Thursday link dump: TV eye on you

• The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an Arlen Specter-sponsored bill forcing the Supreme Court to allow cameras to film formal arguments. (Anthony Kennedy has long opposed cameras in the court, because he doesn't want anyone to see Scalia zinging him.)
• If you are a Republican candidate for statewide anything, from any state, you are probably formulating your own "Harass All the Illegals" bill right now.
• Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul quietly shrinks from the single most admirable thing about his father, noted crazy person Ron Paul: the elder Paul's resolutely anti-imperialist foreign policy stance. But that has not stopped people like Rudy Giuliani from attacking him anyway. Why bother wanting to keep Gitmo open? Cheney will never love you!
• The UK leader's debate is a weird new distraction -- British people do not directly elect the people arguing with each other on TV -- but it looks like unctuous Tory David Cameron won today. Nick Clegg peaked too soon and now the public is sick of him. The same thing happened to Pete Doherty. They're a fickle people. (Amazingly, constitutionally unpleasant human-embodiment-of-the-word-"dour" P.M. Gordon Brown came in second, according to the Grauniad's poll.)

By Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene

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