From today’s White House press briefing with Tony Show:

MR. SNOW: Helen, and then to Mark.
Q The President emphasized September and he emphasized General Petraeus’ report — all week you moved away from September. Is it a real important date for us to decide things?
MR. SNOW: I think what the President is saying is –
Q Does he know that we have civilian rule in this country?
MR. SNOW: Yes. Do you?
Q I do.

Thus putting to rest, perhaps, thoughts that the media run this country?

Used to be that Republicans ran for president by attacking these four letters: ACLU.

Looks like there are new letters to target: CNN and MSNBC.

From today’s Washington Post coverage of Rudy Giuliani:

“The war is controversial on CNN,” Giuliani said. “The war is controversial on MSNBC. The war is not controversial at The Citadel.”

And this headline over a posting by Fred Thompson in Red State:

About that Wiseguy Clip MSNBC Has Been Showing

Might be time to dust off and update this 1992 relic.

From the Financial Times:

Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to appoint one of his most moderate allies as France’s prime minister in an attempt to win support for the contentious labour reforms he has said are essential to the country’s economic future.

The president-elect will name François Fillon, the mastermind of his election victory and former education minister, as prime minister after assuming the presidency. Mr Fillon is seen by the left as one of the “least detested” members of Mr Sarkozy’s team.

“Least detested.”  Doesn’t leave much room to “mature in office” by migrating left.

Tony Soprano’s wife Carmela just might end up being the kind of woman voter who decides the next election — or at least the Republican presidential primary.

Her political leanings are no secret.

In an April 2006 episode, this conversation occured:

Meadow Soprano: “9/11, 9/11. Bush is using it as an excuse to erode our Constitutional protections and you’re falling for it.”

Carmela Soprano: “Well, I voted for him.”

Carmela doesn’t just vote for Bush.  She reads about him, too.  In last night’s episode we saw her reading this in bed.

Perhaps the series finale of The Sopranos might reveal the big question we’ve all been wondering: In 2008 will Carmela go with McCain, Giuliani, or Romney.  Or perhaps Fred Thompson — given her family’s connections to the law.

Quick question: If you like your presidential candidates saying “global warming,” would you have appreciated more the April 26 Democratic debate or the May 3 Republican debate?

Likewise, if you prefer your presidential candidates saying “climate change” instead, would the Democratic or Republican debate be more to your liking?

The results — and the rhetoric — might surprise you.

April 26 Democrats:

• Hillary Clinton:  “I believe America is ready now for universal health care. It is ready for a new energy policy. It is ready to deal with global climate change.”
• John Edwards:  “On the issue of climate change, we ought to cap carbon emissions in the United States.”
• Bill Richardson: “I would have a major initiative on climate change.”
• Dennis Kucinich: “I think it’s important that we move away from global warming and global warring.”

May 3 Republicans:

• Duncan Hunter:  “Global warming and the need to be energy-independent gives us a great opportunity.”
• John McCain and Jim Gilmore both mentioned “energy independence.” 
• Mike Huckabee split the difference:  “The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists.”

The Queen’s presence in the colonies brought this remarkable editorial from the Virginian-Pilot newspaper:

For a moment, we are all Anglophiles.  We are Elizabeth’s subjects and she our monarch for a day.

Well, if we’re all going to be British for a day, let’s respond to the Virginian-Pilot this week: Bollocks!

Great post by our friends over at Three Sources comparing the reaction to Fred Thompson with Martin Sheen.  Take a look here.

Alert reader Richard Andrews points out a complicated and bizarre story in the Post.  The quick summation:

In a case seemingly riddled with wrongs, a federal judge had to decide yesterday who was more right: the Dumfries police officers who called in sick to head to Las Vegas, or their supervisors who confronted them at the airport upon their return.

We’ll cut to the chase with the oddest quote in a long time:

Horwatt said they will appeal. He added that the case is important because it indicates what is occurring on a national scale. “From top to bottom, from the highest levels to the lowest levels of government today, we are seeing an abuse of power and an abuse of authority,” he said.

A national scale?  Wait a minute — some cops claim to be sick and jet off to Vegas, and therefore folks like Scooter Libby and Patrick Fitzgerald are presumably invoked?  This is what lawyers call overreaching, right?

From the Washington Post:

President Bush may have been sending a signal about the fate of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday. At a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the Rose Garden, Bush introduced his old friend as “the eternal general of the United States.”

Interesting note in the Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” about Tom Tancredo:

According to Tancredo aides, almost all media inquiries to the congressman’s campaign since the debate have involved his stance on evolution.

Whether or not you agree with Tancredo on evolution, anyone care to guess what the reporters think of him?