Our famous linkfest offering readers links to weblogs of varying viewpoints. Links do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its writers.

Firedoglake Had A Guest Blogger Named Hillary Clinton and it has caused quite a buzz… HERE IS A POST by the Senator.

Has The Justice Department’s Monica Put Her Foot In Her Mouth? This new Monica is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ colleague Monica Goodling. Is THIS a problem?

Innocent Casualty In The War On Drugs: Writer/commenter/blogger Nick Rivera sends us some excellent links regarding a 88-year-old woman shot and killed in a bungled drug raid in her home. Read the links, then make your own decisions. The main story details the officers’ cover up. Her name was Katheryn Johnston. Radley Balko also did a slew of posts on this issue here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. It is also pointed out to us that Baklo also did some eye-opening research on this subject for the Cato Institute. Bottom line: Balko’s blog posts, reporting and research is HIGHLY IMPRESSSIVE (and should be a role model for weblogs of all kinds…and reporters as well).

More White House Officials Involved In Prostitution Scandal? Watch ABC’s Brian Ross’ report HERE. If you take the other scandals and controversies involving this administration and add this to the mix its going to be a highly tempestuous two years with an increasingly weakened (if verbally unbowed) executive branch. And very bad news for Republicans in tight races in 2008.

Iraq War Wiki Website: Dean Esmay is trying to create a new website that will chronicle progress and positive points about the Iraq war. Details here and here.

Believe It Or Not There Was A Ban On Weapons Used In Stage Productions but now the institution where it was in place has lifted it. (If there was a general ban on stage weapons, some of the contestants on American Idol would not be able to sing.)

Iran Is In The Middle Of A Teacher’s Strike: PJ Media’s email notes: “Teachers’ strikes have been spreading across Iran for the last eleven weeks and now the mullahs are “striking back” with a phony strike of their own.” Read the fascinating post (complete with You Tube video) HERE.

Did Congress Blow It By Essentially Giving GWB A Blank Check On War Powers? Some thoughts here and here. What strikes yours-truly (who is old enough to remember) is how regrets in Congress now mirror Vietnam era regrets over giving LBJ the Gulf of Tonkin resolution and how some pundits (and military…although NOT all military agree on this) are increasingly comparing the war in Iraq to war in Vietnam. One distinction that seems to be coming out in the spate of books, now-it-can-be-told stories, and comments by members of Congress who are now speaking out and regret their vote: in Vietnam the U.S. stumbled into it because LBJ followed the advice of his military advisors (up to a point) acting on the previous administration’s more modest commitment. In Iraq, the U.S. got into it because apparently a group of policy makers were determined to take Saddam out WAY early on: the INITIAL impetus for the war (from what we know so far) did NOT come from a clamor from the U.S. military. The most solid U.S. administrations are those who listen to and carefully weigh the advice of their military and diplomats.

If You’re A Political Campaign News Junkie this site is definitely for you.

Russia’s Boris Yeltsin Passed From The Scene and Neo-neocon has a interesting take on Yeltsin, Russia and Iraq. A tiny taste 4 U:

Although it’s a child’s nursery rhyme, the parable of Humpty Dumpty expresses a profound truth, which is this: it is exceedingly difficult to put together that which is broken. By the time Yeltsin came to power Russia was a broken nation and, without the strong and harsh cement that tyranny provided, its fragmentary nature became more and more apparent. In fact, Soviet unity had been illusory, and almost immediately many of the satellite nations seceded from the USSR and became autonomous once more. Russia itself, which had been a nation for centuries prior to the Communist takeover, was in deep disarray, and Putin’s harsher hand has brought it a measure of stability at no small cost.

This ebb and flow between chaos and tyranny is the legacy of every state trying to repair itself from a broken and violent past—and that includes Iraq, one of the most broken and violent of all. The United States, on the other hand, has had the luxury of not having been broken at its outset—it was, rather assembled from various parts that came together with a common vision, although not without some disagreement. The fragmentation that might have occurred following our own Civil War was averted and the damage slowly repaired. And, despite the cries of those who shout “tyranny” and think our civil liberties deeply threatened, we have always—throughout our long history—been among the freest nations in the world in terms of the individual. That remains the case today.

Read it all.

Should The Virginia Tech Tragedy Be Sparking The Gun Control Debate? Some thoughts from Public Eye’s Brian Montopoli.

Uh, Oh: Do low-energy bulbs interrupt television remote controls?

“A Numb Moment” tastefully shared by Gay Orbit: when someone has a terminally-ill parent (yours truly is in the same situation and will be visiting the parent who is battling a different illness quite soon). Yes, you can never be prepared. There is no real “run up,” even though you may think it’s happening..