Donald Trump and the UN

This from Radio Blogger....sorry for the lack of original content today, but I am flying to an unknown destination, courtesy of my wife, to celebrate my 40th.

40 years old - I am half the way home.

When I went to see the administration, and when I went to see Kofi Annan, I was actually quite excited. Because I thought that I could save this country, this world, everybody, including myself, a lot of money, just by sitting down and having a meeting. Unfortunately, as our great Senator to my right said, There was just no response. They didn't really care. It got a lot of press. I walked into the room, and I sat down. I felt like a head of state. I was sitting with Kofi Annan, and a door opened, and there were literally hundreds of reporters taking my picture. I said, "What are we doing? I just want to tell you, I can build a building a lot cheaper." And that was the end of it.

http://www.radioblogger.com/#000852

So the thought for today is, turn the U.N. into Trump condos and ship the diplomats to the Sudan. Africa could use the boost in world attention and the contruction of a new United Nations HQ would be a huge economic boost to the continent.

Think, FDR-style Tennessee Valley Authority.

STOP! Or I'll Say Stop Again....

No more. London police will now be carrying firearms.

Police would not say which armed unit was involved. Ordinary police officers in London do not usually carry guns, but some special units do, and armed police have become a more common sight on the streets in recent years.

Welcome to the 19th Century, the 20th Century, and the 21st Century my island friends.

Terrorism and evil people no longer arrive in a Bitzkrieg, led by high-stepping jack-boots and a madman with greasy hair and a bad mustache. Today, they sneak in and out of our public transit systems and prey on innocent souls.

Law enforcement must be armed with more than good intentions and a truncheon;

Usually uniformed police officers carry a truncheon or baton to protect themselves against violence. In England, Scotland and Wales firearms may be issued only to specially trained police officers, known as authorized Firearms Officers, and then only on the authority of a senior
officer. Authority is given when an officer is likely to face an armed criminal or when an officer is deployed to protect a person who may be at risk of attack. Officers may fire weapons only as a last resort if they believe that their or other lives are in danger.
Each authorized Firearms Officer is personally responsible for the decision to fire, and may be required to justify this action before the courts.
Most forces in England and Wales operate a system of armed response - vehicles patrol cars which carry weapons in a locked box - to provide a speedy initial response to a firearms incident.
In Northern Ireland, police officers carry firearms for personal protection.

Firearms? Used for personal protection? Ya think?!

George Ryan Pleads Case on WGN

Former Gov. George Ryan said he is confident he will be exonerated at his upcoming corruption trial because the government doesn't have one witness that says they gave him a corrupt dollar. story

Not one witness, correct. But perhaps, a dozen or more witnesses.

Yet another case for term limits. Bad things happen to career politicians. They get caught in the culture of those who feed off of powerful people.

Ryan would not have known the short cuts, the plausible deniability, the empowerment of staff like Scott Fawell, had he not served as Lieutenant Governor for 2 terms, for Secretary of State for 2 terms and in the legislature before all of that.

I am befuddled why Ryan's attorney would permit George to appear on WGN. Then again, no one I talk to can explain why Nick Hurtgen's attorney, Steve Hurley, would request letters be sent to the U.S. Attorney to serve as character references.

No Honor Among Thieves II

It was just a matter of time until federal prosecutors bagged Illinois Republican super-insider John Glennon.

And that wasn't rain that fell on the Wisconsin landscape; it was the cumulative perspiration from those close to Nick Hurtgen and all those Bear Stearns bond deals.

P. Nicholas Hurtgen, a former senior managing director for Bear Stearns & Co.'s office in Chicago, was also indicted in May for allegedly helping pressure hospital officials to hire Kiferbaum in hopes Bear Stearns could finance the expansions.

Kiferbaum pleaded guilty last month to one count of attempted extortion and agreed to cooperate against his co-defendants. Levine and Hurtgen have denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

With Glennon's indictment, the escape routes for those not yet cooperating with the feds were just reduced; hard to roll on a guy who is already either an indicted conspirator or a person of interest.

And those who have golfed, imbibed, and ultimately cut deals with the likes of Glennon, Stu Levine, Don Udsten, Mike Tristano, Roger Stanley and Scott Fawell are no doubt sweating who among the indicted sings next.

Glennon was simply the recent, but not yet the last.

See ya Thursday

If anyone scrolls back, you'll find I never write on Sundays; it's a religious thing with me.

However, I felt obligated to post a few items today, because whatever is written here, or at Xoff Files for that matter, is exponentially more entertaining than WisPolitics' Political Report.

And, I am on assignment for most of the week and unable to post.

The quotes that WisPolitics chooses to highlight are so mundane that many are yearning for the return of Pat Simms' Snoop Column.

You know you might be printing too too many quotes when Congressman Tim (Tom?) Tim? Tom Petri makes the list with:

As Melvin Laird said, and I concur, 'We could all use a lot more of Gaylord Nelson's civility in politics these days.'

Oh, bite me. Now there's a quote, bite me.

Gaylord Nelson was a politician who played to win. And he usually did, until Bob Kasten caught him in 1980. Behind closed doors on election night, I wonder just how civil Gaylord Nelson behaved. Surely he was at least thinking to himself, Bob Kasten and this state can bite me.

No more vanilla quotes in the Political Report...can I get a, I concur?

UW-Madison Computers Go Boing

UW-Madison, where even Willy Wonka would stand in disbelief that so much money could be spent turning dreams into reality. (story)

After five years of work and roughly $26 million, a News 3 investigation finds only rising costs,major technical glitches and other problems -- and no launch date in sight. There's no 'go live' date, said Don Mash, who also insists the project is not off track. When News 3's Linda Eggert asked him if the project is on hold, he said, Well, it is, and it isn't.

I am having a Fast Times at Ridgemont High deja moment; Well, which is it gonna be, Mash, is he gonna sh*#, or is he gonna kill us?

The report includes budget estimates that put the total project cost between $55 million and $62 million in three to four years with an estimated budget shortfall between $21 million and $28 million.

Remember that, incoming freshmen. When tuition increases cut into beer funds, don't even try to blame Karl Rove for this one.

Mash said it's impossible to estimate costs now due to all the unknown, which News 3 finds includes exploring a switch to another software company -- Peoplesoft -- just in case Lawson doesn't work out. Is there a chance that we might say, you know, maybe we do need to look at another vendor? Mash said. I guess that's a possibility.

So, as a graduate from an east coast private university, do I understand this -- public universities offer multiple choice exams, where more than one answer is correct for each question, thereby insuring no answer is incorrect?

Dang, wish I had attended UW-Madison. But the tuition increases were just too much.

What A Pinhead Looks Like II

They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit. That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that.

Liberal television pundit and Democrat political strategist Paul Begala. (story)

As SNL's Darrell Hammond playing Hardball's Chris Matthews would say, Begala, you look like a kneecap with hair.

What A Pinhead Looks Like

Editor, the Gazette:
I am really tired of the Gazette printing letters or articles of "poor me, poor me" of young people in the military. What do these people and their families think the military is all about? That is what they signed the paper for; that is their job. I am so tired of hearing these young people and their families complaining, saying, "I signed up for the college money, not to go to Iraq." What is the military? It is to serve your country in any way you can.
CINDY PETRICK
Janesville

This person probably whines when she has to wait at the drive-up window at Cork N' Bottle for her smokes and a bottle of Boones Farm. Go home to your rented trailer and your abusive ex-husband and try to contribute something positive to humanity.

Stop the Stop Loss

By co-authoring legislation with South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, Hillary Clinton protects herself from being tagged with a Jane Fonda label in 2007/08. She also places herself among a growing cadre of conservatives such as Senator Chuck Hagel who blame the White House for ignoring their calls for more troops to prevent stories like this from Milton, WI;

Ryan Nofsinger figures he held up his end of the bargain. But Uncle Sam didn't. The 22-year-old Milton resident served four years in the Army, including 14 months in Iraq. His discharge date was July 27. The paperwork was done. His family was counting the days on a calendar. And then Ryan got the heart-stopping, breath-sucking news. His active-duty status had been extended for a year.But that wasn't all. He will go back to Iraq in October.

Janesville Gazette story

His release date-July 27, 2005-was a beacon, the thing that kept him going. He signed his discharge papers. He was excited to start a new life. He was thinking about buying a place in Madison and going back to school. His service in Iraq had soured ambitions of a career in medicine. Instead, he would explore music.When his mom died unexpectedly on Mother's Day, Ryan came home for only four days. He didn't want an extended leave to mess up his paperwork and discharge date.

But shortly after he returned, Ryan was told his new unit is being sent to Iraq in October. And so is Ryan.

If this boy doesn't make it home, America will wave our flags and honor his servivce. But in Milton, WI, someone will owe this family an explanation. Someone owes this family an explanation.

In Case You Doubt, She's Running

From the Boston Globe, July 14, 2005:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is proposing legislation that would add 100,000 soldiers to the U.S. Army. Clinton, who unveiled the proposed United States Army Relief Act Wednesday, said it should be a national priority to field a significantly larger military. The measure is likely to receive serious consideration at a time the Army's 500,000 active-duty soldiers struggle in Iraq and across the globe. Clinton says the measure, which is also being proposed in the House, would help the Army reduce the number of deployments each soldier must make and take some pressure off the Reserve and National Guard.

From The Weekly Standard, Feb. 9, 2004:

VIRTUALLY SINCE this magazine started eight years ago, we have argued that the American military, and especially the U.S. Army, was too small.

Conservatives out there will notice that Hillary is taking cues from Bill Kristol as she methodically moves away from her hippy Yale years and later, staff counsel during the Watergate hearings.

As the war in Iraq continues, Hillary may find herself in the midst of a populist revolt, driven by both liberals and conservatives (for vastly different reasons).

How she navigates the waters of neoconservatism, isolationism, internationalism, and mothers weeping over their soldiers' headstones will determine if she returns to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Why Press Secretaries Exist

From a political operative's perspective, why does Milwaukee County executive Scott Walker continue to serve as his own press secretary?

He's been out there for a week, catching spears, on this dust-up over his promoting Milwaukee beyond the county borders.

The simple fact that it is the county executive himself defending his actions lends gravity to a story that should have expired days ago. Clearly, Walker knows how to sell a good quote, because the stories are living-off his sound bites.

Hey, Scott, leave the clever quotes to the press secretary. Get back on message as a reformer, a fixer, a carpenter, a fisher of men, anything other than justifying why county taxpayers paid for your travel into...quicksand.

The Architect

We are 5+ years into the Bush 43 Administration, and finally, whew, finally, we have scandal--blood in the water.

Rove-gate. Green felt-top tables. Flash bulbs popping. Feedback from the committee chairman's mic. What did Rove know and when did he know it? Typical DC. Disneyland East.

Want to see how quickly this story evaporates? About the moment Chief Justice Rehnquist wakes-up dead. President Bush will then have 3 Supreme Court appointments; Sandy D's chair, the deceased chief's chair, and the new chief justice.

Current events illustrates why Democrats are in the minority and will continue so, as long as they continue to shadow box with themselves. While Howard Dean's Democrats are ramping-up the volume on Karl Rove, Rove maneuvers his coalitions into ready position.

An historic, epic, shift is about to occur. And Rove is playing Ali at Manila to the Democrats' George Foreman. The Democrats are punching themselves out.

I share a long history with Karl Rove - even before George W dumped Texas Governor Ann Richards. After Governor Bush became President Bush, I lunched with Karl in the White House mess. All I can say is, he is the most brilliant political operative among the small club of brilliant operatives (Ham Jordan, Ed Rollins, Lee Atwater, James Carville).

By the time Rove unveils the machinery behind placing all 3 of Bush's Supreme Court nominees on the bench, the American people will have grown immune, perhaps even hostile, to the Democrats' Chicken Little claims of the sky is falling.

No way does Bush bail on Rove. The President signed-off on a scheme of diversions long ago.

100 Posts

Just thought you should know; Free Will has passed the 100 mark with this posting of #101.

I have a profound respect for writers like the late Mike Royko.

Writing, everyday, is too much like work.

Gaylord Nelson

I can not add to the moving tributes Bill Christofferson has penned on former governor, former U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson. Obviously, he was not of my Party. If Nelson were still serving today, it would be my Party's job to knock him from office.

However, since his passing, I have been listening to people who knew him well. No pun intended, Senator Nelson was an earthy guy.

If the stories are true, and given the sources, no doubt they are, Gaylord Nelson would have been comfortable sitting at Norm's Hideaway on Lake Koshkonong, or the Anchor Inn in Newville, or the Showboat at the Indianford Dam. And I do believe he and I could have shared several cocktails at those watering holes, while disagreeing over environmental policy and partisan politics.

Bad politicians lose reelection because they change. Good politicians lose because times change. Nelson is certainly in the latter category. The country shifted in 1980, not Senator Nelson's character or convictions.

Gaylord Nelson's legacy to Wisconsin and the country is that of a giant. And as I am fond of saying, the world needs giants.

Another Reason To Watch Cable

From Milwaukee's Spivak and Bice, 6 days after you read it here first....

Full disclosure
No one seemed as outraged by GOP gubernatorial candidate and County Executive Scott Walker's statewide Harley ride last week than University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Dennis Dresang.

Dresang blasted Walker's second-annual "Executive's Ride" as pure politics and ripped the Republican's giveaway of freebies to outstate media.

"The fact that this is a tour for a gubernatorial candidate who is using his county position and county money to make the tour and providing $500 worth of gifts to the media - it just doesn't look right," he said.

What the outstate media didn't say, however, is that Dresang is a frequent, though small, contributor to various Democrats, including Gov. Jim Doyle, the guy Walker hopes to unseat. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's Web site, he has given $350 to Doyle since 1997, including $150 during his 2002 bid for the state's top office.

Not big bucks, but as Dresang might say, it just doesn't look right.

From the July 12, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Stances, Viagra, Whatever

As long as we're talking 2006, David Broder's piece, Democrats In Need of Stances, should add to my earlier tutorial.

The president's deep troubles have produced no rise in positive sentiment about the Democrats. To achieve their potential, the memo concludes, they must pose sharp choices -- ones that define the Democrats, not just the Republicans.

Belling Bullseye

Conservative Milwaukee radio MJ (mouth-jockey) Mark Belling got one right; GOP passes budget only a Democrat can love

GOP State Rep. Jeff Stone, appearing on Belling's TV roundtable, crash-landed like Evil Knievel at Ceasar's Palace. After defending the Republican budget, Belling dismissed his comments by saying, thank you Governor Doyle.

Quick, oxygen and a fan.

Doyle’s Viagra Solution

Is Governor Doyle’s threat to veto the entire budget just cheap talk, or a genuine strategy option?

The Wisconsin State Journal’s Scott Milfred, Speaker John Gard, among others, call Doyle’s veto a bluff. But from big thoughts come big opportunities. Doyle should indeed veto the entire budget.

There is only one person who can rescue Wisconsin Democrats from near irrelevance. With both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature in Republican control and no sexy issues driving this current budget dance (save TABOR), the status quo favors continued GOP control. However, the same cannot be said for the governor.

Doyle’s reelection is vulnerable to the predicament of an amorous husband whose wife stares-up and thinks she’ll paint the ceiling beige.

His administration needs a shot of Viagra.

Milfred reminded readers that not since 1931 has a Wisconsin governor vetoed an entire budget. So what. How many firsts did Tommy Thompson tackle? From policy to politics, Tommy was a man of firsts. His legacy is cemented in stone.

By vetoing the entire budget, Doyle, an avid casino advocate, would be betting the Republicans crap-out. The solidarity among Republicans is held together by duct tape.

Doyle simply rolls a stink bomb back under the tent and then steps back to watch the chaos; before stepping forward to define what 4 more years of Jim Doyle will look like.

Why wouldn’t Doyle give GOP Senator Mary Lazich the opportunity to add a flip to her already established flip-flop? And when Speaker John Gard (reportedly) referred to Senator Cowles as Mike Ellis’s **female dog**, why wouldn’t Doyle exploit the opportunity to pound the wedge deeper between the two houses?

Tommy Thompson often said reelections are made the 3rd year of a four-year term. It is now or never for Doyle.

For cripes sake, his family founded the modern Wisconsin Democrat Party. Be bold. Leave some footprints for your Party to follow. They sure need help with candidate recruitment.

Smell Test Police

It just doesn't smell right, said Jay Heck, executive director of the campaign reform advocacy group. Just because no laws were violated doesn't mean it's OK. It still has the appearance of being improper.

This, regarding the on-going dust-up over Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's Harley ride beyond the county border interpreted as a gubernatorial campaign parade --

I tend to agree with Heck, however, just who is the arbitor of such smell tests? A judge, jury, attorneys, or Wisconsin voters?

Inappropriate appearances can't be adjudicated by the courts, if so, then 80% of Summerfest would be convicted for displaying their boxers, the tattoos (in places my wife rarely reveals to me), their piercings (credit Janet Jackson for making this nearly passé).

Gold Member, errr, Sterling Lynck

New state Democrat Party Chairman Joe Wineke has revealed his strategy; hang Republicans with the same ethics stench that indicted (ex) state senator Chuck Chvala brought upon his Democrat colleagues.

Republicans rode the poster child for government abuse to a senate majority and a remarkable one-seat gain in the assembly in 2004.

Can St. Rep Scott Jensen's profile be raised in similar fashion? Doubtful. The weight of the charges don't compare.

However, Democrats nearly defeated Jensen in the Republican primary in his first Assembly bid. WEAC, WI Right To Life and NRA joined resources to nearly topple then-Governor Tommy Thompson's chief of staff Jensen in a special election.

Those of us on that first campaign stretched the creative bounds of so-called endorsements to new levels, wining by a just a handful of votes. But without Scott Jensen, it is unlikely Republicans would have captured the Assembly majority in 1994.

Sterling Lynk, a 25-year-old from Waukesha, has come forward to challenge Rep. Scott Jensen for the 98th AD seat.

Lynk said he will emphasize schools, taxes and spending in his campaign, in addition to the charges Jensen is facing in the caucus scandal. Mr. Jensen has some warts, he said. To me it's just amazingly important that we have clean government and it really upsets me when we see situations like that.

Talking points courtesy of Joe Wineke.

Never, Never, Never Surrender

Al Qaida terrorists have claimed responsibility for the London blasts on an Islamic website and said that Britain is burning with fear.

It continued: Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

Yea, right. This is a nation that survived the v-bombs of Nazi Germany. Al-Qaida hardly reaches the level of the IRA; a terrorist group that targeted government officials and government buildings. A few well-placed book bags targeting innocent civilians will only serve to further galvanize the West.

As a student in London 40 years after the end of WWII, I shared many pints with locals who survived the bombing of London. The words of Winston Churchill fortified the British then, and his words still ring true today.

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.

Professor Dresang, Your D is Showing

Dennis Dresang has been caught with his skirt blown-up over his head:

This is a tour for a gubernatorial candidate who is using his county position and county money to make the tour.
Dennis Dresang
Professor of Political Science
Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Madison.

As long as we are cluttering the newspaper with academic titles, let's be sure to expose Dresang as a partisan Democrat; contributing to both Governor Jim Doyle and indicted (ex) state senator, Chuck Chvala

We've done this for two years now and nobody had a problem with it; nobody raised a concern. The only thing that's changed is that I have announced my intention to seek a different statewide office. Now it appears, at least for some, the rules have changed since last year.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that he was there to promote Milwaukee, not campaign for governor, but he also answered questions about his campaign.

If the mainstream media continues to look to the university for an objective voice to quote, then perhaps it behooves them to confirm that profs like Dresang are indeed unaffiliated with political parties and candidates.

Or, at least, simply reveal that Dennis Dresang is a professor at UW-Madison who contributes to Democrat Party causes and candidates.

Dale Schultz

Republicans will continue to lose statewide elections in Wisconsin until the riddle of Western Wisconsin can be solved.

A big step in that direction was State Senator Dale Schultz's congressional campaign last year in WI-3 against incumbent Democrat Ron Kind. Yes, we know he lost. Yes, we know it was not particularly competitive. However, no one argues that Schultz was among the best of a small clique of Republicans to make the race.

Western Wisconsin voters began their shift from Republican to Democrat during the Reagan years. Many of my Republican friends forget, or do not scrutinize voting patterns, that incumbent GOP U.S. Senator Bob Kasten would have lost his first reelect effort in 1986 to Ed Garvey, had he not spent heavily on the Minneapolis ADI. Garvey simply could not afford to buy in that expensive media market and Kasten drove-up his margins to win statewide 50.8% to 49.2%.

By 1992, the magic was gone for Republicans. The Clinton-Gore ticket launched their post-convention campaign right here in Wisconsin. Had Bill and Al's Excellent Adventure partaken in a road trip to State Street and parked their VW micro-bus painted with smiley faces and peace signs near UW-Madison, Western Wisconsin might have remained more swing than Democrat.

Russ Feingold's election that same year, and Ron Kind's four years later, sealed the deal for Democrats along the county shores of the mighty Mississippi.

So why was Schultz’s campaign so important to the future voting behavior of Western Wisconsin? For the same reason the Bush campaign targeted this region of the country in 2000 and again in 2004; trends are reversed incrementally, through a combination of a personal touch and issues that draw distinctions between us and them.

With Dale Schultz’s candidacy and President Bush’s retail campaigning in Western Wisconsin, future Republican campaigns will bear the fruit (votes) of their efforts. IDing Republican voters, recruiting Republican volunteers, communicating the Republican agenda and Election Day turn-out programs are critical persuasion tools. And they are only executed (paid for) by credible campaigns led by legit candidates.

Besides, running and losing a race for Congress is the best attitude adjustment for any politician. Dale Schultz is already a more effective (and a bit more humble) state legislative leader as a result of his defeat.

If either Mark Green or Scott Walker defeats Governor Jim Doyle next year, they will have done so by running strong in Western Wisconsin. We can all thank Dale Schultz for helping bring those voters home for Republicans.

As Predicted, Friday News

As predicted here, hard news was made late Friday, although not the scandal kind.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement just as newspapers were putting their editions to bed for the long holiday weekend. Oh sure, a few AP reporters were forced to work the weekend so daily newspapers could pull from the wire service and provide some news on President Bush's first Supreme Court vacancy. But mostly, it was the cable news shows that covered the announcement; yet another example of why newspaper circulation continues to decline.

Don't think for a moment that the timing of Justice O'Connor's announcement was her own doing. White House counsel, led by Karl Rove, orchestrated the entire affair.

By waiting to release the retirement news until late Friday of a holiday weekend, the coverage by cable news served as a national focus group of sorts. MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, each raised the profile of potential judicial nominees within hours of O'Connor's retirement.

Soon after, the dozens of special interest groups who will battle the nomination, either in favor or in opposition, began their campaigns. Pro-lifers and pro-choicers, Move-on.org, property rights and civil liberty groups, minority and gender groups, faith-based and gay rights organizations, and partisan groups each sent their talking heads on the cable shows to serve as a vetting machine for Presidential nomination and U.S. Senate confirmation.

I am not suggesting that George Bush is pulling a Bill Clinton; measuring public opinion to insure that the President lands on the so-called winning side. However, no one inside the White House was ignoring what was being said on cable this past weekend.

Yet, this weekend's news coverage served to spark Americans into a national dialogue. And subsequently, both Houses of Congress will be told to support of oppose the eventual nominee.

The essence of Democracy was on display this weekend. It was so appropriate that the 4th of July marked this occasion of a Supreme Court vacancy.

It's Friday, Fax that Release!

It's Friday, the start of a long holiday weekend. And what has become a tradition in politics, Friday afternoons mark an opportune time to release embarrassing information.

Since newsrooms are understaffed over the weekend, Saturday circulation is the lightest of the week, and Sunday news stories are written and pre-packaged by Friday night, it often isn't until Monday that bad news makes the newspapers. And by Monday, who cares?

By Tuesday a new spin is pitched, by Wednesday friends and allies are recruited. By Thursday a new secretary is appointed, a new bill is drafted, a new candidate is recruited, or a fine is paid, time is served, contributions returned, a girlfriend goes into hiding.

By Friday afternoon, it is time to fax another release, admitting the affair, the embezzlement, the bribe, the DUI, the termination.

Success in politics? It all comes down to timing.