The Buzz | No discussion, no debate, no death match
Robert DeBerry
FILE - In this July 3, 2009 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces that she will be stepping down from her position as Governor in Wasilla, Alaska. Palin hit the vice presidential campaign trail last year and touted what Alaska could provide for the rest of America, a natural gas pipeline to help lead the country to energy independence. When a pipeline might be built remains a giant question for Alaskans who need the project to support a vulnerable economy and for the Lower 48 states that need the gas, and a petroleum economist who spent more than 25 years in the Alaska Department of Revenue says it may never happen under Palin's plan. (AP Photo/The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Robert DeBerry) ** ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS OUT **
Also, no cage match
A February appearance featuring former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton has been nixed because the promoter overhyped it as a “death match faceoff between the men,” according to the New York Post.
“This event … was supposed to be a discussion between the two former presidents and has been canceled because it was not being billed as such by an overeager promoter,” said Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna.
He said the appearance was going to be a moderated panel discussion, not a debate.
There was no comment from the Bush camp or the promoter.
Bo’s walker
Dale Haney is the keeper of the White House grounds. In nearly 40 years of keeping the grass green and the flowers blooming, he has also managed to cultivate something just as important: relationships with the presidents’ pooches.
Haney is often spotted walking Bo, the Obama family’s Portuguese water dog. In fact, he’s tended to every White House pup since King Timahoe, Richard Nixon’s Irish setter.
Haney, 57, has been a White House fixture since 1972.
“They heard about me and they called me to come over here for an interview and I came and here I still am,” he said during a tour of the gardens one recent rainy morning when first lady Michelle Obama — Bo’s primary walker — was out of town.
“I have him a little bit more” when she’s traveling, said Haney, who said he’s amazed by the public’s fascination with White House pets. “Sometimes I think they’re more interested in the pets than the president.”
Rogue alert
Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will visit Kansas in February to address the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet.
Chamber officials said the former Alaska governor had been a top choice as the keynote speaker for the Feb. 5 event.
The chamber typically brings in prominent figures for its annual meetings. Speakers in the past decade have included former president George H.W. Bush, former British prime minister John Major and former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft.
The banquet takes place at the Salina Bicentennial Center. The event is open to non-members if any tickets remain after sales to chamber members.
Compiled from the (rogue) mainstream news media, the blogosphere and other reliable sources. For more political buzz, go to KansasCity.com and click on Prime Buzz.
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