Washington Whispers
The Troops Petition: Let's Finish the Job
A couple of military guys in Iraq have found a way to speak up for completing the mission there without getting into any trouble. Navy Lt. Jason Nichols and Staff Sgt. David Thul from the Minnesota Army National Guard have rolled out an Internet petition to finish the job. Nichols tells us that his colleagues "think the war is worth fighting but there wasn't a way for us to express that fact." Then they discovered that they could file a grievance with Congress, which in this case asks them to back the war. With appealforcourage.org, they've collected nearly 3,000 signatures and will deliver them to Congress this week. "I ... think we're winning the fight in Iraq on the ground," says Nichols, but frets over losing the political battle in Washington. "It's the responsibility of the military to prevent that."
Cowabunga: Turtle Power Returning
Just like the return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after a 14-year absence from the silver screen, real live pet turtles might soon be making a comeback after an even longer 32-year wait. What, you didn't know that those small turtles you kept in a plastic aquarium as a kid are banned by the Food and Drug Administration? The threat of salmonella did it in 1975. What threat? It's hard to keep little tykes from kissing or licking the adorable turtles. But salmonella is easier to eradicate now, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose Louisiana turtle farmers make $9 million in overseas sales, says it's time to unleash turtle power. A Senate vote to allow the sales should come this week.
Bush 101: All Talk, No Management
There could be a brand of Bush 101 taught in business schools soon if James Hoopes, the Murata Professor of Ethics in Business at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., gets his way. Just last week, he landed a publisher for Hail to the CEO: The Failure of George W. Bush and the Cult of Moral Leadership. His premise: President Bush, a Harvard University M.B.A. grad, is proof that business schools focus more on leadership than on management. Bush, he says, "talks about values like freedom and democracy in Iraq and tries to pep up his subordinates during Katrina," like when he told ex-disaster chief Michael Brown, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." But, he adds, Bush "doesn't do nearly enough managerial work such as planning for the postwar occupation of Iraq or getting the supplies to New Orleans."
Paul Bedard's blog is at www.usnews.com/whispers
With Thomas K. Grose, Silla Brush, Anna Mulrine and Suzi Parker
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