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 of Cindy Sheehan a pity.
Muslim women […]

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 sequestering scandals.

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 choose between
simulated steak, or mulligan stew.

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 Stewart’s lawyer.

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, chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Senator Voinovich spotted the
weakness in […]

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 right and wrong.

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 are filled with hacks, but
it doesn’t matter, the […]

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.
(Sorry, that’s redundant.)

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 where will we get the money?

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.