I Picked The Wrong Day To Run Errands

It's like the 24-hour news cycle hit the "hyperdrive" switch.

• Patrick Leahy has issued subpoenas for Karl Rove and Scott Jennings.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Thursday he will subpoena White House political adviser Karl Rove to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors.

"We've now reached a point where the accumulated evidence shows that political considerations factored into the unprecedented firing of at least nine U.S. attorneys last year. Testimony and documents showed that the list was compiled based on input from the highest political ranks in the White House, including Mr. Rove and Mr. (Scott) Jennings, and today I will subpoena Mr. Rove and Mr. Jennings."

Jennings is deputy director of political affairs at the White House.

• Chuck Schumer and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a special counsel to investigate Abu Gonzales on perjury charges. This comes after Schumer said on CNN that an investigation should start without delay.

• The Justice Department sent a letter informing the House Judiciary Committee that they will not enforce the contempt of Congress charges to Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten, citing that contempt charges don't apply when executive privilege is invoked. This of course means that we're headed for the courts on that issue (which will take quite a while, and enhance the opportunity by the Bush Administration to run out the clock) for a final Constitutional showdown. The US Attorney will have the final decision to prosecute, of course, which is about as likely as me sprouting a third arm in my back.

• Bob Gates is backtracking furiously to end the spat between a neocon undersecretary and Hillary Clinton, who merely asked the Pentagon to do its job and draw up contingency plans for withdrawal from Iraq (not unreasonable considering there are contingency plans for just about every foreign policy situation, including attacking Canada). Gates admitted that it's good for democracy to have this debate and was totally on the defensive about it.

• Stocks are tumbling and are now down 600 points in a week.

Most of these stories point to the Democrats understanding the failings of trying to reason with the Bush Administration, and how they know that there is no political downside to making these kinds of challenges.