From Sen Specter's bullshit to more from Colbert...

From American Progress:

Think Fast...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said he was not prepared to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies for their participation in the warrantless wiretapping program. "I certainly would not give them immunity retroactively on programs that we don't know what they are," he said.

The White House agreed yesterday to give Senate intelligence committee members and staff access to internal documents related to its domestic surveillance program. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said that when one of her staff members reviewed the documents, "he wasn't impressed."

In another rebuke of the Bush administration's stem cell policy, National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni said, "All avenues of research need to be pursued." White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded that President Bush has a "broader view" than scientists, which takes into account "moral and religious views."

Brookings analyst Michael O'Hanlon commended Democratic presidential candidates for refusing to commit to withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq by 2013. "The only thing that would have concerned me would have been a repeat of 2003, where the populist's message of 'get out now' would overtake the Democratic Party," he said.

24 percent: President Bush's approval rating in a new Reuters/Zogby poll, which sets yet another record low for the President.

Prior to his confirmation hearing today, Attorney General nominee Mike Mukasey will be introduced "before the cameras" by a "tripartisan" group of senators: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

In a special election yesterday, Niki Tsongas (D), the wife of the late Sen. Paul Tsongas (D), beat out Republican Jim Ogonowski to fill former Rep. Martin Meehan's (D-MA) vacant 5th district House seat, "becoming the first woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress in nearly 25 years."

And finally: Colbert throws his hat in the ring. On the Daily Show last night, comedian Stephen Colbert "made a surprise appearance" to officially announce he was considering a run for president. About 20 minutes later on his own show, Colbert announced "Yes, I'm doing it!" He then welcomed CBS political analyst Jeff Greenfield to analyze his impact on the race "in the past three minutes."

Wrap...