Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld Waxes Emotional

Asked how he has found the motivation to press on in this tough environment, Rumsfeld answered with his tried and true "My goodness." He took a long pause as the audience laughed softly, then answered that he felt "so fortunate to have been able to participate and serve at important times in our country's history, and to do it with people like that," gesturing to the soldiers in the room. Visibly emotional, he looked off to the side as he composed himself.

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"He's certainly a ruthless little bastard."

---Richard Nixon

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The greatest evil is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.

---C.S. Lewis

Makers of Bombs & Drugs a Little Worried

What a Democrat Win Means for Defense Contractors, Drug Companies

Wednesday, November 08, 2006
FOX NEWS

WASHINGTON — By boosting the power of Democrats in Congress, voters likely set in motion legislative efforts that could lower the price of pharmaceuticals and cut defense spending.

But with the balance of the power in the Senate not tipping more than one or two votes, where it usually takes 60 votes to pass major legislation, companies such as Merck & Co. (MRK) and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) may find themselves more the target of harsh political rhetoric than any hurtful changes in law.

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With many political analysts viewing the Democrats win of the House as evidence of waning support for the war in Iraq, some Wall Street analysts are bracing for the possibility that military spending may gradually slow.

Even if Republicans manage to maintain control of the Senate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, a frequent critic of free-spending defense programs, is expected to take over as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee after Sen. John Warner, R.-Va., steps down because of term limits. McCain has a history of being tough on the defense industry, forcing the Air Force to change the terms of a Lockheed cargo plane contract and helping to uncover wrongdoing by Boeing and a Pentagon official in a separate Air Force tanker contract.

Lockheed Chief Financial Officer Chris Kubasik tried to ease jitters recently, saying the company has "worked well with both parties" and that its business, mostly long-term big ticket contracts, can withstand periodic political changes in Washington.

Maureen Dowd Meets Stewart and Colbert

I thought Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert might be a little nervous to meet with me. I was the real news commentator, after all, and they were the mock. They threw spitballs at presidents; I interviewed presidents before throwing spitballs at them. I had crisscrossed the globe to cover news stories, while these guys just put on dark suits and threw up imported backgrounds on a green screen. No doubt they would try to impress me with some weighty discussion about world affairs or the midterm elections. But when I walked into Colbert's office at The Colbert Report, just off Tenth Avenue in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, the two barely acknowledged me. Stewart, rumpled in a gray tee over a long-sleeved shirt, khaki cargo pants, black Timberland boots and a Mets cap, was sprawled in a chair with takeout coffee. Colbert, neat in a long-sleeved navy shirt, blue pants and wire-rimmed glasses, was sitting up straight next to him, holding a paper plate of fruit. They were already deep in a weighty discussion.

COLBERT: If honeydew is ripe, I think it's the king of melons.

STEWART: Nah, I think given the choice of melons . . .

COLBERT: You'd go cantaloupe.

STEWART: Oh, I don't think there's any question. The cantaloupe is far superior to the honeydew.

COLBERT: No, every night I hunt for the honeydew.

STEWART: The honeydew is almost a coconut; it's barely even a melon. I think you're making a huge mistake.

COLBERT: No, I don't care for it.

STEWART [in a stentorian announcer's voice]: Colbert and Stewart came to blows over the melon.

At last, they turn their attention to me. Their gazes are not, as I'd expected, full of respect. They regard with amused disdain the old-fashioned, phone-book-size Radio Shack tape recorder I'd put on the floor between them.

"I had one like that in 1973,'' Colbert notes.

"I thought it was a chaise,'' Stewart says. "I was going to lie down on it. I suppose there are two gerbils in there slowly paddling, and that's moving the wheel." He asks if I also brought a calligrapher.