Sunday, March 30, 2003

GENERAL: 

Code words for the day: Patience, patience and more patience – not just in the ground campaign against Iraq, but for American TV viewers. Networks and especially 24/7 cable channels start recycling earlier news reports, showing more repeats and reruns than during summer viewing season. Some CNN viewers have seen same reports a half dozen – or more – times. Candy Crowley’s CNN report about four Viet war heroes in government and Congress is super and worthwhile, but it’s been re-aired to point viewers know what NY Dem Rep. Charles Rangel will say. (See Michael Gartner comments below)

… American voters – and around-the-clock TV viewers – might be better served if some airtime devoted to covering – and exposing -- the Dem wannabes. The Dem candidates and Dem Congressional team still out there criticizing and impeding – such as slashing Bush’s proposed tax cuts last week – but how many voters know it with war coverage dominating?

…IA caucus watchers and aspiring Dem caucus-goers – and Dean/Kucinich/Sharpton/Moseley Braun supporters – also are bored with the Big Four candidates abandoning state to find richer Dems elsewhere before tomorrow’s first quarter fundraising deadline. (See more below)

…That’s right, Graham wasn’t included in the Big Four (Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry, Lieberman) or the candidates mentioned above, but nobody’s sure Graham has identified an Iowa supporter yet

…Air war continues against Baghdad as bombs keep dropping, but U. S. TV viewers have opportunity to consider central question: How would Gen. Wesley Clark look in Oval Office? (Iowa Pres Watch Observation: Interesting, knowledgeable guy – but no way. The bottom line on Clark: Better at running a TV war than running a nation.)

 …How time flies: It was 12 years ago yesterday a Dem presidential candidate admitted experimenting with drugs while a student at Oxford, but Bill Clinton said he didn’t inhale

…A group of eastern Iowa Catholic nuns who sponsored radio commercials a few weeks ago to urge a peaceful settlement to Iraq situation are now running a series of newspaper ads. Radio Iowa’s Stella Shaffer reports the nuns – from orders in Dubuque, Davenport, Clinton, Eldridge, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (as well as orders in Illinois and Wisconsin) – are lamenting the decision to give up on peaceful resolutions and grieving the “senseless loss” of lives, involving both Iraqi civilians and all military personnel. Sister Marilyn Huegerich, president of the Sisters of St. Francis in Clinton, said the nuns believe aggression “violates our national soul” and betrays American values, according to the Shaffer report

…A vote of non-confidence? From citizen commentary on the Sioux City Journal website: “Our current City Council can go down in history as our very best of all time. They simply have to resign en masse.” – Perry Murphy, Sioux City.

CANDIDATES/CAUCUSES: Although the Dem candidates are skipping Iowa this weekend, Elizabeth Edwards – wife of wannabe John – campaigned in Dubuque and Davenport. Quad-City Times reports this morning she told supporters the “Bush administration has squandered goodwill the world expressed toward the United States” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Edwards, making her first trip to Iowa, said: “The whole world was cheering for us. We have, in a very short time, lost that.” …Iowa Dems shunned this weekend as quest for IA caucus-goers takes second – or lower -- place to higher priority of making first-quarter FEC financial reports look better by Monday night. E-mail fundraising blitzes and campaign events dominate Dem wannabe campaign schedules. Doubtful any of current Dems will match Gore 2000 figures – when he recorded almost $9 million for first quarter – but Kerry and Edwards expected to hit $4M to $5M range. Gephardt – with $2.4 million transfer from congressional campaign account – could be close to them. Kerry has been working money players in DC, Philadelphia, Rhode Island and New Jersey over recent days and is scheduled to hit NYC Monday night. Gephardt returns to Washington for Monday fundraisers. Dean, whose first quarter goal was in the $1.5 million range, scheduled for New York fundraisers today and also will hold a DC fundraiser tomorrow. Edwards – while wife in Iowa -- scheduled weekend fundraising hits in Louisiana, South Carolina and NYC… U. S. News reports conservatives plan to finally start fighting Hillary. The newsmagazine reports situations such as the joint televised appearance with Hillary and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay won’t be repeated because Republicans believe Hillary is using them to appear more moderate than she really is as she prepares for a 2008 – if not 2004 – presidential run. U. S. News quotes a top GOP leadership aide as saying: “All we’re doing is helping to soften her lefty image. She needs us to get moderates if she runs for president in 2008.”

IOWA POLITICS: Two Iowa Congressman – King and Boswell – receive “thistles” in today’s “Roses & Thistles” column in today’s Des Moines Sunday Register: “A thistle to 5th District Congressman Steve King for introducing a bill to make English the nation’s official language. So, what happened to King’s campaign pledge to make economic development his top priority rather than embarrass Iowa with nutty time-wasters?”…”Speaking of pledges, a thistle to 3rd District Congress Leonard Boswell for having to eat his promise to serve only three terms. Now that he’s gained seniority in his third term, Boswell sees the folly of that promise.”

MORNING SUMMARY:  Des Moines Sunday Register top front page headline: “A deadly guessing game…Troops must distinguish friends, foes”…Top story, Omaha World-Herald: “Baghdad bombed as Iraq threatens to attack on U. S. soil”…Chicago Tribune online head: “As bodies pile up, support can slip”…QCTimes.com (Quad-City Times) top headline: “Turkey, Saudi Arabia close air space to U. S.” …The former president of Des Moines Area Community College isn’t running for the Dem presidential nomination, but like the wannabes David England is seeking to raise funds -- $119,168 to be exact – this weekend. England, who along with three family members was arrested for marijuana possession and trafficking on 3/12, needs to come up with the bucks by Tuesday – or sheriff’s deputies will begin carting off the family’s possessions. State revenue officials say England, whose bank account was frozen Thursday by the revenue department, owes the $119,168 because he failed to secure a state drug stamp – as required under an IA law that drug dealers apply for a special permit to engage in narcotic transactions. England reached a $29,000 settlement – which authorities also have taken court action to seize -- with the DMACC board earlier in the week and resigned.

WAR/TERRORISM: Overnight: Morning reports indicate heavy bombing in Baghdad during night and first reports that 15 American soldiers injured when civilian drives white pickup truck into a group lined up at a PX military store in Kuwait. Commander Franks gives briefing that operation is “one day closer” to liberating Iraq…Parents of two West Point graduates – and helicopter pilots with the 101st Airborne Division now in the Persian Gulf – say they are comforted by (and have confidence in) Gen. Franks. That’s because Dwight and June Dial of Lake City know Franks. It’s a long story, but according to the Des Moines Register when Dial’s brother – Army Capt. Lynn Dial – was killed in a military helicopter crash 15 years ago at Fort Hood, TX the commanding officer was Col. Tommy Franks. He visited the family for four days in Lake City and continued sending Christmas cards and letters to the late Capt. Dial’s parents for several years. June Dial told the Register she feels her sons are in good hands and Dwight Dial said of Franks: “He is a soldier’s soldier. He is a very remarkable person.” Now, their sons Ethan, 26 and a captain, and Andrew, 24 and a first lieutenant, are serving under Franks in the Iraqi conflict…Radio Iowa reports Iraq natives living in Iowa are being interviewed by the FBI, but Larry Holmquist – a spokesman for the FBI office in Omaha – says they are not being interrogated. Instead, he says FBI agents are seeking any information that might be valuable in the war effort – as well as inquiring about possible “hate crimes” and how the federal government can help provide protection. Radio Iowa reports, however, that Holmquist said Iraqis in Iowa and Nebraska “haven’t expressed any fears about hate crimes.”…According to a Sioux City Journal report, a Sioux City native – Navy corpsman Lucas Kruse, 27 – has survived two rocket-propelled grenade attacks during the past week in southern Iraq. Kruse’s father said his son received superficial shrapnel wounds Tuesday and a knee injury during a second attack on Thursday. An MRI on his knee will determine whether surgery is required, according to the Journal report – and if surgery is not needed he will “probably” return to action, but if it is he could be on his way home. Kruse is a 1994 graduate of Sioux City East High School. His father, Mark, is a Sioux City chiropractor and his mother Valorie is a member of the Sioux City Community School District board.

WAR NEWS COVERAGE:  From yesterday’s Marc Hansen column in the Des Moines Register – an interview with Michael Gartner. Headlines: “Gartner says war coverage not too insightful anymore”…”Gartner says war reporters deliver details, not big picture.” Hansen reports Gartner, a former Register editor who was president of NBC News during the first Gulf War, has been “mesmerized by the technology and the media access” during opening days of Iraq war. Gartner quote: “Most people think it’s a great thing. When I first saw it, I thought it was pretty neat. It’s hard not to be obsessed. Now it doesn’t seem so neat. You have a flood of stories that aren’t very important.” Gartner – now owner of the Iowa Cubs triple-A baseball team in DSM – says it would be like covering the World Series by filing daily reports on the position players: Nine stories a day – one on the first baseman, another on the second baseman and so on – that are all compelling, but lacking much overall insight. Gartner adds: “It’s a clever way for the Pentagon to get control of the operation. The troops become comrades. That’s what the Pentagon wants. But when it comes to the awfulness of war, reporters have to maintain their objectivity.”…The four Des Moines-area TV news operations – WOI, KCCI, KDSM, WHO – have agreed to pool resources to interview relatives of Iowa troops who might be killed, injured, captured or reported as MIA during Iraq war operations. The intent: To not impose on relatives and make them repeat the same story four different times. The four stations will rotate responsibility for coverage of relative interviews and responses on a weekly basis.

FEDERAL ISSUES: Most Iowans have never heard of ND Dem Sen. Dorgan, but that didn’t stop him – in the Democratic response to GWB’s Saturday radio address – from vowing to keep fighting against the Bush tax cut proposal. Dorgan – chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee – said Congress will act quickly on president’s request for war/homeland security funding, but the budget/tax cut proposal is a “different story.” Key Dorgan quote: “I don’t think it’s right to ask our soldiers to fight this war and then not ask citizens to pay for it.”…Although FBI Assistant Director Robert Jordan has been rebuked for inappropriate conduct, Grassley said he will “still expect to see answers from the [FBI] director as to why Mr. Jordan should remain in his current position.” The episode started when a Jordan subordinate – John Roberts – appeared on national TV (CBS’ “60 Minutes”) last fall saying FBI workers receive harsher treatment than their senior managers and then was passed over for a promotion. FBI Director Mueller sent Jordan a letter of rebuke, disallowed Jordan a bonus and ordered him to get counseling, but Grassley – who has developed a reputation for protecting government whistleblowers (and criticizing the FBI) – said although Jordan’s punishment was a positive sign he wants to know why Jordan should retain his position as chief of the FBI’s internal discipline unit…Several media reports from last night quote Interior Secretary Gale Norton as saying the Bush administration will not abandon the fight this year to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling. The Senate voted the ANWR proposal down last week during debate on the 2004 budget resolution, but the administration is working to secure House support for the oil-drilling initiative.

STATE ISSUES: The clock is apparently still ticking on the showdown between the state and Iowa’s three racetrack casinos after Vilsack and legislative leaders rejected a settlement proposal by Prairie Meadows that would allow for table gaming at the Altoona casino. Senate Majority Leader Stewart Iverson, R-Dows, has outlined a plan to cap racetrack casino taxes at 30% – and set a 5 p.m. Monday deadline for them to accept it. Legislative leaders said the Prairie Meadows offer was inadequate to support environmental programs – which are funded by gaming revenues – and Vilsack said of the proposal: “I think they’re rolling the dice and pulling the lever.” Meanwhile, Prairie Meadows CEO Bob Farinella says the track would accept a 28% tax rate – with permission to have table games like the state’s riverboat casinos. From O. Kay Henderson report on Radio Iowa: “Governor Vilsack says ‘the dealer’s showin’ 20’ to Prairie Meadows, and he doesn’t think they’re going to ‘hit 21’ with their latest gambit.”

OPINION: From Des Moines Sunday Register Opinion section – under headline, “Embed Yepsen” – letter to editor from Jim Rhodes, Decorah: Writes that Register columnist David Yepsen’s “embrace of the Iraq invasion welcomes this country’s exercise of military power and enthusiastically suggests this country ‘needs to get the carriers to North Korea.’ Does the Register need a war correspondent? I recommend Yepsen, so he might see the reality of war.”…Des Moines Sunday Register editorial headline: “Catalyst for growth: More parks, trails…Iowa’s investment in recreation is pitiful.”…From the Register’s “Voices of Iowans” anonymous call-in opinion line on the war: “There is nothing so important about the war that can’t wait until I’ve watched my ‘Family Feud” and ‘Jeopardy’” – Des Moines woman & “With the status of the war, if the Turks and Kurds unite, does than make them Turds?” – Central Iowa man.

SPORTS: Sioux City Journal this morning hails native son Kirk Hinrich’s performance as he leads Kansas to win over Arizona last night in NCAA basketball tournament. Headline: “Hinrich, KU return to Final Four”… A sure sign spring weather around corner – and that Iowa teams are done with basketball for the year: Drake Relays officials begin announcing entrants for the 94th edition of the late April track and field extravaganza in DSM. Stanford returning after two-year absence, and Long Beach State and Texas Tech participating for first time in more than a decade. Stanford team features premier college miler Donald Sage and Lauren Fleshman, the top women’s middle-distance runner in the nation…Free-agent wide receiver – and Des Moines North grad – MarTay Jenkins signs one-year $530,000 contract with Atlanta Falcons, but with incentives could get $1.2 million. 

WEATHER: DSM 5 a.m. 25, a few clouds…Temps this morning mostly in the 20s. Low 16 in Independence to 30 in Storm Lake…High today 48, partly sunny. Low tonight 32, partly cloudy. High Monday 62, partly sunny. From WHO-TV meteorologist Mark Ferree: “Skies will remain partly to mostly sunny Sunday through Wednesday, with temperatures in the upper 40s Sunday. The high will be around 60 on Monday, and in the lower to middle 70s Tuesday and Wednesday.”

IOWAISMS: Grinnell College is selling four houses for $1 each to buyers willing to move them between 5/20 and 5/31…A Westside man will repay almost $47,000 to the Social Security Administration. The U. S. Justice Dept. said George Tuttle collected the disability payments from 1997 to 2001 – while he also made about $360,000 as a self-employed truck driver. The repayment includes $36,954 he received from Social Security, plus a $10,000 penalty. 

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