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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2006 > December
December 2006
Bush Announces Ford’s Death
Here’s the formal announcement issued today by The White House:
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:
It is my sad duty to announce officially the death of Gerald R. Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the United States, on December 26, 2006.
President Ford was a great man who devoted the best years of his life to serving the United States of America. He was also a true gentleman who reflected the best in America’s character. Before the world knew his name, he served with distinction in the United States Navy and the United States House of Representatives. As a congressman from Michigan, and then as Vice President, he commanded the respect and earned the goodwill of all who had the privilege of knowing him. On August 9, 1974, he stepped into the presidency without having ever sought the office.
During his time in office, the American people came to know President Ford as a man of complete integrity, who led our country with common sense and kind instincts. Americans will always admire Gerald Ford’s unflinching performance of duty, the honorable conduct of his Administration, and the great rectitude of the man himself. We mourn the loss of such a leader, and our thirty-eighth President will always have a special place in our Nation’s memory.
President Ford lived 93 years, and his life was a blessing to America. Now this fine man will be taken to his rest by a family that will love him always and by a Nation that will be grateful to him forever.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, in honor and tribute to the memory of Gerald R. Ford, and as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all buildings, grounds, and Naval vessels of the United States for a period of 30 days from the day of his death. I also direct that for the same length of time, the representatives of the United States in foreign countries shall make similar arrangements for the display of the flag at half-staff over their Embassies, Legations, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and stations.
I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary of Defense.
In a further expression of our national grief, I will appoint in a subsequent proclamation a National Day of Mourning throughout the United States when the American people may assemble in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President Ford.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty*seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.
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Presidential Funerals
The death of Gerald Ford will give the nation another look at the uniqueness of presidential funerals. (The photo above shows the procession for President Reagan in June 2004.)
Coincidentally, it’s a topic the White House Historical Association dealt with in the current issue of its publication, “White House History.” It’s all about presidential horses and includes details about equine participation in presidential funerals.
“Though presidential personalities and policies can generate deep chasms during their term of service, the death of a president evokes a genuine sadness that transcends partisan politics,” Claire A. Faulkner, who works in the Usher’s Office at the White House, wrote. “Rarely are Americans as united in emotion and sensibility as at such a time.”
Some tidbits gleaned from Ms. Faulkner’s article: The official government name for pall bearers is “body bearers.” The official name for a rifle honor corps is “firing party.” On the day after the death of a president or ex-president, a gun is fired every half hour at Army installations from reveille to retreat. On the day of burial, those installations fire a 21-gun salute at noon and a 50-gun salute (one per state) at five-second intervals following the lowering of the flag.
The Army’s Military District of Washington has prime responsibility for presidential funerals, but ex-presidents and their families are involved in the planning.
“Like most men my age, I have given a thought or two to my funeral,” Ford said in a November 2005 eulogy for presidential historian Hugh Sidey. “As a former president, I’m almost required to since the military periodically updates its own plans and each presidential family is solicited for personal touches.”
The White House Historical Association’s web posting about horses and funerals is here
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Good News for Frogs and Their Friends
Not to be outdone by other groups with other priorities, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on Tuesday announced its ”Top 10 Wildlife Conservation Success Stories for 2006” They include:
— Experts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the San Diego Zoo have found a safe way to perform vasectomies on elephants in order to control burgeoning populations in some national parks.
— For the first time since 1847, a pair of trumpeter swans nested successfully in Illinois and brought forth two healthy chicks. Other zoo-bred birds being reintroduced to the wild include the Guam rail, Attwater’s prairie chicken, the California condor, the Micronesian kingfisher and the palila, a critically endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper.
— Sea World or Orlando and Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo have reintroduced 475 endangered manatees to Florida waters.
— Twenty-five years ago a handful of black-footed ferrets, thought to be extinct, were discovered. All known to be in existence were captured and bred in zoos to prevent their extinction. Today, over 1,000 live in the wild, scurrying about, killing prarie dogs and hiding from hawks.
— Frogs, toads and salamanders, threatened with extinction by a devastating and uncontrollable fungus disease, are being bred in captivity as a hedge against extinction.
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Happy New Year. Send Money.
In a year-end missive e-mailed today, Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, says the liberals are coming to town and his group needs funds to fend off their efforts.
It is, Perkins said, “the calm before the storm.”
“In just a few days the new Congress will meet. When they do, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and their allies will begin their fresh assault on everything from abstinence programs to the child tax credit to the Pledge of Allegiance,” he wrote. “The drive to fund the killing of human embryos will gain steam. Advocates of thought-control hate-crime laws will press their case and liberal leaders like Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton will be listening, and anxious to please them.”
Your dollars, Perkins wrote, will fund “a war chest to defend marriage and protect the unborn.”
And, he noted, your fellow taxpayers will help subsidize the council’s political efforts.
“If you can afford to make a tax-deductible year-end gift, you can rest assured we will put your donation to good use for the ideals we’ve always championed,” Perkins wrote.
In a curious sidenote, the FRC website version of the “Take Action Alert” (which carries today’s date) includes this message:
“This information is no longer relevant due to its time sensitive nature and is provided for historical purposes.”
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The president giveth, the president taketh away
A few weeks ago, he was the Pardoner-in Chief (as shown above), granting the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to a turkey.
This week he is the Consumer-in-Chief, chowing down on traditional turkey with giblet gravy at the Camp David Christmas lunch. Also on the menu, as released by the White House, are cornbread dressing, mashed potatos, green beans, sweet potato casserole, rolls, ambrosia and pies (pumpkin and pecan).
FYI, also enjoying the holiday at Camp David are Ex-President George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara; presidential mother-in-law Jenna Welch; twins Barbara and Jenna Bush; presidential brother Marvin, wife Margaret and family; and presidential sister Doro Koch, husband Bobby and family.
Today, President Bush marked Christmas eve with a few phone calls to military personnel, some overseas and some recently returned from there. Included were at least two with Texas ties. Naval Petty Office Third Class Rahm Panjwani’s wife Heather lives in San Antonio. Panjwami served on the USS Boxer. Air Force Master Sgt. John W. Gahan’s wife Karen lives in Abilene. Gahan is in Iraq.
Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino says all of the military personnel told Bush “they were doing well and that they had high morale.”
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Yugo Shopping
Looking for a last-minute holiday gift for that tough-to-shop-for person who is really, really interested in Yugoslavia, say from 1948-1990?
This is your lucky day. The Director of National Intelligence is making available a collection of 34 recently declassified reports about Yugoslavia. The official title is “From National Communism to National Collapse.” The official subtitle is “US Intelligence Community Estimative Products on Yugoslavia, 1948-1990.”
What says holiday season more than a collection of estimative products?
Here’s part of the promotional blurb from the DNI:
“Over the years, these estimative products gave Washington policymakers keen insight into the major currents driving the maverick state, such as Belgrade’s fear of Soviet invasion and its need to balance between East and West, nationalism’s role as both a unifying and divisive force, and the race to establish lasting institutions before Tito’s inevitable demise.”
See the estimative products here.
Order a hard copy (including the companion CD) here.
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Veep Pay
Nothing says thanks quite like a pay raise. And that’s just what President Bush has given Vice President Cheney this holiday season.
In an executive order that increased pay for most federal employees (save for himself), Bush bumped Cheney’s salary from this year’s $212,100 to $215,700. (There’s a calculator on that computer you’re using. Fire it up to figure out what that raise crunches to percentagewise).
The Bush order supplanted the usual congressional action on pay hikes for federal workers. A hold-up in approving an overall spending bill meant no congressional action on pay raises.
The presidential action raised congressional salaries from the current $165,200 to $168,000, but Democratic leaders have said that hike will not go into effect until a minimum wage increase is approved.
Bush also passed out pay hikes for his cabinet members, up from this year’s $183,500 to next year’s $186,600.
Footnotes on the vice presidential salary: Started at $5,000 in 1789. By 1949, it was $30,000 plus a non-taxable $10,000 expense account. The biggest hike came in 1994 when it went from $62,500 to $171,000 while Al Gore had the job.
The presidential salary, which started at $25,000 in 1789, has been set by law since 2001 at $400,000. The job also comes with a nice house in downtown Washington.
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Another Bushie for McCain
Add Steve Schmidt, a former top aide in the George W. Bush White House, to the list of supporters of the current president who think Arizona Sen. John McCain should be the next president.
The McCain camp today announced that Schmidt will serve as a senior adviser to McCain “should he decide to run for president in 2008.” Schmidt apparently believes he should.
(The McCain Exploratory Committee logo is shown above. Pretty simple now, but seems like they’ve left some space to add “2008” or “for president” when the exploring is over.)
Credentials: Schmidt most recently was campaign manager for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s successful re-election bid. Previously, he was a deputy assistant to the president and counselor to the vice president. His tasks included helping to shepherd Bush Supreme Court appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito through the confirmation process.
In the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, Schmidt helped run the rapid-response communications effort.
Schmidt likes McCain because he is a “common-sense conservative with a unique brand of leadership that will unite Americans of many different stripes.”
McCain likes Schmidt because his “professionalism, strategic vision and politican acumen have brought success to nearly every organization he’s been a part of.”
“Nearly” every organization?
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IG Gig Extended
One former Austinite has extended the government job of another former Austinite.
President Bush has signed into law a measure that keeps the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction in business for an extra year or so.
The office, headed by former Bush aide Stuart Bowen Jr., had been scheduled to close this year. Congress, apparently convinced that a lot more inspector generaling needs to be done in Iraq, voted to keep the office operating until 10 months after 80 percent of the money in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund has been spent. That should be sometime in late 2008.
Bowen was a top aide to Bush in the Texas Governor’s Office. In the White House, he served as a deputy assistant and associate counsel to the president. He became the special inspector general for Iraq in October 2004.
His office has produced several reports documenting fraud and waste in Iraq. The reports are available at www.sigir.mil.
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One More Time
President Bush, again, has nominated Mark McKinnon of Austin, his longtime media adviser, to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
This time, in an effort to actually get McKinnon on the board, Bush today used the recess appointment process to bypass Senate confirmation. A 2005 attempt to get McKinnon on the board went nowhere due to Senate crossfire over appointees to the panel.
McKinnon says all appointments to the board got caught up in “issues that go back years.”
“Nothing to do with me,” he says. One of the obstacles, however, was that Bush had picked McKinnon for a Democratic seat on the board. When Senate Democrats objected, Bush did did some juggling and named McKinnon to a GOP seat, but there never was a confirmation hearing.
The board oversees the federal government’s non-military, international broadcast operations. That includes the Voice of America and operations that target Middle Eastern, Cuban and Asian audiences.
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Enter Country. Open Wallet.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, whose job was to keep bad guys out of the U.S. of A., has signed on with a group intent on making sure that good guys - and their tourism dollars - can get into the country.
The Discover America Partnership announced today that it has “partnered” with Ridge “to evaluate the U.S. entry process and propose strategies for striking a better balance between secure borders and open doors.”
“We must restore America as a desired destination among international business and leisure travelers,” said Steve Porter, the group’s chairman.
Porter also is president of the InterContinental Hotels Group. Committee members include officials from many segments of the travel industry, including Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Anheuser-Busch and the National Restaurant Association.
A recent survey done for the Discover America Partnership found that many foreign visitors to the U.S. are deterred by the visa process and, in the partnership’s words, “how visitors are treated at points of entry.”
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Phone Warning
One White House aide has found a new way forward in the ongoing battle to prevent cell phones from ringing during a presidential news conference.
In addition to the usual formal warning, today’s admonitions included this reverse-psychology approach from press aide Kimmie Lipscomb.
“Turn them on to loud rap music please,” she said.
Mission accomplished. Not a single jingle during President Bush’s news conference today.
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FLASH: Black Cohosh Won’t Prevent One
Black cohosh, sometimes known as black snake root, is sold in health food stores and over the Internet as a “natural remedy” for many complaints, including menopausal “hot flashes.”
But, a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health indicates that millions of dollars American women spend on the herbal remedy every year are dollars wasted.
A “double-blind” study by scientists at the University of Washington compared black cohosh to a placebo pill and menopausal hormone therapy, containing estrogen and progestin.
Results: Women who received any of three different combinations of black cohosh and other herbals, including alfalfa, boron, dong quai and licorice, reported the same postmenopausal symptoms as those who got the placebo.
Hormonal therapy — which some scientists believe may play a role in breast cancer – resulted in a significant reduction in hot flashes and night sweats, the researchers said.
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Live in The Situation Room
The remodeled White House Situation Room should be open for business later this month after a major overhaul.
This week, Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin is serving as tour guide as reporters, in small groups, are being shown the new digs where presidents and top advisers will huddle for situations.
Demolition of the old space began last July. Construction began in August.
It’s all part of an “end-to-end” presidential communications review that began in March 2001. Communications problems were highlighted on 9/11, a situation Bush has discussed with some frustration.
The new Situation Room is heavy on secure video communications capability, which has become a major part of presidential communications.
Hagin, during a Tuesday tour, said the remodeled Situation Room will be part of the Bush administration’s “great legacy of modernizing” White House infrastructure. Work continues on the major remodeling of the White House Briefing Room and adjoining press working area, all of which should be ready - more or less - by May.
Also underway is a three-phase redo of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to The White House. And presidential travel will get an upgrade with the arrival of a new fleet of Marine One helicopters. Those won’t be in until the next president is on the job.
Despite being a cordial tour guide, there was some stuff Hagin wouldn’t talk about.
Cost of the project: “It’s classified.”
How secure and safe is the room (which actually is a suite of rooms): “It’s a pretty safe place … It’s classified.”
Numbers: Forty miles of communications cable. Twenty miles of electrical cable. In the main conference room, four 50-inch flat screens, two 42-inch flat screens. Two cameras for videoconferencing. “You can get six NFL games,” Hagin said.
Small video displays on the wall display the security level of the meeting. During Tuesday’s tour, it said, “Top Security/SCI.” SCI is “sensitive compartmentalized information.”
And, in something of a quaint reminder of times gone by, there are two phone booths. These are for when somebody needs to talk privately. Nifty glass doors. No coins needed.
A smaller conference room also has full whiz-bang capability. During the tour, the big-screen TV in that room displayed the news that basketball star Allen Iverson had been traded from Philadelphia to Denver. ESPN seemed to be the test signal of choice on many of the screens, though one carried “National Treasure” with Nicholas Cage.
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DHS Sued Over Alleged Data Mining
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit in federal court today against the Department of Homeland Security to obtain information about a data-mining system it uses on travelers.
The Automated Targeting System reportedly creates and assigns “risk assessments” to citizens as they enter and leave the country. The foundation filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to find out more about how the system collects data on citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security announced this fall that the program would start this month. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff later said that the program had already been in operation for several years.
“The news of this secret program sparked a nationwide uproar,” said David Sobel, senior counsel of at the foundation.
“DHS needs to provide answers, and provide them quickly, to the millions of law-abiding citizens who are worried about this ‘risk assessment’ score that will follow them throughout their lives,” Sobel said.
The department has not responded to the lawsuit.
Under the system, individuals have no way to access information about their “risk assessment” scores or to correct any false information about them, the foundation states in its lawsuit. But while you cannot see your score, it will be made readily available to untold numbers of federal, state, local, and foreign agencies. The government will retain the data for 40 years, according to the foundation.
The foundation’s lawsuit demands an urgent response to its FOIA request, including all privacy impact assessments and all records for individuals who believe the system includes inaccurate information and all records that discuss potential consequences for travelers as a result of the system.
For the FOIA complaint filed against the Department of Homeland Security: http://www.eff.org/Privacy/ats/ats_complaint.pdf
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She’s Doing Fine. Thanks for Asking
The short version, and Tony Snow says it a lot nicer than this, is that Laura Bush’s skin cancer is none of your business.
Mrs. Bush’s office now confirms that she had a cancerous squamus cell lesion removed from her leg in November. That confirmation came only after a reporter noticed a Band-Aid on her leg at a Monday evening event.
“It’s no big deal and we knew it was no big deal at the time,” Mrs. Bush said in a comment relayed through Snow.
“Frankly,” said Snow, “I don’t think anybody thought it was the sort of thing that occasioned a need for public disclosure. Furthermore, she’s got the same right to medical privacy that you do. She’s a private citizen. She’s not an elected official. And so for that reason she didn’t disclose it.”
“She’s doing fine and and thank you for your concern,” Snow told reporters who questioned the decision not to disclose the medical procedure when it happened.
That’s Mrs. Bush, above, conducting a tour of White House Christmas decorations this month.
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Henry Likes John
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger thinks Arizona Sen. John McCain should be the next president of the United States.
This is gleaned from the latest in a series of releases from the McCain Presidential Exploratory Committee, which seems to be exploring its way toward an inevitable announcement that McCain, again, will run for the White House.
Kissinger’s name turned up today among a long list of folks on McCain’s New York Area Finance Team (so official that it is capitalized in the release). The good Dr. Kissinger is listed as an honorary New York co-chair.
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Secret, Secret,
It’s no secret that the federal government has been stashing away a treasure trove of public documents into secret categories of information that are not technically classified, just inaccessible to the public.
One would think that the information would be of the 007-caliber to make it into one of the some 60 categories of secret information with names like Sensitive Security Information (SSI) and Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU). Federal officials like to use these categories instead of the traditional classification route because the document doesn’t have to undergo the scrutiny and expensive oversight of the formal classification process and it does the same thing: removes information from the public domain.
But the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, has unearthed a startling example of what sort of documents are being hidden. The Justice Department, according to the group, redacted part of a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving electronic surveillance. Why? It’s not clear. No one seems to know why.
POGO has worked closely with other open government groups to rein in government officials who needless remove documents from public scrutiny. This year they had a small victory. The 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill contains a provision that allows the government to release information in the SSI category after three years.
“POGO recognizes the need to keep some types of information secret,” states the POGO annual report, which highlights the Justice Department’s redaction of the high court ruling. “However, SSI and other secrecy markings are often abused to cover up innocuous information or information that reveals fraud or other wrongful acts within an agency—all of which should be available for public scrutiny.”
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Tony Questions Tone
White House spokesman Tony Snow, shown above selecting a chip at the White House press corps’ recent holiday reception, today took the not-confirming, not-denying route when questioned about a Washington Post story quoting sources as saying President Bush and the Joint Chiefs of Staff disagree on whether to send more troops to Iraq.
Bush wants to. The joint chiefs, not so much, according to the report.
“People are trying to create a fight between the White House and the joint chiefs where one does not exist,” said Snow.
“Tonally, it’s wrong,” he said of the Post story.
“We are getting way into the weeds here,” he said when reporters pushed for more information.
“The president has not decided on the way forward,” Snow said.
But he did assure reporters that any story about Bush “locking horns with the joint chiefs is tonally inaccurate.”
His overall advice on the subject: “Everybody take a deep cleaning breath here.”
Could be more to come. The Post has an interview with the president today.
Stand by for news.
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Xmas at The White House
You ask. They answer.
Here’s the latest from “Ask the White House,” an online feature in which administration officials reply to questions of the day. Monday’s guest answerer was Lea Berman, White House social secretary.
Among Monday’s q’s and a’s with Ms. Berman:
Ron, from Denton, TX writes: What is your favorite part about the holidays at the White House? Hope you have a Merry Christmas
Lea Berman: Thank you, Ron. I hope you have a happy Christmas also. My favorite part of the holidays (and any other time of year) at the White House is watching the reactions of people who have never been to the White House before, as they enter the State Floor. Some people stop and stare in awe, and others are gleeful, but many become emotional as they feel the sense of history here. It is an intensely joyful and patriotic moment for many people.
Ruth, from Iowa writes: Lea, How many Cristmas trees are put up in the White House during the holiday season? Thank you
Lea Berman: The number of Christmas trees in the White House varies from year to year, depending upon the decorations, however this year there are 8 evergreen trees and one tree made entirely of red glass ornaments. The largest tree is found in the Blue Room.
Sandy, from Paramus, NJ writes: In past years I have seen on C-SPAN a Chanukah lighting ceremony in White House and was wondering if and when it will be this year.
Lea Berman: Sandy, there is a Hanukkah celebration each year at the White House - and as it happens, it is tonight - Dec. 18th. There is a menorah-lighting ceremony prior to the reception, and this fourth night of Hanukkah will be marked at the White House by Ariel Cohen, a 14-year old young woman from Virginia, whom Mrs. Bush met while visiting the National Children’s Medical Center last year.
There will be a performance by the University of Indiana’s Hillel A Capella group, and then the doors of the East Entrance will be thrown open to welcome 600 guests for the Hanukkah reception. The food provided at the reception is all kosher; earlier today Mrs. Bush visited the White House kitchen as it was prepared to receive the specially-catered meal.
Cynthia, from Sacramento, CA writes: May I send a Christmas Card to the President and his wife?
Lea Berman: Cynthia, you can send your cards to the President and Mrs. Bush at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20502, and if you do, you will be in good company! They receive thousands of holiday greetings at this time of year and the White House Correspondence Office relies on its helpful army of volunteers to sort and open the cards.
No questions were asked about how one gets to be the White House social secretary. Ms. Berman has had the gig since December 2004. Prior to that she worked in the coalitions and finance divisions of the Bush-Cheney campaign. And before that she had been chief of staff and social secretary for Lynne Cheney. In the private sector, she had owned an event planning business in Washington.
Her husband is Wayne Berman, a successful Washington lobbyist and high-dollar fundraiser for the Bush presidential campaigns
(Sidenote about the White House holiday receptions: The president attends two on most days. Does that make him bipartisan?)
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Bush Signs India Nuke Bill, Sort Of
President Bush today signed into law the landmark measure allowing U.S. companies to sell nuclear technology to India for civilian use purposes.
But the signature came with a “signing statement,” a format the Bush administration often uses to try to make sure laws will be interpreted the way the president wants them interpreted.
Bush (shown above last March in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) used a signing statement today to note his unspecified exceptions to a section of the bill he said “purports to establish U.S. policy with respect to various international affairs matters.”
“My approval of the act does not constitute my adoption of the statements of policy as U.S. foreign policy. Given the Constitution’s commitment to the presidency of the authority to conduct the nation’s foreign affairs, the executive branch shall construe such policy statements as advisory,” Bush said in the statement.
The signing statement also addresses a portion of the measure that Bush said could be construed to bar him from approving the transfer of nuclear material to India if the transfer would violate guidelines set by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. That section also will be deemed “advisory,” and not binding, Bush said.
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Mambo King Gets Post Office
Among the other official acts completed Monday by President Bush was the affixing of his signature to H.R. 1472. That’s the one that forever changes the Post Office at 167 E. 124th Street in New York to the Tito Puente Post Office Building, named in memory of the legendary Puerto Rican percussionist known as The Mambo King.
Puente died in May 2000.
Two lines at the Tito Puente Post Office: Conga Line and Express Conga Line (five items or less).
Tito trivia: Wrote the Santana hit “Oye Como Va.”
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Noel By The Numbers
Christmas Trivia, Courtesy of the Census Bureau
The Census Bureau trotted out some fun holiday numbers on Monday, showcasing Americans’ love affair with mailing cards and shopping malls. They include:
20 billion — The number of letters, packages and cards the Postal Service expects to deliver between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
12 million — The number of packages the Postal Service expects to deliver every day through Christmas Eve. The busiest delivery day is expected to be Dec. 20, in other words, Wednesday.
48,695 — The number of malls and shopping centers in the United States in 2005, an increase of about 12,000 since 1990.
1.8 million — The number of people employed at department stores in December 2005. The number jumps during the holiday season, increasing by about 46,000 since November 2005.
$19.4 billion — The value of retail sales by electronic shopping and mail-order houses in December 2005.
The Census Bureau also listed places whose names are associated with the holiday season, including North Pole, Alaska; Santa Claus, Ind.; Santa Claus, Ga.; Noel, Mo.; Rudolph, Wis., Snowflake, Ariz.; Dasher, Ga.; and a dozen places named Holly, including Holly Springs, Miss. and Mount Holly, N.C.
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Maybe We Are Covering the Point Spread
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says the U.S. is “losing” the war in Iraq. President Bush says the U.S. “absolutely” is winning. New Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the U.S. is not winning.
As of today, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow isn’t saying.
“I’m not playing the game any more,” Snow said at a White House briefing. “It’s one of those things where you end up … trying to summarize a complex situation with a single word or gerund or even a participle. And the fact is that what you really need to do is to take a look at the situation and understand that it is vital to win; by winning, that means to have an independent Iraq that really does stand on its own, is a democratic and free state that supports us in the war on terror.”
Asked if Bush, as he said in October, continues to believe the U.S. is winning, Snow said, “I think at this point it ceases to be fruitful to jump into this.”
“What is happening is we are going to win and that we need to find better ways of dealing with the sectarian problem,” he said.
Odds are good that Bush will get the who’s winning question if he has a news conference this week prior to heading to Camp David and Crawford for the holidays. Stay tuned
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ACLU ASKS GATES TO INVESTIGATE ABUSES
The American Civil Liberties Union asked new Defense Secretary Robert Gates today to open an investigation into alleged abuses of suspected terrorists held in the United States.
In a letter sent to Gates, who replaced Donald Rumsfeld, the civil liberties group singled out sensory deprivation techniques that were allegedly used on Jose Padilla, an American citizen, who until recently was held in a military brig as an “enemy combatant” for allegedly plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a “dirty bomb.”
Padilla’s lawyers asserted in legal documents that the military used blacked out goggles and headphones that block sound on Padilla. In addition, Padilla was given drugs against his will, including a truth serum.
“It is shameful that devices designed to cause sensory deprivation are used on prisoners in the United States,” said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the ACLU’s national prison project.
There should be an investigation into the serious allegations of abuse of prisoners in America that are equally as disturbing as what occurred at Abu Ghraib, she said.
Padilla is one of three people who are being detained as enemy combatents inside the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was denied access to counsel for 21 months. On Nov. 22, Padilla was transferred to a federal prsion to answer charges that he conspired to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas. But the indictment did not mention any of the allegations that were used to designate Padilla as an “enemy combatent.”
The ACLU called on Gates to “unequivocally condemn the use of torture and abuse, particularly the use of sensory deprivations techniques and extreme isolation.”
Gates takes office today. There was no immediate reaction from the Defense Department about the ACLU’s letter.
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Go Figure
It’s Chanukah reception day at the White House. And that always means an annual presidential meeting with “Jewish leaders.” Today’s subset of Jewish leaders is those involved in higher education. And, alphabetically speaking, the list of Jewish leaders is topped by Bacon.
That’s Karen Bacon, as shown above on the Yeshiva University website, who is dean of YU’s Stern College for Women.
The guest list also includes Rabbi Zalman Gifter, president and dean of the Rabbincal College of Telshe in Wickliffe, Ohio, and Danielle Rugoff of Dallas, a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Rugoff, a senior, is UT’s student body president.
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Casual Friday
It was a bold fashion choice in a button-down White House.
Famed Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky opted for the open-collar, no-tie look today when he showed up in the East Room to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bush, a stickler for proper attire and decorum.
Bush made no mention of the tieless look, opting instead to praise the visiting Israeli as a “voice of freedom inside an empire of tyranny” during his days in the Soviet Union.
“Natan Sharansky is a witness to that power and his testimony brings hope to those who still live under oppression,” Bush said.
And it’s testimony to a life that earns you the right to show up at the White House without a tie.
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Speaking Up (for a fee)
They’re new. They’re exclusive. And they’re listed on the “new and exclusive” section at the Washington Speakers Bureau.
It’s brothers Mark and Scott McClellan, both now out of the White House and interested in picking up a speaking fee or two.
Mark McClellan headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Scott (shown above at his final briefing in May) was White House press secretary. Both have signed up with the Washington Speakers Bureau, one of the nation’s leading providers of for-hire speechifyers.
Mark’s speech topics include “The Future of Health Care: Leading Change to Deliver Value.”
And if that one won’t light up your annual meeting or convention, he also can talk about “The Politics of Health Care Innovation” or “Reforming Medicare” or “Reforming Medicare: Covering the Uninsured and Providing for Long-Term Care.”
The bureau suggests three speech topics for Scott: “U.S. Politics: Insight from an Insider,” “The Presidency: Towards 2008” and “Behind the News.”
The latter includes topics he might deal with in the book he is planning to write.
“McClellan engages audiences with a discussion about the role of the media in the national discourse,” the bureau says. “How does the press influence decisions in Washington? Who holds the media accountable? Are the media reporting the news or making the news? And what does all this mean in the everyday lives of American people?”
How much, you ask?
Mark is listed as a “fee code 4,” which translates to $15,000 to $25,000.
For Scott, it says “Contact WSB,” which seems to invite haggling.
No listing on what it would cost for a duet by The Brothers McClellan.
Former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card is sandwiched between the brothers in the “new and exclusive” section of the bureau’s website.
Card also is a “Contact WSB” level speaker.
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Chanukah Greetings
Just in time for tonight’s lighting of the first candle, President Bush has issued his annual Chanukah greeting.
The statement pays tribute to the Jews’ underdog victory of many years ago.
“After Jerusalem was conquered by an oppressive king and the Jews lost their right to worship in freedom, Judah Maccabee and his followers courageously set out to reclaim Jerusalem from foreign rule,” Bush said. “Though their numbers were small, the Maccabees’ dedication to their faith was strong and they emerged victorious.”
Bush proclaimed the Chanukah menorah as “a reminder of the blessings of a just and loving God and the sacrifices made over the centuries for faith and freedom.”
The White House Chanukah reception is set for next Monday.
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Bluesman Smiles!
That’s blues legend B.B. King bluesless as he received his Presidential Medal of Freedom today from President Bush during an East Room ceremony honoring this year’s 10 winners.
“One of America’s unique gifts to the world is a music called the blues,” Bush said. “And in that music, two names are paramount: B.B. King and his guitar Lucille.”
Bush had warm words for all 10 winners, including writer William Safire, whose impressive body of work includes a weekly New York Times Magazine column about language.
“Bill has said that his own language column attracts more mail than any of his other work,” Bush said. “People write me about my language too.”
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And still another Texan for McCain
San Antonio lawyer Tom Loeffler, a former U.S. House member and a top backer of President Bush’s campaigns, has signed on as one of eight national finance co-chairs for Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, which - officially - is still in the exploratory phase.
Loeffler is head man at The Loeffler Group, a governmental affairs and international trade law firm with officers in San Antonio, D.C. and Austin. He was elected to the House in 1978 and served four terms, and ran an unsuccessful race for the 1986 GOP gubernatorial nomination, which was won by Bill Clements.
Clements recently was named honorary Texas chairman of the McCain campaign. Texans Red McCombs, a San Antonio businessman, and Robert Mosbacher, a former Commerce Secretary, are the honorary finance chairmen for McCain in Texas.
Loeffler trivia: Played football at the University of Texas. Son Cullen, also an ex-Longhorn, now is the deep snapper for the Minnesota Vikings.
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Body Count
Parting with past practice, President Bush this week offered an enemy body count in the war on Iraq.
“In the months of October, November and the first week of December, we have killed or captured nearly 5,900 of the enemy,” Bush said after a Pentagon meeting.
Spokesman Tony Snow today said the enemy body count is “an important data point for Americans.”
“There is quite often the impression … that our people aren’t doing anything, they’re just targets. And I think there’s a certain amount of unease in the American public because they hear about (U.S.) deaths but they don’t hear about what’s going on,” Snow said.
“One of the things that never seems to be counterposed on the (U.S.) death counts is what our servicemen and women are doing, and one of the things they’re doing is they’re fighting the bad guys,” he added,
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Snow: I’m Sorry
Today was apology day in the White House Briefing Room as Press Secretary Tony Snow offered an “I’m sorry” to NBC’s David Gregory, he of the aggressive questioning (and shown above taking a bite out of a Scott cookie at a farewell party earlier this year for former Press Secretary Scott McClellan).
Last week, in response to a Gregory question about the Iraq Study Group report, Snow accused Gregory of “trying to frame it in a partisan way.”
Forgive me, Snow told Gregory today after the NBC correspondent asked a question.
“Before I get to that, I want to address something else, because you and I had a conversation last week that got a whole lot of play in a lot of places, where I used the term ‘partisan’ in describing one of your questions. And I’ve thought a lot about that. And that was wrong. So I want to apologize and tell you I’m sorry for it,” Snow said.
“And the reason I do that is not only because it’s the right thing to do; because I want people in this room and also people who watch these to understand that the relations in this room are professional and collegial. And if I expect you to do right by us, you have every right to expect that I’ll do right by you. So in any event, I just want to say I’m sorry for that,” he added.
Peace and love then reigned in the briefing room, at least for a few questions.
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When Less is More
By Marilyn Geewax
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Martin Regalia told a group of reporters Thursday that he expects the Republican-controlled White House and Democratic-led Congress to clash over budget and tax policies.
Unable to reach agreements, they will not be able to accomplish much…or so he hopes. “I’ve always been somewhat of a fan of gridlock,” Regalia said.
If Republicans and Democrats continually block each other’s ability to pass legislation, then government spending will decline, he said. While expensive but unnecessary legislation languishes, “the stuff that needs to get passed will get passed,” he predicted.
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The Spokesman Speaks
Some comments from Gordon Johndroe, the new spokesman for the National Security Council, during a recent interview with Cox Newspapers:
On learning his job:
“There are days when I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘Oh no, what did I say?’ It usually turns out OK. I’ve made a few comments that didn’t turn out quite right but the republic hasn’t fallen yet.”
“You also get a lot of this by osmosis. The more time you spend with (National Security Adviser) Steve Hadley the more you learn.”
On negative attitudes about the United States:
“You are always going to have issues with the guy who’s got the biggest house on the block.”
“It’s very easy for people to blame America for things because they don’t want to look in their own backyard. Let’s not talk about the Arab and Muslim world. Let’s take a look at Europe, where they are so concerned that we maintain a prison at Guantanamo Bay. Yet every time we go to them and say, ‘OK, will you please take your people back?’” (They say) ‘Oh no, no, no, no. You need to keep them.’ … It’s very frustrating.”
“Europe was basically on fire when these rendition flights (taking terror suspects to secret prisons) became public. ‘We would never have anything to do with this.’ Yet I think information has come out since then that perhaps some people were aware.”
On his one-time job as wrangler of the White House press pool:
“The White House press corps is this continuous organism that has to be helped, handled, taken care of.”
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Aggie Loyalty
Secretary of Defense-designate Robert Gates, confirmed last week by the Senate, won’t officially take the job until next Monday.
Why the delay? Aggie commencement this weekend.
Gates, still the president of Texas A&M University, says he doesn’t want to miss it. In a “Special Message to Aggies,” Gates said he will resign as president on Monday as he takes the oath as defense secretary.
“My last official act as president will be to preside at the commencement ceremonies on Dec. 15-16,” Gates said. “You already know that I am leaving this incredible university reluctantly and with a heavy heart. By the same token, Aggies - more than anyone else - understand why I must do so.”
Gates is spending much of this week in Washington in high-level meetings about Iraq. Tomorrow, he will be at the Pentagon when President Bush drops by to get input on a new way forward in Iraq.
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Upon Further Review
Q-and-A on Monday with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow when he was asked about the Holocaust denial conference now underway in Iran:
Q: Do you have any words of wisdom about this Holocaust conference in Iran? Anything you want to say about that?
Snow: No, I just…
A moment later:
Q: Can I spend a little more time on the Holocaust conference?
Snow: No, because I have not spent any time studying it, and I don’t want to, I just, I don’t want to talk about it.
Snow went on to label the Holocaust “one of the great horrors in human history,” but declined to pass judgment on the conference in Iran.
Today, this from Snow:
“The United States condemns the conference on the Holocaust convoked by the Iranian regime on Monday in Tehran. While people around the world mark International Human Rights Week and renew the solemn pledges of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which was drafted in the wake of the atrocities of World War II, the Iranian regime perversely seeks to call the historical fact of those atrocities into question and provide a platform for hatred. The gathering of Holocaust deniers in Tehran is an affront to the entire civilized world, as well as to the traditional Iranian values of tolerance and mutual respect. The United States will continue to support those in Iran and elsewhere who seek to promote human rights and dignity, and will stand with them in their efforts to overcome oppression, injustice and tyranny.”
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Hired Help
Improbable though it might seem, President Bush on Monday huddled in the Oval Office to seek confidential advice on Iraq from two men who get paychecks from network TV news organizations whose job it is to ferret out information about such private meetings.
Among the five “outside experts” the White House brought in to chat with Bush were retired Gens. Barry McCaffrey (above) and Jack Keane. McCaffrey is a paid consultant for NBC, often appearing on the peacock network’s and and cable operations to opine about the war. McCaffrey also is a client of the Washington Speakers Bureau, which lists him as a “fee code 4” speaker ($15,001-$25,000) Ex-Gen. Keane does similar duty for ABC.
Wayne Downing, the third retired general at the session, is a former ABC consultant.
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Dowd Sitting Out ‘08
Longtime Bush adviser Matthew Dowd says he’s made up his mind whose team he will be on in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Nobody’s.
“Nope,” he said Monday when asked if he will be working for any ‘08 candidate. “Staying out of it.”
Dowd, left, is shown above enjoying a fine cigar after the 2004 Bush-Kerry debate in Coral Gables, Florida. On the right is Mark McKinnon, a longtime Bush adviser who has signed on with Arizona Sen. John McCain’s expected bid for the White House in 2008.
Dowd was a top adviser in the 2000 Bush presidential campaign and served as chief and oft-quoted strategist in the 2004 re-election. Between the elections he was a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee, using his polling expertise to help the party.
He’s made good on a vow to move back to Austin, where he a founding partner of ViaNovo, a communications consulting firm that also has offices in DC, Dallas and Monterrey, Mexico.
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Not gonna happen
The White House, in no uncertain terms, today worked to tamp down a report that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may be on his way out.
An Associated Press version of the report said major partners in the governing coalition are working to oust Maliki, who they perceive as ineffective and unable to quell sectarian violence.
“There’s no move afoot to dump him,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow, adding that the report “stitched together unrelated threads.”
“It’s not a correct story,” Snow concluded before heading off to accompany Bush to the State Department for a meeting about a revised Iraq strategy.
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Advice From Above?
As the Sunday morning talk shows were gearing up to yak about the Iraq Study Group report and how President Bush might respond to it, the president was getting what some might see as from-the-pulpit guidance on how to proceed.
It came from The Rev. Luis Leon, rector of the St. John’s Church, the White House-neighborhood house of prayer attended by presidents. Bush and wife Laura made the short motorcade ride there for services this morning.
The preacher’s sermon today discussed “the theology of reversal.” Leon (shown in photo above from the historic church’s website) said, “Repentence is changing your way, changing your mind, changing your direction.”
“It requires the will to change. It requires the courage to acknowledge that you want to change, to change your direction,” he said.
No mention of Iraq, other than Leon’s usual prayers for Bush, Congress, Iraq and Afghanistan, Darfur and parishioners “who have been deployed to the Middle East.”
And no comment from Bush about the sermon as he headed back to the White House.
“Good morning everybody,” he said with a wave.
Minutes later, it was the usual Sunday-morning quick change as the president headed out for a chilly morning bike ride.
Footnotes on Rev. Leon: Born in Cuba. Baptised into the Episcopal Church at Guantanamo. Came to the United States in 1961 at age 12.
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Texas Prosecutor in Line for Attorney General
U.S. Attorney Johnny K. Sutton, whose district includes Austin, is in line to become the nation’s attorney general. But it would take scandal, sadness and/or tragedy for it to happen. And even then it might not happen.
A new order from President Bush officially puts Sutton in the line of succession to “perform the functions and duties of the attorney general” should AG Alberto Gonzales, his two top aides and “the officers designated by (Gonzales)” become unavailable because they have “died, resigned or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of attorney general.”
If all those folks are out of the picture, Bush’s order puts U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia of New York next in line, followed by U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg of Virginia and Sutton, who is at the bottom of the list established by Bush.
And, in another reminder of the scope of presidential powers, Bush’s order allows him “to depart from this memorandum by designating an acting attorney general” if a vacancy occurred.
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Lamar Smith’s New Digs
Movin’ on up …
Amid the frantic last votes of the 109th session, Rep. Lamar Smith’s staff has also been busy settling into the congressman’s new digs in 2409 Rayburn.
Smith, a Republican who represents the northwest part of Travis County, got the new space as one of the advantages of his seniority: A choice pick in the newly vacated office space on the Hill. Smith has served in Congress since 1986.
As you can see from the picture, the space comes with quite a view.
“We wanted a Texas-size view of the Capitol,” Smith said. “There are several Texans on this floor. So, we are in good company here.”
If the other Texas members stay put and — in Bonilla’s case, are re-elected — they might as well annex the whole corridor.
Smith’s new neighborhood includes eight other Texans: Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, Rep. Ruben Hinjosa, D-Mercedes, Rep. Sylvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, and Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi.
Smith’s new office was previously occupied by Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., a 12-term member who was defeated in the Nov. 7 elections. Smith’s former office was also in Rayburn, but three floors below.
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The Way Forward
The “goal,” according to White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino, is a presidential speech before Christmas on a new way forward in Iraq.
To that end, Bush will be out and about next week gathering input from key advisers in key places. On Monday, he will go to the State Department to talk about Iraq with senior aides there. Then, it’s back to the White House for an Oval Office session with “outside experts” on Iraq.
On Tuesday, Bush will meet via teleconference with military officials and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
On Wednesday, it’s a motorcade trip to the Pentagon to meet with top Defense Department officials.
No word from Perino on a format for what will be one of the most crucial speeches Bush ever will have to give.
As of today, there are 16 shopping days until Christmas.
Also today, Perino offered reaction to this comment on Thursday from James Baker about the recommendations in the Iraq Study Group report: “I hope we don’t treat this like a fruit salad and say, ‘I like this but I don’t like that.’”
Perino: “I don’t think the president thinks of this as any kind of food.”
Later, at Tony Snow’s daily briefing, more fruit talk:
Q: Tony, Secretary Baker said that one shouldn’t treat this report as a fruit cake…
SNOW: Fruit salad.
Q: Fruit salad.
SNOW: And he’s right: Nothing should be treated as a fruit cake. That, I think, is a human rights violation.
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Lights On
Here’s state Rep. and former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney at the Thursday evening lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the Ellipse just south of the White House. Mr. Laney is seen here trying to figure out how to use the camera.
“How do you turn this thing on, Nelda?” he was heard asking Mrs. Laney.
The Laneys, friends of the president, were among thousands who braved a cold evening to enjoy the festivities, which included performances by singers Eartha Kitt, Cathy Rigby, John Conlee and B.J. Thomas.
“We come together to celebrate a simple and inspiring story,” President Bush told the crowd. “It’s a story of a miraculous birth in a humble place. It is a story of a single life that changed the world and continues to change hearts. And for two millenia this story has carried the message that God is with us and He offers His love to every man, woman and child.”
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White House Blues
Maybe this will help him get over the blues.
Guitarist extraordinaire B.B. King (shown above after an East Room performance earlier this year) was named by the White House today as one of 10 new recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil award.
Officially cited as Riley B.B. King, the musician is praised in the White House announcement as “one of the greatest blues singers and guitarists of all time.”
“For more than half a century, the King of the Blues and his guitar Lucille have thrilled audiences, influenced generations of guitarists and helped give the blues its special place in the American musical tradition,” said the announcement.
Other winners announced today include historian David McCullough, former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, writer William Safire and the late Buck O’Neil, a baseball star in the Negro Leagues. O’Neil died Oct. 6.
All will be honored Dec. 15 at the White House.
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Texans for McCain
Add three more Texans of note to the John McCain presidential team.
The Arizona GOP senator’s exploratory committee says ex-Gov. Bill Clements will be honorary Texas chairman, and businessman Robert Mosbacher and Red McCombs are the honorary finance chairmen.
McCombs, a San Antonio auto dealer and co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, formerly owned the San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Nuggets.
Mosbacher, chairman of an energy company bearing his name, is a former Republican National Committee chairman.He was commerce secretary under President George H.W. Bush.
The canned comment from McCain, suitable for use pretty much anytime he signs up anybody from anywhere:
“I am truly honored to have the support of these distinguished men. Throughout their illustrious careers they have demonstrated unwavering commitment to the Republican Party and conservative values, and I am humbled they have chosen to bring their talents and wisdom to our exploratory committee.”
Former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas also is backing McCain in 2008.
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Who’s Calling?
President Bush doesn’t like it when phones ring while he is at an event. A phone rang during his news conference today with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Can you pick which photo was taken while the phone was ringing?
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Wexler Gold
Some members of Congress leave their mark through the legislation that forever bears their name. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the Taft-Hartley Act come to mind.
Others are memorialized in bronze or marble and their statues stand in corridors or chambers throughout the Capitol. A rare few even have buildings named after them: Joseph Cannon, Nicholas Longworth and Sam Rayburn.
But Robert Wexler may be known for a paint color: Wexler Gold. At least that’s what he says.
Wexler’s personal office in the Cannon House Office Building is painted a bright mustardy yellow. The rest of the suite, occupied by his staff, is more of an industrial beige.
Other members of Congress have expressed interest in having their offices painted “Wexler Gold.” Wexler said he learned of the name given to the color from Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. who wanted the same color for his office. But when Weiner’s office was painted, he complained it was too bright, according to Wexler.
The problem, Wexler told Weiner, is that Wexler’s office also has a chair rail in glossy white, nicely setting off the gold color. Weiner’s didn’t have such a chair rail.
Wexler describes the color as “Boca Raton-ish.”
He had wanted a lighter yellow, as used in the Cannon Building rotunda — he called it stately — but the painters didn’t quite get it right.
“It was a bit overwhelming, at first,”Wexler said.
No matter. Now that he’s got a color named after him, Wexler intends to have it replicated when he moves to his new offices in the Rayburn House Office Building for the 110th Congress next month. The fluorescent lighting in that building is likely to wash out the color’s intensity.
“The only thing better than this is having a coffee named after you,” he quipped.
The House paint shop in the Superintendent’s Office didn’t know anything about “Wexler Gold.”
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