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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2007 > September
September 2007
Rove raising money for Democrats?
Here’s a fund-raising e-mail that went out today. It says it comes from Karl Rove and asks for money for Democrats.
Be sure to read all the way to the end to see what’s going on.
Time is running out
As my last act in the White House, I asked Dick Cheney if he could help me break into the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and send you this email.
You see I’ve been watching you and other Democratic activists and let me say I’m a bit concerned. Over the past eight months Democrats in the House have made life for my Republican friends and me difficult — issuing subpoena after subpoena. This has got to stop.
Democrats have only been able to take these actions because people like you have backing them up.
Well, the end of the quarter is only 72 hours away and from reading your emails over the past week I know that the DCCC has a goal of raising $1 million online and some donors, who clearly hate America, have setup a special 2-TO-1 matching fund so your contributions will effectively be tripled
On behalf of Dick Cheney, I order you not to contribute to the DCCC by clicking here: Contribute to the Democratic Majority Matching Fund Drive
For six years the Republicans in Congress let George, Dick and me get away with every trick in the book. Making up stuff about weapons of mass destruction, revealing the identity of a covert agent to get revenge on her husband, firing US Attorneys who went after Republicans; we did it all. And if Republicans were in power we’d still be getting away with it.
I wish it could go back to the way it was. I would do some wild and crazy stuff and the media would help me sweep it under the rug. But with committee chairmen like Henry Waxman and John Conyers now leading investigations into our actions, being in the White House just wasn’t as fun anymore. That’s why I headed home to Texas.
In fact, Democrats have held more oversight hearings in eight months than Republicans held in six years.Democrats are only able to take these actions because they have a committed set of activists standing behind them. That’s why it’s so vital you NOT contribute to the DCCC by clicking here: Contribute to the Democratic Majority Matching Fund Drive.
Insincerely, Karl Rove
P.S. This message is obviously a parody. But the sentiment is real — don’t let Karl and his friends go back on the offensive. Make a contribution to the DCCC today by clicking here.
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Pentagon top brass: Pen is mightier than the sword
The military’s top general struck a blow for First Amendment rights on Thursday, telling Pentagon reporters the pen is mightier than the sword.
“If you would push me to pick between a free press and a strong military, I would pick the free press,” Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said in his final news conference as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. “You need them both.”
A U.S. Naval Academy graduate who cut his teeth as a platoon leader in Vietnam, Pace has advised President Bush on military operations in Iraq during two tumultuous years when the White House has repeatedly taken issue with press coverage of the war. “I don’t necessarily like all your questions,” Pace told the Pentagon press corps. “But I have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and a free press is absolutely vital to the freedom of this country.”
After 40 years as a Marine, Pace retires on Monday. He’ll be replaced as chairman of the joint chiefs by Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, who has served as the Pentagon’s chief of naval operations.
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What came first, the chicken or the Hummer?
Shunning posters as too conventional, two members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals donned chicken outfits Thursday for a protest outside the State Department.
Their protest, they said, was to make the point that a meat-based diet is responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than driving a gas-guzzling SUV.
One chicken stood in front of the building holding a sign reading, “Meat: #1 cause of global warming.” The other chicken poked its head outside a chauffeured Hummer that was draped with anti-meat banners.
State Department officials mildly attempted to shoo the protestors away from the building entrance, but they refused to leave.
Inside, officials had gathered for an international summit convened by the Bush administration on energy security and climate change.
The chicken protestors’ goal was to convey their message to participants before they entered the building.
“We are urging people to become vegetarians,” said Matt Prescott, a PETA spokesman. “We are out here telling people the connection between meat and global warming, and I hope it works.”
In a 2006 report, the United Nations determined that raising animals for food emits 18 percent of all greenhouse gases, which is 40 percent more than all the world’s transportation systems combined.
Staubach seeks cash for McCain
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, a veteran of some come-from-behind victories, is trying to help raise money for GOP presidential candidate John McCain.
Here’s the game plan Staubach offers in a fundraising message that went out this week:
Dear Fellow American,
When the clock is running down and the game is on the line, the team huddle is one of the most important parts of the game for a quarterback. It’s the last chance he has to pull his team together and inspire them to victory.
As the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen, I learned early on that everyone in the huddle was looking to me to display confidence that we would win. They can see it in your eyes - and it’s often the difference between victory and defeat.
If you look in John McCain’s eyes, you see a man ready to win and confident in victory. He is a leader - focused on getting his message out and energized for this important stretch in the campaign.
The fourth quarter of this year is going to be the most important in this campaign. That’s why it’s important for us not to stand on the sidelines and watch - it’s time to get in the game right now. We can’t do our job in the fourth quarter unless we play hard in the third.
The end of the third quarter of this year on September 30th marks another important fundraising deadline, and it’s crucial that John McCain has the resources necessary to win heading into the final stretch of the campaign. Whether we like it or not the national press uses these fundraising numbers as a benchmark on how well the campaign is doing.
These next seven days are the last chance we have as a team of McCain supporters to huddle up and get ready for this fundraising deadline. And the most important way we can show our support for John McCain is by making an immediate online donation. I hope you’ll join me in making the most generous contribution you can to John McCain.
America is at a crossroads of an important moment in our history, and I know John McCain has the experience and vision necessary to lead our country.
I’m counting on you to respond to this email before this crucial deadline on September 30th. Please don’t delay in making your generous contribution using this secure online form.
The clock is ticking and we’re getting ready to make a final push to victory - will you join us?
Sincerely, Roger Staubach
P.S. Football requires a team effort. So does a campaign. The best quarterback in the world can’t do it alone. In John McCain our team has a leader we can be proud of and have confidence in - but he can’t do it alone. It’s our turn to step up right now and show him that we’re doing our part to make him the next President of the United States. Many thanks.
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Joe Wilson seeks money for Democrats
Here’s the e-mailed fundraising pitch sent out this week by former Ambassador Joe Wilson, husband of outed CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson:
“In 2003 when I spoke out against the lies in George Bush’s State of the Union address justifying his disastrous and irresponsible war in Iraq, I never imagined the White House would take revenge against me by compromising the national security of the country, not to mention the safety of my family by outing my wife’s identity as a covert CIA officer.”
“Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby and Karl Rove knew they could get away with their traitorous acts because the Republicans in Congress refused to do any oversight or hold anyone accountable.”
“With Democrats in power that all changed.”
“But, that will only continue if Democrats remain in the majority. The Republicans are determined to regain their power to guarantee that they will never be held accountable for their misrule and abuse of power over that past decade. We cannot permit that to happen.”
“To finally turn the page on these dark times, and to make lasting change, it will take both a Democrat in the White House as well as a strong Democratic Congress. The single best action you can take today is to contribute to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) before their critical September 30th deadline.”
“Contribute to help strengthen our Democratic majority and House Democrats will match you 2-to-1.”
“I never imagined that the Republican Congress would condone the Bush Administration’s reckless disregard of our national security. But that is just what the Republicans in Congress did - and they reveled in it.”
“Oversight is one of the most important functions Congress performs - it protects the lives of those serving our nation, saves millions of taxpayer dollars, and ensures that the Executive branch plays by the rules.We must continue to demand accountability in government.”
“Finally, after years of Republican dithering and inaction, Democrat Henry Waxman invited Valerie to testify before Congress to deliver a simple message: We in the CIA always know we might be exposed and threatened by foreign enemies. It was a terrible irony that Administration officials were the ones who destroyed my cover.”
“Heroes like Henry Waxman and John Conyers have been holding hearings, issuing subpoenas and shining light on the most deceptive and secretive Administration in our nation’s history.”
“The future of our nation depends on having a Congress that will do its job, making sure that no White House ever again will get away with acting as if it is above the law.”
“As the third quarter filing deadline approaches, it is vital you give the DCCC the resources they need to keep fighting Republicans.”
“Contribute to help strengthen our Democratic Majority and House Democrats will match you 2-to-1.”
“Thank you, Ambassador Joe Wilson
P.S. Oversight makes a difference! If the U.S. Attorney scandal had occurred two years ago, Republicans would have done nothing; the media would have swept it under the rug and Alberto Gonzales would still be the Attorney General. We can’t turn back — we need a strong Democratic Majority.”
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GOP Bush-bashing
Though President Bush insists he is a “strong asset” for Republicans seeking election next year, there seem to have been repeated efforts by GOP presidential candidates to distance themselves from Bush.
But who’s counting?
William Benoit, a University of Missouri-Columbia faculty member who teaches communications.
He’s gone through the debates to date and found Bush “has been attacked” by GOP candidates 60 times.
“At the end of Reagan’s term, the Republicans attempting to get the nomination didn’t attack Reagan,” Benoit said. “At the end of Clinton’s second term, the Democrats who were attempting to get the nomination didn’t attack Clinton. Now, at the end of George W. Bush’s second term, the Republicans are criticizing Bush fairly frequently. This has never happened before. Usually candidates want to support his or her own party.”
Quick, semi-related question: Benoit’s findings come to us by way of a release from the University of Missouri-Columbia. That same release second references the university as MU. Anyone know how MU becomes the acronym for the University of Missouri?
First attempted explanation comes from Charles N. Davis, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, who acknowledges the MU acronym as “terribly confusing …MU is the acronym for the university system, a multi-campus conglomeration.”
But a check of the system’s website - umsystem.edu - indicates otherwise. MU does not appear on umsystem.edu. UM is repeatedly used as the acronym. So we are back where we started: Can somebody in the land of show-me show us how University of Missouri becomes MU? Ditto for the University of Oklahoma, known, inexplicably, as OU, and the University of Kansas, which goes by KU.
Update: Professor Davis now says he is told the University of Missouri calls itself MU - as opposed to the more correct UM - to avoid confusion with the University of Michigan.
Popcorn pop quiz
Q. Who, one might reasonably inquire, could possibly oppose a piece of legislation bearing the name “The Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act”?
A. The president of the United States of America.
Click continue reading to see why.
Statement of Administration Policy
The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 2693, “Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act,” in its current form. H.R. 2693 would require the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to publish a premature interim standard within 90 days of enactment regulating worker exposure to diacetyl and publish a final regulation that includes a permissible exposure limit (PEL) within two years. The bill also directs the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct a study to determine the potential exposure hazards of diacetyl and associated chemicals used in the production of microwave popcorn.
The Administration shares the goal of protecting workers from the risk of obstructive lung disease, and OSHA is already taking steps to strengthen worker protections in this area. These measures include: (1) announcement of a regular rulemaking process under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to address occupational exposure to flavorings containing diacetyl; (2) inspections at every microwave popcorn manufacturing plant in the nation within the calendar year to ensure that acceptable ventilation and other engineering controls are in place and that appropriate personal protective equipment is in use; (3) issuance of a Safety and Health Information Bulletin that advises employers about diacetyl, recommends specific engineering and work practice controls to regulate exposures, and requires appropriate personal protective equipment and respiratory protection when handling diacetyl; and (4) issuance of a guidance document about health hazard information that must be included on diacetyl material safety data sheets under the Hazard Communication standard.
The Administration does not believe that H.R. 2693 in its present form is the best regulatory approach for protecting workers. Before a PEL can be promulgated, more time is needed to gather sufficient evidence concerning (1) the causes of bronchiolitis obliterans (рpopcorn lung diseaseс) in workers exposed to diacetyl and other chemicals used in butter flavorings; (2) the range of exposure levels that may be hazardous; and (3) the kinds of control measures that are most effective. Additional time is also needed to obtain sufficient information about the many other industries besides microwave popcorn manufacturing that use diacetyl and diacetyl-containing flavorings. The expedited rulemaking required by H.R. 2693 would not allow OSHA sufficient time to gather and analyze the kind of evidence and information needed to ensure the promulgation of a standard that adequately protects workers.
The Administration is also very concerned that the interim standard that is mandated by this legislation will not be open for comment by stakeholders, particularly small business, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, and the rulemaking requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. These statutes ensure thorough consideration and transparency in rulemaking, as well as stakeholder input. The Administration believes these requirements should be waived only in the most exceptional situations. Thorough vetting is particularly critical when the medical and scientific studies do not provide unequivocal conclusions.
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Survey offers views of Mormons and Muslims
Highlights and numbers from a Pew Forum survey released today on Americans’ views of Islam and Mormonism. Read the full report here.
“The Muslim and Mormon religions have gained increasing national visibility in recent years. Yet most Americans say they know little or nothing about either religion’s practices, and large majorities say that their own religion is very different from Islam and the Mormon religion.”
“Public attitudes about Muslims and Islam have grown more negative in recent years.”
“The belief that Islam encourages violence has increased among groups that express mostly negative views of Muslims, such as conservative Republicans, but also among those groups that have relatively favorable opinions of Muslims, such as college graduates.”
“When asked for the single word that best describes their impression of Islam, far more Americans mention negative words than positive ones (30 percent versus 15 percent); roughly a quarter (23 percent) characterize the religion with neutral words; about a third (32 percent) did not offer an opinion.”
“The single most common word used to describe the Muslim religion is ‘devout,’ or a variant of this word … 43 respondents use one of these words to describe their impression of Islam. Nearly as many (40 respondents in all) say that words like ‘fanatic’ or ‘fanatical’ come to mind when thinking about Islam.”
“Overall, a slim majority of the public (53 percent) expresses a favorable view of Mormons, while 27 percent view Mormons unfavorably.”
“A slim majority of the public (52 percent) says that Mormonism is a Christian religion, while nearly one-third (31 percent) say that Mormonism is not a Christian religion.”
“When asked to describe their impression of the Mormon religion in a single word, somewhat more offer a negative word than a positive one (27 percent versus 23 percent); 19 percent give a neutral descriptor. The most common negative word expresses is ‘polygamy,’ including ‘bigamy or some other reference to plural marriage (75 total responses), followed by ‘cult’ (57 total mentions). But while many think of polygamy when they think of Mormonism, nearly as many think of ‘family’ or ‘family values’ (74 total mentions).”
You, a TV, a bowl of chips and Bill Clinton
First, it was a contest to pick Hillary Clinton’s campaign song. Now, the Democratic front-runner is holding another contest - and the winner gets to “share the excitement” with the candidate’s husband, former President Bill Clinton.
The contest winner gets to watch one of the upcoming presidential debates with the former president. “You, me, a TV, and a bowl of chips,” says the come-hither headline announcing the chance to spend an evening with Bill Clinton.
“There are two things in this world that I love more than anything else - my family and politics,” Bill says in the message announcing the contest. “So you can imagine just how fired up I get when Hillary is on stage debating the issues that matter to our country. So here’s an idea: why don’t you and I share that excitement together during an upcoming debate.”
If you want to see just how fired up Bill gets, just enter the contest. “We’ll sit down in front of a big TV with a big bowl of chips, watch the debate, and talk about the race,” Bill says.
The campaign will pick three people, each with an invited guest to watch one of the debates with Bill. The deadline to enter the contest is Sunday midnight.
And, oh, yes, all you have to do to enter is to make a donation to the campaign through the Hillary Clinton website.
Former African-American congressional leader endorses Clinton
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has lined up some of the country’s most influential and best known black leaders in his bid to become the country’s first African-American president. But today, he lost an important endorsement to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign.
William Gray, a one-time high ranking member of Congress from Pennsylvania and the former head of the United Negro College Fund, said there is no candidate in the Democratic field with Clinton’s experience.
Moreover, “I believe she has the strength, wisdom and compassion to be our next president,” Gray said in a statement released by the Clinton campaign.
Gray served 13 years in Congress, becoming the first African-American to chair the House Budget Committee and the Democratic Caucus and to serve as House Majority Whip.
Gray is also influential in the African-American church community. An ordained minister, he was pastor of the Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia for 35 years.
During Bill Clinton’s presidency, Gray served as a special adviser for Haitian Affairs.
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China rising, if not its currency
U.S. lawmakers who want to punish China for depressing the value of its currency are failing to recognize several facts, according to Myron Brilliant, U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice president for East Asia.
For one, China already has allowed its currency to appreciate, although perhaps “not to the level some people would like to see,” Brilliant told reporters Monday while reviewing the Chamber’s annual assessment of U.S.-China commercial relations.
For another, any U.S. law designed to punish China would be challenged before the World Trade Organization, and probably would be found to violate WTO rules, he said.
Finally, Senate and House members pushing legislation imposing penalties on China for its currency policies are not seeing the value of a friendly relationship with the economic giant, he said.
“China is on the rise,” he said. “We can’t take this relationship lightly.”
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Bush appoints Kennedy
Here are some of the folks, appointed today by President Bush, to serve as his delegation to the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai next month. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings will lead the delegation:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics founder; Clark T. Randt Jr., U.S. ambassador to China; Ernie Banks, Chicago Cub hall of famer; and Michelle Kwan, Olympic figure skater.
And John Hager of Virginia, father of Henry Hager, Bush’s future son-in-law.
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Matthew Dowd: On the road
Former Bush presidential campaign adviser Matthew Dowd, who no longer supports Bush, is blogging from his three-week trip to the places where the world’s great spiritual movements originated. Here are the first three entries from Dowd’s LiveGentle.com website.
Heading On Pilgrimage September 12, 2007 at 3:11 PM I am off to India, Nepal, Turkey, Israel and Italy for a three week pilgrimage to walk in the paths of the major spiritual movements (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity). Wish me well and hope to talk to you along the way.
Delhi, India - Wednesday Morning September 18, 2007at 9:24 PM Namaste. Sitting on balcony. Sipping tea. And doing my ritual morning readings. Listening to a city wake up for the day. Quick beep of traffic noise. Chirping of birds. The sweep of brooms on sidewalk. The distant chants of a people in prayer. Life and God are good. Matthew
Varanasi, India - 6 AM September 20, 2007 at 9:01 PM Sitting on ganges river as sun rises from the east. Watching people wash their clothes on rocks as boats go out ferrying people on these holy waters. A breeze blows softly as if to say things will be all right if we trust our hearts. The connectedness of the world is such a profound thing. Leaving varanasi today to travel by car to where buddha got enlightenment. Hope your moments today have beauty in them. Matthew
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Newt to begin raising campaign cash
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that he’ll begin raising money for a presidential campaign next Monday and, if he can raise pledges for $30 million over the next three weeks, he’ll join the Republican race for president.
“I think the odds are very high, if we ended up with that level of pledges - I don’t see, as a citizen, how you could turn that down,” Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday.
“So you’d run?” host Chris Wallace asked.
“I think you’d be compelled to,” Gingrich said.
“If we have enough resources, then close to that (fundraising deadline) we’ll face a very big decision in late October,” Gingrich said. “If there aren’t enough resources, I’m not for doing unrealistic things.”
Before the start of that fundraising, Gingrich is to host a national dialogue this week on all the issues that a presidential candidate would need to address. Under the umbrella of a group he formed, American Solutions, Gingrich on Thursday and Saturday will open debate - via satellite TV and the Internet - on immigration, health care, education and other issues.
Hmmm. Talking about all those issues. Raising all that money. Sounds like a campaign, doesn’t it? But remember, it’s Newt. So don’t bet the pension fund on ‘yes’ or ‘no’ quite yet.
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Housing down, but economy up
Edward Lazear, chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, said Friday he believes the housing market will deteriorate, yet the economy will improve next year.
During the taping of C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program, which will air Sunday, Lazear told reporters that the record-setting pace of mortgage foreclosures will worsen.
In coming months, more of the low “teaser” rates offered on mortgages between 2003 and 2006 will expire and reset to higher levels, sending up monthly payments, he said. That in turn, will increase foreclosures and drive down home values. Even after this summer’s home price decline in much of the nation, “I wouldn’t say it’s reached its bottom,” he said.
Still, largely because of rising exports, he sees a brightening economic outlook, following the moderate 2-percent growth of this year’s second half. “2008 will be a stronger year,” he predicted.
Permalink | | Categories: Washington
National Book Festival future uncertain
There’s no guarantee that the National Book Festival, a project started by Laura Bush, will continue after the Bushes leave town in January 2009, Librarian of Congress James Billington said Friday.
Seventy-one authors will be on hand next Saturday for the seventh annual version of the festival that draws tens of thousands of people to the National Mall.
“We hope it will live beyond the Bush administration,” Billington said in a Friday interview. “We can’t prejudge that. We certainly think it has become something of a national tradition.”
The event is privately funded. Billington said $1.75 million was raised for this year’s event. Major sponsors include Target, AT&T, the Amend Group, the Washington Post, AARP and others.
The first National Book Festival took place in 2001, the Bushes’ first year in the White House. Mrs. Bush also had been instrumental in starting the Texas Book Festival in 1996.
“Generally speaking, all White Houses and presidential spouses support reading. It’s kind of a no-brainer,” he said.
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Laura Bush interview
Some insights from First Lady Laura Bush, in advance of the Sept. 29 National Book Festival in Washington, during a Friday interview with Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau:
She hasn’t read all the books written by her family members.
She sometimes just looks for her name in the index and reads those parts.
She hasn’t kept a diary, something she regrets.
She doesn’t read books about her husband.
And she thinks Crawford is romantic, but that does not mean daughter Jenna’s wedding will be at the ranch.
Click on continue reading to see the q-and-a.
Q: In addition to being prolific readers, members of your family have become writers. Your mother-in-law has written books. Your husband has written a book. Your daughter, Jenna, has completed her first book. Your sister-in-law, Doro, is among this year’s festival authors. And now you and Jenna are collaborating on a book. What’s the status of that project and tell me a little about that experience.
Mrs. Bush: Well, we have met with our illustrator. Denise Brunkus is going to be our illustrator. She’s a terrific children’s illustrator. We met with her this week, earlier this week to lay out the book. As you know, children’s books don’t have a lot of text and so you have to be very, very careful and make sure every word in it is the word you want. And that’s been fun to work with Jenna on that, and then to see the way the illustrations can illustrate parts of the story that we can leave out of the text because the illustrator puts them in the pictures.
Q: Are either you or your daughter temperamental authors, or are we getting along here?
Mrs. Bush: Oh, we’re getting along great. It’s actually been a wonderful bonding experience for us. It’s been a lot of fun.
Q: Have you read all the books written by your family members?
Mrs. Bush: I’ll have to admit, no. (Laughter.) Sometimes I just look for my name in the index, and then read what they wrote about me. (Laughter.)
Q: Care to tell me which ones you have not read cover-to-cover?
Mrs. Bush: Well, I haven’t read all of Doro’s book cover-to-cover, but I certainly have looked through it a lot and read different parts of it and different stories of it. I think she’ll be a wonderful National Book Festival author. She was at the Texas Book Festival last year; but her book didn’t come out until after the National Book Festival last year, so that’s why she’s one of our writers this year.
Q: Any other family member books you haven’t read cover-to-cover?
Mrs. Bush: I haven’t read “The World Transformed,” by President (George H.W.) Bush and Brent Scowcroft cover-to-cover.
Q: How about your mother-in-law’s book?
Mrs. Bush: I did read my mother-in-law’s book. Her latest one that included recipes and stories I thought was fun. They’re fun to read.
Q: Your sister-in-law’s book, “My Father, My President,” is a memoir about your father-in-law. It’s hard to imagine that any book could add to your knowledge about the family, but from what you’ve seen in there, is there anything in that book that does that for you?
Mrs. Bush: Well, a lot of the personal stories are in that book. She contacted a lot of people and asked them to tell her stories about President Bush and she included those. And then she included, I think, some very funny family stories that hadn’t been in any of the other books. And what her book shows is what every member of President George H.W. Bush’s family knows, and that’s how sweet he is and how funny he is, and how much fun he is to be with.
Q: The book you’re writing with your daughter is a children’s book, which I know is among your favorite genres. Do you have any plans for a book about your unique role as the daughter-in-law of a president and a wife of a president?
Mrs. Bush: I don’t now; after this is over, maybe. But at this point, no, I don’t have a book planned.
Q: Are there some stories about that unique role that you think would be interesting to people?
Mrs. Bush: Sure. I unfortunately though have not kept a diary like Barbara Bush did and Lady Bird Johnson did. I mean, I can reconstruct my schedule and I can reconstruct important things that happened and how we felt when they happened, but there’s something very immediate about a diary; So I’m sorry I haven’t kept one.
Q: This year’s (National Book Festival) line-up includes authors of several books about presidents. Michael Beschloss has a book about presidential courage, covering presidents for two centuries. Elizabeth Drew has a new book about President Nixon. James Swanson has, as you mentioned, a volume about the search for Lincoln’s assassin. And Douglas Wilson has written several books about Lincoln. Your husband may be setting a record for having more books written about him while he was in still in office than any other president. Why are none of those authors of those books included in the National Book Festival?
Mrs. Bush: Well, sometimes they are. I think some of them have been. They’re certainly included in the Texas Book Festival, I think. The Library of Congress really has the last word on who’s invited and I don’t. I stay abreast of who they’re inviting slightly; but getting close to the festival is when I really start paying attention to who all they’ve invited.
Q: Would you have any objections to any of those books being included?
Mrs. Bush: No, absolutely not. I mean, this is a book festival. You want every viewpoint included. If you’ll remember, we invited Garry Mauro (Bush’s opponent in the 1998 Texas gubernatorial race) to the Texas Book Festival, where I was a little bit more knowledgeable about the ongoing authors meetings and who they were thinking of inviting.
Q: Have you read any of these books about your husband?
Mrs. Bush: No.
Q: Why not?
Mrs. Bush: Just, I’ve lived it. You know, I know what really happened, and so I don’t have to read some outsider’s view.
Q: And I would be remiss if I did not ask you about the upcoming big event in your family. Will there be a White House wedding before your husband leaves office?
Mrs. Bush: Well, after Jenna’s book tour, we’re going to decide what we’re going to do with the wedding. Her book comes at the end of next week, September 28th, and then her formal book launch is on October 1st. And then she’ll be on a book tour, 26 cities, around the country. And after that, we’ll have a chance to decide what she wants to do and what Henry wants to do.
Q: There are some people who would say, how could you possibly turn down a White House wedding. But are there good reasons not to have it at the White House?
Mrs. Bush: Well, I mean, obviously, everyone chooses where they want to get married for personal reasons; a site that most appeals to them for sentimental reasons are whatever. So we’ll see what Jenna thinks.
Q: But is there a more romantic spot in the world than Crawford, Texas?
Mrs. Bush: There is not a more romantic spot than right by the lake. (Laughter.)
Q: Is that a hint about something?
Mrs. Bush: No. No, it’s not.
Q: And a rehearsal dinner at the Coffee Station (in downtown Crawford) perhaps?
Mrs. Bush: Exactly. (Laughter).
White House: None of your business
Still an official stonewall today from the White House as to what the U.S. knows about Israel’s attack on Syria earlier this month. President Bush no-commented it yesterday at a news conference. Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto did the same this morning at a briefing.
“I’m going to let you all in on a little secret, that there are a lots of things that we know about and learn about in this building that we don’t share with you from the podium,” Fratto said. “You can get it from my e-mail exchange.”
The latter was a joking reference to a Washington Post mention of Fratto e-mails that somehow were copied to a Post reporter. Included was an exchange this week with the spokesman for Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle.
Fratto, referring to a Nussle TV interview about the Fed’s rate cut, wrote that “We don’t comment on FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) decisions - and neither should anyone else. … The appropriate reaction is: ‘We don’t comment on Fed decisions. We respect the independence of the Fed in setting monetary policy. If pressed: ‘We have confidence in Chairman Bernanke.’ “
The response from Nussle spokesman Sean Kevelighan: “Yep. Made that clear to Jim.”
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Hundreds protest treatment of the ‘Jena Six’
While protesters flooded the streets of Jena, La., hundreds more gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to support six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder for the beating of a white classmate.
Organized by A Call to Action, a nonprofit civil-rights organization located in Washington, D.C., protesters rallied in front of the capitol for more than five hours, calling for immediate change in the American judicial system.
The six teens, known as the Jena Six, were charged for beating up a white classmate several months after three white teens hung nooses in a tree on their high school grounds. The white teens hung the nooses after two black students ate lunch under what was commonly known on campus as the white tree. Five of the black teens were arrested last December and were initially charged with attempted murder. The charge was later reduced to battery, for all but one, who has yet to be arraigned. The other teen was charged as a juvenile.
The white students were suspended from school for several days but were not prosecuted.
Hundreds of participating demonstrators trickled onto the lawn in front of the Capitol, many chanting “Enough is enough, it stops here,” with their fists raised in the air. Others cried, “Equal justice now.”
Signs reading, “Congress needs to let freedom really ring” and “Stop Racism now” bobbed throughout the sea of people, while members of the NAACP spoke about ways to help the Jena Six case.
Nearly all the protesters wore all-black attire, which they said signified the continuous failure of the judicial system in the black community. One man even toted an American flag with a few African touches. In place of the usual white stars were red stars and the stripes alternated between red, green and black, signifying the pan-African colors.
Many advocates said that the Jena Six case has highlighted racial disparities in the American legal system.
June Mines, a former Atlanta resident who now lives in Washington, said it was imperative to show her support to the Jena Six.
“This is a microscopic look at what is happening around the country, but this issue is bringing light to cases that need more attention,” Mines said.
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Obama fashion conscious In union pitch
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is something of a fashion plate, as New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd frequently points out, much to the discomfort of the candidate.
So it came as something of a surprise that he drew attention to his sartorial splendor during his appearance at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Political Action Conference in Washington on Monday.
“I’m wearing my purple tie here today,” Obama pointed out to the SEIU members at the very beginning of his speech.
It was a guaranteed applause line, though, even if he’s been taking some hits from Dowd of late for how he “languidly poses” for fashion magazines.
At political events, SEIU members are easy to spot in their purple and gold T-shirts.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also came to the event color-coordinated. She wore a purple blouse, but did not draw attention to it.
Obama is featured on this month’s cover of GQ, the first time a politician has been on the magazine’s cover in 15 years when Bill Clinton and Al Gore appeared together.
Earlier this year, he appeared on the cover of Men’s Vogue, in a photograph shot by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
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Please don’t pass the butter
Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag says U.S. fiscal health is being threatened by escalating medical costs, which are being made worse by an obesity epidemic. At a George Washington University medical conference on Wednesday, he will be speaking on the topic: “What Will be the Nation’s Fiscal Future if the Obesity Epidemic Continues Unchecked?”
While meeting with reporters at a Monday breakfast meeting organized by the Christian Science Monitor, Orszag said poor eating habits remain socially acceptable, just as smoking was decades ago. “The norms haven’t really shifted yet” for food, he said, noting that the breakfast featured eggs, bacon, sausage and potatoes.
Not to mention piles of bagels, mini-baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat.
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Movie night at the White House
It was dinner and a movie Sunday night in the White House family theater as President Bush, Vice President Cheney, their spouses and about 40 invited guests watched a screening of “The Kite Runner,” a movie that depicts some of the horror and violence in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Khaled Hosseini, author of the best-selling novel, was among those on hand for a film that, for many in the room, served to justify U.S. efforts to oust the Taliban regime after the 9/11 attacks. The movie is scheduled to open in theaters on Nov. 2. It carries a PG-13 rating “for strong thematic material including the rape of a child, violence and brief strong language.”
Bush made very brief remarks prior to settling into his comfy front-row chair. He said the movie should be a reminder about appreciating freedom.
“And if it’s a lousy movie it’s not the writer’s fault,” he joked.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino today said Bush, who had read the book, was “moved by the film.”
Post-screening chit-chat prior to buffet dinner found consensus that it was a powerful and well-made movie that tells an important story.
The guest list was impressive. In addition to the president and vice president’s spouses, the audience included Defense Secretary Robert Gates; outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace; U.S Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad (former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan); Said Jawad, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the U.S; National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley; and Douglas Lute, Bush’s war czar.
Also on hand were two former key aides who recently left the White House, political adviser Karl Rove and Press Secretary Tony Snow (who was still dealing with moving boxes out of his office after the movie and dinner).
Jenna Bush, the first family’s recently engaged daughter also watched the movie. She still seems to be adjusting to the engaged life, correcting herself during post-movie small talk to refer to future husband Henry Hager as her “fiance” after first calling him her “boyfriend.”
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Katrina residents tell lawmakers they remain optimistic
Unlike many New Orleans residents, who come to Capitol Hill to bash the slow-moving relief effort, several New Orleans residents did just the opposite Friday.
More than 50 New Orleans neighborhood and nonprofit leaders came to Washington, D.C. to discuss their current successes in rebuilding the city at a briefing for congressional staff members.
Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of community members and volunteers began gutting and clearing out homes in an effort to attract local residents to return to their New Orleans homes.
After evacuating her home as it sat under seven feet of water, New Orleans resident Denise Thorton, decided to create The Beacon of Hope Resource Center in 2006. She created her organization to serve as a network for volunteer homeowners to clean up their neighborhoods while offering advice to other neighbors who wanted to return home.
When Thorton returned to her vacant neighborhood, she received a donation from former New Orleans Hornets basketball team co-owner Ray Wooldridge to purchase lawn mowers, tools and office equipment. There are now eight Beacon locations.
“Many residents didn’t know what to do or where to go for help,” Thorton said. “I knew I had to do something.”
While in the briefing, one community member expressed that many people wanted to return to their homes, but they just didn’t know how to. In the areas most devastated by the storm, telephone lines and electricity were inactive for weeks. Many homes that were left under up to eight feet of water also had to be gutted and rebuilt.
So instead of waiting around for government funding and FEMA support, like Thorton, members of the community came together and started rebuilding their homes one by one. Many residents told congressional staffers that they are optimistic about New Orleans’ future of and don’t plan to slow down their progress.
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Quarterly timetables for Amtrak; Cascades Talgos to return this fall
For the first time in its 36-year history, Amtrak will begin issuing quarterly timetables in response to a growing frequency of schedule changes that occur throughout the year, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black confirmed today to Cox Newspapers.
Historically, Amtrak has followed a semiannual timetable format, updating its train schedules once in the spring and again in the fall. In recent years, however, the railroad has suffered from a number of schedule-changing events, such as track work and equipment failures, that have forced a reissue of timetables specific to the affected lines. “We have found in the past couple of years that we frequently have midterm changes in our timetables, [and] we were finding ourselves having to publish and distribute changes during the middle of our timetable period,” Black said. “What we’re doing here is we’re splitting the press run down the middle. We’re not printing as many this fall, so we’re staying within our budget.”
Right now, there’s only one anticipated change for the new January 2008 timetable—a new schedule for the railroad’s popular Keystone Corridor, linking Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York. When asked if there were any other January changes that passengers should be aware of, such as the much-anticipated resumption of service from New Orleans to Florida on the Sunset Limited route (the affected portions of the New Orleans to Orlando track have been completely rebuilt, yet closed to passengers since Hurricane Katrina), Black denied the notion, adding, “we’re not anticipating any changes, but from experience, we find that over a period of weeks and months we’re finding that we need to adjust our timetables in order for our trains to reach their destinations reliably.” Black did confirm to Cox that the railroad’s Cascades line from Eugene, OR to Vancouver, BC, will be back in full service beginning with the Fall 2007 timetable. The line’s unique Talgo cars were recently taken out of service after cracks were found in the suspension support system on on a number of the rail cars. Amtrak anticipates having the Talgo cars repaired and back in service by the end of October or beginning of November.
Cox Newspapers reside in five Amtrak-serviced states: Colorado (California Zephyr), Florida (Silver Services), North Carolina (Silver Services and Carolinian), Ohio (Cardinal), and Texas (Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, and Heartland Flyer).
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Cornyn not happy about MoveOn.org ad
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked Democrats on the Armed Services Committee Tuesday to publicly condemn a MoveOn.org ad that referred to Gen. David Petraeus as “General Betray Us.”
In response to Petraeus’ recent report on Iraq, the liberal group Moveon.org slammed Petraeus in a full-page ad in The New York Times earlier this week, rhyming with his last name. (Pronounced pe-TRAY-us).
Cornyn, outraged by this advertisement, asked the Democrats to publicly condemn the liberal group. In his resolution, Cornyn called it “abhorrent” for the activist group to say that the four-star general commanding U.S. forces in Iraq has “betrayed” his country.
During his remarks during Petraus’s testimony, Cornyn also noted his disdain for the ad and other negative commentary regarding Petraeus, stating, “I guess this is an unusual case in regards that this is the first time for shooting down the messenger for good news from Iraq.”
If Moveon.org wanted a little spotlight on the issue, they got what they were looking for.
The grueling ad reads as follows:
“Most importantly, General Petraeus will not admit what everyone knows: Iraq is mired in an unwinnable religious civil war. We may hear of a plan to withdraw a few thousand American troops. But we won’t hear what Americans are desperate to hear: a timetable for withdrawing all our troops. General Petraeus has actually said American troops will need to stay in Iraq for as long as ten years.
Today, before Congress and before the American people, General Petraeus is likely to become General Betray Us.”
Ouch.
Despite Cornyn’s plea for immediate removal and condemnation of the ad, it is still on display on Moveon.org’s Web site.
Gutierrez: Maybe next year for trade deal
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, meeting Wednesday with reporters from Spanish-language media, said “it’s too early to say the votes aren’t there” for congressional approval of free trade agreements with Peru, Panama and Colombia.
Gutierrez, who will be traveling this week with 14 lawmakers to the three Latin American countries, said Congress should act “sooner rather than later.”
But he seemed to concede passage may have to wait until the new year because of a crowded congressional calendar this fall. “I didn’t say this year,” he said. “The important thing is to do it as soon as possible,” even if that’s in 2008.
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Tony Snow’s farewell appearance
That’s White House Press Secretary Tony Snow lending an ear to the White House press corps for the final time today. Snow leaves his post Friday, but today was his last on-camera briefing.
He started by declaring it “the most fun I’ve ever had, the most satisfying, fulfilling job.” Makes you wonder how bad some of his other jobs were.
“I love these briefings. And I’m really going to miss them,” he said about 90 minutes before a briefing that yearned to end finally did end.
During on overtime session that Snow agreed to despite the fact that the senior wire correspondent had lobbed the “thank you” that usually ends briefings, Snow dealt with some offbeat questions.
One was about something President Carter said recently at the Toronto Film Festival. “Oh, come on,” Snow said, dismissing the question. The questioner than complained that other reporters got to ask several questions. “They also asked questions that I give a rip about,” Snow replied.
A few questions later, Snow said, “By the way, folks, let’s not extend this so it becomes farce.”
A few more questions later, this plea from a back-of-the-room seat: “On behalf of the many of us neglected, would you please consider suggesting to the president that he broaden his rare news conference questions to include more of us long-serving reporters whom he doesn’t call on any more?”
Snow: “Long serving or self-serving?”
Snow plans on vacationing at Sea Island, Georgia next week prior to hitting the speaking circuit and putting together a book proposal.
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Paulson: Markets will keep swinging
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson predicts the nation’s mortgage troubles and credit crunch will keep financial markets volatile for some time.
“We need to expect this period of turbulence to go on for a while,” he said Tuesday at a breakfast held by the Christian Science Monitor. “This is something in my judgment that will take a while to work through.”
Paulson did not define how long a “while” lasts, nor would he predict the direction of interest rates. But he did say the six-year-old U.S. economic expansion can withstand the hits.
“I think the capital markets turmoil is taking place against a backdrop of a very strong economy,” he said.
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South Lawn silence
First Lady Laura Bush, in her first public appearance since Saturday’s surgical procedure to relieve pain from a pinched nerve in her neck, with President Bush this morning during the 9/11 moment of silence on the White House South Lawn.
Mrs. Bush did not accompany the president earlier this morning at a 9/11 memorial service at a church near the White House.
Man in the middle
That’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in the middle during this morning’s 9/11 moment of silence on the White House South Lawn.
As it turned out, Gonzales stood next to FBI Director Robert Mueller, left, who several weeks ago contradicted Gonzales’ congressional testimony about efforts to get former Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve a secret surveillance plan while he was hospitalized. Mueller and several top Justice Department officials considered resigning over what they felt was improper pressure on Ashcroft by Gonzales, who was White House counsel at the time.
Mueller’s testimony came shortly before Gonzales recently announced his plans to resign later this month.
Mueller is reaching across Gonzales to shake hands with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
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Import monitoring: time for a change
The U.S. system for monitoring imports needs a “fundamental change,” Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt told reporters Monday. Today’s practices provide only a “snapshot at the border,” not a “video” showing a product’s complete path from overseas to U.S. homes, he said.
The Interagency Working Group on Import Safety, created in July by President Bush, concluded: “We have to be smarter about what we do.” The report, put together by 12 government agencies, came in the wake of revelations about dangerous toys, toothpaste, pet food and seafood — all made in China.
The report recommends Americans switch from border checks and penalties to a more sophisticated system of tracking foods and goods from production to transport and distribution. Leavitt said it’s too soon to estimate the cost because the recommendations must undergo a 60-day review.
The report did not single out the Chinese, who have sent officials to Washington this week to discuss product safety.
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Conyers demands answers in allegations of political prosecutions
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., wants the Justice Department to explain why it has failed to turn over documents in the committee’s investigation of whether politics played a role in prosecutions in Alabama, Wisconsin and Pennyslvania.
Conyers and Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Artur Davis, D-Ala., and Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today demanding the documents.
“The committee’s investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 has surfaced substantial evidence that improper political pressure has been brought to bear on the U.S. Attorney corps, and that prosecutors who did not serve the administration political goals were fired while others who were dubbed “loyal Bushies” were retained,” the letter states (full text of letter below).
“Since our original letter, even more evidence has come to light showing an aggressive effort run by White House political operatives to use the machinery of government for partisan advantage and establishing that top members of your staff attended political briefings led by Karl Rove,” the lawmakers wrote.
In July, the committee requested documents related to several legal cases involving allegations that federal prosecutors pursued three cases for partisan political gain. On September 4, the department said it would not provide most of the documents sought by the committee. Instead, it turned over about 350 pages of public pleadings, and a few additional pages of emails.
The Justice Department claims that the items requested by the committee are almost never released.
To see what the department turned over on Sept. 4 click here.
Here is a copy of the letter sent by Conyers and the lawmakers.
September 10, 2007
The Honorable Alberto R. Gonzales
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We are writing to follow up on our July 17, 2007, letter concerning the issue of selective or politically-motivated prosecutions, in light of Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski’s letter to us of September 4, 2007. We were very disappointed that Mr. Benczkowski largely rejected our request for documents that would shed light on the Department’s decisionmaking in three cases where concerns have been raised that prosecutorial decisions were influenced by improper political factors: United States v. Don Siegelman, United States v. Georgia Thompson, and United States v. Cyril Wecht. We urge that you immediately take steps to ensure that the Department fully cooperates with our request, so that these troubling concerns about political influence in prosecutorial decisionmaking and the reputation of the Department of Justice can be effectively resolved.
Our request does not arise in a vacuum. The Committee’s investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 has surfaced substantial evidence that improper political pressure has been brought to bear on the U.S. Attorney corps, and that prosecutors who did not serve the Administration political goals were fired while others who were dubbed “loyal Bushies” were retained.
Since our original letter, even more evidence has come to light showing an aggressive effort run by White House political operatives to use the machinery of government for partisan advantage and establishing that top members of your staff attended political briefings led by Karl Rove.
Also in the time since our original letter, public concern and information about the issue of selective or politically-motivated prosecutions has only increased.
Against this backdrop, the Committee has identified a number of cases where substantial questions of political interference have been raised. Of these cases, we have so far limited our request for information to only the three matters referenced in our July 17, 2007, letter.
Each of these cases raises substantial, particularized concerns about the role of politics in the exercise of prosecutorial power and whether any of these defendants were targeted for partisan reasons. Needless to say, it is extremely disappointing that the Department has responded by producing only a handful of relevant documents and by focusing its energies on arguing the facts of these cases.
The few materials that the Department has provided are clearly insufficient. You have offered approximately 350 pages of public pleadings, but even this production has been limited to pleadings that represent the Government’s position in those matters.
We understand that the Committee may obtain publicly filed documents from the courts without the Department’s assistance, but we question the value of the Department selectively providing those few pleadings supporting its arguments but not providing any responsive pleadings or court decisions that present contrary arguments and facts.
Far more important, Mr. Benczkowski’s blanket refusal to provide materials deemed “deliberative” such as prosecution memoranda, even as to closed matters, and his refusal to provide any non-public materials concerning matters that have not been closed, is unacceptable.
While the Committee appreciates the sensitivity of these materials, and we are open to reasonable accommodations of those concerns, as described below, we believe it is improper to simply declare such materials off limits, particularly in view of the substantial questions that have been raised about the Department’s action in these cases.
While Mr. Benczkowski’s letter recites the Department’s “longstanding” position, relying on a statement by the White House counsel made in 2002, in fact Congress repeatedly has obtained prosecution memoranda and other deliberative materials of the Department regarding both open and closed criminal matters during past Congressional investigations.
Indeed, this Administration ultimately agreed to make available to Congress prosecution memoranda that were at issue when the White House counsel made the statement quoted in Mr. Benczkowski’s letter.
Such documents, which dealt with prosecution decisions in murder cases and related issues, and which the Department claimed were related to ongoing litigation, were made available to Congress despite being subject to a formal claim of executive privilege by President Bush, on terms negotiated by then-Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff and the then Government Reform Committee staff.
Other examples are plentiful. As early as the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s, under Attorney General (and later Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court) Harlan Stone, a Senate Select investigative committee received broad access to Department files, including investigative reports, recommendations for prosecutorial action, and testimony of investigating agents and attorneys.
A great deal of deliberative and investigative material, including “predicate documents relating to the opening of the investigation and prosecution of” an EPA official, were made available to this Committee during Chairman Rodino’s investigation into the Department’s role in the EPA’s decision to withhold documents from Congress, which helped lead to the citation of EPA Administrator Ann Gorsuch Burford for contempt of Congress.
And in the aftermath of the Ruby Ridge shootings, Congress received core deliberative materials reflecting the Department’s prosecutorial and other decisions arising out of those shootings.
There is thus ample precedent for production or review of the materials requested by the Committee.
Let us be clear. We have not prejudged the outcome of our investigation. However, without meaningful cooperation from the Department, including access to materials that would reflect the decisionmaking process that led to the indictment of these individuals, it will simply be impossible to make fair judgments or to allay suspicions that improper factors played a role in these and other cases.
Accordingly, we must reiterate our request for access to relevant materials that you have so far declined to provide, such as: (i)case impression and prosecution or declination memoranda, including drafts, and notes or emails discussing same, (ii) indictment review files/memoranda, and notes or emails discussing same, (iii) discovery correspondence, (iv)FBI 302s and other witness interview records or memoranda, (v) witness immunity agreements and Giglio materials, (vi) Brady materials, and (vii) any other emails or documents discussing the strengths, weaknesses, merits, wisdom, or political implications of these prosecutions.
As stated above, we recognize the sensitivity of some of the requested materials, and appreciate the Department’s interest in preserving the confidentiality of its internal deliberations on prosecution matters. To accommodate those concerns, we are prepared to agree that, instead of the Department producing all the requested materials to the Committee, Committee members and staff would review the most sensitive materials on Department premises, assuming mutually agreeable conditions of reasonable access can be arranged.
Such procedures have been used in the past for sensitive executive branch materials, such as some internal Department investigation records relevant to the U.S. Attorney firings and White House materials relevant to the death of Corporal Pat Tillman and the Administration’s public statements on that subject. We also are open to your offer of a briefing from U.S. Attorney Biskupic regarding the Georgia Thompson prosecution, but such a briefing would not be productive until the Committee has had a reasonable opportunity to review the documents and memoranda possessed by the Department that are relevant to that case but which have not been produced.
As a primary reason for declining to provide the information that we have requested, Mr. Benczkowski’s letter states that “We want to avoid any perception that the conduct of our criminal investigations and prosecutions is subject to political influence.”
This concern should lead to precisely the opposite result. Due to the events and revelations of recent months, the “perception that the conduct of our criminal investigations and prosecutions is subject to political influence” already exists, and a refusal to cooperate with the Committee’s investigative efforts can only reinforce it. To carry out the pledge that you and others have made to help move the Department forward past these difficult issues and begin the long process of restoring the Department’s reputation and credibility, we urge you and all present and future Department officials to cooperate with our efforts, and to provide the materials we have requested on a voluntary basis.
Thank you in advance for your prompt cooperation.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman
Linda T. Sánchez
Chair, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
Artur Davis
Member, Committee on the Judiciary
Tammy Baldwin
Member, Committee on the Judiciary
cc: Hon. Brian A. Benczkowski
Hon. Lamar S. Smith
Hon. Bobby Scott
Hon. Chris Cannon
Hon. J. Randy Forbes
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If you can’t stand the heat…
A small typo in the notes given to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow for his morning briefing with reporters. The subject was today’s ceremony for former Rep. Jim Nussle, new director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“It says ‘searing-in’ here but I think it’s a ‘swearing-in,’” Snow said.
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White House claims no role in Iraq testimony preparation
The White House says it played no role in preparing the Monday congressional testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, whose update on progress in Iraq could be crucial to the congressional debate about the war in Iraq.
“We have not seen it. We have not shaped it. We have not discussed it. We have not had any role in it,” spokesman Tony Snow said today in advance of the testimony. “We haven’t seen the testimony. On the other hand, (Bush) was briefed by them last week and he has had conversations with them and he said he liked what he heard from them.”
Prior to the testimony, Show said Bush had “a general sense of what they will be saying.”
And Snow bristled at the notion that Bush, as commander-in-chief, should have had a hand in preparation of the testimony.
“You would be saying, ‘Why is it the president is pulling the strings and trying to decide what they are going to say,’” Snow said, probably correctly assessing the White House press corps reaction if the White House had been involved in the preparation.
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The president’s tenor
Who knew that our cedar-chopping, baseball-loving, gentleman rancher of a president is a fan of the opera?
Here’s President Bush’s statement on the death of Luciano Pavarotti:
“Luciano Pavarotti was one of the most accomplished and acclaimed opera singers of all time. From singing with his father in a small church choir near Modena, Italy, to performing in sold-out stadiums in America and all across the world, Pavarotti entertained audiences with his perfect pitch and charismatic interpretations. Both as a soloist and as part of the ‘Three Tenors’ he sold millions of records and won many prestigious awards.
Pavarotti was also a great humanitarian, using his magnificent talent to rally tremendous levels of support for victims of tragedies around the globe. His international vocal competition in Philadelphia and his school in Modena have encouraged and inspired generations of young artists to pursue their dreams.
Laura and I join Luciano Pavarotti’s fans across the world in mourning his loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Pavarotti family.”
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Barney Frank: keeping everybody happy
At 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., was scheduled to open his committee’s hearing into the mortgage industry’s troubles.
But at the exact same time, he was scheduled to testify before the House Education and Labor Committee, which was holding a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill to ban workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees.
Frank, who is gay, said both financial reform and gay rights were extremely important to him, and he felt “torn” between the two hearings. So he excused himself briefly from the mortgage hearing to testify on the discrimination bill.
And he chose his wardrobe with care, picking out a suit with pinstripes “and a lavender tie.”
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Welcome to the Bob Barr love fest
Not long ago, Bob Barr was considered Public Enemy Number One among Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. After all, the former Georgia Republican congressman was the first to call for the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.
Flash forward nine years. Same committee and many of the same Democratic lawmakers. Yet this time, lawmakers nearly fell out of their chairs to praise Barr as a “patriot.”
Why? Barr appeared today before the House Judiciary Committee to testify about ways to fix new legislation sought by the White House that temporarily grants spy agencies expanded eavesdropping powers in America. (Congress passed the legislation in haste, without any public hearings, just before lawmakers left town in early August.)
Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., praised Barr for having the courage to stand up to the White House and his conservative brethren to oppose the legislation.
Barr told the panel that the changes to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act make it possible for the federal government to order “the surreptitious interception and surveillance of virtually any electronic communication, including phone calls and e-mails, from or to any person in the United States, so long as the government reasonably believes one of the parties is “located outside of the United States.’”
That was music to most Democrats’ ears. Following Barr’s testimony, Conyers took the unusual action of interrupting the next speaker to give Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., the floor.
“I would like to recognize Bob Barr,” Johnson said. “I deeply respect his patriotism.” Johnson said the two haven’t always agreed on every issue, but that Barr has done great work as lawyer for the people of Georgia.
Barr responded to the compliments by saying, “I appreciate your very kind but unwarranted words.”
How time changes everything.
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