Wonkette

* Army General in charge of Walter Reed is fired for not supporting the troops. [WP, NYT, LAT]
* Federal prosecutors fired for not supporting Republicans come back like night-zombies to haunt the Justice Department. [WP, NYT, LAT]
* The second great “political showdown/media circus” of Selma, AL will be this weekend, Revs. Obama and Clinton presiding. [WP]
* Yes, Condoleezza Rice’s new “counselor” is a neo-con. Yes, he also has a mustache. [WP]
* Federal buildings are just like your new condo, have “workout facilities, firing ranges.” [USAT]
* International markets have testicles, and they are still firmly in Alan Greenspan’s kung-fu grip. [NYT]

* Harry Reid tells Tim Johnson to “stay alive, no matter what occurs.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
* And about 50% of people who Democrats don’t depend on for a tenuous majority in the Senate who also have arteriovenous malformations do make complete recoveries, “more or less.” [WP]
* But even if he’s totally “Schiavo’d,” the Senate has never “forced a member out of office because of a physical or mental inability to serve.” [LAT]
* President Bush couldn’t care less about you, is playing for your grandkids approval ratings — just like Harry Truman did. [WP]
* Condoleezza Rice thinks Iran and Syria’s asking prices for help in Iraq are too high, she’s only willing to offer economic incentives and a player to be named later. [WP]
* To stay “Army Strong,” top General recommends getting “Army Big.” [WP, NYT]
* White House pissed at Sen. Bill Nelson for going to Damascus, “undermining democracy in the region.” Still glad to have him and not Katherine Harris. [NYT]
* Pastry chef blows Laura Bush’s sugar, is hired at White House. [NYT]

Again with the military blocking Wonkette so our fighting forces won’t be exposed to inane exchanges from Late Night Shots. A Wonkette operative at a U.S. Army base in Europe sent us this shocking evidence. We asked the soldier to try some other political sites and report back, but he hasn’t answered because the Army killed him, probably. MORE »

In its battle to win the hearts and minds of recruiting-age Americans, the Army is replacing its main ad slogan — “An Army of One” — with one it hopes will pack more punch: “Army Strong.”

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• As the clock ticks towards the break for elections, “the most do-nothing Congress in the history of our country” continues to be just that. [NYT, WP]

• Army chief asks for $40 million increase in funding to cover massive shortages in manpower and equipment. [LAT, NYT]
• Comprehensive National Intelligence Estimate document provoking debate on Iraq policy, origin of terrorist fervor. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• FBI still investigating anthrax attacks, learning lots of about science but not arresting anybody, yet. [WP]
• Iraq to stay one country til a least 2008, anybody’s guess after that. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Bill Clinton appears on Fox News, blasts host, wags finger. [WP]
• Rick Santorum still convinced he has a chance to hold his Senate seat. [NYT]

• White House compromises with McCain’s crew on terror suspect interrogation techniques. Geneva Convention “remains intact,” but CIA will still be knocking skulls, so “we’re all winners.” [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT, W$J]

• CDC now advocating routine testing for HIV among all patients aged 13 to 64. [WP, NYT]
• Wal-Mart will begin offering many generic drugs for $4. [WP, LAT, USAT]
• Republican offensive enters new phase with the old standby, “Democrats want to tax you into the poorhouse.” [NYT]
• Army to make larger use of National Guard to get more boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, “The biggest challenge is manpower.” [NYT]

Army officials rejected this plan for the site as “too spooky.” MORE »

There’s been the right amount of fuss about Bleu Copas, the Arabic translator who was outed by anonymous e-mails and then dismissed from the U.S. Army under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But there hasn’t been enough attention paid to this side note:

On Dec. 2, investigators formally interviewed Copas and asked if he understood the military’s policy on homosexuals, if he had any close acquaintances who were gay, and if he was involved in community theater.

Question: What if he had been involved in a production of “HMS Pinafore”? Actually, no, that’s not a very good question. MORE »

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The dashing Mark Mazzetti — in his swan song for the L.A. Times, before decamping for the New York Times — brings us this report, about the Army casting a wider net in its recruiting:

The Army has a message for the growing legions of flamboyantly tattooed American teens: Uncle Sam even wants you. Facing one of the worst recruiting climates in the allvolunteer military’s history, the Army has decided to relax standards that dictate which parts of a soldier can be festooned with body art. Specifically, the service will accept recruits with tattoos on their neck and hands.

The service long had prohibited soldiers from having tattoos on places not covered by a dress uniform. But after missing Army recruiting goals last year, commanders are looking for every way possible to expand the pool of candidates.

But don’t think that they’ll let just anyone in. True, the Army has started to admit recruits “who score poorly on mental aptitude tests and who don’t have high school diplomas,” as well as “candidates with criminal records and histories of drug abuse.” With respect to body art, however, the Army still has some standards:

The directive still prohibits any tattoos that are “extremist, indecent, sexist or racist.” And, in true Army fashion, there are strict guidelines about where on the neck the tattoo may be located. Neck tattoos are allowed only on the back of the neck, defined by the Army as the area “under the ear lobe and across the back of the head.”

With the tattoo ban lifted, maybe now they’ll let Rep. Bill Thomas enlist!

For the curious among you, additional Army guidance about what tattoos pass muster appears after the jump.

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* Administration and Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) agree on 45-day review of Dubai port deal. Scott McClellan: “We believe, however, the additional time and investigation at the request of the company will provide Congress with a better understanding of the facts, and that Congress will be comfortable with the transaction moving forward once it does.” [WP, NYT, NYT, W$J, USAT]
* States make decisions on the “morning-after” pill as the FDA wavers. [WP]
* Army will reimburse Halliburton subsidiary for nearly $2.4b despite findings of overcharges. [NYT]
* Bush sets off on whirlwind two-day tour of India. [NYT]
* Mike McCurry on the White House press briefings: “It has turned into a theater of the absurd.” Ari Fleischer: “The public perceives the press not as watchdogs but as attack dogs.” [NYT]

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• Pentagon commits $300m to “psychological warfare operation” that “includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source”; bumper stickers and t-shirts are also being considered. [USAT, USAT]
• Army approves new, classified rules for interrogation. Official: “This is a stick in McCain’s eye. It goes right up to the edge. He’s not going to be comfortable with this.” [NYT]
• Pentagon is reportedly monitoring the activities of “peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups.” [NBC, Reuters]
• Administration is debating the need for new nuclear warheads; “the U.S. could someday spend billions of dollars replacing much of the current arsenal.” [WSJ]
• Democrats press for subpoenas of White House officials regarding government response to Katrina. [WP]
• Texas prosecutors are investigating possible ties between Rep. Tom DeLay and lobbyist Brent Wilkes, who was linked to former Rep. Randy Cunningham. [NYT]
• House nears passage of tough border security bill. [NYT]
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce splits with Republican leadership over immigration bill. [WP]

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