Category: jim wilkinson

Rice on the Side

Condoleezza Rice made persistent denials last week that the "United States does not engage in torture, doesn't condone it, doesn't expect its employees to engage in it." These statements seem at odds, to put it mildly, with what Donald Rumsfeld might call "the facts on the ground," including the existence of "black sites," "extreme rendition," and Dick Cheney's position that torture is just one tool in the wide array of democracy's building blocks. A quote in today's Washington Post from Jim Wilkinson, mini-bar miser and Rice spokesman, clears things up. Discussing the food options available on Rice's plane, Wilkinson opines, "Some people hate the meatballs, but most hate the wing-dings. They violate the laws of war, the Geneva Convention and the international convention on torture. They're sooo bad."

Clearly, the reason Rice thinks we don't torture is because her staff has confused the international convention on torture with a Jack-in-the-Box menu. They were probably confused by the references to "waterboarding" (an extreme sport, perhaps?) and probably assumed that "electric shocks to genitals" was just some kind of fancy diplomatic term for "heat lamp."

[Gleb Garanich/Reuters]

Oh, for a Flight Without Wings [WP]

READ MORE: condoleezza rice , geneva conventions , jim wilkinson , top , torture

Daily Briefing: Condi to 'Come Out Swinging'

• McCain intends to remain steadfast with his effort to ban torture of detainees. [WP]
• Condoleezza Rice, visiting Europe, "plans to come out swinging" on the issue of secret prisons, "shifting the focus back to the responsibilities of Europe’s governments in the war on terror." [Time, NYT]
• Top Democrats disagree and waver on Iraq strategy. Richard Holbrooke: "I'm not prepared to lay out a detailed policy or strategy." [WP]
• Moderate and liberal states are rejecting national conservatism, notes Ronald Brownstein. [LAT]
• Republicans "are trying to ease widespread confusion and apprehension" about the new Medicare drug benefit program. [NYT]
• Republicans "want to end the year with a legislative bang." [LAT]
• Documents reveal rift between Bush and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco in immediate aftermath of Katrina. [WP]
• Andrew Card may resign come January. Card: "My entire life has been exhaustion." [NYT]
• Rice's senior aide Jim Wilkinson is largely responsible for her "rock star status." [NYT]
• Kennedy Center Honors dinner is the "marriage of art and politics, of the Hollywood glitterati and New York theater crowd rubbing elbows with Washington's haute monde." [WP, NYT]

• White House efforts to claim responsibility for the strong economy have their superseded goals for tax reform. [WSJ]
• The fall of Rep. Randy Canningham (R-Calif.); rumors "strained his marriage, and that the lavishly furnished mansion represented an effort to make things up to his wife." [LAT]
• House ethics committee "has been virtually moribund" this year. [WP]
• Cheney is expected to remain on board. Political scientist: "It's almost like everything that's bad in the administration has come back to stick to Dick Cheney." [USAT]
• Pithy slogans like "Plan for Vistory" are "about reinforcing the message," says Scott McClellan. [USAT]
• Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) has his own entanglement with Jack Abramoff. [WP]
• Gov. Mitt Romney touts "remarkable plan to bring mandatory universal health-care coverage to Massachusetts by next summer, the first time a Republican has tried to pull off this most Democratic of policy goals." [Time]
• Hillary Clinton courts the security vote with war stance. [Newsweek]
• Alito frequently mentions his admiration for his father. [NYT]
• Man jumps White House fence; is promptly captured. [AP]

READ MORE: 2008 , CIA , Democrats , Republicans , SCOTUS , andrew card , byron dorgan , condoleezza rice , dick cheney , economy , europe , george w. bush , hillary clinton , iraq , jack abramoff , jim wilkinson , john mccain , kathleen blanco , katrina , kennedy center honors , medicare , mitt romney , randy cunningham , richard holbrooke , samuel alito , scott mcclellan , tax reform , treatment of detainees , white house fence

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