WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (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.
A Swift move? -- Jane Swift, the GOP acting governor of Massachusetts, has made what some are calling a surprising choice of a running mate for November. Swift has asked 33-year-old Patrick Guerriero, an openly gay former mayor and state legislator, to be her ticket-mate this fall.
Guerriero currently serves as a gubernatorial liaison to local elected officials and is the first openly gay Republican to seek statewide office in the United States. Two other men, one a county sheriff and the other a district attorney, turned Swift down before Guerriero was asked.
Second look -- The Bush administration, responding to concerns from Capitol Hill, is undertaking a comprehensive review of AIDS prevention grants.
Legislators are telling the Department of Health and Human Services that they are concerned a lot of money is being spent on campaigns that are not working and are in poor taste. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, an October audit of such grants found several AIDS prevention workshops -- sponsored by a San Francisco group -- that may have been inappropriate and potentially obscene.
HHS Inspector General Janet Rehnquist found the Stop AIDS Project's "Booty Call" and "Great Sex Workshop" appeared to promote sexual activity, something inconsistent with Centers for Disease Control guidelines. The group received $698,000 from CDC in fiscal 2000.
Look who's talking -- Dr. Laura Schlesinger, whose daily radio program is one of the most popular in America, has come out with a new book about the Sept. 11 terror attack. Voices from America is a collection of faxes, letters, and transcripts of phone calls made to the Dr. Laura radio show in the days following the surprise attack that killed close to 3,000 people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
The book is intended to rekindle the nation's passion and commitment to the war on terrorism. All proceeds from the sale will go to the benefit of the Dr. Laura Schlesinger Foundation for abused and neglected children.
Who done it? -- The U.S. State Department is busy defending one of the ads in its Rewards for Justice program against charges that it is inaccurate. A print ad produced by the New York-based WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather for the department purports to identify suspicious behavior by terror attack mastermind Mohamed Atta that should have tipped people off to the fact that he was planning something.
Among the questions the ad poses questions about Atta include that " ...he wanted to learn to fly but didn't need to know how to take off and land?" Some have alleged this describes other terrorists involved in Sept. 11 but not Atta.
AdAge.com reports that State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the ad describes terrorists "in general" and uses Atta's picture to represent the hijackers while the text describes "a composite of what kinds of things that hijackers were doing."
It ain't over 'til it's over -- A three-judge federal panel has breathed new life into Rep. John Boehner's, R-Ohio, lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., that dates back to the Democrat battle with former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The case had been languishing in the appeals process, going as far as the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case and sent it back to the appellate level.
McDermott, who was at the time the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, made public a tape of a conference call between members of the House leadership, in which Gingrich participated, discussing how the House GOP would comply with the agreement that had been reached with the committee as a case involving Gingrich moved to its conclusion.
A Florida couple claimed they had picked up the call on their scanner -- off Boehner's cell phone while he was on vacation in Florida. They made a recording of it and gave it to McDermott. At the time, it was alleged to be proof of a nascent cover-up and McDermott suggested that it violated Gingrich's agreement not to organize opposition to the committee's offer.
Three years ago, Federal Judge Thomas Hogan reluctantly dismissed Boehner's complaint, saying McDermott had immunity for his action under the First Amendment even though he had serious concerns about the invasion of Boehner's right to privacy. Boehner appealed the ruling.
A three-judge appellate panel sent the case back to Hogan in a brief, unsigned order dated Dec. 21. Boehner's attorneys are expected to argue that McDermott, as a member of the House Ethics Committee and a public official, has a duty to safeguard sensitive and confidential information and may be bound by non-disclosure rules from which ordinary Americans would be exempt.
"Not us," they say -- Muslims of the Americas has called a news conference to deny allegations that they are linked to terrorist organizations.
A statement from the group says, "The national organization of the Muslims of the Americas ... is again being harassed and smeared by government officials and the media. We have spent years separating ourselves from the false allegations of those who have used their resources and positions to propagate unfounded charges against the Muslim community. Now links are being alleged to the criminal Taliban. This is unfair, unjust and untrue. We have committed no crimes for which we must defend ourselves, however, it is important to us that Muslims and our religion do not lose the headway that has been accomplished in this country during the past two decades."
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