The issue of whether Bush Administration officials should be prosecuted over the "enhanced interrogation" of terror suspects continues to dominate the news. The CBS Evening News reported Attorney General Eric Holder "made clear his investigation of Bush-era torture policy is open-ended." Holder said, "We're going to follow the evidence wherever it takes us. We'll follow the law wherever that takes us. No one is above the law."
Media reports and commentators generally cast the debate as quickly degenerating into a partisan free-for-all -- and some analysts are faulting President Obama's handling of the controversy. The AP reports that on Tuesday, the President said Holder "would determine whether anyone from the Bush administration broke the law. ... The trouble is, the White House had been sending the opposite signal for days." The Politico similarly says "Obama's attempt to project legal and moral clarity on coercive CIA interrogation methods has instead done the opposite -- creating confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right."
The Washington Post reports on its front page that Obama "had his own agenda and wanted to move on. Putting out the memos seemed to be the cleanest way to accomplish his twin goals of making a break with the previous administration and avoiding a lengthy and partisan debate over his policy vs. Bush's."
The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page this morning says, "Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice...Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret."
The AP reports congressional Democrats "pushed ahead" toward investigations Wednesday, "all but ignoring Obama's effort to head off an uncontrolled, partisan sprint toward a rash of probes." The Wall Street Journal reports Democrats "were seizing on the issue to score political points anyway, while some Republicans warned against opening a Pandora's box of recrimination that could hit members of Congress." Roll Call reports Sens. Lindsey Graham, Joseph Lieberman, and John McCain wrote to the President Wednesday, "urging him not to prosecute government officials who provided legal advice on detainee interrogations." Republican Sen. Arlen Specter said in an interview with CNN's Situation Room, "The idea of rushing to prosecute the prior administration sounds like Latin America."
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, House Intelligence Committee ranking Republican Pete Hoekstra writes, "It seems [Obama] has capitulated to left-wing groups and some in Congress who are demanding show trials over this program. ... An honest and thorough review of the enhanced interrogation program must also assess the likely damage done to US national security by Mr. Obama's decision to release the memos." Hoekstra said on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, "This is some reckless behavior on the part of this Administration."
President Obama yesterday traveled to Newton, Iowa, to promote his alternative energy proposals as a way to strengthen the economy. The Des Moines Register reports that Obama "announced plans to allow off-shore wind-energy production, a development that could spur Iowa's burgeoning renewable energy industry." Obama said, "On this Earth Day, it is time for us to lay a new foundation for economic growth by beginning a new era of energy exploration in America." The Cedar Rapids Gazette notes Obama spoke "to an invitation only crowd" at a plant once owned by Maytag. The President "saw symbolism in the plant being used to create components for renewable energy production to power the household appliance that had been built there by generations of Newton workers." However, the AP says the "wind energy plant where he spoke, and received a tour beforehand, is a shadow of what it replaced." While Maytag "employed some 4,000 in a town of 16,000 residents," Trinity Structural Towers "has roughly 90 people working at the old Maytag site." The New York Times Obama "conceded that it would take more than clean-energy jobs to bring this town fully back to life."
The networks reported Obama's trip in the larger context of Earth Day, with ABC World News noting the President "visited a former Iowa appliance factory which now produces wind power, and stressed that the US has to lead the world in renewable energy." NBC Nightly News briefly mentioned that "the President promoted his alternative energy plan and the creation of environmentally friendly jobs."
Obama Officials Stop Short Of Backing House Climate Bill The AP reports the Obama Administration "called a Democratic House proposal to tackle climate change a 'jobs bill' and an investment in clean energy technology, rejecting Republican criticism that the increase in energy costs will undermine the economy." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu "broadly endorsed the draft bill," but "cautioned that the White House will work with House Democrats to fine tune the legislation in coming weeks." The New York Times reports both Chu and Jackson "said they were still studying the details of the 648-page draft," and "said they would work closely with Congress to help fashion acceptable legislation."
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The New York Times reports Democrats "are tempted to use their political muscle to speed passage of health care legislation with minimal concessions to the Republican minority." Bloomberg News reports Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said the White House "is pressing Democrats to use the parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation that allows measures to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes that are needed to overcome stalling tactics." The Hill says lawmakers "from both sides of the aisle have shifted their positions on the use of" reconciliation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "called the use of reconciliation 'untoward' in 2001, but recently said he may embrace it for healthcare reform." And Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who defended using reconciliation when pushing President Bush's tax cuts through the Senate, "has warned Democrats not to do it in 2009." Roll Call reports that "key GOP Senators are signaling plans to avenge" the use of reconciliation "by employing parliamentary tactics to trip up even the most noncontroversial of agenda items."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments on Pakistan during Capitol Hill testimony are receiving heavy media coverage. NBC Nightly News reported Clinton called Pakistan's "continuing instability a 'mortal threat to world peace,' and sent a tough message to that nation's leaders, who will be meeting with President Obama in two weeks now." She accused Pakistan of 'abdicating to the Taliban' by surrendering so much territory to the extremists."
The CBS Evening News said Clinton yesterday "was slamming the peace deal Pakistan's government made with militants in Swat Valley." Clinton said, "I think that we cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan." The New York Times says Clinton accused "the Pakistani government of caving in to the Taliban." The Times calls Clinton's comments "striking," but said they "may have been aimed not just at Pakistan's rulers but at American lawmakers reluctant to provide more money for a region that has been a trouble spot." The Washington Post says Clinton's "unusually blunt statement...reflects the unease within the Obama administration" regarding the Pakistani government, while the Financial Times says she "employed the administration's strongest language yet on Pakistan," but "may further complicate relations." McClatchy reports, "Senior US defense and intelligence officials...say the situation in Pakistan is deteriorating rapidly and acknowledge that they have no strategy to stem the slide."
Taliban Now Within 60 Miles Of Pakistan's Capital Clinton's comments came as NBC Nightly News reported that the Taliban "has seized control of more territory, this time in a strategically important region." The CBS Evening News said the Taliban "are taking over more and more of Pakistan every day," and are now "only 60 miles away" from Islamabad.
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The AP reports, "An ethics complaint has been filed against" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), "claiming her national political interests are hurting Alaskans," specifically citing her travel to Indiana this month for an anti-abortion dinner, but the Anchorage Daily News says Palin's office "shot back, calling the complaint outrageous and the allegations false, ridiculous, and an abuse of the state ethics act."
With the New York State Board of Elections reporting today that Scott Murphy's (D) lead in the NY20 special has grown to 365 votes, The Politico reports that some state Republicans are holding out "little hope" that Jim Tedisco (R) will be able to pull out the win.
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The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Norm Coleman (R) "asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to set a slower timetable than his rival seeks in the next phase of the protracted U.S. Senate race," proposing "to the court that his appeal of Democrat Al Franken's victory in the recent Senate election trial be argued no sooner than mid-May, two weeks later than Franken suggested on Tuesday."
A Public Policy Polling (D) survey of 1,050 Colorado voters taken April 17-19 shows appointed Sen. Michael Bennet's (D) approval rating at just 34%, and he trails former Rep. Bob Beauprez (R) 43%-42% in a general election trial heat, though he holds single-digit leads over three lesser-known potential GOP challengers. PPP pollster Dean Debnam said, "These numbers for Michael Bennet are not very good. The good news for him is that he still hasn't had the opportunity to define himself the way he wants to the voters in a campaign, and when he has the opportunity to do that next year he may fare better than he is now."
The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) on Wednesday "flatly refused to apologize for his testimonials to the honesty of his now-indicted predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, when the two ran for re-election as a team in 2006, and the AP (4/23) adds Quinn "says apologies aren't necessary and instead the focus should be on cleaning up Illinois government."
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Jay Leno: "Today is Earth Day, or as the oil companies call it, Wednesday."
Jay Leno: "To celebrate Earth Day, a group of schoolchildren in Washington each planted a hair plug in Joe Biden's head."
Jay Leno: Even Dick Cheney "was into Earth Day. Did you see what he said today? He called for the use of only recycled water when waterboarding prisoners."
Jay Leno: Next month in Toronto, "former President George W. Bush will debate former President Bill Clinton. ... The question of the debate: Is it worse to lie to your wife or lie to the entire country?"
Jimmy Fallon: "General Motors is joining in" for Earth Day. GM "is helping out the environment by doing everything they can to not sell cars. It's working."
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