Next Time, Skip the Appointment

When last we saw former congressman Mark Deli Siljander, he was at the Dec. 19 opening downtown of "Charlie Wilson's War," the movie about the heroic former Texas lawmaker's efforts to get the Soviets out of Afghanistan.

Siljander looked relaxed, happy, seemingly without a care in the world. Next thing you know, he's indicted on charges of money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy for his connections to a group alleged to have funneled $130,000 to an Afghan warlord with ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

We recall that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was given a lot of our tax dollars, worked with the CIA on the ground and was our ally during Wilson's war. On the other hand, he stiffed President Reagan, who invited top anti-Soviet mujaheddin leaders to come by the White House for a visit.

Siljander, meanwhile, is from the same southwest Michigan district as former congressman David Stockman, who was indicted in March on charges of securities fraud. Siljander succeeded Stockman in a special election after Reagan appointed Stockman to head the Office of Management and Budget.

Reagan also appointed Siljander to a one-year gig as a delegate to the United Nations after Siljander lost a GOP primary in 1986 to current Rep. Fred Upton.

Hmmm . . . Note to Fred: Do not, under any circumstances, accept a presidential appointment, even if it's to Italy. Bad karma.

Postcard From the Peace Train

The media coverage of President Bush's trip to bring peace to the Middle East seemed a bit negative. After all, this was his very first trip to Israel and the West Bank and he's got plenty of time left, a whole year, to fix that problem. Even so, the coverage was routinely pessimistic.

So we turned to the Dipnote, the State Department's official blog, for a better feel of how folks on the ground sensed the way things were going. We found a "behind the scenes view," from Nancy Brinker, the chief of protocol.

"Our delegation arrived in Israel on Wednesday morning. The weather was beautiful and we were all very excited to be in the country," Brinker reported. "President Bush, President Peres, and Prime Minister Olmert all appeared together at the arrival ceremony at the airport.

"Everyone was moved because we understood that we were witnessing a historic meeting. Everyone understands [the] significance of the commitment that has been made to achieving peace.

" Yitzhak Eldan, the Israeli Chief of Protocol, and I immediately connect. As our gracious host, he introduces Prime Minister Olmert to our delegation and I introduced President Bush to their delegation. It's a pleasure to work with someone like Yitzhak and it gives us an opportunity to even create more understanding between our countries. . . .

"When the helicopters landed at the airport to take us back to the hotel, they came in with such a rush of air we almost got taken to the ground! I enjoyed talking to Yitzhak; we had a great discussion about what shoes are best to wear in this hectic job."

Shoes? But we digress.

"The President headed to the President Peres' residence for a very unique and special ceremony. Usually, when the head of state arrives in Israel, there is a military ceremony at the President's residence . . . [but] because there had already been a military ceremony . . . at the airport, President Peres decided to have a civilian ceremony, a unique one without precedent.

"They asked children some young children -- age of 12, 13 -- to come and to sing songs of peace. The children, both Israeli and Arab, sang beautifully in both Hebrew and Arabic. One girl sang a beautiful rendition of 'Over the Rainbow.' You could see that the President was quite moved by the ceremony."

A very unique and special blog.

From Labor to Management

Revolving-door alert: Back in 2004, Emily DeRocco, assistant secretary of labor in charge of the Employment and Training Administration, stood with Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, delivering a check for nearly half a million dollars to National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler for NAM's worker-training program.

DeRocco, after more than six years on the job at Labor, has now moved over to the National Association of Manufacturers to be president of the NAM Center for Workforce Success.

On the Move

Sean O'Keefe, who headed NASA from 2001 to 2005 -- and who was in charge when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated -- resigned Wednesday as chancellor of Louisiana State University.

It's been reported that O'Keefe, secretary of the Navy for Bush I and deputy OMB director just before he moved to NASA, was asked to resign.

His resignation letter indicated as much. "My successor needs the complete support of the" entire university, he wrote, according to the Associated Press. "I wish every success in the effort to recruit someone who will rise to that necessary level of support."

O'Keefe is staying on as a professor until June 1.

John P. "Pat" Philbin, former Coast Guard spokesman and more recently the FEMA external affairs chief who took the bullet for that phony press conference, is now senior vice president at Pier Systems, a communications consulting firm.