Friday 7 October 2005

Breaking News!
In Desperate Move, White House Reaches Out To 'Three Wishes'

With Terrorism, Indictments and Nominations On The Edge, President Signals To Call In Hit NBC Show

Said to be beleaguered, weary and "dripping with anxiety", President Bush signaled White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan this morning to "call in" the hit NBC television series, 'Three Wishes', to see if he can get his administration back on track.

What appears to have pushed President Bush to hang on to only hope and wishes were the reports that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has summoned White House Special Council, and longtime advisor to the President, Karl Rove to testify again in front of the Grand Jury looking into the matter of who in the Bush Administration leaked information that identified a covert CIA Agent.

For Rove, this will be his fourth appearance in front of the Grand Jury and there was the added warning by Fitzgerald that his testimony does not exclude him from a possible indictment.

"Well, that would be one wish, certainly," offered McClellan, in a briefing to reporters. "I'm confident the President would want to help Karl out, if in fact, he needs such assistance. I do want to point out that no indictments have been handed down at this time."

For McClellan, this is an about-face, as for months, he insisted that Rove, or others in the White House, were not involved in the leak case.

McClellan did state, that "the President is the only one who will make the wishes" if the show chooses to come to Washington.

When reached, Andrew Glassman, who along with Jason Raff, is an executive producer for 'Three Wishes', was ecstatic.

"Wow, to be able to pitch our wishes tent on the South Lawn, in front of the White House … That would be huge … Phenomenal … I don't know if we'd use it for the Fall or Spring Sweeps but we'll fit it in there alright …"

For President Bush to appear on 'Three Wishes', this would be the second member of the Bush family to appear on a reality television program.

Last month, First Lady Laura Bush appeared on the ABC program, 'Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition' that will air sometime in November.

The program, 'Three Wishes' debuted this season on NBC and is hosted by Grammy-award-winning singer, Amy Grant. Grant, and a bevy of correspondents drop into a town - any town - pitch a 'wishes tent' and put out the word that they will grant three wishes to that town.

The wishes range from giving an unsung hero praise, to life-threatening medical situations. With two episodes aired to-date, 'Three Wishes' has visited Clovis, New Mexico and Sonora, California.

The news of Rove's return to the Grand Jury comes in the middle of a fierce battle the White House is waging, with it's own supporters, over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Republican members of the Congress and the Senate, as well as influential conservative groups have railed against the President for his choice of Miers, with charges ranging from cronyism to flatly stating Miers is not qualified for the post.

Just yesterday, after a harsh report issued by the Government Accountability Office, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings ordered conservative journalist Armstrong Williams to endorse and promote the President and Miers in the same manner and spirit he endorsed - for payment - the D.O.E. 'No Child Left Behind program.

Along with taking responsibility, with a special congressional panel investigating the matter, the governments horrendous response to Hurricane Katrina, the President, as the head of the Republican Party, is also facing having his Senate Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist (R-TN) and his Congressional Majority Leader, Tom DeLay (R-TX) under investigations and indictments for illegal activities.

Glassman believe his 'Three Wishes' program can help the President.

"We've had tremendous results, so far," said Glassman. "I've only had a conference call with Scott, and some others in the White House. I haven't spoken with the President yet."

Glassman indicated that he was sure that McClellan, and the White House, understood, that they get only three wishes.

"That means, between Rove, Frist, DeLay and Miers, someone gets left out, someone doesn't get their wish."

McClellan confirmed the conference call and said that they know they only get three wishes.

"The President is aware of this," stated McClellan. 'I can tell you there is no decision yet on the wishes. President Bush could use the wishes to help out some of the people we have talked about this morning, or, he could go in a completely different direction. He could surprise a lot of people."

No surprise in President Bush giving a forceful speech about the War On Terror and, coincidentally, on the same day, there is an elevated terrorist alert.

Speaking at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, President Bush gave a speech, similar to many he has offered in the past as to "staying the course", and focusing on terrorism, however, the President add that " the United States and its partners had disrupted 10 serious plots since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." The President did not state any specifics about the plots, or their targets.

Then, a mere few hours later, New York City was rocked with the news of a specific terrorist plot to attack the New York City subway system in the second week of October. Extra police and security were moved into place and Mayor Bloomberg urged residents and subway riders to be vigilant.

McClellan quickly issued a statement after the briefing, that read in part, "The subway terror alert in New York City yesterday was not one of the wishes of the President or, in any way, related to the 'Three Wishes' program the President may participate in."

FEMA came under new criticism today, when relief and construction workers in New Orleans and throughout the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast charged that no ladders have been provided for the reconstruction effort.