Thumbs Up for '08 For the Kerry Clan
Big Changes for Bush's A.M. Brief
The all-important President's Daily Brief by the CIA is in for a big change now that President Bush 's intelligence shakeup has taken place. First, new intel czar John Negroponte is joining CIA Director Porter Goss for morning coffee in the Oval Office with the prez. What's more: The PDB, once the sole responsibility of CIA analysts, is getting input from other intelligence agencies. We hear the CIA crew is miffed about losing their grip on the supersecret document.
A Razorback Fat Foe Goes National
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 's war on fat will go national when he takes over the National Governors Association this summer. The guv, who tells how he lost more than 100 pounds in Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, wants to expand his "Healthy Arkansas" plan to encourage Americans to eat better and exercise more.
Budget Geeks: 'Born to Be Wild'
Don't be surprised if the next American Idol tryout session is held in the staid cubicles of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Behind those closed doors lurk budget writers with an itch to perform. We know because it happened last week, at the annual BE Day, a very off-the-record time when budget examiners use skits to lampoon their political bosses. This year, though, Budget Director Joshua Bolten , his top aides, and even White House Chief of Staff Andy Card played along. Bolten surprised the auditorium packed with OMB staff when he stepped out with his band, the "Deficit Attention Disorder," all dressed like the Blues Brothers. Backing up Bolten on bass guitar and Card on trumpet were the "Deficettes" on maracas: budget deputy Joel Kaplan and management deputy Clay Johnson. They rocked out to their own version of Born to Be Wild, rewritten as Born to Be Green , a reference to OMB's report card that gives grades in red, yellow, and green. "Like a true budget geek," they crooned, "I was born, born to be green. Gonna get so green, red and yellow can't be seen." One observer said Idol 's " Paula Abdul would have loved it, and I think even Simon Cowell would have begrudgingly muttered approval." Maybe you had to be there.
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With Suzi Parker and Kevin Whitelaw
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