Posted by Frank James at 8:00 am CDT
A quick guided tour of some of the day’s most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related news stories
Bush unbowed. From Ft. Irwin, a sprawling Army base in California’s Mojave Desert, President Bush denounced the Democratic Congress for trying to rein in his approach to the Iraq War.
Pelosi in Syria. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad over the objections of the Bush Administration.
Democratic surge.Democrats raised significantly more money than Republicans, $78 million versus $51 million, a reversal of fortune of historic proportions.U.S.-Iran thaw?U.S. officials are reviewing requests to allow an Iranian envoy to visit five Iranians detained by the U.S. military in Iraq. It wasn’t clear to journalists whether a link existed between the new U.S. position and the release of British military personnel by Iran.
Super ObamaSen. Barack Obama’s raising of $25 million in campaign money, with about twice as many donors as Sen. Hillary Clinton, dashed Sen. Hillary Clinton’s hopes of making her nomination appear inevitable.
Gentle Giuliani. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, urges Bush to compromise with the Democratic-controlled Congress on Iraq-Afghanistan spending legislation to ward off a veto.
Old McCain. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is not being seen as a winner by some New Hampshire voters but as old, tired and too willing to bow down to Bush and Christian conservatives.
Gonzales prepares. After days of high profile appearances, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has gone into quiet mode to prepare for his testimony next week.
Carter speaks. Former President Jimmy Carter was in Washington to accept an award and took the opportunity to defend himself against anti-Israel charges and to criticize Bush on a number of fronts.
Recess politics. Bush gives a controversial nominee a recess appointment drawing the ire of Democrats.
Alpaca shelters. A boom in alpaca raising can be traced to tax breaks that have helped a number of non-farmers save on their federal taxes.
IRS goofs. The Internal Revenue Service has lost at least 490 computers since 2003 putting at risk the personal information of more than 2,000 people according to a federal report.
American Taliban. Lawyers for John Walker Lindh, said they had asked Bush to commute their client’s sentence after the deal reached with an Australian at Guantamo who will be released after nine months.
Wider net. U.S. intelligence agencies are expanding their recruiting of first and second generation Americans who speak Arabic and other crucial languages, easing screening requirements.
Cold war memory. Alger Hiss’s stepson, the last surviving link to the famous Cold War espionage case, will speak publicly about his stepfather’s alleged spying for the Soviet Union.
