Power Behind the Throne

Cheney Apologizes for Incest Joke

Charleston Gazette  |  Jun 3, 08 4:16 AM CDT

(Newser) - Vice President Dick Cheney has been forced to apologize for a derogatory incest joke about West Virginians. Cheney, speaking about his distant blood relationship to Barack Obama, quipped to the National Press Club: "I had Cheneys on both sides of the family, and we don't even live in West Virginia."  More »

McClellan Blasts Bush for Not Firing Rove

Associated Press  |  Jun 1, 08 4:35 PM CDT

(Newser) - President Bush should have fired aide Karl Rove over the Plamegate affair, Scott McClellan said today. Publicizing his Washington tell-all book, McClellan also blasted Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's ex-chief of staff, for denying they had leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's name, the AP reports. "We had higher standards at the White House." More »

Bush Mob Sets Its Sights on McClellan

New York Daily News  |  May 30, 08 3:55 PM CDT

(Newser) - The Bush administration's reaction to Scott McClellan's new book should look familiar to anyone with HBO, with one important difference, writes Mike Lupica in the Daily News. "it has become clear by now that even the hoods from The Sopranos would be out of their weight class with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove." More »

McCain Guru's Work for Foreign Dictators Draws Fire

Washington Post  |  May 22, 08 1:45 PM CDT

(Newser) - A client list that included dictators in Angola, the Philippines, Kenya, and Somalia is now haunting a key strategist for John McCain, the Washington Post reports, with Democrats baying over Charlie Black’s lobbying record. Black was among the earliest users of the revolving door between lobbying and campaign consulting that McCain has criticized, a conflict likely to animate Barack Obama’s strategy this fall. More »

Silda Steps Out of Hiding

New York Daily News  |  May 22, 08 10:30 AM CDT

(Newser) - While the fictionalized "Law & Order" version of her husband's infamous sex scandal was airing on NBC last night, Silda Wall Spitzer emerged from 2 months of self-imposed exile to attend the Manhattan benefit for Children for Children, the Daily News reports. The wife of prostitute-patronizing former New York governor Eliot Spitzer launched the foundation in 1996. More »

Babysitting Brit Nets Dad a 6-Figure Gig

People  |  May 21, 08 10:36 AM CDT

(Newser) - Not a bad gig: Jamie Spears is pulling down $130,000 a year—all for babysitting his own wayward daughter, reports People. Since Spears quietly quit his catering job in February and made rehabbing Britney's image his full-time career, he's pulled down $2,500 a week from his eldest daughter's estate.  More »

Ex-Gov: Rove Probe 'Will Make Watergate Look Like Child's Play'

Anniston Star  |  May 20, 08 11:17 AM CDT

(Newser) - Don Siegelman is out of jail and fighting to clear his name, but the case is a lot bigger than just him, the former Democratic governor of Alabama tells the Anniston Star . Siegelman says his prosecution on corruption charges was orchestrated by Karl Rove as a way to keep Dems out of office, and appeals to Congress to keep digging until the truth comes out. More »

On the Ropes, GOP Fights Hard in Miss. Congress Race