Karl Rove's Immunity

In his Tuesday interview with CNN's Larry King, Cheney came to the defense of undersecretary of defense Eric S. Edelman, who accused Clinton of reinforcing enemy propaganda by requesting a briefing on withdrawal plans from Iraq. Cheney said he thought Edelman wrote "a good letter" and said that "we don't get into the business of sharing operational plans -- we never have -- with the Congress."

Sargent quotes from Clinton's letter: "Your contention that I asked to reveal operational plans is a misrepresentation. In fact, as a result of my inquiry, the Pentagon will be briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow on this topic, without fear that operational security will be imperiled."

And, she writes: "I am writing to President Bush asking that he set the record straight about the Administration's position regarding the role of Congress in oversight of the war."

Iraq Watch

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press with the news the White House wanted out yesterday: "President Bush prodded Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday to unite rival factions in a country stung by an announcement that the largest Sunni Arab bloc intends to pull out of the government....

"Bush and al-Maliki spoke in a secure video conference, part of a regular series of conversations on the war and Iraq's struggling democracy.

"'The president emphasized that the Iraqi people and the American people need to see action -- not just words -- but need to see action on the political front,' said White House press secretary Tony Snow. 'The prime minister agreed.'"

But wait: Does that sound familiar? Flash back to Bush's Jan. 10 speech to the nation announcing the surge: "I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people -- and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act. The Prime Minister understands this."

Cheney Redux

Philadelphia Inquirer blogger Dick Polman provides an annotated transcript of Cheney's CNN interview. Jon Stewart, in a segment titled "I now pronounce you Dick and Larry," calls special attention to Cheney's lopsided grin after being asked if he plans to attack Iran. "For what reason?" Cheney answers, looking very pleased with himself.

Op-Ed Redux

Here's more news about that Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack New York Times op-ed the White House is hawking so aggressively.

George Packer blogs for the New Yorker: "I talked to Pollack yesterday. In answer to some of the questions I raised: he spoke with very few Iraqis and could independently confirm very little of what he heard from American officials. . . . The improvements in security, he said, are 'relative,' which is a heavy qualification, given the extreme violence of 2006 and early 2007. And it's far from clear that progress anywhere is sustainable. Everywhere he went, the line Pollack heard was that the central government in Baghdad is broken and the only solutions that can work are local ones.

"It was a step back from the almost definitive tone of 'A War We Just Might Win' (a bad headline, and not the authors'). That tone was misplaced, and it is already being used by an Administration that has always thought tactically and will grasp any shred of support, regardless of the facts, to win the short-term argument."

Tillman Watch

Glenn Kessler writes in The Washington Post: "Former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, making his first appearance on Capitol Hill since President Bush relieved him last year, denied yesterday that he or top generals tried to cover up the 'friendly fire' death of former football star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan three years ago. . . .

"'I know that I would not engage in a coverup,' Rumsfeld told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Flanked by three current and retired generals, he said: 'I know that no one in the White House suggested such a thing to me. I know that the gentlemen sitting next to me are men of enormous integrity and would not participate in something like that.'"

Dana Milbank notes in The Washington Post that it was a display of missing memories: "No fewer than 82 times during the three-hour hearing, Rumsfeld and his former military colleagues were heard to utter 'I can't recall,' 'I don't remember,' 'I don't know' or a variation of these."

From Committee Chairman Henry Waxman's opening statement: "We have tried to find out what the White House knew about Corporal Tillman's death. We know that in the days following the initial report, at least 97 White House officials sent and received hundreds of e-mails about Corporal Tillman's death and how the White House and the president should respond. . . .

"There's nothing sinister about this, and there's nothing sinister in the e-mails we have received. Corporal Tillman is a national hero. It makes sense that White House officials would be paying attention.

"But what doesn't make sense is that weeks later, in the days before and after the Defense Department announced that Corporal Tillman was actually killed by our own forces, there are no e-mails from any of the 97 White House officials about how Corporal Tillman really died.

"The concealment of Corporal Tillman's fratricide caused millions of Americans to question the integrity of our government, yet no one will tell us when and how the White House learned the truth."

Waxman today announced that the White House has agreed to make senior officials available for interviews, with no preconditions for future actions.

Bush and the Right-Wing Talk Show Hosts

Hugh Hewitt blogs: "President Bush invited ten talk hosts into the Oval Office for an hour of conversation today --Glenn Beck, Bill Bennett, Neal Boortz, Scott Hennon, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larson, Mark Levin, Michael Medved, Janet Parshall and me. This was an off-the-record conversation, and so I won't be quoting the president.

"I will say on today's show that I am confident about the course of the war and about the momentum in Iraq, as well of the president's absolute commitment to doing right by the troops and his concern for every lost and wounded soldier and their families."

Here's Glenn Beck ( video via Thinkprogress; transcript from CNN): "Although I agreed to not quote him directly, I can tell you this: President Bush is a man who personally feels the pain of every lost soldier. . . .

"He feels the pain of every wounded hero, every lonely, grieving parent this war has caused. He is a man who understands the heavy cost that we are paying. But who believes with every ounce of his being that we are in the fight for our very survival, a fight that's importance can only be judged fairly decades from now, and I believe a fight he is willing to be judged harshly for until that time comes, even if he's long dead.

"I can also tell you that he's -- frustrated is not exactly the right word -- frustrated -- hopeful, yet frustrated. He's frustrated that so many people are so myopic that they have lost sight of the forest through the trees. He's frustrated that so many powerful forces, forces that understand what is truly at stake and who our enemies really are, have lined up against the war on terror because it's politically expedient.

"But above all, I can tell you that the president has incredible passion and resolve. I have not seen this George W. Bush since he had a fire truck behind him and a bull horn in his hand. He was so clear-minded; he was focused. This is not the guy you see on television."

Tony Snow and Cancer's Gift

Via FishbowlDC, Tony Snow writes for Christianity Today about "Cancer's Unexpected Blessings":

"When our faith flags, [God] throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it," Snow writes.

"It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up -- to speak of us!"

Bush's Gift Bombs

AFP reports: "For a man rarely seen out of a sombre suit and tie, it could be seen as an inappropriate gift for Gordon Brown -- and even more so given the political sensitivities in Britain of the invasion of Iraq.

"But US President George W. Bush gave Brown a present of a fur-trimmed leather bomber -- or aviator -- jacket when the prime minister visited him at his Camp David retreat, north of Washington, Sunday and Monday.

"The brown jacket has a name tag with the prime minister's official title -- 'Rt Hon (Right Honourable) Gordon Brown' -- on the left breast and a Camp David badge with the presidential seal on the other."

Patrick Wintour writes in the Guardian: "Gordon Brown spent two days at the American presidential retreat of Camp David emphasising the importance of soft power. Judging by the gift he received from George Bush, however, the message has not quite got through."

Wintour speculates: "Mr Bush may have seen the present as a revenge for being forced to dress relatively formally at Camp David in order to meet the prime minister's desire for a businesslike session, as opposed to anything with a hint of relaxed intimacy."

(AFP reports that while Bush himself was casually dressed, according to aides the British leader did not divest himself of his suit, although he did take his tie off at breakfast.)

Andrew Grice writes for the Independent: "Downing Street refused to comment on Mr Brown's rather unexpected present last night, saying it never commented on gifts. His aides said they were 'not pleased' that the news had leaked out. . . .

"It is understood that Mr Brown gave Mr Bush a more conventional present - a book about Winston Churchill, the first British prime minister to visit Camp David."

The Daily Sun has a picture of the jacket, and a photo illustration of what Brown would look like wearing it.

The Evening Standard reports that "friends last night predicted he would 'not be seen dead' in a bomber jacket."