Cross posted at TPM CAFE.

Rahm Emanuel is set to speak later today at The Brookings Institute. Here is a portion of his advance copied speech (thanks to TPM Cafe):

I don-t think politics is a dirty word. (And, those of you who know me know that I am very knowledgeable when it comes to dirty words.) Politics is a vital and essential element of our political system — the vehicle by which we advance our governing principles and policies.

Believe me, I-m not naïve. President Clinton made me a top aide in the White House not because of my good looks or charm - and not because I was a top policy expert. No, I got to the White House the same way he did: through politics. I am not one who believes you can ever fully divorce politics from policy in a democracy. It would be like trying to do physics without math.

[...]

Partisan politics has infiltrated every level of our federal government - from scientific reports on global warming to emergency management services to the prosecutorial power of the federal government itself. Even the Iraq War - from our entry to the reconstruction - has been thoroughly politicized and manipulated.

[...]

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s political architect, often drew an analogy between that election and the election of 1896, in which adviser Mark Hanna joined forces with many of the plutocrats of that Gilded Age and ushered in a 35-year era of Republican dominance - dominance that didn-t end until the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Read the entire speech at TPM CAFE.

As a rule, Law Day, a ceremonial holiday since 1958, goes by largely unnoticed. But this year, given the current occupant of the Oval Office, and his negligence with regard to the rule of law, the “holiday” seems to have special meaning.

As long as there was a national consensus about the importance of the rule of law, Law Day felt superfluous, like celebrating gravity. But for six years now, the rule of law has been under attack. An array of doctrines has emerged to undermine it, like the enemy combatant doctrine, which says people can be held indefinitely without trial, and the unitary executive doctrine, which insists that a president can do as he wants in many areas, no matter what Congress says.

In keeping with tradition, President Bush has issued a proclamation inviting Americans today to “celebrate the Constitution and the laws that protect our rights and liberties.” It rings more than a little hollow, though, as he continues to trample on civil liberties in the war on terror, and stands by an attorney general who has politicized the Justice Department to a shocking degree.

The less committed a president is to the law, the more need there is for Law Day, which makes it a holiday whose time has come.

“The strength of our legal system,” the president says in his proclamation, “requires the ongoing commitment of every citizen.” Maybe that could start with the citizen at the top!

Happy Law Day, everyone.

Read more at CROOKS & LIARS

He wants to cooperate, but only if Congress cooperates the way he wants them to cooperate. He doesn’t understand that Congress wants something his father should have done many years ago, before George W. was born…PULL OUT!

WASHINGTON -President Bush said Monday he wants to work with Democrats on compromise legislation to pay for the Iraq war but will carry through on his threat to veto any spending bill that sets a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal.

“I’m optimistic we can get something done in a positive way,” Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference with leaders of the European Union.

The bill, which Bush has long threatened to veto, was expected to reach his desk on Tuesday. The House and Senate voted last week to approve the $124.2 billion measure, which also calls for troops to begin being pulled out in October.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.), urged the president to reconsider his veto.

“If the president wonders why the American people have lost patience, it is because the news out of Iraq grows worse by the day,” Reid said. “When we send the supplemental conference report to President Bush tomorrow, we ask that he take some time to reflect on that somber fact.”

Bush said that once he vetoes the bill, he’s ready to work with Democrats on a new version that provides funds without strings attached.

“There are a lot of Democrats who understand we need to get the money to the troops,” he said.

Democratic congressional aides said they anticipate Bush will veto the bill on Wednesday, before a scheduled meeting the president plans at the White House with bipartisan congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Reid.

LOS ANGELES - Demonstrators demanding a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants hope that nationwide marches will spur Congress to act before the looming presidential primaries take over the political landscape.

Marches, meetings and voter registration drives were planned Tuesday from California to New York, a year after 1 million flexed their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott during last year’s May 1 activities.

Though this year’s turnout will likely be lower, organizers say immigrants feel a sense of urgency to keep immigration reform from getting pushed to the back burner by the 2008 presidential elections.

“If we don’t act, then both the Democratic and Republican parties can go back to their comfort zones and do nothing,” said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “They won’t have the courage to resolve a major situation for millions of people.”

In Miami, Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean was scheduled to speak to a coalition of immigrant groups, while Ricardo Chavez, the brother of famed agricultural labor leader Cesar Chavez, was expected address crowds in Milwaukee.

In Washington, D.C., about 400 members of Asian groups from across the country were set to make a lobbying push with lawmakers. Students planned to march in Chicago.

In New York, groups are planning an “American Family Tree” rally, where immigrants will pin paper leaves on a large painting of a tree to symbolize the separation of families because of strict immigration laws.

The event is a response to a White House immigration reform proposal in March, said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

The plan would grant illegal immigrants three-year work visas for $3,500 but also require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. It has been roundly criticized by immigrant groups.

Read More at YAHOO!

Los Angeles can continue being the butt of smog jokes now that it has once again topped the American Lung Association’s bad air list of most polluted cities in America.

The association found that the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area had the worst air based on 2003 through 2005 figures.

The Pittsburgh area was ranked as the nation’s second most polluted metropolitan area followed by Bakersfield, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., Detroit and Cleveland. Visalia, Calif., Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis rounded out the top 10.

The news wasn’t all bad for Los Angeles. Despite the dubious distinction, the number of days residents breathed the nation’s worst ozone levels was fewer than in previous years.

“Nobody is surprised that LA has an air pollution problem,” said Janice Nolen, the association’s assistant vice president for national policy and advocacy. “The problems there are one of the reasons we have the Clean Air Act. But it is important for folks to know that there has been some improvement.”

The organization based the rankings on ozone pollution levels produced when heat and sunlight come into contact with pollutants from power plants, cars, refineries and other sources. The group also studied particle pollution levels emitted from these sources, which are made up of a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air.

Such pollution can contribute to heart disease, lung cancer and asthma attacks, the association said. Those especially vulnerable to polluted air are children, senior citizens, people who work or exercise outdoors and people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nearly half of the U.S. population lives in counties that still have unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, even though there appeared to be less ozone in many counties than previous years, the study found.