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Weekend News Recap

McDonald's has revealed that its famous french fries contain more fat than originally disclosed. They also now admit that the fries contain diary and wheat products, though McDonald's claims that these ingredients would not cause allergic reactions. At least three law suits were filed after this disclosure.

Bill Clinton finally weighed in on Cheney's hunting accident, pretty much repeating Adam's point that the strong reaction to the accident among the white house press corp was due to the Bush administration's tendency to keep pertinent information from the press. Clinton said: "I think that it's gotten a little more light than it would have because the administration has an enormous penchant for secrecy for not telling anybody anything about anything."

Some congressmembers have begun to question the takeover of operations of six major American ports by a company based in the United Arab Emirates. At least one company has filed suit claiming that this takeover is a national security risk.

The Martis Gras celebration has begun in New Orleans and the AP reports that the annual parade has been greeted by "small but celebratory crowds."

Harvard's undergraduate faculty have planned their second no-confidence vote of President Lawrence Summers for February 28. He would be the first university president to be twice-censored by its faculty, though only the Harvard Corporation has the power to remove Summers.

Finally, in international news, Amsterdam's red light district held an "open day" on Saturday, in which its peep shows and brothels gave visiters free entry in an attempt, according to the Reuters, to "shed the area's increasingly negative reputation." I'd bet that worked too.

Come Meet the New Boss, Same As the Old Boss: Boehner, K Street and the New GOP

On February 2nd, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was elected House Majority Leader. He defeated Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who was unable to overcome his ties to outgoing Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and all of the attendant lobbying scandals. Boehner campaigned as a reformer, but is he really so clean of the taint of K Street that he will be able to lead his party to a brighter, Jack Abramoff-free future? I have my doubts.

Boehner's strongest reform credential was his opposion to earmarking. In his first round of talk-show visits, however, he seemed to back down from that position. From the Washington Post:

He said he would favor more disclosure of dealings with lobbyists but would not seek complete bans on travel or "earmark" provisions. "Bringing more transparency to this relationship, I think, is the best way to control it. But taking actions to ban this and ban that, when there's no appearance of a problem, there's no foundation of a problem, I think, in fact, does not serve the institution well."

There's no appearance of a problem? Really. From Newsweek:

"The current system of earmarks breeds corruption," says a Republican member of the Ways and Means Committee, who asked to go unnamed so he could speak freely about his colleagues. "There's so much horse trading that it borders on legalized bribery. 'Vote for my bill and you can have a bridge to nowhere'."

There are other disturbing trends. Remember the pipeline from his office to K Street that was so damning to Tom Delay? Well, more than twenty of Boehner's former staffers have moved on to lobbying organizations. Also, Boehner has taken full advantage of rules that allow Congressman to take trips funded by private organizations; since 2000, he has accepted over $150,000 worth of these jaunts, which puts him among the top ten in Congress. Maybe he's just looking for the best beach on which to perfect his trademark tan. And maybe this is why he was so quick to deride Speaker Hastert's plan to ban these types of trips altogether.

It might be unfair to look so closely at only Rep. Boehner's record; everybody in Washington participates in the influence peddling game. But Boehner certainly doesn't seem to be cleaner than the median Congressman, which will impede his ability to get any sincere reform done.

People are cynical enough about Washington; the last thing we need is a government that is unable to assuage the public's suspicions. Frankly, I can't see any partisan advantage in hoping that Boehner fails to reform his party; these corruption scandals, though mostly focused on the Republican side, hurt both parties. Unless Congress can fix this lobbying problem, expect more disengagment and apathy from the public. That's not good for anyone in either party, or for the country as a whole.

Don't Want the Government to Eavesdrop on You? Use Skype.

According to MSNBC's website, the Internet phone service Skype uses complex mathematic encryptions that render their phone calls virtually immune to eavesdropping.

Skype takes advantage of VoIP technology to offer its users free computer-to-computer phone calls anywhere in the world. It's a pretty remarkable system. Monty Bannerman, chief executive of Verso Technologies Inc, an Internet security firm, sums up this article well:

It is a pretty secure form of communication, which if you're talking to your mistress you really appreciate, but if Al Qaida is talking over Skype you have probably a different view.

House Report on Katrina: "US Still Not Ready for Prime Time"

The House of Representatives released its report on the Katrina response yesterday. Unfortunately buried underneath the "Dick Cheney Shot A Guy" newsfrenzy, the report is a pretty damning indictment of FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the administration in general. The major conclusion, from CNN.com:

The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are. The preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina should disturb all Americans.

But hey, who needs boring old recrimination:

Rather than a dry bureaucratic paper, the report is written in a lively style and is generously sprinkled with photographs of the disaster-hit area and colorful quotes, including many from past figures in history and literature.

Government oversight sure can be fun. All joking aside, the report was written by a Republican dominated Homeland Security Committee, showing that everyone can recognize a screw-up when they see one. Potential fall-out? Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff still has support from the Administration and performed well during the hearings, accepting some responsibility for the failed response, but managing to deflect much of the blame onto FEMA Head Michael Brown. So it seems unlikely that there will be any high-level shake-ups at DHS. Chertoff has been talking sincerely about how to fix the agency, but one hopes that the reforms actually fix what's broken as opposed to those of the more cosmetic type. Hurricane season starts in May, and the clock is ticking.

More on NY-20

After yesterday's post on the Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign for Congress in New York's 20th District, I was informed by a Gillibrand Staffer that the campaign, while not listed as a competitive seat by CQ, is in fact mentioned in Charlie Cook's Political Report. The February 3, 2006 Cook Political Report (warning, PDF document) classifies that seat as 'competitive', though they do mention that it is 'likely Republican'.

Cheney: I Didn't Mean To, Honest

Last night Vice President Dick Cheney responded to a series of questions regarding his hunting accident from FOX News anchor Brit Hume. The New York Times provides an accurate and fairly unbiased account of the interiew. The points are worth noting:

(1) Cheney took full responsibility for his actions, stating "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger",
(2) Cheney expressed no regret for the way in which he handled the incident with the press
(3) Cheney mentioned that he had consumed one beer at lunch, which is contrary to what ranch owner Katharine Armstrong told the Corpus-Cristi Caller, "No one was drinking".

The first point was a given. Cheney had to admit his guilt in the incident in order to save face, and he did so in a sincere manner.

The second point is a bit trickier. Cheney stated that the news story was complicated and that his concerns rested with the Whittington family in the aftermath of the accident, which is why he made no press statement. But then he goes on to say that the Press is angry about the incident because a minor newspaper like the Corpus Cristi Caller broke the story first. I'm not sure that I buy this account. The Washington Post has an excellent timeline of the event, and it is clear that the President found out about the event on 7:30 PM on Saturday evening (the shooting took place at 6:30 PM). So the White House Press Corps theoretically could have been informed that a shooting took place on Saturday evening - but they weren't. Why? Possibly concern for the Whittington family. Even so, the White House could have respected the family's privacy and not released their name but instead told the Press that an accidental shooting had occured. I do suspect, however, that there was conscious decision made on the part of the White House, probably by Karl Rove, to have the story leaked to the Caller (reported the story at 2:48 PM on Sunday) in order to reduce its impact in the news, which totally backfired.

The final point is noteworthy simply because of the discrepancy between Armstrong's account of the shooting and Cheney's account. It looks bad that Cheney was drinking in the first place, but at least Cheney was forthright.

As I mentioned yesterday, this news story is really not about Cheney or the shooting. It's about a White House Press Corps that has been consistently denied access to information about White House activity.