The Tell-Tale Stall

According to the editorial: "Given the administration's track record of subterfuge and obfuscation, [lawmakers are] understandably worried that Mr. Mukasey's [request] was an attempt by the Bush administration to circumvent legitimate congressional oversight. The burden is on Mr. Mukasey to prove them wrong."

Reid v. Bush

David Herszenhorn writes in the New York Times: "Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, has called President Bush a loser and a liar and has referred to him derisively as King George. Mr. Reid has also apologized -- but only, he likes to point out, for the 'loser' line.

"Mostly, Mr. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, calls the president 'this guy,' as in an interview last week, when he said, 'I am mystified, dumbfounded about how difficult it is to work with this guy.'

"In private conversations about Mr. Bush with friends and Senate colleagues, Mr. Reid has even used the word 'hate,' though he clarifies that it is political not personal hatred that he feels. . . .

"[N]ot since 1919, when Henry Cabot Lodge called Woodrow Wilson 'the most sinister figure that ever crossed the country's path,' has a Senate majority leader appeared to harbor such deep and utter disdain, even loathing, for a president, as Mr. Reid does for Mr. Bush.

"Mr. Bush and his aides insist that the president has no such venom. 'I have got cordial relations with the leaders when I talk to them,' Mr. Bush said this month when asked about his relationship with Congress at a news conference. . . .

"Mr. Reid said that in 40 years of public service he had not had a tougher relationship.

"'He is impossible to work with,' the senator said. 'There are times I say: 'Is there something more I can do? Have I done something wrong?' But even his own people tell me he won't compromise.'"

Let the Conspiracy Theories Begin!

Fire broke out this morning at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the ornate edifice where hundreds of White House staffers have their offices.

The Associated Press reports: "The blaze appeared to be located in Vice President Dick Cheney's suite of ceremonial offices on the second floor of the building. . . .

"'Everyone has been evacuated safely,' White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said. District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze and moved furniture onto a balcony.

"There were no reports of serious injuries, D.C. fire department spokesman Alan Etter said. One man broke a fifth-floor window to escape from the smoke and had to be rescued from the ledge, Etter said."