The color of money: More protectionism-as-patriotism from Rep. Steve LaTourette (a suspiciously Continental name) of Ohio. LaTourette is demanding that the Dept. of Defense stop purchasing paint from Keimfarben GmbH, a German company that has supplied paint to the White House, Pentagon and other government buildings for the last hundred years. Instead, LaTourette would rather the Pentagon get its paint for its reconstruction (7,000 gallons of which have already been purchased, with another 35,000 still required) from ChemMasters, an Ohio firm whose product has apparently not been evaluated as a replacement for the Keimfarben paint. For those fluent in German, this article has slightly more information than the Reuters release.

 
UPDATE: The Christian Science Monitor has publicly retracted the Galloway story, stating that it believes the documents it relied upon are false. Details here. The British Daily Telegraph, which made similar accusations using a different document, defends its reporting.

"The MP for Baghdad:" High-living, high-stepping, highly vocal and now deeply in trouble -- "Gorgeous" George Galloway, who went from charity-case playboy to ultra-leftist Labour MP and antiwar speechifier, may have been taking payments under the table from Saddam's regime, according to documents allegedly recovered in Iraq. A Jordanian believed to be involved in the scandal, Fawaz Zureikat, has been detained by Jordanian intelligence, though no charges have been filed.

Galloway, who was dogged by charges of corruption during his time leading the British charity War on Want, created an organization, The Mariam Appeal, to campaign for the lifting of U.N. sanctions against the Hussein government. The organization, which was not created as a charity and is thus not subject to the same financial scrutiny and disclosure requirements, makes for a murky picture: its donors are largely unknown, as are the disbursements of its funds -- though at least some funds seem to have gone to Galloway's international travel. Galloway is well-known for his bespoke tailoring, high-end automobiles, and luxury homes, though his salary from his political position and his weekly Mail column is around £125,000, or US$200,000, per year. (He also has netted a tidy sum, around £250,000, from libel suits filed under the Crown's rather less-stringent protection of press freedom.) Galloway has become famous in many circles (and infamous in others) for his friendship with Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, and Tariq Aziz, as well as his friendly meetings with Saddam Hussein, one of which (in 1994) culminated in Galloway publicly praising the dictator: “Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. And I want you to know we are with you until victory, until Jerusalem.” (That statement appears to refer to Saddam's well-publicized intent to eventually move Iraqi troops into Jerusalem and Israel; one paramilitary Iraqi unit, the al-Quds Brigade, was supposedly constituted for that possibility.)

However, the Blair government is being most circumspect about the charges, not least because the documents seem too good to be true -- and the Times of London details some evidentiary problems with the documents that call their veracity into question. As with many issues surrounding the fall of Saddam Hussein, this one has yet to play itself out.

 
We report, you decide: Nice to see a full and complete bio.

 
Assertive action: What good is affirmative action at the university level if the intended beneficiaries -- ethnic minorities -- are set up to fail by a largely unaccountable and ineffective public school system? An oft-ignored (or glossed-over) question raised in today's Washington Post.

 
Finding fault: The neocon-paleocon split widens today, with former NY Post op-ed page editor Scott McConnell relating "what's wrong with neoconservatism." A reasonably measured work from the paleocon side of the house (rare enough!), McConnell lays out a précis detailing where he finds the fault lines between the two views: immigration, ethnic and racial issues, support for Israel, and what he terms "incessant warmongering."

Of course, it's hard to credit McConnell with many of his points -- considering the drubbing many neocons gave the Republican Party following the Lott incident, can you really say that neoconservatism in general (and the National Review in particular) is a "simple cheerleader for the GOP establishment?" Can you say without support that neoconservatives are adamantly "against a compromise peace in the Middle East," thus "mak[ing] America hated in parts of the world where it used to be admired, even loved?" How much of the article stems from McConnell's being ousted from the Post's op-ed page (a position now held by African-American neocon Robert George)? Nonetheless, this is one of the more interesting works to come out of The American Conservative so far.

Erratum: After doing a few minutes of research I should have done earlier, I've realized that Mark Cunningham is the editor of New York Post's op-ed page; Robert George is associate editor. Mea culpa, &c.

Signs you may have hired the wrong expert witness: Excerpt from the trial of accused war criminal Dr. Milomir Stakic, during the cross-examination of paleocon academic (and Chronicles editor) Srdja Trifkovic, acting as an expert witness:

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: [Prosecutor] Korner, may I ask you not to continue with this line of questioning [regarding Trifkovic's opinions and statements on Islam]? I think the picture is absolutely clear, and I don't like to hear this expression of intolerance [by Trifkovic] any longer in this courtroom. So we should come to another area and it should expressed -- be expressed that this Court never will attribute of any of the comments given by the expert to Dr. Stakic. We never heard such kind of expressions from Dr. Stakic. This should be quite clear.

When the judge feels compelled to state that your expert witness is more intolerant than the accused war criminal, it's time to reconsider your defense strategy.

 
Out of the ring: Wesley Clark's halfhearted political ambitions stalled out as the war got going; as one of CNN's omnipresent military commentators, he became both trivialized and, as the war progressed to its final conclusion, marginalized by his dire predictions. (But, hey, who am I to talk?)

Today, Clark joined WaveCrest Labs as the Chairman of the Board, most likely signaling an end -- for now -- to his interest in the White House. WaveCrest, which holds a patent on an energy-efficient and high-tech motor assembly for hybrid and light electric vehicles, has begun delivering specialized electric bikes focusing on military and security markets.