Nov 13, 2005 at 2:37 PM by Political Chase
I decided to read David Brook’s column (sub. req.) this morning before reading anything else. My objective was to get known frustrations out of the way; eliminate the obstacles that make for a less pleasant day.
Today is a landmark day. A day to be recoreded in journalistic history. It is the first time I have read Brook’s column and there was a common flow; no wandering off into la-la land, and I did not get frustrated.
Brooks column is still much a do about nothing – no more than a filler in The Times. He tells us about Human Capital. And, true to form he doesn’t bring bring anything together so that you understand why he wrote the column, but he manages stay in the safety zone.
I actually enjoyed this graf.
As people drift away from me at these parties by pretending to recognize long-lost friends across the room, I’m convinced that they don’t really understand what human capital is.
Dave, buddy, when people drift away from you, it’s not a matter of human capital or at least a part of human capital that you would appreciate.
Congratulations David, today you get a C-.
Nov 13, 2005 at 6:20 AM by Political Chase
Wow! Being out of action for a few days takes it toll in many ways.
You may have already caught this story, but it’s new to me. This is a third-down-the-line (or more) post. Josh Marshall has a post, that in summary, puts the focus on Sen. Bill Frist’s office for leaking the information about the secret prisons in Eastern Europe to The Washington Post.
This is all part of the Republican dismantling that’s underway. If you will remember from a few days back, Trent Lott said, according to The Washington Post, “it was a Republican” that leaked the information. At the moment, I can’t find the specific article in The Post to cite that statement, but this is credible — I will provide the link later. Lott may be enjoying some sweet revenge for his de-throning.
Read Josh’s post and those associated with it. The actual story is a trickle down thing.
I agree with Josh’s statement, “Forget the insider trading thing. Can we just get an investigation going into whether Bill Frist is too big a goof to be in the senate?”
Nov 13, 2005 at 5:17 AM by Political Chase
Josh Marshall has a good snippet from the Nelson Report that outlines a good case for impeachment.
Nov 13, 2005 at 5:03 AM by Political Chase
Read this post by Amy Sullivan at the Washington Monthly. I’m a little late getting to it, but time is not a factor.
Nov 13, 2005 at 1:12 AM by Political Chase
The Republicans, in their never-ending attempts to find anything negative about President Clinton, used to allege that Clinton solicited funds from celebrities in exchange for spending the night in the Lincoln Bedroom. The GOP never got anywhere with those allegations.
President Bush has always tried to “one-up” Clinton. He may have finally succeeded. It seems that for a mere $9 million, you get not the Lincoln Bedroom, but the Oval Office.
Add one more to the list.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) are hot on the trail of a meeting between Bush and President Omar Bongo of Gabon, which Jack Abramoff purportedly arranged for the tidy sum of $9 million. The meeting occurred on May 26, 2004.
I have discussed Jack Abramoff several times previously. Abramoff is under indictment in Florida, under investigation by a grand jury in Washington, and heavily connected with Tom Delay (R-TX), David Safavian, Karl Rove and many others.
Waxman, the ranking member on the Government Reform Committee and Pelosi sent the president a Hallmark greeting yesterday seeking any and all documents related to the meeting.
November 11, 2005
Ms. Harriet Miers
Counsel to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Ms. Miers:
Yesterday’s New York Times reported that President Bush met with Gabon’s President Omar Bongo in May 2004, ten months after lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked President Bongo for $9 million to arrange such a meeting. Mr. Abramoff’s offer and the size of the requested payment raise questions about what role Mr. Abramoff may have played in the scheduling of this meeting between President Bush and President Bongo.
We are writing to request that you provide us with all White House and State Department documents and correspondence regarding the arrangement of the meeting.
According to the Times, a draft agreement between Mr. Abramoff and Gabon dated August 7, 2003, asked for $9 million in lobbying fees to pay for a "public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the President of the United States."(See note 1) The Times reports that this draft agreement came just 10 days after Mr. Abramoff wrote to President Bongo on July 28, 2003, suggesting that "he had unusual influence to arrange a meeting with President Bush." In that letter, Mr. Abramoff noted: "Without advance resources, I have been cautiously working to obtain a visit for the president to Washington to see President Bush."
White House spokesman Trent Duffy told the Times that arrangements for the visit by the President of Gabon were not unusual and went through "normal staffing channels." However, it is impossible for Congress and the public to assess this assertion without access further documentation from the White House.
We therefore request the following documents:
— All records relating to any contacts or communications between White House staff and Jack Abramoff, the firm Greenberg Traurig, and the firm GrassRoots Interactive regarding a visit by representatives of Gabon.
— All records relating to any contacts or communications between the State Department and Jack Abramoff, the firm Greenberg Traurig, and the firm GrassRoots Interactive regarding a visit by representatives of Gabon.
— All records relating to any direct contacts or communications between White House staff and representatives of Gabon.
— All records relating to any direct contacts or communications between the State Department and representatives of Gabon.
We request that you provide these materials by November 30, 2005.
Sincerely,
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader
Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member, Government Reform Committee
———
NOTES: (1) Lobbyist Sought $9 million to set Bush Meeting, The New York Times (Nov. 10, 2005).
