Day: March 28, 2006

China Intervenes in Organ-Sale Business
SHANGHAI, China – China’s Health Ministry has explicitly banned sales of human organs in an apparent attempt to clean up the country’s lucrative but laxly regulated transplant business. How little progress China has made away from its communist roots — if it were a capitalist country, they’d figure out how to tax the transplant biz.

Why Do Some Dictators Escape Justice?
JAKARTA, Indonesia – The spotlight of international justice has shone on Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic to hold them accountable for alleged war crimes. But many are asking: What about Suharto in Indonesia, Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Charles Taylor of Liberia? And what about George W. Bush?

Berlusconi Warns Against Multiculturalism
ROME – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he does not want Italy to become a multiethnic, multicultural country, drawing plaudits from a right-wing ally and criticism from center-left opponents. The rest of Europe quickly rallied behind Berlusconi, mounting a campaign called “Leave Italy to the Italians!”

Arab Nations Urged to Enter Nuclear Club
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Secretary-General Amr Moussa called on Arab leaders Tuesday to move toward a goal of “entering the nuclear club” and making use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. By “peaceful purposes,” Moussa explained, he meant “blow Israel to Jehovah’s doorstep.”

Ex-Liberian President Taylor Disappears
ABUJA, Nigeria – Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, wanted for war crimes, has “disappeared” from the haven Nigeria had granted him, Nigerian officials said Tuesday. Surprise!

And, in unrelated dematerialization news:

Afghan Convert Is Released, Then Vanishes
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity will be freed from prison and has asked for asylum in another country, U.S. and U.N. officials said Monday. Let’s just hope he can run faster than a fatwa.

Don’t Call Him a ‘Moderate’ Anymore

In today’s Washington Post, EJ Dionne speculates that in order to win his party’s nomination in 2008, Sen. John McCain will have to run so far to the right that he’ll alienate independent voters, an essential group of supporters who strongly identify with him as one of their own: conservative on fiscal issues and liberal on social issues.

If Rev. Jerry Falwell is telling the truth, Dionne can stop speculating. The hillbilly mullah told his hometown newspaper that McCain recently assured him that he has reversed his position on gay marriage:

Falwell said McCain has expressed a willingness to support a Federal Marriage Amendment, an issue dear to conservative Christians. The amendment would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Christian conservatives, including Falwell, are concerned about efforts by homosexual groups to have civil unions between same-sex partners recognized as marriages. McCain previously has said the matter of defining marriage should be handled by state legislatures, but now concedes that a federal statute may be necessary, Falwell said.

It is unclear whether the Lynchburg News-Advance sought a confirmation of Falwell’s claim from McCain or his office.

In 2000, McCain won the New Hampshire primary against George Bush, the Texas governor, but when the campaign moved to South Carolina, McCain suffered a self-inflicted wound when he criticized the religious right, mentioning Falwell specifically:

Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right,” McCain said at the time.

McCain lost big in South Carolina and Virginia and was soon out of the race, clearing the field for the Worst Presidency Ever.

Now all is forgiven between Falwell and McCain, according to the reverend. He has even invited McCain to speak at Liberty College in May:

“I was in Washington with him about three months ago,” Falwell said. “We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’”

Another issue McCain will have to confront is his advanced age. He will turn 72 in 2008, making him three years older than Ronald Reagan when he elected in 1980. He would be 77 at reelection time in 2012, and 81 if he finished a second term.

The White House press corps spent the first term of the Bush presidency in nearly complete deference to George W. Bush. They knew before the public did that Bush was in way over his head, that he and his flying monkeys continuously shaped falsehoods into truth and that Bush’s very presence in the Oval Office was a threat to U.S. security and world peace.

And yet they said nothing. Why?

Contrast their acquiescence towards Mr. Bush — who lied the nation into war based on nothing more than his personal whim — with their harsh treatment of President Clinton, whom they skewered daily for every fault and foible. What is the difference between the two men?

Bush is an aristocrat, who was awarded the presidency based solely on his family lineage. (Remember, he’s a descendant of two presidents — his father as well as Franklin Pierce.) Clinton was just a striver up from the bottom rung of society.

Clinton came from the lower middle class in a flyover state. He was no better than they were, or so they thought.

Now that Bush’s poll numbers are down, the White House press corps has been in a scrum trying to cover their collective behinds. A few of them have grown spines — but the White House has used soundbites of hot exchanges between media types and po’ old Scott McClellan to rally the GOP base.
[…]

According to opensecrets.org, this isn’t the first time Josh Bolten has stepped in when someone in the Bush Administration lost favor.

Josh Bolten was originally slotted to handle much of the president’s domestic policy agenda. However, as the administration soured on Larry Lindsay’s performance as head of the National Economic Council, Bolten gradually took over. He began dealing with all economic matters, and Bush came to depend on him for honing ideas for the president’s consideration. Once Mitch Daniels, former head of the Office of Management and Budget, resigned in late 2002, Bolten was quickly targeted to fill the slot. Credited as the architect of the Bush tax cuts as well as the hiring of Steve Friedman as NEC chairman, Bolten has become one of Bush’s closest advisors next to Karl Rove.

In an article called, “No Relation No. 14: The Bush White House Edition” Slate says unlike the U.N. guy, this Bolten has an interesting friend.

How do you tell the difference between Bush administration officials Josh Bolten and John Bolton? Both worked in the Reagan administration, both worked for Bush’s dad, and both worked on Bush’s legal team during the Florida recount before landing jobs with the administration. And their names sound alike. But the similarities end there:

Josh Bolten is the White House’s deputy chief of staff for policy. That makes him the president’s chief domestic policy adviser, and since Sept. 11 he has headed the White House’s new “domestic consequences group” that has developed post-attack legislation such as the airline bailout and the stimulus package. The New Republic’s Ryan Lizza calls him “increasingly powerful” and “the anonymous fourth man in the inner circle of Bush’s staff” (after Andy Card, Karl Rove, and Karen Hughes). U.S. News says he has emerged after the terrorist attacks as Bush’s “chief economic architect,” and the Washington Post says Bolten “has a quiet hand in all domestic policy and international economic policy.”

“Bolten is publicity-shy — the rare profile of him always mentions that he didn’t want the story written” but he has received some attention for his relationship with Bo Derek. The Austin American-Statesman says the two are just friends but that the relationship has included “several briefings” and a motorcycle ride. (Bolten owns a Harley.)

Just last week, President Bush indicated he was resisting calls from within his party to shake up his senior staff. Today, he has reversed that stand and will announce the resignation of his chief of staff, Andrew Card:

White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by budget director Josh Bolten, an administration official said Tuesday…

At a White House news conference last week, Bush was asked about rumors that a shakeup in the White House staff was in the works. Bush said he was “satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with.”

“I’ve got a staff of people that have, first of all, placed their country above their self-interests,” he said at the time. “These are good, hard- working, decent people. And we’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with a lot. We’ve dealt with war. We’ve dealt with recession. We’ve dealt with scandal. We’ve dealt with Katrina.

“I mean, they’ve had a lot on their plate. And I appreciate their performance and their hard work and they’ve got my confidence,” he said.

Bush said, “I’m satisfied with the people I’ve surrounded myself with. We’ve been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that’s good for the country.”