, but didn’t.”

And Brendan Miniter writes: “House Republicans have done a lousy job of policing themselves.”

MORE AL QAEDA UNHAPPINESS: In war, it’s easy to forget that the other side has problems, too. Big ones.

AMIT VARMA HAS A PIECE ON CENSORSHIP IN INDIA in today’s Wall Street Journal. It’s subscription-only, but you can read it for free at his blog.

DEMOCRATS HAVE PROMISED JOE LIEBERMAN that he’ll keep his seniority if he’s reelected as an independent, according to a report in The Hill. Harry Reid, however, seems to be waffling.

ROSS DOUTHAT AND REIHAN SALAM look at complaints about Bush’s spending habits and observe that Bush never ran as a small-government conservative: “There have been many surprises associated with the Bush presidency, but his willingness to deviate from conservative orthodoxy on the role of government isn’t one of them.”

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: John Murtha, PorkMeister!

Outside Washington, Mr. Murtha, a Vietnam veteran and longtime hawk, may be best known for his break with the president over the Iraq war last fall. But inside the Capitol, he is best known for turning earmarks into power. As the top Democrat on the House military spending subcommittee, he often delivers Democratic votes to Republican leaders in a tacit exchange for earmarks for himself and his allies. . . .

Earmarks — often buried deep in complex bills by unidentified lawmakers — have come under new scrutiny since the conviction last fall of Representative Randy Cunningham, a California Republican on the defense-spending panel who accepted more than $2.4 million in bribes from contractors. The cost of earmarks has tripled in the last decade to about $64 billion a year, according to the Congressional Research Service. Mr. Murtha and other lawmakers say many earmarks are worthwhile, but critics charge that they waste taxpayers’ money, encourage cronyism and foster self-dealing.

Some members of Congress complain that earmarks corrupt lawmaking in other ways. “They are used as internal bribery in order to get members to vote for a piece of legislation they wouldn’t ordinarily give two minutes to,” said Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

No one is more adept at such trading than Mr. Murtha, say current and former members, Congressional aides and outside observers.

I guess it’s too much to hope that Diana Irey will oust him this fall, though I see that she’s making an issue of the pork.

MICHAEL PETRELIS says that the Human Rights Campaign needs to speak out on Foley:

No one has been shocked!, shocked! to find the gay wing of the Democratic National Committee, the Human Rights Campaign silent on the Foley scandal. HRC is just too squeamish to figure out something, ANYTHING, of substance to say about the ex-congressman, now in rehab.

The largest gay organization in America and all its members can’t see a single reason to weigh in on anything related to Foley, showing HRC has all the backbone of one of the dead, boneless chickens served at their dinners.

Among other things, he thinks HRC should ask for its $27,000 in campaign donations back.

UPDATE: More silence.

AT THE GUARDIAN, the sound of silence is a lot like the sound of applause.

TOM MAGUIRE: The Times throws Condi a rope.

JOSHUA TREVINO takes a look at libertarians and the left. And here’s a related item by Arnold Kling.

MORE TEENS GONE WILD: No members of Congress are involved, but there’s a lapdance. (Click on “grand entrance.”)

A LOOK AT the U.N. and the Internet.

MICHELLE MALKIN’S ADVICE TO THE REPUBLICANS on the Foley mess: “Deal with it.” She’s right. Of course the press and the Democrats are taking advantage, but it’s no less real for all that. Denial won’t help things.

AN ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY claiming that Bill Frist says we can’t win in Afghanistan is incorrect. Read the response here.

UPDATE: Some readers find Frist’s statement less than compelling. Follow the link and decide for yourself.

IN THE MAIL: The paperback edition of John Farrell’s The Day Without Yesterday. It was good in hardback, so I imagine it’s just as good — but cheaper! — in paperback.

WHY IT’S A BAD IDEA to try to censor bloggers.

Some highly consistent related discussion can be found here.

DAVE KOPEL has much more on HR 5013, the just-passed bill banning firearms confiscations, including its full text.

OVER AT THE POSTGLOBAL BLOG they’re asking who should replace Kofi Annan. My first thought was that anyone would be an improvement, but alas the U.N.’s state is such that we might actually do worse. These thoughts of mine from 2004 are a bit dated now, but . . . . Happy Birthday, Mr. Havel.

HAROLD FORD, JR. IS UP BY FIVE PERCENT in the latest Rasmussen poll. How smart is Ford? He’s a regular on “Southern Roots Radio,” a local hard-right talk radio show. I haven’t heard his appearances, but a colleague was telling me at lunch that he does quite well.

As with Phil Bredesen, this willingness to engage people rather than coming across as condescending has paid big dividends. Other Democrats might want to take note.

UPDATE: Apparently, I’m a shill for the Democrats. Reader Jim Chandler emails:

You’ll be laughing out of the other side of your liberal mouth when your butt buddy, Harold Jr., gets his ass kicked in the election. You guys must be long lost, separated brothers.

Well, we’re both extraordinarily handsome men, but I don’t think the resemblance goes beyond that.

SEBASTIAN MALLABY writes in the Washington Post:

After years of single-party government, the prospect of a Democratic majority in the House ought to feel refreshing. But even with Republicans collapsing in a pile of sexual sleaze, I just can’t get excited. Most Democrats in Congress seem bereft of ideas or the courage to stand up for them. They clearly want power, but they have no principles to guide their use of it.

Michael Barone makes a similar point. And that’s one difference between now and 1994: The incumbents in Congress have made themselves vulnerable through corruption and ineptitude. But this time the opposition party doesn’t stand for anything in particular beyond the desire for power itself.

It’s enough to make you lose faith in the two-party system.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal looks at the roots of Republican failure in Congress.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jonathan Adler writes: “If Republicans lose control of Congress, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.”

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Senators Coburn and Obama write about the transparency bill:

If nothing else, this activism and this bill are a testament to a hunger that exists in America today. It’s a non-partisan hunger for a government that’s honest and open — one that spends our hard-earned tax dollars wisely, efficiently and transparently. The scandals of the last few years have shaken the American people’s faith in this kind of government, and if we hope to restore that faith, bills like this will have to stop being the exception and start becoming the rule. . . .

We know of other small, but important, steps we can take. More than a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, there are still no-bid contracts being awarded to companies with questionable spending practices. The process by which Congress awards earmarks is still fraught with waste and abuse. And now that Jack Abramoff has faded from view, Washington seems incapable of passing reforms that were once thought to be inevitable.

The movement that helped pass this bill proves that the American people want to participate in this debate, that they’re demanding more from our politics, and that they believe this begins with a government that is responsive and accountable to the public.

This movement also demonstrated that even in our polarized political culture the American people can forge a consensus and achieve real results. One Web site won’t change government overnight, but the widespread support it received, the swiftness with which it was passed, and the steps it will take to reconnect citizens with their government are all real and welcome signs of hope.

It was a small step, but a useful one. We need many more steps, though.

DANNY GLOVER looks at calls for Hastert’s resignation.

I’ve never been a fan, and his ridiculous behavior over the William Jefferson subpoena was, in my opinion, reason enough for him to go.

A GROWING INSURGENCY in Iran?

UPDATE: Plus, a look at Anbar tribes vs. Al Qaeda from Bill Roggio.