It took 12 weeks in jail, but Judith Miller finally decided the waiver I. Lewis Libby signed in 2003 was not “inherently coercive.� Maybe she was hard to convince because of all the lies the administration fed her about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

It may not be exactly what she had in mind, but Karen Hughes’ high profile tour teaches Americans more than Muslims. Thanks to heavy coverage by the press we know not all Saudi women want to drive or dislike wearing the head-to-foot abaya, and Turkish women hate our war in Iraq and call the arrest [...]

Tom DeLay has been indicted for breaking Texas campaign laws, something Molly Ivins says is mighty hard to do – there are so few. Of course he says he’s innocent, victim of a “partisan fanatic,� but that’s hard to believe. How could such a generous guy get an enemy?

Florida Senator Mel Martinez hosted a five-hour meeting on how to get a share of Katrina reconstruction money according to Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. 200 would-be government contractors lobbyists and staffers attended – I bet the Senator keeps the list in a safe place.

The President, who flies his entourage all over the country to see what TV shows all day, asks us to conserve fuel – the only thing he forgot in the energy bill. First he took responsibility for FEMA’s flop, then Bush asked for a sacrifice – could fiscal responsibility be next? No. He’s too busy [...]

The Bush team had trouble delivering food and water to victims, but they are quick with contracts for cronies.

Bush consulted experts outside of Washington about how to deal with disasters – a wonderful idea. It would be even better if he wasn’t taking their recommendations back to Congress for consideration.

The Washington Post says Bush lost his swagger because of the Katrina catastrophe, and his many other failures. Flitting around the country “managing� the Rita recovery may help him get it back, but I enjoy watching him stagger.

Nobody seems to know why, but Dr. Crawford resigned today. Maybe it wasn’t the morning after pill or Viox or any number of other issues. It just might have been principle – a new consideration at the FDA

Leahy, Kohl and Feingold, the Democrats who supported Roberts in committee, demonstrate why their party won’t win many elections. They insist on pushing personal preferences that attract publicity, but keep Democratic differences so out of focus they’re hard to see. Until progressives unite behind clear ideas of how they would govern, they make the public [...]

Bill Frist has finally abandoned his investment in hospitals, an obvious conflict of interest for many years. He sold just before an announcement that earnings were going down, and the stock dropped 9%. He saved about $2 million. The SEC probably won’t investigate the Senate Majority Leader, but if they do, I would recommend Martha [...]

Ready for Rita? Only a cynic would say, “Of course, it’s Texas.�

What Bush lacks in insight he makes up for in arrogance. He just nominated Chertoff’s chief of staff’s daughter in law to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. She has no experience in law enforcement, other than a stint in Ken Starr’s office (huh?), but her uncle is Air force General Richard Myers, [...]

Carter and Baker’s commission to restore confidence in voting turned in their report. They tackled two problems considered important, ballot access and ballot integrity, but missed the big one – crummy candidates.

No question Roberts is smart, and slick, and quick with a quip. That is reason enough to vote no, but he keeps views on major issues a secret, and brags about representing whichever litigant showed up first. An evasive nominee who takes either side of any issue should be rejected – demand a sense of [...]

Randi Rhodes said FEMA stands for Failure to Effectively Manage Anything. Some Louisiana officials say this mess proves the government can’t handle disasters – the job should be privatized. They’re right, now, but it wasn’t always so. FEMA was effective until Bush butchered it to feed his favorite war. Many top jobs are vacant, others [...]

The test of a controversial program is often, “if everyone hates it, it must be good.� On that measure, the Bush plan for Katrina repair is perfect. Some say it’s too expensive, others think he’ll screw it up like Afghanistan and Iraq, his cronies will steal the money, or Halliburton will get a no-bid contract. [...]

Bush rules out taxes to fund Katrina relief – play the lottery?

Bush made the authors of the highway bill look like penny-pinching peanut vendors. He promised the disaster area, now in parts of 37 states, everything he could think of. It seemed as if he wanted to be sure the Democrats couldn’t find anything he forgot. They can: Who is going to do the planning, and [...]

Bush is trying to convince the UN Iran is building nuclear weapons, but he’s failing. He’s using a PowerPoint presentation, but the presenter isn’t Colin Powell. The President may have to throw in the towel.