The story of seven U.S. attorneys being fired abruptly and together failed to register with Official Washington when it happened on Dec. 7. Minds were focused on critical power shifts taking place — in Congress, where Democrats took over after 12 years of GOP rule, and at the Pentagon, where Robert Gates got to pick up the pieces, and the war in Iraq, from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

But the latest in what is now a huge story is an acknowledgment yesterday from the White House that President Bush's top adviser — yes, that would be Karl Rove — has played a role. Read more...

As the House leadership searches for a principled yet politically practical course on funding the war in Iraq, it appears that Republicans are unified and resolved but Democrats are mired in turbulent and burgeoning disarray. Republicans in the House wear wide smiles when asked about their success thus far in staying united, while two months into power the Democrats continue to divide. If the supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war isn't "clean" and is loaded with the dates certain or Democrats' conditions, they can vote against it, they claim, because they have been consistent with the American people about protecting the troops.

The liberals are squirming and want hard deadlines. The conservatives are warning they can't sign on to anything that appears to micromanage the war or compromise the troops. This is more than a headache for Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. But a close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)reminded me of the big picture yesterday. Sure, Democrats are scrambling now, split and struggling to get enough numbers to pass their bill. But, the ally said, the legislative sausage-making on Iraq won't be under the microscope in 2008 — the Republicans' unity and refusal to buck President Bush will be.
It may feel good for Republicans now, but if they put off joining the Democrats in a solution, they could soon find themselves in another election just like 2006.

As Newt Gingrich drops his adultery bomb to survey just how much the conservative establishment is willing to tolerate, the GOP ’08 field is no longer just “different” this year -- it is surreal. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

There are many who believe that the socially conservative base of the party -- now flirting with Rudy Giuliani the social liberal, Mitt Romney the flip-flopper (read fake) and John McCain the insulter -- has evolved, or devolved and is willing to settle for one of them.

But this week reminds us to keep doubting. We now await an announcement from Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) who some hope will enter the presidential contest. In this space Armstrong Williams blogged about the prospect (buzzed about among Republicans) of Vice President Cheney resigning and being replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who could become a candidate as well. And today Alexander Bolton reports in our newspaper that GOP elder statesman Howard Baker is beating the bushes for a critical mass of interest in an ex-Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.) candidacy.

Giuliani, Romney, McCain and yes, Gingrich -- get ready for a few more surprises.

What is the underlying crime in the Scooter Libby trial? When Fitzgerald took over the case he already knew who had given Plame's name to the press. It was Richard Armitage, Under Secretary of State, during the Powell reign at State. Still he pursued this case knowing full well who the source of the leak was. At best it was an inadvertent leak and when Armitage realized it was a significant problem he went directly to the Justice Department and informed them of his discussions with journalist Robert Novak. Still Fitzgerald pursued this case as if he had to spend tens of millions of dollars to keep his name in the press and vindicate otherwise wild goose chases in his career that amounted to nothing. There was no crime here. Valerie Plame, under the law, was no longer a CIA undercover agent. She had not worked in that capacity outside of the U.S for over five years. Therefore, she was no longer covered under the covert agents act. So the discussion of whether she was a covert agent at the time is a moot point. It's unfortunate that when Fitzgerald realized that his case was going nowhere, he decided to pursue Libby on charges of perjury in order to come away with a victory in the courts.

The House Democrats are working on a bill to force withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2008 or, if Iraq is not cooperative, a year earlier. But their efforts are clearly going to produce a one-chamber bill. Not only can't the Democrats pass it in the Senate, but they can't even really propose it without risking the loss of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a supporter of the war, from their Senate majority.
 
What may eventuate is a stalemate where the House refuses to fund the war without its amendment and the Senate and/or the President want the funding without the restrictive amendment. In such a contest of wills, the Republicans will win because the House won't want to be in the position of voting against funding troops in the field. In this game of chicken, the side that is willing to go to the mat will win. The Republicans are. The Democrats aren't.

I’m still stunned by the verdict in the Scooter Libby trial. Stunned given that this case never should have seen the inside of a courtroom in the first place.

I was still a member of the White House staff when the President asked his staff to fully cooperate to determine if a federal employee had improperly disclosed the identity of a covert CIA operative. Rather than taking the 5th Amendment, as was his right, Libby fully cooperated with federal authorities seeking the truth of how Ms. Plame’s identity was revealed to Robert Novak.

It turns out, of course, that the special prosecutor assigned to this case knew two things early on. One, Ms. Plame was NOT a covert operative as defined by statute, and second, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the person responsible for revealing Ms. Plame’s name to reporter Robert Novak.

Despite all the bleating by Democrats on Capitol Hill and pundits on the cable outlets that this case revealed the White House manipulated intelligence for the war and a variety of other nonsense, the special prosecutor conducted an “investigation” when he knew that Scooter Libby did not improperly disclose Valerie Plame’s name or otherwise blow her covert cover. He wasted millions of dollars to "investigate” a question that had been answered early on: Armitage revealed Plame’s identity to Novak, not Libby or anyone else at the White House.

One only needs to look at the closing statement of the special prosecutor to uncover what this case was really all about: politics. Politics of personal destruction and politics invading the justice system. Why else would Fitzgerald say there was a cloud over the Vice President and a cloud over the White House.

The only cloud I see is a dark one that sits over the courthouse were a terrible travesty of justice took place. I hope that the president reviews the facts surrounding this terrible miscarriage of justice and grants a full pardon to Scooter Libby.

Many of us have been stunned by how rapidly the momentum of Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) has slowed to a stop in recent weeks. Republicans who are the most interested in the '08 presidential race are now counting him out. The principled maverick, his critics say, was tossed aside when McCain tried to recreate himself as a conservative of the establishment that will never accept him.

McCain's comments yesterday, in which he took blame for the scandalous substandard care for veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, show he is still struggling to be defined by his principles even when they shine in a negative light. "I will take responsibility for being a member of the Armed Services Committee and not knowing about it and not doing anything about it," McCain said of the revelations about Walter Reed. He is right, he should have known.

Sure, it may be politically expedient to take blame before you are blamed, but such a statement took courage. McCain is dogged by so many liabilities in the 2008 race:The old wounds he caused with social conservatives that won't seem to heal, a weak war chest, his support for immigration reform that conservatives oppose, and most of all his lonely support for escalation in the Iraq war. But he is willing to risk his political fortunes for his stand on the war, and regard to the welfare of veterans. No one should question that McCain's words were heartfelt. McCain, a war hero whose sons have followed him into military service, can speak for veterans in this country better than Romney, Guiliani, Clinton, Obama, or Edwards could ever hope to.

“Free Scooter!”

It’s the new rallying cry of conservatives. A banner headline on the New York Post. The demand of editorials in the Wall Street Journal and the National Review. And a pathetic plea from the Prince of Darkness himself, Bob Novak, whose column revealing the identity of Valerie Plame started this whole mess.

Free Scooter Libby? Why? Because he lied to the grand jury? That’s actually very funny. I remember when lying under oath was an impeachable offense. It wasn’t that long ago. And the same people who are crying “Free Scooter Libby” now were crying “Hang Bill Clinton” back then — for the same offense! Except Bill Clinton’s lie was only about sex, and not about national security.

There is absolutely no justification for granting Scooter Libby a pardon and it would be a total travesty of justice to do so. After all, Libby’s no innocent bystander. He knows the law. He was a big-time Beltway defense lawyer. He was Chief of Staff to the Vice-President of the United States. And he was a full, willing participant in an orchestrated campaign to smear Joe Wilson and lie to the American people.

If Libby was a fall guy, he was a willing fall guy. Dick Cheney told him whom to call; he called them. Dick Cheney told him what to say; he told them. Then he knowingly walked into the Grand Jury and lied to protect his boss.

President Bush said that, while he was saddened by the jury’s verdict, he still respected it. Let’s hope he continues to do so. But the only way to respect the verdict is to let it stand by denying Scooter Libby a pardon.

Even President Bush must understand: Scooter Libby wouldn’t need a pardon if he’d only told the truth.

You could hear Democratic exultation all across Washington yesterday as the party reacted to the guilty verdicts in the trial of Scooter Libby.

Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) — they are only the biggest names to have responded immediately. Clearly the feeling of vindication didn't only belong to Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. For Democrats, the trial and verdict delivered what they have craved for so long, an official record and repudiation of how significant a role this administration's political manipulation has played in the Iraq war.
 
Now they call for President Bush not to pardon Libby, and they may call for further investigation into pre-war intelligence. Pressuring Bush on the subject of the pardon makes a great political story and certainly distracts attention from the looming and politically toxic fight on war funds, but it doesn't bring Democrats closer to a
unified position on how to proceed with changes in war policy. Looking back with oversight hearings and repeating the trial would clearly further erode the nation's already waning confidence in our president and vice president but wouldn't change the situation on the ground in Iraq, where Americans and Iraqis continue dying and the strength of the insurgency remains unchanged.
 
Democrats shouldn't spend too much time beating up on the already embattled president and vice president who, despite their claims not to read newspapers, are perfectly aware that public support for them reached Nixonian levels a while ago.
 
Let's hope the Democrats don't want to beat this dead horse too hard. If they do it will really start to stink.