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Colin Powell Has Fans in Jamaica
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2009 Comment (6)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."
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Sen. Claire McCaskill Tweets to Show She's Human, Not Cruella De Vil
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2009 Comment (6)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
So why did Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill start Twittering so much that she's now dubbed 'Senator Tweet'? To let people know she's not the devil
Losing the 2004 Missouri governor's race was tough for Claire McCaskill, now the state's junior senator. But it's what people said about her that really rubbed the Democrat raw. Explaining the roots of her torrid Twittering, McCaskill tells Whispers of a focus group in that election: She gasped as voters called her smart but cold. "One woman called me Cruella De Vil," she says. McCaskill, a self-described "friendly person," says, "I vowed from that day forward that it was important that people know that I'm a human being." Enter Twitter.
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Abortion, Guantánamo Critics Fail to Rattle Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook May 22, 2009 Comment (3)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 that the president was able to keep his 85 out of 100 rating despite criticism on his abortion and Guantánamo Bay policies.
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Conservatives: Liz Cheney Should Run for Office
Tweet Share on Facebook May 22, 2009 Comment (135)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The hottest Republican property out there isn't former Vice President Dick Cheney but his daughter Liz, who has taken to the airwaves to defend her dad and the whole Bush administration on national security and Guantánamo Bay issues. Liz Cheney, who followed the former veep's hard-hitting speech criticizing President Obama's policies with a CNN appearance, is becoming so popular in conservative circles that some want her to run for office. "She's awesome. Everyone wants her to run," said a close friend.
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Obama Reaches Out to GOP on Supreme Court Pick
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2009 Comment (9)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
As he starts interviewing candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court opening, President Obama has been reaching out to Republican senators to solicit their views, according to GOP officials. Sen. John Cornyn today confirmed that the president buzzed him this week "to take the temperature on this." An administration official said: "The president has called all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to solicit their advice about the Supreme Court nomination and the confirmation process." In the calls, welcomed by the GOP, the president is not making any commitments, and Republicans aren't offering potential names. But there has been a sense from the GOP side that the president is interested in a speedy nomination and confirmation and one without a bloody fight. Republicans say that should Obama pick a "mainstream" judge to replace the retiring David Souter, it's likely confirmation could come in about three months. The confirmation of former President Bush's nomination of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, which took 72 days, is the example both sides are aiming to copy. But the Republicans have warned the president that picking a left-leaning judge and then trying to jam the confirmation through the Democratic-dominated Senate would provoke a prolonged battle.
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Nashville's Amy Grant Works to Help Wounded Vets
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2009 Comment (3)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Her latest hit is She Colors My Day , about mothers, but Nashville's Amy Grant could have written the song for the Iraq and Afghanistan war wounded she looks out for as part of a nationwide bid to raise awareness of the problems vets face at home. An established star who's married to another, Vince Gill, Grant could just sit tight and count her dollars, but instead she's a philanthropic powerhouse who's now devoting her energies to Challenge America, a group that helps wounded vets find work, housing, and fun.
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House Page System Is Back On Track After Scandals, May Expand
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2009 Comment (1)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The sometimes troubled page system at the House of Representatives is "healthy and moving forward," says the House clerk, Lorraine Miller. In fact, she's thinking about expanding it. Under consideration is assigning the errand boys and girls to committees, not just senior House members. She reasons that it would broaden their educational experience by exposing them to the very panels that write laws. And if that doesn't work, she's planning summer school for the pages.
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Bill O'Reilly Crows: Liberal Ana Marie Cox Owes Her Life to Fox News
Tweet Share on Facebook May 20, 2009 Comment (8)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
Greta Van Susteren got a nice little pat on the back from Fox News Channel colleague Bill O'Reilly on his show recently. He dubbed Van Susteren a "patriot" for the help she gave to Air America Radio host Ana Marie Cox aboard an Amtrak train when Cox suffered an allergic reaction to the food she was eating, an item first reported by Whispers. "Ironically, Miss Cox, a far-left person, now may owe her life to the Fox News Channel," O'Reilly says.
Here's the clip:
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Don't Kill Reagan, Says Gov. Haley Barbour
Tweet Share on Facebook May 20, 2009 Comment (32)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Enough already with the talk in GOP circles that it's time to put a stake through Ronald Reagan's heart. Just the opposite, says self-described Reaganite Haley Barbour, Mississippi's two-term governor and a former Republican National Committee chairman. The time is now to apply Reagan's values and principles to a party that's lost its way, he says. "My point is that the issue-set changes that you've got to deal with," says the popular guv, who is on some 2012 GOP presidential shortlists. "Republicans aren't thinking that we ought to get out Ronald Reagan's playbook and go start practicing those plays. But our principles and values haven't changed," he says.
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Chris Matthews, Modern-Day St. Francis
Tweet Share on Facebook May 20, 2009 Comment (6)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
Chris Matthews may be best known for his loud mouth and sometimes cantankerous demeanor, but the Hardball host is a big softy for animals. "Well, first of all, anybody who spends two years in Africa is going to be fascinated with African wildlife," he tells us.
Matthews served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970 and now sits on the board of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which hosted an event last night bringing actors Pierce Brosnan and Goran Visnjic to the Capitol to promote whale protection legislation.
