If I described a man who took active part in student demonstrations in the 1960's, helped take over Weller Hall when he was attending Hofstra University (a man who, when running for student senate, wrote in the school's newspaper: "these conservative kids don't fuck and get high like we do"), and later did a stint as a roadie for the band "Ten Years After," you would probably form a certain type of image in your mind. Let us not mince words -- you'd think he was a hippie.

But if I described a conservative Republican Senator from Minnesota who supports the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), you'd probably get a different image in your mind. Problem is, they're the same guy.

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[Update at end of article]

Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL) may have the best answer to the Libby commutation scandal: censure President Bush. He has announced his intention in a press release, and intends to introduce the resolution this coming Tuesday, when Congress reconvenes.

Here is the full text of the resolution:

Resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush

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OK (sigh), it's time to look at the horserace

Now that the second-quarter money-raising figures are in for the presidential candidates, I will begin to focus on the primary race in detail in the coming weeks. I have been reluctant to do so, mostly because it's just too damn early, but with the primaries only six months away, I just can't continue to ignore them.

The only time I have previously dipped my toe into these waters was back in April, when I ran a two-part series on all the Democratic candidates the media weren't telling you about. Since the media are still ignoring them, the articles [Part 1, Part 2] are worth reading for anyone interested in the "other" candidates.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

-- Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

That line will be widely quoted across this land today, in parks and bandstands, on radio and in newsprint, from California to the New York islands, in countless big-city parades and from a myriad of small-town gazebos.

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White House Press Secretary Tony Snow gave a press briefing today. It shouldn't come as a surprise that almost every question was on the subject of President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's 30-month prison sentence.

Tony, to his credit, did his best at talking out of both sides of his mouth at once (a skill he excels at) in an attempt to explain away Bush's action as no big deal, a routine matter... nothing to see here... move along.

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So President Bush has just commuted Scooter Libby's jail sentence. Let's hope the second part of Robert Novak's prediction comes true, too: firing Alberto Gonzales.

Novak wrote an article a few weeks ago floating the notion that pardoning Libby could go very well hand-in-hand with dumping Gonzales. As I commented at the time:

My personal opinion is that (1) Bush isn’t going to fire Gonzales, because he’s terrified of trying to get a replacement through the Senate confirmation process, and therefore he’s happy to have a broken and ineffectual Justice Department for the remainder of his term; and (2) I don’t think he’s going to pardon Libby. I think a respite or even a commutation might indeed be in the cards, but not an actual pardon.

But then again, I could be wrong. I sure hope so.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit today which any supporter of free speech should be made aware of. Here is the entire text explaining the lawsuit from their website:

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against Gregory Jenkins, a former high-level White House staffer who enacted a policy that unlawfully excluded individuals perceived to be critical of the administration from public events where President Bush was present. The policy is laid out in an October 2002 "Presidential Advance Manual" obtained by the ACLU.

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Actually, that title is misleading. To be perfectly accurate, it should read "House Votes To Not Deny Themselves A Raise," but then you get into the whole annoy-English-teachers-with-a-double-negative thing.

Last night, the House voted 244-181 to allow their automatic Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) to go through this year. You can read the details of the story in this AP wire report. Last year, Democrats successfully blocked this raise in protest over the Republicans' refusal to raise the minimum wage. But now that they have successfully raised the minimum wage, the House wants another $4,400 a year each (approximately), which would raise their salaries to around $170,000.

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In the midst of the immigration debate raging in both houses of Congress, an old chestnut has been revived by Republicans: declaring English the national language. The issue polls extremely high with the general public, and Republicans even passed an amendment in the Senate earlier this month by a vote of 64-33, which means a bunch of Democrats (17 of them) voted for it as well. A similar amendment is part of the debate in the House. My question to these lingual purists is: what happens if Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state of the Union?

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[As always, these columns of leftovers are offered up as an homage to the late, great master of "three-dot journalism," Herb Caen.]

. . . Seems to have been a bad week for Republicans. First there was the story about South Carolina's state Treasurer, Thomas Ravenal (who also happens to be the Giuliani campaign's state chairman) getting indicted on federal cocaine distribution charges. Bummer. I would be willing to bet that the voters of South Carolina are probably not going to be impressed at Rudy bringing such "New York City values" down to their state.

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