Think Progress

Today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey “rejected referring the House’s contempt citations against two of President Bush’s top aides to a federal grand jury. Mukasey says they committed no crime.” Mukasey claimed that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers “were right” to ignore Congress’s subpoenas in the U.S. attorney scandal.

UPDATE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) outlines the next steps:

Anticipating this response from the Administration, the House has already provided authority for the Judiciary Committee to file a civil enforcement action in federal district court and the House shall do so promptly.

URL: Think Progress

Think Progress

Tim Goeglein, special assistant to President Bush, resigned this evening after being caught — and then admitting to — plagiarizing articles that he wrote for a local paper. After blogger Nancy Nall revealed that Goeglein had plagiarized a recent Fort Wayne News-Sentinel column, an investigation by the paper found 20 of his 38 columns had parts that were copied. Goeglein had worked for Bush since 2001 as a liaison to social and religious conservatives and is a familiar figure to many evangelical Christian leaders.

URL: Think Progress

Think Progress

A new report issued recently by the Center for American Progress warned that, “as borrowing in the mortgage market slows, credit card borrowing is accelerating — a dangerous trend because borrowers still face weak income growth. That means the credit card market could eventually run into the same problems that now afflict the sub-prime mortgage market. ” Tonight, NBC News reported that credit card debt is nearing a record $1 trillion. The piece noted there is a “credit card binge across the nation as people use their plastic to stay financially afloat.” Watch it:

URL: Think Progress

Think Progress

Congress recently passed the Intelligence Authorization Act, which contained a provision creating a single interrogation standard for the U.S. government that bans the use of waterboarding. CQ reports that President Bush will veto the bill next week:

“The president’s expected to veto it next week,” said Emily Lawrimore, a spokeswoman for the White House. “We received it today.”

Although the exact date for the veto is unclear, the president likely will not act until after Tuesday’s primaries, since numerous lawmakers will not be on Capitol Hill then.

The Gavel has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) statement urging Bush to sign the legislation.

URL: Think Progress

Media Matters for America

Asserting that he was "offended" by comments that Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean reportedly made during a speech at Georgetown University -- in which Dean reportedly said that the Democratic field "looks like America," while the Republican field, made up of white males, "looks like the 1950s and talks like the 1850s" -- Pat Buchanan said on the February 28 edition of Tucker: "Look, what did white males do? OK, they were the only guys signing the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, all the dead at Gettysburg, all the dead at Normandy." Buchanan then responded to radio host Bill Press by stating, "Why is it ... OK to mock ... backhand white -- no wonder you're losing white males," and also said, "I think you guys are self-hating white folks." His comments came after host Tucker Carlson asserted of Dean's remarks: "I must say, I'm not going to sit by a single more time and listen to someone slag on, quote, 'white men.' "

Buchanan's assertion that "white males" constituted "all the dead at Gettysburg, all the dead at Normandy" appears to be false. Approximately 2,000 African-Americans fought at the June 6, 1944, invasion ...   more »

Media Matters for America

Meet Tim Russert

"It's never the question that's the problem, Matt, it's the answer."
-- NBC's Tim Russert

"It's 'never the question that's the problem'? Really?
Spoken like the guy who gets to ask the questions."
-- CJR's Liz Cox Barrett

MSNBC recently began running commercials touting its coverage of "Decision 2008." One begins with on-screen text asking, "Why do people care about politics?" Viewers then hear Tim Russert explain: "It's about the war. Our sons and daughters. It's about the economy. Our jobs. It's about education. Our schools. It's about health care. Our families' well-being. It's about everything that matters." The ad ends with the on-screen declaration: "That's why you care. That's why we cover it."

The serious and high-minded approach to political coverage Russert brags about would be a welcome change from the political coverage for which Russert is responsible.

During this week's Democratic presidential debate, Russert didn't ask a single question about global warming, continuing his longstanding habit of all but ignoring the topic. He didn't ask a single question about the mortgage crisis. (As one Cleveland resident noted, "We've got the mortgage industry's toxic waste scattered all over ...   more »