Tuck

March 26, 2009 by Jack Pitney | Filed Under Richard Nixon | 1 Comment 

You may have thought Dick Tuck was dead, but he is alive and the guest of honor at an Aspen party.  In an interview with Frank Gannon, RN once said:

I’ve been the victim of dirty tricks, including bugging i–in 1962. There was no question about that. There’s a very famous character, a real professional, delightful fellow, as a matter of fact, named Dick Tuck, and he used to sabotage our campaign schedules and send people the wrong way and disrupt our meetings and so forth. He did it in 1962, in that campaign, and he did it again in–of course, he had done it als–he–no–strike that. He did it in 1960 in the presidential campaign, and then he did it in spades in 1962, when I was running against Pat Brown. But the media being, shall we say, not particularly in my corner, just called that fun and games. And then when Segretti, our so-called “dirty tricks man,” whom I frankly had never had the opportunity of even meeting–when he tried to practice some of these things on our Democratic opponents, they became high crimes and misdemeanors.

For the record, a quick search of Nexis articles mentioning Tuck shows that references to “pranks” outnumber references to “dirty tricks” by more than two to one.

Featured Articles — March 26, 2009

March 26, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles, Presidents | Leave a Comment 

Interesting Takes From Home And Abroad:

Obama Points Back to the GOP’s Future By Karl Rove, The Wall Street Journal
Something powerful is stirring in the land, and it may not be good news for President Barack Obama, his agenda or the Democratic Party. Mr. Obama said Tuesday night his budget moves America “from an era of borrow and spend” to “save and invest.” But people are realizing he would add $9.3 trillion to the national debt, doubling it in six years and nearly tripling it in 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). How can that be “save and invest”?

The War on Drugs Is Idiotic By John Stossel, Real Clear Politics
Authorities raided Charlie Lynch’s California home. “They say, ‘Search warrant! Open the door, or we’re gonna tear it down!” Lynch told me for my ABC special “Bailouts and Bull”.

Springtime for New England Republicans? By Froma Harrop, Providence Journal
There was a time when New England sent lots of Republicans to Washington. These were fiscally conservative but socially liberal “Rockefeller Republicans,” also found in the Northwest, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. As the party turned socially conservative and fiscally reckless, many Yankees departed.

Re-emerging As an Emerging Market By Desmond Lachman, The Washington Post
Back in the spring of 1998, when Boris Yeltsin was still at Russia’s helm, I led a group of global investors to Moscow to find out firsthand where the Russian economy was headed.

Will Obama Match Bush for Fiscal Irresponsibility? By Mort Kondracke, Roll Call
A month ago, reflecting on George W. Bush’s near-doubling of the national debt, budget hawk David Walker told me that Bush was “the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history.

Dear A.I.G., I Quit! By Jack De Santis, The New York Times
Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, sent this letter on Tuesday to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.

Geithner Deals Wall Street a Can’t-Lose Hand By Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg
I feel like Rush Limbaugh now, because I really want certain people to fail: George W. Bush’s former economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, Nobel Prize-winning economists Paul Krugman and Columbia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz. All of them say the U.S. Treasury’s plan to buy troubled bank assets will lead to rack and ruin. And when the trillion dollars to pay for it is gone, we won’t be able to afford the printing press to make more.

Washington’s Truth Deficit By Victor Davis Hanson, San Francisco Chronicle
In the last three months, we’ve been reduced to something like the ancient Athenian mob – with opportunistic politicians sometimes inciting, sometimes catering to an already angry public.

Baying for AIG Blood By Nicole Gelinas, City Journal
A year ago last week, the United States government saved Bear Stearns from bankruptcy, enticing JPMorgan Chase to buy the insolvent company with government guarantees. Fed and Treasury officials—and almost everyone else—argued that the step was necessary to prevent a systemic financial meltdown.

Deficit Dodge Ball By E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post
The debate on the budget is phony, the howling on deficits a charade. Few politicians want to acknowledge that if you really are concerned about long-term deficits, you have to support tax increases.

The Lessons of Camp David By Jehan Sadat, The Wall Street Journal
Thirty years ago today, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Peace Accords. It was a culmination of a journey Anwar Sadat, my husband, began in October 1970 following the sudden death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Within hours of Nasser’s funeral, my husband asked the U.S. ambassador to tell President Richard Nixon that Egypt was ready for peace.

Is China the New America? By Harold James, Foreign Policy
In the Great Depression, as in the current economic crisis, the downturn was particularly severe because of a lack of leadership in the international order. The dominant financial power of the 19th century, Britain, was financially exhausted by the First World War.

The G20 summit in London will be missing one great power. Guess who? Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian UK
When President Barack Obama comes to London next week, he will find one great power missing at the world’s summit table: Europe. Five of the 20 leaders at the G20 meeting will be Europeans, representing France, Germany, Britain, Italy and the EU, but the whole will be less than the sum of its parts. There will be plenty of Europeans but no Europe.

TV President is hosting a national talk show By Adam Boulton, Times UK
Unlike the British system, American democracy is conducted through exhaustive debate rather than government diktat.

GOP gloves off for budget brawl By Mike Allen and Victoria McGrane, Politico
House Republicans have begun unveiling detailed alternatives to President Barack Obama’s policies — a concerted effort to push back against Democratic efforts to label them “the Party of No.”

Annals Of The Obama Administration

March 25, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration, Art, Culture, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

If the politicization of American foreign policy is proceeding Clinton-style at DOS, back at the White House the politicization of American art and culture appears to be proceeding Chicago-style.  

Having dissed the journalistic establishment by blowing off the Gridiron Dinner and ignoring the major print poobahs at Tuesday night’s press conference, it appears that the President is now flipping off all the creative folks who supported him so ardently, and whose hopes for him and what his administration would mean for the arts were so high.

The President recently made three arts-critical appointments of individuals whose resumes are light on arts cred but heavy on political clout.  The fact that these “stealth” appointments were made without any announcement —much less any fanfare— from the  White House delayed the unfavorable reaction that is just now beginning to register.   

So far nobody has pulled out the old “most unlikely appointment since Caligula appointed his horse a Consul” chestnut, but that’s only a matter of time now that Judith H. Dobrzynski has sounded the alarm in her “Blogs & Stories” piece on today’s Daily Beast.  

Her headline sums the situation up neatly: “The arts world is fuming over Obama’s underqualified “arts czar,” and a humanities appointee who lacks a college degree.”  

While the head arts honchos have yet to be appointed, Ms. Dobrzynski reports on the three lower-level but critical appointments of the people who will actually be making things happen.  She calls them “strange at best and, at worst, deflating.  None has much arts expertise; what they do have are political connections.  Bernard, appointed to a key post at the academically minded NEH, never graduated from college, though he claims a bachelor’s degree on his résumé.

Ms. Dobrzynski notes —and dismisses— the predictable defense:

Obama’s defenders say these people don’t need expertise in the arts and humanities, that it’s enough that they’re close to Obama. 

Liaisons to the White House are always political posts. They are involved with all interactions with the White House (and Congress) on things like the budget, agency priorities, and the other political appointments. They work best when the appointments are not highly politicized.

These three appointments seem to be far more politics-as-usual than was expected of the Obama administration. A White House spokesman declined to comment on that directly, but said, “President Obama recognizes that support for creative expression is an important part of who we are as a nation, and he’s committed to ensuring that the arts community has an open line to the White House.”

But, for now, at least, the high-flying arts hopes are falling back to earth. 

The new “arts czar” —who will oversee NEA and NEH for the White House— is a classically politically-charged Chicago lawyer named Kareem Dale.

Take Dale’s stealth appointment as “arts czar.” While the White House has confirmed the appointment to news outlets, no formal announcement has been forthcoming. The only official word on him from the White House came in mid-February, when Dale—who is partially blind—was made special assistant to the president for disability policy. He is currently holding both positions.

Dale—who has both law and MBA degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign—is no slouch, but he has limited experience in the arts: He worked as a volunteer on Obama’s Arts Policy Committee, then as a paid staffer (becoming the campaign’s disability-vote director). He was president of the board of Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theatre, where he helped raise $15 million to finance a new building. His father, who owns R.J. Dale Advertising and Public Relations, preceded him on the board, as chairman. Both the father—Robert J., but known as Bob—and son are members of Chicago’s vibrant African-American network and longtime Obama donors.

At NEH the new Director of White House and Congressional Affairs is Geoffrey Bernard.  Dobrzynski calls this appointment an “even stranger fit” than art czar Dale.

Co-founder of B & G Associates in Los Angeles, a political fund-raising and strategic-planning firm, he raised millions of dollars for the Obama campaign with his partner, Rufus Gifford, the “G” in B & G.

Gifford was recently named finance director of the Democratic National Committee; Bernard was a superdelegate to the Democratic Convention. The pair cuts a wide path through L.A., and on March 10, the Washington Post named them “leading candidates for Washington’s new same-sex power couple.”

B & G’s website says Bernard worked in real estate and cable television before getting into politics. He also did campaign work for President Clinton, who rewarded him with an appointment to the presidential advisory committee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and is involved with social-justice organizations. As for connections to the humanities? Zip.

The website also says that “Jeremy holds a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in New York.” But a Hunter spokeswoman, Meredith Helpern, said “He did not graduate from Hunter,” though he did attend. She declined to provide any further information.

At the NEH, Noel Milan, the acting director of public affairs, said, “the documents we have contain no reference to an earned degree. It says he attended Hunter College.” Milan said Bernard did not want to comment.

The third hinky arts appointment is Anita Decker as NEA’s Director of White House and Congressional Affairs (the same position Bernard holds at NEH.) 

She has even less ostensible expertise in the arts, according to published reports. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Decker is from… Chicago!—and has spent her life in Illinois politics. She headed Obama’s downstate office.

Noah’s Lark

March 25, 2009 by John H. Taylor | Filed Under Nixon Library, Orange County | Leave a Comment 

That’s state-of-the-art marketing guru and St. John’s Episcopal School trustee Noah McMahon (right), who cut his teeth at the Nixon Library, riding the merry-go-round at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.

Perhaps you’re wondering why.

See, you never know what Noah will get up to — such as, for instance, floating around at 30,000 feet with legendary astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity Corp.’s specially rigged 727. This time, Noah and Wing Lam, owner of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, were assisting their fellow supporters of the Orange County Register’s “Season of Caring Presents the Possible Dream,” a collaboration between our hometown paper and world-famous shopping center (all presided over by the energetic Sandra Segerstrom Daniels) to raise $270,000 for ten local children’s charities. I’m proud to be one of the judges as well as a board member of Register Charities.

After a campaign over the holidays had raised 70% of our goal, Noah and his colleagues had the bright idea of putting 17 county leaders on SCP’s famed carousel with their cell phones and riding (and riding, and riding) until each had raised $4,000 from friends, colleagues, and anyone else who felt sorry for them.

At a ceremony this afternoon at the Santa Ana offices of my valiant friends at the Register (who are battling to save democracy by saving the newspaper business), I forgot to ask Noah what was worse: Floating upside down for 30 seconds in Zero Gravity’s vomit comet, or spending two and a half hours on a giant bunny rabbit while trying to dial numbers on BlackBerry keys the size of Chicklettes.

Either way, Noah and Co., you brought big dreams to life for some of those hit hardest by the economy — even if you were just going around in circles.

Two New Books On Hiss-Chambers

March 25, 2009 by Robert Nedelkoff | Filed Under American Politics, Book Review, Cold War, History, Political Philosophy, Presidents, Richard Nixon, U.S. History | 1 Comment 

May 31 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Alger Hiss’s first trial for perjury, during which the onetime advisor to FDR at Yalta and secretary-general of the founding session of the United Nations in 1945 managed to secure a hung jury, thanks to an all-out attack on his accuser Whittaker Chambers by his attorney Lloyd Paul Stryker. Shortly afterwards, a second trial was held, in which Claude B. Cross, who replaced Stryker at Hiss’s bidding, led the defense. The jury at this trial, given a less dramatic atmosphere, found Hiss guilty and he went to jail, still insisting on his innocence – as he continued to do until he died at age 92.

It has been more than a decade since Hiss’s death and nearly a half-century since Chambers passed away. 2013, four years from now, will see the 100th birthday of Richard Nixon, whose dogged determination to seek the facts of the case helped launch his political career. But in spite of all the decades that have gone by since Chambers appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and made his charges, the Hiss case still generates strong interest. Indeed, this month sees two new books about its principal figures from America’s two leading university presses.

Yale University Press has just published Alger Hiss and the Battle for History by journalist Susan Jacoby, and it’s reviewed in today’s New York Observer by Glenn C. Altschuler. The writeup is favorable, but I don’t know how keen I am to read the book. Ms. Jacoby is well known for her polemics championing the enlightened center of the political spectrum. Her interpretation of the case, in this context, seems to amount to the argument that sure, all the evidence points to Hiss’s guilt – as has been the general consensus since Allen Weinstein published his definitive book Perjury in 1978 – but the real question is, did the atmosphere of the times prevent Hiss from getting a fair trial? One somewhat wishes Arthur Schlesinger Jr. were still here to point out that Hiss got two trials, rather than the one that most defendants have to get by with, and that every attempt on his part to seek another trial was rejected by one judge after another over the span of three decades, right into the decidedly liberal era of the late 1970s.

A book that interests me rather more is by Michael Kimmage of Catholic University: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers, and the Lessons of Anti-Communism, which Harvard University Press just released. Former New York Sun book reviewer Adam Kirsch discusses this volume at nextbook.org, and from what he says, it promises to be the most carefully considered examination of Chambers’s pivotal role in American political thought since Sam Tanenhaus’s landmark biography in 1997. Here’s how the HUP site describes it:

Kimmage argues that the divergent careers of these two men exemplify important developments in postwar American politics: the emergence of modern conservatism and the rise of moderate liberalism, crucially shaped by anti-communism. Taken together, these developments constitute a conservative turn in American political and intellectual life—a turn that continues to shape America’s political landscape.

Afternoon World Review

March 25, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Afternoon World Review | Leave a Comment 

Photo courtesy of the Washington Post.

On this Wednesday, February 25, 2009 the DOW was up almost 9o points, the NASDAQ up 12 and the S&P down 2.

THE STATES:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has proposed a joint venture with the FIDC to overhaul current financial rules that would allow the two to manage financial companies whose failure could affect the broader economy. Admistration officials believe the involvement of the FDIC is crucial because it is less prone to politics than the Treasury Department and it has experience handling failed companies.

In other fiscal news, The House of Representatives has proposed a budget that forecasts a budget defecit of 3.5% of GDP equaling 533 billion by 2014. The House bill doesn’t include any provisions for cap and trade or a overhaul of the healthcare system, but includes President Obama’s request for $82 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq funding.

LATIN AMERICA:

In her trip to Mexico today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accepted responsibility for U.S.’s role in Mexico’s drug war, stating that the U.S. has failed to curb drug use, narcotic shipments, and the flow of ammunition into Mexico.

THE MIDDLE EAST:

Incoming Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maybe forced to balance his hand in exchange for a more stable coalition that now includes Labor party MKs and and their leader Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Today, Netanyahu signaled that he is willing to negotiate with the Palestinian authority despite qualms about Palestinian nationalism.

Despite past budget cries against the Iraq war, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is reporting that the cost of withdrawal will be ‘massive’ in the short term, as the price of repairing equipment and the process of base closures, as well as security for Embassy officials and civilians will be significant.

AFPAK:

At the White House, President Obama discussed with NATO chief Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer how to effectively employ NATO forces to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The President is expected to unveil a new Afghan strategy on Friday.

In the Pakistan western tribal region of Waziristan, 7 militants were killed in a U.S. predator drone strike.

EUROPE:

E.U President and Czech Republic Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek blasted President Obama’s economic plan as “a road to hell,” convinced that there were to many measures in the near trillion dollar stimulus package that amounted to protectionism.

France also has its share of outrage when it comes to executive pay, as Thierry Morin, the head of the failing auto parts company, Valeo, was given a $4.1 million severance package amidst business and bank bailouts, and a growing unemployment rate amounting to over 2 million workers.

ASIA:

Two Current TV journalists captured last week by North Korwan authorities as they were crossing the border from China will be detained in Pyongyang. According to a Seoul newspaper the two will be interrogated as spies. Analysts say they will also be used as bargaining chips in future negotiations with the United States and allies over the country’s nuclear program.

According to a U.S. counter proliferation official a standoff could be imminent with North Korea positioning a missile on a launch pad in the eastern part of the country.

AFRICA:

Despite an outstanding warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues his international travel and met today with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Bashir has close ties to Cairo and is likely building up support for his defense. President Mubarak, himself, has called on the U.N. Security Council to suspend the warrant.

Noon Open

March 25, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Noon Open | Leave a Comment 

If we take the route of the permanent handout, the American character will itself be impoverished. – Richard Nixon

The Press Doesn’t Understand Religion

March 25, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Faith, News media | Leave a Comment 

TNN’s very own Joshua Trevino provides an eye-opening, copious, and contrarian opinion to the media uproar over an archbishop’s decision to excommunicate a nine-year old Brazilian girl – along with her mother and two doctors – for having an abortion after being brutally raped.

Featured Articles — March 25, 2009

March 25, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles | Leave a Comment 

Interesting Takes From Home And Abroad:

Back In Control By Walter Shapiro, The New Republic
Now that Barack Obama’s second prime-time press conference is over, it is safe to make lasting pronouncements about the fledgling president’s East Room Q&A style. Normally journalistic convention requires three events to justify a trend, but we are jumping the gun because, frankly, the networks are not likely to pre-empt their lucrative evening programming next month to give Obama a third chance to fail to make news at a news conference.

Why a successful US bank rescue is still so far away By Martin Wolf, Financial Times
I am becoming ever more worried. I never expected much from the Europeans or the Japanese. But I did expect the US, under a popular new president, to be more decisive than it has been. Instead, the Congress is indulging in a populist frenzy; and the administration is hoping for the best.

The Real AIG Disgrace By Holman Jenkins, The Wall Street Journal
The stock market was intoxicated with the Obama administration’s toxic asset plan. Whatever its contempt for the upper middle class that acquires wealth through salaried work and bonuses, Team Obama still has eyes for the hedge fund class, which will be ladled out taxpayer dollars to make one-way bets on problematic bank assets.

Bush’s ‘folly’ is ending in victory By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe
‘MARKETS without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear.” So began Terry McCarthy’s report from Iraq for ABC’s World News Sunday on March 15, one of a series the network aired last week as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary.

Saving Afghanistan By Robert D. Kaplan, The Atlantic
Even though the situation on the ground is better than most people think, the war is on track to be the longest in U.S. history. Americans, says one Army general, need to show “strategic patience.”

Obama Persists on Iran William Kristol, The Washington Post
The most interesting moment, I thought, in President Obama’s press conference was his last answer, when he spoke in praise of “persistence:” “That whole philosophy of persistence, by the way, is one that I’m going to be emphasizing again and again in the months and years to come, as long as I am in this office. I’m a big believer in persistence.”

Afghanistan war is Vietnam for slow learners By Simon Jenkins, Guardian UK
One word shines through the spin surrounding this week’s Barack Obama policy review on Afghanistan. The word is exit. Before he became president, Obama was much taken by the idea that Afghanistan was a good and winnable war, a usefully macho contrast to his retreatism on Iraq. But in a military briefing at the time, he asked what was the exit strategy from Kabul and was met with silence.

Netanyahu Forges a Left-Right Coalition With Labor By Pierre Heumann, Der Speigel
Resistance within the left-leaning Labor Party was powerful, but a coalition deal has been sealed: Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, will run the government with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s not a recipe for bold new ideas.

What Obama said and what he meant By John Harris and Jonathan Martin, Politico
Hold a Washington news conference and you’ll be sure to hear a lot about Washington obsessions. Two big ones dominated President Barack Obama’s prime-time encounter with the White House press corps: budget deficits, and growing criticism in the Congress that the new president is biting off more than he can chew.

Iran has a problem as ‘Great Satan’ turns on the charm By David Blair, Daily Telegraph
President Barack Obama’s conciliatory and nuanced approach towards Iran confronts its leaders with their greatest foreign policy dilemma since the end of the war with Iraq almost 21 years ago, says David Blair.

Stacy Keach Returns As RN

March 24, 2009 by Robert Nedelkoff | Filed Under Entertainment, Frost/Nixon, Presidents, Richard Nixon | 1 Comment 

The Los Angeles Times reports today that actor Stacy Keach, having recovered from a mild stroke that disrupted his run in Frost/Nixon at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre, will resume his role as President Nixon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights to conclude this engagement and move on to the four other cities on the tour. Bob Ari, his understudy, will play the role at the weekend matinees.

Annals Of The Obama Administration

March 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Annals of the Obama Administration, International Affairs, Obama administration, Secretary Clinton | Leave a Comment 

Apparently the Clintonization and the politicization  (some would say that’s the same difference) of America’s foreign policy has been proceeding apace  in Foggy Bottom.

Remember that “reset button” fiasco —the pesky peregruzka problem— a couple of weeks ago?

In today’s Politico, Ben Smith reports the bigger institutional story that was uncovered while digging around to find out who was responsible for the linguistic gaffe:

Hillary Clinton’s departure for the State Department was meant to end the era of Clinton drama, and to leave the turmoil of her campaign behind. But one former Clinton aide, now a senior adviser to Secretary Clinton, has brought at least some of that drama along with him.

State Department reporters and observers have been buzzing about the brewing conflict since her second foreign trip, earlier this month, to Europe and the Middle East. On that trip, her longtime Senate press secretary Philippe Reines – one of the combatants in Hillaryland’s long civil wars – took over as the political staffer charged with handling the press.

The trip was marked by tussles over information and access, but it became known for a high-profile blunder in Geneva on March 6. There, Clinton met Sergei Lavrov, the dour Russian Foreign Minister, and cheerily presented him with a large red button in a yellow case, with the words “Reset” and “Peregruzka” written on it.

“We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?” Clinton asked.

“You got it wrong,” said Lavrov.

The error appalled some in the State Department, because the button – which was inscribed in Latin script, not Cyrillic – hadn’t been assembled with the help of State’s cadre of Russian speakers and professional translators, but rather by Clinton’s small political team. The day of the event, people involved said, Reines showed the finished product to officials who spoke Russian, but who weren’t native, or up-to-date enough to catch the error in a word out of computer terminology.

One of those was the senior director for Russia at the National Security Council, Michael McFaul, a well-known Russia scholar. Three people familiar with the incident said that, in its aftermath, Reines sought to place public blame on McFaul, a former Stanford professor.

Pressed Monday on the button incident, Reines denied that he’d ever blamed McFaul, and sent over a joking statement taking responsibility for the gaffe.

“Ultimotely [sic], this was my soul [sic] risponsibility [sic], nobody else’s in or out of the building. While the Russians laughed off the error and accepted the gift in the spirit of cooperation that it was meant, I’ve been sic [sic] about the mistake since, especially that I let down the Secretary and the fine professionals at the State Department,” he e-mailed.

McFaul didn’t respond to e-mail seeking comment, and National Security Council official Denis McDonough brushed a question about it off as a “typical Washington story.”

A McFaul ally said that “the notion that it was all on him, if that’s what they’re saying, is clearly unfair. He was asked to look at it.” 

C/L? L/C? Will Bill Want Top Billing This Time?

March 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, History, Movies | Leave a Comment 

Frost/Nixon playwright Peter Morgan has turned his attention to another POTUS.  This summer he will be making his directorial debut with his own screenplay Special Relationship, telling the story of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

British playwright Peter Morgan has written a third script —in this case a screenplay— to complete his “Tony Blair trilogy” that began with the TV movie The Deal.  The second installment was the Oscar-winner  The Queen.  And now there is —drumroll please— Special Relationship, which tells the story of William Jefferson Clinton and Monica Samille Lewinsky.  

Apparently Mr. Morgan thought better of Clinton/Lewinsky or Lewinsky/Clinton as titles.

Casting is moving apace (Dennis Quaid as WJC and Julianne Moore as HRC) and filming begins this summer.

Julianne Moore has been cast as Hillary Clinton in new film “Special Relationship”.

The actress will star opposite Dennis Quaid — who will play Hillary’s husband, ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton — in the movie which will show how Bill’s ‘inappropriate relationship’ with White House intern Monica Lewinsky nearly ended his time in power.

A source said: “This is a big role for both of them. Playing Hillary, a wife who stands by her unfaithful husband, will be something she can get her teeth stuck into.”

Dennis reportedly beat four other leading actors – Russell Crowe, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins – to win the role of Bill.

The film will also feature Michael Sheen as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who will be seen growing frustrated with Bill as his attentions move from politics to his own personal crisis.

“Special Relationship” starts filming in the UK and US in July.

Shameful, Shameless, And Still In Charge

March 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Congress | Leave a Comment 

The Hartford Courant, to its credit, has been on the Chris Dodd case like a weimarener on a porkchop.

Today, the paper’s redoubtable Kevin Rennie reveals the latest sordid detail of Senator Dodd’s involvement with Countrywide.

No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company’s favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd’s wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.

From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an “outside” director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG. IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR. In 2001, in addition to a public offering of 15 million shares of stock that raised $380 million, IPC raised more than $109 million through a simultaneous private placement sale of 5.6 million shares of stock to AIG – giving AIG a 20% stake in IPC. (AIG sold its 13.397 million shares in IPC in August, 2006.)

Clegg was compensated for her duties to the company, which was managed by a subsidiary of AIG. In 2003, according to a proxy statement, Clegg received $12,000 per year and an additional $1,000 for each Directors’ and committee meeting she attended. Clegg served on the Audit and Investment committees during her final year on the board.

IPC paid millions each year to other AIG-related companies for administrative and other services. Clegg was a diligent director. In 2003, the proxy statement report, she attended more than 75% of board and committee meetings. This while she served as the managing partner of Clegg International Consultants, LLC, which she created in 2001, the year she joined the board of IPC. (See Dodd’s public financial disclosure reports with the Senate from 2001-2004 here.)

Dodd is likely more familiar with the complicated workings of AIG than he was letting on last week. This week may provide him with another opportunity to refresh his recollections.

Afternoon World Review

March 24, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Afternoon World Review | Leave a Comment 

Photo courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

On this Tuesday, March 24, 2009, the DOW closed down 125 points, the NASDAQ down 40, and the S&P down 10.

THE STATES:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke were grilled before the House Financial Services Committee this morning over the continuing brouhaha surrounding AIG. Both suggested that the government needed regulatory authority to unwind the the wide scope of like financial institutions through protectorship and conservatorship, and the ability to protect policy holders.

In other economic news, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is proposing a plan for Mexican trucks to traverse U.S. freeways in order to rescind tariffs on $2.4 billion of U.S. projects that resulted from a part of the omnibus spending bill that came into conflict with the NAFTA treaty.

In the highest profile trial since the murder of Richard Speck, accused sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was in a Peoria, Illinois court today to plead not guilty to providing financial aid to al-Qaeda. al-Marri has been held in a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina before the Obama administration transferred him to a civilian court. al-Marri allegedly met with Osama bin-Laden, and arrived in the United States on September 10, 2001 to plan followup attacks after 9/11.

MIDDLE EAST:

In Israel, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak is moving closer to a coalition deal with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to become part of the Likud lead coalition government. According to Barak, the strategy is to prevent Netanyahu from forming a narrow right-wing government: “We will act as an opposing force that will prevent the creation of a narrow right-wing government, but rather a proper government that cares for the state of Israel.”

In Iraq, Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Iraq yesterday, marking the first time a Turkish head of state has visited the fledgling nation in 30 years, and a sign that Iraq is becoming normalized in the international community. The country, however, still is plagued with the some residual insurgent violence with a commitment to de-legitimatize democratic governance, as a suicide bomber killed 25 and wounded 44 in the Kurdish northeast Diyala province.

AFPAK:

In Afghanistan, al-Qaeda top leader Maulawi Hassan was killed by NATO forces in the southern Helman province. Such military efforts come on the heels of an Obama administration decision to surge civilian foreign service assignments to assist on political and reconstruction efforts. The administration also plans to send more than $1.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan in hope they can influence the military to cooperate in the fight against al-Qaeda strongholds in the Afpak border region.

EUROPE:

Russian Prime Minister Vladamir is bitter about a $3.4 billion dollar gas deal reached between the E.U. and the Ukraine in Brussels, claiming that it excludes Russia from a deal of which it would be the main supplier. Russia supplies 80% of all gas through Ukrainian pipelines.

In Hungary, home of one of Central Europe’s worst hit countries by the global economic crisis, Premier Ferenc Gyurcsány has decided to step down stressing that he “was unable to address the pending structural issues of the budget.”

In France, concerns over the effects of nuclear testing has prompted the government to compensate victims affected in the South Pacific and the Sahara. Ending in 1996, tests have allegedly inflicted a portion of the 150,000 military and civilian staff at the testing sites.

ASIA:

China has proposed a new currency to replace the dollar as the new international standard, a move that signifies their dissatisfaction with America’s role in the global economy. The move comes on the heels of the G-20 summit, but is expected to encounter enormous hurdles as central banks around the world hold more U.S. dollars than any other foreign denomination.

AFRICA:

The South African Peace Conference has been put on hold after the Dalai Lama’s visa requests have been rejected by the South African government. Authorities tell news sources that they don’t want the Tibet issues to overshadow the 2010 World Cup, but Chinese Embassy officials told local newspapers that they asked their host country refuse the visa. South African trade with China compromises 20% of total trade.

LATIN AMERICA:

In Peru, former President Alberto Fujimori’s human rights trial is near its end. He is accused of state-sponsored killing and kidnapping. If convicted he could face up to 30 years in prison.

Noon Open

March 24, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Noon Open | Leave a Comment 

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity. — Richard Nixon

Cool Commercials

March 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Cool Commercials | Leave a Comment 

Cool Commercials is the successor to the much-beloved but little-utilized Perfect Commercials.  It turned out that there were far more cool than perfect examples of the art and science of selling things with words and pictures.

A case in point is “Cat Herders” from EDS:

SPOILER ALERT: Far better not to read what follows before watching the above video — at least not if you want to spend a minute and eight seconds teasing your brain with the question “just where in hell is all this going?”.

I was wondering where this “EDS” got the dough to produce such an elaborate lead up (sort of, dare I say it, a shaggy cat story) to the rather over elaborate and underwhelming tag line: “In a sense this is what we do.  We bring together information, ideas, and technologies and make them go where you want.”

Turns out EDS is the technology services group of HP.  

 

The Obama Missing Mojo Meme Mestastizes

March 24, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under American Politics, Barack Obama, New Media, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

As the President prepares for his prime time press conference tonight, the Obama missing mojo meme continues to grow apace.  The media is in hog heaven — spreading by analyzing the Frankenstein’s monster of its own making.

CQ’s “Political Wire” blog links to two of the latest developments:

Though many wonder if President Obama risks “over-exposure” after a week long barrage of high profile interviews, his high approval rates suggest instead the White House has found the correct strategy.

First Read thinks Obama aides “probably believe that had the president NOT done this six-day media blitz, he would have been more singed on AIG than he was. But he was out there talking all week about it and wasn’t hunkered down at the White House. Look back at this last week and realize this will be a lesson the Obama White House learns.”

Wonkette remains unconvinced.  And, in its own snarky way, applies some home truths to the situation.

Hey all you elite cocktail-sipping Georgetown dandies gumming your cucumber sandwiches at tea time: Barack Obama is NOT overexposing himself with the daily live-teevee appearances and “town halls” and Jay Leno guest spots. In fact, this is how you make Americans love you, in this country. You just show up on every teevee show, laughing weirdly, dancing, saying vaguely untrue things, smiling, etc., and then your approval ratings just go up, up, up.

Presidents And Autobiography

March 24, 2009 by Robert Nedelkoff | Filed Under American Politics, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, History, Presidents, Richard Nixon, U.S. History | Leave a Comment 

This morning Hillel Italie, the Associated Press’s man in the book world, takes a look at the genre of the Presidential memoir, in the wake of the deal former President George W. Bush made with Crown this month for his Decision Points.

Italie is usually a reliable reporter so it’s startling to come across this passage:

The planned structure of Bush’s memoir is unusual, but not the author’s expected generosity to himself. The presidential book has not only been distinguished by its lack of literary merit — Ulysses Grant excepted — but by the absence of any self-criticism beyond the most expected remorse, as in “My Life” and Bill Clinton’s already oft-expressed apology for his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Memoirs are written for money, for revenge, for glory, for the first and perhaps last word. If we saw the world only through presidential eyes, the Great Depression would be Europe’s fault, not Herbert Hoover’s; liberals and other scoundrels were to blame for Richard Nixon’s fall; and James Buchanan was a great man worthy of the president who succeeded him — Abraham Lincoln.

It’s the first of these paragraphs that puzzles me. First of all, Ulysses S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs conclude with Appomattox; it’s not clear that he would have gone on to write about his much-maligned Presidency (which more recently has gotten higher marks from historians) had death not intervened. And his book, anyway, was far from the only such work by a President to win acclaim as well-written. Theodore Roosevelt’s autobiography was well-reviewed in its day and is still in print.

Granted, every Presidential autobiography from Truman to the present, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter’s Keeping Faith (not a much-acclaimed volume) used “editorial assistance” to greater or lesser degrees. So far the word out of Dallas is that former President Bush is writing his book himself, and managed to complete over 30,000 words in the less than sixty days between his departure from office and signing the contract with Crown – a very creditable performance for any writer.

And, as every schoolchild knows, President Obama’s Dreams From My Father was written entirely by himself with a quill pen, in a log cabin outside Springfield, Illinois, with a hickory fire a-blazin’. A few days ago, Italie reported in another AP story that Obama is indeed contracted with Crown to write a book about his Presidency after he leaves office, though his compensation will not be limited to the $1.9 million advance he received from the company in 2005 for The Audacity Of Hope and two yet-unwritten books. It’ll be interesting to see if the book business will be sufficiently healthy by 2013 or 2017 that he can match Dubya’s $7 million, not to mention former President Clinton’s $12 million.

Featured Articles — March 24, 2009

March 24, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles | Leave a Comment 

Interesting Takes From Home And Abroad:

Reading Between the Lines of the Geithner Plan By Noam Scheiber, The New Republic
So, from where I sit, Geithner’s second pass at explaining his bank plan has already gone much, much better than the first. (Unlike last time, I actually got into this briefing.)

The Toxic Assets We Elected By George Will, The New York Post
With the braying of 328 yahoos — members of the House of Representatives who voted for retroactive and punitive use of the tax code to confiscate legal earnings of a small unpopular group — still reverberating, the Obama administration Monday invited private-sector investors to become business partners with the capricious and increasingly anti-constitutional government. This latest plan to unfreeze the financial system came almost half a year after Congress shoveled $700 billion into the Troubled Asset Relief Program, $325 billion of which has been spent without purchasing any toxic assets.

Dreaming of President Petraeus and an American Surge By Andrew Breitbart, Washington Times
Signs of our collective weakness emerged after 9/11 when only part of the American population took seriously that we were at war with an evil and motivated enemy determined to destroy our way of life. Since then, al Qaeda has refused to quit despite debilitating losses.

Message to Iran Shows Strategy Shift By Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal
When President Barack Obama sent a video message to Iran marking the Persian New Year last week, it ran to just 556 words. But that brief message spoke volumes about the strategy that lies behind his oft-repeated pledge to reach out to Tehran.

Headed toward extinction? By Phillip Longman, USA Today
World population will hit 7 billion by 2012, according to a recent United Nations report. Given that we just hit the 6 billion mark in October 1999, it is easy to conclude that there are just too many people in the world. How are we ever going to overcome global warming, feed the masses, get that beachfront property, let alone find parking, if the population keeps jumping by nearly one billion per decade?

Ctrl-Alt-Diplomacy By Anne Applebaum, Slate
Press the reset button. Is there any phrase more enticing in the modern lexicon? We all know what it means: Press the reset button, watch your computer reboot, and presto! A nice, clean screen appears, and you start again from scratch.

Medvedev Makes His Move By Ethan Burger and Mary Holland, Foreign Policy
When Vladimir Putin stepped down as president of Russia last May, he left little to chance. Just as his predecessor Boris Yeltsin had anointed him, Putin made sure that his loyal protégé of 20 years, Dmitry Medvedev, would take his place. Putin took the helm of the country’s dominant political party, United Russia, and then, as prime minister, expanded that position far beyond what the Constitution envisions. Although Putin rearranged the musical chairs, he continued to call the tune. Until now.

The Mexican Evolution By Enrique Krauze, New York Times
AMERICA’S distorted views can have costly consequences, especially for us in Latin America. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Mexico this week is a good time to examine the misconception that Mexico is, or is on the point of becoming, a “failed state.”

Will Obama Listen to Iran’s Bloggers? By Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal
Barack Obama extended the olive branch to Iran’s leaders last Friday in a videotaped message praising a “great civilization” for “accomplishments” that “have earned the respect of the United States and the world.” The death of Iranian blogger Omid-Reza Mirsayafi in Tehran’s Evin prison two days earlier was, presumably, not among the accomplishments the president had in mind.

Here’s a slogan for the G20 mob: What do we want? Free trade! By Boris Johnson, Daily Telegraph
So here we go again, folks. It is now 10 years since the anti-capitalists attacked the City of London, and next week they intend to outdo themselves. In student bedsits and in terrace Kensington houses, the alienated children of the middle classes are planning to subvert the G20 summit.

Reporters war-game questions for Obama By Mike Allen, Politico
CBS’s Chip Reid jots the gist of his questions on a legal pad. CNN’s Ed Henry writes them word for word on white paper torn from the notebook he’s using, so there’s no danger of cards dropping to the ground. Fox’s Major Garrett has three word-for-word questions and three “concept questions” in reserve.

Is The President Suddenly Too Uncool For School?

March 23, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Barack Obama, Internet, News media, Obama administration | Leave a Comment 

A recently popular internet meme has been that President Obama has lost his oratorical mojo.  The formerly golden tongued candidate’s way with words has all of a sudden worn thin, and the fallout among his erstwhile admirers has been fierce.

After bubbling under for several days, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen finally moved it  mainstream last Thursday on Politico:

Of all the pitfalls Barack Obama might face in the presidency, here is one not many people predicted: He is struggling as a public communicator. 

The sluggish and unsteady response to the uproar over AIG bonuses highlights a larger problem of his White House: Obama’s surprisingly uneven campaign to educate people about the economic crisis and convince Washington and the broader public that he is in command of circumstances. 

It was brilliant communications skills that carried Obama to the presidency, with a national campaign built on the strength of his personal story and the clarity of his promise to transform politics. On the rare occasions when he was thrown on the defensive, he quickly turned problems into opportunities and regained control of his public image. 

What’s different now? The polished phrases and unflappable delivery haven’t gone away. His prime-time news conference and speech to Congress drew the usual praise. 

But the discipline and strategic focus of the campaign have yet to move into the White House. The story of the day often catches the president flat-footed or on the defensive — and regularly undercut by fellow Democrats. 

To Obama’s dismay, he is learning that successful presidential communications is only in part — often a fairly small part — about personal eloquence. It requires harnessing his words to a consistent strategy of public education. Obama needs lawmakers and voters alike to view the world through his prism, and to accept his analysis of what’s wrong and his priorities about how to make it right.

Then over the weekend, two things happened that suddenly moved this story even further front and center.  

On Saturday, the President stiffed the Washington journalistic establishment by choosing to spend the weekend at Camp David rather than attending the Gridiron Dinner.  

Hell hath no fury like a journo scorned.  So maybe it really was a big mistake to sit out this year’s dinner and stand up  all those Powers That Be.  They may have laughed when Governor Schwarzenegger tweaked them about it, but it was gallows humor.  As Dan Zak noted in his excellent article in today’s WaPo:

By 9:30 Schwarzenegger is at the podium, resurrecting the crowd with his speech. “You did such lovely work for [Obama],” he tells the media elite. “You put your lives on hold to put him in the White House. Now you get all dressed up, the champagne’s on ice, and you find out he’s just not that into you.”  

And then, on Sunday night, the President laughed on 60 Minutes.  ”Garbo Talks” generated no more headlines than “Obama Laughs.”  

This weekend double whammy moved the “loss of mojo” meme to critical mass.  By Monday morning, the Drudge Report had the President on the ropes with Steve Kroft asking him if he was “punch drunk.”   Suddenly the story had traction and was growing legs.

Michael Wolff, the Vanity Fair contributing editor and most recently the biographer of Rupert Murdoch, is a man who knows his way around the news and around the internet.  Now he finds Mr. Obama deficient in the very qualities that got him elected and makes a truly invidious comparison: “Sheesh, the guy is Jimmy Carter.”

 On his newser.com website, under the headline “Barack Obama Is A Terrible Bore,” Wolff writes:

The guy just doesn’t know what to say. He can’t connect. Emotions are here, he’s over there. He can’t get the words to match the situation.

This began, I’d argue, from the first moment. He punted on the inaugural. Everybody ran around like crazy trying to praise it because if Barack Obama couldn’t give a speech then what?

But now, at week 11, we’re face-to-face with the reality, the man can’t talk worth a damn. 

You can see the fundamental mistake he’s making. Having been so successfully elected, he’s acting like people actually want to hear what he thinks. He’s the great earnest bore at the dinner party. Instead of singing for his supper, he’s just talking—and going on at length. The real job of making people part of the story you’re telling, of having them hang on your every word, of getting the tone and detail right, the hard job of holding a conversation, he ain’t doing.

He’s cold; he’s prickly; he’s uncomfortable; he’s not funny; and he’s getting awfully tedious. 

He thinks it’s all about him. That we want him for himself—that he doesn’t have to seduce, charm, surprise, show some skin.

So Jimmy.

It’s instructive and humorous to remember that Carter ran a brilliant campaign that succeeded largely because his voice was new. Simple, direct, basic, human. And then, of course, he turned into a sad-sack twit.

Pat Oliphant’s recent cartoon captures the apparently widespread —and growing— disenchanted with President Obama’s hitherto admired oratorical abilities.

Personally, I’m not buying it.  Partly because the evidence simply isn’t there — the President has carried himself so well so far.  And partly because all these smart and savvy people couldn’t really be so disillusioned so soon even if he had been doing very badly and making all kinds of mistakes.  The man is only three months and five days into his first term, for heaven’s sake.

I think Gawker is on to something in its analysis of this story which has, so far, mainly served to fill space by generating stories about itself.

Politico is in the business of writing stories that Matt Drudge “NEEDS and WANTS” and that their reporters’ mothers would read. Today they turned a couple of chuckles on 60 Minutes into a “developing…” story.

Politico’s stated aim is to “explain how Washington really works.” This is how Washington really works: Find something, anything, that can be packaged into fodder to serve the interests of somebody with a megaphone. Obama just laughed on TV! The laughter, on its own terms, wouldn’t really cut it with Drudge or the evening cable news chatter.

So Obama didn’t just laugh: He laughed in a way that could be seen as amplifying the sense that he is cool and detached. Which fits into a narrative! That Matt Drudge wants to advance! And which Politico has been gathering string on going back to the campaign! And also which, because Matt Drudge wants to advance it, cable new producers will create segments about tonight. After the 2010 mid-term elections, exit pollsters will ask voters whether Obama is too cool and detached, and this is why.

Obama laughed a couple times last night in Steve Kroft’s interview, prompting Kroft to ask the president if he is “punch drunk.” Drudge promoted the exchange late last night, but he didn’t point readers to the 60 Minutes web site, where readers could find an account of the interview and watch the actual video. He linked to a Politico story warning that the “awkward laughter highlighted an issue Obama has faced dating back to the campaign, a sense that he sometimes is too ‘cool’ and detached to fully grasp the public anxiety over mounting job losses and economic worries.”

Coolness and detachment are a potentially serious political problem for Obama, according to Politico: In January they reported that “the cool and detached Obama enters the White House at a time of considerable economic anxiety,” and back during the campaign they noted that he was “known for a cool and occasionally detached delivery.”

None of this has anything even remotely to do with what, if anything, it means that Obama laughed during his 60 Minutes interview. Obama himself chalked it up to gallows humor. It’s about finding a way to feed a huge constituency of media franchises who—either because they have partisan agendas or because they desperately need things to talk about on TV—are looking for prepackaged narratives that will “pop.” Politico is basically doing the same thing that writers for Ellen do—scanning headlines for stories that DeGeneres can riff on. It’s just that their doing it for Drudge and Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly and Wolf Blitzer, and they’re doing it for free.

Which is why you get stories about Barack Obama’s secret code language for black people, his crippling teleprompter addiction, his barely restrained rage for Politico reporters who ask him questions during a friendly visit to the White House press corps’ offices, and how he’s in thrall to fat-cat academics. Politico’s crack political team simply has their antennae set to “things Drudge could conceivably link to” and they keep coming up with hits. Good for them. We all need hits these days.

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