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December 31, 2007
Not Particularly Interested
The man who America is not particularly interested in electing president doesn't really want the job, anyway. And while it's possible he's just playing hard-to-get, statements like this one the other day aren't helping:
"I'm not particularly interested in running for president..."
- Fred Thompson
He defends his remark, saying it's out-of-context, but who would go into an interview and tell the employer that they hated the process that goes along with getting hired?
2008
Tomorrow marks the beginning of an election year, when we'll finally elect somebody to undo the damage done by the Bush administration both at home and abroad. In the coming months, we'll elect a Democrat as nominee and -- later -- to the White House.
And it couldn't come soon enough.
It's been a year of scandal for the Republicans, yet again. There was the firing of US Attorneys, the missing emails, and much, much more. And when the GOP wasn't battling some corruption story, they were busy attempting to prevent anything from getting done. Indeed, they set a record for number of filibuster threats. They blocked health care for children and bringing our troops home from Iraq, among other things.
Still, Democrats managed to pass ethics reform, an increase in the minimum wage, the 9-11 recommendations, earmark reform, and an energy bill. Democrats cut the interest rate on student loans and passed funding for wounded veterans. To get a handle on just how much we got accomplished, check out the graphic in this post on Speaker Pelosi's blog.
Next year, hopefully we can make more progress. Change doesn't happen easily. But what's clear is that all of our candidates mark a serious departure from the Bush/Cheney years, and all of the Republican candidates mean more of the same -- and in some cases, even worse.
Consider making your New Year's resolution to put in a few hours every week for your democracy to elect a Democrat to the White House. Republicans aren't going to hand this thing to us, despite talks of a dividing conservative coalition and depressed base. We're going to need you, and we'll be calling on you to help from time to time.
Four Strikes... Huckabee's Out?
1 & 2: Huckabee pulls a double gaffe on Pakistan question.
3: Huckabee later responds to Bhutto assassination by warning of “unusual activity of Pakistanis” in America.
4: Huckabee flunks geography, placing Afghanistan east of Pakistan.
Monday Open Thread
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December 30, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
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December 29, 2007
From the Archives
Skip the interview:
Saturday Open Thread
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December 28, 2007
Bush Plans to Veto Defense Appropriations Bill
Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid's response;
"Despite the Administration's earlier support for the Department of Defense authorization bill, it appears that President Bush plans to veto this legislation, which is crucial to our armed forces and their families.
"The Defense bill passed both houses of Congress by overwhelming bipartisan margins and addresses urgent national security priorities, including a 3.5 percent pay raise for our troops and Wounded Warriors legislation to remedy our veterans' health care system. It is unfortunate that the President will not sign this critical legislation"
In addition to a 3.5 percent pay raise for troops Bush's veto would also deny;
- Creating a $1 billion Strategic Readiness Fund to give the Department of Defense the ability to rapidly address equipment shortfalls
- Authorizing $17.6 billion, an increase of $865 million, for additional Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. This more than fully funds the current MRAP vehicle requirement for 15,374 vehicles.
- Prohibiting cuts in military medical personnel and fully funds the Defense Health program facility maintenance, particularly at Walter Reed
- Extending VA care from 2 years to 5 years, preventing Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans from joining the ranks of uninsured veterans.
- Requiring a comprehensive policy to address traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other mental health conditions, establishing DOD Centers of Excellence on PTSD and TBI to improve treatment, research, training and rehabilitation, requiring enrollment and registry of TBI patients to ensure continuity of care, guaranteeing veterans a VA mental health assessment within 30 days of request, expanding hiring to address shortage in mental health professionals, and strengthening DOD training for better detection of PTSD
- Providing 6 months of unpaid, job-protected leave to the spouse, parent, child, or next of kin of service members (including members of the reserve) who suffer from a service-connected injury or illness
- Increasing the number of special immigrant visas for Iraqis who worked for the U.S. in Iraq from 500 to 5,000
Read the full list of of troop benefits the President is planning on vetoing.
update:
The President has decided the Constitution is mere suggestion and is using a 'pocket veto' to kill this bill. Via Whitehouse.gov;
The adjournment of the Congress has prevented my return of H.R. 1585 within the meaning of Article I, section 7, clause 2 of the Constitution. Accordingly, my withholding of approval from the bill precludes its becoming law. The Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655 (1929). In addition to withholding my signature and thereby invoking my constitutional power to "pocket veto" bills during an adjournment of the Congress, I am also sending H.R. 1585 to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, along with this memorandum setting forth my objections, to avoid unnecessary litigation about the non-enactment of the bill that results from my withholding approval and to leave no doubt that the bill is being vetoed.
In what is shaping up to be President Bush vs. fourth grade civics class, the President is declaring Congress not in session and this bill vetoed on December 31 despite the Senate being in pro forma session intentionally to prevent his shenanigans.
Does any Republican Candidate Want to Win Iowa?
“... We've been in Iowa quite a bit,” Giuliani said. “We’ve been in New Hampshire more … we think this strategy fits our campaign.”
“It’s a remarkable story. If we finish second or if… we finish third, it’s a remarkable story,” he said. “I think we will make political history one week from today probably one way or another.”
McCain is looking to benefit from strong poll numbers in New Hampshire and the endorsement here of the state's most influential newspaper, the Des Moines Register. But in remarks after the event, he rejected the idea that he hadn't paid enough attention to Iowa. He said he would leave to the media to decide whether he meets expectations here.
Rep. Ron Paul is hoping for victory at the Iowa caucuses next Thursday night, but admits it's hard to know if his election-night support will be stronger than his single-digit poll numbers.
Republican Mitt Romney, facing an unexpected battle against Sen. John McCain in his own backyard of New Hampshire, headed straight to the ski slopes of that state this week instead of flocking to Iowa with the other presidential contenders.
Tells CNN that he wants to do better in caucuses than “show”
Friday Open Thread
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December 27, 2007
Democrats Preventing Appointment of Pro-Torture Bush Nominee
Sen. Harry Reid is keeping the Senate in pro forma session, sending Sen. Webb to the Senate to call it to order and then recessing every few days. By doing this they are preventing President Bush from bypassing Senate confirmation and unilaterally installing his nominees through recess appointments. From USA Today;
Democrats wanted to block one such recess appointment in particular: Steven Bradbury, acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Counsel. Bush nominated Bradbury for the job and asked the Senate to remove the "acting" in his title.Democrats would have none of it, complaining Bradbury had signed two secret memos in 2005 saying it was OK for the CIA to use harsh interrogation techniques — some call it torture — on terrorism detainees.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bush refused to rule out appointing Bradbury to the job if the Senate formally adjourned. So, Reid decided to keep the Senate in session with pro forma meetings every two or three days.
Thursday Open Thread
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December 26, 2007
Military Families Disapprove of Bush's Performance
from USA Today;
"I don't want to see another Korea. I don't want to see us stay there (in Iraq) forever. And you don't want to be in a country if they don't want us there," says Bruce Bartley, 65, of Fredonia, N.Y., whose son, Army Capt. Steven Bartley, is on his second tour in Iraq. The elder Bartley, who describes himself as a conservative, disapproves of Bush's job performance and says the invasion was a mistake.Among military families, 55% disapprove of Bush's performance compared with 64% of Americans without relatives in the service in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. Men in military families are more approving of Bush (47%) than female relatives (36%).
Wednesday Open Thread
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December 25, 2007
Tuesday Open Thread
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December 24, 2007
Monday Open Thread
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December 23, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
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December 22, 2007
From the Archives
1963:
Saturday Open Thread
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December 21, 2007
Romney: I Marched With MLK
People across the blogosphere have been documenting the bizarre excuses Romney has been throwing out there to explain his statement that his dad marched together with Martin Luther King.
First, he says he didn't literally "see" it. Second, he says they weren't literally "together." But somewhere and sometime, there was a march. Somewhere and sometime, there was Martin Luther King. And somewhere and sometime, there was his father.
But now, it appears, he also claimed quite a while back to have actually marched with King personally. From the Boston Globe:
Talking about the Mormon Church and racial discrimination, he said: "My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit."Yesterday, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom acknowledged that was not true. "Mitt Romney did not march with Martin Luther King," he said in an e-mail statement to the Globe.
Iowa GOP Voters Feel Left Out in the Cold
The enthusiasm gap:
Iowa Republican Party leaders say the level of activity and enthusiasm surrounding the 2008 campaign has not approached the level of eight years ago or the Democrats' race this year, reflecting in part a struggle among voters to find the right candidate.
Reid Keeping Senate Open
He's not going to let Bush get away with making any objectionable recess appointments while Congress is out for the holidays. Like he did for Thanksgiving, he's using some clever maneuvering to make sure that Bush can't get around recognizing the proper role of the Senate.
More at Americablog, including Reid's statement. Apparently Bush indicated that he "would" have, in fact, used the recess appointments had Reid not taken this move.
Friday Open Thread
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December 20, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
Check out this post by Mark C. Eades on McCain's new ad -- and others on PartyBuilder.
Then chat away...
More Excuses
See Atrios.
And for those of you trying to keep track of all these excuses, I've embedded this helpful English to Romney translator:
A Riddle
If a presidential candidate drops out of the race and nobody is around to watch it, does he make a sound?
Apparently, yes, he does.
Together
to·geth·er
Pronunciation[tuh-geth-er] –adverb
1. into or in one gathering, company, mass, place, or body: to call the people together.
2. into or in union, proximity, contact, or collision, as two or more things: to sew things together.
From the Phoenix:
A spokesperson for Mitt Romney now tells the Phoenix that George W. Romney and Martin Luther King Jr. marched together in June, 1963 -- although possibly not on the same day or in the same city.
How Republicans Use Robo Calls To Try To Steal Elections
Today TPMMuckracker has more excerpts from former GOP operative Allen Raymond's upcoming book. In this excerpt Allen talks about how Republicans bombarded Democrats with racist phone calls in order to drive down turnout in Rush Holt's congressional race in 2002.
"Oh," I said, quickly doing the polarizing-voter math in my head. "How about 'angry black man'?""Yeah, that sounds good. What's his voice sound like?"
So I cued up one particular actor's CD on my computer and put the phone to the speaker. The track I played was one in which the actor was deliberately playing up a street gang character.
After listening for a few seconds, Blakely said, "That's the guy!"
New Study Shows Latinos Hit Hardest in Wage Gaps
A recent study produced by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, in conjunction with the Idaho Community Action Network (ICAN), examined wage gaps between whites and non-whites in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington state.
The results are staggering, especially for Latinos. Take a look at the data from Idaho:
--47 percent of Latino workers earn less than a living wage for a single adult, compared with 25 percent for white workers.
--82 percent of Latinos earn less for a single adult with one child, compared with 56 percent of white workers.
--92 percent of Latinos earn less than a living wage for a single adult with two children, compared with 70 percent of whites.
--88 percent of Latino workers earn less than a living wage for two adults (one working) with two children, compared with 65 percent of white workers.
You can find the full report here.
The facts are painstakingly clear: the George W. Bush economy serves very few, and others, even less.
Don't Buck the System
Giuliani’s late-state strategy isn’t panning out exactly the way he planned:
He is spending more time in New Hampshire and waging what some call a "stealth campaign" in Iowa. He is also doing something that is potentially far more challenging for him: He is recasting his belligerent persona. Maybe, he seems to have realized, it's not enough to be the toughest guy on the block.Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 9, Giuliani spent 17 days in the state, while Huckabee spent 47 days and Romney more than two months there, according to the Iowa Democratic Party, which tallies candidate visits.
"It's a joke," said Carrie Giddins, the party's spokeswoman. "He hasn't spent the time or made the effort in Iowa to be a serious contender in the Iowa caucuses. He has done the bare minimum to not have a bad story written about him."
Romney Even Flips On His Own Dad
Mitt didn’t actually mean his father marched with MLK, when he said that remembered seeing it.
On Wednesday, Romney's campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative."He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.
This comes only after multiple newspapers challenged the accuracy of the claim, when there was "no record of King marching in Grosse Pointe in 1963 or of then-Gov. Romney taking part in King's historic march down Woodward Avenue in June of that year."
Why the Delays?
Over at TPM, Josh Marshall flagged down an article giving some rough details about how the Justice Department allegedly slowed down a probe into the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal.
An official "with detailed knowledge" about the investigation said "senior Justice Department officials slowed the inquiry."
In early 2004, Hinnen got approval from John Malcolm, the deputy chief of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, in early 2004 to investigate Tobin. Malcolm left the department soon afterward.Hinnen then sought approval from Malcolm's successor, Laura Parsky, to prosecute Tobin but wasn't told until late summer to write a formal, detailed prosecution memo, which he did in early September.
On Oct. 1, 2004, Hinnen got the green light to prepare an indictment, but was directed to first give Tobin lawyer O'Donnell a chance to make his client's case. O'Donnell requested delays and then told Hinnen, Parsky and other senior officials that an unidentified lawyer had advised Tobin that the jamming was legal.
There are two parts to this story. The biggest and most important questions, for me, surround the delays from early and mid-2004, whether those were the delays that were "slowed" from "senior Justice Department officials," and how commonplace such delays are.
The other part is more about hypocrisy than anything else. If the alleged delays by senior Justice officials only refer to the delay shortly before the election, to influence it, then the question is why weren't other indictments treated the same way -- specifically the ACORN ones?
Remember, there's a different former Justice official on the record saying he heard rumors the US Attorney in the ACORN case "talked to [Michael] Elston, which indicated he may have gone over Donsanto’s head to get approval" to pursue the case right before the election.
Thursday Open Thread
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December 19, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
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Governor Dean on the Situation Room
I know you all like to be given a heads-up, so be sure to check out Governor Dean on CNN's Situation Room. It's scheduled for today at 5:45pm (Eastern).
UPDATE: Video embedded below...
Silly Hats
"I’ve got a silly hat rule."
-Fred Thompson, refusing to wear a fire chief’s hat
FLASHBACK: "Silly hats" are nothing new for the former Senator, who once wore a green helmet with goggles.
Tax Evaders For Mitt
We've all heard about business setting up "shell" companies overseas in order to take advantage of tax loopholes and avoid paying their fair share.
Turns out Mitt Romney helped businesses do just that:
While in private business, Mitt Romney used shell companies in two offshore tax havens to help eligible investors avoid paying US taxes, federal and state records show. [...] In the Cayman Islands, Romney was listed as a general partner and personally invested in BCIP Associates III Cayman, a private equity fund that is registered at a post office box on Grand Cayman Island and that indirectly buys equity in US companies. The arrangement shields foreign investors from US taxes they would pay for investing directly in US companies.
There's also this: "But aides of [Romney] and former colleagues acknowledged that the tax-friendly jurisdictions helped attract billions of additional investment dollars to Romney's former company, Bain Capital, and thus boosted profits for Romney and his partners."
NH Republican Dirty Trickster To Reveal All
The 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming scandal is still revealing the depths, and in this case the illegal depths, that Republicans are willing to stoop to in order to steal elections. A former GOP operative who served three months in prison for his part in the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal is writing a book about how the scandal reaches the highest part of the Republican Party.
Raymond's book, "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative," offers a raw, inside glimpse of the phone scandal as it unraveled and of a ruthless world in which political operatives seek to win at all costs.
...
Raymond said those who've tried to make him the fall guy for the New Hampshire scheme failed to recognize that e-mails, phone records and other evidence documented the complicity of a top state GOP official and the Republican National Committee's northeast regional director.Both men were later convicted of charges related to the phone harassment, along with Raymond and an Idaho phone bank operator. Defense lawyers have since won a retrial for James Tobin, the former regional director for both the RNC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
He also sees how low the Republican party is willing to go, comparing his time in prison more favorably than his time in the Republican party.
As for his three months in a Pennsylvania prison, he wrote: "After 10 full years inside the GOP, 90 days among honest criminals wasn't really any great ordeal."
Conveniently Suppressed?
Romney 'doesn't recall' attending a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, but the photographic evidence is at Blue Mass Group.
More from the Boston Herald:
Nicki Nichols Gamble, a former president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the photo shows Mitt and Ann Romney at a private home in Cohasset in June 1994. At the time, Romney was hoping to unseat US Senator Edward M. Kennedy and was eager to show his support for abortion rights, said Gamble, who is pictured in the photo with her back to the camera.Romney dismissed any significance of the photo.
A Very Rudy Christmas
In his new ad, he lashes out at a staffer for questioning the idea of giving out fruitcakes. A joke, but with an odd execution showcasing an anger we haven't seen since he flipped-out at somebody advocating for ferrets.
Bush Lawyers Debated Destroying CIA Tapes
"...more extensive than Bush administration officials have acknowledged."
That's how the New York Times today describes the involvement of high-level Bush administration officials in discussions of what to do about interrogation videotapes that were later destroyed.
A short list of those who discussed it, according to the NYT:
- Alberto R. Gonzales
- David S. Addington, Cheney's chief of staff
- John B. Bellinger III, former senior lawyer at the National Security Council
- Harriet E. Miers, former White House counsel
There continue to be some conflicting accounts, many of them anonymous. Not only are the newspapers looking into it, but Congress is investigating, as well.
Wednesday Open Thread
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December 18, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
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Republicans Jump in Line to Defend Lott Comments
On Lott's last day in the Senate, Republicans are jumping ahead in line to defend the controversial remarks made several years ago. First, it was Gordon Smith, and now Arlen Specter (who was at Thurmond's party).
Arlen Specter: "What Senator Lott said was in no means out of line." Sounds like a ringing endorsement...
More WMD Laughs
Iraq didn't have nuclear weapons! Despite talks of a "mushroom cloud!" Yep, Bush just thinks it's such a riot that he couldn't help joking about it -- again.
Here's the exchange, via ThinkProgress:
Q But I’m concerned about the nations like Iraq, who now have nuclear weapons –
BUSH: Iran.
Q Iran and Iraq both.
BUSH: Not Iraq. (Laughter.)
Anybody else remember the last time this happened?
Gordon Smith Defends Lott's Segregationist Comments
Huffington Post is reporting that Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon is now defending the infamous remarks that Trent Lott made several years ago about how much better the world would have been if then-Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond had won the presidency.
Here's the video:
And on top of it all, as Election Central points out, his defense of Lott was quite the opposite at the time, when he condemned the Senator and said "His statement goes against everything I and the people of Oregon believe in."
Huckabee Not Ready for Meet the Press
He wants another couple weeks. What exactly has he been doing the past 11 months?
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is refusing to let his staff put his name forward as a guest with Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." "There is no way he'll do it without at least two weeks of prep time and we can't do that now," says a new arrival to Team Huckabee in Iowa. "He's focused on winning Iowa, not playing 'gotcha' and being embarrassed on 'Meet'."Russert is believed to have wanted Huckabee for the 23rd or 30th, but has been put off.
Maybe he's not ready for primetime? He's been facing mounting scrutiny as he campaigns.
CREW Wins Battle Against White House... For Now
For the past couple years, CREW has been fighting the White House for what they believe are public records -- when Jack Abramoff and conservative religious leaders visited the White House.
Yesterday CREW won a big fight in that legal battle, with a judge deciding that Secret Service visitor records that the are subject to disclosure under FOIA.
The White House argued that these Secret Service records weren't under control by the Secret Service -- despite the fact that the Secret Service creates and maintains them.
CREW seems to think they'll have the records "within 20 days," but over at TPM Muckraker Paul Kiel says "it's likely to be appealed, and given the insuppressible legal ingenuity of this administration, it's highly unlikely that any more records will be produced without a fight."
Tuesday Open Thread
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December 17, 2007
Monday Evening Open Thread
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Golden Duke: Best Scandal - General Interest
We've done a couple of these today, highlighting the awards to be given tomorrow by Talking Points Memo; here's one more, the big prize for Best Scandal - General Interest.
Alberto Gonzales (odds: even): It's the story that Talking Points Memo owned. But on its own merit, it's well-deserving of scandal of the year. More importantly, the focus on the Justice Department led to voter suppression efforts to receive a much-needed light shined on them.
Sen. Ted Stevens (odds: 4-1): There's a lot of investigating going on in Alaska. Stevens is no exception. Earlier this year we learned the FBI was investigating an "extensive" remodeling project at his home, which was organized by an oil company. There's more, but this is the scandal that gives him a fighting chance for the win.
Rep. Young (odds: 5-1): He's not a stranger to controversy, but most curious of all is the "Coconut Road" controversy, where funds were given that weren't approved by Congress, but were in the version of the bill signed by Bush.
Paris Hilton (odds: 18-1): Remember, it's "general interest." While you might not care (or maybe you do), clearly America voted with their televisions. I'm not sure any other scandal received as much attention. Unfortunately, it's unlikely she even got a nomination.
The Dukeys: Laying Down the Odds, Part II
Tomorrow Talking Points Memo will unveil the winners of the Golden Dukes (aka "the Dukeys") -- awards given for corruption and scandal in government. I've outlined my favorites for Testimonial Trainwreck.
Up next are some of the favorites for Outstanding Achievement in Corruption-based Chutzpah:
Karl Rove (odds: 7-1): Rove got nominated for "pointing to the Democrats’ rush to war in Iraq as the untold story of How We Got into This Middle East Debacle." Chutzpah? Yeah. But corruption-based? Weak, by Bush administration standards.
Dick Cheney (odds: 2-1): The man actually claimed he wasn't a part of the executive branch -- presumably making him his own branch of government. And why? So that he could avoid scrutiny over the handling of classified national security information.
Scott Bloch (odds: 6-1): TPM's David Kurtz called him the Dark Horse candidate in this race. Not only did he hire "Geeks on Call" to erase hard drives on government computers, but he also came up with a pretty stunning excuse (wanting to kill a "virus").
Ginger Kruz (odds: 12-1): See the nomination for the reasons she's up here, but she's the biggest longshot in the field. Putting "hexes" on employees might be odd, but with this competition it'd be difficult to imagine. Maybe next year.
Alberto Gonzales (odds: 3-1): I wouldn't give it to him in this category for the US Attorney Scandal. No, his biggest act of chutzpah came when he visited a sick and drugged Ashcroft in the hospital to try to get him to override the acting Attorney General.
SHOCKER!
Rudy exaggerated his record on his US Attorney service:
ON “Meet the Press” a week ago, Rudolph W. Giuliani attempted to deflect criticism of his close relationship with his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, by saying that his misjudgment of Mr. Kerik had to be weighed against his other accomplishments. “How can I not have pretty good judgment about the people who work for me and not been able to turn around the United States attorney’s office?” he asked. But Mr. Giuliani’s claim to have turned around the Manhattan United States attorney’s office is not only untrue, it is an insult to the outstanding men and women who have served in that office over the last 50 years.
Huckabee Hit For Gifts From Appointees
Maybe Huckabee was just helping to spread the giving spirit throughout the year. But apparently, as governor, Huckabee thought it was better to receive -- thousands of dollars worth of gifts from donors, staff and appointees -- ignoring the obvious ethical concerns.
Some of the gifts:
- A $1,000 pair of cufflinks
- Tens of thousands of dollars of clothing
- Gift certificates to sporting goods stores
- Gift certificates to clothing boutiques
- Gift certificates to Wal-Mart
- A $3,695 pair of cowboy boots
- A $500 belt
- 200 copies of a book Huckabee wrote
- Flowers
- Air travel
- Pastries
- Clothing
- Parties
And more.
The Dukeys: Laying Down the Odds
Tomorrow Talking Points Memo will unveil the winners of the Golden Dukes (aka "the Dukeys") -- awards given for corruption and scandal in government. While I didn't submit my own nominations, despite having some personal favorites, I wanted to lay down some odds to help you with the local office pools you might be having to guess the winners.
Up first are some of the favorites for Best Testimonial Trainwreck.
Howard "Cookie" Krongard (odds: 4-1): He's the guy who, as Inspector General for the State Dept., who had to recuse himself from the Blackwater investigation. Given that he "had to a change his testimony and recuse himself from the Blackwater investigation while on the witness stand," the fact that it achieved results gives it the inside track on a big upset.
Bradley Schlozman (odds: 3-1): Who can ever forget the image of Senator Leahy holding up the big red manual as if Schlozman had never seen it? Every time he'd try to weasel out of an answer -- usually by blaming someone else -- he got stopped right in his tracks. It was, by any standard, a trainwreck.
Lurita Doan (odds: 4-1): She was there for a meeting her top agency official sand Karl Rove's deputy to figure out how to help Republican candidates. Yet she couldn't recall much of it. But why was it a trainwreck? We had the powerpoints. It's also a frontrunner to win the award because it led to the "brown bag lunch" defense.
Sara Taylor (odds: 5-1): She's well-deserving of the honor, but her nomination was more about the symbolic value of one of her replies and what it says about the Bush administration.
Alberto Gonzales (odds: 3-2): My own personal favorite. Not only did we get a record number of "I don't recalls," but he's also responsible for what I believe to be the one of the most contradictory exchanges in Senate testimony history; he recalled making the decision to fire the US Attorneys, yet didn't recall when he made the decision to fire the US Attorneys.
Oh THAT NRA
On Meet the Press yesterday, Mitt Romney had to answer a lot of questions about flip flops on almost every single issue. But he had an answer to the reversals on gun rights -- he was endorsed by the NRA!
The problem, as the Washington Post points out: "He was never endorsed by the NRA, and didn't have their official support during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign."
But Mitt was endorsed by National ROMNEY Association. I'm sure that's what he meant.
Monday Open Thread
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December 16, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
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December 15, 2007
From the Archives
Saturday Open Thread
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December 14, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
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Friday Five
I'm going to be bringing back the Friday Five, which highlights five of the events in PartyBuilder for the coming week. You can add your own event or find one near you.
- Bonner Democrats Annual Contra Dance (Sandpoint, ID)
Annual winter get-together with Contra Dancing for all ages - live music and dance instruction by Out of The Wood, with an extra fiddler! Food and beverages provided by Bonner Democrats volunteers.
- UNR Young Dems Caucus Fundraiser Dinner (Reno, NV)
The Young Democrats of the University of Nevada and the Student Presidential Caucus cordially invite you to a Caucus Fundraiser Dinner:
- Democrats Work: Gift Wrapping for Seniors (Denver, CO)
Join Democrats Work to wrap holiday gifts that will be donated to low-income seniors in assisted living facilities. The Senior High-Rise Food Bank has joined forces with the ladies of WIN (womeninformed.net) and Keane, Inc. to collect hundreds of gifts for under-served seniors living in the Denver metro area.
- Ada County Democrats (Boise, ID)
Held the 3rd Tuesday of every month, the Central Committee Meeting is a great opportunity to learn about hot local issues and ways you can help build our party in Ada County!
- All-December-Holiday Potluck Party (Tucson, AZ)
Party for Democrats in Arizona Legislative District 27. Meet fellow activists, elected officials, Pima County Party officers, and others at the home of Arizona Democratic Party 1st Vice Chair. Tour of the environmentally designed Milagro co-housing starts at 5:00.
Giuliani Firm May Have Violated Federal Law With Florida Client
From the NY Times:
Rudolph W. Giuliani’s consulting firm was hired in 2002 to help a Florida company build its business under a contract that called for Mr. Giuliani’s firm to be paid in part for lining up work with the federal government and other clients, company records show.Federal law prohibits payment of a commission in return for a federal contract, a standard that the firm, Giuliani Partners, said it did not violate.
The deal between the firm and the contractor, Seisint of Boca Raton, was signed with the expectation that Mr. Giuliani’s high profile and connections would help the start-up company obtain federal contracts as well as nongovernment work, said Michael Brauser, co-founder of Seisint and once a major shareholder.
Haley Barbour Floated As Giuliani VP
Because adding a tobacco company lobbyist to the ticket will distract from Giuliani's shady clients?
Political allies of former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour are actively pushing the two together, with the 9/11 mayor and New Yawker on top of a ticket that would feature the just re-elected drawling hero of his state's Hurricane Katrina victims as veep. They are being dubbed the "Masters of Disasters."
Friday Open Thread
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December 13, 2007
Thursday Evening Open Thread
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House Passes Legislation Extending Army Field Manual
The bill, which would extend to intelligence agencies the anti-torture prohibitions in the Army Field Manual, just passed 222-199. Speaker Pelosi's blog has the specifics.
Here's Rep. Hasting's speech on the issue:
Contempt
Just in, via ThinkProgress:
In a 12-7 vote this morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved contempt resolutions against Karl Rove and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten for their refusal to comply with the U.S. attorney investigation. Bush, citing executive privilege, has “refused to allow Rove and Bolten to testify or turn over documents to the panel.” Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) both supported the resolutions
Thompson Vows To Go Nonstop In Iowa
TNR gives us the latest from "the Hardest-Working Man In Show Business," Fred Thompson.
Okay, Fred Thompson is really serious now. Time to buckle down. No more slacking. The Washington Post reports that Thompson "has decided to campaign 'nonstop' in Iowa for the next three weeks."But wait, when you read on, it turns out that "nonstop" means something slightly different for the Thompson campaign:
[...]
They're waiting five days to start this nonstop tour. Then they're going to break for three days in observance of a holiday that I (as an admitted non-Christian) understand to be one day, maybe a day and a half. Then they're going to go for the rest of the week--which is what, three or four days?--and knock off for the New Year. That's dedication.
Thursday Open Thread
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December 12, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
Read them all, then chat away...
Sounds Kind of Like My Dog Ate My Homework
Giuliani continues to offer questionable excuses on Judi security expenses:
And Rudy is still trying to make the case that by funnelling payments for police details through the loft board and similarly obscure agencies his administration was incredibly transparent about the whole thing:"These accounts were discoverable. If these had been paid directly by the Police Department, it never would have been discovered, because they are exempt from Freedom of Information."
From this, we gather that the Giuliani strategy on this issue is to keep giving the same answers over and over, even if they don't make any sense, in hopes that they'll eventually become accepted through repetition. But really: Isn't this the lamest of all the excuses and explanations he's come up with?
Who Cares What Our Intelligence Says?
"They're undoubtedly intent upon nuclear weapons. I don't care what this latest NIE says. That's foolishness that represents our own inability to get a handle on it more than anything else."
-Fred Thompson yesterday
White House Still Won't Answer Libby Questions
Now that Scooter Libby dropped his appeal, the White House can no longer use the excuse that there's an ongoing criminal proceeding to avoid answering questions about their role in leaking the identity of a covert CIA agent.
Oh, wait. With this White House, a little thing like the criminal proceeding being over won't stop them from staying mum.
Here's what Perino had to say at the gaggle yesterday, via ThinkProgress: "But I did talk to our counsel's office because I forgot that there is a civil case that is pending on this issue. I did forget. The Wilsons have filed a case in civil court, it was dismissed, and they are on appeal."
So she won't talk.
The problem, of course, is that there's nothing about a case in civil court that prevents them from talking about this.
Wednesday Open Thread
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December 11, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
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Here are some of the posts over at PartyBuilder:
- GOP Uses Faulty Logic To Reverse Loyalty Pledge, by Bryan J. Scrafford/
- Bryan J. Scrafford gives some quick information about VA-01, which along with OH-05 has a special election today, in Special Election Today
- Jim Callahan writes about the Political Implications of Foreclosure Crisis.
Mitt Romney Buys More Support
In the end money may be the glue that holds elite Republicans together, despite poll after poll showing that Republicans are unhappy with their choices for president.
Mitt Romney today garnered the support of the right-wing magazine National Review. Romney has donated thousands of dollars in order to support various right-wing causes. In March the NY Times reported that Romney and allied organizations had paid thousands of to The National Review and various Republican causes.
“Mr. Romney gave $5,000 to help sponsor the anniversary dinner celebrating National Review's Web site last October at a Washington steakhouse. Another group called Evangelicals for Mitt also gave $5,000…The magazine and its Web site have written favorably of Mr. Romney.”
Huckabee And Thompson: Global Warming Overblown
ThinkProgress has the story:
Tonight on CBS Evening News, each of the 10 leading presidential candidates will be asked, “Do you think the risks of climate change are at all overblown?” According to an advance transcript, every single candidate acknowledges the threat — except Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson.Huckabee responds that “scientifically,” he doesn’t know whether global warming is “overblown.” Thompson goes a step further, claiming that the “state of entitlements” and “extremists” who “want to do drastic things to our economy” are the real problems:
ThinkProgress details why they're wrong. But just to add some items for the other candidates:
- At his first major fundraiser, Rudy Giuliani's emcee, Dennis Miller, mocked global warming, saying, "Excuse me for not believing temperatures from 1906, when we were still s-ing in the woods."
- In a statement, Mitt Romney once criticized Republicans for "embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left."
NY Times Poll: Republican Voters Don't Like Their Choices
There's a reason why the Democratic Party built a website for Republican candidate "None of the Above." It's because as polls have shown over and over again, None of the above is fairly popular with Republican voters, and the current crop of Republican candidates are out of touch, even with Republicans.
Three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Republican voters across the country appear uninspired by their field of presidential candidates, with a vast majority saying they have not made a final decision about whom to support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.Not one of the Republican candidates is viewed favorably by even half the Republican electorate, the poll found. And in a sign of the fluidity of the race, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who barely registered in early polls several months ago, is now locked in a tight contest nationally with Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney.
Romney Attacks Giuliani for... wait for it... Flip Flopping
After launching a negative ad misleading Iowa on his immigration record, flip-flopping on the issue of amnesty for undocumented workers, and after getting caught having undocumented workers doing his yard work TWICE, Mitt Romney issued the following press release criticizing Rudy Giuliani for -- you guessed it -- flip-flopping and harboring illegal aliens.
Upside for the Romney camp? It's as accurate as it is shameless.
Rudy Giuliani's continuing effort to exaggerate and revise his real record as mayor continues...
Boycotting New Hampshire?
So where will Fred Thompson be? He's not returning to New Hampshire, or at least isn't planning on it:
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has no plans to return to first-primary state New Hampshire to campaign before the end of the year, a spokesman said yesterday."Obviously, Iowa comes first," campaign deputy communications director Karen Hanretty said. "Iowa is first in the nation, so we'll spend our time in Iowa and then be spending our time in the states that come after it." Iowa's caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 3; the New Hampshire primary is scheduled for Jan. 8.
Well yesterday he was touring a Bay of Pigs museum -- either a subtle dig at Dana Perino or just hoping not to make the same mistake, like Mike Huckabee did yesterday:
Another reason for the policy change, explained Huckabee, was that he was “really not that aware” of the issues the issues that exist between Cuba and the United States.
Vote!
If Robin Weirauch can win the special election in OH-05, there's no safe district for the Republicans next year.
That's why the strapped-for-cash NRCC has thrown in more than one-fifth of their campaign account into this normally safe Republican-leaning district that Bush won with over 60-percent of the vote. Doing so means they're diverting their money into playing defense in the reddest of red areas before the election year even officially begins.
So no matter what happens, we've already "won."
But we still need to elect Robin Weirauch to Congress, so if you're in Ohio, vote. And then volunteer to bring others to the polls. This election could come down to a handful of votes, and you can make a difference in this race.
DailyKos has the latest numbers and this could go either way, with the numbers tight and differing from poll to poll.
It's also not the only special election today. Over in VA-01, Governor Warner told a huge crowd yesterday that Philip Forgit would shock the political conventional wisdom. Forgit's an Iraq War veteran and Bronze Star recipient and nationally-recognized teacher. He also needs your help, if you're in the area.
Vote.
Tuesday Open Thread
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December 10, 2007
PB Rescue Open Thread
There are a couple of special elections tomorrow, one of which being OH-05. Over at PartyBuilder, Matthew Crawford has the details on the race.
They can always use more people, so give them a ring if you've got time to volunteer. Otherwise, make sure you come out to vote.
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No Debate at UM/Univision Debate As Republicans Eject DNC Spokesman
Last night I was kicked out of the press file from the Univision debate because Republicans didn't want me to pass out a press packet highlighting the Republican candidates' real positions on issues important to Hispanic voters. Republican allies at the debate made sure I was kicked out by security, and I was threatened that I'd be arrested if I returned to campus. All for distributing a simple press packet to reporters inside the media filing room.
The packet is a compilation of facts that show pretty much what we saw through the Univision debate...Republicans have failed Hispanics and offer more of the same disastrous leadership as the Bush Administration on everything from Iraq, to vetoing health care for kids, to wanting to privatize Social Security.
And when it comes to immigration, they're going to stick with the GOP playbook of pretending 12 million immigrants will self deport and refusing to address the issues of border security and immigration reform constructively, so long as they think they can get votes out of it.
It's common practice for representatives of both parties to show up at each other's debates and forums. I remember seeing former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie doing interviews on site at the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston (no credentials), and Mike Duncan has been seen at a Democratic debate or two this year. But there was no debate to be had on the Univision debate at the University of Miami last night.
What Year is Huckabee Living In?
Huckabee, on one of the Sunday talk shows, said he still thinks that AIDS patients should have been isolated from the public:
Huckabee acknowledged the prevailing scientific view then, and since, that the virus that causes AIDS is not spread through casual contact, but said that was not certain. He cited revelations in 1991 that a dentist had infected a patient in an extraordinary case that highlighted the risk of infection through contact with blood or bodily fluids."I still believe this today," he said in a broadcast interview, that "we were acting more out of political correctness" in responding to the AIDS crisis. "I don't run from it, I don't recant it," he said of his position in 1992. Yet he said he would state his view differently in retrospect.
Huckabee, as a Senate candidate that year, told The Associated Press that "we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague" if the federal government was going to deal with the spread of the disease effectively. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents," he said then.
No More Excuses
For years the Bush administration refused to discuss their actions surrounding the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, claiming that an "ongoing investigation" prevented it. When Libby was found guilty on counts of perjury and obstructing justice, they said that because of appeals, the legal process was ongoing -- despite Bush's actions in commuting the sentence.
Well, now Libby's attorney is announcing they're dropping their appeal -- time to finally get the answers we should have had all along. All those unanswered questions from the last couple years need to be asked all over again.
On the flip, you'll find a bunch of unanswered questions I compiled a while back from the first page of search results that I got at WhiteHouse.gov. You can check them out below the fold.
Keep reading "No More Excuses"
So Much For Full Disclosure
Giuliani won't release client list or cut ties with his firm.
On Meet the Press, Giuliani said everything about his clients is out, and then like clockwork, something else comes out:
Southern Co., American Electric Power Co. and other producers hired top Washington lobbyists, including Rudy Giuliani's firm, to help defeat a measure that would force them to boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020. That's up from less than 2 percent today, and is a move the industry says would cost at least $67 billion.Southern Co. has spent $7.26 million this year lobbying Congress, more than Exxon Mobil Corp. or General Motors Corp., according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. It hired such firms as Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, where Republican presidential front-runner Giuliani is a partner.
The Giuliani firm's involvement goes deeper: Scott Segal, a Bracewell lobbyist, is director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, an industry group that focuses on air- quality issues and includes Southern Co., Progress Energy Inc. and other utilities.
Monday Open Thread
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December 9, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
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December 8, 2007
From the Archives
Saturday Open Thread
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December 7, 2007
Friday Evening Open Thread
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Working Hard
Now that we're coming down to the last few precious days in the high-pressured presidential primary race to lead the country and the free world, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee is ramping up his campaign schedule. After all, he's got seven other hard-working Republican campaigners hard on his tail.[Yesterday] morning, according to the e-mailed schedule from Thompson's press office, Fred would begin his campaign day bright and early at 8:15 a.m. EST with a telephone interview with Andy Peterson on WMT in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He'd follow that 25 minutes later with an interview on AM Tampa Bay on WFLA and then at 10:40 he'd be interviewed on WHO in Des Moines.
By 11 a.m., he would be done with that.
And that's it for the campaign day.
McConnell: 'Not Happy about Troop Deaths, BUT'
TPM Election Central flagged down this quote in a local paper from Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell: "Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers."
So what's he saying? That because they signed up it's a small price?
Friday Afternoon Open Thread
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December 6, 2007
Thursday Evening Open Thread
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Republican Anti-Immigration Rhethoric Hurts The GOP
On the same day the the Pew Hispanic poll and the LA Times released the details of a new poll showing Hispanic voters are more inclined to vote Democratic than they have been since the late 1990's, Governor Dean met with Reverend Luis Cortes to call on the Republican presidential candidates to tone down their anti-immigrant rhetoric.
We also launched a website documenting the Republican's over the top anti-immigration rhetoric from the most recent elections last month.
The Pew Poll found that the gap between Democrats and Republicans among Hispanic voters are growing, partly because of the rhetoric used by Republicans as they search for a wedge issue to divide Americans.
Some 57% of Hispanic registered voters now call themselves Democrats or say they lean to the Democratic Party, while just 23% align with the Republican Party -- meaning there is now a 34-percentage-point gap in partisan affiliation among Latinos. In July 2006, the same gap measured just 21 percentage points -- whereas back in 1999, it had been 33 percentage points.
Forgetful Huck?
Gov. Huckabee says 'It'll happen again' on NIE blankness:
Republican Mike Huckabee blamed his staff and the hectic nature of running for president for being oblivious Tuesday of a major U.S. intelligence report on Iran which had been released about 24 hours earlier."It would have been nice had someone been able to first say, 'here's some things that are going on, that are taking place,'" said Huckabee. "That didn't happen."
"It's going to happen again," he added.
White House Finally Responds on Missing Emails
And yet they say nothing.
The response is two-fold. One, confirm/deny nothing. Two, attack the messenger (CREW). First, there's this WH claim (emphasis mine):
CREW has yet to provide any basis for their assertions -- be it their original assertion, or their new claim. We are aware that some e-mails may not have been automatically archived in the past, but they may be available on backup tapes.
So the White House isn't saying there's "no basis," only that CREW doesn't provide any. And then they go on to cite some basis, specifically with an admission that "some e-mails may not have been automatically archived." That's careful wording that avoids a denial, but it's admission that there might be a problem here.
Then comes the attack: "Unlike what the liberal group CREW has asserted, we've never been without a backup system."
It's a non-partisan group, and CREW says they know there's a backup system.
But the point of it all, which shouldn't get lost in all of this, is that the White House isn't saying for sure if these emails are lost. We're talking about what CREW alleges are 10 million missing emails -- a huge deal. Are they just not bothering to check? Or have they checked already?
From their statement, there are no answers, just more questions.
Global Warming Bill Moves Forward
Via ThinkProgress, the AP reports:
Democrats turned back repeated efforts by Republican senators to soften the economic impact of a global warming bill before advancing it out of a Senate committee on Wednesday.It was the first bill calling for mandatory U.S. limits on so-called greenhouse gases to be taken up in Congress since global warming emerged as an environmental issue more than two decades ago. The bill was approved 11-8 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Thursday Open Thread
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December 5, 2007
Wednesday Evening Open Thread
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Fred Thompson: Be Skeptical of the NIE
I guess he couldn't pull a Huckabee and say he hadn't heard about it. Instead, he tells RedState that Iran "benefits" from "all this."
But it's the basis for Thompson's claim that we shouldn't trust the National Intelligence Estimate that's most interesting: "Our intelligence community has often underestimated the intentions of adversaries, including Saddam Hussein's Iraq..."
Strike Two
Romney nixes landscaping company after hiring undocumented workers... again.
Standing on stage at a Republican debate on the Gulf Coast of Florida last week, Mitt Romney repeatedly lashed out at rival Rudy Giuliani for providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants in New York City.Yet, the next morning, on Thursday, at least two illegal immigrants stepped out of a hulking maroon pickup truck in the driveway of Romney's Belmont house, then proceeded to spend several hours raking leaves, clearing debris from Romney's tennis court, and loading the refuse onto the truck.
In fact, their work was part of a regular pattern. Even after a Globe story in December 2006 highlighted Romney's use of a landscaping company that employs illegal immigrants to tend to his grounds, Romney continued to employ Community Lawn Service With a Heart - until yesterday. The company continued to employ illegal immigrants.
Huckabee, Like Bush, Wasn't Briefed
(Via CrooksAndLiars)
Reporter: I don't know to what extent you have been briefed or been able to take a look at the NIE report that came out yesterday...
Mike Huckabee: I'm sorry?
Reporter: The NIE report, the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. Have you been briefed or been able to take a look at it --
Huckabee: No.
Reporter: Have you heard of the finding?
Huckabee: No.
This was an important finding related to our nation's security that dominated the news coverage over the last couple days. Is this a show of the same kind of disinterest that presumably led to Bush trying to claim he wasn't briefed on the findings until last week?
Wednesday Open Thread
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December 4, 2007
Tuesday Evening Open Thread
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Giuliani's Clients Come Back To Bite
Vanity Fair unveils an investigative article about some of Giuliani's clients since he left New York. The article documents several cases of conflict of interest that have arisen while after Giuliani left Gracie mansion and since he's started running for president.
Asher was, and remains, a complicated, fascinating character. A high-school dropout, he had strung together a bunch of computers and harnessed their combined power to sift through vast databases. He eventually developed a far more powerful system called Matrix that had the Orwellian capacity to fish out likely terrorists from vast troves of cross-referenced information. After 9/11, Asher had interested the Bush administration and numerous state law-enforcement agencies in acquiring Matrix. He had a problem, though: in his youth, he'd been a cocaine smuggler. Asher had come clean, and gone so far as to help the D.E.A. stop other traffickers. But if he was going to interest the government in his system, he needed some very heavy character references. Who better than Rudy Giuliani?"The first time I met him, he did a demonstration for us at my office," Giuliani told Vanity Fair after Asher casually suggested the ex-mayor might talk about him. "When I saw it I immediately realized that this was a technology that would have been very helpful to us even when I was the mayor and putting together programs for reducing crime to help us find serial killers, abductors of children, and of course terrorists."
Today, Asher was tied to an ongoing bribery investigation of Michael Carona, the Republican sheriff of Orange County.
When Hank Asher reached into the bag and pulled out the two $15,000 gold Cartier watches, the holiday crowd at Carmine's restaurant on 44th Street in Manhattan noticed, patrons recalled. Later, so did the U.S. attorney in Orange County, Calif., and soon yet another of Rudy Giuliani's business partners was embroiled in a bribery case.
Asher, identified by the initials H.A. in Overt Act 59 of a federal grand jury indictment against Orange County sheriff Michael Carona, had handed the diamond-encrusted Cartier baubles to the wives of the sheriff and his deputy, and with that, assured himself a place in a federal indictment that was looming.Asher is not charged with any crime in the indictment. But his expensive gifts are clearly part of the corruption investigation.
It's War in Iowa
Phone/email campaign highlights Giuliani's shady inner circle and includes mentions of "pedophile priest" accusations.
Rudy Giuliani's dirty laundry is being aired all over Iowa in a slew of phone calls and e-mails to potential voters.The messages mention the indictment of Giuliani's ex-business pal and police chief Bernie Kerik and accusations that childhood friend Msgr. Alan Placa covered up for pedophile priests.
The calls about Kerik were made by a pro-Mike Huckabee group called TrustHuckabee.com. It was unclear who circulated the e-mail about Placa, who works for Giuliani's consulting firm.
Push Pollers for Huckabee!
Mike Huckabee boasts about running an above-the-mud campaign that does not smear his GOP rivals, but a group founded by some of his supporters appears to be doing just that.The group, Common Sense Issues, launched a series of automated calls to Iowa Republican voters Sunday. The calls offer negative information about Huckabee's rivals and positive information about the former Arkansas governor.
The group's executive director, Patrick Davis, dubbed the calls "personalized educational artificial intelligence," and admitted they are designed to promote Huckabee.
Oh. Nevermind. It's not a push poll. It's a "personalized educational artificial intelligence." Of course.
Last Week?
An odd moment from Bush's press conference came when he claimed that he learned of the new intelligence assessment last week that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program back in 2003.
The Bush claim seems to directly contradict the Washington Post story indicating that he "had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program" months ago. And NSA Adviser Steven Hadley said the president was notified of new information about it "in the last few months."
The discrepancy matters because Bush has, during the last couple months, claimed Iran was "pursuing" technology that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Tuesday Open Thread
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December 3, 2007
Monday Evening Open Thread
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Giuliani Forced NY's Finest To Taxi Friends and Family of Girlfriend
Rudy Giuliani used the NYPD to chauffeur his current wife, then mistress. The police officers who apparently weren't happy about the arrangement also had to walk her dog, and chauffeur her friends and family around New York.
Six years later, presidential candidate Giuliani is facing questions about that security. A source involved with the mayor's operations at the time tells CBS 2 HD that Nathan took flagrant advantage of that police car and driver.The source says Nathan forced police to chauffeur her friends and family around the city -- even when she wasn't in the car.
That set off alarms with ethics watchdogs.
"The rules are clear, you can't use city resources for private reasons," said Gene Russianoff of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "And if you're using a city car, a police driven car to chauffeur around relatives, unless they're explicitly protected and their deemed to be the subject of potential security threats, it's just wrong."
Giuliani's Company Tied Country That Helped 9/11 Mastermind
Rudy's current clients, he's still taking a salary while he runs for president, are presenting real conflict of business issues and show how low he was willing to go to earn a buck. Newsweek reports that Giuliani is earning money from Qatar, who have in the past helped hide terrorists from law enforcement sources.
Some campaign-finance experts say Giuliani's current posture—maintaining a major interest in a privately held international firm while seeking the presidency—is potentially unprecedented. "I can't think of another situation like this," says Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in campaign finance and ethical issues (and who is not affiliated with a campaign).So far, most attention has swirled around the Qatar contract. Although the country is now viewed by the White House as a strong ally in the War on Terror, that was not always the case. In 1996, FBI agents tried to arrest a top terror suspect, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (later mastermind of the 9/11 attacks) who at the time was being employed by the Qatari Water Department. But the bureau's plans fell apart when he suddenly fled; FBI agents were convinced that a member of the royal family tipped him off. The contract between Giuliani Security, a division of Giuliani Partners, and Qatar "is a huge conflict of interest," says Bob Baer, a former CIA officer who tracked Mohammed. "He is metaphorically taking money from the same accounts that paid KSM." Giuliani Security officials involved in the Qatari business say the minister suspected of protecting Mohammed no longer has an active role in running the country.
CREW: More Than 10 Million Missing Emails
That's double the original estimate of 5 million missing emails from the Executive Office of the President between March 2003 and October 2005. These emails are unrelated to the RNC emails that also disappeared from their server, which were used by members of the Bush administration.
As I wrote a month ago: "Nobody quite knows what's in these emails. The first hint that something was up occurred when Patrick Fitzgerald, who led the case against Scooter Libby, warned that while he had no evidence that emails related to the case had been destroyed, he could not be sure due to some emails not being preserved."
Raw Story has more:
Last month, the pair scored a legal victory in convincing a judge to order the White House to retain backup tapes that contain archived copies of the deleted e-mails. The Temporary Restraining Order required the Executive Office of the President to maintain copies of all the backup tapes it has, although CREW lawyers cannot say how many of the missing e-mails have been preserved for future historians."I have a sinking fear that the backups we want have been overwritten. Millions of e-mails, gone. Obviously, if they're already destroyed ..." she told the Web site, trailing off.
Ten. Million. Emails.
Waxman: White House Blocking Fitzgerald Cooperation
Two years ago, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald famously described obstruction of justice (which Scooter Libby was found guilty) of being like throwing sand in the umpire's eyes: "[The umpire's] trying to figure what happened and somebody blocked their view."
At that press conference, he also spoke about "the need to get to the bottom of what happened and whether national security was compromised by inadvertence, by recklessness, by maliciousness is extremely important."
It's why Congress isn't giving up on finding out what happened. Yet a new letter from Rep. Waxman states the White House is preventing Fitzgerald from handing over "key documents" to Waxman's committee.
We've seen a lot of stonewalling from this administration, but this time it's particularly troubling given that a former White House staffer was already found guilty of lying and obstructing a different investigation into this very issue.
Rigging the Vote
Some Romney supporters were caught red-handed stuffing the ballot box in a Tampa Bay, FL straw poll. Here's the video evidence:
How much vote-stuffing was done to allow for Romney to claim victory against fringe-candidate Ron Paul? The Saint Petersburg Times reports there were an estimated 1,000 or so guests -- and there were about 1,500 votes.
Monday Open Thread
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December 2, 2007
Sunday Open Thread
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December 1, 2007
From the Archives
Saturday Open Thread
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