The Blue State

Letting the clock run out on Bush

President Bush had never looked as insignificant as he did yesterday after the immigration bill was defeated -- not just because of what he said, but because no one was listening.  Usually when you are President, you can use the daily media attention that you receive as a vehicle to influence Congress.  Not this President.  He could not even get his own party to support a bill largely championed by Democrats.

Standing at a podium, obviously upset at the result, Bush said, "A lot of us worked hard to see if we could find common ground.  It didn't work."

Time is definitely running out on the Bush presidency.  Even his Republican Party is ready to move on.  A scholar at Princeton University put it well:

"Sand is flowing out of the hourglass," said Fred I. Greenstein, a Princeton University scholar on the presidency, who was struck by the gloomy tone of Bush'stelevised statement. "He looked much less like the kid on the cover ofMad magazine without a care. . . . He looked very angry and almosthaving difficulty getting the sentences out. That seems to me tocontrast with some of the early stages" of his presidency.

Between now and January of 2009, it is hard to believe Bush will accomplish anything other than fending off a few congressional investigations.  Congress will likely restrain the President's ability to wage war in Iraq.  The Supreme Court is forcing his EPA to regulate greenhouse emissions.  Even his former cabinet members oppose renewing No Child Left Behind.  The sky is falling on the Bush presidency.  The country is ready to move on.

This is what Bush gets for following Karl Rove's 51% strategy, instead of bringing the country together. 

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:

• Fox News: Bush approval rating at 31% -- the lowest of any other Fox poll.
• Today, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will unveil a plan to force a vote in July to end the Iraq war.  This is for all the marbles!  The vote will call for a complete troop withdrawal by April of 2008.  The vote will likely occur after the July 4th recess.
• This is the web ad that may have helped kill the immigration reform bill yesterday.
• A 20-year study has found that roads in the US have improved, although they have become more deadly.
• The House of Representatives narrowly defeated a measure that would have defunded Dick Cheney's executive office, after the Vice President claimed last week that he is not part of the Executive Branch.
• By a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down Seattle's approach to desegregate schools.
• Hillary Clinton's campaign says it raised $27 million in the second quarter.  This will be mightily tough for Obama or Edwards to compete with.
• Bill Richardson laid out his Iran strategy: "The clear message must be this: Develop nukes and you will facedevastating global sanctions. Desist from developing nukes and you willreceive meaningful rewards, including robust security guarantees andguaranteed supplies of nuclear fuel from abroad."
• NH-Sen: Shaheen (D) - 57%, Sununu (R) - 29%.  Great news for Democrats!  Sununu is the incumbent.  If Shaheen wins, the Dems will pick up another Senate seat.
• A new Mason-Dixon survey raises questions about Hillary Clinton's electability.  NBC's Mark Murray: "[Sen. Hillary] Clinton is the only major presidential candidate --either Democrat and Republican -- for whom a majority of likely generalelection voters say they would not consider voting. In addition, she'sthe only candidatewho registers with a net-unfavorable rating."

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

Blue Nightowl Clips

As we post each night, here are some of the political clips making their rounds on the blogs tonight:

1. Hitchens debates Sharpton on Hardball.
2. Bush mad at death of immigration bill.
3. Bill Richardson on hurricane Katrina.  During Dem debate.

More clips tomorrow.

Editorial: The misconception about having conviction

Understandably, with all that has transpired during the Bush presidency, our country is more divided than ever.  Though, more and more, the media is lazily using this division as an explanation each time a progressive takes a strong stance on anything.  Since when did having conviction make you far-left?  The words 'liberal' and 'conservative' are supposed to describe policy.  They have nothing to do with whether you have the courage to stand up for yourself.

After the fierce exchange a few days ago between Elizabeth Edwards and Ann Coulter, the so-called 'pundits' are trying to simplify what this means in the context of the 2008 campaign.  They think that by standing up to Coulter, John Edwards is now all of a sudden farther to the left of Obama and Hillary.

Look at this pathetic excuse of a report from Scott Shepard of Cox News Service:

But independent analysts say the actions ofEdwards and his wife appear to be an attempt to position the candidateas the insurgent, to the left of his chief rivals for the nomination:Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. Andthere is general agreement among them that it is a smart move forEdwards, given the more centrist appeals of the two incumbent senators.

Aside from the sad fact that John Edwards and the code word 'insurgent' were used in the same sentence, I still don't understand how this makes Edwards more liberal.

Harry Reid is pro-life and anti-gun control.  But because he spoke to bloggers as last year's Kos Convention, by the media's standards that must make him a flaming socialist, right?  Contrary to conventional wisdom, you can be a political centrist and still have a spine.  Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Jim Webb (D-VA), who fought hard against the establishment last fall, are living examples of that.

It is both lazy and repetitive when the media defines enthusiasm in terms of right or left.  We at The Blue State will continue to expose news agencies that misinform their readers.

US Bureau of Prisons gives Libby his inmate number

Though Scooter Libby is still fighting to overturn his jail sentence, regardless of the fact he was found guilty on four counts by a grand jury, the US Bureau of Prisons has issued Cheney's former Chief of Staff an inmate number.  Libby will be inmate No. 28301-016:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has notindicated how quickly it will rule. Lawyers in the case said Libby hadnot yet been assigned to a prison or given a date to surrender.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald opposes Libby's bid to delay hisprison term. He says Libby does not have a good chance of having hisconviction overturned and should begin serving prison time immediately.

If Libby does go to jail, it is still uncertain where he will serve out his prison sentence.  Usually, according to this same article, inmates tend to serve within 200 miles of their home.  So we're probably looking at him serving somewhere in Virginia or Maryland.

Still, this does not stop conservative newspapers from asking the President to pardon Libby, and in one case even giving Bush advice on how to play it.

US image abroad deteriorating

Exploding pens, insurgents in Iraq, Howard Dean -- the far-right would like us to believe these represent some of the major national security threats to our country.  But in reality, what really endangers America is the fact that we are in a corner by ourselves.  We have few real allies -- meaning less partners to cooperate with in fighting terrorism worldwide.  If this truly is a global war against extremism as the Bush Administration says, they are kicking themselves in the foot by alienating America from the international community.

According to a new Pew Research Poll, the US is less popular around the world then it has been for quite sometime.  Here are some of the notables:

Do you have a favorable opinion of the United States?

Turkey - 9%
Pakistan - 15%
Egypt - 21%
Germany - 30%
Spain - 34%
Brazil - 44%
Great Britain - 51%
Canada - 55%
Mexico - 56%

47 countries were surveyed.  The country with the most favorable view of the United States was the Ivory Coast, at 88%.

Iraq Roundup: 'Coalition of the Willing' to become even smaller

South Korea is making plans to pull all of its troops out of Iraq:

South Korea's Defense Ministry submitted a plan to parliament onThursday for the complete pullout of its troops from Iraq, ending whatonce had been the third-largest deployment of foreign troops in thatcountry.

A final decision will be made in September.  The fact that the redeployment recommendation is coming directly from the Defense Ministry shows that it it pretty much a sure bet.

Currently, South Korea has 1,200 troops there.  The only other country besides the U.S. and Britain with at least 1,000 soldiers in Iraq is Australia.  The United States contributes 157,000 troops, and has spent about half a trillion dollars on military expenditures since the war began in March of 2003.

Let's run through the other Iraq news this morning:

• A bomb ripped through a bus station in Southwestern Baghdad during the Thursday morning commute, killing at least 20 civilians.
• Three British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Basra.
• Four more US soldiers were killed yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 3,560.  92 have died in the month of June.
• A Congressional report this week shows mixed results in the training of Iraqi security forces.  "The bottom line is that after three months of studying the U.S. effortto develop the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), we cannot assess theoperational capability of these forces," the report said.  "We are actually left with more questions than answers."
• If an Iraqi Appeals Court upheld a lower court's ruling, 'Chemical Ali' will be hanged.  'Chemical Ali', whose real name is Ali Hassan al-Majid, was responsible for a number of chemical weapons attacks before the United States and Britain imposed the 'no fly zone' after the Gulf War.  'Chemical Ali' is Saddam Hussein's cousin.

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:

• GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney could be in trouble with the law.  It turns out that it is against Massachusetts state law to strap a dog to the roof of your car.  The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison.  (This will add to the perception by some that Romney is heartless, artificial and without conviction.)
• There is a notable increase in the number of Iraqi lobbyists on Capitol Hill trying to impact US policy.
• The House of Representatives has voted to give itself a $4,000 raise.
• By a 5-4 vote, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled against reinstating conspiracy charges against Tom DeLay.  However, DeLay does still face two money-laundering charges.
• West Coast Democrats want to investigate Dick Cheney's involvement in a 2002 water policy that lead to the deaths of more than 70,000 salmon along the Oregon-California border.  A court later ruled that the policy violated the Endangered Species Act.
• While issuing subpoenas to uncover the Administration's warrantless wiretap program, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman said this presidency was worse than Nixon's.  “I’ve never known an administration so willing to operate outside thelaw, even to operate against the law, in violation of the law, as thisadministration," Leahy added.
• The state of Louisiana will ban cockfighting next year, due to a bill passed on Wednesday.
• Speech writer Theodore Sorensen has published what he wants the presidential nominee to say at the Democratic Convention next summer.
• New Hampshire Democrats (Suffolk University Poll): Clinton - 37%, Obama - 19%, John Edwards - 9%, Richardson - 9%.  The poll also finds that if Al Gore was in the race, he would beat Hillary Clinton.

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

Blue Nightowl Clips

As we post in the middle of each night, here are some of the political clips making their rounds on the blogs tonight:

1. John Edwards on Hardball -- one day after Elizabeth confronted Coulter.
2. Giuliani vs The Clintons.
3. Michael Moore discusses internet leaking of SICKO.
4. General Batiste on the surge.  From Wednesday.

More clips later today and tomorrow.

Leahy subpoenas White House and Cheney

Patrick Leahy wants all documents pertaining to the White House's warrantless wiretap program:

The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and VicePresident Dick Cheney's office today for documents relating toPresident Bush's controversial eavesdropping program that operatedwarrant-free for five years.

Also named in subpoenas signed by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy,D-Vt., were the Justice Department and the National Security Council.The four parties have until July 18 to comply, according to a statementby Leahy's office.

So you can't say this is all about Democrats trying to put Cheney under the hot seat.  Congress has been trying to get this information for quite some time.  Enough is enough.

A press release from Leahy gets into more detail of what his Judiciary Committee wants:

The subpoenas seek documents related to authorization and reauthorization of the program or programs; the legal analysis or opinions about the surveillance; orders, decisions, or opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) concerning the surveillance; agreements between the Executive Branch and telecommunications or other companies regarding liability for assisting with or participating in the surveillance; and documents concerning the shutting down of an investigation of the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) relating to the surveillance.

On Deadline, a USA Today blog, says there are no signs the White House will comply. This could prompt a showdown in the courts.