Question Off Base
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The latest from the Political Grapevine:
Premise Problem?
It now appears that the premise of the question that caused an uproar around Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was off base. In Kuwait two weeks ago, Army Specialist Thomas Wilson told Rumsfeld, "our vehicles are not armored ... We do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north [into Iraq]."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But, according to senior Army officers, about 800 of the 830 vehicles in Wilson's army regiment — the 278th Cavalry — had already been up-armored when he asked the question. What's more, 20 vehicles remaining to be modified were in the process of being up-armored — and that was completed within 24 hours of Wilson's question.
Report Regarding Rumsfeld
ABC did a report this week on military families upset that Rumsfeld used a machine to sign condolence letters. It quoted two people who lost family members in Iraq, Ivan Medina and Sue Niederer. But what ABC did not mention is that both Medina and Niederer are long-time critics of the Bush administration.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Seven months ago Medina participated in an anti-Rumsfeld protest outside West Point, calling him a "liar and a war criminal." And just three months ago, Niederer interrupted a Bush campaign event in New Jersey, yelling and sporting a shirt that read: "President Bush You Killed My Son." She was arrested.
Electoral Votes In
Electoral votes are in and George W. Bush won. And although Democratic Candidate John F. Kerry carried the state, he didn't get any votes from New York. You see, New York gave its 31 votes to John L. Kerry, of Massachusetts. Oops. No challenges, by the way, are expected.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clarification on Card History
As we noted last night, President Bush is, according to presidential historians, the first President in U.S. history to send out a Christmas card with a Bible verse.
But to clarify, he has been doing it ever since he took office. His first two Christmas cards used verses from the book of Psalms, the third took from the book of Job, and this year's returned to the book of Psalms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report