August 13, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Silly Bush loses his “mind”

August 13, 2007

Word is that Karl Rove finally tired of being the butt of best buddy Bush’s jovial jabs. “Turd blossom” was tolerated, but being called “my own personal Capitol Rotunda” is said to have been the last straw that Karl could gracefully take on his dromedary hump. He will join Tony “my personal snowball” (said to be on the way out too) in leaving the center ring of Bush’s increasingly lunatic circus.

So it ends, with the briefest “blink and you miss it” hug (I think Putin got more hug time) and a lightening quick presidential “pat – pat” on the back.

Actors turned candidates don’t get reruns

August 13, 2007

If Fred Thompson decides to put his acting career on hold and run for President at least one television network will put remove reruns of shows where he appears.

NBC says it will not schedule any of the 100-plus episodes of “Law & Order” which feature appearances by Thompson.

Networks did the same thing when Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980.

Nailed by one of his own

August 13, 2007

Convicted Republican Congressman Bob Ney’s greed did him in but federal prosecutors had a little help from the inside.

Turns out Ney’s chief of staff wore a wire and got the corrupt Congressman on tape.

War on terror a defining issue

August 13, 2007

The fate of President George W. Bush’s global “war on terror” is on the line, as the 2008 White House race heats up and Democratic and Republican hopefuls feud over how to keep Americans safe.

Republicans endorse Bush’s approach, warning of the stark menace of Islamic fundamentalism, and agree with the president’s view that Iraq is a central front of the struggle.

Adopting Bush’s 2004 election playbook, they also accuse Democrats of failing to even comprehend the mortal threat from terrorism.

Hillary’s negatives worry Democrats

August 13, 2007

Looking past the presidential nomination fight, Democratic leaders quietly fret that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom.

They say the former first lady may be too polarizing for much of the country. She could jeopardize the party’s standing with independent voters and give Republicans who otherwise might stay home on Election Day a reason to vote, they worry.

Tommy Thompson drops out

August 13, 2007

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said Sunday he is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after finishing sixth in an Iowa straw poll.

“I have no regrets about running,” he said in a statement released Sunday evening by his campaign.

“I felt my record as Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health and Human Services gave me the experience I needed to serve as president, but I respect the decision of the voters. I am leaving the campaign trail today, but I will not leave the challenges of improving health care and welfare in America.”

Karl Rove leaving White House

August 13, 2007

Karl Rove, President Bush’s close friend and chief political strategist, plans to leave the White House at the end of August, joining a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1 1/2 years of the administration.

A longtime member of Bush’s inner circle, Rove was nicknamed “the architect” by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House.

A criminal investigation put Rove under scrutiny for months during the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s name but he was never charged with any crime.