Warming Trend

"Olson played a critical role in 'electing' Bush in the fall of 2000, when he argued the then-Republican nominee's brief in the Florida recount case of Bush v. Gore before a Republican-heavy US Supreme Court. As an assistant Attorney General in the 1980s, Olson defended then-President Ronald Reagan's role in the Iran-Contra affair.

"Larry Thompson signed the October, 2002, order that rejected concerns about torture and ordered the removal of Canadian Maher Arar from the U.S. custody in a move that would ultimately land Arar in Syria. After the O.K. from Thompson, Arar was secretly flown to Jordan and then driven into Syria, where he was indeed tortured. After an international outcry, Arar's name was finally cleared in 2006 by a Canadian Commission of Inquiry.

"Chertoff is, of course, the co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. And, as the chief of the Justice Department's criminal division under Ashcroft, he advised the Central Intelligence Agency on how to avoid liability for torture, er, 'coercive interrogation.'

"Come to think of it, Fred Thompson may be the only prospective replacement for Gonzales who -- aside from an off night on TV -- has not been involved in shredding the Constitution."

Politico notes that Congressional inquiries into conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are taking a political turn as Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a member of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, investigates whether high-profile Republicans used their influence to help a firm win a private maintenance contract.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Treasury Secretary John Snow and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld all have some connection to the firm, IAP Worldwide Services. The company's board is also populated with former top military officials.

Here is a fascinating Gannett scoop on the backstage politics of climate change:

House Republican Leader John Boehner would have appointed Rep. Wayne Gilchrest to the bipartisan Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming -- but only if the Maryland Republican would say humans are not causing climate change, Gilchrest said.

"I said, 'John, I can't do that,' Gilchrest, R-1st-Md., said in an interview. 'He said, Come on. Do me a favor. I want to help you here.' "

In the latest Kos musings on the Democratic field, his top four all get an up arrow:

Hillary: "She's raising gobs of money, though I'm still not sure what she'll do with it. Yes, she's hired the best, most expensive staff around, but the bulk of that money will be spent on media. And really, is there a single soul in this country who hasn't made up his or her mind about Hillary? She can always go negative, but in a primary, that could backfire. Kerry won Iowa in 2004 in large part because Dean and Gephardt nuked each other in the airwaves.

"She wussed out on the Fox News debate thing. Rupert Murdoch hosted a fundraiser for Clinton last year, so an opportunity to show how 1) she couldn't be bought, and 2) how she wasn't afraid to give the VRWC the finger was squandered. Her campaign's hissy fit over David Geffen betrayed how afraid they are of Obama. A campaign that believed their spin about 'inevitability' wouldn't be so twitchy."

Obama: "When you are drawing crowds in the five-figures 10 months before the election, you know you've got a special something. However, a disproportionate percentage of his support is from young people. Youth turnout was up in 2004 and 2006, and I have no doubt it'll be up again in 2008. But even with those increases, youth participation lags that of older age groups."

Johnny E: "Edwards was the big winner of the Fox News debate mess, showing clear and early leadership pulling out of the propaganda network's attempt at legitimacy. He is also apparently the big winner as Clark looks less and likely to enter the fray...It is amazing, however, to witness a presidential race where being the white male candidate appears to be a disadvantage."

Bill Richardson: "While the gap between that first and second tier is pretty wide, it's epic between Richardson and the rest of this crowd. In fact, there's a palpable sense that this is really a 3-person race, with Richardson the sole guy with an outside chance of bridging the gap."

Everyone else gets a down arrow.