Iowa Presidential Watch
Holding the Democrats accountable

Q U O T A B L E S

November 29, 2005

 "We have never fought a war like this before where ... you can't allow somebody to commit the crime before you detain them," she said. "Because if they commit the crime, thousands of innocent people die," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

"I will be the first to say I am sure there were many things that could have been done better," in the U.S. invasion and occupation, she said. History will show "things that look like mistakes that will turn out to be great successes and things that look like great successes that will turn out to be mistakes," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

"This Democrat doesn't think we need to re-fight how we got into (the Iraq war). I think we need to focus more on how to finish it," Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) said.

"To set an arbitrary deadline or specific date is not appropriate," he said. "... It is incumbent on the president to set milestones for what he believes will be the conclusion," Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) said.

"Now I would hope, of course, that this tawdry political act of illegality and betrayal of national security does not become a constitutional crisis," former Ambassador Joe Wilson said about the investigation outing his wife as a CIA agent.

 

J U S T   P O L I T I C S

 

Clarke’s fiction

Former counter terrorism czar Richard A. Clarke's new book, "The Scorpion's Gate" sees Clarke using fiction to demonstrate that only he has the true vision of America’s policy concerning the War on Terrorism.

The NY Times review puts it this way:

Why has Mr. Clarke turned to fiction as a venue for his arguments? No doubt it's a way to say - or imply - things about the Bush administration that he can't quite come out and say in an essay, as well as a way to satirize the intelligence bureaucracy and neo-conservative policy making. It's also a way for Mr. Clarke to dramatize his arguments and try to reach a broader audience.

As the opening chapter of "Against All Enemies" (which provided an insider's account of what happened at the White House on 9/11) demonstrated, Mr. Clarke has a flair for creating vivid, you-are-there narratives, but "The Scorpion's Gate" still reads like a journeyman effort: there are awkward passages of exposition shoehorned into the early portions of the story and stilted conversations meant to convey key information to the reader. Although one of Mr. Clarke's heroes, Rusty MacIntyre, is a credible enough creation, most of his characters have the cardboardy feel of generic figures in a thriller. The action sequences, based on Mr. Clarke's knowledge of spy tradecraft and military maneuvers, are decidedly more gripping, though even they pale in comparison to the real-life drama of terrorism, governmental bungling and bureaucratic infighting that the author laid out in his nonfiction account of 9/11 and the war against Iraq.

New Hampshire plan

New Hampshire Democrats are proposing their own plan for the 2008 presidential calendar that would leave Iowa and New Hampshire first, closely followed by a couple of contests in states with more diverse populations.

The Associated Press reports:

"We need to decrease front-loading, increase diversity, recognize Iowa and New Hampshire laws and traditions and have a calendar that will let us elect a Democrat to the White House," said Kathleen Sullivan, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. She said her state's proposal would limit the number of early contests while assuring diversity. The populations of Iowa and New Hampshire are predominantly white.

Rove & Time

The Washington Post reports that Senior White House Advisor Karl Rove wasn’t indicted in part because of Rove’s attorney sharing information gathered from a Time magazine reporter:

Viveca Novak, who has written intermittently about the leak case for Time, has been asked to provide sworn testimony to Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald in the next few weeks after Rove attorney Robert Luskin told Fitzgerald about a conversation he had with her, the two sources said.

It's not clear why Luskin believes Novak's deposition could help Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, who remains under investigation into whether he provided false statements in the case. But a person familiar with the matter said Luskin cited his conversations with Novak in persuading Fitzgerald not to indict Rove in late October, when the prosecutor brought perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges against Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Note: Viveca Novak is not related to Robert Novak who first broke the news that Joe Wilson’s trip to Niger was arranged by his wife Valerie Plame who works for the CIA.

Democrat ethics problem

The Associated Press reports on how lobbyist Jack Abramoff handed out checks to supporters of his Indian causes:

A lawyer for the Louisiana Coushatta Indians told The Associated Press that Abramoff instructed the tribe to send $5,000 to Sen. Byron Dorgan political group just three weeks after the North Dakota Democrat urged fellow senators to fund a tribal school program Abramoff's clients wanted to use.

Democrat Dorgan received $20,000 from Indian tribal interests after writing the letter of support. Others receiving like funding where according to the A.P.: Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; Sens. Trent Lott, R-Ten.; Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Harry Reid D-Nev.; and John Breaux, D-La.; and Reps. Tom DeLay, R-Tex.; Charles Taylor, R-N.C.; and Pete Session, R-Tex.

Democrat plumbers

"Schumer’s Plumbers" – That is what Rush Limbaugh is calling two Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staffers who worked for Senator Chuck Schumer. The two are accused of illegally obtaining the credit report of a Republican candidate for the Senate.

The Democrat’s Watergate style tactics were aimed at Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steel, a Republican candidate for the Senate who is an African American. He is seeking to replace the retiring Paul Sarbanes.

Democratic Senate Campaign Committee research director Katie Barge – who came to Schumer directly from the liberal George Soros-funded website Media Matters – and staffer Lauren Weiner used Steele’s Social Security number, reportedly obtained from court records, to "fraudulently and illegally obtain his credit report," according to Investor’s Business Daily. Schumer chairs the DSCC.

Steel has endured racial epitaphs thrown at him by Democrats.

Abortion before High Court

USA Today reports that New Hampshire’s parental notification law is before the U.S. Supreme Court:

To some, a never-enforced New Hampshire law requiring parental notification before a minor has an abortion is a backward step for women's rights. To others, it protects parents' right to know if their child is having an abortion.

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider those arguments Wednesday as it begins to weigh whether to reinstate a law that requires parental notification 48 hours before an abortion can be performed on a woman under the age of 18.

Democrats to New Orleans

The Democrat National Committee announced that they will be holding their first major mid-term meeting of nearly 400 individuals in New Orleans next year. The meeting is scheduled for April 20-22, the weekend of the French Quarter Festival.

"We are deeply committed to the resurgence of New Orleans. And we've been looking for ways to help in tangible ways," said DNC chairman Howard Dean said.

 

click here  to read past Daily Reports

 

 

paid for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC

P.O. Box 171, Webster City, IA 50595

about us  /    /  homepage