Rahm: PR Job Not In Hayward's Future
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel went on This Week to combat any perception the administration was going soft on BP and to reinforce focus on the people affected by the oil spill. Emanuel offered some job advice to BP CEO Tony Hayward after pictures surfaced of Hayward on a yacht in the (tar-free) waters of England: Don't bother with the public relations applications.
Feinberg: Not Beholden to Administration, BP
“Compensation czar” Kenneth Feinberg, the government-appointed administrator of the fund to compensate victims of the BP oil spill, appeared on Meet the Press, where he assured David Gregory “I’m not beholden to the administration, I’m not beholden to BP … I’m gonna make sure that every eligible, legitimate claim is paid and paid quickly.”
Sec. Gates: Progress in Afghanistan a “Tough Pull”
On Fox News Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Chris Wallace that while progress is being made in Afghanistan, it’s still a “tough pull” getting a foothold in the war-torn region: "We warned everybody that would be the case last winter, that as we went into areas that the Taliban had controlled for two or three years, that our casualties would grow, especially this summer."
Barbara Boxer Talks Caps, Not Hair
Committee on Environment and Public Works Chair and California Senator Barbara Boxer talked about caps on Face the Nation. And, no, not the kind you wear on your head. Boxer stayed away from any mention of her hair and instead focused on getting BP to pay oil spill victims in full, not just a capped portion. In an unusually precise Sunday talk show metaphor, Boxer contrasted car accident payments to what you pay if you wreck an entire regional environment and economy. Maybe someone should get Hayward a driver.
David Remnick: No Shame in Anonymous Sources
Just because David Remnick is an overachiever, getting hundreds of people to go on the record for his Obama biography The Bridge, doesn’t mean other journalists have to feel bad when they can’t get high-profile sources to ante up, Remnick told Howie Kurtz on Reliable Sources. That said, he did caution against journalists being “too promiscuous,” as Kurtz put it, in allowing sources to go off-the-record, saying it can lead to lazy reporting.
Lieberman May Just Do Something "Refreshing"
Oh, Joe Lieberman, you always have something to say. Except on State of the Union, when asked about his home state Senate race endorsement. Although the junior Connecticut senator does remind us that he is an Independent, in an uncharacteristic Lieberman moment, he goes on to say that this year he may just "vote quietly and privately." A tad ironic that in the year Lieberman may choose to tone it down, Connecticut could gain Linda McMahon, the creator of wrestling shows Raw and SmackDown, as their leader.
McConnell Probably Won't Go There...But He Can
Breaking news: a top republican finds the views of a democratically-backed Supreme Court nominee "quite troubling." The conservative in question? Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. When asked about the possibility of filibustering Elena Kagan's Supreme Court appointment on Fox News Sunday, McConnell explained that the option to filibuster is always open under Senate procedures.