Good afternoon . . .
As the Supreme Court winds down its term and the temperature rises over the president's judicial nominees, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist visited the Capitol Medical Department today.
The reason for the visit remains unclear as Medical Department and Supreme Court officials were not available for comment.
The 80 year-old jurist continues treatment for thyroid cancer which kept him off the bench from October through March.
News
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The former disgraced anchor of CBS News continues to support producers and others connected with the bogus story on '60 Minutes Wednesday' that cost him the anchor chair, his integrity, and much of his legacy.
In an interview with Tina Brown on CNBC, Dan Rather praised producer Mary Mapes as "a very good pro" and insisted that "she's the kind of professional that the audience should want on television."
Mapes is the producer of the segment about President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service that used forged documents in an attempt to affect the outcome of the November 2004 election.
Rather and Mapes worked together for many years to find a story, any story, that would discredit the president on any issue. The issues regarding the President's service had been debated since he first ran for office. It was a closed issue until Rather and Mapes decided to use forged documents to show a completely different picture.
Although he lost the anchor chair and his reputation, Rather insists that the documents may be a problem, but the story is true. Rather's bias toward the president and his father have been known for many years. Any hint of objectivity from Rather was non-existent on-the-air and in private.
Unfortunately, the CNBC interview with Tina Brown was full of softball questions trying to show Rather as a victim. In one of his rambling answers, Rather said, "CBS News has a culture, has a history that those of us who work here, it's very real -- that we see it as a sort of magical mystical kingdom of journalistic knights."
What does that mean, Dan?
More from the Media Research Center.
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President Bush weighed in on the Senate debate over his judicial nominees.
"People ought to have a fair hearing and they ought to get an up-or-down vote on the floor," Bush said at a White House news conference.
Meanwhile, on the floor of the Senate comments from both leaders show that any compromise is not a viable option.
"The moment draws closer when all 100 United States senators must decide a basic question of principle, whether to restore the precedent of an up or down vote...or to enshrine a new tyranny of the minority into the Senate rules," said Majority Leader Bill Frist(R-TN).
"You should not be able to come in here and change willy nilly a rule of the Senate," countered the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid(D-NV).
A vote on Priscilla Owen to a seat on the US 5th District Court of Appeals is scheduled for Tuesday. If Democrats attempt to block the vote, Republicans will set into motion a plan to ban filibusters for judicial nominees.
While Republicans seem to have the necessary votes to change the Senate rules, Democrats have threatened to slow down the business of the Senate if the rules are changed. That tactic will backfire on the Dems when millions of Social Security benefit recipients do not receive a check because Democrats in the Senate refused to pass spending legislation.
Marathon Debate Over Judges Set in Senate - Yahoo! News
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When is enough, enough?
Congress has refused to end a decade-long investigation into the activities of former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros.
A Senate provision in the funding bill for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to end the investigation was killed during closed-door meetings.
The investigation into Cisneros who was Bill Clinton's housing chief from 1993-96 centers on payments made by Cisneros to a former mistress. During the initial investigation, Cisnerors, like Clinton, lied to FBI investigators.
Cisneros later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was fined $10,000. President Clinton pardoned him in 1999.
Independent Counsel David Barrett told a three-judge pane that the investigation will continue for another 10 months and may not end at that point.
So far the investigation has cost taxpayers $21 million.
Now this is a little ridiculous. The guy pleaded guilty, was fined, and later pardoned. What more is there to investigate? There needs to be an investigation into special counsels and prosecutors to see if their work merits further funding after a successful prosecution.
This does not make any sense.
Spending Continues in Cisneros Probe - Yahoo! News
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More tomorrow.
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