Iraq veteran Gen. John Batiste “has been asked to leave his position as a consultant to CBS News” over a new VoteVets ad criticizing the Iraq war. He was interviewed tonight by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Watch it:

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UPDATE: Atrios notes:

[L]ots of former generals and similar are on the cable networks cheering on the war, so anyone who criticizes former generals speaking up is essentially saying they can only express their opinions in one direction. In addition, while this point wasn’t (IIRC) made explicitly, it essentially makes the whole “former general as cable news commentator” position a farcical one at odds with any claimed journalistic pretension, as they’re only on if they support current policy.

UPDATE II: Raw Story has more.

McClatchy reports, “Only weeks before last year’s pivotal midterm elections, the White House urged the Justice Department to pursue voter-fraud allegations against Democrats in three battleground states, a high-ranking Justice official has told congressional investigators.”

In two instances in October 2006, President Bush’s political adviser, Karl Rove, or his deputies passed the allegations on to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ then-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson.

Sampson tapped Gonzales aide Matthew Friedrich, who’d just left his post as chief of staff of the criminal division. In the first case, Friedrich agreed to find out whether Justice officials knew of “rampant” voter fraud or “lax” enforcement in parts of New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and report back.

But Friedrich declined to pursue a related matter from Wisconsin, he told congressional investigators, because an inquiry so close to an election could inappropriately sway voting results. Friedrich decided not to pass the matter on to the criminal division for investigation, even though Sampson gave him a 30-page report prepared by Republican activists that made claims of voting fraud.

While it was known that Rove and the White House had complained about prosecutors not aggressively investigating voter fraud, Friedrich’s testimony suggests that the Justice Department itself was under pressure to open voter fraud cases despite a department policy that discourages such action so close to an election.

During a floor speech this afternoon, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) claimed that only one member of the House of Representatives voted against the 2002 resolution authorizing the invasion in Iraq.

Decrying the “political games” being played, Boehner said, wagging his finger, “I’m going to remind all of my colleagues that all of our members in this chamber, except one — all of our members in this chamber, Democrat and Republican, except one — voted to send our troops to Iraq.” Watch it:

As Mcjoan noted, John Boehner is out to lunch. Fully 133 members of the House voted against the Iraq war authorization. Boehner’s current counterpart, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), said in 2002, “If we resolve this issue diplomatically, we can show our strength as a great country. Let us show our greatness. Vote no on this resolution.”

(Boehner is having a bad day. During the same speech, he claimed, “The Senate leaders, Democrat and Republican, have made it clear that [Bush's escalation] plan has no chance.” Actually, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell supports the escalation.)

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Transcript: Read more

“Former Los Angeles Times Baghdad Bureau Chief Borzou Daragahi says he doubts the ‘surge’ in Iraq will work, and describes Iraq citizens as ‘hostile’ and ‘humiliated’ after four years of war. Asked by Brian Lamb, in a forthcoming C-SPAN interview, about his personal views on the war, he replied: ‘I think at this point, it just — it seems like it’s become a disaster. I mean, I don’t think anyone could dispute that. It’s just going very, very, very, very badly.’”

“Top Bush administration officials lashed out at a pair of House Republicans at the White House yesterday after details about a contentious meeting between President Bush and GOP legislators were leaked to the media earlier this week.”

Sources said that Dan Meyer, Bush’s liaison to the House, confronted LaHood while White House political strategist Karl Rove rebuked Kirk. It is unclear if LaHood or Kirk were the original sources for the stories, but LaHood was quoted in one of the articles.

Regardless, LaHood and Meyer got into a shouting match as emotions ran high and voices were raised yesterday morning in the White House while lawmakers were waiting to meet with first lady Laura Bush, according to two legislators who witnessed the exchange. LaHood and five other GOP lawmakers met with Mrs. Bush in the Yellow Oval in the White House residence to chat about the No Child Left Behind law.

“The White House is not happy,” said a Republican lawmaker. [...]

Several lawmakers who attended one or both meetings did not fault Bush, but blamed his aides for overreacting.

“They can have such thick skin,” said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who attended the meeting on Tuesday. “[President Bush] ought to embrace this and be seen as getting input from everyone.”

The House of Representatives just voted 221-205 in favor of legislation “that would make continued funding of the war in Iraq dependent on a July progress report from the administration. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill.” Watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) floor speech:

The Gavel has more videos of Reps. John Murtha (D-PA), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), and David Obey (D-WI).

UPDATE: Roll call is HERE.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has said that he is personally opposed to abortion, but still supports a woman’s right to choose. Today, CNN political contributor J.C. Watts criticized Giuliani’s position, stating, “That’s the same as saying, I’m personally opposed to slavery, but if somebody else wants to own slaves, it’s okay.” Watch it:

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Yesterday, the House Republican Steering Committee voted to seat Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) on the Appropriations Committee, “filling the vacancy left by embattled Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA),” who is under investigation by the FBI for his longstanding ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

According to Roll Call, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) “has sought to enforce a tougher ethical standard in the 110th Congress,” and thus called on Doolittle to immediately resign his committee seat in the wake of corruption charges.

But Boehner’s rhetoric is merely a PR stunt. Named one of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress,” Calvert has a history of abusing his power just as much as Doolittle:

Made huge personal profits off his own earmark. Calvert pushed through an earmark to secure over $9 miilion for freeway and commercial development near property he owned in California. After the development of the area, Calvert sold his property for a 79 percent profit.

Personal firm received commission from earmark. “In another deal, a group of investors bought property a few blocks from the site of a proposed interchange, for $975,000. Within six months, after the earmark for the interchange was appropriated, the parcel of land sold for $1.45 million. Rep. Calvert’s firm received a commission on the sale.”

Rewarded K Street firm under investigation with pork projects. The Copeland Lowery lobbying firm is currently “enmeshed in a federal investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA).” “Rep. Calvert has helped pass through at least 13 earmarks sought by Copeland Lowery in 2005, adding up to over $91 million.” The lobbying firm has been Calvert’s largest campaign contributor.

Traveled to Saudi Arabia with convicted Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) in 2004. They were accompanied by Thomas Kontogiannis, an alleged co-conspirator in the Cunningham controversy.

Despite Calvert’s controversial past, Boehner maintained that a simple interview was enough to erase his past in the eyes of House conservatives. “Congressman Calvert answered every question asked of him by the Steering Committee,” Boehner said. “It was a candid and frank conversation, and the members of the committee were satisfied with his answers.”

UPDATE: CREW’s blog has more.

The House of Representatives “defeated legislation Thursday to require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within nine months, then pivoted to a fresh challenge of President Bush’s handling of the unpopular war. The vote on the nine-month withdrawal measure was 255-171.” The full roll call is HERE.

UPDATE: Matt Stoller has more.