Cheney's Waning Influence?

"Pelosi shot back in unusually personal terms. . . .

"Pelosi's outburst was a departure. Her usual practice in public has been to call Bush's policies a failure -- not his presidency or him, personally. Pelosi's remarks are the latest evidence of the Democrats' throw-caution-to-the-wind approach to Bush in the waning days of a presidency weighed down by an unpopular war and soaring gasoline prices.

"Election Day, after all, is just over four months away; Bush's successor takes his seat on Jan. 20."

Here's Pelosi's full response: "Well, you know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject. And for him to be challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again, at the end of the day, Congress will have passed -- honored its responsibility to pass legislation starting with our Department of Defense bill.

"The president knows it. He needs something to talk about because he has no ideas."

Bush and McCain

James Carney writes for Time: "In a business of bitter rivalries and awkward alliances, few political relationships have been more bitter, awkward or downright tortured than John McCain's eight-year entanglement with George W. Bush. After their nasty 2000 battle for the G.O.P. nomination, McCain's differences with Bush were so numerous and so deep that in 2001 he discussed with top Democratic leaders quitting the Republican Party. Three years later, McCain remained so estranged from the White House that John Kerry begged him to run with him on the Democratic ticket against Bush. Even though their rapprochement in 2004 drained some of the bile from their relationship, the two men have never been friends. At best, theirs is a partnership sustained by the benefits each has conferred on the other and a grudging admiration each has for the other's toughness.

"McCain's embrace of Bush helped him emerge as the G.O.P. nominee this year from a crowded field of flawed candidates. But it came with a steep price, for his ties to the President now act like leg weights in his race against Barack Obama."

Carney writes that by the spring of 2004, "it was dawning on McCain's circle of advisers that with no Vice President or other heir apparent to Bush in the mix, their man could run again in 2008 -- but he'd have to improve his standing within the G.O.P. . . .

"It wasn't long before McCain was embracing Bush -- literally. A photo of him awkwardly hugging the President has become the iconic image of their rapprochement, one that Democrats are already using against him. McCain, at least, took the embrace to heart: nobody campaigned harder for Bush's reelection than he did."

Carney also reveals that McCain was one of three senators who witnessed a particularly telling White House moment -- and was evidently the source who told reporters about it, as well.

"Despite his public support for Bush after 9/11, McCain had deep misgivings about him as Commander in Chief. In March 2002, he and two other Senators were at the White House, briefing Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser, about their recent meetings with European allies when Bush unexpectedly stuck his head in the door. 'Are you all talking about Iraq?' the President asked, his voice tinged with schoolyard bravado. Before McCain and the others in the room could do more than nod, Bush waved his hand dismissively. 'F___ Saddam,' he said. 'We're taking him out.' And then he left.

"McCain was appalled. He was a Republican, and a hawk, and exactly one year later he would enthusiastically support the decision to topple the Iraqi regime by force. But to McCain, his encounter with Bush that day was more evidence of the shallow intellect and dangerous self-regard possessed by the man to whom he had lost an acrimonious contest two years earlier. Later, McCain would retell the story and shake his head incredulously. 'Can you believe this guy?' he asked. 'He's the President!' He didn't say it, but the continuation of the thought hung in the air: Can you believe this guy is President -- instead of me?"

Time first reported the incident, without mentioning McCain, in May 2002. Publicly, Bush has always maintained that he was trying to avoid war until shortly before the invasion was launched in March 2003.

Global Warming Watch

David A. Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin write in The Washington Post: "Climate change will pose 'substantial' threats to human health in the coming decades, the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday -- issuing its warnings about heat waves, hurricanes and pathogens just days after the agency declined to regulate the pollutants blamed for warming. . . .

"The strong warnings highlighted the contorted position that the EPA has staked out on climate change. Last week, the agency decided not to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, at least not until after President Bush's term ends.

"A former EPA official told a House panel this week that senior administration officials and several Cabinet members supported regulating the emissions before the White House changed course and barred the EPA from concluding that they endanger public welfare. . . .

"In a closed interview Tuesday, former EPA deputy associate administrator Jason K. Burnett told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that Joel D. Kaplan, Bush's deputy chief of staff for policy, originally signed off on the decision to regulate emissions from both vehicles and stationary sources such as power plants and refineries. The decision came in response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that instructed the administration to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

"'There was a general belief that moving forward with a challenge and establishing a precedent in channeling regulation would serve the country better than leaving the challenge to the next administration,' Burnett said in the interview, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post [ now posted online]. 'The chief of staff's office then appears to have changed its mind.'

"Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the House panel, said in a statement: 'Today typifies the climate-change schizophrenia in the Bush administration. On one hand, government scientists are saying that global warming poses grave threats to our health and our welfare, and, on the other hand, [there] are White House political hacks following the oil industry's bidding to do nothing.'"

New York Times reporter Felicity Barringer, via Andrew Revkin's blog, writes that Burnett "said the White House was won over by the argument, pushed by oil companies and others, that such regulation should not be part of the Bush legacy" and "that the argument for putting off any carbon dioxide limits was made by 'individuals working for particular oil companies, Exxon Mobil,' as well as oil industry trade associations."

Disaster Watch

Eric Bailey writes in the Los Angeles Times: "President Bush toured the front lines of Northern California's historic wildfires Thursday to buck up the troops and extol his administration's efforts to wage war on the flames."

Bush "met with leaders of the wildfire fight and visited a hangar to talk to a team of smoke jumpers, who parachute into the heart of wildfires.

"The president's eyes grew wide when John Casey, a 38-year-old veteran, said he'd made 200 jumps. 'I couldn't do it,' Bush said, adding, 'I appreciate your service.'"

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "Bush's trip to Northern California provides another example of his keen attention to natural disasters since Hurricane Katrina, when his political fortunes tumbled after a slow and bungled response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others.

"'I always come to make sure that the federal government is coordinating closely with the state government,' Bush told reporters in Redding after the helicopter tour."

The Snow Funeral

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush led a poignant tribute on Thursday to his friend and former spokesman, Tony Snow, who lost his public fight with cancer but never surrendered the spirit that defined his life.

"The somber president spoke of Snow as he would a member of his family, and to many of those who work at the White House, that's what Snow was. He served a relatively short 16-month stint as Bush's press secretary, but he made friends fast, and earned respect for handling his disease with grace and hope.

"'Everyone who worked with him quickly grew to love him,' the president said. 'We will always remember his wry sense of humor and abundant goodness. We'll also remember he was just a lot of fun.'"

Roxanne Roberts writes in The Washington Post: "Almost every prominent journalist in Washington -- including the White House correspondents with whom Snow sparred daily during his year at the White House -- came to pay respects. Even when reporters disagreed with him professionally . . . well, they still liked the guy."

Library Watch

Angela K. Brown writes for the Associated Press: "A Methodist leadership group on Thursday endorsed building George W. Bush's presidential library center at Southern Methodist University, essentially ending nearly two years of opposition."

The Washington Post editorial board writes: "President Bush has a new 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. It involves his presidential library. Fundraising for the library is going on -- in secret, we are told, shielded even from the president himself. According to White House press secretary Dana Perino, Mr. Bush 'has asked that members of his foundation do not inform him about anyone who has written a check, or decided not to write a check, until after he's no longer president.' Do they tell the check writers, one wonders, that the president won't actually know about their generosity? Does the president, if some eager-beaver donor starts to blab about his gift, put his fingers in his ears and start to talk over the giver, like a child who doesn't want to listen to his parents? . . .

"Secret fundraising is a stinky business. Mr. Bush's decision to stick his head in the sand doesn't relieve the stench."

Impeachment (Non) Watch

Thomas Ferraro writes for Reuters: "Impeachment is out for President George W. Bush, but a top U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday he wants to take a look at his 'imperial presidency.'

"House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers announced his panel would examine possible administration wrongdoing, which has included complaints that Bush misled the United States into the Iraq war in 2003.

"'Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush administration,' said Conyers, a Michigan Democrat.

"He scheduled a July 25 hearing on 'the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.'..

"White House spokesman Tony Fratto brushed off the action, saying, 'Representative Conyers is putting the final stamp on a chairmanship that will be most remembered as a political vaudeville act.'"

John Nichols writes for The Nation: "[W]hen all is said and done, the committee is only supposed to 'accumulate' the evidence of imperial over-reach, not to act upon it.

"This will frustrate ardent advocates for presidential accountability. And rightly so.

"But the opportunity presented by the Judiciary Committee hearing ought not be dismissed or diminished. . . .

"A thoughtful review of that information, in a formal setting, will make clear the extent of which this president and those around him have engaged in precisely the sort of wrongdoing that the founders imagined when they gave the House the power to impeach members of the executive branch.

"Achieving that clarity -- ideally on live television -- is an imperfect, yet essential, step in the arduous process of getting reluctant members of the House to uphold an oath of office that requires them to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic.'"

Bush Memorial Watch

Marisa Lagos writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: "San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot Thursday."

Late Night Humor

David Letterman, via U.S. News: "Yesterday down on the White House lawn, President Bush and all the boys got together and had a T-ball game. . . . They had a great time. Everything was going well until Vice President Cheney waterboarded the umpire."

Cartoon Watch

Steve Sack on Bush hitting the beach; Bob Lang on Bush's hearing problem; John Deering on Bush's words of reassurance; Pat Bagley on Bush's sound economy; Jim Morin on a White House above the law.