Changing the Subject -- Back

"These senior Republicans, including past and current White House advisers, say they believe the president can find his way back into people's hearts but extreme measures need to be taken. Shake up his staff, unveil fresh policies, travel the country and be more accountable for his mistakes -- these and other solutions are being discussed at the highest levels of the GOP."

Some of the president's supporters "say Bush should publicly chastise Libby and Rove while insisting on a public accounting of Cheney's role," Fournier writes.

And here's one of the most astonishing sentences I've read lately:

"A White House official privately put it this way: Bush has to step up somehow and be accountable."

Republicans Against Rove?

Adam Entous writes for Reuters: "Breaking with the White House and fellow conservatives, Republican Sen. Trent Lott and the head of the Cato Institute questioned on Tuesday whether top White House adviser Karl Rove, who remains in legal jeopardy in a CIA-leak probe, should keep his policy-making job. . . .

"'He (Rove) has been very successful, very effective in the political arena. The question is, should he be the deputy chief of staff for policy under the current circumstances?' Lott told MSNBC's 'Hardball.' . . .

"[William] Niskanen, who served as a top economic adviser to former President Ronald Reagan, said, 'Bush is going to have to sacrifice people who have worked with him to regain some initiative.' "

Briefing Follies

Here's the transcript of yesterday's press briefing.

A typical exchange:

"Q Given all the tantalizing questions that were left in the wake of the Special Prosecutor's news conference, et cetera, about Vice President Cheney, does the White House feel that the Vice President should, or does the White House plan to have the Vice President explain his role in all of this any time soon?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've already answered that question. I answered that question on Friday. Just to step back and again reiterate what I said, this is an ongoing investigation and a continuing legal proceeding. And while that matter is ongoing, we are not going to be talking further about it unless directed to do so by the special counsel or in consultation with the White House's Counsel's Office.

"Q But what about those who believe that taking that position -- in taking that position, you shirk -- 'you' being the White House in general -- shirk your responsibility to the public accountability?