She Didn't Get the Interview, but Iranians Didn't Get the Joke

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Liberals are accusing the Bush-Cheney folks of trying to foment World War III or IV with all that reckless saber-rattling about Iranian nukes.

But it seems New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd brought us closer to the brink with a Sunday column in which she purported to interview Vice President Cheney. This is how it played on Press TV, the first international Iran-based news network to broadcast 24-7 in English.

"Cheney: Iran has WMDs, just like Iraq," said the headline on the online edition, posted Sunday.

"The US Vice President, Dick Cheney, has accused the Islamic Republic of having weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), 'just like Saddam,' " the story read.

"While the negotiations are underway between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, the hawkish US official said the White House considers Iran's nuclear dossier in 'the final stages of diplomacy,' " the report said.

" 'We are not going to get hung up on democracy this time,' Dick Cheney said in an interview with the New York Times on Sunday. 'It's time for squash. Not to mention mushrooms, clouds of them,' said the Vice President, when asked how close Washington was to launching military strikes on Iran.

"When asked if he would wait for the new round of sanctions against Iran, he said Washington has waited enough, adding that 'the sanctions were announced Thursday. It's now Sunday.' "

Press TV added a couple of context paragraphs. "The US invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of Iraq's WMD program but the alleged weapons of mass destruction had never been found in the country," it said, noting that U.N. nuke inspector Mohamed ElBaradei had said on Sunday there's no proof Iran is "developing nuclear arms."

The item was no longer on the site yesterday, maybe because someone realized Cheney would no more sit down and chat with Dowd than he would with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Chatting with us yesterday, Dowd noted that satire has its risks.

Showing the Flag?

Speaking of Cheney, he was in Upstate New York on Monday, hunting at the Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in Union Vale. Not known how the hunting went, but at least no injuries were reported. We'll wait another day to be sure. It should be noted that his press office had announced this trip well in advance.

The New York Post reported that a "5-foot-by-5-foot Confederate flag hung in a garage attached to the club headquarters." This drew a strong rebuke from the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called on Cheney to "denounce the club and apologize for going" to it, the paper reported. Cheney's office said he didn't see the flag.

E-Mail Follies, Cont'd

How many times do we have to remind people to double- and triple-check before hitting the "send" button?

In what has to be one of the more bizarre screw-ups of the Internet era, the House Judiciary Committee, after promising strict confidentiality, inadvertently sent the e-mail addresses of Justice Department whistle-blowers out to all those who have used a special tip line.

The error, first reported by TPMmuckraker, was compounded when the committee sent out a second e-mail to about 150 people who've used the tip line, trying to recall the first. Apparently, only the e-mail addresses were revealed -- and doubtless many of them don't reveal identities, and others, the Web site reported, appeared to be fake.

But one address was vice_president@whitehouse.gov. That would be Cheney's public address, so his office got all of the whistle-blowers' e-mail addresses. Gotta give you a warm and toasty feeling.

In a statement, a committee spokesman blamed a "technological error" and said it was trying to see if those exposed really were whistle-blowers or just random whiners using the hotline.

"The Committee apologizes for any concern this error may have caused, and is making every effort to protect the confidentiality" for those who used the hotline.

Little more effort wouldn't hurt.

Leaving, but Not Going

Drug Enforcement Administration folks have been wondering exactly when outgoing chief Karen P. Tandy was leaving to take her new job as senior vice president of Motorola. Tandy, the first woman to head the DEA, told staff last week that she was moving on after four years at the helm.

It was to be sometime this month, everyone understood, but so far no one has been able to pin down a precise departure date. Then there was buzz that she was leaving in mid-month -- after first doing a farewell tour next week of Latin America, with at least four stops in Brazil, including that mandatory trip to the spectacular Iguazu Falls.

Motorola would probably benefit from greater exposure in Latin America, but now it seems the trip is not happening. Too bad. We were hoping reporters would be asked to cover.

Support a Hero

Empty nesters? Got nothing to do on Halloween? There's still time to head up to Michael Gerson's cocktail party and book signing hosted in Manhattan at the Council on Foreign Relations. Gerson, a former White House speechwriter and new Washington Post op-ed columnist, will happily sign his book, "Heroic Conservatism," on sale for $26.95. No costumes needed.

FCC, Barely Present and Accounted For

Seems there's some tension at the Federal Communications Commission -- not just over policy matters but even over noncontroversial matters.

We're told no one at the FCC was particularly excited about going to the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva starting last Friday, but commissioner Robert McDowell volunteered to attend the opening session. He pretty much had his bags packed and was ready to go but Chairman Kevin Martin, who's had some differences with fellow Republican McDowell, wouldn't sign off, Communications Daily reported.

An FCC presence at the conference apparently isn't critical, but it's helpful to have a high-level person there to show the flag and signal that the issues are of interest to Washington. Back in 2003, commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Michael Copps both attended.

Late Thursday, Martin tapped commissioner Deborah Tate, who was already going to be in Europe by the end of the week, to attend, the trade paper reported. But she wasn't going to make it to the opening sessions, marking the first time in quite a while that no commissioner was on hand.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this column.