Many on the Christian right are taking a hard look at Fred "The Tennessee Stud" Thompson, and wondering just how much enthusiasm they can muster for the man. Recent articles chronicle a clear desire for a Republican candidate who, like George W. Bush before him, will trod the well-worn path that non-believer Karl Rove cut in the ticket separating politics from religion. So, is Thompson their man?

Indeed, the subject of religion came up a lot yesterday on the campaign trail, and I'm happy to report that Thompson doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for it. From the AP:

Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson, who has based his campaign on appealing to conservative voters, said he isn't a regular churchgoer and doesn't plan to speak about his religion on the stump...

Talking to reporters later, Thompson, a former Tennesse senator, said his church attendance "varies."

"I attend church when I'm in Tennesse. I'm in McLean right now," he said referring to the Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., where he lives. "I don't attend regularly when I'm up there."

Good for him. A return to a Ronald Reagan-like skepticism of wearing your religion on your sleeve has certainly been long in coming. Still, one has to wonder a little at Mr. Thompson's rather self-assured take on his current standing with God.

"I know that I'm right with God and the people I love," he said in Greenville. It's "just the way I am not to talk about some of these things."

Funny to hear someone talk about subjects that they aren't one to talk about. And I am interested to know how he knows that he's right with God. Is that like God telling George Bush that invading Iraq was the right thing to do? Small questions, I guess. The larger issue remains that James Dobson and his throngs of hard-core Christian voters still don't have their poster-child.

I was going to write about the NIE report that says Iraq is getting far worse not far better, or the upcoming GAO report which says the Iraqis have met 3 out of 18 benchmarks. But then I saw that Karl Rove is still planting the suggestion that his boss buddy is the equivalent of Harry Truman and that it's just the fault of the media for not seeing it.

Let's get this straight. The guy whose desk has never seen a buck even drift by is being compared to Truman? No one in this administration can say the words "I messed up," "I take responsibility." If Bush & Cheney wanted to take responsibility for the disasters they have created they would resign in a heartbeat. Rove calls Bush a man of moral clarity. I guess that means invading countries on trumped up charges is clear. Continuing to make the same mistakes year after year is clear. Spying on Americans for exercising Constitutional rights is clear. Torture is clear. Encouraging obscene profit making by HMO's and other corporate elite is fine and dandy while the middle class gets killed is clear. No-bid contracts are clear. Cutting a birthday cake and playing air guitar while a city drowns is clear. Cutting down forests while calling it a Clear Air program is clear. I could go on and on but Truman wouldn't.

The amount of whitewash it would take to remove the stain of the Bush Administration doesn't exist. History (if we get that far) will not treat this band of thugs, liars and crooks well. This is a kakistocracy beyond redemption. In a week the compliant media will start beating the war drum with Iran but I hope enough fearful Americans will not buy the abused car from these bums yet again (it would be the last car). We already know the Petraeus report will betray the truth once again. Everything is not fine and throwing more American and Iraqi lives away will not fix it. We blew it and going in and out of Baghdad with troops fixes absolutely nothing. George resembles Harry? Not even close.

There has been much speculation regarding the rather abrupt departure of Karl Rove. Most centers around the possibility of his indictment because he was involved in the CIA leak. Or the dismissal of the U.S. Attorney Generals. Or spying on Americans. Or rigging elections or (I could go on a bit, you know)

But there may be another reason. For starters, the stated reason (to spend more time with family) when his son is going away to college is an obvious red flag. But could there be a more altruistic reason? Could it be that Rove has lost the internal battle with Dick Cheney and chose not to stay?

According to VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) Cheney may be directing a military attack on Iran. The reason? His belief that Iran may have a nuclear weapon in a few months. The truth? Not even likely. According to the latest National Intelligence Estimate Iran will not have capability for several years at best but the current version

The latest National Intelligence Estimate regarding if and when Iran is likely to have the bomb has been ready since February. It has been sent back four times -- no doubt because its conclusions do not support what Cheney and Woolsey are telling the president and, through the domesticated press, telling the rest of us as well.

With American forces at a very low state of readiness wouldn't it be insane to attack Iran? Sure, but that hasn't stopped Cheney/Bush before has it? Wouldn't the American public and Congress deny the Bush administration the authority? Wouldn't the public outcry be overwhelming? Once again, history may repeat itself. Follow on the flip...

When deciding who the best political minds of the last decade are, the list comes down to Karl Rove, James Carville and perhaps Paul Begala. Rove would sit atop this list because of his genius in the 2004 campaign alone. Rove figured that John Edwards was the more formidable candidate because he had no real track record and had a lot fewer areas to hit him. John Kerry, on the other hand, left so many openings that Rove devised a great strategy:

With his Southern base, charismatic style and populist message, Edwards, they believed, could be a real threat to Bush's reelection.

But instead of attacking Edwards, Rove's team opened fire at Kerry.

Their thinking went like this, Dowd explained: Democrats, in a knee-jerk reaction to GOP attacks, would rally around Kerry, whom Rove considered a comparatively weak opponent, and make him the party's nominee. Thus Bush would be spared from confronting Edwards, the candidate Republican strategists actually feared most.

In other words, Rove used the absolute Democratic hatred of President Bush to get the opponent he wanted. It's a beautiful plan in its simplicity, and the media obediently printed every single thing the Bush administration said about Kerry, thus making sure that the party would rally around the Massachusetts senator even knowing he was the worst candidate to run since Bob Dole in 1996. Kerry is Dukakis without the brains, and Rove and the GOP picked him apart piece by piece on Vietnam and his infamous "Winter Soldier" speech.

Well, Rove is doing it again and the Clinton camp is buying into it, they are taking every word Rove has said over the last week of his resignation tour about Hillary and using it to garner support, which will come from all areas of the Dem coalition. Hillary's spokesperson believes the hype:

"Considering that the Rove rhetoric closely mirrors what some Democratic candidates are saying, it's clear that the Republicans think she will win in 2008."

Rove knows full-well that Hillary is the single-most polarizing individual in the race and that she will not attract the needed "centrists" from the middle whose votes are mandatory for a win.

H/T: PW

To quote the '80s classic, it's "Goodbye to You" for former "Bush's Brain" Karl Rove. (How appropriate that the band's name was "Scandal.") Bob and Susannah discuss Rove's legacy in the latest episode of "Running Gags"!

Mark Corallo, one of Fred Thompson's senior advisors, talks about Karl Rove:

"He's by far the best asset out there," said Corallo. "I don't know that he wants to do any of that, though. My guess is that it is 'been there, done that' for him."

Corallo also guessed that the Republican campaigns aren't going to be bombarding Rove with direct requests for help.

"Everybody is going to give him a break -- if he wants to get involved he'll let it be known," he said. "Nobody is going to refuse his call."

It's hard for me to imagine that Karl Rove would stay of the presidential campaign in 2008. My guess is that he will take a few months vacation until a clear victor emerges next spring, then work in anything from an advisory capacity to a more involved strategist.

That's the hope of the Republicans anyway. He's too good to lose at this stage of the game.

Karl Rove becoming a private citizen will be too tempting a target for Congressional Democrats to pass up. They will continue to take every opportunity to publicly attack him, and will be constantly issuing subpoenas to Mr. Karl Rove as opposed to Karl Rove, presidential adviser. Their base will be constantly reminding them that it will be easier to get Karl Rove to appear before the Democrat show trials, since President Bush will no longer be able to order him not to. The Democrats won't be able to help themselves. And therein lies the problem.

The Democrats have been issuing a lot of subpoenas lately, and seem ready to go to court to force the Bush administration to comply. Having Rove before them under oath as a private citizen doesn't change anything, since he will still be able to claim that his discussions with the president and other administration officials falls under "Executive Privilege."

This will enrage the Democrats even further, and will probably force them, in a knee-jerk reaction, to go to the courts for a resolution. The Bush administration isn't afraid of that -- in fact, I think that a court battle is what they might be looking for.

The big news this morning is the announcement, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed ('The Mark of Rove' by Paul Gigot), that presidential adviser Karl Rove is resigning at the end of the month. Many people are saying that this is a startling development. I'm not one of them. Rove has been at the president's side for an extraordinary number of years -- most advisers resign after only a few. You rarely see a top level adviser last six years into an administration.

After the defeat of the immigration bill in Congress, it was only a matter of time before Rove left. President Bush's longtime friend was a brilliant campaign strategist, but was less effective as an operative who implements government policy. Sometimes his electoral strategy crossed paths with his government policy strategy. And this is where he had his most notable failures, one through no fault of his own and one very much his own fault.

Rove felt that there were two problems facing America that, if handled correctly, would 1) vastly improve the welfare of those effected by the administrations' new government policies, and 2) move long-standing Democratic constituents to the Republican column.

By now you've probably heard: Karl Rove is leaving the White House. Why? To spend more time with his family. His son is going to college. Isn't that the time most families spend more time together? When their kid is going away to college? And what's with the two weeks notice? Most of this administration figures either quit on the spot because they are about to be indicted/arrested or they say they will leave at the end of the year/term/season.

Let's face it. Rove is attached to President Bush's hip and he's not leaving, just changing location. He can still run things from his nifty RNC supplied Blackberry, the same one he used for 90% of his e-mail so he could try and avoid leaving a trail. I wonder what's next for Rove? A tell all book of dirty campaign secrets? Not likely. Signing on with another campaign? Not likely either. Been there, done that. But I suspect we have not heard the last of Karl Rove. After all, he may still be indicted/arrested and put on trial. His parting shot is interesting

In the interview, Mr. Rove said he expects Democrats to give the 2008 presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he described as "a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate." He also said Republicans have "a very good chance" to hold onto the White House in next year's elections.

Just like Rove's math predicted, holding onto Congress and the Endless War would be a cake walk. If one of the current Republicans win the White House you will know we no longer bear any resemblance to a democracy. Make no mistake, Rove's reputation was built on spreading falsehoods, illegal tactics, and dirty tricks. From bugging his own office and claiming an opponent doing it to disenfranchising campaigns that kept tens of thousands of Democrats from voting to designing tactics like attacking a quadrapelgic vet and medaled war hero for being unpatriotic. We haven't heard the last of Mr. Rove but I hope to hear his testimony some day about how he was only following orders.

The political strategist Bush nicknamed "The Architect" will be resigning at the end of August and will be moving back to Texas. The Wall Street Journal has the story.

Mr. Rove, who has held a senior post in the White House since President Bush took office in January 2001, told Mr. Gigot he first floated the idea of leaving a year ago. But he delayed his departure as, first, Democrats took Congress, and then as the White House tackled debates on immigration and Iraq, he said. He said he decided to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president's term in January 2009.

"I just think it's time," Mr. Rove said in the interview. "There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Mr. Rove and his wife have a home in Ingram, Texas, and a son who attends college in nearby San Antonio.

Does this mean that Karl Rove is quitting politics? I don't see it that way. Rove is a political strategist, his job is to win elections and Bush is not out to win anymore elections and Bush himself will not be the head of the GOP in 2008. Bush simply doesn't need a political strategist.

The obvious implication is that Rove is now up for grabs and is, as we speak, fielding phone calls from the Giuliani, Romney, McCain, Thompson, and now Huckabee, campaigns. It's likely that however the nomination plays out Rove will have a role. At least this way he gets somewhat of a vacation. Before 2008. He probably needs it.

In all the hew and cry over the recent FISA vote to give expedited surveillance powers to the discredited AG Alberto Gonzales (so he could authorize wiretaps, etc without having to go to a FISA court), something important has been missed. In fact, it's possible the vote was designed to split the Dems and create a false scenario that Dems don't want to protect this country as a bonus. But the real reason was to distract attention from the "rest of the story."

This administration has been spying extensively on Americans collecting all kinds of information most of which has nothing to do with overseas communication or the 'war on terror' and much more to do with expanding the unitary executive (aka dictator). How do we know this?

Recall former acting AG Comey's testimony We heard about the hospital scene but what else is in that testimony? Recall Comey testifying that the administration was involved in something so illegal that Comey and at least eight other high-ranking Administration officials were prepared to resign had the activity continued. Let's think about that. High level career Justice Department officials don't threaten to resign over nothing.

There's a piece in a McClatchy newspaper that wonders why (all of a sudden) the right wing punditry is falling over itself praising Sen. Hillary Clinton:

• Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard, a neoconservative weekly, wrote that she answered the now-famous "would-you-meet-with-despots" question "firmly and coolly."

• Rich Lowry of National Review, a conservative weekly, gushed: "She excels. ... Clinton has run a nearly flawless campaign and has done more than any other Democrat to show she's ready to be president."

• David Brooks, conservative columnist at The New York Times, wrote that Clinton "seems to offer the perfect combination of experience and change" and is changing perceptions in a way that may persuade voters to give her a second look.

• Charles Krauthammer, conservative columnist at The Washington Post, summed up the Clinton-Obama smackdown: "The grizzled veteran showed up the clueless rookie."

These are some of the same folks who tore Sen.Clinton up for years when she was first lady. All of a sudden, she's great? And right wing talk show hosts are already saying she's the nominee for sure and begun the anti-Hillary campaign. Seems they always know things I don't know (or maybe they just Make Stuff Up?). After years of tearing her down they're suddenly building her up and expressing genuine admiration? Or maybe it's all a ploy because Karl Rove sees Hillary as the weakest candidate in the general election. The thing is I think Rove is right. I don't think she can win the general. I'll predict something: All of the right wing commentators will do a 180 if Clinton is nominated and go back to their assigned negative roles.

I couldn't resist. The New York Times has revealed the long sought after connection between disgraced deceased President Richard Nixon and current non-deceased presidential adviser, Karl Rove. Well they found it in recently released documents from the Nixon Archives:

Mr. Rove, then a 22-year-old aide on Capitol Hill, was planning a run to become chairman of the College Republicans, a position he would ultimately win twice. So he wrote to Anne Armstrong, then counselor to Nixon. Mrs. Armstrong had been co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, and therefore Mr. Rove's ultimate boss the previous year when he was executive director of the college group. In the memorandum, he thanked her for "taking time out of your busy schedule" to talk with him, and offered up his musings - in the form of a nine-page typed outline - on how to strengthen the Republican Party by motivating students.

That explains everything. Next we'll find out that David Horowitz is a Rovian plant!

By the way, did you ever notice that Rove spells his first name "Karl" instead of "Carl". Just like Karl Marx...

For the Bush administration, nothing is sacred, except, that is, for partisan allegiance. Truth? Justice? Human rights? Forget about it. Well, add to that list the physical health of the nation itself. So says Dr. Richard Carmona, the nation's most recent surgeon general, who appeared before Congress today to detail the politicization of his office, and the outright muzzling of scientific knowledge that would benefit the American public.

"The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas," said Carmona.

Ronald Reagan's Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop concurs, and finds Carmona's treatment under the Bush administration an embarrassment. Same old story, it seems. Either you fall in line with the president's ideological game plan, or you will be discounted. Never mind if you have science on your side on issues like the effectiveness of condoms at stopping the spread of AIDS, the dangers of second-hand smoke, or the woeful results of abstinence-only sex-education. President Bush (and Karl Rove) know what's best for the country's health.

An MSNBC/Wall Street Journal report confirms that the immigration issue is poison to both President Bush and the Democratic-led congress:

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, argues that these numbers have crossed below the political "Mendoza line," referring to the feeble .200 batting-average mark in baseball. "With the mood of the country dropping below 20, and the president's approval below 30, both are candidates for a sort of political Mendoza line," he says.

Congress is below the president but that may change as his politically tin ear has come into play again. Bush is still trying to revive a bill that has been shot, stabbed, hung and run over. It's the Rasputin of bills. Bush fails to see that the American people as a whole and the vast majority of his party in particular will never support the contents of the bill.

By teaming with Ted Kennedy, and with John McCain sucked into this political black hole, who knows what the lowest polling number will be. Can Congress and Bush actually break the single digit plateau? One would hope so if the keep pushing this sham of a bill that allows those who are criminals to be granted amnesty.