Entries for December 10, 2006

To tell the truth and shame the devil, newly minted presidential candidate Tom Vilsack's top issue of energy independence is a snoozer. Yes, yes, of course conservation, energy usage, and fuel supplies are superimportant, but it's a tough opener for the outgoing Iowa governor, who's expected to face Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, and other Democratic superstars in 2008. That is, until he cites God's endorsement. It's right there in his church bulletin.

Tom DeLay's back, this time on the Internet. Friends tell us that the powerful former House majority leader, dubbed the "Hammer" for his tough persuasion tactics, this week unveils TomDeLay.com, where he'll blog—DeLay's Daily—on newsy issues and build a coalition he's calling Grassroots, Action, and Information Network. Sources said the right-leaning Texan will give gain members insider information on the conservative movement and urge them to step in on key issues. And Democrats need not apply: His site will have a way to filter them out.

Those weren't tears of pain former President Bush shed last week during a tribute to his son Jeb, Florida's outgoing governor. Just the opposite. Family friends say the old guy is getting more emotional and has been prone to joyful crying jags when bragging on his kids. And—bless his heart—he doesn't try to stop it; he just lets the tears pour out. His buddies tell us that Bush, 82, also gets weepy when discussing the importance of his family and the blessings he has enjoyed throughout his life. "He has always been an emotional guy," says a pal.

"Oh, no you won't" is the reaction of cops and other first responders to an almost rude FBI decision to ask its Joint Terrorism Task Force members to take a lie detector test. To the FBI, it's a smart move: Since 9/11, the task force of federal and local officials has expanded to some 1,500 in over a hundred offices nationwide. But to some members it's a slap, and something that could hurt their careers if the polygraph—whose accuracy is widely questioned by scientists—burps out an error. Joining local cops in opposition are agents with the Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It's an ugly rumor, but it's spreading like wildfire: Karl Rove has lost his touch. In an amazing betrayal within a family where top political aide Rove is royalty, Bushies have been sneering at his pre-election happy talk that the gop would keep the Senate and take a slight hit in the House, both soon to be run by Democrats. And now we learn that President Bush really believed the GOP was safe, too. On the day before the elections, he asked embattled House gop leader Dennis Hastert to run for speaker again so he could guide the White House's agenda in Congress.

A chief architect of the 1994 GOP Contract With America that helped to end Democratic control in Washington is back with some ideas on how to return Republicans to power. Pollster and wordmeister Frank Luntz's simple message for the losers in the last election: Fess up you were wrong, stop wasting money, woo the middle class, and don't let the Democrats get away with anything. In a 13-page memo, he boils the GOP problem down to one sentence made famous in Cool Hand Luke: "What we got here is [a] failure to communicate." In a do-or-die tone, Luntz calls for new leaders and themes. "Every other political party in the free world changes its language and starts over when it loses. Don't be the stubborn exception."

The job of Charles Allen, head of the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence office and a 40-year CIA vet, is keeping secrets. Except his own. In a town where the information on the business cards of government honchos is normally meaningless, Allen's is remarkably forthcoming. We know because he gave us one. Missing: the useless stuff like the general phone number of DHS. Included: accurate numbers of his cellphone, home-office phone, and work desk. And why? So those who need to can actually reach him.

Here are our favorite website links of the week.

The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count does the grim work of counting every coalition military death in Iraq. It's often cited by news sources like the Washington Post as the authority on the death count.

Yahoo! does a cool online interview with big shots, hosted by Judy Woodruff.

And if you're looking for Christmas presents, check out Athena Designs owned by our old pal Emily Miller, who used to be an aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. She makes the jewelry by hand.

Here's an old dog who can learn new tricks: 80-year-old Rep. John Dingell, who just got an iPod nano and loves it. The most senior House member has an age-appropriate iTunes list he blasts from his iPod: Gilbert and Sullivan show tunes, marches, and Tchaikovsky ballets. The incoming chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee first got hooked when his press secretary, Adam Benson, asked him to record some podcasts. "I told him I thought podcasts were like a 21st-century version of FDR's fireside chats," says Benson. "It wasn't a tough sell."

"To show you how important this one is, I read it."

"Being a former president does not give one a unique privilege to invent information."

"You're making the transition between being the grovelee versus the groveler."

"We're getting about as extinct as the dodo bird."

Sources: White House, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Times