Daily Briefing: 'Carefully Calibrated' Rhetortic
•House votes 308 to 122 on symbolic measure to ban torture and limit interrogation measures. [ WP , NYT , LAT ]
• Bush's recent speeches on Iraq show "a determined effort to reshape the angry debate at home over the war" by "presenting a more sober picture of the situation while highlighting the progress"; the wording is "carefully calibrated" to provide "maximum flexibility in determining ultimately just what will constitute victory." Senior official: "It's not as if we have a secret ersatz timetable and we just won't say what it is."
[ WP , NYT , NYT , WSJ , USAT ]
•House approves renewal of the Patriot Act by vote of 251 to 174; Democrats may filibuster in the Senate. [ WP , NYT , LAT , WT , USAT ]
•Republicans losing ground among key senior citizen voting bloc. NBC/WSJ poll: "By a 65%-19% margin, Americans age 65 and above disapprove of the performance of Congress" and "say by 47%-37% that they want Democrats rather than Republicans to win control of Capitol Hill." [ WSJ ]
•Senate expected to require the administration to reveal specifics about secret overseas prisons. [ NYT ]
• Robert Novak: "I'm confident the president knows who the source is. I'd be amazed if he doesn't." [ WP ]
•Pentagon will review their information gathering system that compiled data on peace protesters. [ WP ]
•E-mail trail fromJack Abramoffsays he was pressured by Rep.Tom DeLayfor fundraising. [ NYT ]
• BushbelievesDeLayis innocent. [ NYT , LAT ]
• Bushgives the State Department authority over nation building. [ NYT ]
•House Republicans are looking for creative ways to get ANWR drilling passed. [ NYT ]
•With eyes on the White House, Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romneydecides against seeking a second term. [ NYT , LAT ]
•NAACP, AFL-CIO opposeSamuel Alito. [ AP ]
•House Republicans want to reduce the perks provided for lawmakers convicted of various crimes. [ LAT ]