Code Of Silence  

An Obama nominee’s shocking mockery of Ronald Reagan may torpedo his nomination.  Dennis Hayes is up for deputy secretary of Interior, but soldier of the Reagan Revolution John McCain claims to take great offense at some five year old musings   somehow tying Reagan to cowboy mythology.

Hayes wrote of the legendary man of the west,

“a rugged, gun-toting individualist who fiercely guards every man’s right to drill, mine, log, or do whatever he damn well pleases on the land…Like Ronald Reagan before him, President Bush has embraced the Western stereotype to the point of adopting some of its affectations—the boots, brush-clearing, and get-the-government-off-our-backs bravado.”

That’s it, end of mockery.

McCain pronounced himself unhappy, as well he should, being a product of the DC suburbs parachuted into the wilds of Arizona with only native guile and his wife’s money to support him.

For christ’s sake, Hayes is a chemical and utility lobbyist.

Last Subject Of Scoundrels 

Richard Nixon continues to attract the criminal element of the authorial class.

   Conrad Black pumped out his Nixon bio just before going to the slammer for corporate skimming. And now we are to have a return engagement by Jonathan Aitken, author of Nixon: A Life.

The years since he wrote on Nixon have been harsh for Aitken, who thanks to British libel law was jailed for perjury.  The biographer/fan hopes to cash in on the Nixon Centenary Wave in 2013.

Aitken may have a clear field for the anniversary.  If he serves his entire sentence Black will still be in prison when the glorious day arrives.

Give Me Land, Lots Of Land 

Southern Methodist University had a gleam in its eye over George W. Bush’s Presidential Library even before Bush was president, according to lawsuit depositions.  University officials and Bush hanger-on Harriet Miers in a dispute over land SMU bought for possible Bush  Library use.

Former condo owners bought out by the university claim they were underpaid, with the land’s value going up with the Library announcement.

The Triumphant Return Of Reaganomics!  

Beloved Broadcaster Paul Harvey always claimed to have invented the term “Reaganomics,”  and the sponsor of a proposed Reagan Centennial Commission is marking Harvey’s death with some classic Reagan-style accounting.

With 19 heroes opposing, the House of Representatives has just passed a power grab by Ronald Reagan’s heirs, allowing them to control all federal observation of Reagan’s Centenary.  Representative Elton Gallegly’s bill  creates a Reagan Centennial Commission controlled by the Reagan Library foundation, in contrast to the broad public boards directing all previous presidential centennial commissions .

The Congressional Budget Office says a Reagan Commission will cost a million dollars, but Gallegly claims  “No federal money can be spent on the commission or its activities,” a story he got his home town paper to buy into.  What voodoo economics does Gallegly perform to lose the costs?

The CBO says:

“All commission members would serve without pay but would be reimbursed for travel expenses. In addition, the commission could hire staff and use volunteers and personnel detailed from other federal agencies. Finally, the bill would authorize the appropriation of $1 million over the 2009-2011 period.“

The Representative may be drawing unexplained distinctions between this Bill’s authorization and a later appropriation, or the CBO says the Commission might be free if takes in donations to cover its costs.

Gallegly may want to get this done while he can.  He’s identified with the Reagan Library to the extent that it’s in the header for his web page, but he’s announced and rescinded his retirement before, and Barack Obama carried his district.

 

Keeping His Own Counsel  

Karl Rove is finally answering some questions before a Congressional committee, but his ex boss continues to dodge testifying in  a dispute over land bought for the George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University.

SMU bought out condo owners on land originally intended for the Library, and some former owners claim they would have gotten more for their property had they known the Bush Library loomed.

Once Happy Homes 

The University claims they bought the land just cuz, that the Library happened along later, and anyway the Bush site has moved north of the disputed property.  The former owners are curious what SMU told Bush and when, but the Dallas retiree says he shouldn’t be vexed with such petty litigation.

Bush’s relationship to SMU isn’t recent or distant.  They worked him for the Library throughout his administration, and the land was purchased $35 million donated by Roy Hunt.  Hunt was also a major Bush campaign donor and intelligence board appointee, and acquired dubious oil leases in Iraq in the waning days of the Bush era.