Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Former US Homeland Security chief, Tom Ridge, was a registered foreign agent of the Albanian Government

Goodness knows why, but I am endlessly fascinated with US Politics, even though I have never been across the pond. Political Wire is my first web port of call everyday and is by now etched on the side of my left ventricle - I suspect serious psychotherapy would be needed to explain this.

Anyway, Tom Ridge was debut Homeland Security Secretary in George W Bush's (who?) administration. He's the sort of granite-jawed US politician straight out of central casting. Anyway, he was previously Governor of Pennsylvania. He's now considering a run for the US Senate in the Republican candidacy slot recently vacated by Arlen Specter (who is still having trouble getting the hang of the idea of being a Democrat).

There is a slight fly in the ointment for old Tommy boy though. An official document has reared its ugly head. It shows him as a resident of Maryland, which is a bit of a drawback if you want to represent Pennsylvania. But even more intriguing for me is that the document shows that he registered himself as a "foreign agent" of the Albanian Government. I thought perhaps this was a Dubya "My fellow Armenians"-style mix-up, but it is true - you can see it on page 3 here.

For someone who is meant to be a hot-on-security/good ol' American boy I would have thought that being known as a registered "foreign agent" of the Albanian Government is an electoral asset which he wants as much as a hole in the head.

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