Day: February 15, 2006

Fox News:

The most recent Fox News poll shows that voters see Democrats as better at handling an array of key issues and gaining public trust on some areas traditionally considered Republican strengths. In addition, more voters think it would be better for the country if Democrats win control of Congress in this year’s election.

The poll finds that by a margin of 42 percent to 34 percent Americans think it would be better if Democrats gain control of Congress this year. Today’s 8-percentage point edge is down from an 11-point edge last month (10-11 Jan 2006).

As would be expected, most Democrats (81 percent) and Republicans (79 percent) want their respective parties to win control. Among independents: 32 percent back the Democrats and 18 percent the Republicans, with a 39 percent plurality saying “neither.”

We’re all gonna die: GovExec.com reported yesterday that the Health and Human Services Department has awarded a Project Bioshield contract for two radiological countermeasures. Remember Project Bioshield? Herr Prez mentioned it in his 2003 State of the Union speech and Congress passed the bill in 2004. The PB supposedly “provides new tools to improve medical countermeasures protecting Americans against a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack.”

Specifically, HHS is spending $21.9 million on a five-year contract awarded to Akorn Inc., which is expected to deliver 390,000 doses of Ca-DTPA (Pentetate Calcium Trisodium Injection Sterile Solution) and 60,000 doses of its Zn-DTPA (Pentetate Zinc Trisodium Injection Sterile Solution). Hameln Pharmaceuticals GmbH of Hameln, Germany, developed the drugs.

The Federal Drug Administration approved the drugs for treatment of acute radiation exposure in 2004. According to the FDA, they are appropriate for very specific contamination situations:

Until today, there had been no approved drug products for the treatment of internal contamination with plutonium, americium, or curium.

Remember the old days of duck and cover? I do, along with the recurring nightmares of nuclear annihilation that were my childhood companions.

Internal contamination with plutonium, americium, or curium can occur through a variety of routes including ingestion, inhalation, or direct contact through wounds. The goal of treatment with Ca-DTPA and Zn-DTPA is to enhance the removal of these radioactive contaminants and therefore the risk of possible future biological effects including the development of certain cancers, which may occur years after exposure.

Release of plutonium, americium and curium could occur from laboratory or industrial accidents; or through terrorist attacks using a radiation dispersal device (RDD), commonly known as a “dirty bomb.”

This is just a small part of Project Bioshield, which also calls for stockpiling the following:

• 75 million doses of a second generation anthrax vaccine that was supposed to become available for stockpiling beginning in 2005.
• New medical treatments for anthrax directed at neutralizing the effects of anthrax toxin.
• Polyvalent botulinum antitoxin.
• A safer second generation smallpox vaccine.

[…]

Oh, yeah. This will get to the bottom of it:

“Brit Hume will be interviewing Dick Cheney this afternoon; interview will air on Hume’s 6 PM (EST) show tonight, according to FNC just now.”

Prediction: Hume will not ask the creepiest veep ever if he was drunk when he shot Whittington.

Why have a Congress if all they do is spend money? They should just disband and go home:

Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.

The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel — made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats — was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it.

When the brutal dictator of Maylaysia — who had been publicly criticized by the Clinton Administration in the 1990s for anti-semitic statements and jailing his political opponents — wanted an image-cleansing meeting with President George W. Bush, who did he call? Republican uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, of course. Such high-level ccess is not free. In this case, it apparently cost $1.2 million:

Abramoff contacted presidential adviser Karl Rove on at least four occasions to help arrange a meeting, according to an eyewitness to the activities.

Finally, this former associate said, Rove’s office called to tell Abramoff personally that the Malaysian leader would soon be getting an official White House invitation.

In May 2002, Mahathir met with Bush in the Oval Office, and his photograph with the president was beamed around the world.

Abramoff laundered his fees from the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, so it will be difficult to establish a precise quid pro quo:

The Malaysian payments were made to the American International Center, a bogus “international think tank” that an Abramoff partner, Michael Scanlon, set up at a Delaware beach house. Abramoff and Scanlon used the center to collect millions from their lobbying clients.

By routing the money in that manner, Abramoff identified his client on federal lobbying disclosure forms as the Delaware-based International Center and thus avoided having to register with the Justice Department as an agent of a foreign government.

And we can assume that emails and other records at the White House have been carefully scrubbed by now.