By MARTIN SCHRAM
At last, Washington is hearing convincing truth about perjury — Hate City’s crime of choice, now playing with a familiar plot but all-new cast in a federal courtroom.
Over-burdened Bush-Cheney defenders offer a convincing argument about why a perjury prosecution such as the case against ex-vice presidential chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby should never have made it to trial.
By PHILIP PETERS
The Providence Journal
Each month, about 100,000 Iraqis are escaping the chaos and sectarian violence of their homeland. Thus far, about 2 million Iraqis have fled, most heading to Jordan, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Sen. Joe Biden is a reporter’s best friend, a publicity-seeking politician whose constantly-running mouth often runs ahead of often asleep brain.
When word began to circulate that Biden would launch yet another hopeless run for the White House, pools sprang up overnight on how long it would be before he stuck his foot in his mouth.
Everyone knew he would screw up but no one expected it would happen on the day he launched his Presidential campaign.
Momentum continues to build for President George W. Bush’s worst nightmare: A broad, bi-partisan Senate resolution opposing his troop buildup in Iraq.
Democrats, however, backed off language which proclaimed Bush’s troop surge is against the national interest while the sponsor of a GOP resolution agreed to drop wording that showed some support for the increase.
Reports Shailegh Murray and Jonathan Weisman of The Washington Post:
By REG HENRY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hello, kiddies. Today my column is written specially for you.
Let’s pretend that I am the teacher and you are the students in the first grade class, being cute as little buttons. (For my part, I shall suppress my natural resentment, because being cute is the one thing you can do that I can’t.)
Isn’t this fun? Let’s play a game.
The name of the game is Vice President Cheney.
You have a question, Johnny? Put up your hand, please. That’s better.
“Mr. Henry, does this mean we can shoot ducks?”
No, Johnny.
Molly Ivins, the liberal, biting columnist who coined the nickname “Shrub” for President George W. Bush, died in Austin, Texas, Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.
A best-selling author and sharp critic of lackluster politicians, Ivins took no prisoner in her writings. Her death brought eulogies of praise from many quarters, including Bush.
Writes Kelley Shannon of The Associated Press:
By M. CHARLES BAKST
The Providence Journal
When Democrat Barack Obama formally launches his 2008 presidential campaign on Feb. 10 in Springfield, Ill., Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, it stands to be a dramatic statement of how far the nation has come.
The kickoff is two days before Lincoln’s birthday and one day short of the 146th anniversary of his boarding a train in Springfield to head east to assume the presidency in 1861.
By JAMES O’TOOLE
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The 2008 presidential race will be shaped, in unpredictable ways, by a parallel competition among states leapfrogging one another in pursuit of a greater voice in the nominating process.
The maneuvering threatens the traditional roles of Iowa and New Hampshire as gatekeepers of the White House competition. It has the potential to change the dynamics of the battle among the candidates and significantly alter its terrain of issues.
By DALE McFEATTERS
Hillary Rodham Clinton may deserve criticism for a lot of failings, but the junior senator from New York deserves a pass for her earnest and off-key rendition of the national anthem as she launched her presidential campaign in Iowa.
By KATE NASH
Albuquerque Tribune
This is where it starts for presidential candidate Bill Richardson: a dim, red velour ballroom in the basement of the Carson Valley Inn Casino, with a plywood gray donkey and a pile of yellow “Nevada for Richardson” buttons.
Minden, with a population of about 3,000, isn’t Washington. It’s not even Des Moines, Iowa.
But this small town and others like it across this state are critical if the New Mexico governor’s bid for president is to get beyond the starting gate.