• Recent good news, including the killing of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and the non-indictment of Karl Rove, may lift President Bush’s poll numbers, allowing the White House and the GOP to get off the defensive. [WP; WP]

• Democrats pick Vietnam War veteran and former Reagan Navy Secretary James Webb to run against Sen. George Allen (R-VA). [WP; WP; NYT]
• At the Take Back America conference, liberal activists boo and hiss at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), after she reiterates her opposition to a timetable for Iraq withdrawal. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) denounces the war, to cheers and applause. [WP]
• Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) pleads guilty to driving under the influence of prescription medication, gets a year of probation. [WP; NYT]
• Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), currently under federal investigation, acknowledges numerous mistakes in his financial disclosure forms. [WP; NYT]

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In the words of our tipster: “I’m glad to see they’re getting to the bottom of this.” MORE »

* Senate approves $2.8 trillion budget as the debt ceiling is raised to $9 trillion; House moves ahead on $92b for war and the Gulf
Coast. [WP, NYT, W$J]
* Discontent between White House and Republican lawmakers has been stewing for years. [WP]
* Republican proposal would allow warrantless eavesdropping with added oversight. [WP]
* Some Republicans worry that democracy-building has reduced the overall strength of America. [NYT]
* House approves $4.2b in hurricane relief for Louisiana. [NYT]
* Congressional leaders want to tweak nuclear agreement with India. [NYT]
* Bush selects Idaho governor to lead the Interior Department. [WP, NYT]
* Sen. Frist produces immigration bill without Bush’s guest worker program. [WP, NYT]
* Ashcroft is “setting himself up as something of an anti-Abramoff.” [NYT]

President Bush’s nephew Pierce, recently took to the letters page of the Houston Chronicle to offer his uncle a measure of support on the Dubai ports matter. Yesterday, in a telephone interview with the Chronicle, Bush related his reasoning for leaving Georgetown University for the relatively removed environment of UT-Austin. MORE »

President Bush spent part of today in New Orleans, providing some delightful strawberry sensibilities to go along with his photo-op companions, Governor Vanilla and Mayor McChocolate. MORE »

Editors’ note: Don’t miss Ana Marie Cox’s Washington Post live chat, starting today at 11:30 AM. You can access it here, where you can also find a link for submitting questions to the Original Wonkette about BlackBerry disaster averted. Happy chatting!

Chatology this week slightly enlivened by the appearance of Stephen Colbert, though it was offset by Chairman of Joint Chiefs Peter Pace doing a half-Ginsburg; he has the kind of whispery monotone that made us fall asleep during filmstrips in health class. Most notable segment: Bill Kristol channeling Arianna Huffington in his disappointment in the administration, causing massive freakout on the Fox set and Chris Wallace to utter the Quote of the Week: “My whole universe has been rocked.”

Top topics: Potential (or ongoing?) civil war in Iraq; Katrina tapes; Dubai port deal.

One hit wonders: Two hits for the criminal investigation into Pat Tillman’s death (MTP and FNS); Oscar talk on “This Week”

Quotes to live by:
• Stephen Colbert on his Oscar expectation: “a lot of jokes [about] abortion… it’s a funny word, like guacamole.”
• Peter Pace moderates his view on Iraq: “I wouldn’t put a great big smiley face on it.”
• Juan Williams on DHS/FEMA infighting: “I’m going to put that off to two big boys having something in the back yard.” Well, someone saw “Brokeback Mountain.”

Full coverage continues after the jump.

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* Duke Cunningham gets the longest sentence ever given to a congressman: 8 years and 4 months. MORE »

Today the White House issued a hefty, 228-page report identifying some of the many failures in the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. The report was submitted to President Bush by his homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend. MORE »

In this edition of Chatology, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff pulls a half-Ginsburg, spinning through both Meet the Press and This Week. On various issues, Chertoff blames Michael Brown, Mary Matalin blames the media, Joe Lieberman blames Chertoff, Evan Bayh blames the Democrats, and David Gregory blames himself. Random wisdom from Ari Fleischer: “You can be right and still be bonkers.” Speaking of which: Cheney is “almost like the wizard dealing with the muggles” — Howard Fineman.

Full rundown and highlights after the jump.

[Ed. note: Don't miss Ana Marie Cox's appearance at the National Press Club, this Wednesday, February 22, at 6:30 PM. For more details, as well as information about how to obtain tickets to this free event, click here.]

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Coverage of Secretary Michael Chertoff

Coverage of Secretary Michael Chertoff’s Senate testimony (continued from this prior post): MORE »