Government Executive - Authors - Adam Martin

Romney stumbles over why he didn't mention troops in his speech

Adam Martin, The Wire — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:26:28 -0400

Oh Mitt Romney, Sometimes it seems he just can't get his thoughts to come out of his mouth the right way. Surely if you asked him "are the troops important," he'd say yes. He's said it a few times since people started noticing that he never mentioned U.S. military personnel in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. But when he was explaining to Fox News's Brett Baier on Friday why he didn't mention the troops, Romney opened with this clumsy line: "When you give a speech you don’t go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important."

D'oh! Does that mean he doesn't think U.S. soldiers and Marines are important? Romney seemed to catch himself on the next line: "I described in my speech my commitment to a strong military unlike the president’s decision to cut our military. I didn't use the word troops. I used the word military. I think they refer to the same thing." Not really, though. "Troops" suggests you're thinking about the well being of the people on the ground. "Military" suggests you're talking about the institution. The well-being of the troops and the well-being of the military don't always mean the same thing.

Click here to see the full story and a clip of the interview.

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Twelve cops jailed as Mexico figures out shooting of U.S. Embassy workers

Adam Martin, The Wire — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:00:00 -0400

Confusion still reigns over Friday's shooting of a U.S. embassy vehicle in Mexico, and while authorities figure out what happened, they're keeping the 12 Mexican federal police officers involved in custody. Whatever the final account turns out to be, the police involved come off looking pretty bad in The Associated Press' account, after they apparently shot and injured two U.S. embassy workers. They're charged with attempted murder, according to CNN, and abusing their authority, reports The AP's Michael Weissenstein. "That leaves open the possibility of both a deliberate attack on the Americans by corrupt officers and a gross error by well-intentioned but trigger-happy police operating in a dangerous area."

The accounts of how police came to fire more than a dozen bullets into the armored U.S. embassy vehicle with diplomatic plates are still vague. Two U.S. embassy employees and a Mexican Navy captain were traveling in the Toyota Landcruiser near Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, when they came under attack by gunmen who included federal police. Weissenstein reports that "the Mexican government said federal police were conducting unspecified law-enforcement activities in the rural, mountainous area known for criminal activity when they came upon the car, which attempted to flee and came under fire from gunmen in four vehicles including federal police." As The New York Times' Randal C. Archibold notes, "Mexican newspapers have reported that all of the shots fired came from the police."

FBI fears RNC disturbance by anarchists with acid eggs

Adam Martin, The Wire — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:18:34 -0400

The FBI is worried about anarchist protesters disrupting Tampa during the Republican National Convention, which may be a valid concern if St. Paul in 2008 is any guide, but the warnings sound borderline ridiculous.

Fox News, for one, cited an FBI document that warned of "acid-filled eggs." There was no explanation of what that meant, but fortunately Daily Intel's Dan Amira compiled a quick history of the tactic, which dates all the way back to strikers in 1905 and entails pretty much what it sounds like: An eggshell injected with sulphuric acid too weak to dissolve the shell, but strong enough to damage skin.

CNN, which also got a copy of the FBI report, didn't mention the acid-filled eggs, but reported that "the bulletin ... says that anarchists could try to use improvised explosive devices." Worst of all, per CNN's Carol Cratty:

It also says that, as of March, the FBI had intelligence indicating individuals from New York "planned to travel to Tampa and attempt to close" all of the Tampa Bay-area bridges during the Republican National Convention next week.

Peace Corps director resigns long after agency's scandal

Adam Martin, The Wire — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:19:19 -0400

Nothing overtly suggests Peace Corps director Aaron Williams, whose resignation the agency announced on Tuesday, is leaving for any reason other than his stated "personal and family considerations." And yet, it's hard to separate him from the scandal that rocked the Corps under his watch.

Williams was in the news a lot last year after an ABC News investigation found the corps discouraged victims of sexual assault from reporting the crimes against them. But that was last year. The agency has been out of the headlines of late, except for the odd story about a volunteer whose criminal charges were dropped or another whose mess the agency is trying to clean up. But none of these are the kind of thing that would move the head of the agency to leave his post, especially if he didn't resign during the sexual assault scandal. The doubt about Williams' reasons is palpable in Foreign Policy blogger Josh Rogin's story on his departure, which notes that "the reasons for Williams's resignation weren't immediately clear Tuesday." But so far, neither Williams nor the agency has given any more details as to why he quit.

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President Obama wants a NASA mohawk

Adam Martin, The Wire — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:22:41 -0400

The highlight of President Barack Obama's congratulatory call to NASA's Mars rover team Monday was when the president said he wanted a mohawk too, but there was plenty more to the talk, and now that the transcript is online you can peruse it at your leisure. The president thanked the team, promised to protect "critical investments in science and technology," and asked to be kept abreast if they found any aliens.

But the most entertaining part of the conversation came with his mention of "Mohawk Guy," also known as the Internet-famous Bobak Ferdowsi, whose haircut has helped make him one of the most recognized members of the rover team:

I understand there's a special Mohawk Guy that's working on the mission. (Laughter.) He's been one of the many stars of the show last Sunday night. And I, in the past, thought about getting a Mohawk myself -- (laughter) -- but my team keeps on discouraging me. And now that he's received marriage proposals and thousands of new Twitter followers, I think that I'm going to go back to my team and see if it makes sense. (Laughter.)

Read the full story at the Atlantic Wire]]>

What Iraq vets have to say about Iraq

Adam Martin, The Wire — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 10:23:13 -0400

A feature that ran Tuesday on The Associated Press, in which combat veterans share their impressions of the war in Iraq now that the U.S. mission there is over, does exactly what that wire service is best at: Collect interesting information and present it simply and directly, without editorial comment. If you've ever wanted to ask a bunch of combat vets exactly how they feel about the war in Iraq, the violence there now, and how that makes them feel about their mission, but you don't know a bunch of combat vets, this is the closest you'll come.

A few examples from the nine vets AP's Juliet Watson and her colleagues polled:

Former Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Rothlein fought building to building in Fallujah in 2004:

"If they [Iraqis] were starting to flourish in a democratic way, it would be like 'Mission accomplished. We went over there and it made a difference. We helped the people of Iraq. We made history.' But we didn't make history. We're going to be in the history books for the bloodiest battle in Iraq. But for what? There was no outcome. We may as well have all gotten killed. There's no finish line."

Feinstein regrets her loose lips after suggesting White House leaks

Adam Martin, The Wire — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:58:27 -0400

blamed national security leaks on the White House, Mitt Romney naturally picked up her criticism for his campaign, and now the senator says she's the one who shouldn't have spoken so freely. It's not really a walk-back because Feinstein didn't disavow her suggestion to the World Affairs Council on Monday that "the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks." But she did say she shouldn't have made it. “I stated that I did not believe the president leaked classified information,” Feinstein said in the statement on Tuesday, quoted by The Hill's Jeremy Herb. “I shouldn’t have speculated beyond that, because the fact of the matter is I don’t know the source of the leaks.” She also said, "I regret my remarks are being used to impugn President Obama or his commitment to protecting national security secrets," referring to Romney's speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars conference, in which he cited her comments on the leaks.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.]]>

Maine governor again compares IRS to Gestapo

Adam Martin, The Wire — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:53:34 -0400

Maine Gov. Paul LePage apparently cannot help comparing parts of the U.S. government to Nazis, to the point where even when he backtracked on his original comment Thursday, he wound up doubling down.

Ever since the Republican governor called the IRS "the new Gestapo" during his weekly radio address on Saturday (because it's going to make us buy health insurance under Obamacare, which is apparently a Gestapo thing?), he seems to have realized it was a bad idea. But damned if he can't stop reiterating his own point whenever reporters get him going.

On Tuesday, the Boston Herald reported that the governor had called Emily Chaleff, director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, to apologize. The governor issued a statement that said "Clearly, what has happened is that the use of the word Gestapo has clouded my message," the Herald's Steve Mistler reported. But "at the same time, LePage told WMTW-TV in an interview Monday: 'It was never intended to offend anyone and if someone’s offended, then they ought to be goddamned mad at the federal government.'"

Then on Thursday came an even bigger non-walk back. The governor's comment still fresh on people's minds, he chatted with Paul Heintz, a reporter from Seven Days, a Vermont alt-weekly, at a fundraiser in Burlington. He started out by apologizing to the Anti-Defamation League but then, when pressed... went right back to comparing the IRS to the Gestapo.

Read the full story at the Atlantic Wire

National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley weighed in on LePage's Thursday comments, saying, "It is extremely disappointing and distressing to witness not only the continuing refusal of Maine Gov. Paul LePage to apologize for his gratuitous insult directed at Internal Revenue Service employees, but to see him continue his attacks at a fundraising event today. I would hope the governor would take the time to reflect on the importance and dignity of the office he holds, the responsibility it imparts to him as the individual holding that office, and the harmful impact his words have on hard-working federal employees in Maine and across the nation whose primary goal is to serve the public."

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Large, jet-powered Navy drone crashes in Maryland

Adam Martin, The Wire — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:46:43 -0400

crashed in an uninhabitable, marshy area of Maryland Monday afternoon was no model plane but a 44-foot-long jet-powered Navy aircraft.

Read the whole story at The Atlantic Wire. ]]>

Women soldiers sue military to remove bulletproof glass ceiling

Adam Martin, The Wire — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:36:52 -0400

The U.S. military doesn't allow women to serve in front-line combat roles, which is not only sexist, it's not realistic, say two women who are suing to get the ban removed.

The interesting part of the argument from Army reservists Jane Baldwin and Ellen Haring is their point that there's no such thing as the "linear battlefield" anymore. "Woman are currently engaged in direct combat, even when it is not part of their formally assigned role," the suit says, according to Bloomberg. Women already serve as support staff for combat units, such as tank mechanics, signal corps, and medical jobs, and they face combat conditions even though they're not officially assigned to fight, the lawsuit says.

As a Time Battleland's Darlene M. Iskra pointed out earlier this month, combat experience bolsters a soldier's resume, especially in the Army, which means preventing women from participating in front-line positions hinders their military career potential, the suit claims. It's like a bulletproof glass ceiling.

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Video: HHS Secretary Sebelius heckled during commencement speech

Adam Martin, The Atlantic — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:52:02 -0400

What is this anti-abortion heckler yelling at Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the commencement ceremony for Georgetown's Public Policy Institute? It's something about abortion being murder: Georgetown's Vox Populi blog reports he said "you're a murderer," but there's more at the end we couldn't catch.

The heckler was upset because Georgetown, a Catholic university, invited Sebelius, whose agency required religious organizations to cover contraceptives in their health plans.

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

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Federal budget deficit to shrink to $1.1 trillion

Adam Martin, The Wire — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:13:00 -0500

This fiscal year's federal budget deficit is going to be a bit smaller than last year's, but is still more money than you can probably even wrap your head around.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday that predicted the deficit to come in at $1.1 trillion by the end of the fiscal year in September. It's smaller than last year's $1.3 trillion, but it's not expected to sink much further for a while, at least until the bite taken out by Bush-era tax cuts gets refilled somehow, the Associated Press reports: "The Congressional Budget Office report also says that annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years if Bush-era tax cuts slated to expire in December are extended, as commonly assumed."