Media-Whore D'Oevres



(image via nybooks)

"President Bush and Karl Rove sat listening to Norman Podhoretz for roughly 45 minutes at the White House as the patriarch of neoconservatism argued that the United States should bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. The meeting was not on the president’s public schedule. Rove was silent throughout, though he took notes. The president listened diligently, Podhoretz said as he recounted the conversation months later, but he 'didn’t tip his hand.'" (Politico via Drudgie-Poo)

"Tony said: 'We could see Britney all red-eyed from crying. Howie was lying in his boxers asleep on the bed. The hotel room was trashed. There were half-eaten plates of food everywhere. There were blankets all over the floor, clothes strewn everywhere. The trash was emptied everywhere over the floor. The entire place was littered with empty beer bottles and liquor bottles, small glasses of ice and cigarette butts everywhere. On the surface of the dresser, I could see mounds of white powder and a straw on top. I suspected it was cocaine or powdered methamphetamines. By the side I spotted a glass pipe, which I knew from my drugs training was often used with crystal meth.'" (Newsoftheworld)

"Opposition leaders in Germany are calling for an end to military involvement (IHT) in Afghanistan. Mounting combat casualties have party leaders in Canada also urging a pullout (TheStar). In the Netherlands, too, lawmakers are mulling a drawdown, frustrated over Dutch forces’ disproportionate share of combat missions in an increasingly restive (AP) south. Should the three countries withdraw, experts say, it would significantly hinder peacekeeping and redevelopment efforts in the war-ravaged country nearly six years after the ouster of the Taliban leadership. Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands are among the top suppliers of soldiers to the alliance, which combined account for 6,800 of NATO’s 39,000 troops (PDF) in the country." (CFR)

"A furious Courtney Love has denied she introduced Jack Osbourne to prescription drugs. Jack's mother Sharon claimed earlier this month she was 'appalled' that Courtney was the first to give her son - aged 15 at the time - the painkiller OxyContin. But the 43-year-old widow of Kurt Cobain hit back, saying: 'I never did that. I would never give drugs to a teenager. F*** you Sharon - as if I would ever give drugs to a teenager.'" (Thisislondon)

"Former President Bill Clinton will not have a policy roll in a Hillary Clinton administration, she said. At the same time, Clinton said her husband’s experience would be beneficial, and said every couple in the White House talks about the issues of the day. 'It’s the only sounding board that a president has that is completely confidential, totally there 24/7,' she said." (TheHill)

"New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got a good review from a top Iowa political reporter for his speech last week at Tom Harkin's steak fry, which is really a steak grill. Although some other observers had a different opinion, the Des Moines Register's David Yepsen said Richardson 'gave the best overall speech of the day' in front of the 12,000 Democratic activists. 'He was forceful,' Yepsen continued. 'He was specific. He gave good sound bites.'" (LATimes)