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The Situation: Wednesday, March 22

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_{Posted: 4:15 p.m. ET
From The Situation Online Producers}

Today in "The Situation Room"

Buzz on Bush Agenda: Three days in a row of Presidential pressers are giving the left and right plenty to talk about, with liberal blogs demanding more candor, and those on the right praising Bush as feisty and passionate, but wondering if his press conferences are having enough of an impact.

Huffington Apologizes: How did George Clooney's words end up on the liberal blog "The Huffington Post"? We have closure from both sides.

Found in Translation: From Google's language tools to Babel Fish to SDL's Free Translation to World Lingo to Applied Language to Dictionary.com, a look at some of latest online tools available that translate dozens of languages back and forth.

The Morning Grind

_{Posted: 10:23 a.m. ET
From Mark Preston, CNN Political Unit}

Long term presence in Iraq?

President Bush is marking the third anniversary of the war this week by seeking to reassure a skeptical American public about the progress being made in Iraq, but acknowledged yesterday that U.S. troops might still be on the ground when he leaves office in January 2009.

Bush also noted that any political capital he might have gained after winning a second term is now being spent "on the war," an issue that is sure to define his presidency. Bush's latest public relations blitz began Sunday when he made a brief statement on the war, followed with a speech Monday on the subject in Cleveland. And he then faced White House reporters yesterday in a news conference where Iraq dominated the discussion. Today, Bush heads to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he will speak about Iraq at 12:15 p.m. ET and then take questions from the audience.

While Bush said he would rely on the advice given to him by commanders on the ground about "force levels" in Iraq, he noted the decision to withdraw all U.S. troops is likely to be left up to the next administration.

"That, of course, is an objective, and that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq," Bush said.

And despite the fact that a majority of Americans believe it was a mistake to send troops into Iraq, Bush maintains it was the right thing to do.

"We're making progress," Bush said yesterday. "And that's important for the American people to understand."

As Bush was defending his Iraq strategy yesterday, Vice President Cheney was echoing the president's comments during a speech on "Iraq and the Global War on Terror" at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have been singled out by critics as being the driving forces behind Bush's war strategy, with some lawmakers calling for Rumsfeld to step down. But Bush stood by his embattled Defense secretary saying, "I don't believe he should resign.

"I think he's done a fine job of not only conducting two battles, Afghanistan and Iraq, but also transforming our military, which has been a very difficult job inside the Pentagon," Bush said.

With Congress out of session and Bush focused on Iraq, the political headlines are being generated outside the Beltway. In Illinois, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka emerged from a crowded field to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination yesterday and will square off against Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in November. Blagojevich easily defeated former Chicago Alderman Edwin Eisendrath in the Democratic primary. Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth will face state Sen. Peter Roskam (R) in the fall after beating Christine Cegelis in the 6th District Democratic primary. The seat is currently held by Rep. Henry Hyde (R), who is retiring at the close of the 109th Congress. And in the 8th District GOP primary, David McSweeney defeated Kathy Salvi for the right to challenge Rep. Melissa Bean (D) in November.

But before the November midterms, another high-profile election will take place with the winner having great influence over how New Orleans rebuilds and redefines itself after Hurricane Katrina swept through the city leaving a trail of destruction. New Orleans residents will head to the polls on April 22, with 23 candidates running for mayor, but not everyone will be casting their votes in the Crescent City. The massive flooding that destroyed parts of the city forced residents to scatter -- primarily to other Southern cities -- and Louisiana officials are running radio and television public service announcements in nine states urging displaced residents to contact the Secretary of State's office to learn how to cast absentee ballots in the upcoming election.

The situation has also forced candidates to take their message beyond the city limits as they stump for votes. A handful of candidates recently appeared in Atlanta to meet with New Orleans residents who are calling Georgia their temporary home. Among the candidates who attended the forum were current Mayor Ray Nagin (D) and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu (D). Last week, Landrieu visited Houston, where many evacuees fled following the hurricane. These unique circumstances are expected to put an added burden on the candidates campaign budgets, forcing some of them to focus solely on voters currently living in New Orleans.

But Landrieu, who is already drawing on his own supporters to help fuel his campaign, is also benefiting from his politically connected sister, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), for financial assistance. During a recent visit to Washington, D.C., Sen. Landrieu held what she described as a "gathering of family, friends and supporters" at her Capitol Hill home that raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for her brother's campaign.

"I am very proud of what he is trying to do," Landrieu told the Grind. "I think he is the only one that can unite the city."

Another candidate, former Councilwoman Peggy Wilson (R), is refusing to back down from a statement she made earlier this month when she declared that not all New Orleans residents should be welcomed back to the city.

"We don't want the drug dealers, we don't want the gangs, we don't want the pimps, we don't want the welfare queens," Wilson said in a March 7 debate. She is echoing this message in a television ad running in the New Orleans media market this week. (TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group, CNN's consultant on television advertising spending, has made the commercial available for viewing. To watch the commercial -- a Real Media Player is required -- cut and paste the following hyperlink into your browser: http://www.politicsontv.com/misc\MAYOR_LA_NEWORL_WILSON_HOUSING.rm)

In the commercial, Wilson contends the city's public housing units should be reserved for working families and workers who are helping to rebuild the city, not "drug dealers, crack addicts, gang bangers and welfare queens."

Wilson tells the Grind that public housing is "the only housing we can control the behavior of the people who live there.

"We don't want to bring people back and pay for them with taxpayer money if they are going to be destructive to our community," she said.

Political Hot Topics

_{Posted: 10:23 a.m. ET
From Stephen Bach, CNN Washington Bureau}

IRAQ WITHDRAWAL MAY BE UP TO FUTURE PRESIDENTS: President Bush acknowledged yesterday that the war in Iraq is dominating nearly every aspect of his presidency, and he served notice for the first time that he expects the decision on when all U.S. troops come home to fall on his successors. In an hour-long news conference, Bush said the "trauma" of war has left the public and even some lawmakers in his own party understandably shaken and skeptical of his vow that the United States will prevail. "Nobody likes war," Bush said. "It creates a sense of uncertainty in the country." Washington Post: Bush Says U.S. Troops Will Stay in Iraq Past '08

SENATORS IN IRAQ URGE POLITICAL ACTION: The leadership vacuum created by Iraq's inability to form a government is strengthening the country's violent insurgency, a group of U.S. senators visiting the Iraqi capital said Tuesday. "There's been too much dawdling while Baghdad is burning," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters after meeting interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. "The only way for the violence to end is if there is a political coming-together."... Iraqi voters went to the polls Dec. 15 to elect a national assembly that must approve a prime minister and Cabinet. Talks among major political blocs have not produced agreement on a new government. The assembly has met only once -- for 30 minutes on March 16 to take the oath of office. USA Today: U.S. senators pressure Iraq to form government

PAYING IRAQI PAPERS OKAY BY MILITARY: An inquiry has found that an American public relations firm did not violate military policy by paying Iraqi news outlets to print positive articles, military officials said Tuesday. The finding leaves to the Defense Department the decision on whether new rules are needed to govern such activities. The inquiry, which has not yet been made public, was ordered by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, after it was disclosed in November that the military had used the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations company, to plant articles written by American troops in Iraqi newspapers while hiding the source of the articles. New York Times: No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda

RESTAURANT LOBBYISTS TO LOBBY AGAINST EFFORTS TO CONTROL LOBBYING: The three positions with the most sway over Congress, it can be argued, are majority leader of the Senate, speaker of the House and maitre d' of the Palm. Almost as much political business gets done over double-cut lamb chops at the elite watering hole -- and at similar establishments throughout the city -- as under the Capitol dome. It's no wonder, then, that talk of making it illegal for lobbyists to pick up a lawmaker's tab has the local restaurant community all whipped up. So, in classic Washington style, restaurateurs have dispatched their lobbyists to lobby against efforts to control lobbying. Los Angeles Times: Restaurants Lobbying to Keep D.C.'s Free Lunch

REID RECOMMENDING BASES AS BACKDROPS? Republicans accused Capitol Hill Democrats yesterday of plotting to use military bases as props for political press events to criticize President Bush for his handling of the war in Iraq. "I think that is deplorable," Sen. George Allen, Virginia Republican, said yesterday on Fox News. "It is pitiful. We are at war. This country needs to be unified and realize who the enemy is -- it's not fellow Americans." Mr. Allen and others cited a memo distributed last week by the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid that recommended Senate Democrats hold press events at, among other places, military bases. Jim Manley, spokesman for the Nevada Democrat, dismissed the accusations and pointed to several examples of Mr. Bush and other Republicans using soldiers in uniform and military equipment for what he said was clear political gain. Among them was Mr. Bush's 2003 fighter-jet landing onto an aircraft carrier adorned with a huge banner that read: "Mission Accomplished." Washington Times: Republicans slam Democrat plan to hit Bush from bases

DHS WANTS CHEMICAL PLANTS PROTECTION: The nation must move rapidly to bolster protection of its chemical plants against a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday, urging Congress to adopt regulations that the industry has already largely endorsed. The remarks by Mr. Chertoff, in a speech before industry leaders, were the latest chapter in an unusual turnabout by the Bush administration. It is now lobbying for regulations that senior administration officials worked privately to block shortly after the 2001 attacks, saying then that voluntary measures would be sufficient. New York Times: Chertoff Seeks a Chemical Security Law, Within Limits

PROSECUTORS APPEAL DeLAY DISMISSAL: Today, Travis County prosecutors will attempt to resurrect a dismissed indictment against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, an argument that might take months to resolve and postpone a resolution to criminal charges against the Sugar Land Republican. Lawyers will argue before a three-judge panel of the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin over whether a trial judge erred when he dismissed an indictment accusing DeLay of conspiring to violate the state election code during the 2002 elections. A spokeswoman for Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's lawyer, said the former U.S. House majority leader is not expected to attend. A money-laundering indictment against DeLay remains, but all criminal proceedings have been put on hold until the issue of the dismissed indictment can be resolved. Austin American-Statesman: DeLay's prosecutors appeal dismissal

ART DECO, FRENCH PROVINCIAL, AMERICAN PIONEER... "A REAL MIX OF DIFFERENT STYLES": Silver-plated candelabras. A cedar-lined lingerie cabinet. Persian rugs. An oak hutch carved with lions' heads, tree limbs and acorns. The spoils from former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's bribery scheme -- a household of valuable antiques, rugs and home furnishings -- will be auctioned off by the government Thursday to help cover the back taxes and restitution he owes. The public was given a preview Tuesday of the loot, which was laid out in orderly rows in a warehouse near Los Angeles... The inventory reveals that the contractors spared little expense to appease Cunningham's collector's tastes. There is a leather sofa. A solid cherry sleigh bed. Nearly a dozen rugs. Marble-topped nightstands, armoires and sideboards, many featuring stained glass, brass fittings and intricate carvings. AP via Yahoo! News: Ex-Congressman's Loot to be Auction

BLAGOJEVICH VS. TOPINKA: Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich accepted his party's nod for re-election Tuesday and will face Judy Baar Topinka, who took advantage of a split among conservatives to win the Republican nomination for governor. The primary election was notable for its low voter turnout, a reflection of a largely dispassionate electorate that awaits a federal jury's verdict on the scandal-tainted leadership of Blagojevich's predecessor, George Ryan. The Nov. 7 election campaign now pits Topinka, the state treasurer and a veteran of Illinois politics, against Blagojevich, an aggressive fundraiser, in what is expected to be a spirited and contentious campaign. Chicago Tribune: Blagojevich to face Topinka

HARRIS PLANS TO SELL ALL PERSONAL ASSETS FOR SEN BID: U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris continued her attempt to take her campaign to national television and to add religious overtones to her quest for a U.S. Senate seat with an appearance on ABC News "Nightline" on Tuesday. Harris told John Donvan, of "Nightline," that she intends to sell all her personal assets to fund the race. "My husband has real estate, but I will not own anything." Since making a pledge last week to put $10 million of her money into the race, Harris has made the phrase "putting everything on the line" a new campaign theme. "I am willing to take this widow's mite, this pearl of great price, and put everything on the line," she told Donvan. "No matter how much you have, are you willing to take what you have and sell it all for a great price?" Tampa Tribune: Harris Pledges to Sell All Her Assets

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