Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• Two additional U.S. Attorneys, Gregory Miller of Florida and  Bill Leone of Colorado, were nearly fired by the Justice Department last year during the wave of removals.
• Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) believes he has evidence that Attorney General Gonzales lied under oath on February 6th when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about warrantless wiretaps.  (Keep in mind, if Bush does not fire Gonzales, which he probably won't do, impeachment is another option.  Articles of impeachment against Alberto Gonzales would pass the House rather easily.  This new perjury allegation, if it has traction, might be enough to convict him in the Senate.)
• After intense negotiations between Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats and White House officials, it looks like the immigration reform bill has enough traction to pass by a simple majority.  But the question is whether the legislation would have the 60 votes needed to break a GOP filibuster?
• Senate Republicans filibustered a Democratic-led resolution yesterday to cut off funds for the Iraq war on March 31, 2008.  The procedural vote was 67 to 29 against.
• Yesterday, the House rejected a resolution that would have called for Bush to seek congressional authority before attacking Iran.  The resolution failed 216 to 202.
• Conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan now considers Ron Paul a top-tier GOP candidate: "..he has already elevated the debates by injecting into them alegitimate, if now suppressed, strain of conservatism that is actuallydeeper in this country than the neoconservative aggression that nowcaptures the party elite and has trapped the US in the Iraq nightmare."
• The Hillary Clinton is asking supporters to vote for her campaign theme song on her site.  Click here to submit your vote.  (And yes, this actually is important.  If she becomes the nominee, this is what they will play at the convention.)
• John Edwards released his earnings.  In 2006, he made $5.9 million in investment income.
• Oklahoma Democratic Poll (Tulsa World): Edwards - 29%, Clinton - 29%, Obama - 13%.
• Iowa Republican Poll (Zogby): Romney - 19%, McCain - 18%, Giuliani - 18%, F. Thompson - 9%.

If we left anything out, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.

Comments

[granny]

McClatchey on additional attorneys considered for firing: Not only is McClatchey relentless in its determination to follow the truth - the writing is superb. Really, really good.And that's really relevant and important.

On Gonzales: In the same vein, it is worth re-reading his testimony, as inserted in the letter just sent to him from the Judiciary Committee. It is so carefully worded, in every single instance. It is a construction of words designed to keep his answer so limited that there is room for "misunderstanding" if he's called on it later; and the few words of actual committment to an answer, so couched in flubbing around, and wandering of into asides, and ifs-ands-and-buts ... pathetic, really, that public discourse has come to this.But well worth learning to identify - to "see" that we are so often not hearing, what we think we hear.

Additionally on Gonzales: My thought is that the stonewalling of the obviously fatally flawed, which includes the Wolf-meister, is simply a device to keep the dogs outside the circle. The more they resist, and dust up egos and angers, the more and longer they are the focus of attention, and the word impeachment is directed at them... is good for the others. The clock ticks away, and the rats continue to play. And then they'll be gone. We will really persue criminal charges in the end, as we should?