Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up

Dizzying highs and agonizing lows for the Watchdog this Sunday.

On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace didn't ask Karl Rove about his lie regarding the Iraq war authorization vote. But after Rep. Chris van Hollen, D-Md. raised the subject, calling on Rove to "retract" his attempt to "revise history," Wallace interjected to say:

Gentlemen do we really think, when we're talking about 2008, that we need to go back and rehearse what happened in 2002?

Um, yes, when someone is spreading lies about it to shift blame and shirk responsibility.

You can watch the exchange below.

Over on CBS' Face The Nation, instead of asking Sen. John McCain about evidence that the surge has not greatly contributed to a major decrease in violence, asked McCain:

There is no question now that the violence, the trends toward violence are down in Iraq, and most people believe it's because of these extra troops that we surged in there.

But now ... we're starting to withdraw them.

Now that the violence is down, Senator, do you think we ought to rethink maybe bringing these troops back at the same schedule we're bringing them?

In other words: since the surge was so awesome, doesn't that mean we should keep a high level of occupying forces in Iraq indefinitely?

(As TomDispatch's Michael Schwartz notes: "The worse things go, the more our military is needed; the better they go, the more our military is needed.")

On the upside, ABC's George Stephanopoulos did put former Gov. Mike Huckabee through his paces on his contradictory immigration positions. Huckabee continues to get caught up trying to sound anti-immigrant today while defending his pro-immigrant policies when governor.

Most notably, Huckabee could not easily explain why he supported college tuition assistance for some undocumented immigrant children in Arkansas, but would not give a straight answer whether he would "extend the principle" and provide access to federal college loan and aid programs.

HUCKABEE: It would depend -- I'm not sure if I understand when you say subsidized student loans. You mean --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Federal student loans which are --

HUCKABEE: You're talking about to go to college?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, absolutely.

HUCKABEE: I'm not sure that I would support that. But that --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why not?

HUCKABEE: -- there's a different program in Arkansas.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How is it different? If you don't think the children should be punished, then why shouldn't they get the federal said as well as the state aid?

HUCKABEE: Well, it's the difference between punished and being rewarded.

It's the difference between running in a state with a growing Latino population, and running in a Republican primary dominated by an anti-immigrant conservative base.

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