I Cogitate

Bush "likes somebody he sees as having overcome potential disadvantages, because he sees himself as having done that," says Paul Burka, executive editor of the Texas Monthly magazine and a close follower of the president.

1/06/05 - CBS/AP article on Bill Frist' and other tour of the tsunami damage:

Just before his helicopter lifted off, Frist and aides took snampshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.

"Get some devastation in back," Frist told a photographer.

Leo Lacayo, a San Francisco immigration consultant and communications chair of the Northern California Republican National Hispanic Assembly: "Any organizations that would oppose Alberto Gonzales are outside the mainstream of Hispanic Americans...How can you oppose a person born in extreme poverty who moved himself up and has served our country brilliantly?

1/19/05 - Washington Post Jim VanderHei & Michael A. Fletcher-written article on conservative groups concern with President Bush over backing away from a constitutional amendment to protect marriage:

Prominent leaders such as Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and many rank-and-file supporters inundated the White House with phone calls to protest Bush's comments in an interview published Sunday in The Washington Post. "Clearly there is concern" among conservatives, Perkins said. "I believe there is no more important issue for the president's second term than the preservation of marriage.

"...Now, Dr. Dobson said, SpongeBob's creators had enlisted him (SpongeBob, not Dobson) in a "pro-homosexual video."

Bush: Mary is with us. Mary Mornin. How are you Mary?

Ms. Mornin: I'm fine.

Bush: Good, Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself.

Ms. Mornin: Oaky, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.

Bush: There's a certain comfort to know that the promises amde will be kept by the government.

Ms. Mornin: Yes.

Bush: And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry.

Ms. Mornin: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.

Bush: You work three jobs?

Ms. Mornin: Three jobs, yes.

Bush: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. Get any sleep?

Rep. Hulshof removed from House ethics committee

WASHINGTON—Rep. Kenny Hulshof was removed from the House ethics committee Wednesday, a rebuke the Missouri lawmaker said was directly related to his role in the panel’s admonishment last fall of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Hulshof, R-Columbia, said he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision to yank him from the committee, a move made by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and announced Wednesday morning at a meeting of the House Republican conference...

As for Hulshof, John Feehery, a spokesman for Hastert, said there was no connection to the DeLay matter and that the speaker simply wanted fresh faces on the panel.

“It wasn’t really removing him,” said Feehery. “It was more like relieving him of his duty. The Speaker doesn’t like to have people who are such talented legislators like him have to spend so much time on ethics"...

"Ethics is more of a burden than a privilege,” Feehery added. “And the speaker likes to mix it up,” referring to Hastert’s desire to put new members on the panel.

A security screener at Newark Liberty airport has been removed from her post, after allowing a butcher knife to get through undetected. Yesterday morning a woman passed through security, but then remembered she had the butcher knife in her purse. She told airport officials, who then removed the screener.

The woman says she put the knife in her bag 'just in case.' before a blind date last week.

"...The jets "are vital to Pakistan's security as President Musharraf prosecutes the war on terror," an administration official said.

Sneider: "That is a fairy tale for children. The aircraft have nothing to do with chasing terrorists who operate in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions. They were ordered more than 15 years ago to give Pakistan the ability to attack India, including with nuclear bombs. The arms deal is yet another wink and a nod to Gen. Pervez Musharrof to ignore ritual noise about democracy.

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