The Administration

Never let it be said that George W. Bush has become a "Man without a Country." They LOVED him in Albania. But otherwise in Europe, the president was a Man without a Continent.

Over here, absence didn't exactly made the heart grow fonder either.

While there is nothing in the immigration legislation that prevents President Bush from getting back into the U.S., that's about the only comfort he can take. While he was gone, the congressional mice were playing on both sides of the aisle. They were chasing their tails over immigration ... actually more like hamsters running on that hamster treadmill that is the United States Senate. By week's end the bill was pretty much stuck in quicksand.

More damning was the decision by the administration to pull the plug on Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace. Not that anyone had anything against him personally, you understand, but Gen. Pace has the misfortune of being associated with the Bush Iraq war ... and even worse, with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld may be gone, but he sure as hell is not forgotten. This is a man who was once called a "rock star," but now he's a heavy stone who sinks anyone ever tied to him. Read more...

Thirty months.

For Scooter Libby, 30 months in the slammer for lying to the grand jury and FBI investigators about his role in leaking the identity of undercover agent Valerie Plame.

I know we’re all supposed to feel happy about his misfortune, but I don’t. Not that I feel sorry for Scooter Libby. He’s a smart lawyer. He knew better. Yet he deliberately participated in an ugly political attack against an outspoken critic of the president’s war in Iraq — and then became part of the cover-up. He got what he deserved.

But I’m not happy about Libby’s prison sentence for two reasons. First, because, to this day, nobody’s yet been held responsible for the main crime: deliberately unmasking the identity of an undercover CIA agent, and putting her life and the lives of the agents she works with at risk. That’s a federal crime that remains unpunished. Read more...

Most people who voted in our latest Quick Poll don't think they need as long as our military commanders do to decide whether the troop surge in Iraq is working. We asked whether September was too soon to know, and the answer that came back was a resounding "No."

The margin? 84% to 16%.

Watch out for another Quick Poll question on the site tomorrow.

Vice President Cheney, Bob Novak, Tim Russert and Judith Miller could not possibly have slept well last night.

The sentencing of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby to a 30-month prison term is devastating and maddening. There's no doubt he perjured himself, but he should have been given a sentence of six months, not 30. This was a political not a legal trial in which the Democrats won and our country lost. Does this prosecution, urged on by the Democratic mob, feed the appetite of those vengeful Americans who would like to punish this administration for starting the Iraq conflict?

No matter your thoughts on Libby and this administration, I think we can all agree that no one found joy in yesterday's sentencing by U. S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who is not inclined to let Libby stay free pending appeals. Lessons learned from former Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton tell us that eventually we must all be held accountable for our illegal and unethical actions, no matter how powerful we may think we are. Congressman Bill Jefferson, I hope you and your family are somewhere taking serious note of this verdict.

This wasn’t a great day for President Bush. First, Scooter Libby gets sentenced. Then the Republicans debate in New Hampshire and spend most of their time bashing the president. Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) said that he governed as a liberal. Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) chimed in on immigration. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) said the Bush administration badly mismanaged the war, etc. etc, etc.

And this is the Republicans!

President Bush is not doing well in the polls, but he is pretty popular with the base (or he was until his defense of the immigration bill). So why do these Republicans feel the need to bash the president? After all, this isn’t the general election yet.

I do believe that the president’s tough defense of the immigration bill means that many Republicans will feel more comfortable taking Bush to task. And clearly, our continued involvement in Iraq has become tiresome to more and more Republicans. Read more...

Fellow bloggers Peter Fenn and Karen Hanretty, from opposite ends of the political spectrum, have both weighed in this week against President Bush’s decision to criticize immigration reform opponents on the right. I agree that at 28 percent approval it is foolish to blast conservative Republicans who are his only remaining friends, but it’s easy to see why he did.

Bush, who yesterday reversed course and proposed talks on global warming, is showing political courage in his eleventh hour. After making political decisions for years — some very popular and many, many of them politically practical — he is trying to find some guts. We all believe he supports immigration reform on principle but now we know he wants it so much he is willing to throw his own conservative base overboard. Foolish or not, that’s gutsy. Read more...

As Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) calls conservatives who oppose the immigration bill bigots and promises to shut them up, the president calls them unpatriotic and turns his demonization politics against the Republican Party’s base.

Here is the state of play for Republicans: the conservative Republicans accuse progressive Democrats of being unpatriotic, while the president accuses conservative Republicans of being unpatriotic.

The worm turns.

The revolution begins.

Already the pundit class proclaims how the Democrats are enjoying this. Read more...

I know this is hard to believe, but I began this blog post yesterday with the idea of praising President Bush. I thought, you know, Bush is getting a bum rap on his immigration reform proposal. He has stuck by the importance of actually solving the problem, getting something done, producing a compromise plan and working with all sides.

And I actually feel that he believes in a humane, comprehensive plan that treats people fairly and deals with the need for enforcement and border control. He, of all people, understands the issue from his days as governor of Texas and has been totally consistent for years.

OK, so what happened?

Bush goes to Georgia and attacks his opponents (primarily Republicans this time) with accusations that they have not read the bill, that “they don’t want to do what’s right for America” and they want to “frighten people.” Read more...

How liberating it must be to not have to face another election!

President Bush is calling them as he sees them. And as he sees it, the conservative critics of his immigration bill are way out of bounds.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

I support the immigration bill. I think it is important to get something done and get it done this year, for our nation’s economy and security. I also think it could be good politically for the Republican Party. We need to get to be able to compete for the Hispanic vote if we want to be the majority party in the long term, and getting this bill done could help us.

But the president needs to engage the critics of the bill in a constructive way. Saying that they haven’t read the bill insults their intelligence and is easily disprovable. Calling concerns “empty political rhetoric” and critics “fear-mongers” doesn’t help. And it certainly won’t help get the bill done in the House. Read more...

The president’s victory on Iraq war funding may prove to be an important turning point for the administration and for its Republican allies on the Hill. It sharply divided Democrats and gave Republicans some sorely needed momentum going into the Memorial Day recess.

The White House has also signaled that it is willing to be more flexible and creative when it comes to the battle for Iraq and the bigger war on terror.

Opening up a dialogue with Iran is a good thing. In order to stabilize Iraq, an agreement needs to be reached with Iran. Undoubtedly, just having the dialogue with the Iranians will cause some heartburn, especially with some of the president’s staunchest supporters. But dialogue is better than the status quo in Iraq.

The White House is finally making a compelling case for battling al Qaeda in Iraq, and getting some help in the storyline with the major media outlets. When the sheiks have had enough of al Qaeda and it is reported in the New York Times, that is positive news for this White House. Read more...