Ex-Clinton aide says Bill lost the nuclear codes
Former President Clinton lost the codes to nuclear war the day the Monica Lewinsky affair broke, was MIA in the fall of 1998 when a decision was needed on the killing of Osama bin Laden, and was "too busy watching a golf match" to OK a 1996 bombing mission in Iraq, says a blockbuster new book by Clinton's former military aide. Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, who carried the nuclear "football" from May 1996 to May 1998, crosses a line no other "mil aide" has before in condemning his commander in chief in Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security. "This story had to be told." But a Clinton national security aide, William Danvers, tells us Clinton was never "unavailable for key" decisions and didn't jeopardize U.S. security. One story: The day the Lewinsky scandal broke, Clinton was to trade in his "biscuit" with the nuclear launch codes. But they were missing. "We never did get them back," says Patterson. Then there's bin Laden: Clinton ducked calls from the Situation Room to OK a Tomahawk attack in 1998, then waffled until it was too late.
Gephardt's path to the mound
Rep. Dick Gephardt begrudgingly concedes the analogy between baseball and the presidential campaign he has joined: "You'd call this spring training." But, he asks, why spoil baseball with politics? Especially when jawing about his St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, the Missouri Dem is running for prez, but he is even more focused on box scores. "Baseball is the deal," he says. Since his milkman father couldn't afford Redbird tickets, Gephardt recalls, he re-enacted games in his yard as a kid. "I slept, drunk, and ate baseball. I wanted to be a Cardinal; that was it." But politics, not Busch Stadium, called. Fast-forward to Mark McGwire's 1998 bid to best Roger Maris's 61 homers. Thanks to his wife's gift of DirecTV's baseball package, Gephardt saw the record breaker. "I cried." He jokingly calls satellite TV "the biggest breakthrough in technology in my life." Back to politics. I asked if he's ready for the presidential obligation of making the first pitch on opening day. "Oh," he says, smirking, "I think I can take care of that problem."
Blue and gray
The White House is quietly switching out those official portraits of a youthful President Bush in federal offices. The new one shows a happy Bush with very gray hair. He's also sporting a tie in his new favorite color: blue. It was red in the old picture. "We're just maturing him up a bit," says one Bushie.
CNN gets FOXy
CNN's year-long campaign to shed its liberal image and be more like conservative-leaning Fox is working. GOP bosses like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay even worry that they're on the network too much. "We've done so much; we have to do more on Fox," says a House leadership aide. "We believe in competition." But Republican leaders still have a ban on appearing on CNN's Crossfire. Hosts " [Paul] Begala and [James] Carville are just too liberal," says the aide.
Travels with Newt
The universe of ousted House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to expand. Not only is he giving advice to war planners at Central Command, but he's also suggesting policy strategies to the White House and offering lines for Bush speeches.
Drew's show
There's no lack of attention on Hollywood stars protesting President Bush's move to war, but that doesn't mean entertainers are antitroop. Take Drew Carey. While on a day trip to Afghanistan recently he was having so much fun he begged to stay--and did for nearly a week without any VIP treatment. "You don't see that very often from a star," says a CentCom official.
Brief Iraqi stay
Despite Army statements that hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops could be stuck in Iraq after the war, we learn that the Office of Reconstruction thinks soldiers could begin going home just three weeks after Baghdad is defeated. What's more, about half of the force could be shipped home three weeks after that.
Easing the PMI
Finally a Republican who breaks the mold. We hear that Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is pushing for a new tax break. But it's not the normal sop to the rich. His idea: Let us blue-collar folk write off the costs of private and government mortgage insurance, that $1,000-a-year punishment because we didn't have 20 percent to put down on the house. Not only will it ease the financial pain of 12 million who use it, but statistics suggest it would actually let another 300,000 buy homes. And, politically, the proposal set to be unveiled this week will let Republicans brag about giving moderate-income Americans a break for once. Does it have a chance of passing? Ryan's cosponsor is Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson and the 12 bill backers are evenly split between D's and R's.
Chao's labors
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who angered union bosses recently when she called for anticorruption initiatives, is receiving support from an unusual group: Union dues payers. Chao tells friends that hundreds of E-mails and letters from unionists have poured in backing her demand that unions reveal how they spend dues. "The rank and file," says a Chao ally, "want to know what happens to their money."
Carding Rice
National Security Adviser Condi Rice has often talked about how cool it would be to run the NFL, maybe even get her picture on a trading card. Well, part of her dream has come true. The Women's Museum, a Smithsonian associate, partnered with Arrid deodorant to pick her as one of five influential women to put on trading cards. Among the others: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Army Col. Heidi Brown, a top combat commander.
Medal of butter
Red Lobster is under fire, but not from health nuts or vegetarians. Friends of Medal of Honor recipients think the restaurant's latest ads trivialize the nation's highest military honor. It's all over an ad that says "butter on your shirt is not a stain; it's a Medal of Honor." Gerard Dumont, cochairman of the Medal of Honor Society Golf Classic set for June at Northern Virginia's Lansdowne Resort, complains that the ad compares the medal for courage and valor "to something as trivial as spilled butter." But Red Lobster spokesperson Wendy Spirduso says, "We don't believe that it in any way offends veterans. We think it is complimentary to them because it is the highest standard there is."
Excerpts of Dereliction of Duty are at www.usnews .com/whispers.
With Richard J. Newman
This story appears in the March 24, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.