Finally Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will testify, under oath, about their roles in the USA attorney firing scandal.

Here's Conyers' statement:

In an agreement reached today between the former Bush Administration and Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers will testify before the House Judiciary Committee in transcribed depositions under penalty of perjury. The Committee has also reserved the right to have public testimony from Rove and Miers. It was agreed that invocations of official privileges would be significantly limited.

In addition, if the Committee uncovers information necessitating his testimony, the Committee will also have the right to depose William Kelley, a former White House lawyer who played a role in the U.S. Attorney firings.

The Committee will also receive Bush White House documents relevant to this inquiry. Under the agreement, the landmark ruling by Judge John Bates rejecting key Bush White House claims of executive immunity and privilege will be preserved. If the agreement is breached, the Committee can resume the litigation.

Chairman Conyers issued the following statement:

"I have long said that I would see this matter through to the end and am encouraged that we have finally broken through the Bush Administration's claims of absolute immunity. This is a victory for the separation of powers and congressional oversight. It is also a vindication of the search for truth. I am determined to have it known whether U.S. Attorneys in the Department of Justice were fired for political reasons, and if so, by whom."

Jason Jones learns that when a galvanizing leader captures the public's imagination, he's either Hitler or the Antichrist.

News Corp. Chairman and part-time pirate Rupert Murdoch has finally come out and apologized for the blatantly racist cartoon that ran in last week's NY Post.

CNN:

The chairman of the New York Post, Rupert Murdoch, personally apologized Tuesday for an editorial cartoon published by the newspaper that drew charges of racism.

This New York Post cartoon by Sean Delonas sparked a debate over race and cartooning.

"Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted," said the statement from Murdoch, who is also chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, which owns the paper.

"I can assure you -- without a doubt -- that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation.

"It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such. We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard, and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community."

What a nice guy that Rupert Murdoch is. He's finally stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for all the vitriol directed at Barack Obama by his multiple media outlets. It's nice to see that there are no ulterior motives at play here. Oh wait, spoke too soon.

Rupert Murdoch's apology -- the first I can recall him making, for anything -- for printing a cartoon that offended many is a seismic event at the New York Post and News Corp., and comes at an unsettled time: Yesterday, the company's stock fell more than 4% on news that his longtime number two, Peter Chernin, is leaving.

According to Schwarzenegger biographer Joe Mathews, the Governator was seriously considering ditching the GOP a few months ago.

Daily Beast:

A few months ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a few close associates discussed whether he should leave the Republican Party, according to two people familiar with the conversation. His friend Mike Bloomberg, the New York mayor, had become an independent. Maybe Schwarzenegger should, too. But the governor and his people quickly concluded that Californians already saw him as independent of the Republican Party. So what would be the point of a switch? (A spokesman for the governor declined comment.)

Arnold is far from a model politician, but he has always struck me as far too pragmatic and insufficiently insane to be a Republican. What say you?

Despite what all the talking heads have been reciting ever since the House stimulus vote, Republicans aren't helping themselves any with voters. Indeed, it seems they are shooting themselves in the foot. Charlie Cook -- aka someone who actually looks at data and doesn't recite GOP talking points -- reports:

As polling very clearly shows, congressional Republicans have done nothing to help themselves by almost unanimously opposing the massive stimulus package. Indeed, they look increasingly isolated: a narrow party that is looking inward for sustenance. Selecting former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele to be national party chairman is about the only intelligent thing that Republicans have done since Election Day. At this point, a Republican rebound seems more contingent upon a Democratic collapse than anything else. Certainly, Republicans aren't doing anything these days to help bring themselves back.

As DougJ over at Balloon Juice notes, the American people overwhelmingly trust President Obama to help steer the country through these rough economic voters...in historic numbers.

Head-to-head, though, Americans are putting far more faith in Obama than in congressional Republicans: 61 percent said they trust Obama more than the GOP when it comes to economic matters, just 26 percent side with the Republicans in Congress. Obama’s advantage on that question is bigger than George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or George H.W. Bush ever had over the opposition party in the legislature on dealing with the economy.

Overall, Democrats maintain a nearly 2 to 1 edge over Republicans as the party Americans prefer to confront “the big issues” over the next few years.

DOWNLOAD (421)

PLAY (478)

When California Congressman Darrell Issa brings up the right-wing stimulus lie du jour -- the so-called "train to Sin City" -- David Shuster delivers a well-deserved smackdown, practically laughing at Issa for having the balls to spread that lie on his show. Good stuff. Bravo, David. Watch Issa start squirming as Shuster unloads at around 4:30.

ISSA: When we see $8 billion into a train to Sin City as part of a stimulus, we reject it.

SHUSTER: But Congressman, there's no project for a train from California to Las Vegas. You Republicans know better. It's $8 billion that's going to the Department of Transportation, and a Republican, Ray LaHood -- he was a Republican in your Congress -- he's the Transportation Secretary who gets to decide where the money is spent! It it wrong to say there is a project from L.A. to Las Vegas. It's not in the bill, Congressman.

When will people learn that this is how Republicans roll? They cherry-pick and try to exploit (or, in this case, flat-out fabricate) minor parts of a bill and run around repeating it over and over until the entire bill is defined by those few "controversial" programs. Too bad more of the DC establishment isn't like Shuster, who's always ready, willing and able to shoot them down.

Our good buddy Jon Perr chimes in with his "Top 10 Darrell Issa Hall of Shame Moments." Lots of wingnuttery in there.

File this under: Stupid things Republicans say.

Courier-Journal:

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning predicted over the weekend that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.

During a wide-ranging 30-minute speech on Saturday at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning said he supports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg … has cancer."

"Bad cancer. The kind that you don't get better from," he told a crowd of about 100 at the old State Theater.

"Even though she was operated on, usually, nine months is the longest that anybody would live after (being diagnosed) with pancreatic cancer," he said.

Naturally, Bunning was called to account for his bone-headed remarks and forced to apologize.

"I apologize if my comments offended Justice Ginsberg," Bunning said. "That certainly was not my intent. It is great to see her back at the Supreme Court today and I hope she recovers quickly. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family."

Note: Bunning's office misspelled Ginsburg's last name.

DOWNLOAD (561)

PLAY (253)

Robert Gibbs took to the podium today to defend President Obama's foreclosure recovery plan and took direct aim at Rick Santelli and his hysterical rant on CNBC yesterday.

"I'm not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives in. But the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgage, stay in their jobs, pay their bills to send their kids to school, and to hope that they don't get sick or somebody they care for gets sick that sends them into bankruptcy. I think we left a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader, that it was good for Main Street. I think the verdict is in on that.

"I would be more than happy to have him come here and read it. I'd be happy to buy him a cup of coffee....decaf."

Daily News:

In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby - and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge.

Sources close to Cheney told the Daily News the former vice president repeatedly pressed Bush to pardon Libby, arguing his ex-chief of staff and longtime alter ego deserved a full exoneration - even though Bush had already kept Libby out of jail by commuting his 30-month prison sentence.

"He tried to make it happen right up until the very end," one Cheney associate said.

The craziest thing of all is that, despite a conviction by his peers on four felony counts, Dick Cheney still doesn't believe he did anything wrong. Stunning indeed. Perrspectives has more...

Update: And whenever you talk about these guys, another story about the DOJ firings comes out.

The Big Stone Wall: Nine Bush-Era Officials Refused To Cooperate With DOJ Probes