A Spy Chief Gets Down, on the Farm
His job is tough, the hours stink, and the critics just keep coming--take last week's report on intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq war. But there's one thing that keeps CIA Director Porter Goss smiling through it all: He's got Retreat Farm in the back of his mind. That's the 575-acre Virginia spread the former Florida congressman and his wife bought back in 1999 and have since turned into a producer of organically grown fruits, veggies, and lean meats. "He doesn't get there often," says a friend, "but it's always in his mind." His plan was to move there, but then the job of a lifetime for an ex-CIA agent was offered. Before moving into CIA headquarters, Goss told Virginia Living magazine that farming "was the opposite of Washington. This is nice . . . not cutthroat." While he's absent, Mariel Goss has just reopened Mariel's Market, a farm stand in Rapidan, Va., featuring her "famous" blackberry jam. With all that's happening in Washington, Goss won't get a spoonful for quite a while, says a family friend, "but it's something he's looking forward to."
Hollywood's One-Man Police Force
Dan Glickman , Hollywood's new man in Washington, isn't just whining about crooks who illegally copy movies to sell on the streets. Glickman, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, is conducting his own investigations. It all started during a recent trip to a Mexico City market where he found dozens of Hollywood's best for sale--all bootleg copies. He called the cops, and three days later the thieves were arrested. Now he's in India hoping to bust up theft rings. Inside MPAA, they call it the "Hollywood to Bollywood" campaign, a reference to India's movie industry. "Dan Glickman doesn't mess around," says an aide. "There's a new sheriff in town."
Bush Team, West Wing at War Again
White House and GOP insiders say they feel like suckers after falsely believing President Bush 's re-election would be met with acceptance from Hollywood. Their tip: Last month's West Wing episode in which the Alan Alda character blasted pols who use religion for political advantage. "Just when Hollywood was trying to get back in our good graces," said one insider, "they used that offensive script." Bushies think the script was targeting their boss. But Lawrence O'Donnell, a former Democratic Hill staffer, tells us he was just writing a good story, and he adds that the Alda character is a Republican presidential candidate. Then he let Bush have it. "If the White House worries that when that subject comes up it is somehow aimed at the president, well, you know, who told them to use religion in campaigning so much?" asks O'Donnell. "There's no one in our modern political history who has used his religiosity more deliberately and actively and falsely in campaigning than George Bush, second only to . . . Bill Clinton ."
Simple Life Too Weird for Pelosi
Fox's shockingly tasteless--and hilarious-- Simple Life turned out to be too much for Rep. Nancy Pelosi. This year, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are doing internships, and the producers approached the Democrat to see if the girls could lick stamps in the lawmaker's Washington offices. Thankfully, we hear, madam minority leader said no.
Is Anybody Not Running in '08?
We've got more names to add to the growing list of 2008 presidential hopefuls. On the Democratic side, pen in Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Allies say his trip south last week was the first of many to red states where he hopes to push his progressive agenda. On the GOP side, add rookie South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who took down former Democratic leader Tom Daschle . Senior Republicans say he's being groomed for a veep or even presidential run. Include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty . Insiders love his record of balancing the budget, boosting education, and protecting the environment. Finally: ousted Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman , the former moderate New Jersey guv.
Even France Is Better Than Haiti
At least someone likes France: ex-Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier , better known as "Baby Doc." Amid rumors the bully wants to return to run for president in November, insiders say he won't leave France. "It is not true," says Fritz Cineas , [a] former top aide who lives in Washington. "I have reached someone close to him, and he has denied the allegations."
Dad, You Audited My Pal's Parents
Being commissioner of the IRS really is all it's cracked up to be. And that's not always good. Current taxman Mark Everson says angry taxpayers have come to his house, and "that's not very pleasant." Then his son came home one day with "some story about a bad audit" of a pal's family. Still, he says, he did receive a positive E-mail this tax season from a citizen happy to pay his share, though he asked for an IRS T-shirt as a reward. "I love this job," says Everson. "I'm surprised more people don't like it."
Not So Sweet on Bush and Hillary
What do President Bush and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have in common? Sweets lovers think they'd be the last ones to refill the office candy bowl. In a Harris poll for Life Savers, 31 percent of Democrats say Bush wouldn't open his wallet for refills, and 38 percent of Republicans think Clinton wouldn't either. Truth is, neither Bush nor Clinton has to. Here's why. The candy man in Clinton's office is spokesman Philippe Reines, who tells us: "There are two jars on my desk that I keep stocked with Starburst-brand jelly beans." At the White House, aides and stewards keep the bowls fresh in the West Wing, on Air Force One, and even on Marine One. But then, Bush really only sneaks his favorite candy--butter rum Life Savers.
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With Edward T. Pound
This story appears in the April 11, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.