Open thread

Thoughts on what this week's big news will be?

And more importantly, did anyone watch the live presidential debate on "West Wing"? I caught half of it. Oh that presidential debates were really that good. Read More......

Rove is bogging down Bush these days

Howard Fineman, who used to be one of the Washington pundits that revered Rove, now has a different take. Apparently, Bush's brain is weighing him down these days wherever he goes:

Briefly facing American reporters, Bush fielded only five questions. But four were on a single issue: the fate of Karl Rove, his top White House aide, who has been named—but not indicted—in the federal leak probe. Bush gave lawyerlike answers. "The investigation on Karl, as you know, is not complete," he said, "and, therefore, I will not comment about him and/or the investigation."

All those people who Karl walked over on the way to the top are waiting to step on him now...some of them are already doing it through the press. This is fun. Read More......

AMERICAblog merchandise sale through November 14

$2 off ornaments, greeting cards (Treason's Greetings), and wall calendars. Use coupon code: Holiday2

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VICTORY! NCFR bailing on Bush

Back in May, AMERICAblog reported that the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) was ignoring its own rules about discrimination to build a $5 million online "National Healthy Marriage Resource Center" for the White House.

The Web site strictly forbade any mention of gay marriages (so no Mary Cheney and Heather Poe, please). Our readers contacted NCFR's Board of Directors and Executive Director and asked them to respect their own rules. Apparently, more than a few NCFR members protested as well.

Today we learned that NCFR has canceled its contract, citing "the lack of a broad member consensus for this policy activity." This is a HUGE victory for gay families, and friends, everywhere. But I just had to chuckle when NCFR send this in an email to its membership on Wednesday:

A more recent development and a significant factor in the Board’s decision to exit the cooperative agreement is the government’s request that the NHMRC Website include a statement by President Bush and a picture of President and Mrs. Bush on the home page.

Constructing an anti-gay website: Five million dollars.

Refusing money because you'd have to show Bush's face: Priceless. Read More......

Open thread

Mmmm... nap time. Read More......

Hagel blasts Cheney/Bush torture agenda

Looks like Cheney's top-secret pro-torture pep talk to the Senate Republicans didn't quite work with Chuck Hagel:

"I think the administration is making a terrible mistake in opposing John McCain's amendment on detainees and torture," Hagel, R-Neb., said on "This Week" on ABC. "Why in the world they're doing that, I don't know."

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Oh well, back from CNN

Oh well, Kyle and I went all the way to CNN this morning, hung out in the Green Room for an hour, then got back in the fabulous black sedan they sent (bless CNN) and headed home.

The good new is that the Green Room was fascinating. Met one of the guys from Powerline blog. He was nice. Senator George Allen (R-VA) was there as well. He went to get a cup of coffee and said, very Homer-Simpson-like, "ooh, French vanilla!" I said, "Senator, I don't think Republicans are supposed to drink that." He said, "but I really like vanilla." I responded, "yeah but that French part..."

We also met Wolf, who bounded into the room and said "Hi, Wolf Blitzer!" Kyle thought that was kind of cute. Talked to Howie Kurtz for a few minutes, who apologized for bumping us - Howie was very nice. I joked about how it was the fairest interview he'd ever done. And finally, I introduced myself to Jonathan Turley, GW law professor and legal pundit at large. VERY interesting guy. Nice, friendly, smart, fun, bouncy, just a very interesting mind. I asked him about Rove, he basically said nothing new, but he did say it's a bit odd that Fitzgerald is still poking around.

Anyway, kind of sucked going all the out there, but Kyle got to see the inards of CNN, which was fun, and it actually was a lot of fun talking to Turley.

And now we know George Allen likes girlie coffee. Read More......

Biden says Scalito filibuster unlikely

JOHN'S ADDITION TO THE POST: Biden is an idiot. I heard this live this morning and just about spewed my coffee. It's going to be very interesting when Biden runs again for president in 2008 (my prediction) and fails to even secure the vote of any Democrats. The man needs to shut the f up and start defending his own party once in a while, or he can go become a Republican for all I care. Of course, this is the same Joe Biden who still supports the quagmire in Iraq, so go figure. [/JOHN]
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Is it a little early to decide that there won't be a filibuster? Is this the decision of the Dems...or just Biden pontificating? The right wingers were unabashed that they did not want an up-or-down vote on Harriet:

A Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday he believes Samuel Alito will get an up-or-down vote on his Supreme Court bid.

"We should commit," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., minimizing prospects of a Senate filibuster that would prevent final action on President Bush's choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"I think the probability is that will happen," Biden said on ABC's "This Week."

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An exit strategy for Rove

He's either going to quit cause he's indicted or he's just going to quit on his own terms. He's laying the groundwork. I vote for the indictment.

Either way, Karl's vision for GOP dominance is really starting to fade fast:

"A President who loves to hit home runs and wants to be remembered for swinging for the fences is being forced to take base hits," says a former White House official. Since 1999 Bush and Rove have imagined engineering a decades-long G.O.P. majority in America. But Republicans fret these days about losing the House or Senate in next year's midterm elections. So if Rove does head out, he may leave behind a wounded President who faces the prospect of having to abandon some of the pair's Texas-size dreams.

It's just great that Karl is causing a lot of the damage to Bush now. How ironic. He built Bush and now he's destroying him.

Sweet that Rove is wounding the GOP. They loved and worshipped Karl. Love the fact that he is part of their downfall.

Keep up the good work, Karl. Read More......

Off to CNN Bush Bumped Aravosis on CNN

UPDATE from Joe: Bush planned another nothing speech clearly just to preempt John on CNN. We hate her.

I should be on CNN's "The Reliable Sources" around 10:30AM Eastern this morning. At least that's the plan - could be earlier, could be later. Back in a bit. Read More......

So just what did Bush know and when did he know it?

That's what the NY Times is finally asking:

In the hours before the Justice Department informed the White House in late September 2003 that it would investigate the leak of a covert C.I.A. officer's identity, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, gave reporters what turned out to be a rare glimpse into President Bush's knowledge of the case.

Mr. Bush, he said, "knows" that Karl Rove, his senior adviser, had not been the source of the leak. Pressed on how Mr. Bush was certain, Mr. McClellan said he was "not going to get into conversations that the president has with advisers," but made no effort to erase the impression that Mr. Rove had assured Mr. Bush that he had not been involved.

Since then, administration officials and Mr. Bush himself have carefully avoided disclosing anything about any involvement the president may have had in the events surrounding the disclosure of the officer's identity or anything about what his aides may have told them about their roles. Citing the continuing investigation and now the pending trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, they have declined to comment on almost any aspect of the case.

The issue now for the White House is how long it can go on deflecting the inquiries and trying to keep the focus away from Mr. Bush.

That is an issue for the media. No more deflections from the White House. The Democrats need to keep the focus on Bush. And, they all need to step up the pressure. This is where the MSM has to kick it in to over drive.

The White House is springing leaks all over the place. And, Fitzgerald isn't finished either. We may actually find out what Bush knew and when he knew it. Read More......

Blair's attempts to reduce civil liberties failing

If Blair wants to know why his new program to detain people for 90 days without charge instead of the current 14 he should look no further than his own struggle with the truth. You can tell just how desperate he is by playing the old police "may have stopped two further attempts since July 7" but of course, with no proof. Can the little poodle learn tricks from his master or what? What's not to love and trust from a guy playing the fear card once again? With threats of defeat in Parliament, Blair has pulled back and is now trying to regroup. Maybe he should have thought twice about his questionable actions in the past because just like the poodle trainer in the White House, the trust is gone. Read More......

Open thread - I'm on CNN in the morning

For those who are interested, I'll be on Howie Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" show Sunday morning around 10:30AM Eastern time, or perhaps a few minutes later (the show starts at 10, but supposedly we'll be on in the 2d half). We'll be discussing the issues of the day with one of the boys from Powerline blog. Should be interesting. Our ward Dick Grayson (aka boy wonder Kyle) will be tagging along for the ride.

Open thread away, I need to hit the sack - imagine me setting an alarm for 8:45am on a Sunday, and it doesn't involve mom nagging me to get up for church. Ugh. Read More......

Paris is burning

The riots have now reached Paris. Wow. Tough call for what the government does next. What do you do when people are rioting and torching buildings and cars? Sit down and talk? Shoot?

For those who are interested in more on this, Chris in Paris wrote some background on what's going on, and why, yesterday. Read More......