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.
FEMA Hideaway Dims the Lights
FEMA's Mount Weather, 75 miles from Washington on the Loudoun-Clarke County border in Northern Virginia, has always tried to be a secretive place. But any hope of staying dark was shattered on 9/11 when the mountain facility opened its deep bunkers to top U.S. officials, reportedly including Vice President Cheney, as a safe haven from terrorists. And ever since, it has often kept security--and construction--lights on at night, leading to neighbors' complaints about light pollution. Now Rep. Frank Wolf tells us that he's done something about it. "We've asked them to shut off the lights," he says. Wolf says the facility at night "looked like a stadium up there." FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker says Mount Weather is proud of its "good-neighbor policy." Just like Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which cuts usage at night, FEMA is doing its best to "accommodate sleeping patterns of the nearby community" by dimming and redirecting lights.
They 'Google It' Even in Iraq
It's perhaps no surprise that the military is as addicted to Googling and blogging as the rest of the country. And Kenneth Krieg, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, says it's prime time to look into that. "Googling and blogging are making their way into military operations at all levels," he writes in a memo. "But the full implications of this revolution are as yet unknown." A military blogger on www.blackfive.net offered advice: "Maybe they should call Al Gore, since he invented the Internet."
Something to Party About at Fox News
Fox News Sunday, the public-affairs show hosted by Chris Wallace, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a star-studded party in Georgetown and potentially a major coup. Dozens of media bigs, from Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld to 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace (Chris's daddy) and Fox boss Rupert Murdoch will show up Wednesday at trendy Cafe Milano. But it may be the appearance of Tony Snow, the original host (from 1996 to 2003), that gets the spotlight if he is tagged this week as the next White House spokesman.
41's Plane, Minus His Parachute
If former President George H. W. Bush has his way, he'll be the new Tickle Me Elmo this Christmas. We hear that 21st Century Toys plans to sell a model of the World War II Avenger plane Bush parachuted from during a bombing attack on Japanese targets on Chichi Jima. Bush's office in Houston is helping. His only demand: that the project be historically accurate, though we don't think it will include a model of his parachute and life raft.
With Thomas Omestad, Anna Mulrine and Suzi Parker
This story appears in the May 1, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.