Aiming High 
The Times of London has a Bush Pioneer on tape offering access to administration officials, possibly including Bush, for a fee of $600,000 to $750,000, a third of which would be directed to the Bush Library.
Lobbyist Stephen Payne says it can be done.
“The exact budget I will come up with, but it will be somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush libraryâ€
The paper approached Payne pretending to represent former Kyrgyzstan strongman Askar Akayev, ousted in a 2005 popular revolt. Akayev is hanging about Moscow these days, and The Times claimed he longed to return to power. The laying on of hands in Washington was to be the anointment
Akayev, Shown Here In Happier Times 
How does Stephen Payne work his wonders for democracy?
The Times has Payne in a remarkable string of photos with such luminaries as Rice, Cheney, Putin, Musharraf and more, best in show being Payne and Bush clearing brush together in Crawford.
Freedom’s Undergrowths 
Dreams From My Fathers 
Barack Obama continues his stroll with greatness, now planning to hype the Reagan and JFK comparisons to dizzy new heights by taking his act to Berlin.
Other pols have gotten some of that Platz Pizazz too. 
The Wall may be gone, but lives in voters of a certain age’s mental film archives. Combined with the incessant cable news dribble and drone about “iconic imagery,” he should have a good day.
And the expected Obama lovefest from Germany’s most left-wing city may resonate with those Americans who cringe at the image George W. Bush has projected abroad recently.
There’s a lot to overcome, even on the ground in Berlin. 
The justly hated new American embassy is convenient to the Brandenburg Gate, so over time all the world can come to appreciate this really nice college dorm building.
Bring Us Together 
Hearts aflutter at the Nixon papers in the US Archives Maryland facility – yes, they are still hanging on there until the Yorba Lindists build enough space in their “library” to hold actual documents.
Apparent National Archives intern Eneuman blogs about College Park creeps… until she meets a boy.
“I did meet a cute guy on the bus. Unfortunately he’s going back to wherever he came from-either Santa Barbara Cali or somewhere in Ohio. He was a researcher at the Nixon library and I met him on the bus. Had a discussion about the research, etc. He was soo my type (burly hiker hippie dude..kind of?)”
Still Pulling The Babes! 
Oh, How They Laughed! 
Intrepid rakers of muck at Consortium News are still on the case of Iran-Contra, long after most of us have blurred Ollie North and Gordon Liddy in the Leather-Jacketed-Poseur-Infamous-For-Something category.
Who Did Which President Know…
…And When Did They Know Them? 
Their latest nugget is a draft report from the Congressional Iran-Contra investigation, exploring the domestic propaganda fallout of the scandal. The CIA was turned on the American people, Army Psy-Ops men were brought to Washington from Fort Bragg for the plot.
Kicking that Vietnam Syndrome, The Early Years 
All in service of the Reagan Administration’s scheme to fund Nicaraguan terrorists by selling weapons to Iran, defending itself from Iraq’s invasion. Which we were abetting, sending Donald Rumsfeld to wink at Saddam Hussein’s “terrorizing his own people“.
Reagan went into the plan fearing he’d be hung by his thumbs if word leaked. But he walked when Congress caved, confronted by Dick Cheney and other Iran-Contra Deniers, burying it’s report in the interests of reaching across the aisles to get things done in a bi-partisan fashion.
Too much can be made of the report, and is, but it’s worth reading as an early example of White House media manipulation which is now commonplace.
“…one of the CIA’s most senior covert action operators, was sent to the NSC in 1983 by CIA Director Casey where he participated in the creation of an inter-agency public diplomacy mechanism that included the use of seasoned intelligence specialists… This public/private network set out to accomplish what a covert CIA operation in a foreign country might attempt to sway the media, the Congress, and American public opinion in the direction of the Reagan Administration’s policies.“
As Cheney demonstrated recently with Gerald Ford, he’ll use any stick to beat the dog. Kind words on the death of Ford became a consensus that Nixon got what he deserved, so Bush will be vindicated in the fullness of time too.
The Democrats never seem to learn to kick ’em when they’re down.
Invisible Man 
The timeless aura of Plain Speakin’ & Brisk Walking Harry Truman claims another victim.
The 2008 campaign has already featured John Mccain wistfully recalling halcyon days when Truman strolled the capitol, accompanied by a single Secret Service agent.
Barack Obama has topped that on a visit to the Independence shrine, imagining Truman did it with no security.
“The thing that I envy most about Truman was that when he was in the White House, he could go out and take a walk. He could put on that fedora and take a stroll, without someone following himâ€
Obama had better watch his back. While he hit the Truman Memorial Building, and Truman’s home, Obama skipped the Truman Library, making the Library Board Chairman all huffy.
Trumanesque or Trumanish? 
