More D.C. Rumors: Rove Has Received Target Letter

Raw Story:

Word on Capitol Hill is that Rove has received a “target letter,” or a letter from the prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson telling him that he is now a target in the investigation. To date, no reporters have been able to confirm this account.

President Bush has declined to say whether he would fire Rove if he were indicted. He has said that he would fire any White House staff that was found guilty in the case.

Others, noticing seeming Administration slip-ups — the response to Katrina and the unexpected groundswell of discontent from conservatives over Miers — suggest the White House may be distracted with something else.

Rumors in the Capital: 22 CIA Leak Indictments Imminent

Radar Magazine:

The D.C. Rumor mill is thrumming with whispers that 22 indictments are about to be handed down on the outed-CIA agent Valerie Plame case. The last time the wires buzzed this loud — that Tom DeLay would be indicted and would step down from his leadership post in the House — the scuttlebutters got it right.

Can it be a coincidence that the White House appears to be distancing President Bush from embattled aide Karl Rove? “He’s been missing in action at more than one major presidential event,” a member of the White House press corps tells us.

If the word on the street is right a second time, we have a bit of advice for Rove: Go with vertical stripes, they’re way more slimming.

Jeb Flip-Flops on Screwing – Whoops! – Drilling Florida

First Jeb said, “No,” then he said, “Yes, but not that way” and now he’s saying, “Oh yeah, baby, more!” Jeb has flip-flopped on drilling for oil off Florida shores more times than the Russian gymnastic squad in the last Olympics. South Florida Sun Sentinel:

Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday he supports federal legislation allowing drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including areas where he aggressively fought energy exploration just four years ago.

The U.S. has only 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, including the Arctic Refuge, but we consume more than 25 percent of the world’s oil; the U.S. can never drill its way to energy independence.

Bush cited new political realities…

Like what political realities? Like global warming from fossil fuel emissions causing hurricanes that wipe out refineries where he wants to put new ones?

This is why it’s so important for environmental protection to be secure from political whim. Marine mammals and coral reefs don’t always realize their guy lost the lost election. Suckers. But since the earth lasts longer than election cycles, it should get top billing.

Environmentalists, Democrats and Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida staunchly oppose the bill, which would allow oil and gas drilling 125 miles from Florida-controlled waters.

They continue to insist that a strong political front in Florida can stop all new drilling in the eastern Gulf.

“Sure they do,” Bush said, deriding their position. “But that’s great. I’ve talked to the fairy godmother about it.”

Has there ever been a more sarcastic and cynical asshole in high office? No, his big brother doesn’t count because he’s not smart enough to be cynical. […]

1918 Killer Flu Came from Birds

Deadly mutations:The Spanish influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918-19 probably originated in birds, according to researchers. U.S. scientists have found the 1918 virus shares genetic mutations with the bird flu virus now circulating in Asia.

Writing in the journal Nature the scientists say their work underscores the threat the current strain poses to humans worldwide. A second paper in Science reveals another U.S. team has successfully re-created the 1918 virus in mice. The virus is contained at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under stringent safety conditions for experiments to understand what made the virus so virulent.

The virus was re-created from virus samples from the remains of victims of the 1918 pandemic, enabling researchers to piece together the entire genetic sequence of the virus. They found the virus contained elements that were new to humans of the time, making it highly virulent. Analysis of the virus’ genetic code revealed mutations with similarities to those in flu viruses found only in birds, such as the H5N1 strain.

Experts believe it is only a matter of time before H5N1 or a similar virus causes many deaths in humans — possibly after combining with a human flu strain. The mutations identified by the U.S. researchers were found in genes that control the virus’ ability to replicate in host cells. Researchers say these mutations may have helped the 1918 virus to replicate more efficiently.

At this stage, the H5N1 strain shares only some, not all, of those mutations. But the mutations may be enough to increase the virulence of the virus, and give it the potential to cause serious human infection without first combining with a known human flu strain. The researchers believe the two other major flu pandemics of the 20th century — in 1957 and 1968 — were caused by human flu viruses that acquired two or three key genes from bird flu virus strains. But they believe the 1918 strain was probably entirely a bird flu virus that adapted to function in humans.

Poll: Miers Is No Roberts

From today’s National Journal PollTrack:

Early polling shows the public is not as keen on President Bush’s choice of White House counsel Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court as it was on his first pick, newly confirmed Chief Justice John Roberts.

Just 44% of respondents to a new CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll rated Miers as a good or excellent candidate for the high court, whereas 51% initially hailed Roberts’ as such. In addition, a 54% majority told pollsters back in July that they had a positive first impression of Roberts, while just 42% said that of Miers.

A Gallup party breakdown shows support for Miers falling down partisan lines, with 72% of Republicans and just a quarter of Democrats giving her positive marks.

In the public’s view, there are already several strikes against Miers. A 46% plurality said they are less likely to support her nomination because she’s never been a judge and 49% worried that her views on controversial issues remain a mystery.

Bush has dismissed accusations that selecting Miers — a long-time friend — was an act of cronyism. However, more than half said they suspected her close ties to the president were a very important factor in her selection. In addition, a 44% plurality said they’re less likely to support the former Dallas lawyer because of those personal ties.

Bush said Tuesday at a Rose Garden press conference that he’d never discussed Miers’ position on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. But the public appeared fairly curious. Attitudes on how much Miers should reveal about her stance on the issue during Senate confirmation hearings nearly matched those taken before Roberts’ vetting. Fifty-five% said senators should insist Miers explain her views on abortion compared to 61% who wanted Roberts to do so.

If confirmed, Miers would replace the first woman named to the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. But gender seemed unimportant to the 82% of respondents who said it wouldn’t have bothered them if Bush hadn’t put forward a female to fill the vacancy.

Judith Miller — Food Sucked But the Money’s Good

Jailhouse profit: Fresh out of her prison stripes, Judith Miller has signed a $1.2 million book deal for her story, according to the New York Post. That comes out to $14,117.65 for each of the 85 days she spent in the hoosegow for refusing to name her confidential source for a story she never wrote. Sounds like good work if you can get it.

NEW York Times jailbird Judy Miller has landed a $1.2 million book deal with Simon & Schuster. The tome — which will presumably detail Miller’s imprisonment for refusing to reveal her source in a probe about a leak of a CIA operative’s name — will be edited by Alice Mayhew, who oversaw Miller’s previous two books, “God Has Ninety-Nine Lives” and “Germs,” huffingtonpost.com reports. After spending 85 days behind bars for refusing to name Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, as her source, Miller was set free after testifying before the grand jury on Friday about two conversations she had with him in July 2003.

Sen. Nelson: Americans Are Fed Up with GOP

Boston.com:

The nation has become fed up with Republican leadership and the United States can still free itself of foreign oil in 10 years if it focuses on alternative fuel like ethanol, Sen. Bill Nelson said Tuesday.

In a wide ranging interview with reporters, Nelson, D-Fla., cited Republicans’ intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, the skyrocketing federal budget deficits and the war in Iraq as reasons why public opinion is turning against the GOP.

“It started with Terri Schiavo,” Nelson said. “I think what you’re seeing is a reaction — that people are saying I have enough of this intolerance and trying to cram their agenda down the people’s throats. People are getting tired of that.

He also points to the White House not responding quickly enough when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans and Mississippi and failing to work with oil companies to reign in rising gas prices.

“I can’t tell you how many Republicans have come up to me and said ‘I am off the reservation because of the fiscal policies of this administration, spending so much money like a drunken sailor,'” Nelson said. “All of these things are coming home to roost.”

Bush’s Birdbrained Response to Bird Flu Threat

Clueless in Washington: President Bush’s statements regarding bird flu Tuesday displayed a complete lack of understanding of the disease, it pandemic potential or how best to meet the imminent threat of the virus spreading to the United States.

Bush suggests he would use the military to forcibly isolate anyone suspected of having the avian flu virus.

Like his reaction to everything else (global terrorism, for instance), Bush plays the military card, saying he would use the army to forcibly isolate anyone suspected of having the avian flu virus. Suddenly, the concept of “enemy combatants” has been expanded to “enemy infectants.”

One of the problems with Bush’s approach (and there are many) is that avian flu is extremely difficult to diagnose. Its symptoms mirror pneumonia and other respiratory virus infections, and it requires a series of complex laboratory tests to definitively determine the presence of the H5N1 virus. To suggest that a kid in a uniform with an M-16 should be charged with making a correct off-the-cuff diagnosis of a person exiting an airplane with a cough and runny nose is simply preposterous.

A more measured and less alarming response would be to call for an increase in antiviral vaccine production and to begin to stockpile that vaccine in advance of the spread of the virus — not to go immediately to the military option.

Once again, Bush has demonstrated a brain-dead inability to respond to a complex problem in any manner other than point a gun at it and pull the trigger.

The danger here is that, instead of killing 2,000 American soldiers and 125,000 Iraqis, Bush’s pathetic stupidity could result in the deaths of millions of Americans.

Lancet: Avian Flu Looms

Voice of reason: As the mainstream press finally begins to take notice of the imminent danger of a global avian flu pandemic, much of the coverage is alarmist and uninformed. Here’s an article from the British medical publication “The Lancet” that calmly lays out what is being done and suggests what needs to be done to avoid a global health catastrophe. Note that the article understates the number of avian flu-related deaths, which currently stands at more than 160.

The avian influenza virus H5N1 has recently been making headlines, none of them reassuring. On Feb 21, Julie Gerberding, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called avian influenza a “very ominous” threat to human beings. Shigeru Omi, WHO Western Pacific Regional Director, said the world is in “the gravest possible danger of a pandemic”. The disease has killed about 46 people, but if the virus mutates sufficiently to enable sustained human-to-human transmission, that number could rise to levels that would dwarf the millions killed in the influenza pandemics of 1918, 1957, and 1968. A report in the Feb 24 issue of Nature suggested that cases are being under-reported: some Vietnamese patients with influenza-like symptoms, but initially cleared of having avian influenza on testing, were later found to carry the H5N1 virus at reanalysis; and some ill persons without typical influenza symptoms also had the virus. The bad news here is that the disease might be much more widespread than previously thought; but the good news is that if so, the mortality rate, now believed to be about 76%, may actually be lower. […]

Is Team Bush Attempting to Plant Miers on the Court As a Buttress against Impeachment Efforts?

Update: Moonie Times: Rove ‘Very Involved’ in Picking Miers

Loyal soldier Earlier, we postulated that nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court was simply a bad decision made by a facile, unimaginative man, who was winging it without input from his minder, Vice President Cheney.

Of course, there could be a much more sinister reason for sending a true-blue Bush-woman to the court. Cheney, Karl Rove et al could be placing her there because they know that investigations into the CIA Leak and lobbyist Jack Abramoff will soon bring the world crashing down on their heads – and they are going to need a dependable swing vote – or, assuming she recuses herself on Bush matters, a spy – inside the Supreme Court.

If this sounds like our tin-foil hat is a bit too tight, consider the fact that Miers’ chief qualification for the Supreme Court is her loyalty to President Bush. Since when did loyalty to a president become a qualifier for the judiciary?

And consider the linchpin role the Supreme Court has played in the last two great presidential scandals:

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