A Poke in the Eye at Recess

"In other words, this is a war in which, if we were to leave before the job is done, the enemy would follow us here. That's the lesson of September the 11th. It's an integral part of my thinking about how to secure this country -- to do the most important job that the government must do, and that is to protect the American people."

But in his Rose Garden news conference on Tuesday, Bush was unable to explain what he means when he says enemies would follow us home: Which enemies? Why they would follow us home? And why he thinks they would succeed?

Fun With IEDs

Is Bush taking all this seriously enough? Or is it all just a game? In his tour of the deadly-serious training facility yesterday, Bush repeatedly joked around, with journalists serving as the brunt of his humor.

"The first stop was a card table set up in front of a cinderblock-type hut," New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg wrote in his pool report. "Sitting on top of it were suitcase devices used to view the images sent back from predator drones. 'Train it on Holland,' POTUS said as a soldier held up the drone, about two feet long and pointed it at Steve Holland of Reuters. Peering into the image received in the suitcase device's monitor, POTUS said to Holland, 'You're as rough looking here as you are regular.'"

Later, Rutenberg writes: "We arrived at another display of robotic rovers built to handle and search for road side bombs. With your pool assembled before him, POTUS grabbed the joy stick on a remote control and started sending a rover with a grab claw into the photographers, telling Jason Reed of Reuters - who was right in its path - 'You're not debris, you're still a human being.' . . . POTUS then turned his attention to your humble pool reporter, 'Rutenberg, come here,' then saying, 'Put your hand there by the claw.' LOL."

Rutenberg left out what happened next, but local reporter Tatiana Prophet of the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press was fascinated by the conduct of the White House press corps, and wrote a story about them: "While this administration has been characterized by a ban on reporters' questions outside of a formal news conference, the media nevertheless have a familiarity with the commander-in-chief. . . .

"'Rutenberg, come over here,' Bush said to New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg. 'Put your hand up right by the claw.'

"The 'claw' was a robot arm of the Talon 3, a diminutive robot designed to disarm improvised explosive devices, which have become the biggest threat to troops involved in the Iraq War. . . .

"Rutenberg, kneeling in the desert dust, was a good sport as the president sent the robot toward him, to laughter from the soldiers and the media as well."

Nothing like a little physical abasement to keep the president in good spirits.

Who Lost Iraq?

Edward Epstein writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: "The highly partisan question 'Who lost Iraq?' will be heard repeatedly in the coming months, historians and political scientists say, as President Bush and a Democratic Congress spar over ending an unpopular war now in its fifth year."

Epstein initially seems to suggest it's really a no-lose proposition for Republicans: "If the war ends poorly for U.S. interests and for Iraq, Republicans will have an opening to charge that 'cut-and-run' Democrats, not Bush and their party, were responsible for the defeat. And if Bush's strategy works, the GOP can say Democrats were too quick to call for a withdrawal, the analysts say. . . .

"In the current Iraq debate, UC San Diego congressional scholar Gary Jacobson said that unless the president's decision to increase combat troops works, 'the game is going to shift to who is going to be blamed for the failure in Iraq. Bush wants to make sure it's not him.'

"'The Democrats are doing him a favor by giving him someone to blame,' added Jacobson. . . .

"But Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution said the Iraq war has dragged on too long, has been too controversial and has become too unpopular for anybody but the Republicans to take the blame.

"Republicans will try to shift the blame, he said, 'but it will be difficult. One, the war is seen by the public as George Bush's war, and two, the public will be relieved to see it end one way or the other.'"

Cheney Speaks

Michael A. Fletcher writes in The Washington Post that Vice President Cheney yesterday "said that the congressional efforts to set a withdrawal deadline infringe on the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief. . . .

"'The president is the commander in chief,' Cheney said in an interview with ABC Radio. 'He's the one who makes the decisions about the use of military force, how they're deployed, when they're deployed, what purposes they're deployed for.'"

Here is the transcript and audio of Cheney's interview with ABC's Ann Compton.

"[W]hen we have the kind of effort that's being made now in the war supplemental, to impose restrictions on -- and set timetables, and so forth, it's not just a question of Congress appropriating funds and either supporting or not supporting the effort, you begin to get in the area where, in fact, they are trying to usurp the ability of the President to make those basic decisions, as well as, I think, to interfere with the activities of our troops on the ground in Iraq."

Gonzales Watch

Dan Eggen and Paul Kane write in The Washington Post: "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has retreated from public view this week in an intensive effort to save his job, spending hours practicing testimony and phoning lawmakers for support in preparation for pivotal appearances in the Senate this month, according to administration officials.

"After struggling for weeks to explain the extent of his involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales and his aides are viewing the Senate testimony on April 12 and April 17 as seriously as if it were a confirmation proceeding for a Supreme Court or a Cabinet appointment, officials said. . . .

"Top Democrats have also accused department officials of misleading Congress in previous testimony, leading Justice lawyers to insist on limiting contact between key players to avoid allegations of obstructing a congressional investigation, officials said.

"As a result, Gonzales and senior Justice lawyers have so far received little assistance from the White House and cannot consult with some of his closest aides, including Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, officials said."

David Jackson writes in USA Today: "Loyalty with roots stretching back to Texas helps explain why Bush is standing behind Gonzales, analysts say. It is also one reason Bush is willing to risk a constitutional confrontation over congressional efforts to compel testimony from two other top associates, also from Texas: Karl Rove, a deputy chief of staff and Bush's top political adviser, and Harriet Miers, who was his chief counsel until January. . . .

"It's no surprise that the latest battle between the White House and the Democratic Congress involves three prominent Texans.

"Bruce Buchanan, a presidential specialist at the University of Texas in Austin, says, 'These are the people he trusts the most, and he has put them in key positions.' He says, 'There is an excessive emphasis in this administration, perhaps, on loyalty,' and Bush is 'reluctant to cashier people.'"

Monica Goodling Watch

Julie Hirschfeld Davis writes for the Associated Press: "A senior Justice Department aide refused Wednesday to submit to a private interview with a House committee investigating the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Her lawyers accused Democrats of behaving like the notorious Sen. Joseph McCarthy to intimidate her."

Talking Points Memo has the letter from Goodling's lawyer.

E-Mail Watch

R. Jeffrey Smith writes in The Washington Post: "House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) told the Republican National Committee yesterday to turn over copies of any electronic messages from White House officials that relate to the use of federal resources or agencies for partisan Republican purposes."

Here is the Waxman letter.

Matthew Dowd's Conversion

Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey write for Newsweek: "Inside George W. Bush's inner circle, there are a couple of cardinal rules. Be discreet. Be loyal to the boss, regardless of whether the boss is loyal to you. For more than a month now, Matthew Dowd -- Bush's pollster in 2000 and his chief strategist in 2004 -- hasn't just been breaking the rules; he's been shattering them to pieces. . . .

"Dowd's decision to go public about his misgivings with the president wasn't entirely a surprise to those in the Bush orbit. He had spoken privately with friends and former colleagues of his discontent with White House policies, especially the war in Iraq, and had hinted at his angst publicly.

"But Dowd's interview with The New York Times last weekend still took many on Team Bush by surprise--if only for the venue he chose to give voice to his discontent. 'It's not unusual to disagree with someone you've worked for, but there's a code you abide by, and that is that you communicate your problems privately,' says one former Bush adviser, who admits he has not always seen eye to eye with the White House. 'We get paid for our work ... If someone is seeking absolution, they should go to confession and see a priest, not confess to The New York Times. Or [they should] give the money back.'

"Dowd himself says the reaction to his public criticism has been more positive than he expected. 'Lots of Republicans and Democrats agree with me, and independents,' he told Newsweek. 'They all want our discourse improved--and have been disappointed in the last few years.'

In that interview, Dowd talks about how he was initially impressed by Bush's pledge to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington -- and is now disillusioned by Bush's having failed to reach across the political divide to build consensus.

This leaves Sidney Blumenthal, writing in Salon, more than a little outraged. After all, Bush was doing exactly what Dowd told him to do.

"During the Florida contest and before the Supreme Court delivered the presidency to Bush, Dowd wrote a confidential memo to Rove that analyzed data from the recent vote and argued that there was no significant center in the electorate. 'Dowd's analysis destroyed the rationale for Bush to govern as 'a uniter, not a divider,' wrote Thomas Edsall in his book 'Building Red America.' . . .

"With Bush as president, Dowd was put on the Republican National Committee payroll and became an intimate participant in White House strategy sessions. Bush and the Republicans now exploited divisive wedge issues and tactics with a vengeance. After Sept. 11, 2001, fear was bundled with loathing, the terrorist threat from abroad conflated with the gay menace within. By 2004, relying on Dowd's numbers, Republicans made gay marriage the most salient social issue, exceeding abortion and gun control in its inflammatory potential to mobilize conservatives. Dowd prescribed the strategy for targeting of Republican base voters' 'anger points,' as GOP consultants called them, for maximum turnout."

Cartoon Watch

Tony Auth and Tom Toles on global warming; Dwane Powell on the loyal Bushie; and Rex Babin on the most important timeline of all.