Newsweek reports that Scooter Libby “does not qualify to even be considered for a presidential pardon under Justice Department guidelines,” which in part “require a petitioner to wait a period of at least five years after conviction or release from confinement (whichever is later) before filing a pardon application.” President Bush can easily waive the rules, but up until now he “seems to have followed those guidelines religiously.”

“A proposal to keep seriously wounded vets from falling through the cracks of the bureaucracy was shelved in 2005 when Jim Nicholson took over as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department,” ABC News reports. “As a result, seriously wounded veterans continued to face long delays for health care and benefit payments after being discharged from the military, says former VA program manager Paul Sullivan. … Sullivan said he was told the cost of the system — less than $1 million to build and requiring a handful of staff to maintain — was prohibitive.”

As sure as April showers bring May flowers, so too does Fox News every year around this time announce that there is “a War on Easter.” Last year, Bill O’Reilly suggested the Easter bunny was “under attack.” After embarrassing himself and his colleagues, O’Reilly eventually acknowledged, “There is no attack on Easter.”

This year, John Gibson is carrying the “War on Easter” mantra, hailing it today as “an incredible development.” Gibson cited efforts by the city of Walnut Creek, California, to rebrand the Easter bunny as the “spring bunny.” “Is this political correctness gone too far”? Gibson wondered. Watch it:

The truth is there is no “war” on Easter. Like the alleged “War on Christmas,” right-wing pundits stir such controversies in order to raise money and suggest that “secular progressives” are at war with Christianity.

Walnut Creek’s changes were made five years ago. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Chuck Nevius said, “Walnut Creek is flabbergasted that they are in the cross hairs of a national controversy.” Fox News has tried to sensationalize local events such as these to try to create a national firestorm where none exists.

Digg It!

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The White House has threatened to veto a critical 9/11 Commission security bill if it includes legislation giving federal airport screeners collective bargaining rights and whistle-blower protections.

Senate conservatives have argued that providing basic workers’ rights to TSA employees endangers our national security. “It’s absolutely absurd,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). “Terrorists don’t go on strike. Terrorists don’t call their union to negotiate before they attack.”

Today on the Senate floor, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) ripped into the right wing for suggesting that our first-line defenders would sacrifice America’s security. “What is it about the other side that questions that these are men and women of dignity that will do their job when this nation is threatened?” he said. “As the smoke was coming out of the buildings in New York, when we saw the collapse of the first buildings and men and women under collective bargaining agreements were asked to go into those fiery infernos, no one was talking about collective bargaining agreements! They were talking about doing their duty to the United States of America.”

Watch it:

The good news: the Senate held the line and voted 51-48 to approve the workers’ protections.

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David Gergen on the Libby verdict: “This is an administration that has been mostly free of scandal over the last six years and now they have the taint that they cannot erase.

We’re looking for a new member to join our “great left-wing slime machine” here at the Center for American Progress Action Fund in Washington, D.C. Job responsibilities would include:

– Writing content and conducting research for the blog, ThinkProgress.org

– Writing content and conducting research for the daily newsletter, The Progress Report

– Assisting with various research projects

We’re looking for someone with at least a college degree, strong writing and research skills, the ability to work under tight deadlines, and an undying enthusiasm for reading the news, including blogs.

If you or someone you know is interested, please send a resume and cover letter directly to us at thinkprogress@americanprogressaction.org.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) has “hired a top defense attorney to handle the pending ethics investigation into allegations that he pressured a federal prosecutor to bring indictments against New Mexico Democrats on the eve of the 2006 elections.” His choice: “Lee Blalack, who recently represented former congressman Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham (R-CA), who is now serving time in prison for bribery and other offenses,” and who was prosecuted by purged U.S. Attorney Carol Lam.

Pat Buchanan: “The conviction of Scooter Libby on four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice is first of all a human tragedy. A man who served his country at the highest level, who sat in every morning at the senior staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, has been dishonored and disgraced, and will be disbarred. Unless his conviction is overturned, or he is pardoned, Libby will go to prison. His life will end with an obituary that declares in its headline and lead paragraph that he was a convicted Dick Cheney aide.”