War Is Peace

Lee writes that the two men initially told Jerry and Elaine Akins that they were with Fox News. After the photo-op, they told the Akinses: "You know, we really weren't with Fox. We're government, Secret Service men."

Lee writes: "Tom Mazur, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said he did not know who the men were but they were not Secret Service officials."

It sounds to me like the two men were part of the White House advance team scouting for telegenic locations, rather than doing any kind of security sweep.

Karen Nelson broke the story in the Biloxi Sun-Herald on Friday.

Denver Three Watch

Speaking of people impersonating Secret Service agents: Remember the Denver Three? They were rousted from a Bush town-hall event last year after someone spotted an anti-war bumper sticker on their car. The man who ejected them threatened to arrest them if they did not obey his orders, and dressed like a Secret Service agent.

Press secretary Scott McClellan repeatedly identified the person as a White House volunteer.

But Howard Pankratz writes in today's Denver Post: "A White House staff member was responsible for asking three people to leave President Bush's town-hall meeting in Denver a year ago, a U.S. Secret Service agent said during an internal investigation of the event."

Staff Shakeup Watch

Kenneth T. Walsh writes in U.S. News: "President Bush is digging in his heels about making big staff changes at the White House, even as Republican strategists fret that he doesn't realize the depth of his problems on Capitol Hill.

"Advisers say that the more the media speculate on the need for a reshuffling and the more GOP 'friends' make the case for new blood, the less likely change will be. Bush is very loyal to his inner circle and doesn't want any of his senior aides to be embarrassed by appearing to be fired or demoted. He also doesn't want to be pressured into anything."

John Dickerson writes in Slate: "White House churn is not the problem. There has been plenty of fresh blood. Realistically, a shake-up only means one person: Karl Rove. Andy Card may need to go, but he's not the power in the White House and Bush orbit that Rove is. Rove is the chief political tactician, enforcer, and policy guru. If he doesn't go, nothing has been shaken up. If he does go, anyone replacing him would have a hard time filling his shoes, especially so fast. Also, to be effective, Rove's successor is going to need a very strong personality to tell the president and Cheney when they're wrong and have it stick. (A staffer brought in to tell them when they're right isn't needed; there are enough of those.) George Bush likes routine, and it seems impossible that he'd be able to trust this new super-player enough to get anything done in the small amount of time he has left to accomplish anything."

Fred Barnes writes a Wall Street Journal column urging Bush to rejuvenate his presidency "by shocking the media and political community with a sweeping overhaul of his administration. The impact would be enormous because it's exactly what his foes have been demanding and exactly what he is not expected to do. And it would give him a chance to escape the political doldrums that may otherwise doom his presidency through its final 34 months."

Barnes recommends that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice replace Cheney; that Cheney replace Rumsfeld; that Sen. Joe Lieberman replace Rice; and that Rove and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman switch jobs.

No Agenda Watch

Dan Balz and Jonathan Weisman write in The Washington Post that the governing party has no national platform around which lawmakers are prepared to rally.

"In January, Bush laid out a modest menu of ideas on health care and energy independence, but Congress has made little movement on them. Senior White House officials consulted with lawmakers earlier this year about jointly crafting an agenda that would allow Bush and Republicans in Congress -- both suffering from depressed public approval ratings -- to get off the defensive. A Republican familiar with the process said these discussions did not result in a consensus."

Peter Wallsten and James Gerstenzang write in the Los Angeles Times: "A growing Republican chorus is calling for a staff overhaul inside President Bush's beleaguered White House, but some conservatives say such a change would stop far short of fixing what they view as a serious flaw: an unfocused domestic agenda.

" 'You mean they have a domestic policy?' quipped Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the libertarian Cato Institute."

Scooter Libby Watch: Could Get Ugly

Pete Yost writes for the Associated Press: "Lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide are signaling they may delve deeply at his criminal trial into infighting among the White House, the CIA and the State Department over pre-Iraq war intelligence failures. . . .

"Court papers filed late Friday raise the possibility a trial could become politically embarrassing for the Bush administration by focusing on the debate about whether the White House manipulated intelligence to justify the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. . . .

" 'The media conflagration ignited by the failure to find WMD in Iraq and in part by Mr. Wilson's criticism of the administration, led officials within the White House, the State Department and the CIA to blame each other, publicly and in private, for faulty prewar intelligence about Iraq's WMD capabilities,' the court papers state."

Blogger Jeralyn Merritt has the document.

Today's Speech

In his Saturday radio address , Bush previewed today's speech: "On Monday, I will give a speech discussing how we are working with all elements of Iraqi society to remove the terrorists and restore order in Iraqi cities, to rebuild homes and communities, and to achieve the stability that can come only from freedom. I will also share some concrete examples of how this approach is succeeding -- evidence of real progress that is too often lost amid the more dramatic reports of violence."

Sabrina Eaton writes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "When a president's popularity plummets as Bush's has, other politicians often avoid public appearances with them. Prominent Ohio Republicans including Sen. Mike DeWine, Sen. George Voinovich and Rep. Steve LaTourette say they're skipping Bush's speech because of prior commitments."

Bubble Watch

The White House has released word that Bush will actually take questions, presumably unscreened, from the nonpartisan audience at the City Club of Cleveland.

Janet H. Cho wrote in the Cleveland Plain Dealer last year about the City Club's august history. "From presidents to sultans, politicians to celebrities, activists to business leaders, the nonpartisan club has welcomed the world."

And apparently there's some deja vu all over again with Bush's visit.

Sanjiv Kapur, president of the club, told Cho: "President Reagan initially did not want to appear at the City Club because questions were not prescreened." But Reagan's aides eventually booked him into the City Club precisely "to rebut any impressions that the press was then conveying that he was not able to handle appearances where the message was not pre-controlled," Kapur said.

In the New York Times this morning, Elisabeth Bumiller tries to make the argument that Bush's willingness to take occasional questions from audiences not stacked with supporters is a "big change." And indeed, it is a change.

But today would make only the fourth time in four months that Bush has done so. Most but not all of the questions still turned out to be softballs. And Bumiller neglects to mention that the vast majority of Bush's appearances are still carefully controlled. For instance, all of Bush's talk-show style "panel discussions" still exclusively feature people who agree with him.

Bush's last press conference was almost two months ago.