Entries for May 2009

By Anna Mulrine, Washington Whispers

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has "gone down a few notches" in the eyes of some military officials as a result of his recent firing of top U.S. Army Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. McKiernan was notified he would be let go just days before his scheduled home leave in April. Though his replacement, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has a stellar reputation among his military compatriots, the manner in which McKiernan was dismissed by Pentagon leadership left a bitter taste in some mouths. "If you want to replace the guy, OK, but the way they went about it took Gates down" in the eyes of many in the military, says one senior officer. "The entire Army gasped at how rude" the process was, he adds.

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

The prez sure has been giving a lot of love to Pittsburgh lately. He announced he'll hold the next G-20 summit in the Steel City, entertained the Pittsburgh Steelers at the White House (he divulged to the Super Bowl champs that he has a "terrible towel," the black-and-gold rag fans wave in the air), and even invited the owners of local fave Pamela's to help make Memorial Day breakfast.

Why bring in out-of-towners to do the job? One word: pancakes.

By Maura Judkis, Washington Whispers

If there were a radio station that played only the favorite music of our nation's politicians and news anchors, chances are it would be called "Smooth FM—Light Adult Contemporary." And chances are no one under 50 would listen. But if Sen. Russ Feingold and NBC anchor Brian Williams controlled the airwaves, they'd opt for a hip college radio station with plenty of undiscovered bands and cool-'til-it-gets-too-popular indie rock.

Pollster John Zogby regularly updates our Obamameter. Each week, Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a rating of between 1 and 100. Unlike his polls, the Obamameter is his judgment on the performance of the president once multiple factors are considered. In this week's Obamameter, Zogby says the president is slipping a bit because of his Guantánamo policies, but his Supreme Court pick of Sonia Sotomayor will help the president politically.

By Amanda Ruggeri, Washington Whispers

President Obama may not exactly be keen on nuclear power, but that can't keep the folks at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission down. They're still happy to work at the agency, which independently oversees and regulates the nation's use of radioactive materials—so happy that of all 278 federal organizations, the NRC has been rated No. 1 for the second time in a row in the Best Places to Work rankings.

By Amanda Ruggeri, Washington Whispers

Bipartisanship? Not so much, says Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Republican who is running for governor of his state and is the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Hoekstra tells Whispers that he doesn't think Obama's election brought a new era of bipartisanship to the Hill. Rather, he says, the Bush administration actually one-upped the current administration in reaching out to the other side of the aisle on national security issues, at least at first. While the Bushies became "shellshocked" toward the end, "early on in the Bush administration, they did reach out a lot to Republicans and Democrats," Hoekstra tells Whispers. His best examples: the briefings on terrorist surveillance programs and enhanced interrogation techniques. "We're not seeing the same pattern of briefing or consultation with Congress on Guantánamo and other strategies that the president is laying out," he explains. "These are unilaterally coming from the president, without any consultation."

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

He counts Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as readers, but novelist Ace Atkins's ties to a real-life pol go back to his Auburn, Ala., high school days with Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. Tenth-grade English class, to be precise. "I don't think you could talk to Bob two seconds without him cracking a joke," Atkins says. "Even as a teenager, he had a very wry wit." Atkins recalls how they made fun of others in class. "He sat right in front of me in 10th-grade English, and getting through someone's serious poetry reading without laughing was always tough." A crime writer—his new book is titled Devil's Garden —Atkins says he never considered crafting a character after Gibbs. Until last week, that is, when the spokesman lowered the boom on two reporters who let their cellular phones ring during his daily briefing. "I thought he'd make a pretty good reform sheriff," says Atkins.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

They account for one third of President Obama's cabinet, and some have been on the job for four months, but the women of the administration are still waiting for their first girls' night out on the town. The reason, says Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: They're just too dang busy. But should things settle down in the summer, look for a gathering of the seven. "We haven't had any, like, dinner party," Napolitano says. "It's a good idea, but we just haven't had a chance."

By Paul Bedard and Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

President Obama may have been on to something last month when he relaxed travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans who want to visit relatives on the island nation. In our newest Synovate eNation Internet Poll, we asked you which shunned country you'd most like to visit, and Cuba won big. Burma was the second-most-popular vacation spot but with only 20 percent wanting to visit the Southeast Asian nation. North Korea, Iran, and Somalia weren't appealing for many of you. Apparently, real pirates aren't good for attracting tourists.

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

Interviewer Larry King's on-camera politics are inscrutable. But the CNN host comes clean about his lefty views in his autobiography, My Remarkable Journey, which landed in bookstores this week. King worries the disclosures might affect his objective image. "I talked to officials at CNN about it," he says. "But if you're writing an autobiography, you'd be comatose not to have opinions on certain things. You hit a certain age and if you don't have opinions, people think there's something the matter." King says his left-of-center politics—anti-Iraq war, against the death penalty, and for a sturdy social safety net—grew out of his childhood in Depression Brooklyn. "Policies for the poor helped me," says King, 75. "New York City bought me my first pair of glasses." Still, Lefty Larry isn't an Obamatron—yet. "He's so new upon the scene," King says. "The No. 1 thing he has that you can't invent, teach, or buy is likability. But where's the elements? Where's the fill down? We don't know yet."

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney might sneer at him, but Colin Powell has many fans in Jamaica who think he can walk on water. We hear that a 40-foot mural is being painted for the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica that will depict the night sky the way it was when the former secretary of state and son of island immigrants was born. At a recent State Department dinner featuring Powell, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joked, "You know, there's another story about the stars that someone was born under, and three wise men, and all of that." She added: "We have the closest modern equivalent here."