Bush is provoking the military establishment with lessons regarding reward and punishment by appointing General David Petraeus to serve as William Fallon’s successor as Commander of Central Command, or CentCom. Petraeus is on track for a 2012 presidential run possibility — even though he has stated he “will never run.
THEY AUTHORIZED TORTURE. . .AND THEN WATCHED Cheney chief of staff David Addington — author of one of the key “torture memos” — actually went to Guantanamo to see torture harsh interrogation techniques applied to Guantanamo prisoners. Accompanying him were Alberto Gonzales and Department of Defense General Counsel Jim Haynes.
On Monday evening, I heard Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen speak at the annual Atlantic Council gala dinner, following Rupert Murdoch, Jim Jones, Brent Scowcroft, Tony Blair, and Colin Powell. I’ve been a fairly strong fan of Mullen since he ascended to his most recent post, but last night knocked him down a few notches….
Hillary Clinton’s campaign reports that since the race was called in favor of Clinton tonight by the major networks, more than $2.5 million has flowed in. No report from the Obama campaign, but they are still way ahead on cash in hand.
Chelsea Clinton, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and director Rob Reiner did a Philadelphia “gay bar pub crawl” Friday night until well past 1:00 a.m. on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Novel idea. This is true retail politics — between 8-10% of the population, and gay Americans vote. Not sure the Obama team has done this….
Hillary Clinton won by about 10 points tonight against Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, but you all know that. From Indiana, Barack Obama just said, “she ran a terrific race.” My main point about this fascinating contest remains as sound as when I previously wrote it: neither side is vanquishing the other.
I really, really like this Joe Garcia political ad. Democrat Joe Garcia, himself a former and now reformed chief spear-carrier of the Cuban American National Foundation, is challenging Mario Diaz-Balart for Florida’s 25th district — and he’s making huge inroads.
The Washington Note is starting a new feature called “Short Takes” — small, semi-daily snippets of items our team finds interesting combined with occasional gossip and insider DC intrigue. CARTER’S PROGRESS? Jimmy Carter’s entrepreneurship has moved some Hamas leaders to offer Israel a ten-year truce.
I had a three and a half hour long dinner with a Saudi notable in Jeddah the week before last.
I’ve been blogging and reading this morning at Columbus Circle in New York — and a TWN reader said hi to me at 7 a.m. there. It’s become a strange thing to run into people in parks, on the street, on planes who read this blog. I love it, but it’s still unusual.
