Wonkette

• Reliable Source: Nancy Reagan, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Tom Brokaw will attend tomorrow’s White House dinner for Prince Charles and Camilla. . . Patrick Fitzgerald is a “confirmed bachelor”. . . John Roberts was Groucho Marx for Halloween. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: White House pool report: “In what has become something of a custom on Monday mornings in October, President Bush today announced a Supreme Court nominee.” [WT]
• Under the Dome: Interest in Scooter Libby’s 1996 novel spikes. . . Joe Biden’s not so-secret for fundraising: “Find enough beautiful women and enough guys will show up.”. . . Robert Byrd is a product of the Spanish flu of 1917-1918. . . Jane Harman, 60, runs 26-mile Marine Corps Marathon in five hours and 23 minutes. [The Hill]
• Ben Widdicombe’s Gatecrasher: Alito’s son: “I became interested in politics and got involved with Gary Condit (not like that). I served as a parking aide to Nancy Pelosi (I won’t even start on her), but was fired when Barbara Boxer came onto me.” Widdicombe responds, “Since when did college kids get so picky about sleeping with senators? No wonder the country’s going to hell.” [NYDN]
• Page Six: McCain and Giuliani dined together recently. . . Charlie Rangel asks that Cheney be tested for mental illness. . . Tucker Carlson and Moby will attempt comedy with Triumph the Insult Dog. [NYP, NYP, NYP]
• Cindy Adams: Jon Corzine’s ex-wife tells-all. . . George H.W. Bush is planning another parachute jump. [NYP]

• Bush will nominate conservative appeals court Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court; his resume is similar to John Roberts‘ and he has upheld restrictions on abortion. [WP, AP, Reuters]
• Filibuster fight may loom. Harry Reid: “If he wants to divert attention from all of his many problems, he can send us somebody that is going to create a lot of problems.” Arlen Specter: “There could be a real tough battle here and a real tough fight, depending on whom the president puts up.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, LAT]
• 55% in Gallup Poll believe the Bush presidency is a failure; Bush starts a busy week of his comeback strategy with Supreme Court nomination. Nicolle Wallace: “We’ll be going around the [media] filter to communicate directly with the American people about the things they care about.” [USAT]
• Reid calls for Rove’s resignation and an apology from Bush; Rove, meanwhile, “remains in significant [legal] danger.” [WP, NYT, WT]
• Bush pays tribute to Rosa Parks at Capitol Hill ceremony. Condoleezza Rice in Montgomery: “I can honestly say that without Mrs. Parks, I probably would not be standing here today as secretary of state.” [NYT]
• Scooter Libby “has no sense of entitlement, no sense that he’s been victimized. Just an attitude of ‘circumstances have to be dealt with,’” says Mary Matalin; friends plan on establishing legal fund as his defense expands. [WP, NYT, WSJ]

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Chances are very good that the White House — in a very subtle move to distract the nation from it being… Friday — will announce their new SCOTUS nominee today. Reader CB has a suggestion: Pick the Stick! His honorable Butteriness, reigning panda of the National Zoo, combines the constitutional law experience of Harriet Miers with the adorability of John Roberts. Also, he stands a better chance than Edith Clement of banging Nathan Hecht. More of CB’s arguments on the Stick’s behalf:

1. His distinctive black markings practically function as a built-in robe made of fuzzy wuzzy panda fur. MORE »

• Libby is expected to be charged today with making false statements to the jury; investigation of Rove will continue as Fitzgerald will extend the inquiry. McClellan will not brief today and Bush will spend the weekend at Camp David. [NYT, WSJ]
• Libby shops for an attorney; Rove looks for a P.R. team. [WP]
• Next Supreme Court nominee could be named within days; “aggressive opposition from conservatives” caused Harriet Miers to withdraw. The “endgame” began early this week. [WP, WP, NYT, NYT, WSJ, LAT, WT]
• The worst week of Bush’s political life is not over yet. Scholar: “Is there a Howard Baker moment? And if there’s a Howard Baker moment, who’s Howard Baker?” [WP, NYT]
• Miers nomination “was an episode that seemed wholly out of character with the president’s style.” Brownstein: “[T]he president no longer can consistently impose his will on his party, much less the Congress or the country.” [WP, LAT, USAT]
• “Senators came to bury Miers yesterday, not to praise her,” Milbank writes. Lott sings “Happy Days Are Here Again!” [WP, WT]
• Miers remained upbeat and loyal throughout the process. Former colleague: “The White House didn’t pay attention, and the right just chewed her up. It was like a gang, a lynch mob.” [NYT, WP, WSJ]
• Conservative pundits had their way. Charles Krauthammer: “I guess she reads my column.” [WP, LAT]
• Bush was apparently the last to know of her withdrawal. [WT]

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Living in Manhattan and getting the guest editorial OK from the Gawker Media Home Office means doing Wonkette recon before you’re officially on the clock. So all for you, dear reader, did I finagle myself an invite to the least avoidable ethnic circle jerk in town this past weekend: the Columbus Citizens Foundation gala at the Waldorf~Astoria.

The two principal honorees Saturday were the Italian who discovered America, and the one who’d rather it were a little more covered up — Antonin Scalia. The evening is still largely a blur because it was very early indeed that things like “Gee, I hope nothing happened to Joe Piscapo” started getting said around my table and we decided we were cut off.

Journos were pretty scarce, owing probably to the code of omerta established for the can-miss Q&A session with the surliest jurist of them all. Nothing pertaining to Nino’s day job, passed-over promotions therein, or his devout Roman Catholicism.

Unless of course you ask nicely, in which case he opens up like a schoolgirl with a crush…

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• Conservatives express disappointment with Miers during “tense” meetings with administration officials; “rarely have [conservatives] been so openly distrustful of the president himself.” Lott: “Is she the most qualified person? Clearly, the answer to that is ‘no’. . . you have to also look at what has been her level of decisiveness and competence, and I don’t have enough information on that yet.” [WP, WP, NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• Senate votes 90-9 to limit interrogation of detainees in the Middle East and at Guantanamo Bay; represents a “new boldness among Republicans to challenge the White House on war policy.” [WP, WSJ, NYT]
• Former White House security official may have passed classified documents to the Philippines. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Republicans are divided over extent of budget cuts. [WP]
• CIA will not hold current or former officials accountable for failure to prevent 9/11. Kristin Breitweiser: “[Porter Goss] is either avoiding embarrassment or trying to hide something.” [WP]

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• Bush nominates Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court; seen as “a woman who broke barriers in the male-dominated Texas legal world but brings no judicial experience or constitutional background to her new assignment.” Bush: “I know her heart. I know her character.” [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, WT]
• Miers likely to avoid partisan fight. Kristol: “It’s hard to explain why Harriet Miers is the right pick unless you’re trying to avoid a fight about someone who has expressed a conservative constitutional philosophy… it’s demoralizing for the president to pass over a host of publicly identified conservative constitutionalists.” [WP, NYT]
• DeLay is indicted for alleged money laundering; former majority leader says prosecutor “is trying to pull the legal equivalent of a ‘do-over’ since he knows very well that the charges he brought against me last week are totally manufactured and illegitimate.” Punishment for money laundering can be life in prison. [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT]
• Many conservatives express skepticism, disappointment about Miers; responses range “from hostility to silence to praise.” [WP, LAT, NYT, WT, USAT, USAT]
• Nomination viewed as “more like a bunt than a bid for a home run,” writes Ron Brownstein. Bush “has no appetite, at a time when he and his party are besieged by problems, for an all-out ideological fight,” suspects Richard Stevenson. [LAT, NYT]
• Critics allege cronyism, the perception of which “is especially risky because it comes at a time when the White House has been accused of putting under-qualified political associates in top positions throughout the government.” [LAT, USAT]

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• Chief Justice John Roberts gives Bush control of Congress’s executive branch.
• Bill Bennett gambles on an ad absurdum argument.
• Laura Bush, international spokesmodel.
• David Dreier not hard enough to replace the Hammer.
• Drudge’s headline writing skills decoded, demystified.
• White House staffers introduced to concept of “subways.”
• Judy Miller fucked us.

• Reliable Source: Eight groups wrap-up fight for Washington Nationals. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: George H.W. Bush received a plaque for accidently using a women’s restroom. [WT]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Roberts “could be a poster child for men everywhere in the first stages of hair loss,” says hair-weave provider. [NYDN]
• Page Six: Colin Powell eyes $2,700 loafers. . . William Weld shifts allegiance from Red Sox to Yankees. . . Dean calls Hillary the “barely junior senator” from New York. [NYP, NYP, NYP]

• John Roberts confirmed as chief justice by vote of 78 to 22. Bush: “The Senate has confirmed a man with an astute mind and a kind heart.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, LAT]
• Judith Miller is released from jail after she agrees to testify in leak investigation; she received a waiver of confidentiality from I. Lewis Libby. [WP, NYT]
• Senior military officials fear anarchy in Iraq if constitution is not approved as they expect. [NYT, WP]
• House Republicans elbow for leadership posts in wake of DeLay news; “there is no guarantee that his colleagues will want him back.” [NYT, WP, WP]
• DeLay proclaims innocence on media blitz; GOP fundraising expected to take a hit. [NYT, NYT, LAT]
• 71% approve of Bush’s response to Hurricane Rita, Gallup poll finds. [USAT]

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From the official White House transcript of today’s swearing in of the Chief Justice: The process we have just completed epitomizes the separation of powers that is enshrined in our Constitution. 

My nomination was announced some 10 weeks ago here in the White House, the home of the executive branch.  This morning, further up Pennsylvania Avenue, it was approved in the Capitol, the home of the executive [sic] branch.  And tomorrow, I will go into the Supreme Court building to join my colleagues, the home of the judicial branch, to undertake my duties.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Also? The White House wishes…

Full remarks after the jump.

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John Roberts has been confirmed as Chi…zzzzzzzzzzz. MORE »

• Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), indicted for criminal conspiracy in redistricting of Texas, temporarily relinquishes post of House Majority Leader to Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). The indictment “shook the GOP political establishment and posed new problems for the party as it heads into the midterm elections next year.” [WP, NYT, NYT, LAT, WSJ, WT, USAT]
• “What worries Republicans is the confluence of a large number of scandals when Bush and the GOP Congress are at the weakest point in years,” writes Dan Balz. “With muscle and determination, DeLay ruled the inside game, and his indictment is therefore all the more significant — a powerful symbol that the Democrats will attempt to exploit as an example of the GOP’s abuse of power.” [WP, LAT, USAT]
• Democratic strategist Jim Jordan: “[DeLay is] easily the most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill, and nobody’s in his weight class. He exerts the kind of discipline that hasn’t been seen in decades.” [WP]
• Bush anticipates escalation of violence in Iraq over the next three months: “Our troops are ready for it.” Separately, 68 House Democrats begin campaign for full withdrawal. [WP, WT]
• Will second Supreme Court nominee, will Bush appease moderates or conservatives? John Roberts is set for confirmation today; rumors surround White Hosue counsel Harriet E. Miers. [WSJ, NYT]
• FEC formalizes investigation of Bill Frist, enabling officials to subpoena people and review records. [WSJ]

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