One Thing After Another

From yesterday's press briefing with spokesman Tony Fratto:

Q: "Tony, the German Environment Minister, in his reaction to the speech -- the reaction was entitled, 'Bush's Neanderthal Speech.' Did you guys talk to Western European allies and other major economies about what the details were going to be in his speech before he put forth -- "

Fratto: "I'm not sure what those communications were. You're always going to see lots of hot-blooded reaction to anything said on climate, and so you should just be -- just be prepared for that."

Stonewall Watch

Ben Pershing blogs for washingtonpost.com: "Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today accused the Bush administration of being overly obstinate on a range of controversial issues, expressing particular frustration at Attorney General Michael Mukasey's unwillingness to compromise.

"Feisty and opinionated as ever despite a recent recurrence of Hodgkin's Disease, the top Judiciary Committee Republican was especially pointed on the subject of Mukasey and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, lamenting that the former federal judge refused to budge from the Bush administration's position that telecommunications companies must be granted retroactive immunity for their past cooperation with intelligence operations. . . .

"Specter's criticisms go well beyond FISA; he also accused the White House of obduracy on the media shield law, on updating the state secrets law, on the use of national security letters and on the issue of preserving attorney-client privilege for military detainees (Specter called the administration's position on that issue 'atrocious')."

Karl Rove Watch

Carrie Johnson writes in The Washington Post: "Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday invited Karl Rove, a onetime White House adviser, to testify about his possible involvement in building a corruption case against former Alabama governor Don Siegelman (D).

"Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (Mich.) and three other Democrats on the panel also wrote to the Justice Department's inspector general and the chief of the department's Office of Professional Responsibility, requesting that they open an investigation into what they claimed was a pattern of 'selective, politically motivated prosecutions.' . . .

"Rove attorney Robert D. Luskin previously told a television network that his client would testify if asked. Yesterday, however, Luskin said that Rove would follow normal procedure and seek guidance from the White House before agreeing to appear.

"'The decision is not going to be made by me or Karl Rove,' he said."

Bald Head Fetish Watch

Bush's bald head fetish has been amply documented by bloggers. It sometimes seems like he can't let a bald head go by without a comment -- or a rub.

Yesterday in the Rose Garden, Bush once again picked on one of his favorite targets: Nick Robinson of BBC News.

Bush: "Nick, you need a hat, my boy, you need a hat. (Laughter.)"

Robinson: "I thought of getting one saying --- "

Bush: "That's right. (Laughter.)"

The transcript doesn't catch what Robinson intended his hat to say. And unlike the last time Bush needled him about his head, the BBC reporter didn't describe the exchange in his blog.

So if you have any thoughts about what Robinson's hat should have said, feel free to post them in the comments section.

Late Night Humor

David Letterman, via U.S. News: "The Pope, God bless him, got on the Pope-Mobile' after the mass. And then, 'President Bush followed him in the Dope-Mobile."

Cartoon Watch

Tom Toles on Bush's view of the economy; Bill Mitchell on why Bush isn't bitter; Peter Brookes and Jeff Danziger on the special relationship; Tony Auth, Lee Judge, David Horsey, Lisa Benson, Steve Sack and an Ann Telnaes animation on Bush's global warming flim-flam; and Joel Pett on Bush's quest for papal absolution.