Dan Froomkin - Put a Fork in Him

Bush is now lamer than a lame duck with GOP Senators rejecting his immigration plan compounding his troubles.

In the space of a single short week, Bush was hit with more Republican defections on Iraq, more bad news from the battlefield, more subpoenas from a hostile Congress, a new assault on his signature education plan and embarrassing disclosures about his vice president.

"He also found himself in a fight over executive privilege that begs comparisons to Richard Nixon's legal battles during the Watergate scandal.

"'It's the incredible shrinking presidency. He's lost battles in the courts. He's lost battles in Iraq. He's lost battles on Capitol Hill.'"

Julie Mason blogs for the Houston Chronicle: "[A]ll that stuff from Tony Snow about how Bush had 60 votes in the Senate and a majority of members supported many of the provisions in the immigration bill? Well, apparently not. Even as late as this morning they were saying it was too close to call. Really? ....W[what a butt-kickin'!"

Bush is also lying again: "Al Qaida is the main enemy for Shia, Sunni and Kurds alike," Bush asserted. "Al Qaida's responsible for the most sensational killings in Iraq. They're responsible for the sensational killings on U.S. soil."

"U.S. military and intelligence officials, however, say that Iraqis with ties to al Qaida are only a small fraction of the threat to American troops. The group known as al Qaida in Iraq didn't exist before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, didn't pledge its loyalty to al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden until October 2004 and isn't controlled by bin Laden or his top aides...."

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel's proposal to withhold Cheney's budget failed in the House yesterday -- but only by a vote of 217 to 209 reports the WP.

Emanuel argued "that if Cheney is not part of the executive branch, then the spending bill funding that branch need not bother with his office. . . .

"Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) wondered aloud whether he could make himself into an executive branch official, to get 'a security detail and all that.' Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex.) postulated that if Cheney is now part of the legislative branch, 'that means that we can expel him.'"