Cussing's no stranger to the Bush White House
Running While Black
First there was driving while black. Now there's running while black. At least that's the way it looks to some lawmakers who think the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is racist. We hear that the Congressional Black Caucus is likely to call for an investigation into how the agency picks its targets and whether it has a whites-only hiring practice for staff. The USADA says the charges are unfounded: Fewer than a quarter of the athletes it has sanctioned for drug use are black. Of its 34 staff, 23 are women, though only two of nine top officials are black.
Rummy's Big Foot
Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld has done it again. Just days after the White House brokered a deal to end a stalemate over Sen. John McCain 's probe of a costly Air Force plan to lease air refueling tankers, Rumsfeld seems to have derailed it. Congressional aides said he is again trying to limit what documents about the deal the senators can see. If the SecDef doesn't play ball, McCain and others are likely to subpoena the papers.
Operation Grateful
We hate to admit it, but not all lawyers stink. Take those at the legal and lobby outfit Greenberg Traurig. They've raised $22,000 and counting to send 1,000 care packages to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany. G-T's Washington rep, Joe Reeder, a former Army under secretary, called it Operation Grateful. He said the firm polled families for what the troops want. Soft toilet paper was No. 1. But just as important were Beanie Babies because troops in Iraq and Afghanistan like to give them to kids.
Vacation-free zone
Not only is President Bush skipping a long summer break to campaign; the whole Republican Party has junked the practice of standing down during the Democratic convention. Besides airing ads in battleground states during the Democratic confab, the GOP will kick off a national community-service drive called "Compassion Across America" in every state.
Cartoon Convention
The cartoonists are coming, the cartoonists are coming. That's the story in Paul Revere 's hometown of Boston during the Democratic National Convention. A huge exhibit of political cartoons from 35 artists, including 19 Pulitzer winners, will be hosted at Boston's Suffolk University by the school and the John Joseph Moakley Archive and Institute. But it's not all GOP-bashing at the gallery right off Boston Common. The cartoons are evenly split between the parties. "It seems," said Boston Globe cartoonist Dan Wasserman, "to be an equal-opportunity collection of insults."
Yummy Chummies
Treasury Secretary John Snow hates to leave his mutt, Gus, at home, but the pup probably wouldn't mind if his master made a return trip to Anchorage. That's because Snow last week ended a business trip at Arctic Paws, maker of salmon dog treats called Yummy Chummies. In his thank-you note to owners Brett and Kelly Gibson, who gave him some samples, Snow said, "I know Gus will be grateful for the treats." We're told he was.
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With Julian E. Barnes
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