Capital deals with full plate

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 3, 2002 | by Paul M. Rodriguez

Amusingly, Torie Clarke, the Pentagon's press lady, angrily tongue-lashed the nameless disloyal subordinates and warned all in earshot and beyond that while disagreements may be had in private while developing policy, once a decision by the boss has been made then that's it. Pentagon insiders winked and laughed that Clarke apparently learned her lesson when she reportedly undermined the Bush/Rumsfeld decision to set up the Office of Strategic Influence (OSI), even after millions of tax dollars had been spent on it.

Both in the magazine and at its Website (www.insightmag.com), INSIGHT chronicled Clarke's office antics and put the disinformation campaign launched against 0SI by false leaks to the New York Times into proper context. For example, Clarke refused to sign or allow an op-ed piece to run in the liberal New York newspaper to refute false allegations from political hacks who, to the embarrassment of Rumsfeld and Bush, whacked both OSI and its brass. The line was that 0SI was to be a disinformation center to lie to the world's press. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

In fact, a sheaf of memos obtained by INSIGHT showed that at the same time Clarke was refusing to sign and send a letter to correct the false report as requested by her superiors, she publicly was raising questions about OSI. And, as INSIGHT has reported, she still refuses to clear up the matter, let alone make public the findings of a major internal investigation conducted by the DoD general-counsel's intelligence group that confirmed OSI was completely above-board. A copy of a summary of this probe provided to Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is available at INSIGHT'S Website.

"When a decision has been reached, people are expected to support it," Clarke told reporters who asked about politicking by White subordinates against Rumsfeld's decision to dump the Crusader. But issuing supportive edicts isn't the same as loyally following legitimate orders, something Clarke didn't learn in the military since she never served a day in uniform. Ken Steadman, a White subordinate, was required to resign.

Insubordination can be a serious problem. Consider the budget. Daniels told INSIGHT last week that Bush expects each Cabinet department and agency head to run a tight ship and account for every plug nickel and dime. This is especially important given that the money that funds these departments and agencies tomes from hardworking taxpayers and their families, often at considerable sacrifice. But as surprised OMB officials revealed to this magazine, they have been hard-pressed to get department and agency heads to account for billions in missing and unaccounted-for monies. "How are we supposed to figure out spending priorities if we don't know where the money is going or how much has been spent?" a baffled OMB senior aide tells INSIGHT. Talk now is of requiring financial consultants and other government contractors to be audited themselves to make sure everything is up to snuff.

Meanwhile, a deal was struck with Senate Democrats concerning fast-track trade authority for the president once Republicans agreed to provide health insurance for workers who lose jobs because of foreign competition. A major win for Bush is how it'll be played. The president also won an appeals-court ruling that secured the disputed seat of Peter N. Kirsanow on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a panel whose 5-2 majority had refused to seat the conservative Republican appointee. Now the tally will be 4-3 with one vacancy.