Bush Demands Freedom to Torture

"Americans need to know what Mr. Bush knew on both Iraq and Iran, and when he knew it. Anything less is unacceptable."

Bush in '08

Thomas M. DeFrank writes in the New York Daily News: "Thirteen months before the 2008 election, GOP officials and contenders face not only the albatross of Bush's unpopularity, but a surprising lack of interest from the party's leader in their fate.

"Some Republicans believe the White House is too consumed with the Iraq war and its legislative agenda to pay enough attention to the battle for the presidency.

"'The White House political machine is very different without Karl [Rove],' a prominent GOP powerbroker said. 'They're somewhat disconnected from the campaign for the first time I can remember.'

"'They don't realize Bush's legacy in large measure is tied up in whether a Republican succeeds him or not,' a Republican mandarin told the Daily News. 'If a Democrat wins, the conclusion will be that eight years of George W. Bush have been repudiated by the American people. There's no coordination, no togetherness.'"

At the same time, it's amazing how averse the Republican candidates are to mentioning the president. Bush's name was uttered only twice during the GOP's two-hour CNN/YouTube debate on Nov. 8. At the Dec. 9 Univision debate in Miami, the name Bush was mentioned once, by Sen. John McCain -- and McCain was referring to the president's brother Jeb, the former governor of Florida. At Wednesday's Des Moines Register debate, the Bush name again came up only once -- this time, it was former governor Mitt Romney talking about the current president's dad.

And yet, what the GOP candidates think of the Bush presidency -- what they consider its strengths and weaknesses, which elements they would emulate, which they would reject -- is crucial information for figuring out what they would be like as presidents themselves.

There is one way to get the candidates to address the Bush legacy in their debates or elsewhere. And that's to ask them. At NiemanWatchdog.org, where I am deputy editor, I suggest some questions.

MSNBC Watch

Over at MSNBC, it's been beat-on-Bush week. Keith Olbermann on Monday launched a new segment called "Bushed -- "a reminder of late developments or lack thereof in the other Bush administration scandals pushed off the front page by the Bush administration scandal du jour." And Dan Abrams, in his swan-song as a late-night host, anchored a week-long series he called "Bush League Justice."

Abrams blogged: "Bush League Justice is a series that stems from my increasing frustration and outrage over how the Bush administration has politicized the usually apolitical Justice Department. In the process, it has significantly abused its authority to try to enhance power at the expense of any sense of objective justice. Many of the administration's most controversial maneuvers have been widely reported, from the torture memos to the NSA's warrantless searches to the U.S. Attorney scandal to the appointment of only the most conservative of judges and justices.

"But that is really just the tip of this administration's ongoing effort to uproot the Justice Department . . . . [T]hey have regularly circumvented Congress, and decimated some of the most fundamental and cherished principles that define justice in this country."

Full transcripts of both shows are available here.

On Wednesday night, Abrams took up one of my favorite subject: Bush's signing statements. Among his guests: Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage. Said Abrams: "It's astounding to me how they continue to get away with this, and no one, apart from Charlie Savage and a few others have been making a big deal."

Harpers blogger Scott Horton joined Abrams last night for a discussion of the possibly politically-motivated federal prosecution of Democratic former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Horton blogs: "As Abrams said, the prosecutors have had a pass on their completely outrageous conduct for far too long, and now it's time for the mainstream media to keep on top of them and expose the extremely seedy underside of a political hit job."

He adds: "I am hearing from three different news groups suggestions that each is close to breaking a significant further lead in this case. The new information, it was suggested, will show that prosecutors in the case used evidence that they knew, or had substantial reason to know, was simply false, and will link Karl Rove much more closely to Alabama Governor Bob Riley and to the plans to 'get' Siegelman using a false corruption charge. The journalists in question are pushing for further corroboration before going with these stories, but I am still expecting more by the end of the year."

Recess Watch

Al Kamen writes in The Washington Post: "Christmas is usually a time when controversial nominees for top federal jobs wait for Santa, in the form of the president of the United States, to come down the chimney with their recess appointments.

"Maybe not this year. Word is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in order to prevent President Bush from handing out those goodies, is now thinking about keeping the Senate in session during the Christmas-New Year's break. . . .

"The unusual maneuver, which Reid first used during the recent Thanksgiving vacation, would block Bush from using his constitutional power -- derived from the days when the Senate could be out of session for months -- to fill vacancies. Such appointments made now would be valid through the end of Bush's presidency."

Bush on Steroids

Deb Riechmann writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush said Friday that baseball players and owners must take seriously the Mitchell Report on steroid use, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the individuals named.

"'My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us,' he said, surrounded by Cabinet members in the Rose Garden.

"Bush, who once owned the Texas Rangers, said, the Mitchell Report means that 'we can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game.'"

John D. McKinnon blogs that Perino was asked yesterday why Bush didn't notice the epidemic of performance-enhancing drugs that was taking hold of the game when he was an owner.

Perino pointed to an ESPN interview in which he said that he's thought long and hard about it, but doesn't recall ever seeing or hearing evidence of a steroid problem.

Writes McKinnon: "A Fox News reporter, Wendell Goler, pointed out that former Ranger Jose Canseco has said 'he cannot comprehend why Mr. Bush didn't know that steroid use was going on on the team.' So does Bush regret not picking up on the problem, Goler asked?

"'I don't think it's a time for regret,' Perino said. 'I think it's time to do what the president has done, which is . . . to shine a light on the issue. And now we have a result . . . a report that is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so.'"

Holiday Party Watch

The Houston Chronicle's Julie Mason and FishbowlDC's Patrick Gavin photoblog last night's White House holiday party for print reporters. TVNewser lists some of the bold-faced names from the broadcast party. I guess my invitation was lost in the mail.

Cartoon Watch

Ann Telnaes and Steve Sack on the torture tapes.

Animated Cartoon Watch

Slate presents Mark Fiore's "Learn to speak intel" -- starring President Bush. "We'll learn to conjugate fear," the Bush character says. "My favorite tense is future infinite incarcerative. . . . And of course another of my favorite tenses: The president perfect rhetorical. . . . Booga booga!"