The Stonewall Continues

Q: "Dana, just to circle back to something that came up in the briefing yesterday, have you had a chance to talk to the President about the Scooter Libby case?"

Perino: "I have not, but I did talk to our Counsel's Office because I forgot that there is a civil case that is pending on this issue. I did forget. The Wilsons have filed a case in civil court, it was dismissed, and they are on appeal. What I can tell you is that we believe this issue has been dealt with appropriately. It was thoroughly investigated by an independent special prosecutor over the course of many months, at significant taxpayer cost, and significant cost to those who were involved and had to hire lawyers.

"The President welcomed the investigation, as he said before. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials cooperated extensively with the investigation -- is what the President asked his staff to do. And there was a verdict by a jury in this case in regards to Scooter Libby on the obstruction charge, and the President had said that he respects that jury's verdict, but that he did, as you know, in July commute the sentence.

"So we're not going to be able to re-litigate every issue that has come up in this case, but that's what I would say for now."

Was there any follow-up to this arrogance and obfuscation? No. The next question was about a different subject.

At yesterday's briefing, one reporter asked one question:

Q: "Have you had a chance yet to speak with the President about Scooter Libby since he dropped his appeal?"

Perino: "Well, you might have missed the gaggle, but I'll refer you to those comments I made in the gaggle."

And that was that.

Bush's ABC Interview

ABC's normally pugnacious Martha Raddatz went soft yesterday for her feature on "a day in the life" of a president, which included several affable interviews and photo ops with the president in between briefing and events.

Sample excerpt: "In a day packed with events, Bush said he still had time for reflection.

"'You can reflect when you are exercising,' Bush said. 'You can reflect, you know, late at night when I am upstairs with the first lady.'"

Here's the video, including footage of Raddatz's unusual visit to a holiday party in the White House residence.

Getting the most attention today were Bush's remarks about his drinking, chronicled here. Here's the video.

"'I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that,' the president disclosed Tuesday. . . .

"'I had too much to drink one night, and the next day I didn't have any,' Bush said. 'The next day I decided to quit and I haven't had a drink since 1986.'

"'And you did it just cold turkey?' asked Raddatz.

"'I'm a better man for it,' Bush said.

"The president said his alcohol problem wasn't severe, but said he still had a hard time quitting.

"'I wasn't a knee-walking drunk,' Bush said. 'It's a difficult thing to do, which is to kick an addiction.' . . .

"'Alcohol can compete with your affections. It sure did in my case,' Bush said, 'affections with your family, or affections for exercise.'

"'It was the competition that I decided just wasn't worth it,' he said.

The subject came up because, earlier in the day Bush spoke publicly about teen drug abuse and then Raddatz was allowed to sit in while he met privately with a group of teens who had kicked addiction. He told one: "Your president made the same kind of choice."

At the end of the evening, Bush told Raddatz: "My enthusiasm's high for this job. I really enjoy it. I don't have to spend much time trying to convince myself that I enjoy it. I genuinely do."

Wiretapping Watch

James Risen writes in the New York Times: "In a rare publicly issued opinion, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said Tuesday that it would not release documents related to the National Security Agency's program of wiretapping without warrants.

"The American Civil Liberties Union had asked that secret court to release the opinions detailing two rulings it issued this year on the legality of the agency's eavesdropping program, which President Bush authorized after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Though the court's conclusions in those two rulings are known, the details of how the judges reached them are not. . . .

"In the ruling Tuesday, Judge John D. Bates, who sits on the surveillance court as well as the Federal District Court in Washington, agreed with the civil liberties union that 'enhanced public scrutiny could provide an additional safeguard against mistakes, overreaching and abuse.'

"But, Judge Bates said, such benefits do not outweigh the government's need or right to keep the material classified. Disclosure, he said, could allow the nation's enemies to avoid detection and might compromise American intelligence activities. The potential damage is 'real and significant, and, quite frankly, beyond debate,' the judge wrote."

Bates, a Bush appointee, was deputy to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr from 1995 to mid-1997.

Climate Change Watch

Juliet Eilperin writes in The Washington Post from Bali: "U.S. officials at U.N. climate negotiations here said Tuesday that they would not embrace any overall binding goals for cutting global greenhouse gas emissions before President Bush leaves office, essentially putting off specific U.S. commitments until a new administration assumes power in 2009, according to several participants. . . .

"Several environmental activists said that although the administration's position is somewhat more flexible now than it was two years ago -- when it essentially rejected the idea of conducting any formal dialogue on replacing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate with a new binding agreement--its stance leaves all tough decisions on how to address global warming up to the next president."

Budget Watch

David M. Herszenhorn writes in the New York Times that Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, "laid down his mark in the current budget fight on Tuesday, informing the Capitol Hill press corps that he was ready to offer Democrats a deal, $70 billion in war financing with no strings attached and a total budget identical to President Bush's proposal.

"In other words, the Republicans should get virtually everything they want. And he was not kidding.

"With the president warning repeatedly that he will veto any budget package he dislikes and the Democrats short of the 60 votes they need in the Senate, the Republican minority is in an unusually strong bargaining position -- and not just in the budget negotiations that are the top priority in Congress these days.

"Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans are playing such tight defense, blocking nearly every bill proposed by the slim Democratic majority that they are increasingly able to dictate what they want, much to the dismay of the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and frustrated Democrats in the House."

And that, Herszenhorn writes, "explains why so little is getting done in Congress right now."

Pardon Watch

Lara Jakes Jordan writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush granted pardons yesterday to carjackers, drug dealers, a moonshiner and a violator of election laws, but not to I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, his vice president's former top aide, who was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative. . . .

"Nearly all of those to win pardons this year were small-time crooks who at most were imprisoned for five years. Many never served time at all and instead were fined or put on probation. "

Mukasey on FISA

There are so far no concrete signs that Mukasey will buck his masters any more than his predecessor did. An op-ed piece bearing Mukasey's byline in the Los Angeles Times this morning could have been written by, and for all we know was written by, the White House. The White House press office e-mailed it to the press corps bright and early this morning.

The op-ed says that it "is vital that Congress put surveillance of terrorists and other intelligence targets located overseas on surer institutional footing. The Senate Intelligence Committee has crafted a bill that would largely accomplish that objective. . . .

"Unfortunately, there are two other versions of the bill being considered that do not accomplish the two key objectives. The House of Representatives recently passed a version that would significantly weaken the Protect America Act by, among other things, requiring individual court orders to target people overseas in order to acquire certain types of foreign intelligence information. Similarly, the Senate Judiciary Committee made significant amendments to the Senate Intelligence Committee's bill that would have the collective effect of weakening the government's ability to effectively surveil intelligence targets abroad."

Cheney's Insult

Ruth Marcus writes in her Washington Post opinion column: "Dick Cheney is worried that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has shrunken the 'big sticks' of the once-tough guys who were the vice president's colleagues in Congress."

She sees Cheney's attack as part of "the continuing, maddening, mystifying discomfort with the notion of a woman as leader" and "the supposed implications -- humiliating? emasculating? -- of female leaders for the men around them."

Bush's Best Friend

Craig Whitlock writes in The Washington Post from Berlin: "Diplomats here are still buzzing over a relationship that almost nobody would have dared predict a few years ago. President Bush's current best friend in Europe, if not the world, may be a German: Chancellor Angela Merkel."

Karl Rove Watch

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press: "The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org is turning up the pressure on Congress to block any efforts by the administration to take military action against Iran, planning a full-page ad in The New York Times sometime in the next few days, said MoveOn spokesman Doug Gordon. . . .

"The ad is a comic strip showing the president talking to his former top political aide, Karl Rove. Bush comments about the difficulty of electing a Republican in 2008 after Iraq. 'Threaten Iran. Talk about World War III,' Rove says in the comic strip. 'But now everyone knows they've stopped developing nukes,' Bush responds. 'We never let the truth stop us before,' says Rove.

Real Clear Politics has the transcript of Rove's appearance on Fox News last night with Sean Hannity, handicapping the Republican presidential race.

Jonathan Zebrowski writes in the Princetonian about Rove's off-the-record dinner at Princeton last night. A small group of students "were invited, though none were told the identity of the special guest in advance. "

Alternate Reality Watch

Ron Christie writes in an op-ed for The Hill: "From the surge in Iraq, vindication with his stem cell position and strong economic development on the home front, President George W. Bush has hit his stride and is surging rather than limping into his last year in office. For those who have counted him out, the president remains resolute, perhaps comfortable in the knowledge that history, rather than bitter partisans in Washington, will favorably reflect on his two terms in office for waging an effective war against terrorism while demonstrating capable stewardship and remarkable domestic accomplishments during a time of war."

BarneyCam Returns

The White House Web site's annual Barneycam holiday video is out. Bush's two Scottish terriers set out to be junior park rangers. It's by far the most tedious Barneycam yet, with the exception of the special guest appearance by Bush's poodle.

Yes, that's former British prime minister Tony Blair saying: "Congratulations, Barney and Miss Beazley, on becoming junior park rangers. Job well done. As someone born in Edinburgh, Scotland, it's always good to see the Scots doing well."

In Plain English

Paul Majendie writes for Reuters: "Former England football manager Steve McClaren fought off tough competition from U.S. President George W. Bush to win a dreaded 'Foot in Mouth' award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign. . . .

"Bush came second for 'All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone.'"

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Cartoon Watch

Mike Luckovich and Pat Oliphant on the missing evidence.