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Published May 19, 2015
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Disgraced Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is lashing out at prominent Republicans, saying that Arizona Senator John McCain and others have joined the "chorus of amnesiacs," who now distance themselves from him. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Abramoff blames McCain for deliberately humiliating him after his downfall, but says, "When I met him, he didn't have his eyes shut."
On former House speaker Newt Gingrich — who has denied befriending Abramoff — the lobbyist says, "I have more pictures of [Newt] than I have of my wife." And while Montana Senator Conrad Burns, the largest single recipient of Abramoff-related campaign funds, says he wasn't influenced by the money Abramoff says, "Every appropriation we wanted [from Burns' committee] we got," adding, "It's a little difficult for him to run from that record."
Resisting Request
The CIA, which referred the Valerie Plame leak to the Justice Department for prosecution, is now resisting handing over documents that former Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby says he needs for his defense.
Libby, who is charged with perjury before the grand jury in the leak investigation, is asking for a year's worth of copies of the CIA's presidential daily briefings saying the documents will demonstrate that any false statements he might have made were the result of his preoccupation with a vast array of classified policy issues.
As part of its objections to releasing the briefings, the CIA says it would take nine months to assemble them. But if the judge rules they're necessary for Libby's defense — and the agency refuses to produce them — the case could be thrown out.
Losing the Left?
If you were wondering why New York Senator Hillary Clinton is edging away from her support for the war in Iraq, consider this: While Clinton was once considered the darling of the Democratic left, one of its most prominent voices — Texas columnist Molly Ivins, is ripping Washington Democrats — and Clinton in particular.
Ivins says she's "had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting [S.O.B.] up there... and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton." Ivins says she won't support Clinton because "she has no clear stand on the war," and because she compromises on issues Ivins calls, "pure right-wing firewater."
Revisionist Rhymes
Some nursery schools in Oxfordshire, England, have taken offense to classic nursery rhymes like, "Baa Baa Black Sheep" so they're teaching children to sing, "Baa Baa, Rainbow Sheep," instead. The Times of London reports teachers have also dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of "Snow White," and changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty — letting all the king's men put Humpty back together again after all. The manager of two area nursery schools says he's just promoting equal opportunity, saying, "No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender, or anything else."
— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/amnesiac-republicans