Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

A Five Ton Gorilla?

29 December 2005 |permalink | email article

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt authorized senior executives to hold secret meetings with NFL officials this fall in a strong pitch to bring pro football back to Los Angeles, even as the league continues to focus publicly on the Coliseum and Anaheim, the Boston Herald first reported yesterday.

A detailed plan, ìProject Five Ton Gorilla,î would give the former Boston land mogul, who bought the baseball team nearly two years ago from News Corp., control of two major sports franchises in a huge media market. McCourt proposed to build a 65,000-seat stadium on a huge parking with a giant retail complex tract around Dodger Stadium. Copies of leaked documents and mailed to the Herald by an anonymous tipster were authenticated by Dodger officials, the paper said.

The Los Angeles Times today quoted political leaders who, together with county and state officials, have long been united behind the Los Angeles Coliseum as the NFL appears closer to selecting one or more stadium sites in Southern California, expressed dismay at McCourtís insensitivity and covert action.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he had to believe McCourt ìdidnít understand the depth and extent of the community consensus behind the Coliseum as an NFL team in Los Angeles.î Greg Aiello, the league spokesman, told the Times ìwe told the McCourt group we were not interested in proceeding unless we are able to close deals with the Coliseum and Anaheim.î Question:  who is the McCourt group, anyway?

Ever since a 1958-land swap referendum, narrowly passed, which gave Chavez Ravine to the Dodgers in a sweetheart stadium deal, the property has been controversial. Former Dodger owner Peter OíMalley expressed interest in building an NFL stadium but was persuaded by civic leaders instead to get behind the Coliseum.

The real story here is the chutzpah of McCourt, derisively called ìThe Parking Lot Attendantî by the Timesí columnist T. J. Simers. He bought the Dodgers with borrowed money, has made disastrous ownership decisions on and off the field, and often seems less interested in promoting the ìDodger Blueî brand than making the team a West Coast version of the Red Sox.

The Herald reported, ìFrank McCourtís advisers warned he could expect ëheatí if the news of his play for a NFL franchise became public. The move could raise questions among both Los Angeles Dodgers fans and Major League Baseball, one Dodger executive said.î It has. What a PR gaffe!

Ethics Scandal: Will Jack Sing?

29 December 2005 |permalink | email article

The new year starts with high anxiety in the Capitol. Will the indictment of Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff for fraud in Florida in a corruption scandal taint members of Congress who must face voters in 2006?

Anxiety, from the White House down, is fueled by published reports that Abramoff is close to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. A deal could jell in early January. The negotiations are complicated because they involve prosecutors, in both Miami and Washington where the once powerful lobbyist is the subject of a federal influence-peddling investigation.

While plea negotiations continue in that case, prosecutors believe there is evidence of a corruption scheme involving more than a dozen lawmakers and former staffers, who worked closely with Abramoff and accepted gifts and favors in return. If he becomes a star witness in the biggest congressional ethics scandal since 1992, when it was disclosed that 350 House members were allowed to bounce checks with impunity at the House bank, will the domino theory be in play?

Abramoff ís influence was astonishing on Capitol Hill: 210 current members of Congress received contributions from him or his clients. But 25 lawmakers received $25,500 or more ñ 20 were Republicans and five were Democrats but, as the Los Angeles Times reported, none of the Democrats got money directly from Abramoff. Democrats say the GOP has brought a ìculture of corruption and cronyismî to the capital.

In California, the Sacramento Bee on Dec. 11 identified eight members of the California GOP delegation who have documented ties, through campaign finance or lobbyist disclosure forms, to companies and individuals under scrutiny in the Randy “Duke"îCunningham defense-industry bribery case and others, including Abramoff and his dealings with Indian tribal clients. Republicans say the scandal is bipartisan, noting 40 of 45 Senate Democrats got money from Abramoff clients.

Jesse Unruh, the late Democratic Speaker of the California Assembly, famously coined the phrase, ìmoney is the motherís milk of politics.î The color of lobbyistsí money is what now nourishes political corruption in Washington.

As 2005 fades to yesterday, the fear among lawmakers is a replay of the 1992 ethical backlash which drove dozens of members from Congress ñ not Tom DeLayís association with Abramoff ñ and what happens if Jack spills the beans.

Karen of Arabia

27 December 2005 |permalink | email article

One sympathizes with Karen P. Hughes, a W. political mom, long time confidante and communications adviser who is now undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. Her job is to improve the tattered image of the United States and expand support for its policies abroad ñ not only in Europe and Asia but also notably in the Arab world.

It has proven to be a daunting PR task as was evident from her first Middle East trip in September, where she introduced herself as a ìmomî and was confronted by angry women who criticized support for the war in Iraq and American support for Israel. It was a reminder, as the New York Times pointed out Monday, that Hughesís mission is ìan uphill battle.î

Hughes was a member of the secret White House Iraq Group which plotted propaganda for a buildup to the war seven months before launch. She’s raced beyond the State Departmentís quickened rapid response to what news outlets are saying about U.S. policies in the Middle East. She now appears on Al Jazeera, the popular Arabic satellite TV station, linked by the Pentagon to Islamic extremists, in an unapologetic response to anti-American rhetoric.

The State Department has doubled the number of its interview in Arabic to about 100 this year. But Hughes now has a bigger communications challenge: to ensure that an orderly exit of U.S. troops from Iraq requires a language component to complement a viable Iraqi security force.

James Fallows writes in the December issue of the Atlantic Monthly the Iraqis arenít even close, and the White House has never taken the problem urgently. (See 12/1 post, ëFatal Exit Flaw: No Iraq Army.í He blames much of the problem on the inability of the military to solve its major language problems, citing a credible Marine source as saying U.S. forces and trainers should have about 22,000 interpreters instead of just one or two per company.

For Hughes to preach about democracy and womenís rights in Egypt, even though Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally, ignores them in practice is troubling enough. But the Pentagonís inexcusable planning failure to provide enough Arabic speakers in the military to help expedite a withdrawal from Iraq is unpardonable.