The Larry Kane Report

Executive Privilege. If only we all had the power. The President’s battle to stave off Congressional inquiries into the U.S. attorney scandal, Libby-gate, and some iraq war information, may become the most classic struggle since Watergate.

Whatever happens, these battles are not helping his approval ratings, but it appears that, at this point. he doesn’t care. After all, there is no way to go but up, although low poll numbers can have an impact on the glorious need of everyone in Washington - power. With eighteen months to go in office, the President seems resigned. Not resigning - just resigned. While the Republican party struggles to find a candidate who can win, party stalwarts know that they are on their own. The White House will not help. Neither are Congressional Democrats who seemed to hold power like somone would hold a scorpion - very carefully.

The two most pronounced elements of the politics of 2007: The President’s steadfastness as he stares down one defeat after another, and the Democrat’s disheartening reaction to winning. For some of the Democrats, winning is like walking on hot coals,  avoiding the heat rather than racing over them to the finish line.

The good news for Democrats is George W. Bush. The bad news for Republicans is George W. Bush. The good news for the struggling Republican presidential contenders is the tenative and not-so-tenacious attitude of the Democratic Senatorial leadership.

For this observer, there’s plenty of bad news in this pre-election year, for both parties.

Americans are pleading for leadership.

Comments(2)

While he’s playing with his new I-Phone, the Mayor ought to make a few calls. First, check in at the airport. Thanks goodness for the great people who work there to greet visitors. At least, they are a consolation, because the place looks like a dump. The only thing cheerful about the airport is the people who work there, especially hard-pressed police officers and federal security personnel.

Let’s look at the facts.

First of all, the parking lot is dangerous. The signs to “exit” are so bad that they could cause an accident.

The smoking ban is not enforced, especially in restrooms, where you can choke to death while relieving yourself. Speaking of the restrooms: they are not clean, and that is an understatement. My suggestion: bring your own toilet paper. The soap machines run out of soap.

The airport was really on a roll? So why is it so dirty again? A special area of grit and smoke is the elevators that people use to get to the parking lots. The concourses need more trash cans and the air lines need more people at baggage claim.

It really hurts to hear first-time visitors complain about the airport.  My civic pride has been upset by this.

Mr. Mayor, once you’ve made that call, dial the Managing Director’s office and find out why the fireworks were cancelled, on the Parkway but still went ahead and were broadcast on TV. Don’t blame the TV station. Bad communication is something that can be fixed. Find out what went wrong.

These are two problems that can be easily resolved by a call from the Mayor’s new I-Phone, the one he waited in line for.

And Mr. Mayor: Take the phone to the airport and and get some flash photos of the conditions there. Do not take photos inside the restrooms. Just see for yourself. Of course, by the time you read this, someone may have tried to clean up the problem.

Comments(8)

The President has the power and he’s used it quite legally and with no remorse to cut short the sentence of Scooter Libby. It is a giant political mistake and one that sends a horrible message to the legal system. In many respects it would almost have been better for the President to wait a while and pardon the guy, which he will do eventually.

By commuting the term, President Bush has basically took a nasty swipe at the court system and U.S. attorney who doggedly prosecuted the case which stemmed from the outing of a CIA agent.

What will prosecutors on corruption cases around the country now say when attorneys plead for leniency?  Is there a double standard in this nation for high ranking politicians? Definitely.

The case of Libby himself is not just on the radar here. It is a case of a President who appears to believe that fudging and ignoring the laws is ok.

This case will not crush an already weakened presidency but it will add to the growing disease off arrogance that threatens to further spread the appearance of impropriety that has sucked the power away from the Commander in Chief.

And that is a problem for all of us.

Comments(6)