Have you heard of these frightening creatures called “Obamacons”? They fold up into trucks and shoot laser beams out of their eyes, and they have terrifying names like “Chuck Hagel” and “Colin Powell.” But are they good or evil? That depends on whether or not you’re Robert Novak, who wrote a column or something about them today. MORE »

* House Republicans will issue 600-plus-page report on Wednesday that harshly criticizes all aspects of the government’s response to Katrina: “It was a failure of leadership. In this instance, blinding lack of situational awareness and disjointed decision making needlessly compounded and prolonged Katrina’s horror.” [WP, NYT]
* Cheney accidentally shoots companion during hunting trip in Texas. Mary Matalin: “He felt badly, obviously. On the other hand, he was not careless or incautious or violate any of the [rules]. He didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to do.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
* Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Tom Daschle believe eavesdropping is necessary but doubt Bush has the legal authority. [WP, LAT]
* Dean says Cheney should resign if he was involved in the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity. [NYT, WT]

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Remember him? He was the supply-side conservative think tanker who lost his job for opposing Harriet Miers’s appointment, and also for penning a book whose title openly compared Bush to Reagan (Bush lost). Bruce checked in with us yesterday to send along a Publishers Weekly press release. You can call off the guilty liberal pledge drive. He’s going to be just fine: MORE »

The first thing we do is kill all the better-qualified lawyers. Then we sack the think-tankers. MORE »

• Patrick Fitzgerald “has assembled evidence that suggests Cheney’s long-standing tensions with the CIA contributed to the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame.” [WP]
• Miers tells Schumer: “No one knows how I would rule on Roe v. Wade.” The White House tries to focus on her qualifications. [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT, WT]
• Conservative “apparatus” built by Rove “has splintered over Miers and broken free from its commander”; “rarely have they turned against a president so normally aligned with them on such a central, legacy-building priority.” [WP]
• “Confluence of crises. . . has some critics asking whether [Andrew Card] needs to clean house or assert himself more forcefully. . . before [Bush] is downgraded permanently to lame duck status.” David Frum: “The lesson of both Katrina and Miers is that the system of decision making in the White House no longer meets the needs of the president.” [NYT]
• Bush’s approval rating slips to 39% in Gallup Poll; only 29% approve of Congress. [USAT]
• DeLay could have saved his position as majority leader if he accepted deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. [WP, LAT, USAT]

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