Bush: It's Mukasey or Nothing

Perino: "Look, President Bush enjoys his time talking with the media, believe it or not."

Question: "He does?"

Perino: "He did say that -- he does. He did say that he had seen a photograph of Dwight Eisenhower having reporters into the Oval Office for a press conference. With our press corps now, it's a little bit -- there would be probably too many people to try to get in there for a full press conference, although I won't rule that out in the future."

Here's the transcript of the session.

Question: "Do you think the Congress has forgotten we're at war, Mr. President?"

Bush: "Well, I think there is a tendency for people to say, well, maybe -- let me just say, there are some who say, don't call this a war on terror. And there are some who have accused me of using the words 'war on terror' as a way to frighten people into voting booths. And I emphasize the word 'some.' As I'll say in this speech, those who say we're not in a war on terror are either disingenuous or naive. Either way, the attitude is dangerous because I will have quoted the words of the enemy in the speech, an enemy that said, we're going to come and kill you.

"And I think -- I'm not going to -- this speech doesn't intend -- this is a comprehensive speech about what Congress needs to do to make sure that we have the tools necessary and the people necessary to protect America. I will not in any way personalize this speech. I'm not going to say that an individual member that may disagree with me is not a patriotic person. I am going to remind people, though, of the dangers that we face."

First Override Likely

Jennifer Loven writes for the Associated Press: "An increasingly confrontational President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing hundreds of popular water projects even though lawmakers can count enough votes to override him."

Said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "When we override this irresponsible veto, perhaps the President will finally recognize that Congress is an equal branch of government and reconsider his many other reckless veto threats."

Turkish Tensions

Matthew Schofield writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "With public pressure building for a military intervention against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, the United States and Turkey are to begin four days of crisis talks Friday that will help to define America's relationship with Turkey and possibly the future of Iraq as well.

"The process opens when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls on Turkish officials here Friday and ends Monday when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls on President Bush. The meeting Monday will 'determine the steps Turkey will take,' Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Thursday. He said that if Turkish troops crossed the border, it 'would be aimed at hitting terrorist bases and would not be an invasion.'"

Warren P. Strobel writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "The retired general who served as President Bush's special envoy to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said the United States has failed to keep its promises to Turkey to confront the Kurdish terrorist group, and Turkey may feel that it has no choice but to attack the PKK's sanctuary in northern Iraq.

"Retired Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, in a brief interview, declined to say why he stepped down several weeks ago. But published reports have said that he was frustrated by the Bush administration's failure to act against the PKK.

"In his first extended comments since his departure, Ralston told McClatchy Newspapers that the United States is unwittingly 'driving, strategically, the Turks and the Iranians together' because both nations share concerns about violent Kurdish separatist groups."

Iraq Watch

Ned Parker writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Iraq's civilian body count in October was less than half that at its height in January. . . .

"October also marked the lowest monthly death toll for American troops, 36 fatalities, since March 2006, when 31 were killed, according to icasualties.org. . . .

"American commanders . . . say the decision to send 28,500 more troops to Iraq has made a difference by allowing them to send soldiers to live on the fault lines between Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, and to conduct sweeping offensives in provinces east and south of the capital against strongholds of Shiite Muslim militias and Sunni militants linked to foreign insurgents.

"But others say that the picture is more complicated than that because those seeking to cleanse their neighborhoods of rival religious sects have largely succeeded. . . .

"Moreover, American forces have felt it necessary to make tacit deals with groups that have been involved in the sectarian cleansing, and many Baghdad residents who have not been killed have fled. The number of people displaced internally in Iraq has risen to 2.25 million, and an additional 2 million have left the country."

Joshua Partlow and Naseer Nouri write in The Washington Post: "Both Iraqis and U.S. soldiers are wrestling with a basic question: Is the declining violence a lull in the war or the beginning of a long road to peace?"

Meanwhile, Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister of Iraq, writes in a New York Times op-ed that his country's political problems are a result of Bush's decision to hold elections prematurely: "The paralysis that has afflicted the government in Baghdad, the sectarian disputes across the country and the failure to move toward reconciliation were all predictable outcomes of the senseless rush to hold national elections and put the Constitution in place."

Iran Watch

AFP reports: "Thirty US senators wrote to President George W. Bush Thursday, warning he had no authority to launch military action against Iran, and expressing concern about the administration's 'provocative' rhetoric.

"The senators, 29 Democrats and one independent, urged the resolution of disputes with the Islamic Republic through diplomacy.

"'We wish to emphasize that no congressional authority exists for unilateral military action against Iran,' the letter signed by senators including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Joseph Biden said.

"The letter warned that a resolution passed by the Senate in September, calling for the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, should not be used as a pretext for war."

Sen. Barack Obama yesterday introduced a Senate resolution to the same effect.

Cheney Needs a New Lawyer

Emma Schwartz writes for U.S. News: "Cheney's office confirmed late today to U.S. News that counsel Shannen Coffin is leaving government tomorrow and will head back into private practice at his former law firm Steptoe & Johnson. . . .

"Coffin joined Cheney's staff in 2005 to fill the position once held by David Addington, who replaced Lewis 'Scooter' Libby as chief of staff after his indictment. In that capacity, Coffin has served as the top legal adviser to the vice president."

Bush and Secrecy

Tom Teepen writes in his Cox News Service column: "Was any administration before George W. Bush's ever as panoramic in its contempt for the public's curiosity about how its business is being conducted?

"Whether from malice or misadventure -- and both have been present in large dollops -- this president and his crowd have relentlessly buried government deeply in secrecy and dark corners."

Washed Up

The Daily Telegraph's U.S. editor, Toby Harnden, blogs: "So why isn't George W. Bush, president of the most powerful nation in the world, wartime commander-in chief and leader of the Republican party not even in the top 20 of the Telegraph's list of influential American conservatives? That's a fair question. The short answer: the list is about the future rather than the past. . . .

"[W]hereas Mr Clinton has remained a power in the liberal world (watch for where he is in our liberal Top 20 tomorrow), we believe Bush will fade into relative obscurity after 2009."

The top three names on the Telegraph's list are Rudy Giuliani, Gen. David Petraeus and Matt Drudge.

The Problem With Analogies

I noted yesterday that Cheney, his wife, his boss and even his dog have embraced the Cheney-as-Darth-Vader metaphor.

But the AFP's Olivier Knox points out a problem with the analogy: "It was unclear whether Bush or Cheney's pop-culture knowledge included the fact that, at the end of the saga, Vader redeems himself and saves his son by hurling the evil emperor Palpatine to his death, at the cost of his own life."

White House Watch reader Francis Norton asks: "When the President is on a USAF aircraft, it is called Air Force One. Is it true that when the Vice President is on a USAF aircraft, it is now called Death Star One?"

I Wouldn't Bring It Up If I Were Him

Karen Dandurant of the Portsmouth (N.H.) Herald covers former White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr.'s talk with a New Hampshire Republican group yesterday: "Card was with the president at an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2001. He said that when he told Bush the news of the terrorist attacks, he handled himself as a president should.

"'He did not impart fear to the children, to the press assembled there,' said Card."

Cartoon Watch

Ann Telnaes on Karen Hughes; Mike Luckovich on Mukasey and torture.

Late Night Humor

Jay Leno, via U.S. News: "And tensions are very high between Iraq and Turkey. You see, this is where President Bush, I don't think he understands these issues, you know? Like today, he warned the American people we could be in for a rough Thanksgiving."