• The fighting that began Wednesday in Mumbai is continuing today. Nearly 200 people have been confirmed dead so far, with almost 300 others injured. Militants are still fighting and holding (and killing) hostages in the Taj Mahal hotel and in a Jewish community center. [NY Times, Huffington Post, NY Times]
• Barack Obama has issued a statement condemning the attacks. [Washington Post]
• The Iraqi Parliament has passed the Status of Forces Agreement, which could have us out by 2010, but will have us out no later than 2012. [Washington Independent]
• In other news, former First Lady Barbara Bush has been moved out of the ICU following surgery to repair a perforated stomach ulcer. [CNN]

• The Vatican says that cell phones and the Internet are killing our souls. Fuck, seriously, is there anything fun you're allowed to do as a Catholic anymore? (Click through for a bonus picture of Pope Benedict in a funny, non-Pope hat.) [Telegraph]
• Iowa's Supreme Court will hear an equal protection challenge to its gay marriage ban, which may or may not invalidate the marriage of the 2 people who managed to get married in the 9 business hours the ban was struck down before the court issued a stay. [LA Times]
• The police have charged someone in the murder of Arkansas reporter Anne Pressley, who was beaten to death in her home last month. Despite the extreme level of violence that police initially said indicated it could be someone that knew and hated her, it turns out it was a random attack by a violent psycho named Curtis Lavelle Vance. [MSNBC]
• Mitchell Wade, the former defense contractor who bribed the shit out of former Congressman Duke Cunningham, apparently bribed other people and is singing like a canary. He's implicated at least 5 other thus-far-unnamed Congressmen and various other government officials. [Washington Post]
• The Congressional probe of all of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel's (D-New York) shady business dealings will be done before the new Congress is sworn in, according to Nancy Pelosi. This means, in all likelihood, that he'll get a slap on the wrist and continue on as Chairman, which is how it always worked when the Republicans ran Congress that Pelosi promised to change when she came to power. [Washington Post]
• Now that Democrats have voted to keep Joe Lieberman in his position of power atop the Senator Homeland Security Committee, someone bothered to notice that he gave a bunch of money to Republican Senatorial candidates, too. [Washington Post]
• Jill Biden might keep teaching at a D.C.-area community college as Second Lady, which would make her the first Second Lady to carry on with a paying job after moving into the Vice Presidential Mansion. Also, she's probably cooler than you even thought she was. [Politico]
• And although Hillary Clinton hasn't officially been offered or officially accepted a gig as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration, let alone resigned her Senate seat, New York State Attorney General (and enormous asshole) Andrew Cuomo has already begun a whisper campaign to make himself the front runner in the race to be appointed to the seat. Earlier this year, Andrew Cuomo referred to Barack Obama with a racial slur, which his staff rushed to cover up and intimidate bloggers and reporters from covering, swearing that the racially-loaded term "shucking and jiving" was no such thing. Hopefully, someone reminds Governor David Patterson of this every time he gets a damn phone call encouraging him to appoint Andrew Cuomo to anything. [NY Times, Pam's House Blend]

MEGAN: So, Sinny, welcome behind the magical curtain that is Crappy Hour. I'm sorry that we never got to do this while there was fun Clinton stuff to talk about, but she's actually on vacation, as frankly I wish I was.
SINISTER ROUGE: Funny I was just reading how Obama is trying to "woo us" and some assholes were complaining that Hills was nowhere to be found.
MEGAN: Actually, she's not coming back to the Senate until after the 4th of July, despite supposedly being at her donor meeting in D.C. next week. It's at the Mayflower, which is a really nice hotel but you would think that a New York Dem would avoid going near the place for a while.
SINISTER ROUGE: She's on vacation assholes!
One would think!
Did you see how they’re going to make a joint appearance next week?
Settle down Obamabots, give her a minute to relax.
MEGAN: But they're too classy to even name a drink after Spitzer. I know, my friends and I walked in there and tried to order one, but my one friend more than made up for it by ordering a blow job. She was a girl and the bartender just about crapped himself.
SINISTER ROUGE: HA!
Spitzer...ugh.
The ways that man has been a disappointment are too numerous to count. What dreams I had!! CRUSHED.
But I love the new guv.
MEGAN: Yeah, they're supposedly making a joint appearance, but they haven't spoken. I have to think she shows because she needs the donors in 2012 regardless of whether it's for the Senate, the Presidency or the Governorship in 2010.
SINISTER ROUGE: I don't think she'll ever run for President again.
MEGAN: David Patterson? Let's hope he does well.
SINISTER ROUGE: Well and I really do think that she cares about party unity.
MEGAN: I think that if Obama isn't the incumbent in 2012 (I can't bring myself to type the other formulation), there will totally be calls for her to run again.
SINISTER ROUGE: I think he will. Doing pretty great so far. I swooned for statment about gay marriage
I think she'll ignore them. I don't see how anyone would go through this again! But she's a strong bitch. If anyone could, she would.
I DO think that the conspiracies floating around that she wants Obama to lose are nonsense
MEGAN: Yeah, I mean, Al Gore didn't. He won't even campaign again.
SINISTER ROUGE: I saw that!!
Came off kind of like he was too good for it right?
Eh. I'm over Al Gore.
MEGAN: He's got a job now, he doesn't want to jeopardize it! And, yes, he came off as supercilious. That used to be one of my favorite words.
SINISTER ROUGE: I liked the article about how Dems are talking about New York Times profile on Michelle ? I liked it. I liked this part in particular:

Eventually, she started the Chicago chapter of a training program called Public Allies. One day, looking for young leaders, she might knock on doors at Cabrini-Green, a public housing project so violent and neglected it would later be mostly demolished. Another day, she discovered Jose A. Rico, a young Mexican so alienated that he insisted on remaining an illegal immigrant rather than pursue citizenship. What is your goal? he recalled her asking.
To open a high school for Latinos, he replied. Mrs. Obama nodded: Good, tell me exactly how you would do it.
“Michelle was tough, man; she let nothing slide,” said Mr. Rico, now principal of Multicultural Arts High School in Chicago, which he helped start.

It spoke to me as a Hispanic and an immigrant.
MEGAN: Yeah, that profile says basically she's going to be softening her image, probably so as not to be a liability to Barack.
SINISTER ROUGE: Michelle is obviously a complicated and intelligent woman...something the Republicans don't like at all.
I'm still slightly bitter about how Obama ripped the Clinton administration and now basically I like his jabs at the McCain (and the Repubs by extension) about the terrorism.
(lol 'the' terrorism)
MEGAN: I mean, I would just rather he stick to talking about the economy, because it's on those issues that I think he can really beat McCain.
SINISTER ROUGE: Right. He's already got the liberals on the war.
And McCain whether true or not has a good rep on national security.
MEGAN: Yeah, and with McCain having to pander to his own right on torture and shit, you can almost let him dig his own grave.
SINISTER ROUGE: I loved it when Jon Stewart said that the Straight Talk express taking a detour to "Crazy Base World."
Perfectly put.
MEGAN: And polls are showing that indies still prefer McCain on terrorism.
SINISTER ROUGE: Indies like O'Reilly.
Although I'm "unaffiliated" now.
MEGAN: Ha. That's the funniest thing you've said all morning.
SINISTER ROUGE: Not because of Obama. But the DNC pissed me off so much I wanted to send a message.
I would always want to punch the television when BillO would say, "I'm not a Republican! I'm an Independent!"
No you're not. Asshole.
MEGAN: Well, like, Bob Barr is a "libertarian" even though he's conservative as fuck.
SINISTER ROUGE: Exactly.
Bullshit bullshit bullshit.
MEGAN: God, I hope he raises enough money to get on the ballot in every red state.
Like, I'll canvas to get him signatures in Virginia and Maryland, shit.
SINISTER ROUGE: I hate that. At least own up to your crazy party. They think it lends an air of "legitimacy" to their arguments.
LOL He's like the GOP's Nader!
MEGAN: Georgia, Florida, Colorado, Ohio...
SINISTER ROUGE: Kind of like how some people I'd argue with would be like, "but I was for Edwards before Obama!"
MEGAN: He is! He has the potential to be. He can run to the right of McCain, pick up disaffected Republicans, it'll be awesome.
SINISTER ROUGE: when you know they so weren't.
He'll be the spoiler!
So how many racists' heads would explode if Obama wins?
Hee.
Reagan would roll over in his grave.
MEGAN: Um, I liked Edwards until he started yelling about mills. Then he got annoying. But his hair was still pretty.
SINISTER ROUGE: It'd be awesome.
His hair is still pretty!
MEGAN: Oh, god, it'll be so amazing, maybe they'll all move somewhere.
Like, how liberals all say they'll move to Canada? Or France? Where would they move to?
SINISTER ROUGE: One of my co-workers who is still in love with Dubya is basically mourning his "passing."
Creepy.
Yeah but liberals never actually do shit. They stay right where they are and complain.
Like I did.

While gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, state residency requirements make it impossible for New Yorkers to cross the border to get hitched (thanks to ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who dusted off a 1913 law on residency requirements to keep homosexuals from flocking to his fair state to get wedded). However, residents of Rhode Island and New Mexico can get married in the Gay Bay State, unless the couples say they plan on staying on after they're married, according to CNN.

But back to Sam Ronson and Lilo: though the Post's assessment of the effects of Lindsay's possible lesbianism on pop culture is outrgeous, I do think that if she does come out, it wouldn't be a particularly big a deal. In fact, as Queerty editor Andrew Belonsky puts it, "At this point, coming out would be the most normal thing [Lindsay's] done in months."

Living La Vida Lesbo [You Stay Classy, New York Post]

Gay Rights Advocates Score Wins In NY, Calif. [AP]
Gay Marriage Advances In Calif., New York [CBS News]
New York To Recognize Gay Marriage [CNN]

California Love