Has Bush Given Up on Immigration?

Holland asked Bush about a recent visit from a group of Republican lawmakers who bluntly warned him that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months. (See my May 10 column.)

Bush's reply: "I'm not going to talk about what any specific member said. But it was a very good session because it was a very frank discussion about my views and the importance of the decision I made, as far as achieving success, and their views and their hopes that we can succeed. Very few people come to the White House and say, gosh, I hope we fail. Most people are saying, well, I hope this works, and I am concerned about the situation there."

The issue is not that anyone is hoping for failure. It's responding to those who are worried that we are failing.

The Missing '-ic'

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From the transcript:

"Q: The Iraq funding bill seems to have been stymied a bit on Friday. What happens now?

"THE PRESIDENT: Well, we just need to watch and see. There is a way forward, there's a compromise to be had. My hope is that the Democrat [sic] leader sees it. I don't support timetables, artificial timetables. But I do support benchmarks with consequences. And Josh is going to work very closely with the leadership to see if we can't reach an agreement."

Judiciary Committee Watch

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Jeremy Jacobs writes in The Hill: "In a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding Monday, Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) expressed their 'extreme disappointment' in the White House's unwillingness to cooperate in their investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys and threatened a 'compulsory process' if the White House continues to be unresponsive.

"'Even without a single document or witness interview provided by the White House,' the congressmen wrote, 'it is clear that the White House played an important role in the events concerning the U.S. Attorney controversy.'

"'If the White House persists in refusing to provide information to the House Judiciary Committee, or even to discuss providing such information, on a voluntary basis,' they wrote, 'we will have no alternative but to begin to resort to compulsory process in order to carry out our oversight responsibilities.'"

Gonzales Watch

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Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush said yesterday that Democrats in Congress are engaging in 'pure political theater' by preparing resolutions of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, and he repeated his support for his embattled aide and longtime friend.

"Bush told reporters at his ranch near Crawford, Tex., that the attorney general 'has done nothing wrong' in the dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys last year."

James Gerstenzang notes in the Los Angeles Times: "But the president did not respond directly when asked whether he expected Gonzales to serve until Bush's term ends on Jan. 20, 2009."

David Gregory reported on the NBC Nightly News: "The White House felt the President had to go out there and say something pretty tough today -- really his strongest statement of support in several weeks.

"Top White House advisers saying tonight the message from the president to Republicans in particular is this: Don't let Democrats get away with this kind of vote, this kind of measure, or else they'll only do it on other issues. . . . Whether it's the war or other issues, they'll have similar no-confidence votes."

From the transcript: "I stand by Al Gonzales and I would hope that people would be more sober in how they address these important issues. And they ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage."

Jim Rutenberg and David Johnston write in the New York Times: "In addressing Congress broadly, his remarks also seemed aimed at some fellow Republicans, five of whom have called on Mr. Gonzales to resign. Others have expressed reservations about his leadership.

"But with the president's appointed head of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz, recently resigning amid accusations that he arranged a raise at the bank for his girlfriend, White House officials seem more intent than ever to stand by Mr. Gonzales. . . .

"Kevin Sullivan, the White House communications director, said that Mr. Gonzales's situation was unlike that of Mr. Wolfowitz and that Mr. Bush's support for Mr. Gonzales 'has never wavered.' (Mr. Bush maintained his support for Mr. Wolfowitz until the end, as well.)"

Editorial Watch

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Via washingtonpost.com's Editorialist blog, the St. Petersburg Times editorial board writes: "Now that it has been arranged to have Paul Wolfowitz walk out the door at the World Bank, there is one bit of unfinished business: Alberto Gonzales. The attorney general is a cooked goose, except he and President Bush don't recognize the oven's been turned on. The revelations keep coming about Gonzales' lack of candor and his incompetence. The sooner he goes, the sooner professionalism and credibility will return to the Justice Department."

And the Des Moines Register editorial board writes: "He no longer has the support of a growing number of members of Congress, including from within the Republican Party. He does not deserve the support of the American people. If he will not resign, and if the president will not fire him, Congress should begin proceedings to impeach him.

"That should be just the beginning of the work of Congress, however. Based on new details that emerged before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, more questions must be asked of Bush administration officials, including whether President Bush personally -- and in contradiction of the advice of his attorney general and the Justice Department's top legal adviser -- directed spying on American citizens in violation of the law."

Document Dump

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Rutenberg and Johnston write in the Times that "the Justice Department on Monday released several hundred pages of internal communications and other documents, including previously withheld e-mail messages, that provided fresh insights into the Gonzales situation. Specifically, the documents showed the scramble by White House and Justice Department officials to limit damage caused by the uproar over the dismissals of United States attorneys as Congress was starting its inquiry into the firings this year.

"The department turned over the documents to House and Senate investigators before Wednesday's appearance at the House Judiciary Committee by Monica Goodling, the department's former White House liaison, who is testifying under a grant of immunity."

The readers at TPM Muckraker are combing through the documents.

Tim Grieve, in Salon, finds this fascinating and troubling e-mail chain:

"On March 3, [Justice Department spokesman Brian] Roehrkasse forwarded to his Justice Department colleagues a copy of a Washington Post story on the purge that he said was 'far better than most recent Post stories on this subject.' The piece minimized White House involvement in the purge; quoting sources, it said that the White House had approved the list of prosecutors to be fired only after 'senior Justice Department officials identified the prosecutors they believed were not doing enough to carry out President Bush's policies on immigration, firearms and other issues.' For the folks working the issue at the Department of Justice, that amounted to a victory. Deputy Attorney General Richard Hertling declared the Post's piece 'by far and away the best story I've seen on the subject' and expressed relief that an accompanying Post editorial-- 'The Justice Department's firing of a group of U.S. attorneys is neither as sinister as critics suggest nor as benign as the department would have you believe' -- was 'not a bad beating, though against our interests.'

"'Great work, Brian,' [then-Gonzales chief of staff Kyle] Sampson said in an e-mail to group. 'Kudos to you and the [deputy attorney general].'"

Plan B Watch

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Three different potential Plan Bs in the news today.

David Ignatius writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "President Bush and his senior military and foreign policy advisers are beginning to discuss a 'post-surge' strategy for Iraq that they hope could gain bipartisan political support. The new policy would focus on training and advising Iraqi troops rather than the broader goal of achieving a political reconciliation in Iraq, which senior officials recognize may be unachievable within the time available."

Stewart M. Powell writes for Hearst Newspapers: "The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday.

"The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there."

Robert H. Reid writes for the Associated Press: "Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout, the defense minister said Monday. . . .

"On Monday, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters Iraq's military was drawing up plans in case U.S.-led forces left the country quickly. . . .

"It was unclear whether al-Obeidi's comment referred to routine contingency planning or reflected a feeling among Iraqi leaders that the days of U.S. support may be numbered even though President Bush blocked an effort by Congress to set a withdrawal timetable."

Impeachment Watch

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Gary Kamiya writes for Salon: "Even if there were a mass popular movement to impeach Bush, it's far from clear that Congress, which alone has the power to initiate impeachment proceedings, would do anything. . . .

"The main reason is obvious: The Democrats think it's bad politics. Bush is dying politically and taking the GOP down with him, and impeachment is risky. It could, so the cautious Beltway wisdom has it, provoke a backlash, especially while the war is still going on. Why should the Democrats gamble on hitting the political jackpot when they're likely to walk away from the table big winners anyway? . . .

"But there's a deeper reason why the popular impeachment movement has never taken off -- and it has to do not with Bush but with the American people. Bush's warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche. The emotional force behind America's support for the Iraq war, the molten core of an angry, resentful patriotism, is still too hot for Congress, the media and even many Americans who oppose the war, to confront directly. It's a national myth. It's John Wayne. To impeach Bush would force us to directly confront our national core of violent self-righteousness -- come to terms with it, understand it and reject it. And we're not ready to do that."

Twins Watch

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Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts write in The Washington Post: " After a long, twinless spring, Jenna and Barbara Bush are back in town! The first daughters (Jenna in a maroon sleeveless dress, Barbara in a silver-white dress) spent Saturday night with two female friends at Hook, the new 'sustainable seafood' restaurant in Georgetown. . . .

"Spirits were high: Jenna got into a friendly chat with former Wizards/now Knicks player Jared Jeffries and his pals at a nearby table -- one diner saw the men send shots over to the twins' table."

Live Online

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I'll be Live Online tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET. Come join the fun.

Late Night Humor

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David Letterman, via U.S. News: "In a recent interview Jimmy Carter lashed out with unprecedented criticism of the current administration's policies. But George W. Bush will not respond with his own criticism of the Carter administration because he believes such attacks are inappropriate and also because he can't remember anything from the years 1977 to 1981."

Stephen Colbert: "Carter, I used to like you: Weak, ineffective, cowardly, you were the perfect Democrat. Now you're acting like you've grown a pair -- of peanuts."

Cartoon Watch

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Walt Handelsman on secure borders; Ben Sargent on the war czar; Jeff Danziger on what the 'W' stands for; Bill Mitchell and John Sherffius on former presidents speaking out.