Dear Dairy:

People are interpreting my nomination of Michael Mukasey as the next Attorney General to be an indicator of my weakened position as President. They say Judge Mukasey is an uncharacteristic Bush Administration nominee because he is a) competent and b) actually suited for the position in question. But considering how many people think the Department of Justice building needs to be razed and rebuilt after the philosophical structural deficiencies of Attorney General Gonzales’s tenure, it’s possible the most competent and well-suited man for the job at hand is Bob Vila.

I wanted to nominate Harriet Miers but she said her appearing before Congress in confirmation hearings was "problematic." Something about having to wash her hair and impeachable offenses. Plus she still has a heavy workload, with all the laundry I send back for her to do. She says she's been 'handling my briefs too long to stop now!' I'll tell you, Barney could learn some lessons about loyalty from that gal.

There was quite a furor caused by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments on the war in his new book: "I’m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil." I am relieved that a few phone calls discussing the prospects of his book and his physical ability to promote it have elicited this retraction: "I’m saddened that it is personally inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil."

Andrea Mitchell came thisclose to in-depth coverage of a detention camp and its practices with detainees!

GWB