Morning Headlines

A sampling of what's happening from some different perspectives.

Bush Spanks His Poodle

President Bush shows his gratitude to Tony Blair by slapping him down, once again, on the topic of global warming.

"I really don't view our relationship as one of quid pro quo," Bush told ITV1 television in an interview. "Tony Blair made decisions on what he thought was best for keeping the peace and winning the war on terror, as I did. "So I go to the G8 not really trying to make him look bad or good, but ... with an agenda that I think is best for our country."

Rove Is Innocent (depending upon your definition of the word)

Karl Rove may not have broken the law when he outed a CIA agent.

O'Donnell noted: "What [Luskin] has said is very careful lawyer language. . . We live in a world where we have to discover, in the 90s, that there are people who aren't sure what the meaning of 'is' is."

The MSNBC talker posited:

"That could simply mean he did not use the words 'Valerie Plame.' He may have said [Joseph] Wilson's wife, for example. He may have said all sorts of things that still fit what we're talking about."

But even if Rove was behind the disclosure, it doesn't mean he broke any law, he argued.

Rove Is Guilty (a different view)

A view from the Middle East sees Rove in a different light.

"Another reality which will soon, finally, be leaking out further in Washington because of the confidential sources investigation, is that it was non-other than White House Rasputin Karl Rove himself who outed former deep-cover CIA operative Valerie Plame."

Silence Is Not An Option

Words only have power when the ideas they represent are expressed. Ellen Goodman encourages us to not empower evil through silence.

"This is not the first time a ''war president" has conflated war and patriotism or quietly tainted dissenters with disloyalty. It happens routinely, especially in unpopular wars.

The opponents of this president have struggled to separate criticism of the White House from criticism of the troops. They have talked about everything from missing weapons of mass destruction to ineffective armor. Even though 58 percent disapprove of the handling of Iraq, those symbolic ribbons of patriotism have produced a silenced majority."

More later...............