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Bush Sheltered Before Saddam Hanging
- But for a Tornado
by Arun Kumar

Washington, Dec 31 (IANS) As American TV channels announced the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, another alarming line scrolling atop the screens - "Bush moved to armored vehicle" - caught viewers' attention.

It was only later that one learnt from a White House statement that the move into the armored vehicle had nothing to do with the hanging in Baghdad and President George Bush was fast asleep at his Texas ranch when the news came a little after 10 p.m. Washington time Friday.

A tornado warning in central Texas had sent Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and their two Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, scurrying to a tornado shelter, a few hundred yards away from their house on the ranch some seven and a half hours before the planned execution.

They sat inside the armored vehicle until the weather cleared after about 10 minutes, but never went into the shelter. Back at the house, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley kept Bush abreast of execution plans. He went to bed after learning that it would go ahead as planned a couple of hours later.

The president was not roused when the news came and only a prepared statement was issued in his name in sharp contrast to the capture of Saddam Hussein three years ago that was hailed by Bush in a televised address from the Cabinet Room.

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Indian Americans can't eye even Accidental Presidency

As America prepared to bid farewell to Gerald R. Ford, best remembered for giving a full pardon to his tainted predecessor Richard Nixon, attention focused on how he came to be the only non-elected president of United States.

Himself embroiled in the Watergate scandal, Nixon had picked up then House minority leader Ford to replace vice president Spiro T. Agnew after he was forced to resign amid ethics charges in late 1973.

He did so under the 25th Amendment ratified in 1967 providing for such nomination in the event of a vice presidential disability with a majority vote in both houses of Congress required for approval.

Before that the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 put the speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate followed by Congressionally approved cabinet officials in the order in which the departments were created - State, Treasury, War, and the Attorney General - in line after the Veep.

Eight months later, when Nixon resigned, Ford became chief executive on Aug 9, 1974. The accidental president pardoned Nixon for all Watergate-related crimes just a month later.

But no such luck for the likes of Kris Kolluri, who last week became the first Indian American to sit in as governor of a US state - even if for just a day - as the road to the White House is virtually blocked for first generation immigrants.

For Kolluri, 38, who emigrated to America with his parents in 1985, does not meet the first of three basic requirements for the top job: one must be a native-born American citizen, must have lived in the United States for the last 14 years and must be at least 35.

There is no such bar for serving the Congress or becoming a Governor, an office another Indian American Bobby Jindal is eyeing in Louisiana after narrowly losing the race two years ago.

In any case Jindal, who won his second term in the House of Representatives from Louisiana by a nearly 90 percent majority in the Nov 7 poll, can even take a shot at the presidency as only his parents came from India's Punjab state. But transportation commissioner Kolluri got the day job because New Jersey, which has a large population of Indian origin, would not have a Lt. Gov. until 2010 and three others ahead of him in the line of succession - senate president, assembly speaker, and the attorney general too were not around.

However as 117th New Jerseyan since 1900 to temporarily take the chief executive's office, he did not do anything gubernatorial except ordering his wife, Lopa, their daughters, Mira, 5, and Rania, 19 months, and a few other "family types" to bring two spring rolls each for dinner at Drumthwacket, the elegant governor's mansion in Princeton.

Other short-term occupants of the State House, which has seen five chief executives in eight days since January 2002, haven't been so circumspect with the three-and-one-half-day administration of John O. Bennett standing out in sharp contrast.

Bennett delivered the State of the State address and the governor's weekly radio address, toured hospitals and schools, signed bills, took his veto pen to the budget, distributed letterheads bearing his name and temporary title, and threw an engagement party for his daughter at Drumthwacket.

He also pardoned an old friend convicted of disorderly conduct, bookmaking and carrying a concealed weapon.

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A Picture Perfect Protest

Outsourcing indeed does not make a pretty picture in the United States! Adam Baker, 42, an amateur painter from Nevada has chosen a novel way to portray the cause of local workers - and his own.

After he lost a contest for the governor's official portrait in the state capitol to a lady from Washington state, he has visited every state capitol - legislature - with a video camera in hand.

Once there, he locates the men's room, sets his painting near the urinals and takes a picture to be posted on YouTube to get his message across - "outsourcing is not a good thing"!

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

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