Corporation for Dubyic Broadcasting.

“Last November, members of the Association of Public Television Stations met in Baltimore along with officials from the corporation and PBS. Mr. Tomlinson told them they should make sure their programming better reflected the Republican mandate.” Perturbed primarily by Bill Moyers’ Now, Dubya flunky and CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson cites objectivity and balance in his attempt to FOX-ify PBS.

Perhaps someone should explain to Tomlinson that many people don’t think of journalistic “objectivity” or “balance” as finding the exact median between the left and whatever loony garbage the far-right is spouting on a given issue, but in holding up political rhetoric of both parties to pesky little things called “facts.” (Hence, the reality-based community.)

Delusions of Grandeur.

“Even among many influential conservatives, there has been a growing consensus that the Bush governing theory, at least on Social Security, has been proved wrong.” 100 days into the second term, the Dubya White House starts to realize they may not have received a mandate after all. Meanwhile, on the Left Coast, the Governator is learning much the same lesson.

Jack of All Trades.

As DeLay-connected Republican lobbyist “Casino Jack” Abramoff attempts some modicum of damage control in both Time and the Sunday NYT Magazine, the WP delves into the details of another federal investigation involving Abramoff, casino ships, and likely bank fraud.

A Failure to Communicate.

“If the president believes what he said, he doesn’t comprehend the nature of either crisis. If he doesn’t believe it and was just reciting the usual grab bag of cliches, what was his point?” As more questions arise about John Bolton’s temperamental fitness for UN ambassador, Slate‘s Fred Kaplan wonders aloud if Bolton’s boss “gets” diplomacy either.

Gambler’s Ruin.

I missed Dubya’s press conference last night — I taught my two last sections of the term, then headed for an arts fundraising shindig downtown (where I picked up a celebrity sighting in Chiwetel Ejiofor) — but, frankly, it doesn’t sound like I missed much. “With two in three Americans disapproving of the way Bush has handled Social Security, many political observers thought it would be prudent for Bush to cut his losses and negotiate a bipartisan compromise on Social Security…Instead, Bush held a prime-time news conference and doubled down on his bet.” Dubya tries to regain the Social Security initiative by declaring he’ll cut benefits for everyone but the poor. Privatization and lower benefits? Hey, what a deal!

Moderate Chance of Snowe.

“Social Security became the bedrock of support for seniors in my state precisely because it’s defined and guaranteed,”[Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)] said. ‘What cost and what risk is it worth to erode the guaranteed benefit?’” With both Sens. Snowe and Craig Thomas (R-WY) voicing their doubts on the GOP side, Day 1 of the Senate Finance Committee’s discussion of Dubya’s Social Security plan seems to indicate serious trouble ahead for Dubya’s privatization scheme.

The Bolton Bulldozer.

Meanwhile, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee inquiry into John Bolton widens, a deeply concerned Dubya and the GOP now threaten to sidestep the concerns of Dems and moderate Republicans completely by bringing Bolton’s nomination to a floor vote, regardless of the committee’s recommendation. Hopefully Senators Voinovich, Hagel, and Chafee, as well as other independent-minded Senators in the Republican Party, will take serious umbrage at this attempt to ride roughshod over the committee’s usual advise & consent prerogatives.

Shields Down.

“A House Republican leadership aide said that the automatic-dismissal rule is ‘the rule that is most commonly believed to be designed to protect Tom DeLay’ and that it was ‘impossible to win the communications battle’ on it.” Sensing that the (lack of) ethics issue was causing them real damage, and perhaps perturbed by the recent revelations involving Casino Jack’s credit card and gift-giving streak, the House GOP plan to rescind the recent rule change passed in January to protect Boss DeLay from any real ethics inquiry. Looks like palling around with Dubya yesterday didn’t change the Hammer’s fortunes much. Update: Hastert officially announces the rules changes.

Birds of a Feather.

“Bush is supporting DeLay as ‘strongly as he ever has, which is strongly,’ McClellan said.” While trying once again to salvage his Social Security privatization plan (which even Republicans on the Senate Finance Commitee are now shying away from), Dubya struts beside Boss DeLay for all the world to see. Well, Mr. President, if he’s really the type of fellow you want us to associate with your administration…

Nuclear Chicken.

Despite a (somewhat dismaying but probably politically necessary) attempt by top Senate Dems to achieve a compromise on the question of judicial nominations, Catkiller Frist remains committed to go nuclear to preserve his presidential prospects. Two-thirds of the country think the nuclear option is a bad idea, but will that be enough to sway the moderate GOP?