Sources Confirm Rove is a Target
By Jason Leopold,

On Monday, I had a conversation with several sources close to the CIA leak case who told me that Karl Rove would return to the grand jury Wednesday for the fifth time. Those sources told me that his appearance was the result of a target letter sent to his attorney Robert Luskin by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. The same sources said that Rove's status changed from being a "subject" of the probe to becoming a "target," meaning that Fitzgerald had enough evidence linking Rove to a crime and told that to Luskin. On Wednesday morning, when the news broke that Rove was going to testify for an unprecedented fifth time, I confirmed with sources close to the investigation that Rove did in fact receive a target letter. This was the case, they said. I then immediately called Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, for a comment about the target letter. Luskin didn't respond.

But upon leaving court Wednesday, after Rove testified for four hours, Luskin issued a statement saying that Rove was not a target of the probe. My sources maintain that Rove is a target and that Luskin understood that. I called Luskin again to get his statement. But he did not return the call. Rove's spokesman at the White House also weighed in, specifically denying my report that Rove received a target letter. This is the same White House that has refused to discuss this case for more than two years but decided on Wednesday to break its silence and respond to my story and deny that it's true. That seems odd.

There's just something about Fox News.

Not only does the cable giant have more than twice as many primetime viewers as the closest competition, but it's often the network of choice for the White House administration in terms of big-name interviews.

Now it turns out Fox is the home of the next White House press secretary, Tony Snow.

Note: I have been working on this, on and off, for some time. This is the headline and the speech, or variation thereof, that I have been imagining. The names of the people and the dates of the events are obviously not to be taken seriously, I am not a seer. But I don't know how we can step back from the brink, and I don't see how any of this is going to be settled without bloodshed, perhaps even on a massive scale. If you click on the image you can see a larger image of the newspaper front page, or you can download a PDF here. Again, I hasten to point out that these are not things that I want to see happen, but simply don't know how they can be avoided.

Text of the President's speech before a joint session of Congress (click above link to read the whole article)

Houston Hospital Votes To End Woman's Life With Bush Law

The countdown has begun on the life of Andrea Clark, a patient at St. Luke's Hospital. Six days left.

No, she's not terminal, her family says and she's not brain dead. Her sisters say that she wants to live. The Houston hospital is going to unilaterally remove a woman from life support, apparently based on the decision of a lone physician even though her family wants her to continue to receive care.

The central issue in the Andrea Clark case is the same as that in the Terri Schindler Schiavo case, whether the state should be able to sanction the removal of a human being from life support.

What's even more significant in the Clark case is that the Texas bill that allows health care providers to end a human life despite the wishes of the patient and the patient's family was signed into law in 1999 by President George W. Bush as Texas Governor. However, in 2005, he rushed back to the White House from Easter vacation to sign a bill rushed through Congress which was designed to save the life of Terri Schiavo because of his "presumption in favor of life".

Full Article Here

President George Bush was left red-faced after being told he couldn't rent the hotel room he wanted - because Mick Jagger had already taken it.

(snip)

Aides tried had hoped the legendary singer would give it up for the president but Jagger reportedly refused.

A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "White House officials had wanted to reserve the suite and all the rooms on the first floor, but Mick and the Stones had already booked every one of them."

"Bush's people seemed to be under the impression that they would just hand over the suites but there was no way Mick going to do that."

(LINK)

The women, whose ages range from 50 to 91, have all entered not guilty pleas and some said they would ignore any court-imposed penalty if found guilty.

"Coming to this damn court is nothing compared to what is happening to people in Iraq," said Marie Runyon, 91

(snip)

"We have a right to be angry," added Vinie Burrows, who declined to specify her age. "The war in Iraq translates into a war against the people of the United States, because the billions of dollars being spent are draining money from social services, health and education."

LINK

Bush, GOP Approval Ratings Hit New Lows

NEW YORK - More Americans disapprove than approve of how George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Congress are doing their jobs, while a majority approves of Condoleezza Rice. President Bush's approval hits a record low of 33 percent this week, clearly damaged by sinking support among Republicans.

Opinions are sharply divided on whether Rumsfeld should resign as secretary of defense. In addition, views on the economy are glum; most Americans rate the current economy negatively, and twice as many say it feels like the economy is getting worse rather than better. These are just some of the findings of the latest FOX News national poll.

Eleven years after the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, survivors, terrorism experts and law enforcement authorities fear that lessons learned from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing are being forgotten as the nation focuses on international threats.

(snip)

The number of organized hate groups in the U.S. has risen 33 percent since 2000 and the potential for another domestic terrorist attack is on the rise, said Mark Potok, director of Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which monitors hate groups.

"One of the great lessons of the Oklahoma City bombing is that the domestic radical right poses extremely serious threats," Potok said. "It taught us that not all terrorists speak different languages, wear turbans or speak to different Gods."

(LINK)

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