The Note: Absolutely Nothing

— -- WASHINGTON, Mar. 13

First names are not needed among Note friends.

Schumer wants Gonzales gone; Schumer wants Rove to testify; Schumer has the bit in his mouth.

DeFrank says Cheney offered to step down in 2004; DeFrank says Cheney won't step down now; DeFrank says Bush got elected because of Cheney. LINK

Hagel decided not to decide; Hagel decided deciding later is better; Hagel decided.

Pace has views; Pace has opinions; Pace has a problem.

Thompson is loved by Frist; Thompson is lived by Graham; Thompson is loved by the bored press and the bored base (for now).

Republican Senators and '08ers will be asked about Gonzales; Republican Senators and '08ers will be asked about Gonzales; Republican Senators and '08ers will be asked about Gonzales.

If you are a Democratic press operative -- or that Senator named Schumer -- your day is likely to be the shooting-fish-in-a-barrel variety.

The twin stories that kicked off ABC's newsy "Good Morning America" are both unwelcome developments to the (travelin') folks at 1600, the Republican presidential hopefuls, and Martinez/Duncan/Cole/Ensign.

Story #1: The Washington Post's Dan Eggen and John Solomon review documents showing that the White House and other Administration officials were "more closely involved in the dismissals, and at a much earlier date, than they have previously acknowledged." LINK

"The role of the president and his advisers in the prosecutor shakeup is likely to intensify calls by Congress for an investigation. It is the worst crisis of Mr. Gonzales's tenure and provoked charges that the dismissals were a political purge threatening the historical independence of the Justice Department," writes the New York Times' David Johnston and Eric Lipton on the White House "deep involve[ment]" in the dismissal of federal prosecutors. LINK

ABC News' Pierre Thomas confirmed on "Good Morning America" that AG Gonzales' chief of staff's resignation will likely be announced today, per ABC News sources.

Story #2: "Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts 'are immoral,' akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member," reports the Chicago Tribune's Madhani. LINK

"Those comments by Gen. Pace are sure to spark a firestorm on Capitol Hill," reported ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

Karl also said that a spokesperson for Gen. Pace told ABC News that Pace was asked to provide his personal opinion and he provided it.

As of this writing, no Pentagon press briefing has been scheduled and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales doesn't seem to have a public schedule.

The folks at the Wall Street Journal ed board have some deciding of their own to do today.

Democratic and Republican policy committees meet separately for their 12:30 pm ET weekly lunches at the Capitol. Stakeout sound on Pace, Gonzales, and the status of the Iraq debate will be sought.

NRSC Chairman Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) holds a 12:30 pm ET press availability in the Senate studio on the US Attorneys story.

Three Democratic presidential hopefuls, one in-cycle GOP Senator from a Blue State, and one of ABC's own address the National League of Cities' Congressional City Conference at the Washington Hilton and Towers in Washington, DC. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) begins the morning with a 9:10 am ET address, followed by the trio of presidential candidates: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) gives a 9:30 am ET address, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) appears at 9:50 am ET, and Sen. Chris Dodd gives a 10:10 am ET address. ABC News' George Stephanopoulos appears at 2:15 pm ET.

Early this morning, Sen. Clinton and DNC Chairman Howard Dean were scheduled to speak at a 7:00 am ET breakfast for Democratic municipal officials.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attends a 11:00 am ET fundraising breakfast at the Mission Inn in Inland Empire, CA, followed by a 2:30 pm ET fundraiser in Los Angeles, CA.

Press availabilities are expected after his breakfast in Riverside at about 12:30 pm ET and before his lunch in Beverly Hills at 2:30 pm ET.

While Sen. McCain is busy in the Golden State, Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) moves in on his home turf with a 6:00 pm ET media availability at Arizona Republican Party Headquarters in Phoenix, AZ.

Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) holds a 4:15 pm ET rally at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC.

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush hold a 12:40 pm ET meeting with President Felipe Calderon of Mexico in Temozon Sur, Mexico.

Vice President Dick Cheney participates in a 2:30 pm ET award ceremony for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) were scheduled to attend a 9:00 am ET conference with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) holds an 11:00 am ET pen and pad briefing for reporters in the U.S. Capitol.

Stars of the music world are on Capitol Hill today, as Wynton Marsalis testifies before a 10:30 am ET hearing of the House Appropriations Committee on creativity and the arts, and (DNC Chairman Dean's favorite) Wyclef Jean gives 2:00 pm ET testimony before a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Haiti.

To celebrate the opening of his new Washington, D.C. headquarters, Clinton guru Mark Penn is throwing a 6:00 pm ET party for his polling (Penn, Schoen & Berland), p.r. (Burston-Marsteller), and lobbying (BKSH & Associates) ventures.

Politics of prosecutorial independence:
Members of the Judiciary Committees in the House and Senate want testimony from Karl Rove on the attorney firings, but according to the Washington Post's Paul Kane, "it's unclear whether either of the panels will actually subpoena his appearance." LINK

Lara Jakes Jordan of the Associated Press reports on congressional Democrats' sharpening focus on Rove. LINK

Politics of Iraq:
The Washington Post ed board delivers a must-read editorial taking Speaker Pelosi to task for her Iraq war proposal. LINK

"In short, the Democratic proposal to be taken up this week is an attempt to impose detailed management on a war without regard for the war itself," writes the ed board.

The editorial concludes thusly: ". . . aggressive oversight is quite different from mandating military steps according to an inflexible timetable conforming to the need to capture votes in Congress or at the 2008 polls. Ms. Pelosi's strategy leads not toward a responsible withdrawal from Iraq but to a constitutional power struggle with Mr. Bush, who has already said he will veto the legislation. Such a struggle would serve the interests of neither the Democrats nor the country."

In an effort to build unity on Iraq, House Democrats stripped language from a $124.1 billion wartime spending bill that sought to bar President Bush from taking unauthorized military action in Iran, reports the Wall Street Journal's David Rogers.

The Associated Press on the same: LINK

The Washington Times' Jon Ward on Vice President Cheney urging The Hill to OK funds for the troop surge. LINK