Moving On ...

I think I've squeezed just about every drop from tonight's Bolton drama that I can, but some major questions remain to be answered: will Roberts' move hold wavering cloture supporters like Mark Pryor in line, and will it be enough to persuade other Democrats to support ending debate on the nomination? Will the media continue to spin this as a sincere effort slapped down by Chris Dodd? Will the Democrats make the case that since Negroponte has offered this information to Roberts, he should be able to check the other names they're interested in as well? Perhaps most importantly, will Senator Frist make another attempt at cloture on Thursday? He announced this evening that there would be no votes on Friday, so if he's going to do it, tomorrow will be the day.

Most of the day tomorrow in the Senate will be taken up by the energy bill; I'll be paying as much attention to the debate as I can and will bring updates as necessary. Of course the Bolton mess will continue to play out as well and I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go from here and how Roberts' manuever changes the game.

Some of the other stories from today: the House voted 238-187 to "to block the Justice Department and the FBI from using the Patriot Act to peek at library records and bookstore sales slips," the AP reports. Thirty-eight Republicans joined 199 Democrats in supporting the amendment. A very healthy step, in my view. Bush has threatened a veto.

- The NYT covers Wednesday's debate on the energy bill, and the big question of whether decreased demand or increased production is the answer to America's energy issues. My answer is that a little bit of both are necessary, but that decreasing demand is the more important of the two (i.e. increasing CAFE standards, developing alternative fuels, etc.).

- Coalition for Darfur posted their weekly post today as well, so don't forget to check that out.

[Update: Restarting on Thursday with new Bolton info here. -- 16 June, 8:44 a.m.]