House oversight chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter today to Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, urging him to be ready to answer questions about specific topics at his hearing on May 8. Among other topics, Waxman tells Duncan he will need to discuss the names of all White House officials who have used RNC e-mail accounts, the number of communications each White House official sent or received using RNC e-mail accounts each year, and the policies “relating to the preservation, storage, or destruction of communications transmitted using RNC e-mail accounts.”

The National Review is on a roll. Here’s columnist Thomas Sowell: “When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup.” Kevin Drum writes, “in case you’re wondering, there’s no further context. That’s the whole quote. It’s one bullet point in a long series of dyspeptic observations about how liberals have ruined the country.”

Number of secret warrants approved by the FISA court targeting people in the United States in 2006, a record high. The secret court “approved all but one of the government’s requests.”

“[W]hat was the first thing they did to get people to exterminate the Jews. Now, I’m not saying that anybody’s going to — you know Al Gore’s not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different.”

Reacting to President Bush’s veto of the Iraq supplemental bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted this evening that Bush once believed it was important for a president to lay out a timetable:

The president wants a blank check. The Congress is not going to give it to him. The president said, in his comments, he did not believe in timelines, and he spoke out very forcefully against them. Yet in 1999, on June 5th, then-Governor Bush said, about President Clinton, “I think it’s important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they would be withdrawn.” Despite his past statements, President Bush refuses to apply the same standard to his own activities. Standards — that’s the issue.

If the president thinks that what is happening on the ground in Iraq now is progress, as he said in his comments tonight, then it’s clear to see why we have a disagreement on policy with him. I agree with Leader Reid. We look forward to working with the president to find common ground, but there is great distance between us right now.

Watch it:

ThinkProgress has updated its Iraq war timeline. A review of past Mission Accomplished anniversaries from the timeline finds the following:

MAY 1, 2004: Bush says “daily life” of Iraqis is improving.

One year later [after Mission Accomplished], despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam’s regime. At the most basic level of justice, people are no longer disappearing into political prisons, torture chambers, and mass graves — because the former dictator is in prison, himself. And their daily life is improving. [Bush, 5/1/04]

MAY 1, 2005: Downing Street Memo revealed.

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. [Downing Street Memo, 7/23/02]

MAY 1, 2006: Bush says Iraq has reached “a turning point.”

A new Iraqi government represents a strategic opportunity for America — and the whole world, for that matter. This nation of ours and our coalition partners are going to work with the new leadership to strengthen our mutual efforts to achieve success, a victory in this war on terror. This is a — we believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens, and it’s a new chapter in our partnership. [Bush, 5/1/06]

These and other key events, quotes, and pictures of the Iraq war can be found here. Check it out and spread the word. And make sure to tell us what we missed in the comments section.

AP reports: “President Bush vetoed legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq Tuesday night in a historic showdown with Congress over whether the unpopular and costly war should end or escalate.” It was the second veto of his presidency.

UPDATE: Two generals who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq respond to the veto.

“An Interior Department official accused of pressuring government scientists to make their research fit her policy goals has resigned.” Julie MacDonald, deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, submitted her resignation letter “a week before a House congressional oversight committee was to hold a hearing on accusations that she violated the Endangered Species Act, censored science and mistreated staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

UPDATE: Josh Marshall highlights some other amusing memories from MacDonald’s tenure.