Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

The Kickapoo Identity

13 February 2006 |permalink | email article

When asked about Jack Abramoff on Jan. 26, President Bush replied, ìI donít know him.î But a photo of him and the disgraced lobbyist appear together in a photo on the Time Web site that is the first published image of the two together in the same room. What does it mean?

Scott McClellan says it means nothing, is one of thousands of photos the president has taken with thousands of people over the last five years and has no relevance to the Justice Department investigation of Abramoff. Still, the scandal cast a dark shadow over a weekend Republican retreat in Maryland where Bush reassured the faithful about his weak poll standing. If the GOP really cares about the appearance of a conflict in a midterm election year, it means something.

Time and the New York Times published the photo Saturday showing Bush greeting Chief Raul Garza, leader of the Kickapoo tribe in southwest Texas at the Old Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House on May 9, 2001. Abramoff is looking on from the background and, yes, Karl Rove is seen in a partial profile watching from the presidentís right shoulder.

Although it is not clear what contact Abramoff had, if any, with the president during the 20 minutes the session lasted, the picture taken by a White House photographer is revealing. It demonstrates that the lobbyist, anxious to demonstrate his political influence with Indian tribes, was able, with the aid of senior administration officials, to penetrate the innermost sanctum of government.

NYT reported that the photograph was provided to it by Chief Garza, under indictment on federal charges of embezzling money from his tribe, who said he had ìnothing to hideî in his dealings with Abramoff and the White House. His lawyer said the lobbyist arranged for the chief to attend the meeting, ostensibly for a group of state legislators supportive of Bushís 2001 tax cut plan. Also in attendance was Grover Norquist, a leading conservative tax strategist and friend of Abramoff.

While Abramoff never got the contract to represent the tribe and its lucrative casino, the ìKickapoo Identityî ñ a mere photo op or more ñ is a classic metaphor for influence peddling at the summit in Washington.

Bush: Recycling the News

10 February 2006 |permalink | email article

President Bush disclosed yesterday new details of a foiled terrorist plot to fly a highjacked jet into a Los Angeles skyscraper, the tallest building on the West Coast, and crediting international cooperation in the war on terrorism with thwarting the 2002 scheme.

His speech appeared to confuse and stun many, gave the impression that Republicans want to make national security the #1 issue in the midterm elections and caused a peevish Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to vent that the White House had not given him advance notice.

While some details are new - the planned use of a ìshoe bombî by hijackers to access the cockpit door - neither Bush nor the White House gave any real reason beyond Rovian spin for releasing details of a plot they first disclosed last October. In fact, most of what Bush said about the plot was already recycled news.

The Sunday Times (London) reported on March 28, 2004 that Osama Bin Laden ordered his operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to prepare for an attack on Heathrow soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. as part of a two-pronged assault, with a cryptic reference to the Library Tower in Los Angeles.

On March 31, 2004, the Los Angeles Times confirmed that an attack on the Library Tower was planned but never carried out. ìWe were made aware of that information last spring,î said John Miller, the LAPDís top anti-terrorism official (now a rising figure in the FBI) who detailed a number of immediate measures to heighten security and implement high-rise evacuation drills after the plot was uncovered.

Miller said the Joint Terrorism Task Force first learned of Al Qaedaís aborted plans for a second wave of attacks in 2003, according to the Times story. It noted that ìtwo law enforcement sources said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, captured in March 2003, reportedly told his interrogators that the Library Tower ñ now known as the U.S. Bank Tower ñ was targeted along with Chicagoís Sears Tower.î

It is known that L.A. public officials, including then-Councilman Villaraigosa, were privy to briefings on the Al Qaeda plot by Miller three years ago, making his rant a little disingenuous. The mayor told AP that he was amazed that the president would make an announcement on national TV without informing his office. But his office said the White House made such a disclosure on Wednesday.

Villaraigosa issued a reassuring statement updating many of the precautions detailed by Miller in 2003. But Kevin Roderick, editor of laobserved.com, was not reassured by the mayorís math that LAFD helicopters can evacuate 350 people an hour off the roof of a burning building. ìHow many hours would it take to clear a sixty-story office tower?î

The mayor did get a live shot on CNN, but so what? Bush daily plays the network like a fiddle.

Lobby Reform:  McCain-Obama Duel

08 February 2006 |permalink | email article

The riveting exchange of letters on lobbying ethics reform this week between Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was refreshingly transparent and a departure from the phony collegiality that governs rhetorical exchanges in the U.S. Senate. 

It suggested that trouble lies ahead in ongoing bipartisan efforts to come up with legislation governing relations with lobbyists in the wake of the guilty plea by superlobbyist Jack Abramoff.

A petulant McCain accused the freshman senator of ìpartisan posturingî on ethics reform ñ a charge turned aside by Obama as puzzling and regrettable

Based on Obamaís previous letter thanking McCain for the invitation to a meeting to discuss reform proposals, McCain wrote ìI concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions.î

Obama responded he had no idea what ìprompted your responseÖThe fact that you have now questioned my sincerity Öis regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem.î

Three points to consider:

First, Republicans, not Democrats, are at the center of the Abramoff scandal. They are angry at attempts to link the lobbying issue to what Democrats call the Republican ìculture of corruption.î

Second, McCain, certain to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, understands the problem but hopes to be the un-wingnut who can appeal to Democrats and independents. While a media favorite, his emotional outburst suggests heís politically thin-skinned and vulnerable in the long run.

Third, Obamaís parry of McCainís attack was both deft and cool. He made headlines as keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and won election to the Senate. He is the Democratsí fastest rising star.