Bush: No Tax Cut for Corporations

(For my views on the media's responsibilities on these kinds of issues, see this piece I wrote for NiemanWatchdog.org, where I am deputy editor.)

FISA Watch

Aziz Hug writes in the Nation that Congress's recent surrender on warrantless surveillance is just "the most recent example of the national security waltz, a three-step Administration maneuver for taking defeat and turning it into victory.

"The waltz starts with a defeat in the courts for Administration actions. . . . The second step does not follow immediately. Rather, some months later, the Administration suddenly announces that the ruling has created a security crisis and cries out for urgent remedial legislation. Then (and here's the coup de grace) the Administration rams legislation through Congress. . . . that not only undoes the good court decision but also inflicts substantial damage to the infrastructure of accountability. . . .

"To those who have followed this Administration's legal strategy closely, the outcome should be no surprise. The law's most important effect is arguably not its expansion of raw surveillance power but the sloughing away of judicial or Congressional oversight. . . .

"Like the Constitution's Framers, this Administration understands that power is accrued through the evisceration of checks and balances."

Kara Oppenheim writes in the Hill: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday set an Aug. 20 deadline for the Bush administration to produce documents related to the panel's probe of the National Security Agency's wiretapping program.

"'Despite my patience and flexibility, you have rejected every proposal, produced none of the responsive documents, provided no basis for any claim of privilege and no accompanying log of withheld documents,' Leahy said in a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding."

The Bush Backlash

David S. Broder writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "Ever since the race began taking form last winter, the awkwardly large number of real and pretend aspirants to succeed George W. Bush as the GOP standard-bearer have behaved as if they were vying for the endorsement of Bush and Dick Cheney."

But, Broder asks, have the Republican candidates forgotten what comes after the primaries?

"[T]his winter, one of these men may face an interesting dilemma. How do you reposition yourself after hugging Bush and Cheney for a solid year? What do you do to become suddenly the candidate of change?

"The one thing on which the polls are clearest today is that this country is ready to turn the page on the Bush-Cheney experience. If ever there has been an administration that has outstayed its welcome, exhausted its energies and spent most of its original ideas, it is this one. People on the inside are holding on by their thumbs, and the country's patience is about exhausted."

Bush and His Dad

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "The official line from the White House is that 41, as he is known in Bush circles, gives advice to 43 only when asked. But interviews with a broad range of people close to both presidents -- including family members like the elder Mr. Bush's daughter, Doro Bush Koch, and aides who have worked for both men, like Andrew H. Card Jr. -- suggest a far more complicated father-son dynamic, in which the former president is not nearly so distant as the White House would have people believe.

"They talk almost every morning by phone, and Mr. Bush studiously avoids saying anything critical of his son, close associates say. But he has privately expressed irritation with some of his son's aides. At times, he has urged White House officials to seek outside advice, and he has passed on his own foreign policy wisdom to the president, even as he makes a point of saying his son's administration is not his. . . .

"As to what is said in private conversations between father and son, no one can be certain. When phone calls come in from Houston or Kennebunkport, White House aides make themselves scarce. But [former chief of staff Andrew] Card says it is clear to him that family talks were not always confined to family matters.

"'It was relatively easy for me to read the sitting president's body language after he had talked to his mother or father,' Mr. Card said. 'Sometimes he'd ask me a probing question. And I'd think, Hmm, I don't think that question came from him.'"

Barry Bonds

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "All morning, the question resonated around the White House: Would he call or wouldn't he? Turns out he would.

"President Bush telephoned Barry Bonds yesterday to congratulate him on breaking Hank Aaron's home run record and then publicly hailed him as one of the game's best sluggers.

"Never mind the allegations of past steroid use that still dog the San Francisco Giants star. Bush said he will leave it to others to judge whether Bonds's record will be marked by an asterisk. And while some tried to read much into the fact that the president did not immediately call the morning after Bonds hit his 756th homer, Bush quickly passed off the delay as the simple courtesy of not wanting to wake someone on West Coast time."

Bush's Health

Lawrence K. Altman writes in the New York Times: "Though President Bush has had episodes of mild vertigo in recent weeks, they have not interfered with his work, and he is in excellent health, the White House said yesterday in releasing findings from his annual medical checkup.

"The bouts of unsteadiness, which were reported as having improved, began after Mr. Bush had a viral infection in June at the Group of 8 meeting in Germany, the White House said. Such dizziness often follows viral infections, usually of the upper respiratory tract, and can last a few weeks. The symptoms may be continuous or intermittent."

David Brown writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush was treated a year ago for what appears to have been Lyme disease, the White House said yesterday in disclosing the results of his annual physical exam.

"A report of the president's recent medical examination said his case had 'complete resolution' and was 'without recurrence' since being treated last August. The illness, an infection carried by deer ticks that is prevalent in the Northeastern United States, had not been previously revealed."

Overall, however, as Alex Pareene blogs on Wonkette.com: "The President's medical history was released today -- and he's in considerably better shape than us."

Book News

Bob Minzesheimer writes in USA Today: "First lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush are writing a children's book about a boy who doesn't like to read. It is based on their experiences as teachers."

Online Humor

From Myeverything.com, Bush's recent press conference -- about zombies.