April 15, 2007 "Hillary-ous" Hype for
Sanjaya
By Arun Kumar
Washington
She wouldn't say whether she would vote for Sanjaya Malakar as the
new "American Idol". But for former first lady Hillary Clinton now
eyeing the White House it was no problem if that's what the voters
want - like her.
Democratic presidential hopeful first responded with a hearty laugh
to "the best question I've been asked in a long time," during a
radio call-in about what the United States can do about the underdog
Indian American teenage singer.
Thus gaining time with the usual politicians' ploy, she came up with
a statement that must have been music for all the 'desi' and non-desi
fans of Sanjaya, who has made to the television show's top 7 defying
critics suggesting he lacks any shred of talent.
"Well, you know, people can vote for whomever they want. That's true
in my election, and its true on 'American Idol,'" said Hillary who
is still top of the polls and in fundraising among Democratic
aspirants.
The New York senator was not taking any chances as Sanjaya's stock
went up on Fox News' "Bulls and Bears" and Bookmaker.com, the oldest
established online gambling site, offered $500 for every $100 bet if
everybody's favourite whipping boy does not last at least another
week!
With her 'desi' supporters under the banner of 'Indian Americans for
Hillary 2008,' planning a fund-raising dinner in June with the likes
of Arcelor Mittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal and Hinduja Group's S P
Hinduja on the guest list, she can ill afford a "macaca moment" that
cost Republican senator George Allen his seat last November.
*-*
The case of missing
e-mails
The eight attorneys that the White House fired served at the
president's pleasure. So what is the fuss? Yet these Democrats after
capturing the Capitol Hill were poking their nose in everything.
They wanted his attorney general and his top political adviser to
come and testify how they came to the decision.
The president wouldn't have any of it! He made the Justice
Department send them reams of documents if they wanted to pick up
the paper trail and offered to send adviser Karl Rove over to the
Hill to talk it over. But the president's men wouldn't take an oath
or let their interviewers keep a transcript.
Now they wanted all the e-mails that Rove sent. But they have all
gone missing with one advocacy group claiming that some five million
of them had disappeared into thin air. True the White House was
supposed to keep everything that was official for presidential
records under the Hatch act.
But the officials got "sloppy guidance" about how to keep official
and political mails separate and when not to hit the delete button.
As White House spokesperson Dana Perino admitted, "We screwed it up
and we're trying to fix it up!"
Accusations have flown thick and fast with some Democrats suggesting
that Bush officials were conducting government business offline to
escape the prying eyes of the Congress now or historians later.
White House retorts that it was all a mistake and officials acted
without any malicious intent.
As cyber sleuths look for clues to solve the deepening mystery, the
question is whether it would become another Watergate that brought
Nixon down or turn out to be just a damp squib!
*-*
A new cocktail on
the Hill
In a new spirit of partisanship, Joseph I. Lieberman, the
Democratic-turned-independent senator, has mixed things up in a
committee he chairs.
Reminiscent of boy-girl, boy-girl seating arrangement back in
school, his plan alternates Democrats and Republicans on the dais at
the head of the room, instead of placing them at opposite ends of
the horseshoe, as is customary.
"In the last election, the voters said they were sick of the
partisanship that produces gridlock," said Lieberman and Susan
Collins, the panel's ranking Republican. "So, as a start, instead of
sitting on opposite sides of the room like a house divided, we want
the American people to see us sitting side by side."
But one Hill staffer has a different explanation: "It's because
Lieberman can't decide what side he's on anymore."
*-*
A Bush joke that
misfired
It was a blast of a story that no reporter worth his salt was going
to miss even if the guy who leaked it insisted it was "all off the
record." From irreverent blogs to staid Financial Times, everyone
had to have it.
Alan Mulally, chief executive at Ford, the No. 2 US automaker, had
just claimed that he saved the life of George Bush, the president of
the United States during a recent White House visit.
Noticing that Bush appeared to be ready to plug a power cord into
the wrong outlet of a rechargeable vehicle that also runs on
hydrogen, "I violated all protocols. I grabbed his arm and I moved
him up to the front," Mulally told reporters conspiratorially at the
New York auto show.
"I wanted to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the
hydrogen," he said to roars of laughter from the media. "The story
wasn't accurate," said a not so amused White House.
Mulally apologized but only grudgingly saying he never expected his
yarn to be taken seriously.
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