I watched President Bush's press conference and there is a lot to think about from it. (Full text here.) For example, Bush said he needs a bill by May. The idea of the money running out April 15 was obviously nonsense. He reiterated he will veto all funding bills that "set an artificial timeline."

I think that the Obama idea of "ratcheting up pressure" is a silly nonstarter. Bush has ignored the 2006 elections, the Iraq Study Group, nonbinding resolutions and he will ignore any Congressional initiative that attempts to tell hm how to run the war.

Specifically about the Reid-Feingold bill, Bush said it was a legitimate exercise of Congressional power but that he just disagrees and he will veto it too. End of the story right? Wrong. It is the beginning of the story.

More....

Tennessee goes for its 7th NCAA women's championship against Rutgers.

I am not well versed in the women's game, but I do know Summit is a legendary Wooden-like coach and Candace Parker is the Oden of the women's tournament.

The high level athleticism the women bring today is incredible. There was always great shooting.

The Cult of Obama is screeching at the criticism their hero is receiving. He can fix it with one statement.

I endorse the Reid-Feingold bill. I am co-sponsoring the Reid-Feingold bill.

How hard is that? Apparently, it is too hard for Senator Barack Obama at this time. Till then, the Obama Cult needs to suck it up.

As Senators, what makes Senator Obama different than Senator Hillary Clinton? Nothing.

Any top tier Presidential candidate want to prove their mettle? Endorse the Reid-Feingold bill.

P.S. Senator Harry Reid is NOT Dennis Kucinich. He is the leader of the Senate. This is the MAINSTREAM Democratic position now.

The Florida Gators become the first team to repeat as NCAA mens' basketball champions since the Duke Blue Devils won the title in 1991-92.

Three top flight starters, Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer, turned down the riches of the NBA for a chance to repeat as champions.

The Mighty Gators are a great TEAM. Greg Oden was the best player on the court. Florida was the best team we've seen since at least Duke.

Let's Go Gators!

I'm at the airport, heading back to Denver (slowly, having to change planes in Chicago) from rural Connecticut where I've spent the last five days with Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake and her three big poodles, Kobe, Lucy and Katie.

Jane is amazing. She is an eternal optimist and determined to get as much joy out of every day as she can, despite her cancer, which I'm convinced she is going to beat. We walked up and down the long winding hilly road to her house for 60 minutes every day. We cooked and ate only the freshest fish, greens, fruits and vegetables. She looks as gorgeous as always, has a strong appetite, laughs a lot and was great company. If I didn't have a day job, I would have stayed longer.

The dogs are incredibly smart, sensitive, respectful and loving. I'm going to miss them.

We didn't see much news, the days just kind of flew by, so here's another open thread to bring us all up to speed.

I should be back to regular blogging Tuesday or Wednesday.

Kudos to New Mexico Governor and presidential hopeful Bill Richardson who has signed the state legislature's medical marijuana bill into law.

New Mexico now joins Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest. Richardson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, actively lobbied for the bill's passage.

"Governor Richardson's action is the clearest sign yet that the politicians are finally catching up with the people on the issue of medical marijuana," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C. "Support for medical marijuana is overwhelming -- 78 percent in a national Gallup poll -- and backing from the medical community is solidifying as new research continues to document marijuana's medical benefits. Support in Congress keeps growing, and this could be the year the federal government finally ends its cruel attacks on the sick in states where medical marijuana is legal."

As more and more states pass medical marijuana laws, and they will, thanks to the great work of Marijuana Policy Project,NORML and patients' rights groups, it's time for a change in federal enforcement policies.

There's an in depth profile of Monica Goodling at Law.com today.

It begins with a discussion of her taking the 5th (the only smart position in my opinion) but continues in the section "Born for the Job" with connections to Mark Corallo, Barbara Comstock and the rest of the cabal.

After graduating in 1999, Goodling landed a job at the D.C. headquarters of the Republican National Committee just as the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign was ramping up. Goodling's position put her inside the newly created war room for political opposition research. There, she worked alongside a crew of party faithful who would later shepherd her through the ranks at Justice.

Among Goodling's close associates were Barbara Comstock, head of opposition research for the RNC and later the chief spokeswoman for Ashcroft; Griffin, Comstock's deputy, whom Goodling would later help to win the interim appointment to replace one of the eight ousted U.S. Attorneys in Arkansas; and Mark Corallo, who in 2003 took the helm of the Justice Department's Public Affairs Office after Comstock.

Goodling quickly won Comstock's trust for her hard work and talent for digging up information on tort litigation and judicial nominations. And when Griffin left in 2001, Goodling became Comstock's deputy. They helped prepare Ashcroft and Theodore Olson for their confirmation hearings to be attorney general and solicitor general, respectively.

When Comstock became Ashcroft's spokeswoman in 2002, she brought Goodling along as her deputy. Goodling stayed for three years. In no time, Goodling became "indispensable" to the office, says Corallo, who became Ashcroft's spokesman in 2003. "I have never known anybody that works harder or does better work than her."

She even went along on Ashcroft's traveling road shows.

More...

While many in Congress purport to want to end the Iraq Debacle, only one proposal is an actual proposal which uses the true powers of Congress to end the war- the "Not Spending" Power. The proposal is that of Senators Harry Reid and Russ Feingold. The magic words are the following:

c) Prohibition on Use of Funds - No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after March 31, 2008.

Any proposal that does NOT include this phrasing is merely for show. Having the same date or goals is nice and all, but absent those magic words, no proposal from the Congress is truly a proposal to end the Iraq Debacle, given who the President currently is.

Chicago Police Superintendant Philip Cline has announced his resignation amid the growing scandal of videotaped police beatings of suspects.

Cline has been under fire recently stemming from the conduct of Officer Anthony Abbate and other unnamed officers who are accused of beating citizens in separate barroom incidents caught on video.

....As the world was getting its first look at the grainy, graphic video of the burly Abbate pummeling bartender Karolina Obrycka, records that were made public showed that the Police Department had quietly filed misdemeanor charges against the officer a week earlier.

As discussed here, the Solicitor General adopted a narrow procedural approach to avoiding the SCOTUS hearing the Boumediene Gitmo habeas case.

The approach was successful:

"There is no need for this court to assess the adequacy of the...review before it has taken place," Solicitor General Paul Clement, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote.

The court is likely to be faced with the same cases it rejected Monday once the appeals court begins conducting reviews. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter voted to accept the appeals. "The questions presented are significant ones warranting our review," Breyer wrote. In addition, Breyer and Souter said they would have heard the case on a fast track, as the detainees requested.

And in a sign that the court has not had its final say on the matter, Justices Anthony Kennedy and John Paul Stevens made clear in a separate opinion that they were rejecting the appeals only on procedural grounds.

Yes, the New Age "Four Horseman" - Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts, voted to not hear the appeal without reservation.

This is a major development, imo:

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER COSPONSORS FEINGOLD BILL TO REDEPLOY TROOPS FROM IRAQ

Washington D.C. -­ U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced today that they are introducing legislation that will effectively end the current military mission in Iraq and begin the redeployment of U.S. forces. . . . The bill ends funding for the war, with three narrow exceptions, effective March 31, 2008.

“I am pleased to cosponsor Senator Feingold’s important legislation,” Reid said. “I believe it is consistent with the language included in the supplemental appropriations bill passed by a bipartisan majority of the Senate. If the President vetoes the supplemental appropriations bill and continues to resist changing course in Iraq, I will work to ensure this legislation receives a vote in the Senate in the next work period.”

“I am delighted to be working with the Majority Leader to bring our involvement in the Iraq war to an end,” Feingold said. “Congress has a responsibility to end a war that is opposed by the American people and is undermining our national security. By ending funding for the President’s failed Iraq policy, our bill requires the President to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq.”

Just another Monday night national championship matchup between the Mighty Florida Gators and THE Ohio State University. This one for the NCCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Oh by the way, Florida is looking to become the first repeat champion since Duke in 1991-92.

Who should Talk Left readers root for? Far be it from me to point you in a direction (Let's Go Gators!), but let me remind you what one of the Gator stars thinks of President George Bush:

He had to be talked into the Gators' White House visit last April. His disdain for President Bush was obvious when Noah dressed down for the occasion, shirttail flapping. . . . "I don't really agree with his views," Noah said of the President. "I don't really agree with what he stands for."

Just sayin' . . . Let's Go Gators!