By The Prowler on 12.30.04 @ 1:07AM
Clinton, Schroeder, and Chirac deliberately one-up the President. Plus: Out to get Alberto Gonzales.
CLASSIC CLINTON
Former President Bill Clinton was advised not to
speak with the BBC about the tsunami tragedy by several staffers,
according to one knowledgeable source. Clinton was told to
coordinate with the White House and the Bush Administration, but
chose not to.
"He just went and did his own thing," says a former staffer.
"There haven't been many times when he has wanted to make a public
appearance like this, but given the world attention and the
criticism of Bush, he couldn't help himself. Classic Clinton."
The Bush Administration has been taking a public relations
pummeling from the press for perceived lack of attention to the
tragedy that has taken more than 100,000 lives. The
Administration's initial $15 million aid package was bumped up by
$20 million on Tuesday, after both Germany and France pledged
similar amounts. According to the Clinton staffer, both German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President
Jacques Chirac have attempted to speak to the
ex-President in the past 72 hours.
"Their aid packages were pledged after they saw the immediate
response from the United States," says a Bush administration State
Department source. "They never asked us about coordinating. They
saw what we committed and one-upped us."
As for Clinton, he has at his disposal -- or at least with a
phone call to friends, such as Microsoft's Bill Gates -- access to
more than $75 million in private funds intended for philanthropic
use. But Clinton's charities have thus far not pledged a cent to
aid those suffering due to the cataclysmic flooding, nor has he
attempted to coordinate any private giving for the victims of the
tsunami.
TOUGH SLEDDING AHEAD
The White House is steeling itself for a bruising confirmation
battle in the Senate Judiciary Committee over the nomination of
Attorney General designate Alberto Gonzales.
A month ago, White House legislative affairs and transition
staff were predicting a choppy set of hearings, with some dust-ups
for the current White House Counsel. But as time has elapsed, there
is growing concern that with new revelations of prisoner abuses in
Iraq and in military holding facilities elsewhere, and with
Democrats in the Senate looking to score points with the public,
the Gonzales hearings may be rougher than initially thought.
The nominee has been keeping a low profile, prepping for the
hearings almost constantly over the past six weeks, though doing so
from his offices at the White House. Gonzales was thought to be one
of the easier confirmation hearings by the Bush administration, but
now they are putting the Gonzales hearings on a par with those of
Secretary of State designate Condoleezza
Rice.
topics:
Bill Clinton, Military, Iraq
