Saturday, July 11, 2009

Nation & World

Who let the dogs out?

By Roger Simon
Posted 11/16/03
Page 2 of 3

Two weeks ago, however, Lockyer gave a radio interview saying he had met with Schwarzenegger and told him "some form of independent, third-party review of those [groping] complaints" was needed "to see if there's any criminal liability or not." Schwarzenegger was furious, and his spokesman made the somewhat curious claim that Lockyer had violated "attorney-client" privilege by divulging "the content of communication between himself and the governor-elect." Under California law, Schwarzenegger's spokesman said, "the attorney general is the governor's lawyer."

At the time, however, Schwarzenegger was not governor, nor had the recall vote even been certified. No matter, the spokesman said, Lockyer had violated the privilege, and even though Schwarzenegger had decided "to engage a well-respected investigative firm to look into the allegations," he now might not turn the results over to Lockyer.

Lockyer, who may run for governor in 2006, soon struck back, saying someone had come to him two days before the election with information that Schwarzenegger may have groped someone last year during the filming of Terminator 3. Lockyer also suggested that a toll-free 800 number be established so that anyone with complaints against Schwarzenegger could call in.

But (800) THE-GROPI-NATOR will not fit.

Why Can't Generals Just Get Along?

When at a forum in September, retired Gen. Hugh Shelton was asked if he would support retired Gen. Wesley Clark for president, Shelton, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quickly took a drink of water. "That question makes me wish it were vodka," Shelton said. "I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."

Which was bad enough, but on November 6, retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf appeared on CNBC's Capital Report, hosted by Gloria Borger and Alan Murray, who asked him what he thought of Clark. "I think the greatest condemnation against him . . . came from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he was a NATO commander. I mean, he was fired as a NATO commander," Schwarzkopf replied, "and when Hugh Shelton said he was fired because of matters of character and integrity, that is a very, very damning statement, which says, `If that's the case, he's not the right man for president,' as far as I'm concerned."

Shelton has refused to expand on his remarks, and Schwarzkopf isn't providing details, either. So Clark was understandably miffed when he responded on the campaign trail the next day: "I haven't talked to General Schwarzkopf since 1991, when I interviewed him in his headquarters about what he liked and didn't like about the Army. He left the Army shortly after that; haven't seen him in 12 years. He didn't ask me anything about it. So he's certainly entitled to his opinion, but I think America should hold people to a high standard."

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