Category: Politics

Nasty Rudy Shows Self to Journos

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Well, the press if finally seeing the real Rudy Giuliani. Now that they have something on him that does not reflect well, the city money for his assignations, the authoritarian and paranoid control freak is coming out:

“We’ve already explained it,” he said, walking past reporters after a town hall meeting.

Giuliani, who is normally friendly to reporters, bristled past them, and campaign staffers were unusually physical in keeping the press away. Several campaign aides told campaign reporters to return to the press area, and some of his security detail manhandled reporters.

This is is something that New Yorkers, and those who have followed his exploits, already know.

He is, after all, the man who fired his wife on TV on Mother’s Day.

A Rundown on GOP Loyalty Oaths

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Grand Old Party of Stalin, I guess.

  • The Virginia Republican party is requiring a signed oath that you will vote for the Republican presidential nominee.
  • The Kansas state Republican Party is forming a loyalty committee to punish officials who endorse or contribute to the wrong people.
  • On Vice President Cheney’s recent trip to New Mexico, residents were allowed in to hear his Albuquerque speech only if they signed a loyalty oath swearing they “endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States [sic].”
  • PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — “I want you to stand, raise your right hands,” and recite “the Bush Pledge,” said Florida state Sen. Ken Pruitt. The assembled mass of about 2,000 in this Treasure Coast town about an hour north of West Palm Beach dutifully rose, arms aloft, and repeated after Pruitt: “I care about freedom and liberty. I care about my family. I care about my country. Because I care, I promise to work hard to re-elect, re-elect George W. Bush as president of the United States.”

These folks have a problem deeper than bad policies.

Jesse Jackson Says Dem Candidates Ignore Black Issues, Except for Edwards

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Fascinating. It’s clear that he is criticizing Obama with this statement:

Yet the Democratic candidates — with the exception of John Edwards, who opened his campaign in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and has made addressing poverty central to his campaign — have virtually ignored the plight of African Americans in this country. The catastrophic crisis that engulfs the African-American community goes without mention. No urban agenda is given priority. When thousands of African Americans marched in protest in Jena, La., not one candidate showed up.

Truth be told, I agree.

Among the serious candidates*, only Edwards is talking to issues of inequality and poverty.

In fact, Obama’s basic message, one of “bipartisan civility” pretty much excludes any discussion of the divide between the haves or have nots, because such a discussion would inevitably lead to people saying nasty things to each other.

This is why we do not need a conciliator in chief.

*Which excludes Kucinich.

Ward Connerly’s America: It’s France

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They are having riots once again in France. This is a product of a number of things, but one of them is racism, and the unenforceable nature of anti-discrimination laws in France.

France has a policy that no official records are kept regarding racial or ethnic origin by the government. The idea is that everyone is French, not hyphenated French.

Ward Connerly, a Californian Uncle Tom who has become wealthy by being an uncle Tom, and from being the front man for faux minority contracting*, has been pushing the removal or racial and ethnic status from California state records for years.

You see the natural consequences of such actions in France: a permanent underclass living in slums who are destined never to be hired by bigots, because these bigots will never be caught.

*Cognitive dissonance: Required for the mental illness known as “Republicanism”.

Edwards Says He Prefers Obama to Clinton

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I’m not sure if his statement is some sort of back door endorsement, or idle musing.

“The differences between Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and myself are much more dramatic than the differences between Sen. Obama and myself,” Edwards told reporters after receiving the endorsement of the progressive group Caucus for Priorities, which seeks a reallocation of defense dollars into social programs.

I think that there is a real “anyone but Hillary” Caucus among liberal activists, and it will be interesting to see what happens if Hillary loses in Iowa.

Would Reverent Moon Please Buy the Washington Post Too???

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It would improve the quality of the journalism there no end. We have a front page article saying that a bunch of nuts, who have been thoroughly debunked, are claiming that Barack Obama is a crypto-Muslim.

The more I read stories and opinions from the Post, the more that I am convinced that the entire Watergate affair was just stupid dumb luck.

Journamalist Perry Bacon Jr., today’s worst person in the world!

Lott’s Brother-in-Law Indicted on Bribery Charges

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Well, the fact that his brother-in-law, Rickard “Dickie” Scruggs, was indicted on bribery charges may go a bit of a way towards explaining his leaving the senate.

Scruggs is perhaps best known for suing tobacco companies in multibillion-dollar lawsuits in the late 1990s. But he also acted as Lott’s lawyer, as well as the attorney for many Mississippi homeowners, in a successful lawsuit against State Farm Insurance when the firm denied thousands of claims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

So, even if Lott has done nothing illegal, he probably does 3 wrong things before having breakfast, it sounds like it was a good time for him to look at the DC lobbying gig.

Giuliani Used City Money for Visits to Then Mistress, Judith Nathan

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What’s more, he also cooked the books to conceal this:

The documents, obtained by Politico under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.

But wait, there’s more, he also provided a police driver and city car for his chippie.

In a world of real journalism, this would be the lead story for the next week…In Rupert Murdoch’s America??? Page 12.

In-F%$#ing-Sane: The Michigan State House

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Well, the state courts have said that it is legal, but with everyone by Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd having withdrawn their names from the ballot, why should it matter?

Well, now the state legislature is poised to put candidates back on the ballot against their will.

If this is not a bill of attainder, it certainly is a violation of the free speech rights of the candidates, who have the right NOT to run in any state that they wish.

If this passes, it will be in court before the governor’s signature ink is dry.

Besides, I want to see Chris Dodd beat Hillary Clinton.

Oops, I spoke too soon, the House approved the bill, but the state Senate refused to take it up, so iut’s just the house that is batsh$@ insane, not the whole legislature.

Sharif Back in Pakistan, Calls for Ouster of Musharraf

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You may remember that the last time he came back to Pakistan, he was forcibly sent back to to sojourn with the House of Saud, but this time, he’s back, and he’s calling for Musharraf’s scalp.

Sounds like a movie…Like one I’ve heard before, called The Fall of the Shah of Iran.

I hope that this is not a remake…..Because a nuclear armed Mullah would not make my top ten list of movie favorites.

I Wish that I Were a Right Wing Moron

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You may not remember the last time that I quoted Amity Shlaes. It was an indirect quote by way of Rich Karlgaard, who is so stupid, that he should be getting a personal aide to cut his meat, where Karlgaard implied that the reason for the 1937 recession was that “the investor class” were somehow sick and tired of FDR’s “soak the rich policies”, when even the most solidly Chicago School economist could tell you that it was caused by a reduction in federal spending to balance the budget.

Well, Amity Shlaes is at it again, suggesting that potential shortfall in Social Security in 30+ years should be kept at a level of bare survival for 1935, the date of establishment of the program.

As an FYI, 45 million Americans did not have indoor plumbing in 1930, and you had similar numbers in terms of electricity. This was out of a total population of 123 million, giving about 37% of the population without these amenities.

So, why do I wish that I were a right wing moron? Because Amity Shlaes is a senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations, and with those connections, she makes more in 90 days than I do in a year.

The right wing intellectual infrastructure is an artifact of subsidies for bad ideas and opaque thought processes, which since people like the Coors family and Richard Mellon Scaife are aggressively buying*, leads to more bad ideas and opaque thought processes through the invisible hand of the market place.

*I believe that over the past 30 years, these folks have spent over two billion dollars, that’s $2,000,000,000.00, or about $800 for every man, woman, and child in the US, for think tanks and related activities. When you add in Olin, Bradley, DeVos (Amway), and the rest of these folks who never worked a day in their lives for their money, you are probably well over $3 billion….A quick Google shows spending of just the major organizations from 1990-2000 to be $1B.