Gossip Roundup: Lots of Snow

• Reliable Source: Cheney, at Fox News party, says Tony Snow will “do a superb job”… George Clooney, Joey Cheek in town for Sunday’s “Save Darfur” rally. [WP]
• Rush & Molloy: Rupert Murdoch to Snow: “Congratulations on your promotion - or maybe it’s a demotion.” [NYDN]
• Page Six: Snow isn’t “the greatest sax player”… Gen. Richard Myers dining at Da Tommaso in New York… Valerie Plame gets star treatment at a Vanity Fair party at the Tribeca Film Festival. [NYP]
• Inside the Beltway: Washington Life magazine hosts celebrity luncheon today, ahead of Correspondents’ Dinner. [WT]

READ MORE: Personalities, dick cheney, george clooney, joey cheek, richard myers, rupert murdoch, tony snow, valerie plame, vanity fair, washington life, wcha, wchd

Gossip Roundup: Our ‘Seedy Underbelly’

• Reliable Source Top guns Karl Rove, John Negroponte, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Michael Chertoff, Carlos Gutierrez, John Warner, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Myers celebrate the Marines’ 230th birthday… Bodyguard reportedly followed Dr. Phil to the bathroon of the Capital Grille. [WP]
• Under the Dome: The WB is developing a D.C.-based soap opera that will show “the town’s seedy underbelly”… Volunteers and Hill staffers are building house frames on the National Mall that will be shipped to the Gulf Coast… Rep. Don Sherwood (R-Pa.) settles a lawsuit from woman he had a five-year affair with… Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) pleads no contest to drunk driving and apologizes… Bill Bennett is writing a two-volume history of the United States. [The Hill]
• Inside the Beltway: Actor Jack Klugman hosted bipartisan election night gathering attended by Frank Luntz and John Kerry. [WT]
• Page Six: Maureen Dowd - Botoxed? [NYP]
• Rush & Molloy: Talk of impeachment picks up in Hollywood. [NYDN]

READ MORE: Anthony Kennedy, Carlos Gutierrez, Personalities, antonin scalia, bill bennett, botox, don sherwood, dr. phil, frank luntz, hollywood, jack krugman, john f. kerry, john negroponte, john warner, karl rove, kevin brady, marines, maureen dowd, michael chertoff, paul wolfowitz, richard myers, the wb

WH Pool Report: Don’t Worry, It’s Only a Ford Wound

In this White House pool report, the President inaugurates a war on gas:

The presidential and vice presidential motorcades departed together in gas-guzzling tandem at 9:51 a.m., arriving at Fort Myer at 9:57 a.m. for the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute and Armed Forces Hail marking retirement of Gen. Richard Myers as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and swearing-in of Gen. Peter Pace (first Marine to hold the job) as his replacement… . Cannon fire in honor of Gen. Myers set off at least one car alarm, meaning either the vibration was sufficient to set off the alarm or that our troops had successfully downed a Chevy.

[Reuters]

Full report after the jump.

From: Press.Releases@WhiteHouse.Gov
Subject: POOL REPORT #1, 9/30/05
Date: September 30, 2005 12:18:44 PM EDT
Reply-To: Press.Releases@WhiteHouse.Gov

Pool report #1
9.30.05
The president goes to Fort Myer
 
 
The presidential and vice presidential motorcades departed together in gas-guzzling tandem at 9:51 a.m., arriving at Fort Myer at 9:57 a.m. for the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute and Armed Forces Hail marking retirement of Gen. Richard Myers as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and swearing-in of Gen. Peter Pace (first Marine to hold the job) as his replacement.
 
Honor guards, bands, etc., were arrayed on the Summerfield Field parade ground when we arrived, making it seem as if we had arrived at halftime. Cannon fire in honor of Gen. Myers set off at least one car alarm, meaning either the vibration was sufficient to set off the alarm or that our troops had successfully downed a Chevy.
 
Event was open to correspondents. Bush text has moved. Other speakers included Rumsfeld, Myers and Pace. Rumsfeld spoke of Pace taking over “at this time of peril and promise.” He praised Myers for his work in helping topple “two brutal regimes” and freeing “50 million people.”
 
Myers said the stakes in current war “simply couldn’t be higher,” likening it to struggle faced in 1776. “We’re all in this war on terrorism together and we will win this war together,” he said, acknowledging Japanese, Canadian and Australian officials on hand.
 
Myers became emotional, stopping to gather his composure, when he talked about his wife Mary Jo and family.
 
Pace praised Bush and said “every single one of us in uniform knows that you are leading us and knows that you are supporting us at the same time.” He talked about an enemy “whose stated public intent is to destroy our way of life.”
“The men and women in uniform say not while on our watch,” Pace said.
 
Motorcade rolled from Fort Myer at 11:38 a.m. and was back on campus at White House at 11:42 a.m.
 
Your pooler ran into Josh Bolten of Office of Management and Budget as we headed back into White House. Your pooler asked Mr. Bolten which was going better at the current time, management or budget. “Management,” he said with a smile.
 
 
Ken Herman
Cox Newspapers<./blockquote>

READ MORE: White House, george w. bush, pool report, press corps, richard myers

WH Pool Report: Gas Guzzling Edition

In this White House pool report, we learn how the President is cutting down on “non-essential travel”: To a “farewell dinner” for exiting Joint Chiefs chief Gen. Richard Myers, the motorcade

was marginally shorter in the SUV category - five - than the one that traveled to the Energy Department today, with six SUVs. But it was longer in vans, four tonight, compared with three this morning. Two limos, of course.

Full report after the jump.

From: Press.Releases@WhiteHouse.Gov
Subject: POOL REPORT #2, 9/26/05
Date: September 26, 2005 7:36:57 PM EDT
Reply-To: Press.Releases@WhiteHouse.Gov 

   Pool Report #2, 9/26/05
 
Late on this day of self-restraint in fuel consumption for federal officials advised by the president to avert “non-essential travel,” the president departed from the White House South Lawn driveway by motorcade at 6:51 pm EDT on a rainy evening.
     Here’s the stated purpose: a “farewell dinner” for Gen. Richard Myers at the NW Washington, DC, home of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a stately brick house, with two main stories and three dormer windows in the slate roof on a third floor. We had no actual sighting of the president, however, and cannot vouch for his accompaniment.
     This motorcade was marginally shorter in the SUV category - five - than the one that traveled to the Energy Department today, with six SUVs. But it was longer in vans, four tonight, compared with three this morning. Two limos, of course. 
     The motorcade obeyed some traffic signals along Connecticut Avenue, then blew through others north of the tunnel, then obeyed again, and turned onto a lovely residential street.
     The ‘cade delivered the president chez Rumsfeld at 7:01 pm, and the pool hunkered down for a hold in the shelter of the vans.
    
 
Mark Silva
White House Correspondent
Chicago Tribune

READ MORE: donald rumsfeld, gas crisis, pool report, press corps, richard myers

Daily Briefing: Time to Recognize

• Bush calls for oil conservation: “We can all pitch in. People just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption.” [NYT, WT]
• Bush may endorse expansion of the military’s responsibilities in responses to natural disasters. [NYT, WT]
• Congressional Republicans turn attention to unsteady oil market; proposals will likely become Energy Bill II. Bush: “The storms have shown how fragile the balance is between supply and demand in America.” [WSJ]
• Republicans change rhetoric about fiscal policy, not the policy itself. [WP]
• Hundreds of anti-war protesters led by Cindy Sheehan are arrested in front of the White House; they lacked a permit. [WP]
• Bush hints next Supreme Court nominee will not be a white male. [NYT]

• Government likely ripped off by FEMA’s no-bid and non-competitive contracts for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. [USAT]
• Anthony Lewis on how John Roberts would rule on libel: “He’s not a fan of the press. He speaks of ‘the zeal and insouciance with which the mass media assails public officials.’” [NYT]
• Justice Department and FBI are investigating the demotion of a federal prosecutor that delayed inquiry of Jack Abramoff three years ago. [NYT]
• Senate Appropriations Committee proposes $440b Defense budget. [WSJ]
• Republican-led congressional inquiry into Katrina-related failures begins today with testimony from Michael Brown. [WSJ]
• Frist says his stock sale was planned months before it lost value. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• Potential ‘08 Democratic candidates decide on Roberts: Bayh, Clinton, Kerry, Biden will vote no; Feingold will vote to confirm. [LAT]
• Richard Myers: “The outcome and consequences of defeat [in Iraq] are greater than World War II.” [USAT]
• Ben Affleck for Senate? Virginia Democrats dream. [WP]

READ MORE: 2008, Ben Affleck, Pentagon, White House, anti-war protest, bill frist, budget, cindy sheehan, congress, conservation, evan bayh, george w. bush, hillary clinton, iraq, joesph biden, john f. kerry, john g. roberts, katrina, oil prices, richard myers, russ feingold

News of a Very Small World

A tipster writes to clear up all that earlier confusion on what newspaper Michael Chertoff was reading when he saw the headline saying that “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” and then apparently thought to himself, “Phew, so I won’t be coordinating that whole disaster relief thingamee after all. Wonder if there’s a matinee show of ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin.’ ” Over to you, tipster:

Saw your post about Chertoff saying NOLA dodged a bullet…Gen Myers just said the same at the Pentagon briefing, referencing newspaper reports.

It’s simple, really. The White House, weary of the malicious falsehoods of the liberal media, now prints its own newspapers. Other sample headlines from last Tuesday’s edition: Baghdad Citizens Endorse Constitution and Personal Retirement Accounts”; “Sean Hannity Win Nobel Prize for Literature”; “Clint Black Coldcocks Seymour Hersh”; and “Texas Rangers Win World Series … in August.” — HOLLY MARTINS

READ MORE: fake news, iraq, katrina, michael chertoff, richard myers

Pentagon Warns of Abu Ghraib Photo Blow-Up

Today, the Southern New York District Court of Appeals is slated to hear government arguments in favor of barring the release of 87 photos and four videotapes depicting detainee abuse by U.S. military forces at Abu Ghraib prison. And over the weekend, unsealed court documents relating to the ACLU’s suit seeking release of the images revealed that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers opposes their release because they may incite riots in the Middle East, much as Newsweek’s earlier reports of Quran defilements at Guantanamo Bay did. Funny thing, this, because back in May, Myers explicitly denied any connection between Afghani riots in Jalalabad and the Newsweek report. So, to review: We must suppress damaging information about the war effort because we run the risk of repeating a mistake that we never made in the first place. Insert preferred WMD joke here. — HOLLY MARTINS

Fearing Backlash, Pentagon Moves to Block Abu Ghraib Photos [Yahoo News]

READ MORE: abu ghraib, aclu, doublespeak, richard myers