12/9: Imagine There's No Controversy

More than Pres. Bush, more than DNC chair Howard Dean, Sen. Hillary Clinton or even Karl Rove, one of the most visible personages on the blogs over the last 24 hours was none other than John Lennon. 12/8 was the 25th anniv. of his murder, and many in the political blogosphere weighed in with their thoughts, including Jeralyn Merritt, Joe Gandelman, Ann Althouse, Gerard Vanderleun, Bill Nienhuis, and even political treatments from David Corn on handguns and lesser-known The Solid Surfer, who suggests Lennon would be a GOPer today. This a.m., "John Lennon" is still ranked near the top of Technorati's most-searched phrases.

So what does this mean for the Blogometer? Just that this already quiet week ends even quieter, and today's edition is shorter than the usual.

IRAQ: Goodbye Dumbocrats, Hello Defeatocrats

Speaking at the Nat'l Press Club on 12/8, ex-Pentagon Dep. Sec./World Bank pres. Paul Wolfowitz said: "If somebody could have given you a Lloyds of London guarantee that weapons of mass destruction would not possibly be used, one would have contemplated much more support for internal Iraqi opposition and not having the United States take the job on the way we did." The report gets prominent play at Huffington Post, heading it: "Maybe No War If We Had Known There Were No WMDs..." Lefty Tim Dunlop at The Road to Surfdom: "So can we finally be clear on this: the administration had three "concerns" about Iraq -- WMD, links to terrorists, and Iraqi oppression -- but only the WMD was considered serious enough to justify an invasion and that became the case for invasion. As it turned out, the first two were wrong. The third one was true, but to them, it wasn't a good enough reason to invade. The notion that it was about liberation first and foremost, or that that was even a serious concern, is a rationale used by the administration once it became apparent that there were no WMD." Conservative Paul Mirengoff covered the speech's focus on trade, but followed up when he saw Washington Post's Dana Milbank had focused on the Iraq angle: "Milbank seems to consider it evasive of the World Bank President to deliver a speech about issues relating to the Bank's mission, when he could have been, in Milbank's phrase, saying he was sorry for the war in Iraq. ... Milbank twice refers to Wolfowitz's prediction that U.S. forces would be welcomed by Iraqis as liberators. The fact is that many Iraqis, particularly Shiites and Kurds, did so welcome us when we overthrew Saddam Hussein. But even if one disputes this judgment, Milbank's account suggests that Wolfowitz was further off the mark if he believed he would be welcomed with civility by the National Press Club."

Last p.m., Drudge Report reported that the RNC is putting out a video showing a "white flag waving over images of Democrat leaders making anti-war remarks." Dean is pictured in the Drudge version. Header at Conservative Outpost: "It's about time!" Header and 1st line from A Lady's Ruminations: "The White Flag Wavers"; "No, not the French this time." Power Line approves: "The Democrats need to pay the price of their defeatism." The title of their post is "Defeatocrats"; in an unrelated post, Hugh Hewitt also employs the term. It's similar to the term "Defeaticrat Party" from a recent Mark Steyn column, and the 1st usage appears to be on the blog Sharp Knife in 10/03. Austin Bay calls the ad "long-overdue," but warns, "there are problems with this 'smart guy' interpretation. ... The White House is filled with 'political cycle' types. They may win elections, but they don't win wars. This White House needs a better balance."

On 12/7, House GOPers John Kline (MN) and Jack Kingston (GA) held an RNC-arranged conf. call with conservative bloggers to discuss their recent trips to Iraq. Kingston started late due to a meeting with Rumsfeld and Bush; Kline began, and among other things shared a few experiences of currently deployed Black Hawk pilot Dan Kline, his son. Among those participating were Blogs for Bush, Kennedy v. Machine, Blogs of War and Decision '08. According Tim Chapman, Kline said Dems have "overreached," and that they "have a wish, not a plan." They also criticized Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). Kline and Kingston agreed with John Hawkins of Right Wing News that Pelosi and Dean "understand that the troops are coming home anyway and are just trying to steal credit for that, when it happens." Kingston said this was one area the MSM has not illuminated: "We can't get this information out in the mainstream media, so it's up to the blogs..."

RUMSFELD: If McClellan Says He's Got Bush's "Full Confidence," It's All Over

New York Daily News' DeFrank and Bazinet reported 12/8 on the rumors that come early '06, Defense Sec. Don Rumsfeld is out and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) is in at the Pentagon. Later in the day, Reuters reported a denial from Rumsfeld himself. OR-based Ron Beasley comments: "Take this with a grain of salt. If Bush is to gain any credibility on the war in Iraq Rumsfeld must go. Regardless how you may feel about the war in Iraq unless you are totally delusional you have to see that Rumsfeld's tenure has been marked by incredible incompetence. Supper hawks like Bill Kristol agree."

Andrew Sullivan is optimistic: "The timing may be imminent. With Rumsfeld gone, Cheney sidelined, and the McCain amendment passed, the omens look good for restoring credibility to the war effort."

TORTURE: Don't Look Now, But We May Have An Actual Debate Here ...

New York Times reports, "it was not until after" an al Qaeda suspect named Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (see 11/7 Blogometer) he was handed over to Egypt that he made the most specific assertions, which were later used by the Bush administration as the foundation for its claims that Iraq trained Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons." Huffington Post posts the link above all else, with the header "The Truth Comes Out..." Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum is skeptical of this line, from the Times: "American officials ... have defended the practice, saying it draws on language and cultural expertise of American allies, particularly in the Middle East, and provides an important tool for interrogation." He comments: "Ah yes, 'cultural expertise.' It's funny how little we normally care about these countries' cultural expertise, but then suddenly develop trememdous respect for it as soon as it comes time to interrogate prisoners." Left-leaning Yale prof Jack Balkin: "The ticking time bomb scenario often used to justify torture generally assumes that we already know there is a ticking time bomb and that we must resort to torture to elicit necessary information to stop it without delay. The prior question, however, is where we got our understanding that there was a ticking time bomb in the first place." AMERICAblog's Chris in Paris: "This goes so far beyond an impeachable offense, it should be reviewed at The Hague."

From the right, Troy State prof Steven Taylor writes at PoliBlog: "There is debate to be had about coercive interrogation, and I suppose we are having it (although the quality of the debate is lacking, it seems to me). ... The idea that the right kind of pressure on a person will result in the truth being spilled strikes me as a highly dubious proposition. Of course, there is also the problem of relying too heavily on one source for key information. That will get one in trouble in reporting and it will get one in trouble in a research paper, so it is hardly shocking that it would get one in trouble over matters of war and peace. "

PLAMEGATE: Are Other Plamegate Watchers Necessary?

On 12/7, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald convened a new grand jury, and on 12/8 he deposed Time's Viveca Novak at her atty's office. CNN also reports, Fitzgerald deposed Karl Rove atty Robert Luskin "last Friday. Time and Luskin refused to answer CNN's questions about Luskin's conversation with Novak." Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake: "Can I just say it is absolutely crazy out there? Nobody involved in this little drama (except, we presume, Fitzgerald) has any clue what the hell is going on. I called around trying to nail down the CNN story about Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin being deposed last Friday and nobody else had even heard of it." Washington Post reports: "A source familiar with Novak's account said she believes the conversation took place in March or May, and definitely took place after February 2004, when Rove first testified before the grand jury. But one person close to the case said the conversation took place before Rove's first grand jury appearance in February. This person said the conversation was not the event that led Rove to change his testimony." Hamsher follows up on the same: "It makes absolutely no sense that Luskin would be the promulgator of the pre-February tale that is certainly in circulation. Hard to know what's truth, what's spin and what can be chalked up to the impenetrability of the moment." Daily Kos' Armando asks, "would it not be strange that Luskin would be arguing for the earlier date? I think not. And here's why. Luskin is stating that the Novak conversation is NOT why Rove 'clarified' his testimony." Wampum points out, per Rule 3.7 of the DC Bar's conduct rules, Luskin cannot be both a witness and counsel, so "would be ethically bound to step aside" if the case goes to trial.

PRIMARY CALENDAR: NH Needs Help? No Hope?

At The Fix, Washington Post's Cillizza reports that the DNC's primary calendar commis. is set to recommend the IA caucuses remain the 1st delegate-allocating contest in '08, but up to 2 primaries or caucuses may be scheduled prior to NH. He quotes NH Dem chair Kathy Sullivan: "Frontloading the calendar with new caucuses would make the process narrower and less democratic, and it would be a huge setback to Democrats' efforts to carry Iowa and New Hampshire in the future."

Taegan Goddard quotes a conversation with ex-USA Today columnist/Salon DC bureau chief Walter Shapiro, who makes his case for the NH primary: "New Hampshire is the state most likely to slow a rush to judgment. What New Hampshire offers is a chance for voters and reporters to see would be presidents away from the trappings of the Imperial Candidate Machine. There is an anti-royalist streak in the state that prompts voters to rebel against wind-up candidates ... being championed by party kingmakers."

ECONOMY: Wave Jumping

For some time, right-libertarian Jon Henke at QandO has been watching, and challenging, the assertion that 150K new jobs are needed each month just to provide jobs for new entrants to the work force: "This is simply false. It may have been true at another time, but it is not true today." He cites BLS numbers showing the number is closer to 110K. A worthwhile debate follows in the comments. Liberal Ezra Klein picked up on the post, asking: "Are his numbers wrong and, if not, what accounts for the drop?" The comments to that post are interesting as well.

CULTURE WARS: The Passion Of The Christmas

Seeing the Forest's Dave Johnson warns of "mainstreaming extremism," i.e. GOPers "injecting hard KKK stuff, disguised to sound more moderate, into mainstream outlets." His example is from Townhall, where ex-LAT writer Burt Prelutsky gives his take on the "war against Christmas": "I blame my fellow Jews. When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian, agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists, and the ACLU, at the forefront." Johnson quotes from the piece, although not this section, and comments: "You think I've been kidding when I say that 'liberal media' comes straight out of the old far-right 'Jew media' and 'Jew York Times' stuff? 'Liberal' and 'Jew' used to be interchangable words for the Right. They have always been able to talk about the ACLU to get votes in the South, but here you see what they have meant."

One Good Move hosts video of a "war on Christmas"-related segment from "The Colbert Report."

THE MARCH OF BLOGS: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Denver Rocky Mountain News' Sprengelmeyer and Bartels report, Gov. Bill Owens (R-CO) "warned state employees that they would be subject to disciplinary action if they use state computers to post comments" critical of Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) and others at political blogs, notably Colorado Pols. More: "The directive came after the Rocky Mountain News informed the governor that anonymous and sometimes caustic postings from someone using the nickname 'Real Deal' had been traced to a computer" in the gov's office. On 12/8, Owens CoS Bob Lee issued a memo reading in part: "It has become apparent that Executive and Legislative computers have been used to post commentary on political web logs (blogs). Today, the governor ordered that we develop new policy prohibiting the use of government computers from being used to post to any such sites. Please make certain that all members of your respective staffs are notified that this policy is effective immediately."

At Beltway Blogroll, National Journal's Glover reports that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has placed the Porkbusters logo on his Senate website. Glover: "Though only symbolic, the posting of the graphic is yet another milestone for bloggers and even more proof that they are a force to be reckoned with in Washington."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: What It Takes

#2 liberal blogger Duncan "Atrios" Black gives advice: "To have a very high traffic blog a necessary condition is that you post consistently a lot. It means that great writers who take a lot of time to craft their prose are unlikely to have a high traffic blog. That is not unfair or wrong or anything, that's just not how you generate consistently high traffic. If you are a tremendous writer who spends lots of time crafting your prose, blogging is perhaps not the best medium for you except as a useful tool for self promotion if your goal is high daily readership."

LEST WE FORGET: Maybe He Could Get The Guy From American Movie To Direct A Campaign Documentary

Politics1's Ron Gunzburger writes, on 12/8 he added MN GOV Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party nominee/ex-GOP House candidate/ex-pro wrestler Jonathon Sharkey -- aka Rocky "Hurricane" Flash -- to his page for MN campaigns. But there was something wrong. Gunzburger explains: "I had mistakenly described Sharkey ... as a 'Wiccan Dark Priest.' Because of this I quickly received the following email from Sharkey's campaign: 'Thank you very much for placing Jonathon's name for the race for Governor. However, he is a Satanic Dark Priest, not a Wiccan. Wiccans do not believe in Christianity at all. Satanist are against the Christian God ... Can you please update this as soon as your time allows, to avoid the Wiccan Communities becoming angry at Jonathon.'" Gunzburger complied: "We certainly don't want to offend the Wiccans, does we. FYI: Sharkey has also filed paperwork with the FEC to run for President in 2008 as the VWP nominee."