Scooter Libby has a hearing tomorrow

And we could get some intel about what Fitzgerald is up to with Rove:

Judge Walton, as he has done in previous hearings, is likely to ponder whether Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation is actually nearing conclusion. Because Fitzgerald has indicated that the investigation is ongoing, the judge has allowed the Special Counsel to withhold certain documents dealing with President George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, which Libby's attorneys contend are crucial to their preparing a defense.

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Bush trying to make nice with GOPers in Congress

Abramoff had to spend millions to own Congress. Bush thinks they're a much cheaper date. He's just pretending he likes them by serving iced tea and lemonade:

But courting lawmakers only goes so far in bridging serious policy and political differences, and it is hard to find evidence that Mr. Bush's new open-ear policy has led to any substantive change in direction by the White House.

The administration has also stumbled frequently in its intensified efforts to reach out to Congress, raising questions about how much it has accomplished in mollifying Republican lawmakers, some of whom are heading into re-election campaigns concerned that Mr. Bush could be a political liability.

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Specter claims (again) he's going to get tough on domestic spying

How many times can Specter cry wolf? It sure gets Arlen on the Sunday shows, but as soon as someone from the White House barks at him, Specter always backs off:

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman says he's prepared to force telephone company executives to testify about the White House's eavesdropping program if the Bush administration doesn't fully cooperate in drafting new rules on what's allowable.

"If we don't get some results, I'm prepared to go back to demand hearings and issue subpoenas if necessary," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

Results? Who is he kidding? And for all his tough talk, believe it when you actually see the hearings and the subpoenas.

Prediction. That will never happen:

Specter said he was more hopeful, after talking Thursday with Vice president Dick Cheney, that committee hearings and subpoenas could be avoided.

Cheney growls. The White House offers a meaningless compromise. Arlen accepts and runs away with his tail between his legs. (After he gets some face time on the talk shows.)

The White House plays Specter for the fool that he is. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Tell us something good. Read the rest of this post...

If only the Iraqis could learn to ride a bike

Just because Bush says we've been making progress in Iraq doesn't mean we've been making progress in Iraq. As Bush convenes his "strategy session" with his "war cabinet", it's painfully clear that the opposite is true:

Three years of efforts to accomplish those goals have largely failed. Billions of dollars have been spent on both electricity and security, yet residents of Baghdad get only five to eight hours of power a day, and the American ambassador acknowledged on Friday that the city is "more insecure now than it was a few months ago."

One of the senior officials involved in the strategy session characterized it as a "last, best chance to get this right," an implicit acknowledgment that previous American-led efforts had gone astray.

The last, best chance? That's comforting. What a disaster. A complete and total disaster. And, there really seems to be no way out. Three years later, the Bush team is finally doing a "strategy session" to figure out what the hell to do in Iraq. And, you have to love the way they describe it:

It is also an effort to hand off leadership to Mr. Maliki's government and, in an analogy used by several American officials, to begin to let go of the bicycle seat and find out if the Iraqi government can stay upright with less American support.

Seems to me, and I'm no foreign policy expert, that running a country, especially a country that's in the middle of a civil war, is a tad more complicated than learning to ride a bike. Read the rest of this post...

DC's Cardinal supports civil unions

Wow. Almost missed this. Last week, after the Senate anti-gay vote, DC's Catholic Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, was on CNN to voice his opposition to same-sex marriage. No surprise there. But, and this is a quite a but for a Catholic Cardinal, McCarrick said he supports civil unions:

He did say however that it's acceptable for the government to allow civil unions of gay and lesbian couples.

McCarrick said although it's not his ideal, the government needs to protect the rights of same-sex couples to care for each other or visit each other in a hospital. He said allowing civil unions would protect those rights.

The Vatican recently accepted McCarrick's resignation. No wonder. McCarrick actually has the same position as many pro-gay elected officials.

Thanks to CAG for the tip on this one. Read the rest of this post...

Wash Post on YearlyKos

Dan Balz writes about the YearlyKos conference. Two things stood out to me:

Conference participants appeared anxious to dispel their image as doctrinaire liberals, though the most animated panels involved liberal attacks on Bush and the Republicans over the Iraq war, criticism of the administration's role in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, and charges that the mainstream media have failed to stand up to the president.

Note the logical fallacy here. Conference participants say they're aren't "doctrinaire liberals" BUT look at what they REALLY believe:

1. They don't like Bush.

2. They're upset about the Iraq war.

3. They bash Republicans.

4. They don't like the fact that the White House jeopardized national security by outing a CIA agent.

5. They believe that the mainstream media isn't doing its job.

Which of those five points above is "liberal," let alone "doctrinaire"? Bush is one of the most unpopular presidents in history, and now considered one of the worst by the US public, Dems and Republicans. The majority of the public thinks the Iraq was was a mistake. The Republicans' approval ratings are in the tank. Valerie Plame's outing, again, not clear what only doctrinaire liberals are upset about that. And finally, concerns about the media? What evidence is there that only doctrinaire liberals think the media isn't doing its job.

I had a good talk with Dan Balz yesterday at the conference, and raised this very point. The mainstream media can label us doctrinaire liberal all they want - one reporter even suggested that the audience's desire for Rumsfeld to be fired was a mark of our liberalism - yet all of their evidence comprises points of view that the majority of the public supports. So unless doctrinaire liberals are 53% to 75% of America, why does the media insist on labeling anyone concerned about George Bush, anyone who dislikes George Bush and what his policies have done to America, as "liberal," let alone some kind of extremist?

At 29% in the approval ratings, are 71% of Americans liberal extremists? Read the rest of this post...

Bush worries about Gitmo detainees -- after they are dead

What a fraud. The White House is conveying the President's concern about the suicide of three detainees in Guantanamo:

[White House Press Secretary Tony] Snow said it was during his daily intelligence briefing just afterward when the president voiced his concern over the incident and directed that the bodies be "treated humanely and with cultural sensitivity" to show respect for Muslim traditions regarding the dead.

Can't treat them humanely and cultural sensitivity when their alive. No, wait til they're dead, then show concern. He's such a humanitarian. Read the rest of this post...

Lieberman still won't rule out Indy run

Lieberman's ego knows no bounds. He's dissing the Dems again:

Reacting for the first time to a new poll showing he could win election as an independent, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman said Friday he remains focused on winning a Democratic primary, yet refused to rule out an independent run.

"I am not going to close out any options," Lieberman said.

Hat tip Georgia10 at Kos. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Our worlds collide...a blogger on the talk shows. So it's Iraq and politics today. That should give us something to chat about:

MEET THE PRESS (NBC...[on early because of French Open]: Gen. George W. Casey Jr. , commander of the multinational force in Iraq; journalists Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of the DailyKos.com, Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and Byron York of the National Review.

FOX NEWS SUNDAY....: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor and Casey .

THIS WEEK (ABC...: Reps. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.); L. Paul Bremer , former U.S. administrator in Iraq; and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.

FACE THE NATION (CBS...: New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman and Casey .

LATE EDITION (CNN), 11 a.m.: Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.); Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen ; Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt , deputy director of coalition operations, U.S. Central Command; and Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie .

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US forensic specialists confirm

...al-Zarqawi still dead but for the Pentagon media lackeys, just another chance to keep the important news of a violent fringe player in the news. I guess we're all set then and the violence is over in Iraq.

The U.S. military flew in two forensic specialists Saturday to examine the remains of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "to see how he actually died" and to reconstruct the last minutes of his life, a spokesman said.

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Blair taking a thrashing again

It's not easy for Tony these days. His war is not going well, his party is fed up with him and would like him to just go away, and the family of the military dead in Iraq are taking him on. Poor poodle.

In a letter to Military Families Against the War, seen by The Independent on Sunday, the Prime Minister denies lying to take Britain into war, and concludes: "I hope you will believe me when I say that I am sure all those... killed in Iraq died defending their country and making the world safer for all of us."

In reply, Rose Gentle and Reg Keys, co-founders of the campaign, write: "This is not the case - we are immensely proud of our sons and husbands but they died serving their country. Iraq posed no military threat to this country whatsoever."

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Internet fundraising giving Dems big boost

According to the Washington Post -- and Ken Mehlman -- Democrats are competitive with the Republicans in fundraising this year because of the internet:

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose committee has seen a 10 percent fundraising drop, compared with 2004, said Internet fundraising has allowed Democrats to reach a new group of liberal donors and narrow the GOP's edge with individuals. But he said his party still holds a solid financial lead because of money raised by state parties.

Still, the trends at the national level are diminishing what in past years has been a powerful GOP asset: the ability to overpower opponents with expensive television advertising and voter-mobilization campaigns in House and Senate races.

It's a whole new world. Read the rest of this post...