Washington Whispers
Today's Lesson:Pandemic 101
Michael Leavitt is taking this whole bird flu scare pretty seriously--a good thing since he's secretary of health and human services. But his interest doesn't end with what Uncle Sam is doing to prepare, we hear. To judge just how bad things could get, he's become a fanatical researcher of the last pandemic biggie, the 1918 Spanish flu, and how it changed history.
Leavitt first got hooked last year when he read John Barry's book The Great Influenza. That led the former Utah guv to look into how his hometown of Cedar City, Utah, handled it. First, his brother told of seeing a plaque in a family insurance building that said it was constructed as a hospital to deal with the modern-day version of the plague. Next, he reviewed back issues of his local paper, enlisted the help of librarians at Southern Utah University, burned up the Internet, and reached out to the Library of Congress for flu stories. "I've become somewhat of a student of the 1918 pandemic," Leavitt says. He has a thick binder of clips from which he pulls local horror stories when he travels to urge state and city officials to get ready. (He's even put it up on www.pandemicflu.gov.) But his research doesn't have a happy ending. The lesson today, he says, is the same as it was in 1918: Locals had better prepare for the worst case because the feds aren't a cure-all. "There is no way," he says, "that you can respond to every hometown."
New Orders for Pentagon Press
After working behind the scenes for several months to reorder the Pentagon press shop, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Dorrance Smith this week will announce a new press secretary-- Eric Ruff--and lay out an aggressive blueprint to get out more news from Iraq. "It's taken me a little longer to do this," says Smith, just back from Iraq. The first order of business was Ruff, who, Smith says, has good access to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, better than even Smith. Next: more briefings from generals in Iraq. Last: more access to top officials and more info for reporters. "I don't think that their needs will be ignored," Smith says. Good thing: Some reporters have felt neglected by Smith, on the job since January. "I guess," he sighs, "that it comes under the heading 'No good deed goes unpunished.'"
On Iran, More Hawkish Than Bush
Europe is one-upping President Bush on the issue of Iran's nuclear weapon plans. While the prez thinks a real Iranian nuke is up to 10 years away, European officials who hold Iran's technical capabilities in higher regard tell us that Tehran could pull it off in five years. "We think their engineers are better," says an official.
The Bill 'n' George Show's Next Act
America's most unlikely friends, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have done just about everything together but star on ABC's Wife Swap, but a visit by the dynamic Katrina Fund duo can still make history. It'll happen May 13 at Tulane University in New Orleans when, possibly for the first time, two former presidents join to give the commencement address. "They're doing it as a show of support for New Orleans," says a Clinton ally. And, we hear, they both love the Cajun chow.
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