Day: June 13, 2008
Tim Russert Dies of Heart Attack
First on the New York Post and confirmed by CNN and NBC.
Updated at 3:36 p.m.
Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of “Meet the Press,” has died after collapsing at NBC’s Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.
Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics where he was former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s press secretary and one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to successfully cross over to political journalism and rise to become one of its leading lights.
In his role as host of the seminal Sunday morning political program “Meet the Press” – which he took over in 1991 – he became renowned for his hard-nosed interviews where he frequently cornered some of Washington’s cagiest political figures with tough questions.
Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II – a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987 Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.
In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
Our condolences to the Russert family.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Steps Up Hetero Pretense
There’s a highly entertaining buzz going on at the Buzz, the St. Petersburg Times’ political blog. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has been stepping up his campaign to be John McCain’s running mate, talking partisanship here and piety there. It’s that last one that has Floridians snorffling.
Buzz noticed that Gov. Charlie Crist gave a very public nod to his girlfriend Carole Rome, which might just be a first for the governor, at least in a public speech.
“Lt. Gov. (Jeff) Kottkamp and I are lucky guys. You’re blessed with Cindy and I’m blessed with Carole, and that’s a special thing,” Crist said during his speech at a Republican Party of Florida fundraiser on Thursday night.
Crist is widely believed to be gay and his new friend Carole Rome considered a beard to help him win the McCain vice presidential spot. Rome is in the process of a divorce from Bluestar Jets CEO Todd Rome, reportedly because of her wanton spending. Comments to the blog post tell even more.
- This will not play well in future divorce proceedings.
- McGreevey, Part II. Wait until the blessed Carole sues the hell out of Charlie for marrying her for political gain. Do you think she is going to be happy in his St. Pete condo?…When it comes time for Charlie to fess up and join the priesthood, we will all enjoin the sideshow of another McGreevey trial.
- Yes, he is blessed to have Carole because he thinks it will keep the national scrutiny from his life. Sorry Charlie. Everyone knows your game and the gold digger Rome won’t be around once McCain makes his announcement and you finally realize IT’S NOT YOU.
- I think Charlie is the gold digger. I think she is the one with the money. This story is so predictible it isn’t even interesting. They get married, have a 3 page spread in People (his interest in the Hollywood-type of press coverage) and in 3-4 years, major blow out with boyfriend selling out to the Inquirer and a nasty divorce. Books written by both parties.
- Getting married at this point would absolutely no political gain; it would just raise more questions.
- Will Carole be blessed to have him when someone other than Cristi is standing next to McCain on the dais in Minneapolis? If CC doesn’t get the VEEP spot, Mrs. Rome will be dropping him like a rock.
- She’s married and he is gay. WHAT a pair!
- 8:58, you seem to forget Charlie Crist’s track record of dropping women like a rock after they have outlived their usefulness as beards. Remember his campaign girlfriend that he quickly dispatched after the inaugural?
- GET BACK TO YOUR OFFICE AND DO SOMETHING YOU OVER-TANNED, HAIR-DYED, LYING, CORPORATE-PUPPET, PHOTO-OPPING ON OUR DIME, PAPER DOLL FREAKING FRAUD!
- When Crist retires, he and Carole could live in Beverly Hills, Florida. There’s a Winn-Dixie there for shopping.
Quote du Jour
As someone pointed out recently, if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it’s just possible you haven’t grasped the situation.
— Jean Kerr (1923-2003), American author and playwright
Turf Change: Obama Packs Up DNC to Chicago
A recent move shows how breathtakingly different a Pres. Obama would be from the Current Occupant, or even the Current Occupant Wannabe. Obama is reorganizing the DNC. Hello, Chicago!
This is partly about ensuring that the Illinois Senator avoids the fate of John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was hampered by behind-the-scenes battles with the DNC
In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee — and a departure from tradition — large parts of the committee’s operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.
The DNC’s political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers offered a choice of moving to Chicago, joining state operations, or staying in Washington, DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said…
The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party that isn’t always known for its unity. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign can use DNC salaries and staff to pay for elements of its organizing campaign and avoid some of the duplication that has often dogged presidential efforts.
It could also help avoid the John Kerry-tastrophe of 2004.
…this is partly about ensuring that the Illinois Senator avoids the fate of John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was hampered by behind-the-scenes battles with the DNC.
You may recall that the DNC chair in 2004 was one Terry McAuliffe, and in his book, McAuliffe wrote about the back-stage infighting between the DNC and Kerry camps. McAuliffe said that Kerry’s aides had wanted to oust him; that relations were chilly throughout the campaign; and that the Kerry camp muzzled him when he wanted to assail George W. Bush’s military record.
By contrast, upon securing the nomination, Obama very quickly put out a statement showering praise on Howard Dean; is now moving to put staff in all 50-states, in concert with Dean’s approach; and is quite literally moving swaths of the DNC to Chicago to create a unified organization with the sort of party-wide message discipline that has eluded Dems in the past.
In the primary, the Obama campaign was famously devoid of (publicly visible) infighting and/or leaking, and clearly, he’s taking aggressive steps right now to ensure that this success is duplicated in the general.
If Obama can run a government the way he’s running his campaign, America’s future is looking better already.
Biggest War Scandal Yet – BBC Uncovers $23 Billion in Cash ‘Lost, Stolen’ in Iraq
You Won’t Hear About in U.S. Media Because Bush Has Imposed a Gag Order, According to the BBC
In October, we wrote about the $12 billion in cash — shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills — that the Bush Administration flew into Iraq on cargo pallets and then lost:
“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.”
— Chairman Henry Waxman
In the year after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 nearly 281 million notes, weighing 363 tons, were sent from New York to Baghdad for disbursement to Iraqi ministries and US contractors. Using C-130 planes, the deliveries took place once or twice a month with the biggest of $2,401,600,000 on June 22, 2004, six days before the handover.
Now an investigation by the BBC has determined that as much as $23 billion may have been “lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq”:
The BBC’s Panorama programme has used US and Iraqi government sources to research how much some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding.
The British television news service also says that the Bush administration has issued a “gagging order” on the subject, which means that reporting on what may be the most massive fraud in history will go unreported until Bush leaves office — or, theoretically after the presidency of his successor, if John McCain wins in November:
A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.
The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.
While Presdient George W Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.
To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.
The president’s Democratic opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.
Henry Waxman, who chairs the House committee on oversight and government reform, said: “The money that’s gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, it’s egregious.
“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.”
In the run-up to the invasion, one of the most senior officials in charge of procurement in the Pentagon objected to a contract potentially worth $7bn that was given to Halliburton, a Texan company which used to be run by Dick Cheney before he became vice-president.
Unusually only Halliburton got to bid – and won.
