In a nearly 5,000-word article, the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh reports that "in a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran." US officials "cautioned, in interviews, that the President has yet to issue the 'execute order' that would be required for a military operation inside Iran," but "there has been a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning."
On CNN's Late Edition, Hersh said, "Instead of trying to sell...the notion of a massive bombing against the infrastructure...they're now decided they're going to hit the Iranians, payback for hitting us. They're going to hit the Revolutionary Guard headquarters and facilities. They're going to tone down the bombing. They're going to shift it. It's going to be more surgical. It's going to be much more limited."
On CNN's Late Edition, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said, "We are already entangled in two wars. And it seems to me, the administration wants to get us into a third, they ought to come to the Congress and ask for direct authorization."
Gov. Bill Richardson, on CBS's Face The Nation said, "I believe it would be enormously unwise for the Bush Administration to start another war before ending this tragic war we're in today."
The Financial Times reports Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said in a Sunday interview that Iran "is ready to help the US stabilise Iraq if Washington presents a timetable for a withdrawal of its troops."
Little Support For New Iran Sanctions U.S. News and World Report says there was "little sign that Iran's resistance is giving an immediate boost to the U.S. campaign for a third round of Security Council sanctions, languishing amid opposition from veto-wielding Russia and China. As a result, American and some European officials are talking up the need to unleash harsher sanctions outside of the U.N., using a 'coalition of the willing.'" That "would expand a mostly U.S.-led effort to snuff out overseas loans and credit guarantees to Iran and dry up outside investment in Iran's oil and natural gas industries."
Meanwhile, U.S. News and World Report says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance in the US gave him "a respectable podium...'legitimizing' him, detractors said." Newsweek says if "critics like" Columbia University President Lee Bollinger "thought they were demonstrating solidarity with Iran's long-suffering moderates, they were mistaken. 'The Islamic Republic and its president have never been insulted in an official setting like this,' says Mohsen Armin, a prominent reformist politician."
The Supreme Court begins its new term today, and both networks and major newspapers are looking ahead at its contentious and crowded docket. The ideologically divided court will hear cases on a wide range of controversial matters. Coverage of the new term frequently contends Justice Anthony Kennedy will play an increasingly pivotal role as the court's "swing vote."
On ABC World News, Jan Greenburg said, "There's a big challenge to the Bush Administration's war on terror. The court's going to decide whether those detainees at Guantanamo Bay can go to regular, federal court to challenge their detentions, even though Congress has said they cannot."
NBC Nightly News reported the court will take up "a challenge from Democrats in Indiana. They oppose a state law requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls." McClatchy says, "Big business and foreign prisoners have high hopes for the Supreme Court term that starts Monday. Business wants protection from lawsuits. Prisoners want freedom. The court is in the middle, divided along lines that defy simple partisan calculations and led by a chief who's still finding his way."
The New York Times says the court "has so many polarizing cases on the docket for its new term that the deep ideological divisions that characterized the last term are all but certain to remain on display" as the justices return to work. The Chicago Tribune calls the docket "a combustible mix," adding that as Justice Kennedy "once famously observed, 'The hard fact is that sometimes we must make decisions we do not like.' There will be ample opportunity to do just that."
Also on the docket: The Wall Street Journal reports the court will consider when taxes should pay for private school tuition, and Roll Call reports the court will consider Washington State's unimplemented new primary system, which "allows 'each voter to vote for any candidate for any office on the primary ballot, without regard for party affiliation of the candidate or the voter,' according to court documents." The Financial Times says the court will also consider extensions of corporate fraud liability. The AP also takes a look at the docket.
U.S. News and World Report says this year's Supreme Court term "may be calm in comparison with last year's, when the court left liberals reeling with important conservative decisions on abortion, sex discrimination, and affirmative action. But although the high court has so far announced only half its average caseload, the docket already promises some controversial cases."
In a separate story, U.S. News and World Report says the court will "explore one of the most contentious issues in federal sentencing: the vast disparity between sentencing for crack and powder cocaine." The court's ruling "could have broad ramifications for thousands of prisoners. More than 5,300 people were sent to jail last year for crack cocaine violations, double the number from the early 1990s."
Kennedy's Vote Key On Divided Court The Washington Post says Justice Kennedy's "starring role last term -- he was the only justice in the majority in each of the court's record number of 5 to 4 decisions -- seems likely for an encore but in a different direction. While Kennedy's conservative views on abortion and campaign finance laws grabbed attention then, 'the menu for this term is shaping up to be the other way around,'" according to University of Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett. The Christian Science Monitor says in "key cases the institution might just as well be called the supreme realm of Justice Anthony Kennedy."
The Wall Street Journal says the "overarching question" of the new term will be whether Chief Justice John Roberts "has ushered in a conservative era solid in outcomes if not unified in reasoning, or whether the liberal bloc, led by Justice John Paul Stevens, can show" Kennedy "a route he can comfortably follow to form a majority."
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The New York Times reported over the weekend that in his new autobiography, Justice Clarence Thomas "says he was pilloried during his 1991 confirmation hearings because liberal advocacy groups who feared he would vote to overturn abortion rights were willing to stoop to 'the age-old blunt instrument of accusing a black man of sexual misconduct.'" Thomas says they did so "by using untrue sexual harassment claims by Anita F. Hill, a law professor and former subordinate, whom he described as a mediocre but ambitious lawyer and labels as 'my most traitorous adversary.'"
The Washington Post reported Thomas "settles scores in an angry and vivid forthcoming memoir, scathingly condemning the media, the Democratic senators who opposed his nomination to the Supreme Court, and the 'mob' of liberal elites and activist groups that he says desecrated his life." Thomas "writes that Hill was the tool of liberal activist groups 'obsessed' with abortion and outraged because he did not fit their idea of what an African American should believe."
NBC Nightly News says that of the Democratic senators "who aggressively questioned him, Thomas writes that he was questioned not by bigots in white robes but by left-wing zealots draped in flowing sanctimony." On NPR's All Things Considered, legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg called it "in some ways a beautifully written book. But it is a book of complete bitterness and rage. It paints a portrait of a tortured and tormented soul. And his bitterness, as I've said, permeates every page of this book."
After Congress passed a bill to reauthorize and expand the SCHIP program, which provides medical insurance for low-income children, President Bush promised to veto the legislation over concerns it would create a new middle class entitlement.
Roll Call reports that "after suffering the typical indignities of life in the minority for nine months, House Republicans enjoyed a rare moment of relevance last week when they showed they could take a tough vote to block the expansion of a popular children's health care program." The bill passed 265-159, but the "151 Republican votes against the measure were enough to uphold President Bush's promised veto."
Along similar lines, the Washington Post runs a front-page story on looming Capitol Hill fights "over health care, tax policy, the scope of government and its role in America's problems at home. The brewing veto fight this week" over SCHIP "is only the most visible sign of the new emphasis on domestic issues."
The Christian Science Monitor notes that the SCHIP veto will be "only the fourth" of the nearly seven-year-old Bush presidency, and says while "most of America's health establishment and nearly two-thirds of the Congress" oppose Bush on the matter, "the White House and GOP leaders in both houses of Congress say this is a fight worth fighting on policy grounds -- and that it may do them some good in spending battles to come and even in next fall's elections."
Schumer: House Override Unlikely Sen. Charles Schumer, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said Senate Democrats have enough votes to override the president's veto -- 51 Democrats and 18 Republicans -- but supporters are "somewhat short in the House. ... My guess is we will not have enough to override in the House."
The Los Angeles Times reports Iraqi leaders, "in a rare show of unity, skewered a nonbinding U.S. Senate resolution passed last week that endorses the decentralization of Iraq through the establishment of semiautonomous regions." In Iraq it has "touched a nerve...raising fears that the United States is planning to partition Iraq." Meanwhile, the New York Times says the US embassy in Baghdad "reiterated its support for a united Iraq as six political parties together voiced their objection" to the Senate resolution.
Roll Call reports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "vowed late last week that the House will aggressively pursue legislation related to the Iraq War, regardless of whether such bills stand a chance in the Senate." Pelosi "criticized the Senate's recent failure to cut off debate on a measure that would require military personnel receive time at home equal to that of their deployment, effectively killing the measure." On CNN's Late Edition, Pelosi said, "The Republicans in the Senate have now taken ownership of the war in Iraq. It was President Bush's war. And now it is the Republicans' in Congress war."
GOP Cashes In On MoveOn Ad Backlash The Washington Times reports Republican candidates and committees "are getting a much-needed fundraising boost" from the backlash against MoveOn's "General Betray Us" ad criticizing Gen. David Petraeus. While it's "too early to tell how much money Republicans have raised using the tactic, party spokesmen say it has been an effective fundraising tool."
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The Washington Post says Sen. Larry Craig "is a tough guy to run out of town. Not that his Republican colleagues aren't trying. Worried that the disgraced lawmaker intends to remain in the Senate indefinitely, they are threatening to notch up the public humiliation by seeking an open ethics hearing on the restroom scandal that enveloped Craig last month."
The Washington Post, in a front-page story, reports that Jenna Bush "agreed to sit for her first-ever extended newspaper interview to talk about "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope," her new book for young adults." Bush "says she's hoping to 'start a dialogue' with young Americans about HIV/AIDS and other hurdles -- poverty, abuse, lack of education -- that confront millions of children worldwide." According to the New York Times, "The book is being accompanied by the kind of news media and marketing blitz -- a first run of 500,000 copies and a 25-city cross-country publicity swing...that few other twenty-something first-time authors could command."
Jenna Promotes "Safe Sex" In New Book Newsweek, in an article titled, "Jenna Bush Promotes Safe Sex In New Book," reports that with her new book 'Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope,' Jenna Bush "has re-emerged as a spokesperson for global equality, children's rights and safe sex." According to Newsweek, "Safe sex is encouraged through-out her new book, even though the Bush administration's hotly contested HIV-prevention campaign was built around a staunch 'abstinence only' message."
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The 3rd quarter fundraiser period officially ended at midnight last night, and already the campaigns are beginning to leak out the results, which won't be officially filed for two more weeks. The Washington Post reports this morning that Gov. Bill Richardson's (D) campaign says it brought in $5.2 million last quarter, "an amount his campaign said would keep him within reach of the front-runners for his party's nomination," although "how close he is to the others...remains unclear." In addition, the Post reports that John Edwards' campaign is expected to report about $7 million raised during the quarter. Speculation from a variety of media sources over the weekend put Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's take at between $17 and $20 million apiece.
On the GOP side, FOX News reports that Fred Thompson's campaign may "offer some surprisingly strong numbers," and will likely report in excess of $8 million raised during the quarter. The AP reports that some of the key issues for other Republicans will be how much of his own money Mitt Romney rolled into his own campaign during the quarter and whether Sen. John McCain has been able to bounce back at all.
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has flirted with a presidential bid for the last 10 months, said yesterday he would not make a bid in 2008, because "advisers ultimately determined that he couldn't both run for the nomination and continue to head his nonprofit conservative think-tank, American Solutions for Winning the Future." The Politico adds that Gingrich "decided Saturday morning not to run for president just as his staff was preparing to launch a website to seek $30 million in pledges, his spokesman told Politico." Gingrich had "planned to seek pledges as part of a three-week exploration without making any formal declaration of candidacy for the Republican nomination - an approach that several Republican leaders said was legally questionable." The decision "will bolster the contention of several key Republicans that Gingrich's repeated flirtation with a presidential run was a publicity stunt designed to keep him in the news and sell his books."
The AP reports Gingrich "said Sunday he could have been a contender, but has no regrets about skipping the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008." Gingrich said, "I think we would clearly have been competitive financially within three weeks, and we literally had not even set up the Web site yet. But what hit me was it would have been an underdog campaign. I mean, clearly, if you were going to come from behind, I think it would have been a real campaign. I think we would have had a chance to win."
The New York Times reports the "possibility that the Republican Party might pick" Rudy Giuliani as its nominee "despite his support for abortion rights" is prompting "a coalition of influential Christian conservatives" to threaten to "back a third-party candidate." The threat "emerged from a group that broke away for separate discussions at a meeting Saturday in Salt Lake City of the Council for National Policy, a secretive conservative networking group. Participants said the smaller group included James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, who is perhaps its most influential member; Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; Richard A. Viguerie, the direct-mail pioneer; and dozens of other politically oriented conservative Christians." The "participants said that the group chose the qualified term 'consider' because it had not yet identified an alternative candidate, but that it was largely united in its plans to bolt the party if Mr. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, became the nominee."
The Los Angeles Times reports in a front page story that barely "three months before voting for presidential candidates begins, the religious right has yet to unite behind a Republican, heightening concerns among evangelical leaders that social liberal Rudolph W. Giuliani will capture the party's nomination." The "splintering of religious conservatives, if it endures, would ease the way for New York's former mayor to emerge as the party's first nominee to explicitly support abortion rights since the Supreme Court legalized the procedure in 1973." But the "lack of a consensus choice for president is only part of the troubles facing conservative evangelicals, a powerful force within the GOP for more than a generation."
U.S. News and World Report, in its cover story, reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton is attempting "to erase the hard edges of her past and appeal to a broader range of voters." Clinton "argues that even critics are in the process of giving her a fresh look and will eventually move beyond the stereotypes. 'I believe the American people give you a fair shake if you are out there talking about what you believe, what you want to do, and what you think is important,' she told U.S. News last week. But as she pursues the presidency, it turns out Clinton is in many ways still trapped in the caricature that emerged during her eight years as first lady." According to US News, "Millions of Americans concluded that she was a harridan, a left-wing zealot, and a cuckolded wife who remained with a straying husband to enhance her political ambitions. Clinton says that all those perceptions are erroneous and that Americans will come to agree as they pay closer attention to her as a presidential candidate. She also argues that she has changed in some crucial ways over the years."
In an interview with U.S. News and World Report, Sen. Clinton said that as First Lady she learned "what the potential opportunities for president would be and the limits of presidential power. ... I think I have a much better understanding of the institutional and personal dynamics of how to get things done in Washington. And the importance of relationships."
U.S. News and World Report also reports that Chelsea Clinton "works at Avenue Capital, a $12 billion hedge fund in New York. But as Senator Clinton canvasses the country this fall in pursuit of the presidency, Chelsea's role in her mother's campaign remains largely old hat: that of the important, but still background, figure. At least for now."
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Jay Leno: "According to a report from a British website, Saddam Hussein...said he would go into exile for $1 billion. That's the same deal NBC offered me."
Jay Leno: "Congress has been having hearings this week concerning the increasing number of late airline flights. They may even...have to intervene in order to help the airlines improve. And really, who better than Congress to show you how to make your business run more efficiently?"
Jay Leno: "In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Rudy Giuliani said he is guided by Jesus and the Bible and he doesn't want people to judge his private life. He then said, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' And then Mitt Romney hit him in the head with a rock."
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