A Glimpse of Secret Rove

Q: "On FISA -- I understand your position, but what I'm unclear about is whether you're doing something to break the deadlock? Do you see yourself engaging with the other side, compromising? Or where do we go from here?"

Bush: "How do you compromise on something like granting liability for a telecommunications company? You can't. If we do not give liability protection to those who are helping us, they won't help us. And if they don't help us, there will be no program. And if there's no program, America is more vulnerable.

"What I'm going to do is continue to remind people that unless they get this program done, we're going to be vulnerable to attack."

Q: "Do you see an opportunity to work with the Democrats and ---"

Bush: " . . .It's just so important for people to understand the dangers. If we don't have the capacity to listen to these terrorists, we're not going to be able to protect ourselves."

Glenn Greenwald blogs for Salon that Bush's allies in Congress are echoing his rhetoric: "The House Republicans have produced a new dramatic ad complaining about expiration of The Protect America Act and demanding immediate passage of the Cheney/Rockefeller Senate bill -- thus vesting in the government the power to spy on us with no warrants and vesting in the telecom industry license to break the law with no consequences -- as the only way for us to avoid imminent, violent death."

Back From Africa

U.S. News reports: "President Bush is back in the US today, and his Africa trip hasn't produced the public-relations bonanza back home that Bush's strategists had been hoping for. He has received favorable attention in the news media for his various programs to alleviate poverty and help African nations reduce disease such as AIDS and malaria. But the coverage has mostly been relegated to lesser status on the TV networks and the inside pages of the major newspapers, even though the President has received stirring receptions from the public and from African leaders throughout his trip. . . . One consolation: Bush appears to have had a wonderful time and was buoyed by the positive reaction he got in Africa all week."

Here's the obligatory video of Bush dancing.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "Liberia was the final stop on Mr. Bush's six-day, five-nation African tour, selected because the White House wanted to end on a high note. . . .

"With almost no electricity, scant running water, an unemployment rate of 80 percent and a life expectancy of 42 years, Liberia remains in rough shape. . . .

"The dirt roads from the airport to the city are lined with shantytowns, where people live in rickety shacks under corrugated metal roofs.

"But Liberia scurried to spruce up for Mr. Bush's arrival. In Monrovia on Thursday morning, workmen were still plastering Mr. Bush's picture on billboards an hour before his arrival. Schoolgirls in white shirts and navy blue jumpers waited along the streets, American flags tucked into their hands. The Stars and Stripes flew along the city's main boulevard, twinned with the Liberian flag, which is nearly identical to that of the United States except it has one star instead of 50. It is also reminiscent of the flag of Texas, the Lone Star State.