• Stephen Price is the senior writer for the Tallahassee Democrat (no relation to the Party) and tends to stick out just a touch when in a scrum of mostly-white political reporters. Last week at a McCain rally, he stuck out so much that a McCain staffer asked him and his legitimate press credential to leave. McCain's staff says it's because he was a state reporter, since, you know, McCain doesn't care that much about his local and state press coverage. [HuffPo, HuffPo]
• By the way, the Swift Boat guys are back and now they've got books! And mass e-mails! And virtually no credibility! [Washington Post]
• Speaking of lacking in credibility, House Republicans are claiming that their protest against House Speaker Pelosi's decision not to bring a drilling bill to the floor is lowering gas prices! [HuffPo]

• In still more barely believable news, apparently the letter that was the only supposed documented link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda is probably a CIA forgery. When do we stop calling the intelligence there "faulty" and start calling it "manufactured"? Was that letter, at least, manufactured in a mobile lab?[Washington Independent]
• But, hey, at least Stephen Price isn't a Japanese reporter trying to cover the Beijing Olympics. In China, they don't "escort" you away from what you're trying to report on, they beat you up and haul you off in violation of China's supposed agreement on press freedoms. But they're really sorry! They promise it won't happen again until at least tomorrow! [Boston Globe]
• And to make us seem more sorry, a U.S. Olympic Committee official reportedly bitched out the four cyclists who arrived in China for the Olympics today wearing the face masks issued to them... by the USOC. What, did Bush get to appoint a bunch of incompetent assholes there, too? [NY Times]

I'm one of those people who loves to bike (Yes, the one above is mine. And I have another one ). There is such a simple pleasure in the self-propelled rhythm of it. Wind in your hair, book in your basket. You can cover more ground than walking, and you don't necessarily have to work yourself into a lather like running. And it's eco-friendly. I understand that this country's growth was car-related. Didn't people used to live in cities or towns and villages where nothing was too far away to be reached by bicycle? Then economic boom meant everyone could have a house with a picket fence and a two car garage. The so-called "freeway" was invented. The suburbs were invented. Cars became necessary. But maybe it's time for a shift? Considering the price of gas and our dependency on foreign oil? Adding bike lanes instead of HOV lanes of killer SUVs seems like a good idea. Think of the decrease in roadkill and teenage drunk driving accidents. Lord knows Americans could use the exercise. As Shukert writes:

I can't help thinking, a little sadly, of the spinning classes I walk past every day at the gym — 30 or 40 women, all in terrific shape, pedaling none too sedately … and going nowhere.

Wheels Of Change [Salon]

Women's Lib Arrived On Bicycles [CNN via Mental Floss]