Monday's Wash Post: Fitz is making final decision on Karl, possibly this month

If I stay there will be trouble, if I go there will be double... Read More......

What is Karl Rove doing STILL working out of the White House?

Does George Bush take leaks seriously or not? We now know that Valerie Plame was in fact a covert agent working on stopping Iran from getting nukes. Rove outed her and destroyed her career, harming national security in the process.

Why is he still working out the White House and on Air Force One? And why does he still have a security clearance?

Our worst nightmare could happen, another September 11, specifically because George Bush doesn't take national security seriously. He puts friendship above competence, above nation. Above our lives.

In regular West Wing breakfast sessions catered by the White House mess, Mr. Rove and the White House political director, Sara Taylor, have already been reaching out to nervous and vulnerable Republicans, three at a time, laying out an emerging three-prong attack on Democrats over national security, taxes and health care.

In meetings at the White House, aboard Air Force One and in candidates' home states, Mr. Rove is trying to rally Republicans to stand by the president and his agenda.

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More musings on the CIA mess

A friend writes:

A couple interesting things: first, with Hoekstra coming out against the Hayden nomination (or at least not fully supporting it), it's clear that the administration really screwed up by not clearing the next guy with congressional leaders. Another intra-party failure, and makes you wonder who on earth is doing congressional outreach from the White House. Also, this is just speculation, but I would guess that the objection to Hayden from the Hill isn't really about him being active military, but about the likelihood of unbelievably contentious confirmation hearings. The Bushies don't have to worry about confirmation fallout, but everybody who's up for reelection in the fall will, and I think they recognize the impending carnage if the NSA wiretapping stuff comes front and center for a month.

In terms of competence, Hayden probably isn't a bad choice -- as Deputy Director of National Intelligence (DNI), one has to assume he's close to Negroponte (the director), and it would do a lot to erase friction between CIA and the DNI, which I imagine was a large part of the White House calculation. They can't pick another partisan after Goss was such a disaster, and an internal promotion might maintain tension between CIA and DNI... which probably doesn't leave a lot of options. But the confirmation hearings will be a firestorm regardless.

Also, and it seems that even the Washington press corps recognizes this, but the Goss resignation is pretty unprecedented, and I can't wait to see what the real story is, 'cause it smells like something big.

I agree. Figured it was easier just to pass along my friend's analysis. Read More......

Open thread

Slow day here, about to watch Charmed. Charmed gets canceled and Bush gets 3 more years. This is not America. Read More......

Republican House member forces CDC panel to include unapproved unscientific speakers about abstinence

Because the Republicans who control Congress don't care about the truth. They care about forcing the rest of us to swallow their lies - abstinence works, global warming is a myth, Saddam had WMD.

This is what you get when you vote for today's Republicans. A party controled by religious right Republicans. Read More......

Open thread

News? Read More......

Increasing chatter that CIA chief Porter Goss involved in hooker scandal

Man, I hope the Republicans do something soon to protect marriage. Read More......

Lead House Republican comes out AGAINST Hayden as new CIA chief

See, we need a Republican to do what Diane Feinstein couldn't do. Yes, DiFi mentioned the issue of having a military guy running a civilian agency, but she basically came out in favor of his nomination. Rep. Hoekstra, on the other hand, came out definitively against Hayden.

A leading Republican came out against the front-runner for CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, saying Sunday the spy agency should not have military leadership during a turbulent time among intelligence agencies.

Members of the Senate committee that would consider President Bush's nominee also expressed reservations, saying the CIA is a civilian agency and putting Hayden atop it would concentrate too much power in the military for intelligence matters....

Despite a distinguished career at the Defense Department, Hayden would be "the wrong person, the wrong place at the wrong time," said the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.

"There is ongoing tensions between this premier civilian intelligence agency and DOD as we speak," Hoekstra said. "And I think putting a general in charge — regardless of how good Mike is — ... is going to send the wrong signal through the agency here in Washington but also to our agents in the field around the world," he told "Fox News Sunday."

If Hayden were to get the nomination, military officers would run the major spy agencies in the United States, from the ultra-secret National Security Agency to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The Pentagon already controls more than 80 percent of the intelligence budget.

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Good God, Diane Feinstein on ABC's THIS WEEK this morning

What is it with that woman? She's blaming the CIA for Powell's UN speech about Iraq's WMD. No mention whatsoever of the Bush administration cherry picking intelligence. Oh no, it's all the CIA's fault. That's why Bush gave CIA director Tenet a medal, because it was all Tenet's fault. I swear, if you have a Democratic issue that needs undercutting, call DiFi, she's your lady. Read More......

Big Pharma increasingly caught in wrongful promotions

When Big Pharma attacks homeopathic and natural medicines, which they hate because the cost is so much lower than their chemicals, you would think that they might take notice and think about why this trend is happening. No, instead they spend more time smearing the entire trend, focus their attention on jury-rigging the system to knock out these treatments and of course, leaning on their GOP friends in Congress to stop whistleblower awards. People are increasingly disgusted with the stories of Big Pharma pushing garbage through a neutered FDA and bribing doctors. How is it possible to have faith either in pharmaceuticals or even doctors with such obvious problems?

Since the FDA is now just an industry-sponsored rubber stamp and the GOP Congress has shown little concern for consumers, federal prosecutors have been turning to a Civil War-era law to crack down on Big Pharma, costing the industry $3.5 billion since 2001. Naturally, the GOP lapdogs are worried about their financial supporters and if left unchecked, will leave their constituents and consumers left to fend for themselves.

Such intensive drug marketing campaigns have led doctors to give patients drugs they don't need, sometimes with dangerous results, according to watchdog groups and academics.

Industry lawyers and consultants say the risk of hefty fines has become as potent as the threat of congressional action in prompting pharmaceutical companies to reform their sales practices, especially after studies linking painkillers and anti-depressants to deaths and suicides.

Patrick L. Meehan, a U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania, says whether or not the FDA condoned the practices, the companies broke the law. "If that's the way things work, then it's wrong," he said.

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Sunday Morning Talk Shows Open Thread

Let's see how the shows handle the Porter Goss resignation. The traditional media does buy the White House spin on just about everything. John Murtha said it best, "Just because they say it doesn't make it so." You'd think the press would know that by now.

Here's the line-up according to the Washington Post:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY...: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner .

THIS WEEK...: Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and outgoing White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

FACE THE NATION...: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King.

MEET THE PRESS...: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), comedian Steve Bridges , Washington Post staff writer Dan Balz and Vanity Fair national editor Todd Purdum .

LATE EDITION...: Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt , Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie and former CIA deputy director John E. McLaughlin.

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Bush's "best moment" as Prez: catching a fish in his lake

Most Americans couldn't name a best moment for Bush either. But he's been President for over five years and his best moment was catching a fish? That says a lot. He really is the WORST PRESIDENT EVER:

"You know, I've experienced many great moments and it's hard to name the best," Bush told weekly Bild am Sonntag when asked about his high point since becoming president in January 2001.

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

And people wonder why the country is such a mess. He's beyond pathetic. Now, the traditional media will love this and talk about what a "regular guy" Bush is. The scary thing is that Bush probably means it. For him, catching a fish has been the high point of his presidency. For the rest of us, there aren't any best moments. Read More......

Brown to press Blair to step aside

Oh dear, Tony's not going to be happy about this. Fed up with Blair wanting to cling onto power couple with Labour's humiliating thrashing in the elections, Gordon Brown will publicly call on Blair to move on and hand over the reigns of the party before Blair completely drives it into the ground. Let's just hope that Brown cuts the umbilical cord with Bush.

In a carefully timed intervention, Mr Brown will tell Mr Blair that he cannot ignore the "warning signal" from voters at last week's local elections, saying that Labour must "do what we have got to do" . He will tell Mr Blair that "there is going to be a transition to a new leader" and that "the important thing is that we set down how we are going to bring about that".

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Markos pans Hillary in Wash Post op ed

Wow. He hits her pretty hard. This should be fun. Read More......

Right wing talk radio host: Bush could be worst president ever

As Froomkin said, the president is a joke. More from Crooks and Liars. Read More......