Is Sheehan a Spark or a Flicker?

"Bethesda, Md.: My oh my it feels a lot like 1973, except the media is not leading the path to the truth. I think you are missing the point people are trying to make about media credibility and the White House. Scott McClellan was either lying or was lied to about Rove's involvement in the Plame affair. If Scott is a good guy he should resign instead of working for liars. If he lied, the media should shun him. But instead the media plays the game. 'Scott's a great guy'. Once again, a lie is made and no one is held accountable. If the media does not begin to look for truthful sources, the people of this country will shun the media.

"Jim VandeHei: Often in Washington, it takes time for accountability. Presumably, we will know when the investigation concludes if any one lied, and if so who and to whom. Of course, we look for honest sources and make calls every day about the credibility of the people we rely on for information."

Roberts Watch

Tom Brune writes in Newsday: "The White House broke the law when it interviewed D.C. Circuit Judge John G. Roberts last spring for the Supreme Court as he heard a challenge to the president's military tribunals, three legal ethicists said yesterday.

"Roberts, nominated by President George W. Bush on July 19, should have recused himself from Hamdan v. Rumsfeld to avoid an 'appearance of partiality,' the professors said in the online magazine Slate."

Stephen Gillers, David J. Luban, and Steven Lubet write in Slate: "Did administration officials or Roberts ask whether it was proper to conduct interviews for a possible Supreme Court nomination while the judge was adjudicating the government's much-disputed claims of expansive presidential powers? Did they ask whether it was appropriate to do so without informing opposing counsel?

"If they had asked, they would have discovered that the interviews violated federal law on the disqualification of judges."

Iran Watch

Neil King Jr. and Farnaz Fassihi write in the Wall Street Journal: "President Bush says the world is 'coalescing around the notion' that Iran must be barred from getting nuclear weapons. But two factors -- soaring oil prices and chaos in Iraq -- are giving Tehran new muscle in its diplomatic standoff with Europe and the U.S."

Columnist Humor

Newsday columnist Ellis Hennican has a little fun with Bush's summer reading list , which ostensibly includes

"Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky, "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar" by Edvard Radzinsky and "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History" by John M. Barry.

Hennican writes: "Come on, what is George W. Bush really reading this summer at the ranch?

"And don't say, 'Middle East for Dummies.'

"Or 'Where's Waldo: Those WMD's Have To Be Here Somewhere.'. . . .

"The White House is trying to put an end to Bush-jabs just like those. Which is why Bush's people just put out that 'official' presidential summer-reading list, three smart-guy books supposedly being devoured by a man who almost never gets accused of excessive bookishness. . . .

"But there is one question, bubbling like a 10-cent pot boiler in the dry Texas air, a question that a single slow news day has made impossible to ignore: Is George W. Bush actually reading any of these big brain-busters?

"Or are they just, you know, sittin' there?"