White House aide “Scooter” Libby took a direct hit, as expected, in Friday’s indictments in the Plame affair.
But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s announcement that he would keep sealed any investigative information not resulting in criminal charges left behind a lot of frustration and a host of unanswered questions in this tangled case.
For instance, we still don’t know which senior White House officials leaked Valerie Plame’s name to columnist Bob Novak, who originally revealed Plame’s identity in print.
Still unclear, too, is Vice President Dick Cheney’s role in encouraging or aiding Libby’s efforts to discredit Joe Wilson and his wife.
We did learn from Fitzgerald that Plame’s undercover status was in effect (contrary to some GOP assertions) and “not widely known” at the time of her outing. So much for that excuse.
What about Karl Rove? The investigation is “not over,” said Fitzgerald. What does that mean? Where is this headed, and for how long?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Wal-Mart’s image problem wasn’t helped much by the outing of an internal memo with suggestions for cutting health-care costs. The New York Times reported some of what the memo said: To discourage unhealthy job applicants, the memo suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for “all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering).”
It also said that “the cost of an associate with seven years of tenure is almost 55 percent more than the cost of an associate with one year of tenure, yet there is no difference in his or her productivity. Moreover, because we pay an associate more in salary and benefits as his or her tenure increases, we are pricing that associate out of the labor market, increasing the likelihood that he or she will stay with Wal-Mart.”
The memo doesn’t exactly back up the “we care about our employees” message the company is trying so hard to project.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., again got star billing in the national media after Harriet Miers’ pullout Thursday as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s the go-to guy in the U.S. Senate for what conservatives think, and a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He’s also seeding that likely 2008 presidential campaign with trips to many a primary battleground state and frequent appearances on the Sunday talk shows. A Rolling Stone profile is even in the works — though The Kansas City Star didn’t wait to do this cover mock-up of Brownback as rock star. But as Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, told The Star, Brownback’s electability remains in doubt beyond “the Ivory-soapers, those who are 99 and 44/100ths percent pure. Can he attract the 90-percenters? Or will they drift to someone else with a better chance of winning?”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Ben Bernanke, President Bush’s nominee to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is known as “Helicopter Ben” in some circles for having famously once said that if necessary, he would fight inflation by flying over the country and throwing money out of a helicopter. And if the problem is deflation, he has said, the United States can “produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost.” Colorful stuff — and reason to hope that for Wall Street investors’ sake, he’ll measure his words a bit after confirmation.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The arena contenders got another look-over at a public meeting Thursday, with new information about where exactly the arena would be sited at each of the four potential sites.
The north site looks like an also-ran. It’s too crowded and is getting too many negative reviews.
The east and west sites still look strongest because of their proximity to Old Town and WaterWalk, respectively.
East is especially promising because of its redevelopment potential with Douglas Avenue shops, the Commerce Street arts district and Old Town. The street-level brick-and-gaslight ambiance is already in place, too.
One consideration that could use more scrutiny: What will be the demographics of arena users? The younger rock concert set will want access to Old Town’s nightlife. Older folks might prefer WaterWalk’s upscale shopping.
It’s also clear that an effective ground transportation and parking plan must be part of any arena site.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
A “Stop the Hate” rally at 3 p.m. today at Wichita State University’s Hubbard Hall isn’t about finger pointing, organizers say. Rather, it’s about encouraging people to lower barriers and get to know others who are different from you. When that happens, we usually discover that there is much more that unites us than divides us.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
