Thursday, July 24, 2008

Rove: McCain Got His Facts Wrong On The Iraq Surge, ‘But Don’t Make A Big Deal Of It’. Last night on Fox, Hannity & Colmes co-host Alan Colmes noted that CBS News chose not to air a portion of its interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in which McCain falsely claimed that President Bush’s “surge” policy in Iraq “began the Anbar Awakening.” But former Bush aide turned Fox pundit Karl Rove would have none of it. Discussing the issue with Colmes, Rove tried to shift the subject to something he’s more comfortable with — attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) — and pleaded, “Let’s not get into this”: ROVE: Well, Alan, first of all, let’s not get into sort of nit-nat mistakes. After all, Barack Obama said we need more Arabic translators in Afghanistan. They don’t speak Arabic in Afghanistan. […] COLMES: What about his time line being wrong on the Anbar awakening? ROVE: Look, let’s not get into this. After more pressing from Colmes, Rove finally agreed, “I’d be happy to respond if you like. Would you like me to respond?” Rove finally told Colmes, “you’re right” and admitted that McCain “had his timing wrong.” But again, Rove insisted: “But don’t make a big deal of it.” Watch it: It seems even master spin-meister Karl Rove can’t explain away McCain’s blatant misunderstanding of history. [Think Progress] 9:32:54 AM    comment []

As 'McCain doubles down on humiliating surge error,' by trying to expand the definition of "surge," he also repeats, for the second day in a row, the charge that "Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a campaign." [Cursor.org] 9:31:20 AM    comment []

As it's argued that the "America's Army" video game is not a game, but a recruitment and training tool that violates international law, the "NewsHour" reports on the "Operation Purple" summer camps for children of deployed parents, which have surged to 62 in 37 states. Plus: a report from 'Putin's summer camp,' which sounds 'extreme.' [Cursor.org] 9:29:25 AM    comment []

Mukasey Contradicts Cheney And Addington: Vice President Is ‘Obviously’ In Executive Branch. Last year, House investigators revealed that Vice President Cheney exempted his office from an executive order designed to safeguard classified national security information by claiming that the Office of the Vice President is not an [base ']Äúentity within the executive branch.[base ']Äù Cheney[base ']Äôs chief of staff David Addington reaffirmed before Congress last month that the Vice President[base ']Äôs office is “attached” to the legislature: [P]erhaps the best that can be said is that the vice president belongs neither to the executive nor to the legislative branch, but is attached by the constitution to the latter. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey had an entirely different take than Addington and Cheney on the matter: It’s my own belief that the Vice President is a member of the executive branch. … The Vice President is obviously one of the closest advisers to the president, and he is a close adviser to the president within the executive branch. That in my view is where he sits. Watch it: The idea of ambiguously tying Cheney to the legislative branch seems to be grounded in political convenience rather than fact. Cheney himself has said (on camera) that [base ']Äúthe vice president[base ']Äôs become an important part of the administration of the executive branch.” Some other examples: – In 2001, the White House argued that a probe into Cheney[base ']Äôs energy task force [base ']Äúwould unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch.[base ']Äù [Link] – Cheney said that a probe concerned [base ']Äúmeetings in the Executive Branch between the Vice President and other individuals.[base ']Äù [Link] – On April 9, 2003, Cheney lauded a recent court ruling, stating, [base ']ÄúI think it restored some of the legitimate authority of the executive branch, the president and the vice president, to be able to conduct their business.[base ']Äù [Link] Rather than the Vice President title, Cheney apparently prefers to be tagged with the label “unique creature.” [Think Progress] 8:30:00 AM    comment []