Bob Schieffer - a dyed-in-the-wool journalist

I've only recently become a fan of Bob Schieffer, but I'm glad I did. I love Face the Nation, but it's my least favorite of the three network Sunday morning political shows. The only reason I dislike it is because it's 30 minutes instead of the hour-long This Week and Meet the Press.

Schieffer is the most qualified to host one of the Sunday morning shows. He is one of the very few journalists to have covered The White House, The Pentagon, The State Department and Congress. He routinely does a very, very good job; he's not afraid to take some shots at people and institutions he's unhappy with.

Last weekend, he more than called out the Bush Administration on the U.S. Prosecutor firings, complete with video tape. (That's always my favorite, because video doesn't lie.)

At the end of the footage, take a look at the shifty-eyed performance of White House Counselor Dan Bartlett, as he lamely tries to impugn the integrity of Matthew Dowd, a former Bush staffer who played key roles in Bush's "victories" in 2000 and 2004. Last weekend, Dowd came out quite strongly against the Bush Administration, and the Sunday morning talk shows were the first opportunity to respond, and respond they did.

Like this was unpredictable - character assassination by a Bush mouthpiece in the face of dissent. I'll have more on Bartlett later today, including some footage from his appearance on last Sunday's MTP appearance.

Pretty impressive that Bartlett managed to get on MTP & FTN on the same day. I guess This Week declined the ménage à trois.

Chuck Hagel - a GOPer I like

This is a pretty strong, powerful appearance by Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel on ABC's This Week yesterday morning.

Hagel answers to no one but the people who put him where he is - the people of Nebraska. He's a man I could and would honestly consider voting for if he were to get the Republican nomination for president next year. He hasn't declared that he will run, yet, but all indications are that he will.

I read the Esquire Magazine article that George Stephanopoulos refers to in this piece. In it, Hagel takes a pretty courageous stand against the president. And Hagel's right - he doesn't call for the impeachment of President Bush, but he openly says that it's an option, just as he did yesterday.

I think impeachment should be the last option for any president, including Bush, but the more this administration openly defies Congress, as well as the reality of the situation in Iraq, it could become a more viable option in the months ahead.

I just hope that members of Congress don't say to themselves, "he'll be gone soon, anyway, so let's just let him slide," if impeachable offenses are uncovered, which is looking more and more likely as the days go by. NO. As of today, Bush has 665 days left in office, and that's a long time for America to endure him, if for every single one of those days he plans on thumbing his nose at Congress and the American people.

The Alberto Gonzales situation is clearly the most troubling, but there are plenty of other things that need looking into as well. This is why America sent Democrats to Congress - to bring oversight to an out-of-control Republican-dominated federal government.

And that's precisely what Democrats are doing. Keep it up, ladies and gentlemen. Put the Check back in Check and Balances.Wherever the truth leads, so be it, and that includes any Democrats who are implicated in these scandals.

I just want answers and explanations as to how we got in the mess in the first place.