What Caught My Eye Today

Justice Department - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. White House spokesman Tony Snow said that in offering aides to talk to the committees privately, Bush had sought to avoid the "media spectacle" that would result from public hearings with Rove and others at the witness table. He added that the offer for interviews on the president's terms — not under oath, on the record or in public — is final. Democrats dismissed the overture, in large part because there would be no transcript. I'm no expert on 'executive privilege' but I'm having a hard time seeing how testifying about these firings violates 'executive privilege.' If these guys didn't do anything wrong, why is Bush so concerned about the testimony being recorded?

Iraq - Senate Democrats have drafted a $121.5 billion war spending bill that would direct President Bush to begin bringing home troops from Iraq with the goal of ending U.S. combat missions there in just over a year. Republicans and even some Democrats are expected to bristle at the inclusion of the Iraq policy provision. The measure would require Bush to begin removing U.S. combat troops within four months of the bill's passage. The House is expected to vote Thursday on a similar $124 billion spending bill that would finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House bill, which Bush also threatened to veto, would demand that combat troops be out of Iraq before September 2008, possibly sooner. Many Republicans say they oppose setting hard-and-fast deadlines to end the war because it would tie the hands of military commanders and embolden insurgents to ramp up attacks once U.S. troops are gone. But some Republicans might have a tough time turning the proposal down because it is attached to a bill that provides much-needed funding for troops in combat, assistance for fishers and farmers, hurricane reconstruction and other popular spending projects. While its nice to see Congress finally doing something, I have two problems with this. First of all, both the Senate and the House bills are doomed to fail because they are so out of synch with each other. It's as if they're purposely trying to be different so that neighter bill passes. Second of all, lets not screw the poor folks in the Gulf Coast out of the rebuilding funds they so desperately need to get their lives back on track. It's not their fault that Congress and the President cannot work together.

Global Warming - Al Gore spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a "true planetary emergency" if Congress fails to act on global warming. In a return he described as emotional, Gore testified before House panels that it is not too late to deal with climate change "and we have everything we need to get started." By turns folksy and prescriptive, he urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to adopt an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. He said he foresees a revolution in small-scale electricity producers for replacing coal, likening the development to what the Internet has done for the exchange of information. He also advocated tougher fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks. He rejected the contention by opponents of quick action on global warming that the United States should only impose mandatory controls on greenhouse gases if China, India and other rapidly developing nations agree to do the same. Here's my advise to Gore--stick to the environment, my friend. You'll do so much more good for humanity in your current capacity than you'll ever do as President.

American Idol - Sanjaya Malakar has been almost universally panned by the judges, bloggers and show watchers as perhaps the worst contestant ever to set foot on the "Idol" stage. Malakar's vocals are weak, and his stage presence awkward. So why is Malakar among the final 12 contestants on the wildly popular reality show? He is the favorite of VotefortheWorst.com, a Web site started by Dave Della Terza during season three, after Della Terza said he realized that "American Idol" was a reality TV show more than a talent competition. This year, Howard Stern has been advocating voting for Malakar and plugging Vote for the Worst on his Sirius satellite radio show. With his estimated 5 million listeners, it seems feasible that Stern could have some impact on the final results. Another theory suggests that Malakar's distinction as the show's first Indian-American contestant has brought him a well-organized Indian voting bloc. For his part, judge Simon Cowell has said he would quit the show if Malakar won. No disrespect to Sanjaya (you cannot help that you are a talentless hack), but I'm with Simon on this one.

March Madness - I figured out where all the Cinderella teams were in this year's tournaments...they're all in the NCAA Women's tournament. With Round #2 wrapping up last night, three #2 seeds are out (including Stanford, who I had in the Final 4). To recap so far: I went 28 and 4 in Round #1 and 9 and 7 in Round #2 (ouch). I have 3 out of 4 Final Four picks left and my Championship matchup of Duke and UNC still looks pretty good. Go Blue Devils!