Last week, when Senator John F. Kerry issued a vocal call for a filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, Jr. — going so far as to blog about it — many Democrats and Republicans had the same reaction: “What the hell is he thinking?” The fact that Senator Kerry issued this clarion call to arms from Switzerland, of all places, didn’t exactly help. As White House press secretary Scott McClellan put it, “Even for a senator, it takes some pretty serious yodeling to call for a filibuster from a five-star ski resort in the Swiss Alps.” As the New York Times aptly summarized matters, “Democrats cringed and Republicans jeered at the awkwardness of his gesture, which almost no one in the Senate expects to succeed.”

After the Alito cloture vote this afternoon, this will all be nothing more than an embarrassing memory. But, since we had nothing better to do with our weekend, we did some poking around into what might have been running through John Kerry’s elongated head.

The rumor going around in Judiciary Committee circles late last week was that Senator Kerry’s decision to filibuster was staff-driven. Speculation focused in one staff member in particular: Mirah Horowitz, one of Kerry’s chief legal advisors. Horowitz is a liberal lawyer and blonde braniac who previously clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer, before joining a decidedly less successful enterprise — the Kerry presidential campaign.

Was there any truth to this rumor of Mirah Horowitz exercising excessive influence over John Kerry? Details after the jump.

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• Senate votes to extend the Patriot Act for six months. [WP, NYT]
• Senate approves $40b in budget cuts with Cheney casting tie-breaking vote; two Republicans and 42 Democrats block plan for drilling in ANWR with filibuster. Sen. John Kerry: “I’m confident we will see another debate on ANWR.” [WP, WP, WP, WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• FISA judges request briefing on eavesdropping program. [WP]
• Jack Abramoff inches closer to a plea deal. [NYT, LAT]
• Bush reaches out to black critics, suggesting “that the White House has not abandoned its political goal of trying to draw black voters from Democratic ranks”; Donna Brazile speaks highly of the president’s efforts. [NYT]
• Eavesdropping program is unlikely to be challenged in court because of its secrecy. [USAT]

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• Bush defends eavesdropping program but offers no details: “This is a different era, a different war.” [WP, WP, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• House approves $39.7b in cuts and drilling of ANWR; showdown expected in the Senate. Sen. Kerry: “Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here. Republicans — Senator Stevens in particular — are putting oil companies ahead of our troops.” [WP, WP, WP, NYT, USAT, LAT]
• Approval of Bush rebounds to 47% in WP-ABC poll: “His approval rating on Iraq jumped 10 percentage points since early November, to 46 percent, while his rating on the economy rose 11 points, to 47 percent. A clear majority, 56 percent, said they approve of the way Bush is handling the fight against terrorism.” [WP]
• Bush ” apparently decided that a passionate offense was his best defense”; his mood “was casual and crisp.” [WP]
• ACLU claims the FBI has wrongly monitored antiwar, environmental, and civil rights groups; FBI used secret informants to track PETA for years. [NYT, WP]
• Sen. Rockefeller penned hand-written note to Cheney about civil liberties concerns over eavesdropping. [WP]
• Force reductions expected in Iraq, Afghanistan. [WP, NYT]

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• Reliable Source: People magazine puts Patrick Fitzgerald under “Smart Guys” in their “Sexiest Man” issue. . . Ted Koppel can do strong impressions of Henry Kissinger and Barbara Walters. [WP]
• Under the Dome: Dean Barkley, who was tapped to serve out Paul Wellstone’s term, now manages Kinky Friedman’s campaign for governor of Texas. . . Eight people show up for Rep. David Hobson’s (R-Ohio) pheasant-hunting fundraiser. . . The Kennedys, Kerry, Hillary, and Scarborough honor Robert F. Kennedy on his 80th birthday. . . Spokesmen for DeLay and Hillary are awarded “Flak Jacket” honors. [The Hill]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Rove’s attorney may have purchased an “I Love Karl Rove” shirt. [NYDN]

• Reliable Source Top guns Karl Rove, John Negroponte, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Michael Chertoff, Carlos Gutierrez, John Warner, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Myers celebrate the Marines’ 230th birthday. . . Bodyguard reportedly followed Dr. Phil to the bathroon of the Capital Grille. [WP]
• Under the Dome: The WB is developing a D.C.-based soap opera that will show “the town

• Approval of Bush slips to 37%, a new low in WSJ/NBC polling; 79% believe the leak investigation is “a serious matter” and a majority say Bush “deliberately misled people” to war. [WSJ]
• House Republicans scrap ANWR drilling to ensure passage of budget. Schumer: “If you are a moderate Republican, you are starting to say, ‘I am not going to follow George Bush over the cliff.’” [WP, NYT]
• Republicans fear implications of Tuesday’s elections; Democrats have their own lessons to learn. Pollster: “The waning of enthusiasm for Bush and his presidency is national.” [LAT, WP, WT]
• Senators press top oil executives about their profits; “if the hearing had an air of the theater, the public resentment articulated by the senators was real.” Milbank: “[I]nstead of calling oil executives on the carpet yesterday, senators gave them the red-carpet treatment.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT, WT]
• Bush splits with Republicans over ban of abusive treatment of detainees. [USAT]
• Judith Miller leaves The New York Times. [WP, WP, NYT]
• Chalabi denies misleading the U.S. and offers to testify before Congress. [USAT, WP]
• Senate Judiciary Committee considers televising Supreme Court proceedings. [LAT]

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• Patrick Fitzgerald presents his case to the grand jury; Karl Rove’s legal team is on the defense about possible perjury charges. White House officials “are girding for at least one senior administration official to be indicted.” [WP, NYT]
• Arlen Specter will quiz Harriet Miers on her ability to be impartial with cases involving Bush; Christian group calls for her withdrawal. [WP, NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• White House reinstates the Davis-Bacon Act for the Gulf Coast. [WP]
• Bush calls for spending cuts to compensate for hurricane relief spending. [NYT, WT]
• Senators irked that Miers‘ former firm promoted and profited from tax shelters. [WP]
• Pundits, bloggers wait anxiously for potential indictments. DeLay’s flack: “There’s a certain element of ‘Groundhog Day’ to all this.” [WSJ, WP, WP]
• Administration wants intelligence agencies to “bolster the growth of democracy.” [NYT]

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• Reliable Source: Andrea Mitchell, Alan Greenspan win Porsche Boxster in raffle but can’t accept because of regulations. . . Dean dined with Mick Jagger at Cafe Milano. . . Ashcroft received additional security search at Reagan Airport. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: Hillary and Landrieu cancel appearances at roast of Barbara Walters. . . Kerry, Edwards tied for second place behind Hillary in ‘08 poll. [WT]
• Cindy Adams: It’s “being said is that [the Miers] nomination came about because of Judith Miller. That the investigation and possible conspiracy charge against Cheney and Rove over this CIA agent Valerie Plame leak is one more thing Bush doesn’t need to handle. . . The president picked her because he cannot step in more doo doo.” [NYP]
• Liz Smith: Red Cross benefit emceed by Jon Stewart will honor Bill Clinton. [NYP]

• Washington Whispers: Jenna Bush speaks Spanish while teaching at the Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in the Mount Pleasant area. . . Joe Biden tried “serving” to Angelina Jolie. . . John Kerry may motorbike with Richard Branson. . . Kathleen Willey Schwicker to release book attacking Hillary. [USN&WR]
• Cindy Adams: Judith Miller celebrated her release at the Americana Hotel in Sag Harbor. [NYP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Crawford resident complains about Bush to Vanity Fair. [NYDN]

• Bush calls for oil conservation: “We can all pitch in. People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption.” [NYT, WT]
• Bush may endorse expansion of the military’s responsibilities in responses to natural disasters. [NYT, WT]
• Congressional Republicans turn attention to unsteady oil market; proposals will likely become Energy Bill II. Bush: “The storms have shown how fragile the balance is between supply and demand in America.” [WSJ]
• Republicans change rhetoric about fiscal policy, not the policy itself. [WP]
• Hundreds of anti-war protesters led by Cindy Sheehan are arrested in front of the White House; they lacked a permit. [WP]
• Bush hints next Supreme Court nominee will not be a white male. [NYT]

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• Washington Whispers: Trent Lott found his refrigerator three blocks from his house and inside were two sentimental bottles of champagne. . . D.C. television viewers are sick of Barack Obama. . . George H.W. Bush’s presidential library plans to add mock press briefing room. . . Robert Bork jokes, “How do you pronounce Souter in Spanish? Gonzales.”. . . News-addicted actor Joe Pantoliano likes “the girls” on MSNBC, especially Natalie Morales. . . [USN&WR]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Brian Lamb marries someone named Victoria. Spokeswoman: “They were married in a small, private ceremony in the Washington area and Brian was in the office all week”. . . Hillary supporters hope “Inside the Bubble,” a new documentary about the Kerry-Edwards campaign, will end his chances in ‘08. Kerry flack David Wade: “The 20 poor souls subjected to this movie will be reaching for caffeine and begging for old Lamar Alexander tapes on C-SPAN2. Michael Moore has nothing to fear. I think the working title was ‘The Snore Room.’” [NYDN]

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