WSJ: GW BUSH—WHY I SHOULDA CHANGED THE TONE:

“I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric,” Bush told The Times of London in an interview. The president acknowledged his trade-mark tough-talk (“Bring ‘em on,” etc.) had perhaps given the impression that he was a “guy really anxious for war” and that it “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace.”

The president further expressed frustration that the U.S.–and he in particular–are viewed as “a force for evil” in Europe. “I don’t buy into that theory. America is a force for good. America is a force for liberty,” he said.

RESPONSE FROM IRAN, ONE OF THE COUNTRIES HE CHARGED WAS PART OF THE “AXIS OF EVIL:” BUSH IS A “WICKED MAN.”

IMPEACHMENT SHUNTED TO JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
PAKISTAN PROTESTS US ATTACK ON ITS SOLDIERS
PRESS: SEEKS A NEW NARRATIVE IN IRAQ

Dennis Kucinich proposed; the House of Representatives disposed–but not completely. Rather than voting the articles of impeachment filed by Kucinich down, they were sent to the Judiciary Committee for further action, giving supporters more time to rally behind the need for an investigation and trial. The measure would have been defeated in a straight vote.

THE BULLETIN FROM AFTERDOWNINGSTREET.ORG

WEDNESDAY 3:15 p.m.: Congress has just voted overwhelmingly (251-166) to send the articles of impeachment (H Res 1258) to the House Judiciary Committee to be acted upon there. 24 Republicans voted Yes along with all the Democrats.

Democrats.com’s Bob Fertik reported:

By a bipartisan vote of 251-166, the full House of Representatives sent Dennis Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment to the Judiciary Committee.

That means Chairman John Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings - or not.

Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227 Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.

So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush’s crimes in The Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.

But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment “off the table.” And when Democrats took control and Conyers was sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker. (Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the Chairmanship.)

MEDIA IRAQ “WAR WEARY AND DEPLETED”

Five Years Later, the American Press Corps in Iraq Is War-Weary and Depleted—Also Committed, Engaged and Desperately Seeking a Narrative to Wake Up Readers; ‘The Press Redeemed in Baghdad,’ Says George Packer, ‘What It Missed in Washington’

IRAQ CORRESPONDENTS COMMENT

WATCH: BBC ON BIG NEW FINANCIAL RIP-OFF IN IRAQ

NOW WE ARE FIGHTING PAKISTAN

NYT: Pakistan Says U.S. Airstrike Killed 11 of Its Soldiers

American military officials said that coalition forces responded to fire from Pakistani paramilitary soldiers, who were possibly working with insurgents.

TERRORISM NOT ON THE DECREASE

Bernard Fine in Newsweek: They Still Hate Us

Terrorism on the decrease? Not so fast – that’s probably unfounded optimism.

A mere six months ago, the Bush Administration was arguing that the terror threat was so severe that even a momentary lapse in the domestic surveillance authorization would place American lives at risk. Now, a series of briefings and speeches by high-level officials, reported on and amplified by prominent columnists has created a veritable drumbeat in support of the notion that not only is the threat diminished, but that victory in the “war on terror” is in sight. The timing is tremendously convenient in the run-up to an election that will inevitably become something of a referendum on the Bush years.

Think about it. This was supposed to be a generational conflict, and now it turns out that it that victory was always just an Iraqi awakening, a few predator strikes, and an obscure manifesto away. Islamo-fascism? Forget about it. The threat is now just from a bunch of yahoos. Porous American borders, disaffected Muslim populations in Europe, madrassas pumping out fanatics in Pakistan… all largely irrelevant.

TOP SECRET, NOT NO MORE

Secret government documents on al-Qaida and Iraq were left on a commuter train, prompting a major police investigation into the latest in a series of embarrassing security breaches, British officials said Wednesday.

The documents belonged to a senior intelligence official in the Cabinet office and were found by a passenger on a London commuter train Tuesday. The envelope was then passed to the British Broadcasting Corp.

SERB WAR CRIMINAL ARRESTED

Indicted Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Stojan Zupljanin has been arrested near the Serbian capital, Belgrade, justice officials have said.

He is one of four top Serb leaders still wanted for war crimes by the UN tribunal in The Hague.

A commander in the city of Banja Luka during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, Mr Zupljanin is charged with killing Muslim and Croat civilians.

His arrest is a condition for Serbia’s advancement towards EU membership.

Now that the “presumptive” general election has began, the haters, the swiftboaters, the cynics, and the critics are moving from the margins to the mainstream with media weapons aimed at Obama. Imagine how this will escalate by the fall. The question is no longer who is right, but who will be left.

ATTACK ADS AGAINST OBAMA AND CRITICAL ARTICLES ON THE RISE: SEE THIS ONE

RIGHT WING TRYING TO DISQUALIFY HIM

This is from blogger/assault weapon Michelle Malkin:

We already know that Jihadist Obama HUSSEIN is not QUALIFIED to be the President, we now know that he is not ELIGIBLE to be President under American law. This is a great comment to a post over at Michelle Malkin’s blog:

Barack Obama is not legally a U.S. Natural-born citizen according to the law on the books at the time of his birth, which falls between “December 24, 1952 to November 13, 1986? . Presidential office requires a natural-born citizen if the child was not born to two U.S. Citizen parents, which of course is what exempts John McCain though he was born in the Panama Canal. US Law very clearly stipulates: “…If only one parent was a U.S. Citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least ten years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16.” Barack Obama’s father was not a U.S. Citizen and Obama’s mother was only 18 when Obama was born, which means though she had been a U.S. Citizen for 10 years, (or citizen perhaps because of Hawai’i being a territory) the mother fails the test for being so for at least 5 years **prior to** Barack Obama’s birth, but *after* age 16. It doesn’t matter *after* . In essence, she was not old enough to qualify her son for automatic U.S. Citizenship.

SOME HILL BACKERS REJECT PARTY UNITY: THEY SAY NO DEAL

Nikki Oldaker on an Irony of Modern Politics
This is how Obama really won CT…back in 2005 - Joe took him under his wing and mentored him…that proved to be a huge mistake…for Lieberman - now that the Obama camp is attacking him…

NO SOONER THAN THIS APPEARED:
-Obama’s Choice of Insider Draws Fire–Last month, Sen. Barack Obama turned to James A. Johnson, a former Fannie Mae chief executive and Washington insider since the Carter administration, to lead the vetting of potential running mates for the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee. For Republicans seeking to tarnish Obama’s image as a squeaky-clean outsider hoping to clean up Washington — not to mention divert attention from questions about lobbyists working in Sen. John McCain’s campaign — Obama’s embrace of Johnson has been a gift, reports Jonathan Weisman and David S. Hilzenrath:

NO SOONER DID THIS STORY APPEAR IN THE WASHINGTON POST YESTERDAY MORNING THEN…..

WASHINGTON - Jim Johnson, a manager of Democrat Barack Obama’s vice presidential search team, resigned Wednesday amid criticism over his personal loan deals.

“Jim did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement. “We have a very good selection process under way, and I am confident that it will produce a number of highly qualified candidates for me to choose from in the weeks ahead. I remain grateful to Jim for his service and his efforts in this process.”