A War of Convenience?

"I'm an optimist. I believe there's a lot of positive things for our economy."

After being prompted by AP Radio's Mark Smith, Bush issued his first -- if halfhearted -- call for energy conservation.

"I think people ought to conserve and be wise about how they use gasoline and energy, absolutely," Bush said. "And there are some easy steps people can take. You know, if they're not in their home, they know not to keep their air conditioning running. I mean, there's a lot of things people can do.

"And, but my point to you, Mark, is that, you know, it's a little presumptuous on my part to dictate to consumers how they live their lives. The American people are plenty capable and plenty smart people. And they'll make adjustments to their own pocketbooks."

Bush had warm words for the oil companies, noting that offshore oil exploration "ties up capital." And he pointed out once again that he wished he had a magic wand. "But the president doesn't have a magic wand," he said. "You can't say: Low gas!"

Bush may have one trick up his sleeve, however: He's trying to blame the Democratic Congress for the high prices.

From his remarks yesterday: "Across the country, Americans are concerned about the high price of gasoline. Every one of our citizens who drives to work, or takes a family vacation, or runs a small business is feeling the squeeze of rising prices at the pump. . . .

"For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal -- and now Americans are paying at the pump."

Dan Eggen and Steven Mufson write in today's Washington Post: "President Bush yesterday lifted a presidential ban on offshore oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf that was implemented by his father, escalating a confrontation with Democrats in Congress over how to cope with soaring gas prices.

"Lifting the presidential moratorium has no immediate effect on exploration, because Congress has enacted its own prohibitions on offshore drilling every year since the 1980s as part of the Interior Department's appropriations bill and congressional Democrats yesterday vowed to do so again. . . .

"Democrats and environmental groups replied that expanding offshore oil production would take years and have no impact on oil prices for a decade or more. . . .

"But Bush's move carries symbolic and political significance on an emotional issue in an election year."

Andrew Ward writes in the Financial Times: "The Republican party has made the push to expand domestic oil production a flagship policy ahead of November's election, amid mounting public concern at soaring energy prices."

Access for Sale?

Bennett Roth and Julie Mason write in the Houston Chronicle: "A House committee Monday launched an investigation of Houston businessman Stephen Payne, probing whether he violated federal law by suggesting he could arrange access to top White House aides in return for a large donation to the Bush presidential library being planned in Dallas.

"The development came a day after Payne was enmeshed in a sting operation set up by The Sunday Times of London, which surreptitiously filmed him discussing library contributions during a meeting with a Central Asian politician and a reporter posing as an associate. . . .

"Payne, a GOP activist who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for President Bush, told the Houston Chronicle he had done nothing wrong and simply had hoped to sign the former president of Kyrgyzstan as a client."

White House Memory Loss Watch

Scott Lindlaw writes for the Associated Press: "A 'striking lack of recollection' by White House and military officials prevented congressional investigators from determining who was responsible for misinformation spread after the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a House committee said Monday.

"Although military investigators determined within days that the onetime NFL player was killed by his own troops in Afghanistan following an enemy ambush, five weeks passed before the circumstances of his death were made public. During that time, the Army claimed Tillman was killed by enemy fire. . . .

"The committee interviewed several top White House officials about the case, but 'not a single one could recall when he learned about the fratricide or what he did in response,' it said in its 48-page report."

Josh White writes in The Washington Post: "According to the report, the White House sent a flurry of e-mails immediately after Tillman's death and worked his tale into a May 1, 2004, speech President Bush gave at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. The committee did not receive any such records regarding the revelation that Tillman was killed by fellow soldiers.

"'In comparison to the extensive White House activity that followed Corporal Tillman's death, the complete absence of any communications about his fratricide is hard to understand,' the committee wrote, adding that the White House turned over 1,500 pages of material. 'Yet there is not a single discussion of the fratricide in any of these communications.'"

And here's some new evidence of the coziness between White House reporters and officials.

Lindlaw writes: ""The committee cited one exchange between White House political chief Karl Rove and Ron Fournier, then a political reporter for The Associated Press.

"In a chain under the subject line 'H-E-R-O,' Rove replied to an e-mail from Fournier by saying, 'How does our country continue to produce men and women like this?'

"Fournier replied, 'The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight.'

"Fournier, now the AP's acting Washington bureau chief, said Monday: 'I was an AP political reporter at the time of the 2004 e-mail exchange, and was interacting with a source, a top aide to the president, in the course of following an important and compelling story. I regret the breezy nature of the correspondence.'"

What Cheney Didn't Want You to Know

Dina Cappiello writes for the Associated Press: "Government scientists detailed a rising death toll from heat waves, wildfires, disease and smog caused by global warming in an analysis the White House buried so it could avoid regulating greenhouse gases.

"In a 149-page document released Monday, the experts laid out for the first time the scientific case for the grave risks that global warming poses to people, and to the food, energy and water on which society depends.

"'Risk (to human health, society and the environment) increases with increases in both the rate and magnitude of climate change,' scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency said. Global warming, they wrote, is 'unequivocal' and humans are to blame."

Karl Rove Watch

Lynn Elber writes for the Associated Press: "Former White House adviser Karl Rove on Monday defended his defiance of a congressional subpoena, saying he's offered lawmakers other ways to question him about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department. . . .

"Rove, now a Fox News contributor, was responding to questions from Television Critics Association members during a Fox News panel session. . . .

"'It's not between me and Congress. I've not asserted any personal privilege. This is between the White House and Congress,' Rove said."

Matea Gold blogs for the Los Angeles Times: "John Moody, executive vice president of news editorial, dismissed questions about whether Rove's political connections create a conflict with his role on Fox News, adding that the network gets its information about McCain's campaign from its correspondent covering the beat, not Rove.

"'I don't think Karl would cross an ethical line like that,' said Moody, triggering some skeptical laughter in the room."

Douglas Kmiec, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan and Bush's father, writes for Findlaw.com about the spate of assertions of executive privilege: "It is smugly assumed by the Bush administration that the awkwardness and difficulty of resolving an inter-branch dispute over executive privilege will mean that the case will linger past the national election and the next January when the matter can be declared moot. The rule of law deserves better. . . .

"In the present matter, asserting the privilege merely confirms that the Bush presidency seems determined to go out in a blaze of executive overreaching."

Sewer Watch

Thinkprogress.org reports: "The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco has just recently submitted enough signatures to city election officials ' hoping to place on the ballot an initiative that would rechristen the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant as the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.' But on CBC radio last Friday, one of the commission's founders, Brian McConnell, said the group ran in to some unexpected opposition to changing the name: "What we didn't expect was that most of the opposition was coming from people who didn't want to name anything. They just wanted to forget about the past eight years and move on or they felt that this is a facility that does something really quite useful and it would be inappropriate to put his name on it. . . . If you get to the point where people are defending the sewage plant, that's a sign that things have not gone so well."

Live Online

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Late Night Humor

Jay Leno via U.S. News: "Today, President Bush lifted the presidential ban on offshore drilling that was imposed by his father, the first President Bush, 18 years ago. But hey, remember Bush's dad also said invading Iraq would be a huge disaster, and cutting taxes would ruin the economy. So what the hell did he know?"

Cartoon Watch

Joel Pett on Bush's economic patter; Matt Davies on Bush's idea of alternative fuels; Tom Toles on Bush's multi-year plan on global warming; Steve Sack on Bush and Iraq.