Veto Signing Will Be Fundraiser for Libby

White House, Preparing For Port Showdown, To Run "Veto" Classes For Bush

President Said To Have "First-Time Jitters"; AOL Coaches, Other Pro's Pitching In To Amp Up Learning Curve

The White House, according to sources, is "going to the mattresses" today, as a blizzard of criticism continues to rain down on President Bush, and his staunch defense yesterday of allowing the United Arab Emirates to take over port operations in six major American cities, including the threat to veto any legislation that comes from Congress in an attempt to kill the deal.

Prior to taking the rare step of going to the back of Air Force One and engaging reporters, defending the sale, as well as giving an interview on the White House lawn upon his return, announcing he will veto any bills on the deal, the White House announced yesterday morning the launching of "The New Strategy For Victory For Port Security Contract".

The President, speaking harshly and with great passion, said that his critics "just don't understand the post-9-11 world."

"I have a job to do, I have decisions to make and this was a decision I had to make," said the President. "You see, the President of the United States has to make decisions every day, you know … Lots of decisions … Every day … And this is just one of those decisions …"

"Now, if I didn't make this decision, one of the many decisions I have to make, you see, then someone else might have made the decision ..Someone who isn't authorized by the Constitution or by the Congress, who gave me the powers to make these kinds of decisions in the time of war … You see, we're, kind of, in the decision business …That's what the President does - make decisions"

Bipartisan Support For Blocking Sale

The reaction has been swift and overwhelmingly against the sale, to the Dubai Ports World, owned by the United Arab Emirates.

Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) said in an interview late yesterday that "If the president wants to veto this, go ahead -- we'll override the veto.'' Weldon is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee

Democrats, including Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have proposed legislation to stop the acquisition. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid 9D-NV) said Senate Leader Bill Frist must let the Senate act as soon as it returns next week.

"It is already clear this deal should not go forward, and I hope he will permit the Senate to act expeditiously,'' Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said yesterday, according to Bloomberg News.

Both Republican leaders, Frist (R-TN) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) have called on President Bush to hold off and delay the sale, until Congress and evaluate it and be briefed on the details as to the security risks it poses.

Frist took the additional step of demanding to see video of the company, and the subsequent debate by the Committee on Foreign Investment, a secretive 12-member board that includes Cabinet members and White House officials and conducted the panel secretively and behind closed doors.

"I need to see this video," said Frist, "to make the proper diagnosis of this deal."

When apprised of Frist's request of video, McClellan offered a derisive "good luck to him"

"It's disappointing, that the Senate Leader, and others, are stuck with this pre-9-11 mentality. He can sit next to David Gregory, pose for the cameras and wait for the information, that may, or may not be declassified."

Veto Classes For Bush

Today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan confirmed that "The New Strategy For Victory For Port Security Contract" will include "Veto Classes" for the President, as, in over five-years, he has yet to exercise his veto power with any legislation crossing his desk.

"This will be similar," said McClellan, " and along the lines of the Ethics Classes we conducted last Fall. Just a refresher for the President."

McClellan referenced the mandatory Ethics Classes for all White House staffers, following the breaking of the CIA Leak Case and the indictment of Lewis 'Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff

The President and Vice President clashed over the content and direction of the Ethics Classes last November, with Cheney advocating that former Nixon staffers G. Gordon Liddy and Jeb Stuart Magruder conduct the classes and President Bush standing by White House Council Harriet Miers as "the most qualified" person to run them.

According to David Aaronson, editor of "What Color Is My Coat Today?", the Capital Hill newsletter that tracks politicians who turn on their own party, the Veto Classes will be "comprehensive and high-powered".

"They'll be going to pouring over everything," advised Aaronson. "How he stands, how he sits, how he holds the pen, his penmanship, what he'll wear when signs the veto, what he'll say … It will all be covered …"

"That is, of course," added Aaronson, "if the do it publicly. I've heard some stirring that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney are arguing that he should sign the veto in secret."

McClellan would not confirm, or deny, that the President has "first-time jitters" on signing a veto.

"Our policy hasn't changed, offered McClellan, "We don't comment on anything that we don't want, anything negative against the Administration."

Professionals Coming Into White House

The Veto Classes will have some high-power behind them, as it is being reported that AOL "Love Coach" Star Jones Reynolds, former First Lady Nancy Reagan and right wing pundit Ann Coulter will be part of the training.

AOL "Love Coach" Jones-Reynolds says that the President needs "to let the love flow" when he signs the veto.

"He just needs to feel it, let it loose, says Jones-Reynolds, "let it just drip down his arm and on to that piece of paper … He should caress the paper, whisper a few sweet nothings to the paper, let that piece of paper know how he feels …"

Nancy Reagan is expected to boost the President's spirit and commitment, encouraging him, if he has any doubts about signing the veto, to stay "resolute and just say no".

Coulter, a favorite of the Bush White House, will provide the President with some "very toxic zingers", that he can belittle the critics of the deal with, "especially the Democrats, the liberals, and The New York Times".

"For any Republicans that join this idiotic action," said Coulter, "then we should televise their torture … right after we do the terrorists."

Veto Signing Will Be Fundraiser for Libby

The White House did intimate, that if the President does end up vetoing legislation in the port security issue, that, likely, it will done as a fundraiser for the "Libby Legal Defense Fund".

A newly-launched website, by Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby is seeking donations for his defense, against his indictment for lying to federal agents and prosecutors in the CIA Leak Case investigation.

On the Home Page, Cheney says that "Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known".

Unconfirmed rumors have that the pen used by President Bush, to sign the veto, will be auctioned to raise money and be donated to Libby's defense.

As this would be President Bush's first veto since taking office in 2000, the pen is speculated to have significant historic value and would fetch a high price.

Recently, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald charged that Libby, and his defense team, is attempting to "graymail" the prosecution, burying them in requests for classified information they say is vital to his defense. Reportedly, Libby is requesting nearly 300 "Presidential Daily Briefings", documents so sensitive, Cheney once described them as "the family jewels".

Libby denied the charges and said that they will petition the court for the entire contents of the Library of Congress to prove the charge false.















The White House plans on using a wide variety of resources, including visual aids, to assist President Bush in his upcoming "Veto" classes