Intimidating the Press

NATO Watch

So maybe he didn't know something we didn't know.

Terence Hunt writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback Wednesday when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership in the Western military alliance. . . .

"It was a sour outcome for Bush at his final NATO summit as he sought to polish his foreign policy legacy. Instead, he wound up sidetracked by opposition and splits among European allies. It was a result that was foreshadowed by public statements from France and Germany but Bush nevertheless put his prestige on the line and even made a stop in Ukraine on Monday to argue his case."

Steven Erlanger and Steven Lee Myers write in the New York Times: "Mr. Bush, entering his last NATO summit meeting as president, was described by the official as wanting to 'lay down a marker' for his legacy and not wanting to 'lose faith' with the Ukrainian and Georgian peoples and the other former Soviet republics. As Mr. Bush did more often early in his presidency, he expressed his views candidly despite warnings from allies that he was complicating efforts to find diplomatic solutions."

But at a dinner for NATO leaders last night, "the German and French position was supported by Italy, Hungary and the Benelux countries, a senior German official said. Mr. Bush was said to have accepted that his position was not going to prevail, and officials were asked to find some construction overnight that would encourage Ukraine and Georgia without asking them to enter a membership plan now."

Peter Baker writes for The Washington Post that Bush had more success in winning "support from NATO on Thursday for his plans to build a limited missile defense system in Eastern Europe." Bush also "finalized a separate agreement to station part of it in the Czech Republic.

"The twin developments represent significant advances for Bush's plans to establish a sophisticated new radar facility in the Czech Republic and station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as a hedge against potential threats from Iran or other Middle East nations. They came just as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has strongly fought the system, was arriving here to meet with NATO leaders. . . .

"'NATO is united in embracing missile defense as a strategic concept, embracing NATO's role and endorsing the U.S. system . . . as part of a comprehensive U.S.-NATO system possibly, possibly -- if the Russians agree -- involving them,' a senior Bush administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity. 'Not only is that progress, but that's a turnabout from 14 months ago.'"

AIDS Watch

David Brown write in The Washington Post: "The House of Representatives yesterday passed a five-year reauthorization of the Bush administration's global AIDS program, adding $20 billion to the $30 billion the president requested.

"The program, originally known by the acronym PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), provides money to treat people infected with HIV and to help support their families, as well as for a long list of activities aimed at preventing infection. . . .

"Unlike the original PEPFAR, the renewed global AIDS bill would not stipulate the percentage of prevention spending that must be used to promote abstinence, but abstinence and sexual faithfulness would remain important strategies."

Karl Rove Watch

Lisa DePaulo interviews Karl Rove for GQ.

DePaulo: "[W]hen people say, 'You've created this climate of fear--'"

Rove: "I laugh."

DePaulo: "You laugh?"

Rove: "Yeah. I laugh. Sure. How? What, exactly? I'm not apologetic about what this administration has done. It's protecting America. It has won important battles in a war that we as a nation better win or we will leave the future to our kids, a much darker and dangerous future."

Tripping Over His Words

Peter Baker blogs for The Washington Post that Bush "stumbled over his prepared text several times," during a speech in Romania yesterday. "The White House stenographers who record his every public remark were left to insert [sic] in the transcript left and right:

"'Welcoming them into the MATO [sic] -- into the Membership Action Plan would send a signal to their citizens that if they continue on the path to democracy and reform, they will be welcomed into the institutions of Europe.'

"'Afghanistan is the most daring and ambition [sic] mission in the history of NATO.'

"'Our alliance must maintain its resolve and finish the fight in NATO [sic].'"

Legacy Watch

Brock Keeling blogs at SFist: "Looking to honor the forty-third President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, the recently formed Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is looking to change the name of the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility. It seems the group would like to rename the SF Zoo adjacent facility to the 'George W Bush Sewage Plant.'"

Cartoon Watch

Tom Toles sees Bush in hell; Mike Keefe on Bush's cheerleading; Mike Luckovich on Bush's best friend.