Day: October 28, 2005

Maria Says She Won’t Speak Out, Fears Banishment to ‘First Lady Dungeon’

Jon Ponder

Bet it’s nice: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s foolhardy entry into politics causing trouble in his marriage to Maria Shriver, who is member of the Kennedy family? Speaking at the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women and Families this week in Long Beach, Shriver made her first public statements about her husband’s upcoming faltering special election:

As more than 100 nurses protested her husband outside, first lady Maria Shriver told a women’s convention Thursday that she’d been filled with “angst, frustration” and “waves of fear” over the past year as opposing forces urged her to support or renounce the governor.

First ladies who shoot off their mouths are sent to the first ladies’ dungeon
– Maria Shriver

As she has all year, this member of one of America’s pre-eminent Democratic families remained mum about her views on the initiatives her Republican husband and the GOP are backing on the Nov. 8 state ballot.

But Shriver forthrightly described her personal struggle to cope with her bipartisan marriage to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and forces that were “beyond my control.”

The first lady [said] that she ultimately realized she “had nothing to complain about” compared to others enduring tragedy and great hardship.

“I told myself, ‘You can survive life in a bipartisan marriage in an increasingly polarized and partisan world where everyone wants immediate fixes to complex issues that are not black and white but vague shades of gray,’ ” she said.

” ‘You know you love and believe in your husband even while people on one side scream for you to denounce him and those on the other side scream for you to support him.’ ”

…Shriver told the crowd that she wished she could say more because “the truth is, the stuff I couldn’t say was a lot more interesting than the stuff I could say.” But she said first ladies who “shoot off their mouths” are sent to the “first ladies’ dungeon.”

Fitz: If Judy Had Testified, Case Would Have Been Over Last October – in Time For Election

Jon Ponder

Aravosis:

I just got a call from a friend whose wife came up with a very interesting point. Fitzgerald today said that he could have been having this press conference last October, if Judith Miller had been more forthcoming. And last October would have been right before the presidential election.

With the 2004 presidential election as close as it was, this could have easily – would have easily – swung the election to Kerry’s favor. But Judith Miller didn’t come forward, and Bush wasn’t damaged BEFORE his re-election.

Scooter Indicted

Jon Ponder

Scooter Libby has resigned from the White House because he has been charged with:

  • 1 count obstruction of justice
  • 2 counts of perjury
  • 2 counts of making false statements

He allegedly lied to the FBI and then the grand jury about the content of conversations he had with NBC’s Tim Russert and Time Mag’s Matt Cooper.

Libby was not indicted for revealing a covert agent’s identity, which the Republicans will claim as a major victory.

Pandemic Panic: As Bird Flu Spreads, Europe Overreacts

Buck Banks

From Eurosurveillance weekly report (edited):

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus in poultry and wild birds in the World Health Organization (WHO) European region have caused widespread public concern due to fears that human cases may ensue, as has happened in South East Asia.

Part of the concern is the mistaken assumption that the geographical spread of the H5N1 virus in bird populations signals the start of an influenza pandemic, even though it does increase the size of the human/animal interface and the chances of adaptation of an avian virus to a human host.
However, efforts should continue to clarify that the spread of avian influenza in birds does not constitute an influenza pandemic in humans.

So far no human cases have been detected in the WHO European region. Close collaboration between veterinarian and human surveillance is of utmost importance to ensure early detection of possible human cases. For these reasons, the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO EURO) is undertaking a number of actions to monitor the situation.

Outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 have now been confirmed in five countries, either by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) or national government agencies in the WHO European region: Croatia, Kazakhstan, Romania, the Russian Federation and Turkey. In addition to this, avian influenza H5N1 has been confirmed in an imported parrot in the United
Kingdom. There are now numerous further outbreaks of disease in birds under investigation in several European countries.

Since the occurrence of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus in migratory birds, the risk of transmission to domestic birds has increased. Surveillance in wild birds has thus become a priority and the European Union has made guidelines available. It is likely that migratory birds are responsible for the introduction of H5N1 in the European region, as the viruses from outbreaks in Kazakhstan, Romania and Turkey are phylogenetically almost identical to the virus that caused the wild bird die-off at Lake Qinghai in China in May 2005.

Migratory bird flyways are complex, but indicate that additional introduction of the H5N1 virus by wild birds into domestic poultry in the European region may continue.

Between Oct. 17 and 20, 2005, a joint WHO/ECDC mission performed a risk assessment and response evaluation in Romania at the request of the Romanian authorities. The situation was assessed to be under proper control following a timely and joint response by the national veterinarian and
public health authorities. The H5N1 virus has been introduced in an area limited to the Danube delta, and the complete evaluation of this new animal reservoir requires additional investigations by veterinary and wildlife services. Measures to control the interface between wild bird and domestic poultry would have to be long-term and involve a regional approach,
particularly with the countries sharing the Danube delta.

Poll: CA Redistricting Prop Is Failing, Gov. Still Tanking

Jon Ponder

C.A. – P.O.’d: The latest poll from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California looks at the status of five of the eight propositions on the ballot in the November 8 special election. It also rates the job approvals of top officials.

Bush Is Still More Popular Than Arnold in California – 36% to 33%

The governor’s measures to restrict state spending (Proposition 76) and redraw legislative boundaries (Proposition 77) both appear to be tanking.

The other two props sponsored by Schwarzenegger – Prop 74, which would increase probation time for teachers; and Prop 75, which would restrict the way public employee unions use members’ dues for political purposes – are both in a dead heat.Bad news is, Proposition 75 was up 25 points over today in the same poll two months ago.

The abortion notification initiative (which Schwarzenegger did not sponsor and has been mum about) is marginal but could fail.

Prop. 73 Parental Notification Before Termination of a Minor’s Pregnancy Yes: 44% No: 48%
Prop. 74 Teachers Waiting Period for Permanent Status and Dismissal Yes: 46% No: 48%
Prop. 75 Public Employee Union Dues and Political Contributions Yes: 46% No: 46%
Prop. 76 State Spending and School Funding Limits Yes: 30% No: 62%
Prop. 77 GOP Redistricting Yes: 36% No: 50%

The special election itself continues to be unpopular. Most voters (54 percent) still think it is a bad idea. And, matching national trends, the ratio of Democrats who are against holding the election (76 percent) is roughly equal to the percentage of Republicans who are for it (70 percent). The overall numbers on this question are unchanged from last month.

The governor’s approval rate among voters is a pathetic 33 percent, with 58 percent of us disapproving.

Even President Bush is more popular in California than Schwarzenegger – 36 percent approve, and 60 percent disapprove, of the job the president is doing.

Bush Donor Indicted in Ohio

Jon Ponder

Toledo Blade:

Tom Noe, whose failed rare-coin deal with the state has triggered multiple investigations and rocked Ohio’s Republican leadership, was charged yesterday with illegally funneling $45,400 to President Bush’s re-election campaign.

Gregory A. White, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced a three-count indictment against Mr. Noe, saying he used two dozen people as “conduits” to make illegal campaign contributions at a $2,000-a-seat fund-raiser in Columbus.

In doing so, Mr. Noe skirted federal campaign finance funding limits while meeting a pledge to raise $50,000 for the Oct. 30, 2003, fund-raiser. The Bush campaign later named Mr. Noe a “Pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 overall.

The Noe case is the largest campaign money-laundering scheme prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department since new campaign finance laws were enacted by Congress in 2002, said Noel Hillman, chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity section.

“This case represents one of the first and most important examples of this new enforcement posture under the new law and is one of the most blatant and excessive criminal campaign finance schemes we have encountered,” Mr. Hillman said.

A federal arrest warrant has been issued for Mr. Noe, 51, and Mr. White said he expected him to surrender within a day. Authorities said they were negotiating for Mr. Noe’s surrender so that he can make an initial appearance in federal court.

Rove’s Extramarital Friendship Is Over

Jon Ponder

Lloyd Grove in the New York Daily News:

Rove biographers Jim Moore and Wayne Slater – who this week are rereleasing their groundbreaking study, “Bush’s Brain,” as a quickie paperback with a new title, “Rove Exposed: How Bush’s Brain Fooled America” – are feverishly at work on “The Architect,” a brand-new Rove exposé for Random House.

Meanwhile, Radar magazine yesterday reported on its Web site that Texas political insiders are predicting the demise of the married Rove’s “very close relationship” with wealthy forty-something Texas lobbyist Karen Johnson.

“Everyone knows how close Karen is to Karl, but she’s sick of it,” the mag quotes a source “familiar with the situation,” noting that Johnson and Rove didn’t return phone calls.

Apparently Johnson’s family wants her to marry her handsome ranch foreman, Rhett Hard, who works on Johnson’s Cinco de Mayo property in Austin.

But Moore, a veteran Texas political reporter who has known Rove well since the late 1970s, told me that he and co-author Slater have no plans to include Johnson in their new book.

“It’s a tough thing for me,” Moore said. “Darby, Karl’s wife, is a wonderful woman. And they’ve got a great kid. They just happen to live with an evil man.”