Friday’s Mini-Report

April 13, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Best wishes go out to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) after a serious car accident last night left him in critical condition. All the news today about his condition was discouraging. The crash broke the governor’s leg, six ribs, his sternum and a vertebra. The AP noted that Corzine did not suffer any brain damage in the crash, but he won’t be able to resume his duties as governor for several days, if not weeks, and he won’t walk normally for months, Dr. Robert Ostrum said after performing surgery on the governor Thursday night.

* A variety of U.S. troops in Iraq were asked for their reactions to the Bush administration’s tour-extension announcement this week. I think it’s safe to say they’re not happy.

* Looks like our old friend Kyle Sampson has a new problem to worry about: “A Justice Department e-mail released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for seven United States attorneys nearly a year before those prosecutors were fired, in contrast to testimony last month in which the aide said that no successors were considered before the firings.” Oops.

* Will Monica Goodling get an immunity deal from Congress in exchange for her testimony in the purge investigation? Time magazine reports that “discussions are under way.”

* World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz apologized Thursday for giving his girlfriend a plum job in his office and then showering her with generous raises.

* Several members of the World Bank’s board of directors were unimpressed with the apology and want Wolfowitz to resign.

* Best of all, Wolfowitz’s girlfriend says she feels like the victim of the controversy. (thanks to V.S. for the tip)

* Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked Patrick Fitzgerald to “re-open his investigation of Karl Rove’s role in disclosing Valerie Plame Wilson’s status as a covert CIA operative in light of recent revelations about missing White House email.” TP has more.

* The president apparently is inclined to veto the Senate’s intelligence bill because it includes provisions that compel the White House and spy agencies “to be more responsive to Congress.” Can’t have that, now can we?

* Good question: “How many journalists sent e-mails to White House officials’ name@gwb43.com accounts? How many journalists currently covering the e-mail story did this?”

* Play video games? The Army wants you. (thanks to doubtful for the heads-up)

* When it comes to the Dems and Fox News, E. J. Dionne Jr. gets it: “I am an avid reader of conservative magazines such as National Review and the Weekly Standard. But if these two publications teamed up to sponsor a Democratic debate, would anyone accuse Edwards, Obama and Clinton of ‘blacklisting’ if the candidates said, ‘no, thanks’?”

* The fact that conservatives would decry the politicization of the FDA is probably the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.

* A progressive gay marriage bill is on the move in Connecticut.

* A regressive forced-ultrasound bill is being shelved in South Carolina.

* And finally, as SKNM noted, DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey is following through on her threats to identify her high-profile clients. Yesterday, according to the AP, citing court documents, she listed a military strategist known for his “shock and awe” combat theories as a regular customer. Palfrey said the strategist “is only one of dozens of such officials” who will be exposed as she prepares her defense. It’s likely to get interesting.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

I’m shocked and awed (someone had to say it).

  • …asked Patrick Fitzgerald to “re-open his investigation of Karl Rove’s role in disclosing Valerie Plame Wilson’s status as a covert CIA operative…

    Blood in the water.

    and

    “How many journalists sent e-mails to White House officials’ name@gwb43.com accounts?

    How many journalists sent email to Karl at his RNC account?

  • OOPS – I meant to say, “how may journalists received email from Turd Blossom from his gwb43.com account?

  • Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease let Bill O’Reilly be one of Madame Palfrey’s regular customers. And Michelle Malkin. And Rush Limbaugh. And Sean Hannity.

    I’m going to get *no* sleep tonight just thinking about the possibilities…….

  • I read that Wolfie had to endure a heated Q&A from irate bureaucrats and bankers who all wondered what Wolfie’s GF did to warrant a 50% increase in pay over a year. He apparently was rather upset that they would have the gall to actually question the Conquerer of Mess o’potamia.

    Hahahahahahaha!

    What a fucked up world we live in. A man, whose arrogant assumptions and chickenhawk cowardice that made a stupid decision into a catastrophic one but yet wasn’t tarred and feathered over it, is on the chopping block because he gave his GF a “raise” for services rendered.

  • World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz apologized Thursday for giving his girlfriend a plum job in his office and then showering her with generous raises.

    Yeah, what a dick. And this is the guy we trust to tell us about going to war.

  • * Looks like our old friend Kyle Sampson has a new problem to worry about: “A Justice Department e-mail released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for seven United States attorneys nearly a year before those prosecutors were fired, in contrast to testimony last month in which the aide said that no successors were considered before the firings.” Oops.

    * Will Monica Goodling get an immunity deal from Congress in exchange for her testimony in the purge investigation? Time magazine reports that “discussions are under way.”

    * World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz apologized Thursday for giving his girlfriend a plum job in his office and then showering her with generous raises.

    * Several members of the World Bank’s board of directors were unimpressed with the apology and want Wolfowitz to resign.

    Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers, the writers of the comic strip “Crankshaft” nailed it today with this line:

    “It does seem to be raining on their charade.”

  • Imus should pay the hospital expenses – this happened on his behalf.

    Everytime I see that puke in his “cowboy” hat, I’m reminded of a Saturday Night Live skit from back in the eighties – some bozo who couldn’t quite “make it” on his unionized salary down at the Ford plant in Mahwah so he’s out giving ten dollar blowjobs on Saturday night…

  • I absolutely HATE that Wolfie and his ilk hide behind the milquetoast of having “made a mistake”. Dude, what you did wasn’t a mistake – what you did was WRONG – in every sense of the word. I hate the way these guys are to much pussies to admit it.

  • “A Justice Department e-mail released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for seven United States attorneys nearly a year before those prosecutors were fired, in contrast to testimony last month in which the aide said that no successors were considered before the firings.”

    Looks like the dark lord and his imperial corporatists are seeing the first wave of rebel infiltration of the Death Star.

    Meanwhile, the “American” “News” corporations are too busy telling us how awful Don Imus is for the same offensive material he’s been huckster-ing since nineteen seventy-something.

    Wake up and smell the fascism.

  • Former Dan should get a kick out of this quote about Wolfowitz’s performance at the World Bank from Wolfie’s mistress’ “I’m a victim” story: “failures as his term managing the war in Iraq –cronyism and rhetoric that does not match reality — and now serious questions of financial integrity.”

    … You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

  • Sounds like Wolfowitz arranged the huge salary bump to mollify his girlfriend because she was pissed about having to leave her job.

  • Glad to see you fit several references to the Wolfowitz story into the mini-report, but I think this is really worth a full post in the near future– despite the fact that most Americans don’t give a damn about what goes on at the World Bank.

  • What really puts my panties in a twist about Voolfie is that when you give your GF an unwarranted raise, you are in essence giving part of that raise to yourself. It’s bad enough that it isn’t warranted for her, and that the conflict of interest is beyond ridiculous…but geez, man, does he not think we can’t put one and one together, that all the nice vacations and dinners they take together that she pays for, HE is getting some of the benefit from? This is basically white collar crime folks. No wonder they booed his ass. And to think he is using EYE-FRICKIN-EYE-RACK as his excuse as to why people are jumping on him…

    ARROGANT PIGHEADED A-HOLE!!!!!!! May he rot in hell.

  • Well, this has nothing to do with the posts above, but I figure it will go silently under the radar if someone doesn’t mention it. I think it’s interesting, and maybe significant.

    According to the NYT, the DoD is sending V-22 Osprey aircraft to Marines in Iraq. Now, somebody like Tom Cleaver would be far more knowledgeable about the Osprey than I am, but from what I know, that aircraft has been an unpredictable and dangerous machine for several years. Seems like they finally get it to work, and then it crashes.

    What I can’t understand is why it may be needed in Iraq. I mean, don’t we have plenty of helicopters and jets available? Maybe we don’t.

    I’m just suspicious of any reason to put a highly questionable aircraft in the field in the present situation. It almost seems like a corporate/government plan to turn innocent pilots and troops into guinea pigs.

  • Wolfowitz didn’t hire her but he worked out a deal to give her a cushy job and paycheck because of their intimate relationship (YUK!). She was working for the Bank when he became president. He arranged for her to move to another job to avoid a conflict of interest! It just happens that he dictated the terms of her new job including her paycheck which was still to be paid by the Bank! You can read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041300788.html?hpid=topnews
    It explains it all….

  • What I can’t understand is why it may be needed in Iraq. I mean, don’t we have plenty of helicopters and jets available? Maybe we don’t.

    [alibubba]

    I heard that last night and thought “Osprey? They’re still working on that hunk of death?”

    Here are my three guesses to explain why they’re using the things now (in order of cynicism):

    1. They really have worked out all of the kinks, they’re better able to endure/evade ground fire and they scrapped up enough Marines with the training to fly the things.

    2. It’s a cunning plan – They’ll leave Ospreys where insurgents can get ’em and when they try to fly the things *Crash! Kaboom!*

    3. The War Piggies know the end is near. The Fish Eagle is just the first sign that there will be a rush to produce all sorts of questionable crap and get it into theater. If they’re lucky the war will be over before soldiers start dying left and right from defective work and they can stick the American people with the $100 billion tab.

  • fake news comment on Wolfowitz

    SUB-ROSA NEWS

    Some of the News
    That may be True

    Wolfowitz Finds New Position for Imus

    Following his successful placement of his friend, Shaha Riza, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz undertook the task of finding a new job for radio host Don Imus. Mr. Imus’ contracts with NBC and CBS had recently been terminated and he was in need for a new platform for his message.

    Taking advantage of his connections with the U.S. government, Mr. Wolfowitz has successfully placed Mr. Imus in a major position with the Voice of America. This newly created position will feature Mr. Imus in a daily news program to be called “Imus to the World” While the format has not been completely designed as yet, the program is expected to include interviews with politicians, celebrities, and TV pundits, as well as American country music.

    The Imus program will be simulcast on radio and TV.

    While details have not been released, the contract negotiated by Mr. Wolfowitz is said
    to be by far the most lucrative for any Voice of America employee. The content of one provision has been made public: Mr. Imus is required to direct his offensive language only to enemies of the U.S., such as islamists, and to bureaucrats employed by the World Bank.

    Homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com

  • Orange (# 17):

    I think your point No. 3 may be the most likely (although I like No. 2 a lot). I wonder whether, in addition to the “test market” churning, if these bozos still believe technology is the solution to everything.

    God knows, they tried all kinds of techno-crap in Vietnam. Helicopter borne “urine sniffers” is one that comes to mind. The theory was that a large unit of hidden VC could be detected by a sensor that could find high concentrations of urine in the jungle. As I recall, it actually worked. But, like the Iraqi insurgents, the VC weren’t stupid. They hung large and multiple bags of piss all over the place, confounding the sensors.

    But more useless technology could be the next born-to-lose strategy in Iraq. It would serve two purposes for the Bushies: generate white collar welfare money for Republicans and appear to be a clever bloodless solution to the unrelenting disaster. And maybe even generate some entertaining propaganda footage like the “smart bomb” videos from the first Gulf War.

    They’d have to enhance it, though. The problem with the FGW stuff is that the videos were silent. You need sound effects for these rocket-in-the-air vent shots. A good Road Runner cartoon soundtrack would do. (Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Ka-Boom!!) Kazoos are the Bomb, so to speak.

    • Comments are closed.