Having lied, invaded, occupied and vacationed away his honor in the eyes of about 70% of Americans, George W. Bush tried to borrow a little bit from George Washington yesterday.That reminded me of this cartoon I published back in ’06, when the Congressional leadership first tried (and failed) to use the nifty “cut and run” slogan to tar and feather those who opposed the ongoing occupation.

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…Yet Fox News continues to rely on Victoria Toensing, the woman who, as far as I’ve been able to learn – has never spoken to either the CIA or Valerie Plame and has never seen any of the classified information regarding Valerie Plame’s work or role, as an “expert” commentator.And by the way, pay attention to the last minute and a half, where Hannity and Toensing try to tell us how it’s Plame’s and Wilson’s fault that Plame’s cover was blown. Plame apparently donated $1000 to Al Gore’s campaign in 2000 and attended some (gasp) Democratic meetups. In Toensing and Hannity’s warped world, Plame should’ve known that doing so was a dead giveaway that she was a covert CIA agent specializing in monitoring the proliferation of WMD. And Joe Wilson writing that op-ed exposing the lies the President told about uranium tubes from Niger? Well, he should’ve known better. Naturally the White House was going to expose the name of a covert CIA operative, as well as her entire network of contacts, seriously damaging our ability to follow WMD and possibly resulting in the killing of other undercover operatives – all to discredit a critic. Who wouldn’t have expected them to do that?Also, note how the “Fair and Balanced” network doesn’t invite anyone to dispute Toensing:

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Perusing the conservative blogosphere this morning, this caught my eye. To an extent, all candidates are chosen based on their image. It’s why Barack Obama or Rudy Giuliani may someday be President, and Dennis Kucinich never will. What I found interesting is that these people at one of the leading Conservative blogs apparently see nothing wrong with that, and are in fact downright giddy about it:

In a sense, then, [Fred] Thompson looks like the perfect blend of the Allen/Frist/Romney/Gingrich and McCain/Giuliani “factions.” He seems to combine the conservatism of the former cluster with at least some of the popularity and stature of the latter pairing. This is not to suggest that Thompson is a national hero like McCain and Giuliani. But in addition to a long and distinguished record of public service, he has the good fortune to play a distinguished public servant on television. Millions of Americans see Thompson exercise sound judgment every week as the district attorney on “Law and Order.” I’m reliably informed that the show’s creator, Dick Wolf, developed the persona of this fictional D.A. specifically for Thompson, and that the actor/politician protects his image by pushing back when he thinks his lines don’t portray him in the proper light. But the point isn’t whether we’re seeing the real Fred Thompson on the show; the point is that, if Thompson runs, millions of America will see the character when they see the candidate, and to that extent will like what they see. 

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From today’s In the Loop column (Washington Post):

Speaking of the House oversight committee, it’s not often that someone below the rank of Cabinet member can merit a cameo appearance in a syndicated cartoon. But General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan, apparently to the amusement of some folks at the GSA, has won that unusual distinction, becoming a thinly disguised amnesiac in the cartoon Candorville.

Doan won the high honor after she repeatedly told the committee on March 28 that she could not remember details of a Jan. 26 videoconference presentation for top political appointees at her agency by White House deputy political director J. Scott Jennings, who works in Karl Rove’s shop.

“Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb [Iran]…”-John McCain

All I have to say about that is:

Thank God this guy has little chance of winning the primary, let alone the election.

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Barack Obama on the incompetence and secrecy of the Bush administration, and on why impeaching them is unacceptable:

“There’s a way to bring an end to those practices, you know: vote the bums out,” the presidential candidate said, without naming Bush or Cheney. “That’s how our system is designed.”-USA Today 

Well, no. Our system was actually designed so that we can remove criminal officials through impeachment.He goes on:

“I think you reserve impeachment for grave, grave breeches, and intentional breeches of the president’s authority,” he said. 

Illegally spying on millions of Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment, holding American citizens without providing access to counsel for years, torturing captives, evidence of felonious vote caging (aimed at denying Blacks their right to vote), etc., don’t constitute “grave breeches”? Exactly what would constitute a “grave breech” in Obama’s mind? And what does he mean “intentional breeches”? Does he think Bush spied on Americans by accident?

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I still have no idea why Barack Obama believes the current administration’s violations of our Constitutional rights do not constitute “grave breaches.” I’m sure his desire to not be impeached himself, should he win, has nothing to do with it. Watch this recent Bill Moyers special (in 5 parts) for a less self-interested assessment:

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As previously mentioned, GW Bush claimed to have experienced an epiphany after a horrible bombing in Iraq. No more would the families of dead and mutilated soldiers have to suffer alone — no, the President too would suffer along with them. By giving up golf.

Well, as Keith Olbermann pointed out in his latest special comment (toward the end), the president who lied a nation into war, who lied about the Valerie Plame incident, who lied about… well, it would probably be quicker to just list what he didn’t lie about. Anyway, he wasn’t even telling the truth about the golf thing. The AP photographed him playing golf two months after he said he’d made his fateful decision to give up playing his game.

You know you haven’t got much to say about your opposition when you resort to condemning their logistics. First Fox News ran a “days since Barack Obama promised to appear on our show” clock. Now the Republican Party’s homepage is running their own countup clocks which count the days since Obama’s (a) visited Iraq, and (b) was invited to ten town hall meetings by John McCain.

Is the GOP sure it wants to play this game? The Democrats could easily respond with clocks of their own. Such as (dates are rough estimations):

1. “Days since John McCain flip-flopped on off-shore drilling: 2 days”

2. “Days since John McCain officially approved of torture: 730 days”

3. “Days since John McCain used 100 heavily-armed soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache gunships and a flak jacket to prove he could walk around an Iraqi marketplace without protection: 565 days”

4. “Days since the Iraqi marketplace he walked through was back under the control of insurgents: 330 days”

5. “Days since President Bush promised to fire whoever committed treason by outing an undercover CIA operative: 1,460 days”

6. “Days since President Bush vowed to capture Osama Bin Laden: 2,355 days”

7. “Days since President Bush vowed to rebuild New Orleans: 895 days”

8. “Days since President Carter called energy independence a national security matter, vowed to free us from Middle East oil, and was consequently mocked by Reagan and the next two generations of Republicans: 13,870 days”

9. “Days since President Truman tried to give Americans universal healthcare, but was rebuffed by Republicans in Congress: 21,900 days”

Etc…

Of course, none of that’s as important as Barack Obama’s travel itinerary or the burning question of whether he’ll stick to the five debates he’s offered McCain, or accept McCain’s invitation to ten.

“I believe that either today or tomorrow — and I’m not privy to his schedule — Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators” who make up a congressional delegation, McCain told a campaign fund-raising luncheon.“

First John McCain goads Barack Obama into visiting Iraq. Then, according to Reuters, John McCain leaks the timing of Obama’s Iraq visit. The same John McCain who had argued that the press reporting his son was serving in Iraq would make him a target.When asked whether this was another example of his foreign policy expertise, McCain couldn’t reply, as he was busy ordering a giant anvil from ACME.