Pay No Attention to My Messed Up Family Life

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is asking for "privacy" when it comes to his estranged son.

Not surprising if you're trying to win the nomination of the "family values" party.

"In other words, the more privacy I can have for my family, the better we're going to be able to deal with all these difficulties." -- Rudy Giuliani, News Conference, 3/5/2007

Andrew Giuliani, a 21-year-old sophomore at Duke University, commented on the estrangement over the weekend and mentioned that he got his values from his mother.

In 2001, Time magazine named Mr Giuliani "Person of the Year." Don't expect any "Father of the Year" honors until this little flap blows over. (CNN)

Cheney NOT Checking in to Walter Reed

Vice President Dick Cheney is being treated for a blood clot in his leg. The condition can allow the clot to break loose and cause a heart attack. It's often associated with extensive travel, where people don't get to stretch their legs. The Vice President just returned from a 25,000 mile trip.

In case you're wondering, Mr Cheney is being treated by a doctor at George Washington University. He won't be checking into Walter Reed. (SFGate)

Cashing in on Coulter

Ann Coulter's sexual slur against former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) has found new life on the web -- on Sen Edwards' website. He's using it to raise campaign contributions.

Speaking at a convention of conservatives last week, Ms Coulter used the word "faggot" to describe the Democratic Presidential canidate.

The remarks outraged Democrats and Republicans alike. And knowing that outrage motivates the politically inclined, Sen Edwards is cashing in. You can see the page here. (CNN)

Can the GOP Handle the Truth?

The US Attorney who, as a Navy lawyer served as the model for Tom Cruise's character in "A Few Good Men," is among those in a wave of firings at the Justice Department. But David Igleasias isn't going down without a fight. From Michael Isikoff in Newsweek:

David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney in New Mexico, went public with a dramatic charge: that he had gotten phone calls from two unidentified GOP lawmakers in D.C. last October, pressing him to bring indictments in a high-profile corruption case involving a prominent local Democrat before the November election. Iglesias—a former Navy prosecutor who was the model for Tom Cruise's character in "A Few Good Men"—said he refused to answer. Six weeks later, a Justice official ordered him to resign.

Now, he's naming names. Newsweek reports Mr Ilesias will tell Congress that it was Sen Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep Heather Wilson (R-NM) who demanded he bring charges against a prominent Democrat right before last year's election. (Newsweek)

Thomas Eagleton 1929-2007

Former US Senator Thomas Eagleton (D-MO) has died.

Sen George McGovern tapped Sen Eagleton as his running mate on the Democratic Presidential ticket in 1972. He dropped out of the race shortly afterwards when it came to light he'd been hospitalized for depression and had undergone electroshock therapy.

Sen Eagleton was 77.

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SBA Disaster

The SBA has ignored disaster possibilities for years -- and it could cost disaster survivors




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2000 Days

Today, Sunday, March 4, 2007, marks 2000 days since 9/11.

That's 2,000 days Osama bin Laden -- perhaps the worst mass murderer in American history -- has been free. Earlier this weeek, White House spokesman Tony Snow said he didn't know if OBL is even al Qaeda's leader.

But National Intelligence Director Admiral Mike McConnell testified before Congress last week that Osama bin Laden was alive and well and rebuilding al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Adm McConnell suggested al Qaeda may already be back to it's pre-9/11 strength, protected by the US and NATOs inability to cross the border into Pakistan to stike at them. He warned that the training camps had been rebuilt and a new generation of al Qaeda were learning the ropes -- and likely the infamous monkey bars.

Firings in the Department of Injustice

When you fire a US Attorney, you should expect them to get to the bottom of things. After all, that's what they do for a living.

Take Daniel Bogden. The Bush administration fired him after he rose through the ranks to become the top ranked federal prosecutor in Nevada in 2001. When he got his walking papers, he ran down the reason -- finding out it was purely political -- to replace him with someone the administration wanted to appoint.

Congress takes up Mr Bogden's firing, and the firing of seven other US Attorney's this week.

Among those fired -- Carol Lam. She prosecuted Rep Duke Cunningham (R-CA), landing the former Congressman a prison sentence. (NYT)

Republicans Distance Themselves from Coulter

Right wing screaming head Ann Coulter is drawing flak from conservatives for her remarks at the CPAC gathering outside Washington this week. Ms Coulter referred to Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot":



Presidential candidates Senator John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani denounced the comment.

Sen McCain (through a spokesman): “The comments were wildly inappropriate.”

Mr Giuliani: “The comments were completely inappropriate and there should be no place for such name-calling in political debate.”

Mr Romney (through a spokesman) “It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect.” (NYT)

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Guard Comes up Short

Blizzards from the Great Lakes to upstate New York. Tornadoes ripping through the south. The National Guard is supposed to be there to help states deal with natural disasters.

But a Congressional commission reports that 88% of America's National Guard units are rated "not ready."

The big problem -- billions of dollars worth of shorfalls in equipment.

The Commission found Gulf States have only a fraction of the equipment they'd need to respond to another disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

They need trucks and Humvees that can operate in deep water after floods.

Louisianna reports not enough trucks.

Mississippi has to rely on contractors to supply them with trucks and heavy equipment.

What's happened to all their equipment? We've been telling you for months how National Guard units leave their equipment behind in Afghanistan and Iraq when they come home. The outfits that replace them need the equipment.

Back home, Washington's been slow to replace equipment for the National Guard.

The problem is catching up with them.

Lousianna's National Guard reports it could only handle the demands of a tropical storm or a Category 1 Hurricane. But beyond that, it'd be Katrina all over again. (WaPo)

My, How Time Flies!

Tired of long waits at the Post Office? The braniacs at the US Postal Service have come to your rescue -- they've removed the clocks!

It won't speed up your service, but it will make it harder for you to realize how long you've been waiting in line for that poor service. The Postal Service has removed clocks from 37,000 of its Post Offices. They call it a "retail standardization program."
We told you back in August, 2005 how Indiana bureaucrats came up with the same idea to keep people's minds off the wait at their DMV offices.

A USPS spokesman tells the Fort Worth Star Telegram they want customers to focus on the service -- not the clock. Wonder how long before they make you surrender your watch before you enter a Post Office.

At least you can still use your perpetual calendars to time how long it takes for your letter to get where it's going. (AP)

Katrina Claim at $77 Billion

The city of New Orleans has filed a $77 billion damage claim against the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps was responsible for the levees that failed after Hurricane Katrina swept through -- leading to flooding that caused most of the damage in the city.

The city's claim came through the Federal Tort Act.

The Corps has six months to accept, settle or reject claims. After that, claimants can sue the federal government.

FEMA has provided $6.3 billion in recovery funds, $13.2 billion in flood insurance claims. (CNN)

McCain Ready to Launch

Sen John McCain (R-AZ) proved to be a traditionalist when he announced his Presidential candidacy Wednesday night. Rather than racing to slap his announcement on the Internet with an on line video, he opted for the old fashioned method of declaring his candidacy on a late night comedy show.

Wanna see it on YouTube. You can.

Wanna embed it in your blog? You can't.

Track it down on YouTube, and you find this message from the folks at CBS:

"Embedding disabled by request"

You can find it at the Senator's website -- on a page asking for money.

So, I won't be doing the Senator or CBS any favors by linking to their versions of it.

The announcement was marred by Sen McCain saying the lives of American troops killed in Iraq had been "wasted:"



Sen McCain has since apologized for his choice of words.

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Ted "The Tubes" Stevens Makes You LOL Out Loud!

Take too long trying to log on to Sen Ted Steven's (R-AK) campaign web site and you'll get a message accusing you of being a space alien with an orange tabby cat tapping on your keyboard.

Mary Ann Akers at washingtonpost.com grabbed the screen capture at right off her computin' machine before the Senator was able to take it off "the Tubes."

You may remember the Senate's greatest computer geek for his speech last year trying to explain the Internet as a "series of tubes:"

Let's Hope She Didnt't Teach Arithmetic

First Lady and former teacher Laura Bush flunked math during an interview on CNN's Larry King Live:

“And many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody.”

America Blog cites a Stars and Stripes article pointing out it's closer to 180 attacks against US troops, another 50 a day against civilians -- totalling 230 attacks a day.

Ms Bush was only off by 229.

Enough to get her a dishonorable mention on Comedy Central's The Daily Show:

Walter Reed's Critical Condition

The problems at Walter Reed are under control. Soldiers at the mold and red tape infested Building 18 have been ordered not to talk to the media anymore, and they're being punished for having told the media about problems in the past. If the media doesn't report on problems -- there are no problems, got it?

That's what the Air Force Times reports. Wounded soldiers now face inspection daily at 7:00 am -- something they consider a punishment since that's usually only done to raw recruits in basic training.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports top brass knew about the problems for weeks or months before the Post broke the story a little over a week ago.

They expressed surprise in public statements last week. But Steve Robinson, with Veterans for America tells the Post he brought up the problems at Building 18 back in 2003.

The Post cites complaints from soldiers raised in town hall meeting, "sensing sessions," and repeated Inspector General's reports. (WaPo, AFTimes)

'Cratfight

The Daily Show brings us up to date on the Presidential race with coverage of Gov Tom Vilsack's withdrawal and the whole Clinton-Obama-Geffen flap: