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Looking Ahead
Eggen wrote in Tuesday's Washington Post: "After years of denials, the CIA has formally acknowledged the existence of two classified documents governing aggressive interrogation and detention policies for terrorism suspects, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
"But CIA lawyers say the documents -- memos from President Bush and the Justice Department -- are still so sensitive that no portion can be released to the public. . . .
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"The ACLU describes the first as a 'directive' signed by Bush governing CIA interrogation methods or allowing the agency to set up detention facilities outside the United States. . . .
"The second document is an August 2002 legal memo from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to the CIA general counsel. The ACLU describes it as 'specifying interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top al-Qaeda members.'"
A New York Times editorial today states: "Americans have a right to know what standards their president has been applying to the treatment of prisoners. The nation's image is at stake, as well as the safety of every man and woman who is fighting Mr. Bush's so-called war on terror."
Poll Watch
Jill Lawrence writes for USA Today: "President Bush's job approval ratings have slumped in the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, with the president's rating hovering near the lowest of his tenure.
"In the poll, taken Thursday through Sunday, 33% of Americans approve of Bush's job performance and 62% disapprove. That compares to 38% approval and 56% disapproval in a USA TODAY/Gallup poll taken Nov. 2-5, just before the Nov. 7 midterm elections."
A CBS News poll gives Bush a 34% approval rating, exactly what it was before the election.
Stature Problem Abroad?
Tom Raum writes for the Associated Press: "Humbled by elections at home, President Bush is heading into talks with leaders in Asia and Europe who will be watching for signs of weakness, uncertainty or retrenchment.
"Bush's challenge is to demonstrate that U.S. leadership as the world's last superpower is undiminished on the world stage. . . .
"Some world leaders, particularly those who resented Bush's cowboy swagger and saw his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 as a dangerous act of unilateralism, might be gloating privately at the president's political misfortunes."
Ron Hutcheson writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "Perceptions about Bush's clout could come into play as he tries to bolster a somewhat shaky international coalition that's working to stifle North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Russia, China, South Korea and Japan share Bush's desire to keep nuclear weapons out of the Korean peninsula, but they don't always agree with his tactics."
Bob Deans writes for Cox News Service: "Bush's weaker position could embolden other world leaders, particularly those who have opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and could hinder his bid to find support for efforts to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions."
Fresh Blood
Steven R. Weisman writes in the New York Times: "Prospects for Congressional approval of several free trade bills backed by the administration were thrown into doubt Tuesday when House Republican leaders abruptly withdrew the one aimed at Vietnam on the eve of President Bush's trip there this week.
"The failure of the Vietnam bill was a deep disappointment and embarrassment for the White House, which had hoped that the president would hail its passage as a milestone in improvement in relations with a country where tens of thousands of Americans died more than 30 years ago."
They Loved Clinton
Paul Alexander writes for the Associated Press: "When Bill Clinton came to Vietnam six years ago, he drew huge, jubilant crowds at every stop on the first visit by an American president since the end of the war in 1975.
"President Bush's reception at the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi is likely to be considerably cooler."
Iraq as Vietnam
Matt Spetalnick writes for Reuters: "Four decades after America became bogged down in an unpopular war in Southeast Asia, President George W. Bush finds himself increasingly haunted by an analogy the White House dreads -- Iraq as another Vietnam.
"The administration insists there are few parallels. Today's war in Iraq is fought by an all-volunteer military, the U.S. body count is much lower and there is nothing like the anti-war protests that caught fire in the 1960s.
"However, when Bush flies to Hanoi for the first time on Friday to attend an Asia-Pacific summit hosted by former foes, it will be a reminder of striking similarities between the conflicts."
Jennifer Loven writes for the Associated Press: "Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, said a key difference is that the stakes are higher with Iraq."
India Nuke Watch
Here's something else Bush had hoped to deliver on his trip, but may not be able to.
Dafna Linzer writes in The Washington Post: "The pending nuclear deal with India would reverse years of U.S. policies aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. U.S. law forbids selling civilian nuclear technology to countries such as India that have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Arms-control experts, concerned that the deal would have major ramifications for U.S. efforts to stop nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, said yesterday that the White House plan would allow India to rapidly increase its nuclear arsenal. . . .
"In July, the House voted in favor of a similar bill. Lawmakers did not know at the time that the Bush administration was planning to sanction two Indian firms for selling missile parts to Iran -- a fact that seemed to undercut administration assurances that India's nonproliferation record is excellent.
"Democrats later accused the administration of deception, and Senate and House staff members said yesterday that they are concerned that the White House is still pushing for congressional approval without providing needed information."
For background, see my March 3 column, Did Bush Blink?
The Israeli View
Reuters reports: "President Bush will not hesitate to use military force against Iran if other options fail, Israel's outgoing ambassador to the United States said in an interview published on Wednesday.
"'I know President Bush well . . . From his standpoint, a nuclear Iran, ayatollahs with a bomb, is unacceptable,' Danny Ayalon told Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper.
"'I have been privileged to know him well, he will not hesitate to go all the way if there is no choice.'"
Of course, it's possible the Israelis are not the most objective judges of Bush's Middle East policies.
Consider, for instance, as blogger Holden points out, what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during an Oval Office photo op on Monday: "We in the Middle East have followed the American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed and encouraged by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East."
New Leadership
Jim VandeHei writes for washingtonpost.com yesterday: "Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a close White House ally and a Cuban American, will take the job of general chairman of the Republican National Committee, President Bush announced to reporters at the White House this afternoon."
Here is the text of Bush's remarks
But Peter Wallsten and Nicole Gaouette write in the Los Angeles Times: "President Bush's decision to back Sen. Mel Martinez to help lead the Republican Party, a move intended to appeal to disaffected Latino voters, drew sharp criticism Tuesday from some of the party's core conservatives, who disdain the Florida lawmaker's support for liberalized immigration laws."
Ralph Z. Hallow writes for the Washington Times: "Some RNC members greeted the news as another example of White House cronyism, reminiscent of President Bush's attempt to name his personal friend and general counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a nomination withdrawn in response to outrage from the party's conservative supporters."
Heckuva Job Watch
From that same announcement: "I do want to say that Ken Mehlman did a whale of a job as the chairman of the Republican Party. "
Momentum Killer
Chuck Todd writes for the National Journal: "There's plenty of evidence to suggest that President Bush may have been the deciding factor that killed the GOP's momentum in some key Senate races over the last week. One Republican consultant is convinced that Bush's last-minute visit to Missouri on behalf of ousted GOP Sen. Jim Talent did the incumbent in. According to the network exit polls, Democrat Claire McCaskill crushed Talent among those late-breaking voters who decided in the final three days (a full 11 percent of the electorate). Bush also made a last-minute trip to Montana, where anecdotal evidence indicates the president's rally for Republican Conrad Burns stopped the incumbent's momentum in Billings."
Rove Redux
Eric Boehlert writes for the liberal Media Matters Web site: "The Beltway press' gooey, ongoing crush on Rove has probably set some sort of record for longevity inside the Beltway as Rove's media stature seems to climb with each passing year, despite Bush's accumulating missteps -- missteps Rove helped choreograph. . . .
"The Rove hero worship was evident all summer long, like when pundits and reporters -- echoing Rove -- suggested Iraq was going to hurt Democrats at the polls and that Ned Lamont's primary win over Sen. Joe Lieberman in Connecticut would cripple Democrats nationwide by tarring them with an anti-war image. (An image, it turned out, that actually propelled Democrats to victory last week.)"
Also see my Monday column, The Unbelievable Karl Rove.
Valerie Plame Watch
Matt Apuzzo writes for the Associated Press: "Vice President Dick Cheney asked a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him by a former CIA operative who says the White House leaked her identity to the press. . . .
"'Plaintiffs invite the judicial branch to permit intrusive discovery into those communications and to discern which among them might be, as a matter of tort law, wrongful and which not,' Cheney's attorneys wrote. 'Such an inquiry cannot be squared with basic separation of powers principles.'
"The Justice Department also weighed in on behalf of Cheney and other Bush administration officials including presidential adviser Karl Rove."
As for the criminal trial, Apuzzo writes in a separate story: "Attorneys for former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby dismissed the idea of a White House plot to leak a CIA operative's identity to the press and said Libby plans to tell jurors at his perjury trial that he had no reason to lie."
Big Three Get Big Zero
Caren Bohan and John Crawley write for Reuters: "U.S.-based automakers left a White House meeting on Tuesday without specific promises of help and doubtful that President George W. Bush shared their concern that Japan manipulates its currency to their disadvantage."
Sholnn Freeman writes in The Washington Post: "After the meeting, Bush said the executives had 'tough choices' to make. He said he was confident that they were making the 'right decisions.'"
Bolton Watch
Al Kamen writes in The Washington Post: "The confirmation of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador appears to be dead, but it's not over yet. There's still talk that the White House may try to copy the Clinton administration's sleight of hand of keeping unconfirmed Justice Department civil rights chief Bill Lann Lee on as an unconfirmed acting chief. . . .
"If the U.N. move won't fly, there's talk that Bolton could become deputy national security adviser if J.D. Crouch decides to move."
Kamen also notes that the White House Web site's announcement of Bush's Asia visit originally featured the flag of South Vietnam, which hasn't existed since 1975. "The White House figured it out last night and put up the correct flag," he writes.
Two More Fighting Nominations
Bush has nominated Andrew G. Biggs to be deputy commissioner of Social Security. Biggs is one of the foremost advocates of Bush's proposal to partially privatize Social Security.
And the Associated Press reports: "President Bush on Tuesday renominated the chairman of the agency that directs U.S. overseas broadcasts even though the nomination has been stalled in the Senate amid allegations of misconduct."
Last year, after sparking controversy by asserting that programs carried by public broadcasters have a liberal bias, Tomlinson resigned from the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
So We Meet Again
Rick Klein writes in the Boston Globe: "The last time Carol Shea-Porter had been in the same room as President Bush, she said, her T-shirt's message -- 'Turn your back on Bush' -- won her a push out the door from a Bush supporter as she left an airplane hangar in Portsmouth.
"When Shea-Porter saw Bush again Monday night at the White House, she shook his hand as the next House member from New Hampshire's First District. The conversation was cordial, Shea-Porter said, but that doesn't mean she's forgotten the message of change that sent her to the nation's capital."
Bush Joke
Julie Mason blogs for the Houston Chronicle that this joke is in circulation:
"Q: How is Vietnam different from Iraq?
"A: Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam."
Cartoon Watch
Stuart Carlson on climate change; Tom Toles on a second opinion; Mike Keefe on Bush's smirk;
On Lying
Richard Cohen writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "Washington's easy acceptance of lying, especially presidential lying, is beyond lamentable. . . . In the most recent case, Bush not only lied but compounded the lie by lying about why he lied in the first place."
Cohen revisits how, less than a week before the election, Bush told three wire service reporters that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wasn't going anywhere. Then, the day after the election, he announced Rumsfeld's replacement.
"The president had his excuses ready," Cohen writes. "He lied for the sake of the troops. . . .
"In fact -- and this is a fact -- the lie about Rumsfeld was consistent with the White House's political line that everything is just hunky-dory in Iraq and that only Democrats and advocates of same-sex marriage could think otherwise. It would have been inconsistent with the political line for Bush to have admitted doubts about Rumsfeld. It had nothing to do with the troops. . . .
"In this way, Bush lied about the lie and then, as has become customary, draped an American flag over it. . . .
"It has now been a week, and the president's lie has been forgotten . . . or excused . . . or minimized. . . .
"How dare these people lie to you and me and send Americans to die in Iraq for reasons that turned out to be wholly nonexistent? One way to return to the truth is to find the liars. I ask this not for myself but -- and I mean it -- for the troops."
