Where Will Fredo Pop Up Next?

By Al Kamen
Friday, July 4, 2008

First he popped up at Friday night's baseball game between the Nats and the O's. Next thing you know, he's in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday as an op-ed columnist.

So, is this the beginning of an Alberto R. Gonzales re-emergence in public, 10 months after he resigned from a somewhat-less-than-successful 2 1/2 -year tenure as attorney general? Is there a job announcement coming?

Aside from a temporary gig helping a special master oversee the settlement of a patent case in Texas, there's no word yet that Gonzales has landed a full-time job. (He may be just taking his time, and, to be sure, the job market is a bit tight these days.)

Gonzales also gave a little-noticed graduation speech May 30 at the Free Will Baptist School, a high school in St. Croix.

While the general assumption has been that "Fredo," as President Bush calls him, would go private in the legal sector, his Times op-ed, "What Latinos Want From Their President," looks to be an effort to establish his credentials as a political pundit and Latino spokesman. It analyzes Latino voting trends and views.

"Neither party can afford to take the Latino vote for granted," he admonishes. "I can't speak for all Latinos," he said modestly, but "both parties need to forge closer relationships with Latino voters."

Really not that bad a piece, but, judging from the tenor of the online comments he received, all is not forgiven for his efforts in the Bush administration. In fact, there seems to be a lot of anger out there on the Left Coast. Words like "criminal," "disgrace," "stooge" and such pop up all too frequently in the comments.

Well, he'll have the last laugh if and when that big law firm picks him up. Failing that, he could always try punditry.

O Brothel, Where Art Thou?

Folks in the Foreign Service were puzzled by a curious cable last month from Director General Harry K. Thomas Jr. styled as a "reminder to all employees and contractors . . . that irrespective of whether prostitution is legal in the host country, employees should not in any way abet sex trafficking or solicit people in prostitution."

Thomas warned that "employees who engage in this conduct are subject to discipline," ranging from "admonishment, reprimand, [or] suspension" to being kicked out of their jobs. Fighting human trafficking, he noted, has "become a central component of U.S. . . . foreign policy over the last several years," and the rules have long regarded "exploiting those engaged in prostitution" as "notoriously disgraceful conduct."

This applies to local folks employed at the embassy. Employees of "tenant agencies" at the embassy, such as Agriculture or Commerce or the Pentagon and their contractors, Thomas wrote, "are subject to their agency's policies and directives."

The cable naturally got the diplos wondering if some specific incident triggered the "reminder." Nothing uncovered so far, but still checking.

The Statues Are Wearing Tube Tops, Just in Case

There's chatter that the empty chair on the Hill waiting for former Pentagon undersecretary Douglas J. Feith may be filled soon. Word is that the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and civil liberties is looking forward to hearing his views on harsh interrogations of detainees at a July 15 appearance.

Feith had agreed to appear voluntarily on June 18 but pulled out at the last minute because former State Department aide Lawrence Wilkerson, who had called Feith names, was to appear with him.

The full committee is hoping that former attorney general John D. Ashcroft will stop by to chat on July 17 about various matters. Maybe he'll give us a few more details about that heartwarming condolence call he received in 2004 when he was in the hospital recovering from gallbladder surgery.

Loop Fans will recall that Gonzales and then-White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr., concerned about how Ashcroft was faring, dropped in to cheer him up. Oh, and while they were there, they wanted him to overrule his deputy, James B. Comey-- who had been designated acting attorney general while Ashcroft was out of action -- and approve a White House surveillance program.

No Salad Days at the FDA

The latest E. coli/spinach and salmonella/tomatoes scares have renewed public concern about the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of food safety. And a recent Government Accountability Office report doesn't do much to put tomato or spinach lovers -- or consumers in general -- at ease.

The FDA, which is responsible for the safety of about 80 percent of the nation's food supply -- they don't do meat; that's the Department of Agriculture -- announced a major Food Protection Plan in November and plans to spend about $125 million in the next couple of years to improve the system.

The problem, the GAO said in a report last month, is that the FDA's plan is short on details and the price tag doesn't seem right. It would cost about $524 million, the GAO said, to have the FDA inspect each of the nation's food firms just once.

Meanwhile, in terms of inspections, things seem to be going in the wrong direction. The number of firms to be inspected increased from 51,000 to more than 65,500 between 2001 and 2007, but the number inspected dropped a bit, from 14,721 to 14,566. The number of overseas inspections also has dropped.

The FDA told Congress that it will take some time, some money and new legislation to implement the plan. That sounds as though it's going to happen during the McCain or Obama administration. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking into why the FDA, weeks after the salmonella outbreak, still hasn't been able to pinpoint the cause.

Meanwhile, maybe eating less could improve your odds of staying healthy?