Why Is King Abdullah Saying No to Dinner?

President Bush enjoys hosting formal state dinners about as much as having a root canal. Or proposing tax increases. So his decision to schedule a mid-April White House gala for Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah signified the president's high regard for an Arab monarch who is also a Bush family friend.

Now the White House ponders what Abdullah's sudden and sparsely explained cancellation of the dinner signifies. Nothing good -- especially for Condoleezza Rice's most important Middle East initiatives -- is the clearest available answer.

Abdullah's bowing out of the April 17 event is, in fact, one more warning sign that the Bush administration's downward spiral at home is undermining its ability to achieve its policy objectives abroad. Friends as well as foes see the need, or the chance, to distance themselves from the politically besieged Bush.

UPDATE: The Bush administration responded with shock to King Abdullah’s declaration that the U.S. is “illegitimately” occupying Iraq. “We were a little surprised to see those remarks,” said Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns. White House spokesman Dana Perino claimed, “It is not accurate to say that the United States is occupying Iraq.”

Dobson Seeks to Put Kibosh on Thompson's Bid

People For The American Way:

As we noted the other day, James Dobson is a member of The Arlington Group, a secretive coalition of right-wing powerhouses that is throwing around its political power by interviewing presidential candidates in an attempt to anoint the eventual GOP nominee by granting said nominee its seal-of-approval.

At the same time, various polls show TV star and former Senator Fred Thompson oing quite well among Republican voters despite the fact that he is not even officially running. That apparently was frightening enough to James Dobson to compel him to make an unsolicited phone call to Dan Gilgoff, author of "The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War," in order to decree that Thompson's candidacy is unacceptable because Dobson doesn't "think he's a Christian"[..]

Dobson went on to say that Gov. Mitt Romney can't win because "there are conservative Christians who will not vote for him because of his Mormon faith," and that "the current excitement over Giuliani" will soon fade.

The only potential nominee for whom Dobson had any praise was Newt Gingrich, who just so happened to appear on Dobson's radio program a few weeks ago where he confessed to having cheated on his wife during the impeachment of President Clinton and claimed to have sought forgiveness.[..]

Dobson has already said that he will not vote for Sen. John McCain, accused Thompson of not being a Christian, made clear that he doesn't think Romney can win, and declared that Giuliani's campaign is doomed. And since he is not out there praising third-tier candidates such as Sam Brownback or Mike Huckabee, that pretty much leaves Gingrich as Dobson's only choice.

LSB: Where did Dobson get this "power?" Who decided that Dobson gets to decide who is a Christian and who isn't? It is these types of dupicitous actions that give Christians a bad name. Those that listen to this man should be reminded not to follow false prophets.

Sunday Comics

LSB: This is SOOOOO Sean Hannity!

The Crier Wire: If George Were King!

Catherine Crier has some really good monologues at the end of her show and this was one of them. She takes a look at Bush's abuse of power. Download (3945) Play (3533)

Crier: In the last six years this President has assumed more power than any President in history… How about the other matters in the King's court… Former WH counsel Harriet Miers would now be a Supreme Court justice. Michael Brown would still be head of FEMA because as you know he did a " heckofajob." Donald RUmsfeld would still be Secretary of Defense because of his marvelous handling of the Iraq war. And former gay prostittute Jeff Gannon, a mysterious member of the WH press corp. might now be sitting in Helen Thomas's seat…

She uses some really good video clips of Bush to make her point—and that includes the press…She covers the Attorney scandal and goofs on Rove.

Gen. tried to warn Bush on Tillman

Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

It was not until a month afterward that Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth — that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades.
The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.

In a memo sent to a four-star general a week after Tillman's April 22, 2004, death, then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was "highly possible" the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire. McChrystal made it clear his warning should be conveyed to the president.

"I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country's leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Cpl. Tillman's death become public," McChrystal wrote on April 29, 2004, to Gen. John Abizaid, head of Central Command.

Despite GOP spin, Pentagon not running out of money to run the war

So another case where the GOP is lying to make a political point about the war:

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has estimated that the Army has enough budget flexibility to pay for its military operations through July in the event that a standoff between the White House and Congress over Iraq holds up the money the administration says it needs for the war effort.

The service’s report, made public Friday by Senate Democrats, said the Pentagon may have to shift money between accounts and curtail some nonessential activities, but said Congress has provided the military with new ability to do so, lessening the potential for disruptions until additional money is approved.

Everyone knows and trusts the Congressional Research Service. The media is now on notice that the Bush administration is lying when they say the military is going to run out of money next month. Anyone at the Pentagon who pushes that line is also not telling the truth.

There have been enough lies about Iraq. Bush and his cronies have never been held accountable for the Iraq quagmire. Those days are over and the Democrats are starting to change the course.

- Joe Sudbay (DC), AmericaBlog

Top Bush campaign strategist blasts Bush in Sunday NYT

New York Times:

In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.

He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.

Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.

“I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do — to me, by God; other people call it karma — is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”

When does the Iraqi military start participating?

I thought the Iraqi troops were supposed to be moving into the forefront but somehow, it doesn't seem to be so. How can this be?

The U.S. military death toll in March, the first full month of the security crackdown, was nearly twice that of the Iraqi army, which American and Iraqi officials say is taking the leading role in the latest attempt to curb violence in the capital, surrounding cities and Anbar province, according to figures compiled on Saturday.

Universities outsourcing loan advice programs to loan providers

Good grief. At a minimum, students and their families ought to know who they are speaking with when phoning what they believe is a university help desk. Anyone who is unable to see the gross conflict of interest with this relationship better think again.

The telephone number looks like any other university extension. And when students call with questions about financial aid, the recorded voice at the other end says, "Thank you for calling Texas Tech University's student financial center."

But what is remarkable about the center is not so much that it is actually located hundreds of miles away from Texas Tech's Lubbock campus. It is that the people giving advice are not university employees at all -- instead they work for Nelnet, a company that made more than $68 million last year off of student loans.

Nelnet's role staffing the help line -- which is not disclosed to callers -- is a window into the often hidden relationships between loan companies and the colleges that students rely on for advice about how to finance their schooling. Nelnet is one of several lenders that the university recommends to its students, though it is not among its 10 largest lenders.

Can you even imagine a Republican Congress lifting a finger or caring about this? Nah, neither can I.

- Chris in Paris, AmericaBlog

Wyoming church bans gay couple from communion because they opposed anti-gay legislation

My God. You don't ban people from communion because you disagree with their politics. This is getting beyond ridiculous. Christians really need to take a hard look at who is claiming to speak for them. This is beyond hateful. And about as un-Christian as you get.

Pentagon Whistle-Blower on the Coming War With Iran

Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (ret.), a veteran of the Pentagon with firsthand experience of the administration’s cherry-picking of intelligence, reveals why Bush thinks he can win a war with Iran, why few politicians are serious about withdrawal and why “when they call Iraq a success, they mean it.”

Listen: Download MP3 audio file (running time: 32:41 / 29.9 MB)

Walter Reed. Halliburton. Privatization.

The Washington Post reports that the Army was pressured by the White House to hire a Halliburton subsidiary to take over patient care at Walter Reed.

IAP is owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, an asset-management firm chaired by former Treasury secretary John W. Snow. The company is headed by two former high-ranking executives of KBR, formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root. Al Neffgen, IAP's chief executive, was chief operating officer for a KBR division before joining IAP in 2004. IAP's president, Dave Swindle, is a former KBR vice president. The company has worked at Walter Reed since 2003, providing housekeepers, computer analysts and clerks under a Treasury contract.

Swindle! And another name to keep in mind: Cheney, a name which has become synonymous with pressure, and Halliburton.

The scandal over treatment of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has focused attention on the Army's decision to privatize the facilities support workforce at the hospital, a move commanders say left the building maintenance staff undermanned. Some Democratic lawmakers have questioned the decision to hire IAP Worldwide Services, a contractor with connections to the Bush administration and to KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary. Last year, IAP won a $120 million contract to maintain and operate Walter Reed facilities.

Not because it would result in greater efficiency and savings.

The decision reversed a 2004 finding by the Army that it would be more cost-effective to keep the work in-house.

So more pressure was applied.

After IAP protested, Army auditors ruled that the cost estimates offered by in-house federal workers were too low. They had to submit a new bid, which added 23 employees and $16 million to their cost, according to the Army. Yesterday, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, blamed pressure on the Army from the White House's Office of Management and Budget for the decision to privatize its civilian workforce.

Talk about micromanage! Talk about corruption!

"Left to its own devices, the Army would likely have suspended this privatization effort," John Gage, president of the organization, said in a statement. "However, the political pressure from OMB left Army officials with no choice but to go forward, even if that resulted in unsatisfactory care to the nation's veterans." The Army selected IAP for the five-year deal in January 2006, but IAP did not take over management until last month.

And the change resulted in patients getting even less attention, even less care.

During that period, the number of facilities management workers at Walter Reed dropped from about 180 to 100, and the hospital found it hard to hire replacements.

Who was forced to take the blame for the whole thing? Not Cheney. Not Swindle. The Army.

At a Fort Myer ceremony yesterday, the Army bade farewell to Secretary Francis J. Harvey, forced to resign over Walter Reed. Leaders, he said, must show "that they will be held personally accountable for their decisions."