Our link-fest offering readers links to blog posts from websites of many different viewpoints. Linked posts do NOT necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its writers.

INVESTIGATIVE ORIGINAL BLOG REPORTING ON JAMES DOBSON comes via TMV co-blogger Shaun Mullen on his own excellent site, Kiko’s House. This post is a MUST READ because a) of the content b) it is the epitome of how weblogs can allow an individual to do actual serious reporting and not have to give it to an editor (or publisher). It’s the kind of report you’d see in a magazine.

The piece’s title is “Why Is Gay Hating James Dobson Still Licensed As a Therapist in Colorado?” Here are three brief excerpts. The provocative lead:

The Reverend James Dobson, full to overflowing with the ego-tripping insouciance of a man of the cloth who is doing God’s bidding, is used to getting his way. And being downright un-Christian when it comes to gays.

And a sample of some of the info:

Despite being totally out of step with his own profession regarding homosexuality, Dobson remains a licensed marriage and family therapist in Colorado.

Two former members of that state’s Board of Marriage and Family Therapists, speaking anonymously, said that Dobson’s dual role is improper and demeans the profession, but the board’s hands are tied because of a waiver in state law.

“He can’t have it both ways,” said one of the former board members of Dobson’s dual role as a gay-bashing preacher who claims he can cure homosexuality and a licensed therapist. “Is he dealing with someone as a therapist or as a minister? There has to be a distinction.”

[Further down]…The former board members said that the board has received several grievances against Dobson over the years.

Read it in its entirety. It is sure to spark debate due to its content And it’s also an example of how blogging can use original reporting to make blog posts more than extended op-ed pieces.

EVANGELICALS AND THE 2008: So what’s going on? CLICK HERE.

FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ISN’T BIG B.O. in the sense of “box office,” that is. A new documentary about the former President has proven as popular with moviegoers as his presidency was with voters. Here are the details.

THE CONTROVERSIAL DAVID HOROWITZ WAS HECKLED OFF THE STAGE AT EMORY UNIVERSITY but the college’s Muslim community opposed interfering with him and defended his right to free speech.

It’s Salon’s Glenn Greenwald Against General Petraeus’ Spokesman in a very fiery email exchange with a lot of weblogs jumping in. Here’s the intro:

I received this morning an unsolicited email from Col. Steven A. Boylan, the Public Affairs Officer and personal spokesman for Gen. David G. Petraeus (see UPDATE III below). The subject line of the email — which I am publishing in full, unedited form here — is “The growing link between the U.S. military and right-wing media and blogs,” which is the title of the post I wrote earlier this week regarding the politicization of the Army in Iraq, as evidenced by its constant coordination with, and leaking to, the likes of Matt Drudge, The Weekly Standard, and the most extremist right-wing blogs — in the TNR/Beauchamp case and also more generally.

I had a prior e-mail exchange with Col. Boylan several months ago when I requested an interview with Gen. Petraeus after he had granted an exclusive interview to far-right partisan Hugh Hewitt (author of the 2006 prescient tract: Painting the Map Red: The Fight to Create a Permanent Republican Majority). In terms of whether the U.S. Army under Petraeus and Boylan is, in fact, becoming a political actor, I’ll let multiple passages from Boylan’s email to me this morning speak for itself:

Read the whole post and make up your own mind on this issue.

The issue of posting what were meant as private emails is a prickly one. It’s considered a no-no in most cases, even though some blogs run notes about anything emailed being subject to being published. About two years ago, TMV was under fire from a blog and I wrote a very angry response and included some emails from a blogger. A top blogger happened to see it a minute after it went on the site and he immediately called me and asked: “Do you REALLY want to do that? That does not sound like you.” He explained that posting emails — especially when you’re angry — is not wise. I realized it was wrong ethically and I was in fact using my site to personally vent anger rather than presenting readers with info or commentary.

In this case, Greenwald argues that running the emails is OK since since he is dealing with a news source (or an associate of one) and due to some other issues (outlined in his post). If the email wasn’t stipulated as private, coming from a news source, the case could be made as he makes that it is publishable. Greenwald also raises several other bigger issues such as whether officialdom selectively leaks and cooperates with Internet sites that it feels will just take its stuff and run it without facing challenging questioning — or just leak to people on its political side (which is can of worms since the military is not supposed to be partisan). YOU DECIDE…

AND TO HELP YOU HERE ARE A FEW OTHER MUST-READ PERSPECTIVES here, here, here, here and here and of course the always-comprehensive memeorandum has a ton.

SOME PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THEIR POLITICAL PARTY...the Libertarian Party.

HAS THE GOP RACE BOILED DOWN NOW TO McCAIN OR GIULIANI? Some think so.

THESE DAYS IF CALIFORNIANS DON’T LOSE THEIR HOMES IN FIRES THEY CAN LOSE THEM IN FORECLOSURES as the state is becoming “Foreclosure City.”

POPULAR ELECTION OF JUDGES: Is it a good idea or is there a better way?