The American Spectator

p> NEWT BOMB br> The White House is livid at former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for his speech yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute in which he criticized the performance of Secretary of State Colin Powell . Gingrich, who sits on the Defense Advisory Board for the Bush administration, did not discuss his plans for the speech with the White House prior to releasing embargoed copies to various media outlets. Powell learned of the criticisms from reporters. /p>

“Gingrich seems to think that because people at Fox News like to have him on that everybody wants to hear what he says about anything,” says a White House political staffer. “But you’d think he would have learned from the last days of his House career to keep his mouth shut.”

The White House is concerned that Gingrich’s comments will be viewed by State Department senior staff as reflecting White House views, which could not be further from the truth. It is also concerned that Gingrich’s comments will embolden already hawkish Defense Department staff, heightening tensions between two cabinet offices that have had strained but cordial relations for months.

p> THE MAN FROM NO HOPE br> So much for Gen. Wesley Clark ‘s presidential prospects. After months of toying with the notion of running for president or perhaps touting himself as vice-presidential material, Clark bit the bullet and signed on as chairman of the board of WaveCrest Laboratories. Clark says his work for the firm, which is seeking to design an electric motor, will probably take up too much of his time to allow for serious politics, given his other responsibilities as a CNN military analyst and his own work as a business consultant.