by Matthew Hay Brown

The oblique references continue. Some believe President Bush was alluding to Barack Obama this morning when he criticized "some people" who "seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals."

Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to be calling on John McCain to distance himself from the remarks Bush made before the Israeli Knesset.

"You know, we have a protocol, sort of, a custom, informally, around here that we don't criticize the president when he is on foreign soil," Pelosi told reporters this morning. "One would think that that would apply to the president, that he would not criticize Americans when he is on foreign soil.

"I think what the president did in that regard is beneath the dignity of the office of president and unworthy of our representation at that observance in Israel, and I would hope that any serious person would disassociate himself from the president's remarks, who aspires to leaderhip in our country."

Asked if she was referring to McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, the California Democrat repeated: "Any serious person. Any serious person."

Pelosi is planning to lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel this weekend, after Bush has left, to honor the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state.

by Mark Silva

JERUSALEM - The White House insisted that President Bush was making no direct reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in speaking here about the dangers of negotiating with "terrorists and radicals.''

But that didn't stop the Obama campaign from protesting the president's "false political attack.''

Bush, in addressing the Israeli Knesset today, said: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before,'' the president told the parliament. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.''

That senator was William Borah, a Republican of Idaho.

But the senator from Illinois took exception to the president's remarks. Obama has spoken of negotiating with the leaders of Iran and Syria, but has staunchly opposed any talks with Hamas, the "terrorist organization'' that controls Gaza and poses an avowed threat to Israel's existence.

"It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel," Obama said in a written statement. "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power - including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.

"George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists," Obama said, "and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

Rep. Rahm Emanuel also suggested that Bush has crossed a certain line today. "The tradition has always been that when a U.S. president is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water's edge,'' said Emanuel (D-Ill,) chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan politics now begins at the water's edge, no matter the seriousness and gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?"

But a National Security Council spokesman said the president's remarks were "not specifically pointed to one individual.'' The NSC's Gordon Johndroe said the remarks applied to a "broad group'' of people who advocate negotiations with implacable enemies.

Dana Perino, White House press secretary, suggested that Obama was reading too much into Bush's speech.

Also asserting that Bush's comment was "not'' directed at Obama, Perino said: "There are many who have suggested these types of negotiations with people that President Bush thinks we should not talk to. I understand when you're running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you -- that is not always true, and it is not true in this case....

"The president is president, regardless of an election cycle,'' Perino said. "And he's going to be the president of the United States until January 20, 2009... We're not going to stop talking about the ideals and the values of the United States because there's an '08 election.''

Sean Penn at the opening night ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival, southern France, on Wednesday, May 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)

by Frank James

More evidence today for why many an actor should stick to memorizing his lines and leave political chatter to the professionals.

Sean Penn, at a Cannes Film Festival press conference, had some words to the wise for Sen. Barack Obama. Too bad they weren't coherent. This is from the British newspaper, the Telegraph:

At a press conference beforehand, the actor, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, offered his views on the Democratic nomination race.

"I hope that he will understand, if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be," Penn said. "This is the most important election, certainly in my lifetime, and maybe ever."

"Phenomenally inhuman" and "unconstitutional?" Disillusionment that will happen if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be?" What the heck is he talking about?

by Frank James

The Architect aka Bush's Brain aka Turdblossom aka Karl Rove, President Bush's one-time political strategist, has a piece in today's Wall Street Journal in which he assesses the state of both political parties six months out from the general election.

Rove's premise is that congressional Republicans are being hurt by the taint of scandal which still sticks to them, the economy, Iraq and President Bush's declining popularity, in no particular order.

But all that can be overcome, just not the way Republicans usually do it, by repeatedly tagging their Democratic opponents with the "L" word and then calling it a day, says Rove. Citing three formerly safe Republican House seats now occupied by Democratic derrieres, Rove says this:

The string of defeats should cure Republicans of the habit of simply shouting "liberal! liberal! liberal!" in hopes of winning an election. They need to press a reform agenda full of sharp contrasts with the Democrats.

Who am I to disagree with Rove but I'm guessing they'll be a lot of "liberal, liberal, liberal" thrown around by Republicans in the coming congressional and presidential campaigns. The Republican National Committee has already teed off against Sen. Barack Obama as too liberal for a center-right country.

by Jill Zuckman

What kind of president would Sen. John McCain be?

In a speech in Columbus, Ohio today, McCain said he knows he can't govern by fiat and hopes that by bringing together the two parties he can accomplish much by the end of his first term in 2013.

"I want to leave office knowing that America is safer, freer, and wealthier than when I was elected; that more Americans have more opportunities to pursue their dreams than at any other time in our history; that the world has become less threatening to our interests and more hospitable to our values; and that America has again, as she always has, chosen not to hide from history but to make history," McCain said.

An end to the constant partisan squabbling is what voters are looking for, said McCain, who is eager to preserve his reputation as an independent thinker who reaches across the aisle to accomplish big things. With Sen. Barack Obama likely to be the Democratic nominee, advisers to McCain want to make sure that voters know that it is McCain, not Obama, who has a record of forging bipartisan consensus in Congress.

"For too long, now, Washington has been consumed by a hyper-partisanship that treats every serious challenge facing us as an opportunity to trade insults; disparage each other's motives; and fight about the next election," he said. "For all the problems we face, if you ask Americans what frustrates them most about Washington, they will tell you they don't think we're capable of serving the public interest before our personal and partisan ambitions; that we fight for ourselves and not for them."

by Frank James

Sen. Barack Obama did what you have to do if you say something to a person that many people find offensive, especially if you're running for president: He phoned Peggy Agar, the reporter he referred to as "sweetie" to apologize for calling her that and blowing her off after she asked a question following a Sterling, Michigan campaign appearance yesterday.

WXYZ-TV, the Detroit station Agar works for, has a recording of the voicemail to Agar's phone up with a story about the apology on its site. In the senator says:

"Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.

"Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next."

by Mark Silva, updated with Obama and White House.

JERUSALEM - Words are everything.

So what did President Bush have in mind today when he told the Israeli Knesset that some "seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals'' and likened them to an American who once said that talking with Hitler might have averted the invasion of Poland?

Was the Republican president evoking the remarks of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic presidential candidate who has spoken of negotiating with the Iranians, for instance?

The president's remarks were "not specifically pointed to one individual,'' a spokesman here told the Tribune, but rather apply to a "broad group'' of people who advocate negotiations with implacable enemies.

Obama has specifically rejected the notion of talking with Hamas, the group which seized control of Gaza and does not recognize Israel, a group which Obama, like the Bush administration, calls a "terrorist organization.'' Obama previously has said: "We should not talk to them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence and are willing to abide by previous accords.''

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,'' Bush said in an address to the Knesset today which drew repeated standing ovations for his commitment to stand by Israel against all enemies.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.''

The "American senator" whom Bush quoted was William Borah, Republican of Idaho.

by Mark Silva

George W. Bush is not much for "the Internets.''

So the Yahoo.com interview with the "Googler-in-chief'' this week made for some good fun.

Bush offered his own pinky-biting "Dr. Evil'' impression in this interview conducted by Mike Allen of Politico.com.

And asked who is the better impressionist - Will Farrell doing George Bush, or Dana Carvey doing Dad - Bush picked Carvey.

He also acknowledged that he gave up golf because of the war.

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,'' the president says.

The president does not do e-mail on what he has called "the Internets,'' but he acknowledged that he occasionally does use "the Google:''

"Occasionally,'' the president allows, "one of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps.''

by Mark Silva, as told by the pool.

JERUSALEM - Every journey has its tourist value.

But Masada could be among the most sobering of all sites.

President Bush flew by helicopter this morning to Masada, the fortress atop a 1,500-foot-high plateau overlooking the Dead Sea valley built by Herod as a winter palace and hideout. A century later, when the Jewish rebellion against Rome broke out, Zealots took over the then-abandoned fortress, and Masada became the last rebel stronghold in Judea - and a site of massive sacrifice.

In 73 or 74, the Romans laid siege to Masada with 8,000 troops. After a few months, the Romans succeeded in building a ramp to the fortress wall and brought forward a battering ram. The rebels had constructed a wooden inner wall, but the Romans burned it.

With Masada's hopes diminishing, the rebel leader, Eleazar Ben Yair, "gave two speeches in which he convinced the leaders of the 960 members of the community that it would be better to take their own lives and the lives of their families than to live in shame and humiliation as Roman slaves," according to a Masada brochure.

They picked ten people by lot to kill the rest, cutting their throats. Those ten then cast lots again to decide who would dispatch them.

by Jim Tankersley

They said the first was an outlier. The second, a fluke. But after losing their third seat this year in a special election, House Republicans faced the possibility on Wednesday that if they don't repair their image with voters, they could be in for another rough November.

A Democratic pick-up streak that started with Rep. Bill Foster's upset victory in the March election to replace former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) crested Tuesday night, when Democrat Travis Childers won a solidly Republican open seat in Mississippi.

The GOP spent one-fifth of its available national party cash for House races on the Mississippi seat. Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned there. President George W. Bush and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain pitched in with automated phone calls. Their candidate lost anyway. Meanwhile, reeling House Republicans unveiled a new slogan this week--"Change you deserve" --only to watch Democrats gleefully note that it is already used to market an antidepressant.

Several House Republicans say the losses reveal a voter disconnect with their party, rooted in dissatisfaction with Bush, which GOP candidates will have to repair district-by-district this fall. Some, including McCain and several members of the Illinois congressional delegation, appear to believe that to "re-brand" the Republican Party, they must first distance themselves from it.

Read the full story in today's Chicago Tribune.

by Mark Silva and updated

JERUSALEM - President Bush, addressing the Israeli parliament at a time celebrated by Israelis and mourned by Palestinians, today will remind Israelis that Americans rose first to the recognition of the new independent state of Israel 60 years ago and now remain "Israel's closest ally and best friend in the world.''

Bush also will denounce the aims of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, as well as Hezbollah, which Israel has battled within Lebanon - both groups backed by Iran and Syria. The delineation between the tenets of democracy in Israel and the practice of terrorism by its enemies, he will say, frame the debate of the times in the Middle East, a struggle between freedom and tyranny.

"We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace,'' Bush will say. "So we applaud the courageous choices Israel's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.''

The president, while holding out hope that Palestinians and Israelis will live side-by-side in peace 60 years from now, will avert any talk about the details of talks under way now between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

"He's focused on the long-term goal, what the region will look like 60 years from now,'' says Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council. "It's not about the nitty gritty.''

Good morning.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Thursday, May 15.

President Bush is addressing the Israeli Knesset.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) is holding a briefing on "Hate in the Information Age."

The Cato Institute is hosting a discussion on "Whatever Happened to Medicare Reform?"

by Matthew Hay Brown

As noted already here and elsewhere, the slogan unveiled this week by House Republicans - "Change you deserve" - is already a trademark used by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to market its antidepressant Effexor XR.

In his weekly meeting with reporters today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer projected a list of the drug's side effects, and highlighted a few: nausea, headaches and drowsiness.

"Democrats, not drugs, is what the people need," Hoyer said.

Republican spokesman Michael Steel dismissed the bit as "foolishness."

"This sort of silly stunt is another reminder that House Democrats have no, nada, zero agenda that would actually help the American people," he said. "Rather than wasting time on campaign-style hijinks, they should be working with Republicans to solve the problems facing our country."

by Frank James

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, issued a terse statement in the wake of the news that John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and erstwhile presidential candidate, was endorsing Sen. Barack Obama.

"We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

We suspect there might've been some stronger views expressed within the Clinton camp when they leaned of Edwards' decision which, coming a day after Clinton's big win in West Virginia, tends to dull the impact of her Tuesday night accomplishment, such as it was.

by Matthew Hay Brown

Congressional Republicans are agonizing over their third consecutive special election loss, Minority Whip Roy Blunt sees a silver lining to the victories this month of conservative Democrats Don Cazayoux and Travis Childers.

"The one thing that - if you looked at both of these elections, in Mississippi and Louisiana, you saw - the candidates - both candidates ran on what Republicans are for," the Missouri Republican told reporters today. "So we know now that the message works."

Cazayoux in Louisiana and Childers in Mississippi overcame Republican attempts to link them with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, presidential contender Barack Obama and other national Democrats to win seats long held by the GOP.

To Blunt, the Democrats' message sounded familiar.

"Yesterday, you had the winning candidate saying repeatedly that he didn't know Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama," he said. "You had him talking about cutting taxes, having less spending, being pro-gun and pro-life. That's the guy that won.

"Actually," he added, "the guy that lost was also for all that stuff."

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, left, announces his resignation Wednesday, May 14, 2008 in the Cabinet room of the Governor's office in Columbus, Ohio. At right is Gov. Ted Strickland. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Andrew Zajac

It didn't take long. Five weeks from the first report of sexual harassment in Marc Dann's office to his resignation in Columbus late this afternoon.

Democrats are hoping this calms the political waters in the run-up to the November election, but don't count on it.

The state inspector general, acting under special authority granted yesterday by the General Assembly, raided Dann's office earlier today and removed computers and files.

That virtually guarantees the scandal will have legs long after Dann's departure.

A lingering inquiry could have implications for the presidential race. Revelations of criminal behavior or even just more sleaze would make selling Barack Obama, in particular, more difficult for Ohio Democrats.