Category: Politics

James Dobson Forced Out of Focus on the Family

No Comments

My view of the conflict between Dobson and the FoF board is, but to quote Henry Kissinger, “too bad they can’t both lose.”

In any case, he’s stepped down from all corporate positions and his radio show, and starting a new radio show separate from the organization.

The cause of the split between appears to be the unwillingness of the board to make his son heir apparent, because they don’t approve of divorce, and Ryan Dobson got one in 2001.

Gee, self-importance masquerading as morality is a bitch, ain’t it?

Texas Knuckle Dragger Loses Primary

No Comments

One of the more significant forces for evil in the United States is that Texas Board of Education, because one of their roles is to approve text books for the state, and as such, because of the size of the market, if it’s approved there, the stupidity that they demand goes everywhere.

Well, the stupidest of the stupid motherf%$#er wingnuts, one Don McLeroy, who has argued that Joe McCarthy was vindicated, that evolution is a fraud, etc., just got beaten in the Republican primary:

The top conservative activist on the powerful Texas Board of Education, who rejects evolution and has pushed for a revisionist right-wing U.S. history curriculum, is on the way out, after a moderate candidate defeated him in a tight primary last week.

For months now, TPMmuckraker has been covering Don McLeroy as a major player in the battle over the drafting of nationally influential history textbook standards by the Texas board.

Note here, this is not the voters of Texas coming to their senses: This is the voters of Texas realizing, belatedly, that people were making fun of them and calling them stupid because of this guy, so they dumped him.

What MinistryOfTruth Said

No Comments
Click for full size


Only Homer Actually Votes ‘Phant

I think that, “the Democratic Establishment can kiss my DFH* a$$ too.”

She* muses on mad scramble to support Blanche Lincoln in her primary bid, despite the fact that she has absolutely no chance of winning in the general, most notably one William Jefferson Clinton:

Instead of working to support the current President against the Corporatist lies from the right what does Bill Clinton do? He throws his support behind one of President Obama’s chief roadblocks within his own party. Of course.

Note here that Blanche Lincoln has made a habit of lying through her teeth during the election, and then knifing those who supported her, as with labor and the EFCA, she lied about her support for the public option, and her reversals on abortion have been so blatant that one of the most establishment political organizations in the Women’s movement, Blanche Lincoln, has decided not to support her in the election, as evidenced by the following statement from the Chair of the organization:

As I travel around the country, I’ve been asked repeatedly about Senator Lincoln’s political troubles and what, if anything, EMILY’s List will be doing to help her win a third term in 2010.

My answer? Nothing.

In 1998, EMILY’s List helped elect Lincoln to the U.S. Senate. We believed her when she told us that that, if and when the Senate took up right-wing Senator Rick Santorum’s bill to ban what he called “partial birth” abortion, she would insist on a health exception that protects women.

Our members gave generously to her campaign, believing that she would steadfastly stand by the pledge she made to us to protect women’s reproductive freedom.

She took our members’ hard-earned money to get elected. Unfortunately, when the Santorum bill came up for a vote, Lincoln voted for it even though it provided no exception to protect women’s health.

EMILY’s List members are deeply committed to electing pro-choice Democratic women whom we trust to stand up for our rights, treat us honestly, and make us proud. Our candidates fight for us every day. Blanche Lincoln failed to hold up her end of the bargain.

Since she wasn’t there for us, we won’t be there for her.

You know, she has a charismatic primary challenger, and Emily’s List dumped her, and right now she’s polling horribly, so I guess that it sucks to be her.

Of course, it sucks worse to be represented by her, which is why she is losing right now.

And then while we’re at it, the DSCC is continues to do their best to discourage candidates who actually inspire people, such as Rodney Glassman in Arizona, even though there appears no other Dem interested in running right now, because, I guess no one actually knows him, even though the Arizona Democratic Party chairman asked him to run.

As MoT notes, the imperative in the Democratic Party establishment is, “PUNCH THE HIPPIES.”

</rant>

*Dirty F%$#ing Hippy

[on edit]My bad, MOT is a he, not a she. No offense was intended.

This is a Change………

No Comments

Last week, I wrote about California State Senator Roy Ashburn, who was caught driving drunk as he left a gay bar.

Well, in what is a refreshing change for Republicans,* he has admitted that he is gay:

“I’m gay,” State Senator Roy Ashburn told a radio host from his central California district in an interview this morning. “Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.”

Ashburn, a divorced father of four, said that his many votes against gay rights were efforts to represent the conservative views of his constituents.

This is the most evil bit of nastiness that I’ve heard in a while.

We all harbor our own prejudices, and the best that one can hope for is to recognize them for what they are, understand that they are wrong, and not act on them.

While I understand how people can hate for irrational reasons, it’s worse to hate for a rational reason.

This man did not have an irrational hatred and fear of gays, but he led anti-gay rallies.

He did so for the most prosaic of reasons: He wanted to hold elected office.

*But not outed Democrats, see McGreevy, James.

Just Read This

No Comments

Dan Froomkin completely destroys Rahm Emanuel and the Washington Post writers who do his bidding, and deservedly so:

Rahm was simply their chief of staff. And now, this hypercompetitive bantam rooster is attempting to blame others for what went wrong. That’s evidently so important to him that he’s trying to take a victory lap around the wreckage of what was once such a promising presidency.

Go read the rest.

It’s brutal, in a good way.

Worst of All Possible Worlds

No Comments

Charlie Rangel taking a temporary leave from his position as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

While it’s unlikely that he will be back, and he does have ethical issues, the Democrats have split the baby again.

They could have faced down the Republicans, and maybe dug up a few of the skeletons in their closets, or they could have stripped him of his committee chairmanship, but by allowing the fig leaf of a temporary leave, they both knuckle under and leave the issue on the table for Republicans to talk about.

Worst of all possible worlds.

Deep Thought:

No Comments

It appears that the Republicans have successfully prevailed upon Jim Bunning (R-KY) to end his filibuster, so the emergency unemployment extension will proceed.

Additionally, the Republicans are suggesting that the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky is suffering from overwork, so they are suggesting:

  • That he take a vacation.
  • And go to Sea World in Orlando.
  • And let his hair down.
  • And go swimming.
  • And meet Tillicum up close and personal as a part of a whale watching junket.

That is all.

Karl Rove and Jeff Gannon in DC Gay Marriage Love Tryst?

No Comments

Ummm, no, he probably didn’t, but if Karl Rove were to be tagged with this rumor, it would very much be just desserts, since he started false whispering campaigns like:

  • Alleging that John McCain fathered a black daughter.
  • That former Texas Governor Ann Richards was a lesbian.
  • That a judge was a pedophile.

So, by the standards of Karl Rove, this is a fair question.

It’s not true, as Jon Ponder notes in his post, “Did Karl Rove Leave His Wife For Jeff Gannon?“

Still, the story does contain “truthiness,” as Stephen Colbert would say.

New York Governor David Paterson Will Not Stand for Reelection

No Comments

One of his top aides, David Johnson, has had repeated accusations of physical violence women acquaintances.

Most recently, a woman was seeking a protective order against him, and state police who were members of the governor’s personal security detail pressured her to drop the proceedings, and the day before the hearing, Governor Paterson talked with her on the phone to convince her to drop the matter:

In the ensuing months, she returned to court twice to press her case, complaining that the State Police had been harassing her to drop it. The State Police, which had no jurisdiction in the matter, confirmed that the woman was visited by a member of the governor’s personal security detail.

Then, just before she was due to return to court to seek a final protective order, the woman got a phone call from the governor, according to her lawyer. She failed to appear for her next hearing on Feb. 8, and as a result her case was dismissed.

………

Through a spokesman, Mr. Paterson said the call actually took place the day before the scheduled court hearing and maintained that the woman had initiated it. He declined to answer further questions about his role in the matter.

That last paragraph sounds suspicious: How does someone get the phone number of the Governor?

Also note that the State Police have no jurisdiction, and ordinarily do not do this.

So the fat lady has sung, and he is not running for reelection.

Truth be told, the fat lady sung over a year ago, when he was polling behind Dick Cheney, but reality has finally smacked him in the face.

This is a good thing, since the next governor will be hip deep in redistricting, and perhaps New York can make things more fair, particularly in the State Senate, which has been Gerrymandered in favor of Republicans for generations.

It’s Like They are Trying to Demoralize the Democratic Base

No Comments

Because it looks like they are going to delay the Iraq withdrawal:

The U.S. military has prepared contingency plans to delay the planned withdrawal of all combat forces in Iraq, citing the prospects for political instability and increased violence as Iraqis hold national elections next month.

Under a deadline set by President Obama, all combat forces are slated to withdraw from Iraq by the end of August, and there remains heavy political pressure in Washington and Baghdad to stick to that schedule. But Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Monday that he had briefed officials in Washington in the past week about possible contingency plans.

I understand that there need to be contingency plans, but the fact that this gets leaked to the Washington Posts means that they are looking to see if a delay is politically feasible for them to further extend Operation Useless Dirt 1.*

So in August, 3 months before the election, they are going to push back the withdrawal, and they expect the base to be enthused about working for the Democratic party.

The Obama administration is beginning to make the Carter administration look like Niccolò Machiavelli.

A few more months of this, and I might be ready to vote green.†

The equation here is very clear: Military operations are very good for careerist military officers, so you will always have a significant portion of the military arguing for these operations, since it benefits them personally.

You need to ignore them.

*H/t Eric Palmer for this bon mot describing Operation (insert name here).
†Not really, pulling the lever for the Greens would have vomiting in the voting booth.‡
‡But yes, actually vomiting in the voting booth might be a real possibility.

Te Stoopid, It Burns US!!!!!

No Comments
This clusterf%$# comes with a poll

Atrios calls it, “A Great Contribution To The Art Of High Wanking,” but the Washington Post calls it Jeffrey Rosen’s article, “Supreme Court Justice Barack Obama?“

While there is precedent, William Howard Taft became a Supreme Court justice after being President, only the interval was 18 years between the two offices, and Rosen is suggesting that he cut a deal with Hillary Clinton, and that she agrees to appoint him, in exchange for his not running in 2012:

It would be unusual, but not difficult, for Obama to get himself on the Supreme Court. He could nominate himself to replace John Paul Stevens, for example, or he could gamble and promise Hillary Rodham Clinton that he won’t run for reelection in 2012 in exchange for a pledge of appointment to the next vacancy. And although as president, Obama has seemed haunted by the example of his political hero, Abraham Lincoln, on the Supreme Court he could take up the mantle of the greatest liberal justice of the 20th century, Louis Brandeis, another community organizer with a background in politics. In the end, Obama’s legacy on the court might surpass his legacy in the White House.

(emphasis mine)

Nominate himself? Is he out of his mind?

And a promise from Clinton would be crucial, because, of course, no one can successfully oppose a Hillary Clinton primary campaign; she is just unstoppable.

Jeebus, it’s like they have some sort of competition in front of Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt has some sort of bizarre audition in which they tell people to come up with the stupidest idea, and they get to go on to the next round.

It’s like some of kind of perverted American idol for stupid, and I think that my eyes are now bleeding as a result.

So Obama’s Magical Deficit Reduction Commission is a Go

No Comments

And former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson will be the co-chairman.

I think that it’s a bad idea in the first place, and that it’s a way to create political cover for weakening Social Security and Medicare, and what’s more, as former Clinton Treasury official Brad Delong notes, putting Simpson in charge of deficit reduction is like naming an, “Arsonist to Co-Run the Fire Department,” with history of supporting every half-assed tax cut for the rich plan out there, supporting Reagan’s disastrous 1981 cuts, and opposing Clinton’s tax increases, which produced the first surpluses in a generation.

What really worries me is that we have a whole bunch of Beltway Boyz who are thinking that the huge problem is Social Security and Medicare, and are looking for a way to gut them.

Obama Fail

No Comments

OK, so Obama made some noises about recess appointments, and the Republicans let 27 nominees get an up or down vote, the ones that do not matter.

Well, that’s good.

What is not good is that Obama followed up with signals that there is no need for recess appointments (BTW, Clinton made about 150, and GWB made about 200).

No, when you have them down, you put your foot on their neck.

If they block your Transportation Security Administration (TSA) nominee, as they did. because they don’t like Barack Obama’s position on union rights for the employees, you don’t back down, you appoint Teamsters President James Hoffa as your TSA chief. Hell, if they were still alive, you appoint his dad, Jimmy Hoffa, or maybe Walter Ruther or Eugene V. Debs during the recess.

Unfortunately, as Ezra Klein notes, in getting this small concession, Obama stated that recess appointments are a, “rare but not unprecedented step,” which makes any attempt to do recess appointments in the future an invitation to your standard Republican sh%$ storm of phony outrage, and as Matthew Yglesias notes, the Obama administration really does not have time for this crap.

Stupid, really stupid.