August 29, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Senators to Larry Craig: Time to quit

August 29, 2007

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s political support eroded by the hour on Wednesday as fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to resign and party leaders pushed him unceremoniously from senior committee posts.

The White House expressed disappointment, too — and nary a word of support for the 62-year-old lawmaker, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge stemming from an undercover police operation in an airport men’s room.

Clinton, Dodd win union endorsements

August 29, 2007

Democrat Chris Dodd has earned the backing of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a major coup for the presidential hopeful, while leading contender Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton secured the endorsement Tuesday of the United Transportation Union.

The Dodd endorsement is the more surprising of the two, with the Connecticut senator lagging behind better-known rivals Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and John Edwards in the latest polls.

Playing the Washington scandal game

August 29, 2007

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig isn’t sticking to the script about how Washington sex scandals play out. In fact, he’s following it backwards.

The rich history of powerful figures accused of misbehavior shows they tend to deny it indignantly, try to ride the storm with tortured explanations, then give in to contrition if they’re cornered.

Not Craig. First came an admission of guilt — and now the defiant protestation of innocence.

Bush plays the nuclear card

August 29, 2007

US President George W. Bush on Tuesday raised the specter of a “nuclear holocaust” in the Middle East if Israel’s arch-foe Iran gets atomic weapons, and demanded that Tehran end support for extremists in Iraq.

“Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran’s regime, to impose economic sanctions,” he told the American Legion veterans group.

A year later, anger and sadness

August 29, 2007

On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, anger over the stalled rebuilding was palpable throughout a city where the mourning for the dead and feeling of loss for flooded homes, schools, snow cone stands, old-time hairstylists and hardware stores doesn’t seem to subside.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall south of New Orleans at 6:10 a.m. Aug. 29, 2005, as a strong Category 3 hurricane that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Impeachment may be the solution

August 29, 2007

President Bush is, quite reasonably, appealing to history to salvage his legacy since his prospects don’t look good in the short term. Despite current efforts to put the best possible face on conditions in Iraq, the news continues to be bad.

For example, last week, one day’s news reported the assassinations of two Iraqi governors, as well as the admission by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker that southern Iraq was plagued by “a lot of violence.” In northern Iraq, a truck bomber killed 45 people, and others died elsewhere.

A circular firing squad

August 29, 2007

Before anyone gets excited about Democratic presidential prospects next year, a perusal of modern day political history should amply remind one of the fallacy of overconfidence about a party that is utterly without a compass most of the time, even when Republicans are carrying the burden of a war and an unpopular lame duck president.

Once again it seems appropriate to quote humorist Will Rogers’ still valid assessment: “I don’t belong to any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”

The Gonzales feeding frenzy

August 29, 2007

Alberto Gonzales is resigning as U.S. attorney general, and here is what critics of all stripes are saying: He was blindly, brainlessly loyal to President Bush, gave atrocious advice, was an incompetent managerial mangler and klutzy in his own self-defense.

His legacy includes a Department of Justice that’s demoralized and in disarray, argue some detractors who also aver his mistakes have been grievous to the point of costing him any hope that history will someday trot to his reputation’s rescue.

Foley victim satisfied with case’s outcome

August 29, 2007

A former congressional page who received sexually explicit online messages from former Rep. Mark Foley said through his lawyer that he would not file a civil suit against Foley, and that he is satisfied with the news that the Florida Republican is unlikely to be charged with a crime.

The former page, now 22, learned through news reports last week that investigators expect no charges to be placed against Foley for sending the racy messages, the young man’s lawyer, Stephen Jones, told Scripps Howard News Service.

For Democrats, winning is the thing

August 29, 2007

It was just another refueling stop on the long, long drive to the convention in Denver.

When six Democratic presidential contenders took their turn addressing an Iowa labor group here this month, every one of them walked away recharged by audience applause.

But there was attentive silence, too, when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York got to the bottom line in her closing remarks.

“I think we have to win this election,” she said, the inflection of her voice stressing the words.

She rattled off things her party’s faithful see in the balance — not only the war in Iraq, but health care, energy policy and economic issues.