Bush: Clueless and Happy

Blogger Hilzoy writes that "Haynes led the working group that wrote one of the most appalling torture memos. This memo argues that the President 'enjoys complete discretion in the exercise of his Commander-in-Chief authority', and that 'In light of the President's complete authority over the conduct of war, without a clear statement otherwise, criminal statutes are not read as infringing on the President's ultimate authority in these areas.' Also: 'Any attempt by Congress to regulate the interrogation of unlawful combatants would violate the Constitution's sole vesting of the Commander-in-Chief authority in the President.' (p. 23) Or, in other words: when we're at war, the President does not have to obey the law."

Hilzoy also brings up Haynes' brief in Center for Biological Diversity v. Pirie.

"In this amazing brief," Hilzoy writes, "Haynes argued that bombing a nesting site for migratory birds would benefit birdwatchers, since 'bird watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do spotting a common one.' Moreover, he added, the birds would benefit as well, since using their nests as a bombing range would minimize 'human intrusion'. The judge's comment on this novel line of argument: 'there is absolutely no support in the law for the view that environmentalists should get enjoyment out of the destruction of natural resources because that destruction makes the remaining resources more scarce and therefore more valuable. The Court hopes that the federal government will refrain from making or adopting such frivolous arguments in the future.'"

Hyperbole Watch

The ratio of useful information to hyperbole in White House press briefings has gotten dramatically worse under press secretary Dana Perino.

Here are just a few of the argumentative, nonfactual statements from yesterday's briefing regarding the furious political battle over warrantless wiretapping.

"[L]ook, the President's most solemn obligation is to protect the American people. And in some ways it seems that the House Democrats' most solemn obligation is to help protect the trial lawyers -- they're the ones who have brought all these lawsuits."

The leading lawsuits, of course, have been filed by non-profit public-interest groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Q If this is such a big deal, why didn't the President accept another extension?

"MS. PERINO: Because the House couldn't even pass an extension bill, even if they had wanted to. They couldn't pass it."

They couldn't pass it because Republicans voted against it -- on instructions of the White House.

"Q Is the President's position that he would veto [surveillance legislation] without retroactive immunity [for telecommunications companies]?

"MS. PERINO: That has been his position for a long time, and the reason is because you can't have -- without the cooperation of the companies, we won't have a program."

Bush said that himself last week, but that doesn't make it remotely true. In reality, plenty of surveillance would continue to be legal, and plenty more would become legal if the House version of the surveillance bill -- which does not include retroactive immunity -- became law.

'60 Minutes' Redux

Bill Carter writes in the New York Times: "A television station in Huntsville, Ala., offered viewers nothing but a black screen for 12 minutes Sunday night -- at the exact time that the CBS News program '60 Minutes' was broadcasting a report about potential political skulduggery involving the former Bush administration official Karl Rove in the conviction of a former Democratic governor of the state.

"The interruption raised suspicions among some viewers, especially Democratic backers of Don Siegelman, the former governor, that partisan political interests might be behind the blackout."

Ben Evans writes for the Associated Press: "Attorneys for imprisoned former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman on Monday called for a special prosecutor after a key government witness claimed that he was forced to write out his testimony to get his story straight."

I wrote in Friday's column about the allegation, made by former Republican campaign worker Jill Simpson on that "60 Minutes" show, that Rove asked her to find evidence that Siegelman was cheating on his wife.

TPM Muckraker has video of Rove on Fox News yesterday, denying that he had ever asked Simpson to "do a darned thing."

MSNBC host Dan Abrams asked Simpson to reply to Rove's denial last night. Her response: "Well, this is what I'd say. Since Karl Rove has said that and he feels so good about saying that, what I want him to do is go and swear in front of the United States Congress and swear what he is saying is true."

Scott Horton, a legal blogger who has championed the investigation of the Siegelman case, writes about Rove: "He calls himself 'Grendel,' 'Moby Dick,' and 'Lord Voldemort.' He is the man ever behind the scenes, manipulating and driving the events on the surface without being seen. His hand is behind the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys and his manipulations were a conscious effort to put federal prosecutors to work for partisan political purposes. And his involvement is so sensitive that the White House had adopted a scorched earth policy to thwart all Congressional efforts to probe it. Karl Rove won't appear before Congress, deliver up his documents showing his communications or dealings with Justice Department matters or raise his hand, swear an oath and testify. But he has no compunction about talking about these matters on Fox News, where he knows he'll get one fluff ball after the next and never be asked for follow-up. . . .

"Rove states that he's never met Jill Simpson, then he backtracks on that, owning up that, well, maybe he did. But 'I never asked her to do a darn thing.'

"Jill Simpson has said the opposite, and she has given much of her account, naming him, under oath and subject to cross examination. My hunch is that Karl Rove will do anything to avoid speaking under oath. . . .

"Simpson is accusing Rove of engaging in tactics, and of involving her in tactics, that are the hallmarks of the Rove campaign playbook. And that playbook also calls for Rove to aggressively deny accusations, always carefully building clever little escape hatches into his denials."

Bush Library Watch

Paul Meyer writes in the Dallas Morning News: "Karl Rove left President Bush's side as his chief political adviser in August, but he's still been active tending to his ex-boss's legacy. Mark Langdale, president of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, said Monday that Mr. Rove has provided advice on the project in an informal capacity.

"'Karl's pretty busy doing a lot of things in his private life right now, but he's a critical resource about what happened in the administration, and he has a lot of good ideas about programming and positioning,' said Mr. Langdale, a longtime friend and former neighbor of Mr. Bush."

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Heard Any Good Jokes?

I like to end the column with a bit of humor. But today, I couldn't find a single Bush-related cartoon or late-night joke. Please use the Comments section to rectify that situation.