In this piece, NDN Chair Simon Rosenberg lays out how he sees 2006 shaping up.

 Here's his bottom line:

I've been skeptical about the fall elections becoming a 1994-like "change election." But given that in Mid-February the President has dropped below 40 percent, their weak agenda has nowhere to go, foreign policy and security issues are as likely to be as damaging to them as helpful, and the criminal cases against their leadership will spread and deepen, I think even the skeptics have to now acknowledge that 2006 is likely to become an historically bad year for the governing party.

Are there any reporters in Washington, D.C. who are not total co-dependents?  There are way to many journalists who attempt to make their careers based on who they know, rather than what they can find out--other than by kissing the fanny of someone in power.

The latest round of exposures regarding Viveca Novak and her conversations with Rove's attorney are just pitiful.  How do these folks get so hypnotized by people in power?

According to Reuters, Special Prosecutor Peter Fitzgerald anticipates additional proceedings before a new grand jury.

In filings obtained by Reuters on Friday, Fitzgerald said "the investigation is continuing" and that "the investigation will involve proceedings before a different grand jury than the grand jury which returned the indictment" against Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Think Progress has excerpts from today's press briefing in which National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley hedges when asked if he was Bob Woodward's source in the Plame matter.

The ugliness for the Bush administration continues to mount. 

The WaPo reports that Bob "I have a man crush on W" Woodward has suddenly remembered that he is a central figure in the Plame matter.  Somehow, until now, he had previously overlooked that fact. 

Perhaps his close ties to the Bush administration have enabled him to skirt FDA regulations and he has gotten his hands on some memory enhancing drugs.  Not that you can believe what he says, but here is Woodward's statement.

Following the Senate’s adoption last week of the Lautenberg Amendment to strip the security clearance of anyone who knowingly reveals classified information, a group of Senators yesterday called on the White House Security Officer to reevaluate Karl Rove’s security clearance.  In addition to Lautenberg, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI),Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mark Dayton (D-MN) also signed the letter.

During debate last Thursday on the Defense Authorization bill, the Senate adopted an amendment by U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) to revoke the security clearance of anyone who knowingly reveals classified information vital to the national security of the United States, including the identity of a covert intelligence agent.  (In order to avoid a roll call vote on the amendment, Republicans opted for a rare device known as a “Standing Division” to approve the measure.)

Last week, Washington, DC was abuzz with discussions about Karl Rove's future. 

Jim VandeHei's front page WaPo story really kicked things into gear.  And now, Time speculates on the same subject.

I say that Karl is not long for BushWorld and let me show you a passage from the WaPo story to help explain why:

Rove has long been regarded as the most influential and feared Bush aide and has enjoyed the fervent backing of the president and influential conservatives. Republicans with firsthand knowledge of the private talks about Rove's political problems said there have been informal discussions involving people inside and outside the White House, and that they reflected the views of a large number of administration officials who are concerned about Bush's efforts to start anew in 2006 with as little interference from the scandal as possible.

The DCCC has produced a powerful video tying together the various aspects of the Bush administration's Watergate--the conspiracy to discredit Ambassador Joe Wilson by leaking the identity of a covert CIA operative.

The DCCC has taken a hard swing, and connected.

Peter Daou over at Salon offers up his usual cogent analysis on the current mindset of the press as it relates to President Bush. 

They have worked tirelessly to set Bush up as a victim, all to make the story of a rebound that much more dramatic at the first sign of a positive development.

The press seems to vouch for the President's character, while they attribute political motive to everything Democrats do.

For example, in yesterday's Boston Globe, Rick Klein reports that Senator Harry Reid has called for President Bush to oust Karl Rove.