Kevin Drum is all over Donald Rumsfeld in this post about a Penatgon contract that appears to be a sweetheart deal with Boeing:
In other words, nothing they don’t already know. Considering that there’s both a serious scandal and a serious question of malfeasance on the part of the Air Force involved in this deal, Congress has every right to want to investigate. A “rare” congressional subpoena might be the next step. Stay tuned.
Does our intrepid ‘moderate’ leave out any details that might interest his readers? There might be this:
At issue is a proposal by the Air Force to lease more than 100 Boeing 767’s to use as midair refueling tankers. They would replace an aerial tanker fleet that is several decades old. The arrangement is unusual, because the Pentagon rarely leases major equipment, rather than buying it, particularly when it has a large price tag even by Pentagon standards.
The deal would help Boeing keep its 767 production line alive in the face of declining commercial orders.
As a result, the proposal has strong support from the Washington State delegation, as well as from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, of Illinois, where Boeing’s headquarters are located. In addition, Boeing has hired the lobbyist Linda Daschle, the wife of the Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, a Democrat, to represent the company.
Wouldn’t want to have to say anything bad about a Democrat now, would you…
HH
Our friends on the left also forget Clinton’s stop-loss in 1999.
bg
I’m really not sure why you keep calling hiim a “‘moderate.'” Ask him yourself. He’ll tell you how liberal he is.
Or you could just read this post where he puts himself in the “leftward 20% of the country.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2003_07/001562.php
Jeez.
Andrew J. Lazarus
What gave this scandal legs wasn’t Rumsfeld, but Boeing’s suspicious relationship with the officers (whom it later hired). Didn’t some Boeing honchos have to resign?
Now, HH, shall we compare stop-loss numbers for Clinton and Bush? How about Bush’s clever campaign ploy about the two (refitting) divisions having to answer “Not ready for duty”?
HH
Kerry compared it to a draft… the rest is gravy. He’s the man running, and he’s shown himself to be an opportunist whenever possible.
Did anyone in their right mind not think there would be major sacrifices by the military after September 11? What was Clinton’s excuse?
Jason
Boeing sure stacked the deck. Nothing like hiring a Senator’s wife.
Ken Hahn
Kevin, like every partisan Democrat this year, is looking for a scandal with staying power. But Clinton lowered the bar so far that even real scandals bore people quickly and this is not going to interest anyone for long. I’d like to see some higher standards, but I don’t think its going to happen soon.
Andrew J. Lazarus
Maybe I was too subtle: hiring a Senator’s wife is NOTHING compared with (illegally) offering the AF official in charge of the project a lucrative job.
As far as the stop-loss order, quite the contrary, the Bushies assured us that very little REAL sacrifice was needed (e.g., tax cuts in place). You may recall that the public story was that we would be down to 30K troops in Iraq MONTHS AGO. So, no, there wasn’t any intimation back then that we would have to renege on the promised dates to bring troops home from the Iraq theater, to let reservists go back to their day jobs, and to allow retirements. You think it was the plan to make them turn around at Kuwait Airport from their flights home to go back into battle? Now, if you find any references to Bush or Rumsfeld saying “We’ll need stop-loss orders” before, say, Fall of 2003, I’ll retract this statement. Consider that a dare.
HH
“As far as the stop-loss order, quite the contrary, the Bushies assured us that very little REAL sacrifice was needed (e.g., tax cuts in place).”
Now you’re just putting words in their mouths. Underestimating the troops needed is hardly a claim that there will be no real sacrifice needed in a WAR, and certainly has little to do with “stop-loss.” Clinton did it in Kosovo, Bush did it here, suddenly now it’s a “back-end draft,” end of story.
russ
I’m curious why anyone thinks Kevin Drum knows what he talking about?
I’ve always had the impression that Drum’s grasp on reality was at best tenuous…
Andrew J. Lazarus
HH, to this day the Administration is trying to hide the sacrifice needed for their stupid war. Did you notice their supplemental request for $25 billion is less than half what is really needed for next year, but it’s enough to limp thru the election before mentioning the real numbers?
How does the Bush stop-loss order compare in duration and number of troops affected to Clinton’s?
Slartibartfast
I think this has nothing at all to do with party affiliation and everything to do with a continuing effort by Boeing to use influence rather than ability. Darleen Druyun, anyone?
Andrew J. Lazarus
Slart and I in agreement!
Is that a hangover I feel?
HH
Again, you’re missing the forest for the trees. Dwelling on the details doesn’t change the fact that Kerry and other critics are stone cold hypocrites.