WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- News notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Discharge -- Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, the former university economics professor who fashioned a love of markets into a remarkable political career, is set to announce that he will retire from Congress at the end of his current term. Once derided as an oddball who slept in his office, Armey more than proved his mettle when he fashioned the successful process for closing unneeded military installations, earning him the respect of his colleagues. A serious thinker, Armey took on California Rep. Jerry Lewis for the chairmanship of the Republican conference and beat him. One of the architects of the Contract with America, Armey was elected majority leader after the GOP took the House in the 1994 election. Widely regarded as the member of the House with the best leaderships staff, Armey's former employees now serve in influential positions throughout the Bush administration and in the corridors of K Street power and influence.
Boiling mad -- As previously reported in Capital Comment, the Salvation Army's traditional red kettle fundraising campaign has been targeted by some gay-rights groups to make a political statement. Earlier in the year, the Army's national leadership countermanded a regional Army decision to give benefits to people cohabiting with Army employees without being married to them. The group Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is asking homosexuals and supporters of domestic-partner benefits to drop fake $5 bills -- bearing messages of condemnation -- into the kettles that are on virtually every street corner and inside shopping malls all across America.
How's that again? -- New York Democrat circles turned on their ear over the weekend as Rep. Charlie Rangel, the influential Congressman from Harlem, announced he might support Republican Gov. George Pataki for re-election to a third term should New York State Comptroller Carl McCall lose the nomination to former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo. Rangel is reportedly upset that Cuomo, son of the former three-term Democrat governor, is trading on his famous name at the expense of McCall, who "has paid his dues."
Green light -- Former California State Assemblyman Audie Bock has ended her short-lived primary challenger to Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat and the only member of the House to vote against authorizing the use of force to respond to the Sept. 11 terror attack. Bock said she withdrew from the race because "(Lee's) political hacks realize that if they can smear my respected record in public office, then they can hope to distract voters from the inexcusable conduct of Ms. Lee." However, in a surprise move, Bock endorsed the candidacy of Kevin Greene, a community activist and member of the Democratic Central Committee, who intends to pick up the fight where Bock left off."
Trading recriminations for praise -- While Republican moderates in the House have come under frequent attack from their more conservative colleagues on a number of key issues this Congress, they've drawn praise from their fellow partisans following last week's one-vote margin win on presidential trade promotion authority.
In the spotlight: Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., for the manner in which he presided over the vote, helping the president eke out his win. LaHood was once chief of staff to former House GOP leader Bob Michel and prides himself on his ability to lead from the chair, a skill he ably demonstrated last week. Coming in for criticism is Florida GOP Rep. Mark Foley, who reportedly rushed to the floor to vote 'no' early, while members for whom the vote was much tougher held back, waiting to see if their vote was needed to give the president his win.
OK, touch those toes -- HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and Surgeon General David Satcher plan to release the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity at a news conference Thursday. The program outlines the prevalence of overweight and obesity among all age groups in the United States, the extent of the threat that this poses to overall health, and actions that people at all levels of government and the private sector can take to address the problems in their communities.
Stay tuned -- The Anti-Defamation League, having learned that a series dramatizing the infamous anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" will be broadcast on Arab television, has called on Arab leaders to "put a stop to programming that appeals to ignorance, hatred and anti-Semitism." During the second half of Ramadan, a number of television stations in Egypt are planning to air the 30-part series, "Horseman Without a Horse," produced by Arab Radio and Television of Saudi Arabia. The series reportedly portrays the "Protocols" as historical fact and a guiding principle of Israeli policy.
"Once again, the Arab media is demonizing Israel and Jews, and no one is speaking out," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director. "Arab leaders must put a stop to programming that appeals to ignorance, hatred and anti-Semitism. It is unconscionable that Arab Television has created an entire series of programming based on one of the most hateful documents in Jewish history."
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