Month: April 2006

Powell Says He Warned President, Rummy That Troop Strength in Iraq Was Too Low

Jon Ponder

I wouldn’t blame Colin Powell if he wrote a big tell-all book dishing dirt about his time as George W. Bush’s Secretary of State. He might as well cash in because his once-vaunted reputation has been permanently besmirched by his association with the president and his men. He kept quiet while the civilian leadership — Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld and others — went to war with misguided and tragically faulty plans.

Powell broke his silence on the pre-war incompetence and malfeasance today on British television:

POWELL: I have always been one who favored a larger military presence in an operation to make sure that you can deal with the unforeseen, but in the case of the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad, you had institutions being destroyed, you had ministries being burned down, and I have said on many occasions I don’t think we had enough force there at that time to impose order. That’s what we were responsible for, because when you have taken out a government, a regime, then you become responsible for the country.

[snip]

POWELL: I made the case to General Franks and Secretary Rumsfeld before the president though that it [sic] was not sure we had enough troops, and so the case was made. It was listened to. It was considered. And those responsible for the troop levels, Mr Rumsfeld and General Franks, and the joint chiefs of staff, which include the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, believed they had the appropriate troop level.

Rush Gets Off

Jon Ponder

Radio comedian Rush Limbaugh got his money’s worth by hiring attorney Roy Black. After a three year investigation into Limbaugh’s addiction to barbituates, Black struck a plea bargain with Palm Beach, Florida, authorities. Limbaugh essentially gets off with a slap on the wrist. He has to pay a fine and go to rehab for 18 months and then his record will be cleared.

This would have never happened to a regular person, of course — mainly because most people wouldn’t be able to afford to buy downers at the volume Limbaugh did.

Update: There’s a web poll up at the Palm Beach Post that asks, “Did Rush Limbaugh get off too easily?” The poll is being freeped so that “No” is leading handily. If you have a moment for anti-freeping, go there and vote “yes.”

CIA Director Denies Attending Watergate Prosti Parties

Jon Ponder

Names of Republican politicians who may have had sex with prositutes provided gratis by defense contractors at the Watergate Hotel are seeping out. CIA Director Porter Goss, whose previous position was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, denied rumors that he was involved:

Speaking on behalf of the director, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck said, “This is horribly irresponsible. He hasn’t even been to the Watergate in decades.” When … asked if Goss had attended Wilkes’ parties at the Westin or other locations, Millerwise Dyck repeated the denial. “It’s horribly irresponsible. Flatly untrue.”

Another CIA official may have been involved:

People who were present at the games said one of the regular players was Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, who has been [corrupt defense contractor Brent] Wilkes’ best friend since the two attended junior high school in Chula Vista in the late 1960s. In October, Foggo was named the CIA’s executive director — the agency’s third-highest position.

More to come…

CA Gov: Westly Leads Angelides and Schwarzenegger

Jon Ponder

State Controller Steve Westly is in the lead in the California governor’s race against both Treasurer Phil Angelides in the Democratic primary and Gov. Schwarzenegger in the general election, according to the new Los Angeles Times Poll.

If the election were held today Westly would beat the governor 48 percent to 39 percent.

Westly leads Angelides 33 percent to 20 percent, and would beat the governor 48 percent to 39 percent. Angelides would tie Schwarzenegger with 43 percent.

While Schwarzenegger’s approval rating has climbed from 37 percent last fall to 44 percent, his disapproval rate is 53 percent — and 48 percent say they definitely or probably will not vote for him in the fall.

Among Democrats, a whopping 45 percent of us are undecided. Many people have yet to focus on the June 6 primary. But others who are focused on the race are genuinely undecided, including yours truly. I’d be happy with either candidate, but I’m leaning toward Westly because, well, he’s winning. That could change.

For Schwarzenneger, the most ominous news in the poll is the fact that 61 percent believe California is seriously on the wrong track. This was precisely the percentage who believed the same thing in 2003 when Gov. Gray Davis was ousted by Schwarzenegger in the recall election.

Specter on Bush’s Domestic Spying Program: ‘Where Is the Outrage?’

Jon Ponder

“Where is the outrage?” is an odd question coming from Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. While he has convened hearings into the Bush Administration’s illegal domestic spying program, the famously low-key senator has conveyed nothing but restrained deference toward President Bush regarding this issue until now:

Sometimes outrage starts at the top, Senator. It’s called “leadership.”

New expressions of frustration over how little information the administration has shared about the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping on Americans flared yesterday in the Senate, one day after House Republicans barred amendments that would have expanded oversight of the controversial program.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that he will file an amendment to block the NSA program’s funding — but said he will not seek a vote on it at this time — in hope of stirring greater debate on the warrantless surveillance, part of the agency’s monitoring of alleged terrorists.

“Where is the outrage?” asked Specter…

Sometimes outrage starts at the top, Senator. It’s called “leadership.”

Star-Spangled Banditos Stole Our Anthem

Buck Banks

Bombs a-bursting: A British record producer has done something that is inspiring outrage among true American patriots — he translated the “Star-Spangled Banner” into Spanish. The renamed “Nuestro Himno,” or “Our Hymn,” was produced by Adam Kidron, and debuts today, featuring artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon.

The song will appear on an album, “Somos Americanos,” that will sell for $10, with $1 of each sale going to support the National Capital Immigration Coalition, a Washington group.

Excuse me, but far worse things have happened to our national anthem — like Whitney Houston’s version, for instance.

Ground Control to Major Tom — Four More Years

Buck Banks

Spaced out: So Congress is pissed at NASA — again. Seems this time it’s over timing. See, NASA is hurrying to finish the International Space Station by 2010, which also happens to be the year in which the space shuttle program ends and the aging vehicles are retired.

Only problem is, the shuttle’s replacement, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, won’t be available until 2014. Doh!

“Do we have a techno Whoops?” Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., asked NASA Administrator Michael Griffin at a hearing Wednesday.

‘Do we have a techno Whoops?’

“On the face, it’s correct,” said Griffin, who then speculated that the station might be used by other countries that are partners with the United States in developing it. He also suggested commercial companies might be enticed to invest in developing private vehicles to transport cargo, and eventually people, to the space station during those four years.

According to GovExec.com, Griffin told the Senate committee that he has set aside $500 million in seed money fin NASA’s fiscal 2007 proposed budget of $16.8 billion so businesses can use the money to explore ways to get to the station. Griffin said some commercial proposals have been submitted and he expects to award contracts this summer.

But Mikulski noted that previous NASA efforts to encourage commercial interests had failed. She asked Griffin if there was any way NASA could speed up its development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle and Crew Launch Vehicle.

Griffin replied that development could be accelerated, but only by devoting money not available in the current budget to the program. However, Griffin added that doing so might only reduce the gap to a year.

The savvy senators came up with an insightful conclusion following Griffin’s testimony — NASA needs more moolah! Perhaps a supplemental spending bill would do the trick ….

Rove Knew before His Demotion That He Was to Face Grand Jury for a Fifth Time

Jon Ponder

The White House wanted us to believe that Karl Rove was demoted so he could spend more time cooking up political dirty tricks for this year’s congressional elections (because bombing Iran in October to create a rally-’round-Dear-Leader surge for the GOP in November may not be enough). Turns out that before he was reassigned last week Rove — and his new boss, Josh Bolten — knew he was going to be called back before the CIA Leak grand jury for fifth time to testify about White House efforts to smear Amb. Joe Wilson and reveal the secret identity of his wife:

A lawyer with knowledge of the case said that Mr. Rove had known for more than a month that he was likely to make another appearance before the grand jury, and that he had known since last fall that he would be subject to further questions from Mr. Fitzgerald before the prosecutor completed his inquiry.