Remember my old theory? That if the White House denies involvement in something there’s a good chance they’re lying? Okay, it seems like I’ve got something there. Confronted with obvious evidence that the “it was all Harriet Miers!” line was complete BS, the Administration is now “unsure” if it was Miers’ idea.

Instead, President Bush’s chief spokesman said today that, Karl Rove, the chief political adviser to Mr. Bush, had early conversations with Ms. Miers. “I think the thing that we can say with assurance is that Karl remembers her raising it to him and his saying he didn’t think it was a good idea,” said Tony Snow, the president’s spokesman.

“It has been described as her idea but … I don’t want to try to vouch for origination,” Mr. Snow said, according to The Associated Press. “At this juncture, people have hazy memories.”

Have I mentioned lately that Tony Snow is an asshole? It’s true. I don’t know if I’ve said that recently. The guy seems like he forgets that he’s the press secretary, not a radio host who gets extra money for boosting the president. The arrogance that drips off of every word out of the man’s mouth is, well… it’s fitting, given the president he’s working for.

Mr. Rove, speaking at Troy University in Alabama on Thursday, again defended the administration’s handling of the dismissals, saying it was entirely appropriate for the Justice Department to selectively remove any who were not performing or following department policies.

“This to my mind is a lot of politics, and I understand that’s what Congress has the right to play around with, and they’re going to do it,” he said.

This is the attitude that Rove and others have concerning Congress. Like they’re a bunch of children in a playpen. Oh it’s just a little politics that Congress is having fun with, don’t pay them no mind. And this is why one of these charges has to stick, because the precedent is being set that the executive branch can stomp all over the legislative, and you know what the legislative branch will do? Jack shit.

It seems like the Democrats are just waiting for something to drop into their laps, that they don’t want to appear too radical or partisan. I don’t mean to say they should learn from the Republicans, but they should see what the Republicans were willing to do when there was so little to pin on the president and apply that to a situation where there’s so much.

I’m a little behind on this as well (it seems my RSS reader is acting up), but this is still worth mentioning. Amidst all the discussion of the White House coercing scientists to quiet their findings or avoid going public with anything that would antagonize the base, we have the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. A great step forward, and interestingly enough, check out the vote split.

The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which would, for the first time, grant federal scientists and contractors the right to expose political interference in their research without fear of retribution. The bill passed by a 331 to 94 vote, with 229 Democrats and 102 Republicans voting in favor.

I can’t imagine why anyone would vote against this. Is it a coincidence that the “against” bend is to the right?