Focus on the Family founder James Dobson (the evangelical leader called by Karl Rove to help sell the Harriet Miers nomination) is revealed in a feature article by Pulitzer prize winner Eileen Welsome in this month's 5280. And on the Eighth Day, Dr. Dobson Created Himself is free and online, don't miss it.

The evangelical leader is going strong at 70:

Today, his behemoth ministry, based at the foot of the Rockies, reaches more than 220 million people around the globe through its radio and television programs, magazines, books, videos, audio recordings, and a powerful website that offers webzines, podcasts, music, and even movie reviews.

Tom Delay credits him with "walking him back to Jesus." Republicans generally are in his debt:

by TChris

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld found it "strange" to be asked to swear to tell the truth to investigators who wondered "how his department came to nearly squander $30 billion leasing several hundred new tanker aircraft that its own experts had decided were not needed." Rumsfeld is evidently unfamiliar with procedures that require honest responses to questions. No suprise, then, that Rumsfeld responded by citing "poor memory, loose office procedures, and a general distraction with 'the wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan." Typical of Rumsfeld's evasive answers:

"I don't remember approving it. But I certainly don't remember not approving it, if you will."

Meanwhile, the PBS series "Frontline" airs a report tonight that relates the triumph "of Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over the administration's internal war skeptics." This review suggests that the report could have been subtitled "How Dick and Don Rolled the CIA and State Department and Got Us Into This Mess."

by TChris

Shortly after being reelected in 2004, Arlen Specter earned the wrath of conservative extremists by suggesting that anti-abortion judges would have difficulty winning Senate confirmation. Specter learned the power of conservative outrage when his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee was threatened. Specter executed a quick flip-flop by assuring extremists that he "would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue."

A year-and-a-half later, the inability of conservative extremists to govern has been exposed, and their death grip on Specter has weakened. While Specter has shown little inclination to oppose any of the president's judicial nominees, he's recently been slapping the Bush administration, apparently content in the knowledge that the president and his supporters are too weak to hit back with any force.

Yesterday, the Justice Department sent Matthew Friedrich to stonewall the Judiciary Committee's interest in Alberto Gonzales' assertion that journalists can be prosecuted for divulging classified information. Specter put up a fuss when Friedrich dodged his questions.

by TChris

If it's important for an elected representative or staffer to take a "fact-finding" trip, it's reasonable for taxpayers to pay for the trip. If the trip isn't in the public interest, the politician or staffer should stay home, or pay for the trip out of his or her own pocket.

Over a 5½-year period ending in 2005, members of Congress and their aides took at least 23,000 trips -- valued at almost $50 million -- financed by private sponsors, many of them corporations, trade associations and nonprofit groups with business on Capitol Hill. ...

A nine-month analysis of congressional disclosure forms for travel from January 2000 through June 2005 done by the Center for Public Integrity, American Public Media and Northwestern University's Medill News Service turned up thousands of costly excursions -- at least 200 trips to Paris, 150 to Hawaii and 140 to Italy.

by TChris

Criticism of Homeland Security spending that enriched smaller communities at the expense of dense urban areas led to assurances that spending would be allocated according to need. Did Omaha and Louisville deserve 40 percent increases while New York City and Washington D.C. had their antiterrorism grants slashed?

The Senate today confirmed Gen. Michael Hayden as Director of the CIA. The vote was 78 to 15.

Sen. Arlen Specter voted against Hayden, as did Russ Feingold.

President Bush named his new chief domestic policy advisor yesterday. He is Karl Zinsmeister. Bush described him as an "innovative thinker" that would bring "energy and a fresh perspective."

Josh Gerstein at the New York Daily News did some checking. Greg Sargent at American Prospect files a report, Straight From the Horse's Mouth.

by TChris

It has frequently been suggested that if English is to be enshrined as the national language, the president should learn to speak it. This editorial opines that President Bush is merely enriching the language with words of his own invention.

"Suicider" is in none of the standard dictionaries, not even the 12-volume Oxford English Dictionary considered the definitive standard. At least the word is not there yet; the president is a determined individual.

He used "suicider" again Tuesday. Four times. In the White House. In the stately East Room. At a serious diplomatic function. In front of a visiting head of government, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. How much more serious can you get?

So there it is. "Suicider" is a for-real word. The Decider has spoken.

Meanwhile, Dan Froomkin argues that the president's obsession with "suiciders" is out of touch with the reality of the violence in Iraq.

Lloyd Bentsen, 85, Former Senator, Secretary of the Treasury and Vice Presidential candidate on the 1988 Democratic ticket with Michael Dukakis has died at his home in Texas. He had had two strokes in recent years. His most priceless moment came during his 1988 debate with Dan Quayle:

Quayle: ... I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration if that unfortunate event would ever occur.

Moderator: Senator Bentsen.

Bentsen: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.

R.I.P., Senator Bentson

No surprise here, but General Michael Hayden was approved by the House Intelligence Committee today as CIA Director and now will go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Today's vote was 9-3. Voting against him were three Democrats, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden and Evan Bayh.

The ACLU responds:

The Cato Institute has published a report, Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush. You can read it online or they will mail you a free copy. My copy came in the mail last week, and I highly recommend it. It's eminently readable, in the format of a magazine. It addresses everything from the torture memos to searches and seizures, from wiretapping to habeas corpus.

Here's the conclusion:

Is Dick Cheney the next "Official A"?

Late Friday, Patrick Fitzgerald filed a new pleading in the Scooter Libby case. Empty Wheel at Next Hurrah posts the pleading and analyzes the contents, including this exhibit, a copy of Joseph Wilson's July 6, 2003 New York Times op-ed with Cheney's handwritten notations.

In the notations, Cheney writes,

Have they done this sort of thing before? Send an Amb to answer a question? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did his wife send him on a junket?