Bush's Next Step? Who Knows?

"Neither Mr. Olmert nor Mr. Abbas spoke at the White House.

"The Israeli prime minister later met with journalists and voiced reservations even as he said he was committed to trying to reach an agreement by the end of 2008. He conditioned any deal on the Palestinians' fulfillment of the terms of the 'road map,' an agreement from 2003 that linked negotiations to steps from both sides and that both sides have complained was broken from the start. . . .

"One of the provisions of the agreement reached Tuesday made the United States the arbiter of the commitments under the 2003 road map. Mr. Bush promised in 2003 that he would 'ride herd' on the participants to ensure that the agreements were kept -- only to see the Palestinian territories descend again into violence and Israeli settlement growth continue."

The Joyous President

Bush found time yesterday for another of his sit-downs with supportive conservative commentators.

Fred Barnes writes for the Weekly Standard: "President Bush says the presidency is still 'a joyous experience' for him. 'People ask if I would do it again. I would.' And one reason for his upbeat mood in talking to a dozen journalists Wednesday is progress in Iraq, including revenue sharing by the central government with the provinces. Another is the beginning of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, though Bush cautioned that the creation of a Palestinian state won't come any time soon. . . .

"Bush said he's 'feeling upbeat about life these days' as he nears the end of his seventh year in the White House. His optimistic mood is bound to irritate his critics, including those in the media. He spoke with great emphasis about the Middle East, but insisted on talking about some subjects off-the-record."

Bush appears to have spent most of the time restating familiar talking points. (Yes, he even told the Koizumi story again, see below.) But here's one intriguing comment: "Bush, interviewed the day after the Middle East summit in Annapolis on the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, said there's no possibility that a new Palestinian state created on the West Bank would turn into a Hamas-run terrorist state as Gaza has," Barnes writes.

"'The state won't exist until there's a structure in place to prevent that from happening,' he said. "

What kind of structure would that be? Hamas, after all, won the Palestinian parliamentary elections last year.

Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirne blog for the National Review: "Bush acknowledges that enemies of peace will seek to derail the process by killing people and that we can't impose our vision on the parties. They need to want it themselves. But he is utterly convinced that enemies can become allies, citing his favorite example of his warm relationship with former Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi after his father fought the Japanese in World War II."

And then it was time for Bush's book report: "He shared that he's currently reading A Confederacy of Dunces, and recently finished Jay Winik's new book, The Great Upheaval. He has Joseph Ellis's latest book on the Founders (Karl Rove gave it to him). He called Clarence Thomas's memoir 'a sweet book, and book of courage.'"

Contrary to what its title might lead some to believe, A Confederacy of Dunces is not a White House novel. Library Journal describes it as being about a "loud, lying, hypocritical, self-deceiving, self-centered blowhard who masturbates to memories of a dog and pretends to profundity when he is only full of beans."

That Iraq Agreement

Earlier this week, with little fanfare, Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced plans to negotiate a long-term agreement between the two countries that would take effect shortly before Bush leaves office. (See my Tuesday column.)

The pact is finally getting some of the attention it deserves. Particularly galling to some was the assertion by White House "war czar" Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute that only the Iraqi parliament, not the U.S. Congress, would needs to formally approve the final agreement.

Yale professor Bruce Ackerman writes in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "American presidents do have unilateral authority to make foreign agreements on minor matters. But the Constitution requires congressional approval before the nation can commit itself to the sweeping political, economic and military relationship contemplated by the 'declaration of principles' signed by Bush and Maliki to kick off the negotiations.

"U.S. legislative approval can come in two forms: Either two-thirds of the Senate can vote for a treaty under Article II of the Constitution, or a simple majority of both houses can authorize the agreement under Article I. But there is no constitutional provision or precedent authorizing this new form of Bush unilateralism. . . .

"The Bush-Maliki declaration not only promises the Iraqi government economic and political support, it contemplates American 'security assurances and commitments to the Republic of Iraq to deter foreign aggression.' If such guarantees don't require congressional consent, the constitutional separation of powers is at an end.

"And the administration's approach here could tie the hands of the victor of the 2008 presidential election. If a Democrat wins and seeks a new course in Iraq, he or she would be obliged to break an international commitment."

Harold Meyerson writes in his Washington Post opinion column that "the linchpin of Bush's legacy, it appears, is to make his Iraq policy a permanent fixture of American statecraft. . . .

"What Bush will almost surely be pushing for is permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, enshrined in a pact he can sign a few months before he leaves office. And here, as they used to say, is the beauty part: As far as Bush is concerned, he doesn't have to seek congressional ratification for such an enduring commitment of American force, treasure and lives. . . .

"The president who waged a preemptive war now wants to lock in place a preemptive occupation. Only this time, instead of preempting a foreign nation, he is seeking to preempt Congress and his successor. It's the logical conclusion for his misshapen and miserable presidency, and I doubt the American people -- if they have any say in the matter -- will stand for it."

Valerie Plame Watch

Paul Mulshine blogs for the Newark Star-Ledger: "Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan recently handed the Democrats all the ammunition they would need to begin an inquiry that could lead to the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and perhaps even President Bush."

In an excerpt from his upcoming book, McClellan wrote that Bush and Cheney, among others "were involved" in his passing along of false information about Rove and Cheney aide Scooter Libby's involvement in the leak of Plame's identity.

Writes Mulshine: "McClellan's remarks give the Democrats the perfect opportunity to haul him before a committee to finally get answers to some of the questions left hanging ever since special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald closed up shop.

"So why aren't the Democrats doing so?

"'To stand up for that, one would need a spine,' says Larry Johnson. Johnson is a former CIA agent who has been taking the lead in defending Plame, his classmate in CIA training back in 1985, against the attacks by the White House."

Mark Fitzgerald writes for Editor and Publisher: "Norman Pearlstine, who was editor in chief of Time Inc. when Time magazine writer Matt Cooper faced jail time in the Valerie Plame case, told a Medill School of Journalism audience Tuesday evening that he doesn't think White House advisor Karl Rove really deserved his status as a 'confidential source' of Cooper's.

"'Outing Valerie Plame, exposing a valuable (CIA) agent for no particular reason, didn't, in my mind, merit protecting confidentiality,' Pearlstine said."

Rove Caught in a Lie

Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball write in Newsweek with more about Karl Rove's startling rewrite of history: "In an hourlong interview with Charlie Rose that aired Nov. 21, the night before Thanksgiving, the former presidential strategist (and now an occasional Newsweek commentator) claimed that 'one of the untold stories about the war' is that the White House never wanted the Congress to vote on the resolution authorizing the president to wage war in Iraq before the 2002 midterm elections. . . .

"Rove's comments seem to fly in the face of a barrage of White House speeches and pronouncements pushing for a quick vote on the Iraq war resolution in the fall of 2002 to deal with what Bush called a threat of 'unique urgency.' The White House launched its campaign for an Iraq war resolution by calling congressional leaders to a meeting with the president on Sept. 4. At the meeting, just two months before the midterm elections, Bush first told them of his intention to press for an Iraq war resolution before they adjourned. Two weeks later, the White House sent its sweeping draft war resolution to Capitol Hill, and began pushing aggressively for a vote right away, before members went home to campaign. 'I appreciate the fact that the leadership recognizes we've got to move before the elections,' Bush said at a White House ceremony on Sept. 19. All of this was no accident: at an earlier Sept. 3 strategy meeting of top White House advisers, then White House chief of staff Andrew Card 'said the game plan was to ask Congress to vote on a formal resolution authorizing military force in Iraq before the midterm elections,' wrote journalist Bob Woodward in 'Plan of Attack,' a book about the run-up to the Iraq War that benefited from direct access to key participants.

"In another account, laid out in 'Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War' (co-written by Isikoff), a top White House aide at the time said the president's advisers specifically wanted to use the pressure of the upcoming election to force skeptical Democrats to back the president--or face being portrayed by Bush as soft on national security. The campaign calendar was driving the timing of the vote on Iraq, said the former aide, who asked not to be identified talking about internal strategy sessions. 'The election was the anvil and the president was the hammer,' the aide said. . . .

"Even one of Rove's former White House colleagues seemed puzzled by his remarks on the Iraq War vote. 'This is the first time I've ever heard Karl say that,' said former Bush counselor Dan Bartlett."

OK, Maybe I Would Like To Be Invited After All

The menu for the White House holiday receptions is just out.

Art Watch

Larry McShane writes in the New York Daily News: "Half a dozen doctored 'mug shots' of President Bush and other administration officials are decking a hall of the New York Public Library's main Fifth Ave. branch, drawing grins and gripes. . . .

"The exhibit, 'Line Up,' is the work of artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese. Each Bush administration member clutches a clapboard, as in a standard mug shot, with the date of his 'arrest' - a day when each made 'incriminating' statements regarding the Iraq war.

"The installation includes audio clips of the administration members - complete with the sound of a flashbulb popping and a prison door slamming."

The images are also available in a postcard book.

Cartoon Watch

Mike Luckovich on Bush's costume change; David Horsey on the chance of peace in the Middle East.