So THAT's why they ordered copies of "Photoshop for Dummies"

Just kidding about the headline. But it looks like the White House is scrambling to scrub its own contacts with Typhoid Jack Abramoff.

Time:

Bracing for the worst, Administration officials obtained from the Secret Service a list of all the times Abramoff entered the White House complex, and they scrambled to determine the reason for each visit. Bush aides are also trying to identify all the photos that may exist of the two men together. Abramoff attended Hanukkah and holiday events at the White House, according to an aide who has seen the list. Press secretary Scott McClellan said Abramoff might have attended large gatherings with Bush but added, "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him."

As I said before, he also denied knowing Ahmad Chalabi as well. Either Bush's memory is that highly selective, or he's suffering from dementia, in which case it's time for him to resign.

It should be noted also that those who are trying desperately to turn this into a Democratic scandal by speculating on why Byron Dorgan and Max Baucus returned donations from tribes that were clients of Abramoff's firm in order to avoid even the APPEARANCE (read: press regurgitating White House spin) of impropriety (and you know who you are) ought perhaps to ask your president why he's keeping the bulk of HIS donations after making a big show of a charitable donation of a skimpy $6,000 of Abramoff's dirty money:

Abramoff was one of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign's "pioneers"—meaning he raised at least $100,000, most of it from others, in increments of $2,000. After Abramoff pleaded guilty, Bush aides announced they had donated to the American Heart Association $6,000 that had been given to the campaign by Abramoff, his wife and one of his Indian-tribe clients. But Republican officials said they plan to keep the remaining $94,000. A Bush aide said it cannot be assumed that the other donors, who were simply recruited by Abramoff, have done anything wrong: "That's not a fair standard."

The Bush aide is right here. I'm all for separating out the legal from the illegal contributions. We can, and should, address the whole system later on.