Positive Precedent

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

'Scooter' Libby can take heart in the fact that recent administration officials facing indictments have survived the ordeal relatively unscathed.

The Washington Post reports that Reagan Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan — indicted on grand larceny charges — and National Security aide Thomas Reed — indicted for illegal stock trading — were acquitted in their trials.

So were Clinton Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy — indicted for corruption — and Travel Office Chief Billy Dale.

Clinton Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after being indicted on 18 felony counts, but went on to head Spanish-language television giant Univision.

And while Reagan National Security adviser John Poindexter was convicted on Iran-Contra related charges, that conviction was overturned and Poindexter went on to run the Pentagon's Advance Research Agency under the current President Bush.

Blanco to Blame?

Newly released memos reveal that the bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims went uncollected for more than a week in New Orleans as federal officials waited for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to decide what to do with them.

A week after the storm hit, Army Col. John Jordan wrote federal officials that despite pressure from FEMA, Louisiana was in a state of "operations paralysis" on collecting the remains of those killed.

A spokesman for Blanco agrees that there was paralysis but says, "it was on the part of FEMA."

Minor Setback?

An overnight Gallup Poll reveals that 42% of Americans are pleased that Harriet Miers withdrew from Supreme Court consideration, while only 35% said they were disappointed.

Though some conservatives were sharply critical of Miers' nomination, only 34% of them said they were happy to see her withdraw, compared to 55% of liberals who said they were pleased by the decision.

Meanwhile, just 16% of those polled called Miers' withdrawal a major setback for the president. Seventy six percent called it a minor setback or no setback at all.

Make-Up Matters?

Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan argues that Miers may have been done in by a combination of her intellectual makeup and her eye make-up.

Givhan says Miers "had a tendency to overdo the eyeliner" calling to mind "a woman in need of an aesthetic fairy godmother to explain that dark eyeliner can make one look harsh."

With a thin paper trail to examine, Givhan writes that the "clumsy merger" of Washington's stodgy power dressing and "dark-rimmed, look-at-me eyes" reduced Miers to a caricature.

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report