Still August in DC

Ms. Harris, is that you? I barely recognized you with your completely new face. Yes, Ms. Harris probably should have chosen a busier time of year to complain that newspapers are 'colorizing' her face to make her look bad.[AP/CNN story] Talk about setting yourself up. Everyone knows that there's nothing going on in Washington in August and the media is scouring for anything that resembles news. Presto: they found something. Looks as if Kate has had some work done recently -- and I'm pretty sure this work required a bit more than a couple of geeks sitting at a computer playing with Photoshop. The 'then' photo is from 2001 and the 'now' photo is from Ms. Harris' official House website. See if you can spot an differences.

Which photo looks more Senatorial?

Quick bits for a good read this weekend:

Novak loses it on CNN. Is the Rove-Plame issue getting to him? [NY Times]

Al-Qaeda says it's Blair's fault. Why do AQ insist on being such bastards? [Financial Times]

McGreevey has a new book deal in the works. I'm shocked! [Wash. Times]

Are Dems grasping at straws over Roberts? The take from Just Inside the Beltway is below -- just scroll down. The take from the Washington Times is here.

Iacocca in the Dogg Pound. What cause could possibly be good enough to pair the Snoop Dogg and Mr. GM? Find out here.

How about those O's. Six weeks ago: first place, two MVP candidates, star on verge of 3000 hits. Today: 10.5 games out of first, manager just fired, star on verge of perjury charges for taking steriods. That's one bad six-week stretch. [Tim Kurkjian explains]

Dem Strategy: We Love You Mr. Roberts?

If the Democrats really want to take the Supreme Court nomination issue and turn it into an advantage for their party they should all begin to do one thing: tell everyone how much they love John Roberts!

Here's the take from Just Inside the Beltway.

Look, this nominee is about as good as democrats could have hoped for from this administration, so why waste energy (not to mention Bush's favorite term --"political capital") fighting him. There seems to be little doubt that he will be confirmed so dems could really pull a number on Republics -- particularly those on the far right -- by embrasing him with open arms. Think about how chapped conservatives would be if every democrat in the Senate was praising the nomination of BUSH'S choice for the Supreme Court every chance they got. They wouldn't know how to react. Those talking points that Karl Rove is working on would suddenly need to be altered a bit. Soon poor George would have a small mutiny on his hands as the likes of Ralph Reed and James Dobson would show up at the White House door demanding to know why he had nominated someone that the democrats like so much.

The democratic party has one serious problem (OK, maybe more than one -- but this is the one I'm focusing on right now): they are seen as cry-babies who dislike anything George Bush does --no matter what. If Bush rescued a pregnant woman from a rushing river, some liberals would say, "Um...she had a purse!" This may play well on Martha's Vineyard, but it's killing the party in the red states. If Democrats are smart they will begin the process of reversing this perception right now.

Politics is a game and you win by out-maneuvering your opponnets whenever you can. Not necessarily by beating them everytime, just out-maneuvering them. Bush made a pretty savvy play by nominating Roberts to begin with; now it's up to the Democrats to counter with a savvy play of their own.

Just Another August in Washington

My how things quiet down in Washington during the month of August. Even the Post has to write about the fact that nothing is going on in town. Here's a quick summary of the kinds of stories that are making news inside the Beltway (and I'm using the term 'news' loosely here).

Katherine Harris -- yes, that Katherine Harris -- tells Sean Hannity that newspapers 'colorize' her face purposely to make it look like she is wearing too much make-up. Um...yeah, I'm sure that's the problem. [Tampa Tribune.]
Oink! Oink! That grunting sound you hear is all the pork coming from members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Actually, I should say all the pork going to members of the House. Apparently it pays to be the leader of the party in control -- just ask Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert. The amount of 'pork' headed back to home districts of key legislators is staggering. DeLay is getting $550 million sent his direction. Hastert gets over $270 million. Of course, Dems get in on this act as well. Read more. [Washington Times]
How did I make it to work in 20 minutes?. You know it's a slow news day when two major DC papers report on how light traffic is during the morning and evening rush. Don't worry, DC. Congress and the schools start up in no time and that 20 minute communite will once again be 2 1/2 hours.
Bad Nats beats No Nats! Hey, it's been over 30 years since DC had a baseball team to call their own. Just because they have lost 14 of their last 18 doesn't mean we're going to stop loving them. If things get too bad we'll just pull out our old banners that say 'First in War! First in Peace! Last in the American...er...National League.'>[Boswell in the WP]
Not everyone is on vacation? Really? I guess there still is some work to be done down on Capitol Hill. You could have fooled me. [Washington Post]
Even the pros make typos. And finally this beauty from the White House pool reporter from yesterday. It's nice to know that even the pros don't always catch their typing errors:

[Bush] wore a navy suit jacket, pale blue shit and darker blue tie, waved at the press pool and the motorcade was off for a five minte ride to the Gaylords Texan Resorts and Convention Center.