A Welcome Distraction

"Further expenditure of blood, lives and treasure will gain the United States nothing. Nor will it gain anything for the Iraqi people, who have seen only chaos and bloodshed from this intervention."

Meanwhile, the New York Times editorial board writes about benchmarks: "What Mr. Maliki needs to do to slow Iraq's bloodletting is no mystery. . . . "Mr. Bush acknowledges that these benchmarks are important. Yet he refuses to insist, or let Congress insist, that Baghdad achieve them or face real consequences. Each time Baghdad fails a test, Mr. Bush lowers his requirements and postpones his target dates -- the kind of destructive denial Mr. Bush called, in another context, the soft bigotry of low expectations. . . .

"The final version of the spending bill should include explicit benchmarks and timetables for the Iraqis, even if Mr. Bush won't let Congress back them up with a clear timetable for America's withdrawal. If Mr. Maliki and Mr. Bush still don't get it, Congress will have to enact new means of enforcement, and back that up with a veto-proof majority."

Scandal Watch

Chitra Ragavan writes in U.S. News about the "unremitting wave of formative scandals. Most may amount to nothing, but with the White House's immunity to oversight severely weakened by November's election rout, Bush officials are swamped with endless subpoena requests and preparations for Capitol Hill grillings. . . .

"[O]ne particular target is Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove."

Close Coordination

James Rowley writes for Bloomberg: "Monica Goodling, at the time an aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, sobbed for 45 minutes in the office of career Justice Department official David Margolis on March 8 as she related her fears that she would have to quit, according to congressional aides briefed on Margolis's private testimony to House and Senate investigators. . . .

"Three hours before Goodling visited his fourth-floor office, Margolis told House and Senate investigators that [D. Kyle Sampson, Gonzales's chief of staff,] dropped by to say he had information Margolis needed to know, one congressional aide said.

"Margolis recounted that Sampson read his e-mail exchanges with White House aides that showed the decisions on firing the prosecutors were closely coordinated with members of the president's staff, the aide said.

"Margolis recalled that he was stunned to learn the extent of White House involvement in the dismissals, congressional aides said. Margolis testified that preparation for McNulty's Senate testimony -- which took place more than a month before his meetings with Goodling and Sampson -- was based on the assumption that the White House only became involved at the end of the firing process, the aide said."

Politicization of Justice

Greg Gordon and Margaret Talev write for McClatchy Newspapers: "Congressional investigators are beginning to focus on accusations that a top civil rights official at the Justice Department illegally hired lawyers based on their political affiliations, especially for sensitive voting rights jobs.

"Two former department lawyers told McClatchy Newspapers that Bradley Schlozman, a senior civil rights official, told them in early 2005, after spotting mention of their Republican affiliations on their job applications, to delete those references and resubmit their resumes. Both attorneys were hired."

Charlie Savage writes in the Boston Globe: "Schlozman is emerging as a focal point of the investigation into the firing of eight US attorneys last year -- and as a symbol of broader complaints that the Bush administration has misused its stewardship of law enforcement to give Republicans an electoral edge."

The Rove Meeting

I wrote in Friday's column about the news that Karl Rove had participated in a controversial March 5 White House meeting to coach a Justice department official on what to tell a congressional committee about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

There are two important questions here: 1) Were Rove and the others concocting a cover story? And 2) Did Rove's silence about his own considerable role in the firings amount to an attempt mislead Congress?

The White House on Friday addressed question No. 1. From Friday's briefing:

"Q You don't think it creates an appearance of everybody getting their story straight?

"MS. PERINO: What I think is that -- what it appears is that anytime Karl Rove's name is mentioned is that there's some sort of nefarious action. I will tell you that, having worked on that issue intimately... That is not unusual, and we would have done that with any agency.

"Q Yes, but there was a sense at the time that the Justice Department, I believe from the podium it was suggested often that the Justice Department needs to get its -- all of its story in line, straight, and get it in, settled up to the Hill, but that it was the Justice Department's problem to solve, which would be different than having meetings at the White House to talk about any kind of strategy about how you're going to testify.

"MS. PERINO: Urging members of the administration to make sure that they're responsive to members of Congress is not at all inappropriate. In fact, I think we would be remiss if we hadn't done so.

"Q That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that there were meetings at the White House about coordinating a strategy for how to deal with it. That's not exactly the kind of --

"MS. PERINO: Look, I was at that meeting, and I will tell you that the way you're describing it, in terms of coordinating some sort of message, was not the case. It was encouraging them to make sure that all the information got out quickly so that the members of Congress could have what they needed so that we could move on from that story.

"Q You were there?

"MS. PERINO: I was there."

Now it's time to ask Perino question No. 2.

The Royal Visit

Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Rutenberg write in the New York Times: "The White House is atwitter over the visit on Monday by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. This is the first visit by the queen since 1991, when Mr. Bush's father was president. White House aides say the state dinner in her honor is not only the social event of the year, but also of the entire Bush presidency.

"It will be closely watched by the social elite for its collision of cultures -- Texas swagger meets British prim. Dinner attire is white tie and tails, the first and, perhaps, only white-tie affair of the Bush administration. The president was said to be none too keen on that, but bowed to a higher power, his wife."

Julianna Goldman writes for Bloomberg: "This is the third time Bush will greet the queen. The first was 16 years ago, when his father George H.W. Bush was president. In her memoir, former first lady Barbara Bush recounts that during lunch, she jokingly told Queen Elizabeth she had put their 'Texas son as far away from her as possible at the table and had told him that he was not allowed to say a word to her.'

"The queen asked the 'Texas son,' George W. Bush, why that was and whether he was 'the black sheep in the family?' Bush said he guessed that was the case and asked the queen who was the black sheep in her family. She laughed and didn't answer."

A few things to look for today: Will the queen give Bush an award? Will the queen allow Bush a dance? And will the queen talk about Iraq?

In 1991, the last time she visited the White House, the queen presented Bush Sr. with the Winston Churchill Award "in recognition of the leadership you have shown the world."

In 1976, she and President Ford shared a dance.

And the queen's grandson, Harry, is about to ship out to Iraq.

Bush 101

Paul Bedard writes in U.S. News: "There could be a brand of Bush 101 taught in business schools soon if James Hoopes, the Murata Professor of Ethics in Business at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., gets his way. Just last week, he landed a publisher for Hail to the CEO: The Failure of George W. Bush and the Cult of Moral Leadership. His premise: President Bush, a Harvard University M.B.A. grad, is proof that business schools focus more on leadership than on management."

Eternal General

Ken Herman blogs for Cox News: "The official White House transcript shows otherwise, but a recording shows that President Bush today introduced embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a way that indicates Gonzales will have the job in perpetuity.

"'I'm honored to be here with the eternal general of the United States, mi amigo, Alberto Gonzales,' Bush said in recognizing his longtime friend at a Rose Garden celebration of Cinco de Mayo."

You can hear it at the one-minute mark in this video.

Belated Correction

Al Kamen writes in The Washington Post: "Correction of the week: Remember President Bush's speech last Tuesday to the Associated General Contractors of America, in which he excoriated Congress for meddling with military decisions in Iraq?

"'The question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm the commander guy,' Bush said, according to the White House transcript."

But Perino asked the transcribers to double-check. "And sure enough, he actually said 'a' commander guy. Thus the correction issued on Friday.

"It's a critical distinction. The change means that all Bush really was saying was that he's someone who sides with the commanders. Except of course when he doesn't, such as when he rejected their recommendations at the outset to double the troops invading Iraq, or more recently, when he overrode strong misgivings among the brass and ordered the 'surge.' So he's 'The Surger Guy.'

Fittest President Ever

Ann Sanner writes for the Associated Press: "Just before climbing on his mountain bike Saturday, President Bush urged people to get up off their couches and walk, jog, pedal and swim."

Here's the text of his brief remarks: "It doesn't take much time to stay fit -- 30 minutes five days a week. . . . I have found that exercise not only is a good excuse to get outdoors, it helps relieve stress, as well."

After the official statement, Bush announced: "Wait, I'm going to lift my bike." Which he did, with one hand. "Lightweight," he said. Here's the AP photo.

Cartoon Watch

Garry Trudeau on false choices; John Sherffius on Commander Guy; Tony Auth on a tale of two cities.

Late Night Humor

Jay Leno via U.S. News: "And how embarrassing is this? 'Time' magazine released its list of the 100 most influential people in the world. President Bush is not on the list. Isn't that amazing? However, supermodel Kate Moss is! And here's the scary part -- Kate Moss actually has a better plan for getting us out of Iraq."