Cancer on the Presidency
Little noticed, what with oil spills, unemployment almost to 10
percent, and the volatile stock market, was the mid-May Obama
nomination of Harold Varmus, MD, a Nobel laureate in the field of
medicine, to head the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Varmus, while well qualified for the job, is also well qualified
to serve in the Obama administration, given his leftist ties to
such entities as the Tides Foundation and a little-noticed
Tides-funded organization called the “Campaign to Defend the
Constitution.”
Known as “Def Con,” it was shut down in 2007 and remained
dormant, except for a brief period when, via funding from Tides and
other leftist backers, it was highly vocal in opposing limits on
stem cell research, focusing its attacks on social conservatives
and religious groups that on ethical grounds opposed some forms of
stem cell research. Def Con’s board of advisers, on which Varmus
served, reads like a who’s who of the left, including former NARAL
head Kate Michelman; Matt
Foreman, the head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force; Ira Glasser, former head of the American
Civil Liberties Union; and propagandist Max
Blumenthal.
White House sources say that the Obama administration hopes that
Varmus, with his Nobel pedigree and low-key approach, will be able
to impose extensive changes in the types of research and research
methods undertaken at the cancer institute, and will be one of the
administration’s point men on expanding greater uses of stem cell
research with federal funding.
Don’t Sign Off
The commission performing a study on the impact of homosexuals
in the U.S. military was booed off a stage at Fort Bragg in early
June, according to a senior U.S. Marine in attendance. The
commission, led by Pentagon general counsel Jeh
Johnson and U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, is
developing a plan to integrate openly gay military personnel into
the armed forces ranks.
According to Pentagon sources, the scene at Fort Bragg, while a
bit more vocal, has been similar to the reception the commission
has received at other military facilities. “There is a deep divide
over repealing the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ rules,” says a U.S. Army
source based in the Pentagon. “You have the head of the Joint
Chiefs [Adm. Mike Mullen] pushing for repeal, and
several other members of the Joint Chiefs on the other side. But
most Americans don’t realize that there is a great deal of
opposition to this inside the military, it’s just not being
discussed or reported.”
Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, is
on record as opposing repeal of the rule until the U.S. is fully
withdrawn from Iraq. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James
Conway is said by military sources to believe that repeal
of the homosexual rules would harm military readiness.
Mullen, who was the highest-ranking military official to endorse
repeal of “DADT,” is seen as the driving force behind the move to
repeal. He has, however, suggested that congressional attempts to
“front-load” repeal legislation before the Pentagon completes its
study are premature.
But Mullen’s position served as a bit of a shock to the
Pentagon’s system. His immediate predecessor, for example, Marine
Gen. Peter Pace, described homosexuality as
immoral.
Shore Bets
At press time, ShoreBank, the “community bank” that helped
finance the operations of ACORN in Chicago and elsewhere, and was
one of a number of financial institutions in Chicago with ties to
Barack Obama and his cronies, was awaiting word on whether it would
qualify for federal bailout funding. The Obama administration has
claimed it had nothing to do with ShoreBank’s bailout.
While it was waiting to hear about its bailout that the Obama
White House had absolutely nothing to do with, ShoreBank put in
place a new management team. Leading the group: David
Vitale, a former vice chairman of First Chicago Corp., a
former president of the Chicago Board of Trade, and an unpaid chief
administrative officer for the Chicago public schools. He also has
served on the board of Ariel Capital Management, a firm founded by
John W. Rogers, who has the distinction of serving
as one of President Obama’s biggest fundraisers, as well as one of
his basketball buddies.
At least three separate Republican House members have requested
documents from the White House to back up its claims of
noninvolvement.
Biden His Time
Quietly, Vice President Joe Biden has sought to separate himself
from his boss, at least via his press and political operations.
Over the past several weeks, Biden has strategically placed himself
on opposite sides of the playing field from President Obama, from
rooting for his Philadelphia Flyers against Obama’s Chicago
Blackhawks (President Obama was probably a fan of a Canadian team
when he was living in Hawaii, before he was a fan of the ‘Hawks) to
his very public support for Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza
dustup.
“[Biden] isn’t discouraging his media team from drawing some
distinctions between him and the president, let’s put it that way,”
says a former senior Biden adviser from his Senate days. “It’s
certainly not comparable at this stage of the game, but Al Gore was
doing similar things in the aftermath of impeachment, when he had
his own political future to worry about.”
Certainly no one in the Obama administration is worried about
that kind of situation, but the attempts by Biden’s staff to set
him apart have not gone unnoticed. “He’s certainly got the easier
job. Gee, what’s his gig this week, visiting the World Cup? And he
has the good fortune to have a reputation that allows half of what
he says to just get eye-rolls and, ‘Oh, that’s just Joe flapping
his gums,’” says an Obama loyalist. “The Israel stuff made the
White House pay attention a bit more, but my guess is that it’s a
non-issue.”
Thin Skimmed
Could the Obama White House be losing its intellectual base?
According to White House sources, the media team gives the
president a number of different clips to review on major news
stories, particularly ones where he may be asked questions or have
to speak on, but they of late have been vetting and selectively
editing out commentary and news stories that highlight criticism
from think tanks and organizations that typically have carried
water or been supportive of the administration.
Obama has a reputation for being thin-skinned with reporters
asking tough questions, and inside the White House, some staff say
that reputation is trickling down in the way they package
information he will see. “It’s not that he’s not seeing bad news,”
says a current White House staffer. “He’s just not necessarily
seeing some of the voices out there that might be piling on.”
Singalong Junked
The White House ceremony and concert to honor surviving Beatle
Sir Paul McCartney had been on the schedule for
several months, but given that the event took place at the height
of the Louisiana gulf oil spill, White House staff suggested that
the event also highlight the Delta blues and regional music that
helped shape the rock music McCartney became famous for, and which
he himself has touted in the past.
But senior Obama advisers nixed the idea, saying that an attempt
to highlight the music of the South would only draw more attention
to the administration’s failings.
