AIDS in Africa
Daily Briefing: Wait and See
• Democratic leaders believe the “ethics-corruption issue,” not Samuel Alito, will win them seats in November. [WP, W$J]
• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) says he has enough votes to be the next majority leader. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio): “We’ll see where the votes really are.” [USAT]
• Bush orders insurers to fill gaps in Medicare program; “Republicans have joined Democrats in asserting that the federal government botched the beginning of the prescription drug program.” [NYT]
• Under pressure of Jack Abramoff scandal, Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) will temporarily step aside as head of the House Administration Committee. [WP, NYT]
• Twenty-five year friendship with Abramoff is “proving highly inconvenient” for Ralph Reed as he runs for governor of Georgia; his records have been subpoenaed. [WP]
• After signing bills, Bush maintains the presidential power to override them. Political professor: “The president is basically saying that those structural changes are nice, but I don’t have to listen to anybody in particular.” [NYT]
• Sen. Specter (R-Penn.) vows to look “closely” at NSA eavesdropping: “I don’t see any talk about impeachment here.” [NYT, WT]
• Success of Alito challenges the conventional wisdom on the Supreme Court and abortion. Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.): “I do not see a likelihood of a filibuster.” [NYT, WT]
• At the hearings, Alito said “I don’t know” 29 times, Democrats mentioned Vanguard 68 times, and Republicans uttered “integrity” 43 times. [WP]
• Laura Bush is “irritated” by criticism of the administration’s AIDS prevention program in Africa. [WT]
• At the United Nations, the administration takes a defensive posture regarding human rights. [WP]
• Opponents of abortion are making strides outside of the political arena. [NYT]
READ MORE: 2006, AIDS in Africa, Democrats, Republicans, SCOTUS, abortion, arlen specter, bob ney, dianne feinstein, ethics, george w. bush, human rights, jack abramoff, john boehner, laura bush, medicare, ralph reed, roy blunt, samuel alito, united nations
Bush and Bono
My Irish half has been aching all week to end my troubles with Bono. I fucked up my first day on the job by assuming rumors of his Good Friday Agreement with Rick Santorum were true. (They were not. Also, that whole “intelligent design theory” as scooped by Newsmax? Less than reliable. You heard it here first.)
But the U2 frontman has struck up curious working relationships in the past (Sinatra, Pavarotti, Helms), and so it should neither shock nor appall that he’s just been invited to lunch at the White House.
“[Bush and Bono] had a very good discussion about some of our common priorities,” McClellan said. “Both share a deep commitment to combating aids, preventing malaria and expanding trade to lift people out of poverty.”
In all fairness, Bono is more Frumish than Hewitty in his support of the current president. (He made a sub-Zoo Tour appearance at the DNC last year, but an appearance all the same). We do know that McClellan isn’t lying about the admired committment to debt and AIDS relief in Africa; and if memory serves, Bono once described W. as quick and funny in a New York Times interview. Bob Geldof also sheepishly conceded that the aide cheques — while still not enough — are more frequent and fuller in amount now than they ever were with Clinton. So make of that what you will.
But don’t read too far into the bread-breaking, or whose idea it can have been. The bookish Laura was the one to request that Tony Blair invite Tom Stoppard and Ian McEwan to a British state dinner a short while back. And Reagan once had John Irving over, all the time thinking that “garp” was an impolite noise to make in front of “Mommy.”
Bush invites Bono to lunch at White House [Ireland Online]
READ MORE: AIDS in Africa, White House, bono, debt relief, george w. bush, lunch, u2