Why Haven't We Been Attacked?

"In a sworn declaration, White House official Theresa Payton told the court on Jan. 16 that 'substantially all' e-mails from 2003 to 2005 should be contained on back-up computer tapes.

"However, at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Feb. 26, the panel's Democrats released a White House document that called that claim into question.

"E-mail was missing from a White House archive for the period of Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2003 from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House document states. The backup tape covering that seven-day period was not created until Oct. 21, 2003, raising the possibility that e-mail was missing from the earlier period. That time span was in the earliest days of the Justice Department's probe into whether anyone at the White House leaked the CIA identity of Valerie Plame. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, was eventually convicted by a jury of four felonies in the leak probe."

Here's the legal memo from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Here is a transcript of the Feb. 26 oversight hearing, and my Feb. 27 column on the matter.

Poll Watch

Alan Fram writes for the Associated Press about the latest AP/Ipsos poll: "The number of independents and moderates satisfied with President Bush and the country's direction has dipped to record or near-record lows. . . . "Thirty percent overall said they approve of the job Bush is doing, tying his worst showing last month."That included positive marks from 22 percent of independents and 24 percent of moderates."

Press Corps Watch

Rachel Sklar writes on Huffingtonpost.com: "White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was on 'Fox & Friends' this morning and host Brian Kilmeade asked her when the last time was that she'd been asked about Iraq in the White House press briefing. Perino said, 'I don't remember having sustained questions about Iraq' (though she said that 'maybe there'd be a one-off') and said she hadn't had to respond to questioning on the Iraq war 'since probably early December.' Wow. Go get 'em, D.C. Press Corps!"

Cartoon Watch

Tom Toles on the Bush-McCain hug; Jim Morin on John W. McBush; Ann Telnaes on Cheney's addiction to oil.

Late Night Humor

From last night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "Yesterday John McCain visited President George W. Bush to be passed the torch -- a torch that the president most likely broke and Krazy Glued back together, hoping no one would notice."

Jimmy Kimmel, via the New York Daily News: "McCain asked President Bush to endorse him. I'm starting to think that maybe the guy likes torture."