This morning on ABC’s This Week, Ahmed Chalabi — neo-con darling and suspected Iranian spy — gives John Negroponte’s nomination the thumbs up:

Ambassador Negroponte is back in Washington with a new job, and I congratulate him. He’s going to be national director of intelligence. And I think he’s eminently suited for that job.

In other news, Chalabi is back in regular contact with U.S. officials in Iraq. According to Chalabi:

Dialogue has resumed with the United States representative in Iraq, diplomatic representative, and it is an ongoing process now. It was restored after the election.

You know what they say: never let a little espionage get between friends.

In his weekly radio address yesterday, President Bush boldly rejected a view that no one actually holds:

We do not accept a false caricature that divides the Western world between an idealistic United States and a cynical Europe.

This is not the first time in his presidency that Bush has courageously stood up to the straw man. Some other examples –

President Bush, 4/30/04:

There’s a lot of people in the world who don’t believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly.

President Bush, 5/10/04:

The natural tendency for people is to say, oh, let’s lay down our arms [against terrorists]. But you can’t negotiate with these people. . . . Therapy won’t work.

President Bush, 7/30/03:

Some say, ‘Well, maybe the recession should have been deeper.’ That bothers me when people say that. You see, a deeper recession would have meant more families would have been out of work.

In my first few days in Helena, the capital is ablaze with Gov. Schweitzer’s controversial efforts to ban lobbyists from serving on state boards and commissions. The proposal follows Schweitzer’s introduction of a bill prohibiting elected officials at the state and local level from re-entering the political fray as lobbyists within 24 months of leaving office.

George Ochenski, columnist for the Missoula Independent, writes:

Schweitzer’s latest foray against lobbyists has tongues wagging in the Capitol, and few of them are wagging with joy. It’s no surprise, really, when you consider that Schweitzer’s broadside was just that, a shotgun blast at a general class of citizens who happen to make their living in the halls and in front of legislative committees as they jostle and joust in the service of those they represent.

It is quite a stand, considering many governors embrace, rather than shun, corporate lobbyists. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for instance, has made an art form out of appointing corporate cronies to high government positions (see examples A and B).

But as Ochenski correctly notes, there are many folks in Helena who lobby for non-profits and for the public interest on issues like the environment, education and health care. Should these lobbyists be banned from service too?

It’s true — Schweitzer is in a tough position. He’s trying to rid Montana politics of the all-too-familiar influence of well-financed corporations, but could be preventing good people from serving in government. Read more