Bush pleads for more patience for Iraq war efforts
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – President George W. Bush, faced with growing calls to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, pleaded with Americans on Saturday for patience and cited progress in the past two months.

National Guard troops cheer call for Iraq withdrawal.
Speaking to the National Guard Association general conference yesterday, Puerto Rico’s governor said that the Bush administration has “no new strategy and no signs of success” and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. His comments earned him a standing ovation from the more than 4,000 current and former Air and Army National Guard officers.

Warner May Back Dems’ Bill on Withdrawal
WASHINGTON (AP) – GOP Sen. John Warner, who wants U.S. troops to start coming home from Iraq by Christmas, said Sunday he may support Democratic legislation ordering withdrawals if President Bush refuses to set a return timetable soon. “I’m going to have to evaluate it,” Warner said. “I don’t say that as a threat, but I say that is an option we all have to consider.”

Reckless Abandonment (by Douglas Brinkley)
Two full years after the hurricane, the Big Easy is barely limping along, unable to make truly meaningful reconstruction progress… [W]hat makes the current [Bush administration’s] inaction plan so infuriating is that it’s deceptive, offering up this open-armed spin to storm victims: “Come back to New Orleans.” Why can’t Bush look his fellow citizens in the eye and tell them what seems to be the ugly truth? That as long as he’s commander in chief, there won’t be an entirely reconstructed levee system.

White House defends US terror tribunals
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration told a newly formed appeals court Friday that discrepancies between the nation’s new terrorism law and the way it is being carried out should not stall one of the Pentagon’s first terror trials.

Full court access urged for detainees
WASHINGTON – Twenty retired federal judges, two rear admirals and a Marine general joined 383 current or former members of the European and British parliaments on Friday in urging the Supreme Court to grant detainees at Guantanamo Bay full access to the U.S. court system.

What Else Does Mueller Know?
The domestic snooping story doesn’t end with the White House’s bullying of a sick John Ashcroft. The FBI chief must still answer grave questions about the administration’s suspected abuse of national security letters.

Maybe Trading Up Soon at Justice
The buzz among top Bushies is that beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally plans to depart and will be replaced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Why Chertoff? Officials say he’s got fans on Capitol Hill, is untouched by the Justice prosecutor scandal, and has more experience than Gonzales did, having served as a federal judge and assistant attorney general.

Whistleblowers on Fraud Facing Penalties
Congress gave more than $30 billion to rebuild Iraq, and at least $8.8 billion of it has disappeared, according to a government reconstruction audit. Despite this staggering mess, there are no noble outcomes for those who have blown the whistle… They have been fired or demoted, shunned by colleagues, and denied government support in whistleblower lawsuits filed against contracting firms.

Executive agencies’ trips paid by firms
WASHINGTON — At a time when Congress has moved to ban most lobbyist-funded travel, executive- branch officials are routinely accepting trips from companies and trade associations with a stake in their agencies’ decisions, according to a USA TODAY review of public records.

New ethics legislation could affect Cabinet-level executives
New ethics legislation, which has passed both chambers of Congress but still needs President Bush’s signature, would extend the cooling-off period for very senior executives who leave government from one year to two years. During this time, former executives are banned from interacting with agency officials in any capacity that can be construed as lobbying or attempting to influence policy.

Reviving a Consumer Watchdog
Now is the time to revitalize the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The fact is, Americans have never rejected the notion of spending money for cleaner air, unadulterated food or safe appliances. Judging from the dangerous foods and products that have made their way to consumers, industry is doing an unacceptable job of policing itself.

Brzezinski Embraces Obama Over Clinton for President
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the most influential foreign-policy experts in the Democratic Party, threw his support behind Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, saying the Illinois senator has a better global grasp than his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.