WASHINGTON, June 5 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors, and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International.
Be careful what you wish for -- The Democrats thought they had found the silver bullet with which to pierce President Bush's armor-plated approval ratings when they learned that a Bush photo taken aboard Air Force One on Sept. 11 was being offered as a premium in a National Republican Senatorial Committee direct-mail fundraising letter. Their outrage drove the news cycle for at least a day but the resulting publicity may have backfired. The president's job approval numbers were seemingly unaffected by the complaints and, as the committee is now reporting, the package has raised close to $1.5 million for the GOP, nearly ten times what the Republicans say they expected to raise from the piece.
Ragin' Cajuns -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat, is seeking to have his extortion conviction overturned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Monday Alan Dershowitz, the attorney for Edwards, told a three-judge panel that the trial judge's decision to remove the juror who appeared to be the lone holdout against convicting the former governor was grounds for overturning the decision.
Edwards, his son Stephen and several other men were accused of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who wanted to be licensed by the state to run riverboat casinos. If the conviction is overturned, then Edwards -- who served four terms as governor between 1972 and 1996 -- could once again be eligible to run for the state's highest office in 2003 though, at age 75, he is thought unlikely to do so.
Driving while female -- A new study by the University of Nebraska alleges that sexual harassment and assault by police against women on the road may be a national problem. The report, which is based on over 400 case studies taken from media reports over the last 12 years says that "driving while female" abuses are "found in every part of the country, and the level of abuse runs the gamut from harassment to sexual assault and even murder." The report, prepared with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, identifies incidents ranging from minor harassment to "police demanding sexual favors in exchange for letting the driver avoid a traffic ticket." The university's Police Professionalism Initiative recommends better training and supervision of officers, hiring more women police and a more rigorous analysis of traffic stop data as ways to address the problems.
It's getting hot around here -- The White House is busy fending off the wrath of conservative supporters angry over its seeming about face on the global warming issue. A new report to the United Nations on climate change included the first sign of administration agreement with the position long held by green radicals -- including former Vice President Al Gore -- that global warming exists and is caused by heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere resulting from human activity, specifically the use of fossil fuels.
The intel on the intel bill -- Sources on Capitol Hill say that House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., may be backing away from his previous support for an independent commission to investigate problems in the U.S. intelligence community prior to Sept. 11. The Intelligence Authorization bill is currently making its way through the House and is being readied for consideration on the floor -- possibly as early as the end of this week.
There was some thought that Gephardt might try to attach language creating a special commission to the bill. Well-placed sources now say they think that unlikely because of internal Democrat caucus politics. "We hear that Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was opposed to the commission idea because she is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. A move to an independent commission would deny her the spotlight in any future investigation," a source told Capital Comment.
They can run but they can't Hyde -- The House International Relations Committee under the leadership of Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., will hold a hearing June 10 on U.S.-Sudan policy in the wake of the former Sen. John Danforth's report to the president about the situation in the war-torn nation. According to a committee spokesman, close to two million Sudanese have died since 1983 from causes related to the civil war while an estimated four million are internally displaced. Famine is constant and estimates of adult illiteracy run as high as 90 percent in southern Sudan, the committee reports.
Those scheduled to give testimony at the "Following the Danforth Report: Defining the Next Step on the Path to Peace in Sudan" oversight hearing include Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner; U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chairman Michael Young; and John Prendergast, the co-director of the Africa Program of the International Crisis Group.
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