He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. -- Billy Shakes
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Schmidt Media Strategist - Former Blade Reporter and Good Buddy of Noe
Shocking.
Wenzel, a longtime GOP campaign worker in Oregon, spent 10 years on the Blade politics beat before returning to the world of political consulting in May, virtually the day after he left the paper. One of the key contacts he made along the way was the man now at the center of the Coingate accusations, Tom Noe, a major Republican fund-raiser who attended the wedding of Wenzel's son, P.J., a state GOP employee. Noe's wife, Bernadette, even praised Wenzel during a GOP Lincoln Day Dinner this spring. "It was obvious that [Wenzel] was a Republican, he never hid the fact," Dennis Lang, interim chair of the Lucas County Republican Central Committee, told me last month. "But his work stayed in neutral ground."
Not according to the Lucas County Democratic Party, which devoted a page on its Web site to blasting Wenzel for alleged inaccuracy and bias. Suspicions about partisan leanings were further fueled when Wenzel signed on as media strategist for Jean Schmidt, the GOP nominee for an open Cincinnati-area congressional seat that voters will fill in a special August election (she won a primary on June 14). Disclosure records show Wenzel received $30,000 from Schmidt's campaign on May 16, the day his last column for the paper appeared, and three days after he left the Blade. He got another $30,000 from those coffers a week later, according to records. Part of the money went to media buys.
Wenzel's career change also renewed rumors, so far unsubstantiated, that his ties to Noe and the GOP may help explain why he not only failed to uncover Coingate but also a related Noe scandal involving alleged illegal funneling of contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign. Several Blade editors told me they'd heard rumors that Wenzel learned as early as January 2004 about a federal investigation into Noe's alleged illegal donations, none of which emerged in the press until this past spring.
Toledo Blade
Is this the only newspaper left in the country that does serious in-depth investigative reporting?
Senator Too Stupid to Breathe
Brownback on Face the Nation:
This will be one of, I believe, the first time we've ever used taxpayer money to pay for the intentional destruction of human life and that's what this does.
Iraq Fatigue
The headquarters building in Kismaayo port had a satellite connection, and in the poor-excuse for a dayroom the support staff had set up a TV that was kept on CNN all day. Of course, they watched it. And what they saw was not what they expected: What they say wasn't them.
At first, there had been a lot of updates from Mogadishu, especially after the fiasco of the Marines and Navy SEALs being met on the beach by the press corps that first night of the invasion -- they had watched that from their hotel room in Kenya. But now, prety much nothing. The occasional political report on Somalia from an on-camera journalist who more often than not wasn't actually filing the report from Somalia, and the occasional feel-good film clip showing a minor celebrity on a USO tour visiting the troops. No mention of Belgian casualties, no mention of American casualties, certainly no mention of Somali casualties. The biggest report they saw was when some dumb fuck of a Marine in Baidoa had killed himself -- suicide. That had kept CNN's interest for a whole forty-eight hours.
"Do you suppose it's possibly no one knows we're here?" Trevor asked one night, crossing the quay wall toward the boat. "What's my mom gonna say when they come to tell her I'm dead? `Who? Killed where?'"
The smaller and smaller Somalia became on CNN, the weirder and weirder life got in-country. That's how it felt to Jones, anyway.
The week after the Belgian squad was slaughtered in their own truck, the night Jones and the LCM-8593 had arrived in Kismaayo, CNN had reported a "minor skirmish" in a "southern Somali city" involving "U.N." troops. They did report three Somalis were shot in the port by the Belgians, but not that they had been executed at point-blank range, without a trial. No one know, because no one asked.
--From Christian Bauman's The Ice Beneath You
Major Bob Bateman, in Iraq:
From BOB BATEMAN: Just heard about this whole Natalie Holloway thing. Apparently there are some benefits to being deployed in a theater of war. I am disappointed. I thought I'd noticed all of you making solemn vows here, over the years, "No more." No more pre-teen beauty queens, no more missing white women, no more one-person crimes elevated to a national issue.
There is a Supreme Court seat in play, a UN nomination in stasis, death in the Sudan, death in London, and a few things occurring in Afghanistan and here, and our national news stations choose to run stories on the death of a privileged 18-year old? Here's an idea, if these stations are so short of news: Come here. Send an additional 5-15 reporters and cameramen. We have plenty of 18, 19, 20...25, 35, and 45 year-olds dying every day or three. Pick some. Tell their stories to America. Learn who they were before they came here. Follow up on the latest developments in their units. See how their buddies are doing. Interview (when they are ready, if they ever are ready) their parents, spouses, children. Find out who killed them. (Was it Sunni extremists, former Ba'ath party leaders, common criminals, Syrian provocateurs, jihadists...) Help America understand that we are, no kidding, at war.
And try to do it without Geraldo this time, ok? Please? From Iraq, Bob Bateman.
CNN's Reliable Sources:
Are Media Suffering From Iraqi Fatigue?; Television's Missing Women Fixation
...
Kurtz: The endless war, with casualties in Iraq day after day, are the American media growing tired of the story? Is there any way for journalists to measure progress there? And do critics of the war draw attention only when they're celebrities like Jane Fonda?
Plus, television's missing women fixation. Is it really about missing white women, preferably attractive and middle-class?
...
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, clearly it is very difficult. I mean, I'm sure there is a reader fatigue out there among the public, and editors, I think, are alive to that, and experience a certain fatigue themselves. So the days of the Iraq story getting a run for its own sake are definitely over. Now, it is much more of an even playing field, where an Iraq story has to compete with everything else. So really, it has got to stand on its own merits.
Siren's Up
Bob promises big news at 1...
Holy crap! I'm just shocked, shocked, to discover that Jean Schmidt is lying to the voters in Ohio. Just this morning, just TWO DAYS before the election, Schmidt stared into the camera and claimed she didn't know Tom Noe know, that she'd never met Tom Noe, and that she'd never before heard of Tom Noe.
Oops. I guess those statements are, as they say, no longer operative.
Remember, it's not the really really creepy personality, it's the lying.
Holy crap! I'm just shocked, shocked, to discover that Jean Schmidt is lying to the voters in Ohio. Just this morning, just TWO DAYS before the election, Schmidt stared into the camera and claimed she didn't know Tom Noe know, that she'd never met Tom Noe, and that she'd never before heard of Tom Noe.
Oops. I guess those statements are, as they say, no longer operative.
Remember, it's not the really really creepy personality, it's the lying.
Community vs. Village
Can anyone tell me what the difference between a community and a village is? I realize they're both metaphors, but don't understand how they actually differ?
(what the hell did he mean by "dissembling those institutions?")
SANTORUM: Oh, just, you know, pass in the hallway, you know, she made a comment to me about that it takes a village, and I responded, no, it really does take a family.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So no serious debate?
SANTORUM: No serious debate. I’d love to have a serious debate.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You may have drawn her out now, calling her a radical feminist.
SANTORUM: I’d love to have a serious debate. If she’d like to have a serious debate about her view of how society should be ordered and structured — I believe her view is one that says government and top-down. I believe my view is the view that’s held by most Americans, which means we need strong families and strong communities, and we don’t need government really dissembling those institutions, which I think her view of the world does.
(what the hell did he mean by "dissembling those institutions?")
Santorum Freakout?
Sounds like it...
WOOF!
...partial transcript:
...full transcript here.
WOOF!
...partial transcript:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's get specific here, name one or two of these radical feminists who are on this crusade.
SANTORUM: Well, I mean, uh, you know, you have, you go, you go back to, um, ah, what's her name, well, Gloria Steinem, but I'm trying to remember, ah, [tsk], eh, can't remember the woman's name. That's terribleanyway...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, that's kind of an important point. You point this broad brush ... radical feminists, village elders ... name one.
SANTORUM: (talking over Stephanopoulos) There's lots of, there's lots of, well, Gloria Steinem, there's one.
...full transcript here.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
BoBo's World
Denton County, TX edition:
A Denton County constable drove to a Colorado restaurant on Thursday and called a woman he met through the Internet to let her know he had arrived, according to court papers.
Instead of Marsha showing up with her 8-year-old daughter for a sexual encounter, he met her colleagues – Cañon City, Colo., police officers.
Larry Dale Floyd, a 62-year-old constable from The Colony, was arrested on suspicion of soliciting to have sex with a child and was charged with seven related crimes, Cañon City police said.
...
Mr. Floyd has been a Denton County constable since 1993. A Republican, Mr. Floyd was unopposed in his most recent re-election in November.
ACS Convention
The America Constitution Society convention is currently happening. You can read about the various happenings and watch some speeches at their blog.
The Mob
The media still reacts very weirdly to the whole Jeff Gannon story, and I think this latest ridiculous comparison offers a bit more understanding of why they do. In the latest, a Korean woman refused to clean up her dog's poop on the subway. Those who subsequenty transformed her into a notorious "internet celebrity" are compared to the "mob" who in the Gannon case "went further, reporting and speculating on aspects of Gannon's private life."
There'a a tremendous difference between Jeff Gannon and dog poop girl. Jeff Gannon appeared in daily White House televised press conferences and appeared at and even asked a question at a presidential press conference. Dog pop girl was... nobody. In other words, dog poop girl was truly a private person who suddenly found herself thrust rather unfortunately into the public sphere in a way which was disproportionate to her offense.
Jeff Gannon - public figure. Dog poop girl - private figure. Members of the media hate the idea that they themselves could be considered to be "public figures." They want the luxury and benefits of being on television every day without any loss of privacy. They don't want to be "fair game" for the press, and an informal agreement tends to make it so. They want to be immune to the kind of scrutiny they give to others.
It was and is a legitimate story about how a security-obsessed White House let a cock-headed manwhore who essentially came from nowhere got daily press passes for over a year. By attempting to hide his identity while putting himself into the public sphere Jeff Gannon raised legitimate questions about his background and that identity. The fact that the answers to those questions turned out to be that he lied about his past military service and had spend recent years being a $200/hr manwhore were not the fault of the questioners.
I try to respect the distinction between private and public figures as I think that distinction is important. I find it a shame when people suddenly find themselves being "internet celebrities" for whatever reason - sometimes the internet "mob" does inappropriately take someone out of the private sphere and put them in the public one. But Jeff Gannon, white house correspondent, was a public figure, not a private one.
There'a a tremendous difference between Jeff Gannon and dog poop girl. Jeff Gannon appeared in daily White House televised press conferences and appeared at and even asked a question at a presidential press conference. Dog pop girl was... nobody. In other words, dog poop girl was truly a private person who suddenly found herself thrust rather unfortunately into the public sphere in a way which was disproportionate to her offense.
Jeff Gannon - public figure. Dog poop girl - private figure. Members of the media hate the idea that they themselves could be considered to be "public figures." They want the luxury and benefits of being on television every day without any loss of privacy. They don't want to be "fair game" for the press, and an informal agreement tends to make it so. They want to be immune to the kind of scrutiny they give to others.
It was and is a legitimate story about how a security-obsessed White House let a cock-headed manwhore who essentially came from nowhere got daily press passes for over a year. By attempting to hide his identity while putting himself into the public sphere Jeff Gannon raised legitimate questions about his background and that identity. The fact that the answers to those questions turned out to be that he lied about his past military service and had spend recent years being a $200/hr manwhore were not the fault of the questioners.
I try to respect the distinction between private and public figures as I think that distinction is important. I find it a shame when people suddenly find themselves being "internet celebrities" for whatever reason - sometimes the internet "mob" does inappropriately take someone out of the private sphere and put them in the public one. But Jeff Gannon, white house correspondent, was a public figure, not a private one.
Ohio Culture of Corruption
Oops:
Doesn't take much to buy a Republican state rep.
Jean Schmidt, a former Republican state representative from the Cincinnati area, also appealed to the governor's office on behalf of a Web-based lottery. Ms. Schmidt is currently running for Congress against Paul Hackett, a Democrat who served in the Iraq War.
The race has attracted national attention.
In a November, 2001, e-mail, Jon Allison, a staff member for Governor Taft, complained that Ms. Schmidt "continues to bug me on Internet lottery."
One year later, her state representative re-election campaign garnered a $1,000 donation from Mr. Ach.
Ms. Schmidt said through a spokesman that she does not remember any conversations with the governor's office about an online lottery, although she does remember that this was a significant issue at the time.
"The documents indicate that she is lobbying the governor on behalf of Roger Ach," said her opponent, Mr. Hackett. "After doing their bidding, she takes a $1,000 donation. That is the culture of corruption - documented."
Doesn't take much to buy a Republican state rep.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Bad President, Unpopular Guy
Okay, now can we stop saying that people like the guy?
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll finds a decline in George W. Bush's job approval rating. After standing at 49% approval in the prior two CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls conducted this month, now just 44% of Americans say they approve of Bush, a new low mark for the president. The poll also shows a drop in Bush's favorable rating to 48%, which is the first time it has dropped below 50% since Gallup began tracking this opinion in 1999. Four in 10 Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, which is essentially unchanged from early July. The poll shows continued positive momentum for the Democratic Party in terms of national party identification and ratings of the two major political parties, both of which were evident before the drop in Bush approval occurred.
The July 25-28 Gallup Poll finds 44% of Americans approving and 51% disapproving of the job Bush is doing as president. Bush's prior low approval rating was 45%, which occurred once in March and once again in June of this year.
Iraq'd
I guess there's literally no outcome in Iraq which would make the current crop of Iraq war proponents rethink their position.
The New Media Rules
It looks like Republicans have learned a new trick in the media. If you give exclusive stories to journalists with the condition that no Democrats are to be allowed to comment on the story, journalists think that's a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Not only that, but they won't even bother to do any additional research for the story.
We recently had the Washington Post doing this, with the journalists not "allowed" to contact anyone else about the story until after it would be too late for the morning paper. And now we have Roll Call doing the same.
We recently had the Washington Post doing this, with the journalists not "allowed" to contact anyone else about the story until after it would be too late for the morning paper. And now we have Roll Call doing the same.
It's Over
Schmidt has received the most important endorsement in the country - that of General J.C. Christian, Patriot.
How Easy it Is
Paul Hackett may not win the race on Tuesday. Let's face it, this is an incredibly uphill battle. But, in the past week we've managed to alter the dynamics of the race, get national media attention for the candidate and if he wishes turned him into a rising political star, gotten the NRCC to spend a lot of money to "bury him," and perhaps altered the momentum in the Ohio political landscape.
There will be a lot of talk about all the money raised online, as there should be. But, let's put this in perspective. Only 6144 people have donated through Hackett's Act Blue site. An additional 486 have donated through the Eschaton community site. That's a relatively tiny percentage of what I imagine constitutes DFA's email list (which sent out the Hackett site) and what I guess is in the neighorhood of 1% of my daily unique pairs of eyeballs.
I don't write this to criticize people who haven't donated, or to lament the fact that it's "only" 486. I just write it to point out that in the scheme of things it really is a fairly small number of people who have made a difference. Just something to think about.
There will be a lot of talk about all the money raised online, as there should be. But, let's put this in perspective. Only 6144 people have donated through Hackett's Act Blue site. An additional 486 have donated through the Eschaton community site. That's a relatively tiny percentage of what I imagine constitutes DFA's email list (which sent out the Hackett site) and what I guess is in the neighorhood of 1% of my daily unique pairs of eyeballs.
I don't write this to criticize people who haven't donated, or to lament the fact that it's "only" 486. I just write it to point out that in the scheme of things it really is a fairly small number of people who have made a difference. Just something to think about.
Newsweek: White House Propaganda Arm
Maybe we should convene a panel on blogger ethics or consider cracking down on the "stealth magazine" loophole in campaign finance law.
Judy Judy Judy
Maybe the Project for Excellence in Journalism or some other respectable outfit can answer the question: is this how a journalist is supposed to behave? Short excerpt here, but go read Arianna's good overview of the bizarre world of Judith Miller:
For starters, of course, we have her still unfolding involvement in the Plame leak. Earlier this month, Howard Kurtz reported that Miller and Libby spoke a few days before Novak outed Plame -- and I’m hearing that the Libby/Miller conversation occurred over breakfast in Washington. Did Valerie Plame come up -- and, if so, who brought her up? There is no question that Miller was angry at Joe Wilson… and continues to be. A social acquaintance of Miller told me that, once, when she spoke of Wilson, it was with “a passionate and heated disgust that went beyond the political and included an irrelevant bit of deeply personal innuendo about him, her mouth twisting in hatred.”
OH-02
Turn on your answering machines. Record any attack robocalls you get about Hackett. These under the radar smear campaigns are almost impossible to document unless someone manages to record them.
Don't Like George Bush? The Republicans will "bury" you
Paul Hackett says he'd put his life on the line for Bush. In response, the NRCC "decided to bury him."
What prompted the committee's entry into the Schmidt-Hackett race was a comment made by Hackett in a USA Today article published Thursday. Hackett, talking about his service as a marine in Iraq, is quoted as saying, "I've said I don't like the son-of-a-b--- that lives in the White House. But I'd put my life on the line for him."
Because Hackett said that, Forti said, "we decided to bury him."
Memories of Schmidt
Acquaintance mahablog disputes some of Schmidt's hagiography.
If Schmidt is a farm girl I'm Lance Armstrong. I know exactly where the "farm" is, because my home was on the edge of it, and when I lived there 25 years ago it hadn't been farmed in a great many years. As I remember, Gus never farmed it (somebody should confirm that), but bought the land up cheap and, bit by bit, turned it into a subdivision. And from googling I found that Jean is still living in the same house (on Wards Corner Road, in Loveland), which then was a subdivision, not a farm, and I rather doubt it reverted back to farm status in the years since.
...
I remember at one point the other twin, Jennifer, went on a crusade to stop a property tax increase that would have benefited the local public schools. The school buildings were shabby, and news stories claimed the kids were using 20-year-old textbooks. Both twins believed that public schools were inherently bad, and since anybody who was anybody sent their kids to Catholic schools they didn't see any point in funding them. Property taxes were remarkably low, and the increase would have been less than $200 a year average per household, but Jennifer was on a rampage that she would be ruined if she had to pay that tax.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Touchy
Schmidt's campaign manager now threatening to sue bloggers. Someone's sensitive.
On a related note, I'll be on the Majority Report tonight around 9:20 and Paul Hackett should be joining us.
...never mind - just me, no Hackett.
On a related note, I'll be on the Majority Report tonight around 9:20 and Paul Hackett should be joining us.
...never mind - just me, no Hackett.
Bobo's World
North Carolina edition:
GREENVILLE (AP) — A Baptist pastor has been accused of sexual exploitation and peeping after investigators found videotapes showing at least 10 women and girls at his church undressing and using the bathroom, a Pitt County sheriff's investigator said Wednesday.
Leon E. Harris, 54, is charged with six felony counts of secretly peeping and four felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was released Wednesday after posting bond of $30,000, said Lee Moore, Pitt County chief of investigations.
As a condition of his release, Harris cannot go on the premises of Rose Hill Free Will Baptist Church or have any contact with the people he allegedly videotaped, a court record stated.
Wankers of the Day
The whiny babies at the RNC, who want people to believe that when Bush said "there's no higher calling than service" what he meant to add was "except when Democrats serve and then they're traitors unfit to serve in Congress."
The Tremendous Agony
Of monkeys flying out of my butt as I realize I actually agree with Tim Graham about something. Romenesko:
I'm more annoyed by Tom Rosenstiel's kvetching to Mark Jurkowitz about ideological media critics. "Frankly, [for] reporters who cover the news business, it makes our lives more complicated." What he's really trying to say is what Pat Mitchell of PBS has tried to say: liberal critics who say reporters are tools of the right are no better than conservative critics who say reporters are tools of the left. Both ruin attempts to view the news business as a lofty Mount Olympus of nonpartisanship and the public good. Both drain away the perceived authority of the news business in the public mind. But why should the media elite be the only powerful sector of society that goes uncriticized for their political actions? I can't imagine Rosenstiel complaining about how reporters make the lives of elected officials more "complicated."
Schmidt: Contempt for Those Who Serve
This is pretty stunning. You can watch the Hackett segment on Countdown here. What amazed me was what his opponent, Schmidt, said regarding his time in Iraq:
People who serve are nothing compared to those who stay at home. The Chickenhawk Squawk.
NOVOTNY: His opponent, Republican frontrunner Jean Schmidt, a former state representative who is not convinced that time served in battle can compare to experience at home.
JEAN SCHMIDT, OHIO REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Everything’s local. Of course, it’s more important here. The issues that the people have are more important to those individuals than anything outside of that region.
People who serve are nothing compared to those who stay at home. The Chickenhawk Squawk.
Call me a Gore Man
I thought it was probably necessary for Gore to skip '04, but I certainly wouldn't be upset if he threw his hat in for '08.
Attack of the Chickenhawks
C&L has the video of MSNBC's promo for tonight's Hardball. It's tempting to write it off as just some really stupid promo copy without some deeper meaning, but I really think it reflects some deeper pathology. Boomers like Matthews (59 years old, who knew) who didn't go to Vietnam and today's 101st Fighting Keyboarders seem to really have contempt for those who served.
New Medals
I thought this bit in Blumenthal's latest was interesting:
Next week on Hardball! Will Candidate Smith's Global War on Terror Medals hurt his candidacy now that we're now fighting the Gloabl Struggle Against Violent Extremists?
Since Bush's speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., on June 28, for which the White House asked for and received national television coverage, and in which Bush reaffirmed "fighting the global war on terrorism," mentioned "terror" or "terrorism" 23 more times, and compared this "global war on terrorism" with the Civil War and World War II, his administration has simply dropped the words that more than any others Bush has identified as the reason for his presidency.
Throughout July, administration officials have substituted new words for the old. Instead of trumpeting the "global war on terrorism," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have sounded the call to "a global struggle against violent extremism." Medals have been awarded to brave U.S. soldiers stamped "Global War on Terror." Will new medals now be minted? [emphasis added]
Myers' change in language involves considerable historical and policy revisionism. He had gone along with Rumsfeld in policies opposed by senior military figures such as former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who was publicly derided by then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz for worrying about invading Iraq with a light force. But now Myers presents himself as a secret dissident. In a speech before the National Press Club on Monday, he claimed he "objected to the use of the term 'war on terrorism' before, because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform as being the solution."
Next week on Hardball! Will Candidate Smith's Global War on Terror Medals hurt his candidacy now that we're now fighting the Gloabl Struggle Against Violent Extremists?
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2003 -- President Bush has issued an executive order establishing two military awards for actions in the global war on terrorism.
The president signed the order March 12 establishing the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
A White House spokesman said the medals recognize the "sacrifices and contributions" military members make in the global war on terror.
Project for Stupidity in Journalism
The Boston Phoenix has a piece on Media Matters which is ok but it includes this quote:
In other words, I can't be bothered to actually see whether Media Matters is good so I'll just dismiss it based on its ideology. Of course, what this ignores is that a massive proportion of our media now is "based in ideology" and is largely ignored by the "serious" media critics who probably use the same excuse. For example, let's check out Project for Excellence 2005 State of the News Media report, focusing on the content analysis portion of the Radio section. They discuss NPR, Howard Stern, Sirius, XM, Air America, and MPR. Um, anything missing guys?
The "respectable" insider institutional journalism watchdogs dutifully ignored the rise of the conservative media for years, and now it effectively controls the rest of the media. For a variety of reasons the conservative media has the power to set the agenda and control the content. As Ann Coulter said, "we have the media now." And they still ignore it, not wishing to waste their beautiful minds on it.
(yes I'm affiliated with media matters, and no nothing on this blog reflects their views).
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Washington, DC–based Project for Excellence in Journalism, says, "I don’t have a lot of patience for any media criticism that is based in ideology. Frankly, [for] reporters who cover the news business, it makes our lives more complicated."
In other words, I can't be bothered to actually see whether Media Matters is good so I'll just dismiss it based on its ideology. Of course, what this ignores is that a massive proportion of our media now is "based in ideology" and is largely ignored by the "serious" media critics who probably use the same excuse. For example, let's check out Project for Excellence 2005 State of the News Media report, focusing on the content analysis portion of the Radio section. They discuss NPR, Howard Stern, Sirius, XM, Air America, and MPR. Um, anything missing guys?
The "respectable" insider institutional journalism watchdogs dutifully ignored the rise of the conservative media for years, and now it effectively controls the rest of the media. For a variety of reasons the conservative media has the power to set the agenda and control the content. As Ann Coulter said, "we have the media now." And they still ignore it, not wishing to waste their beautiful minds on it.
(yes I'm affiliated with media matters, and no nothing on this blog reflects their views).
Latest Hackett News
From Tim Tagaris:
...here's the actblue link, for those who requested it.
The NRCC conducted a poll earlier this week (there is another poll in the field, but no idea by who), that showed the poor numbers. The numbers were leaked by a Republican who is part of a group that doesn't see eye to eye with Schmidt on certain issues.
In response, the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee has just dumped $285,000 into an astounding 1800+ point ad buy that will start running Friday through Tuesday. This is public record.
Now Jean Schmidt is scurrying to round up to volunteers from her primary opposition in a last ditch effort to counter Paul Hackett's overwhelming advantage on-the-ground. To the shock of the GOP, Hackett is also going toe-to-toe on television as well in terms of dollars. The free press because of Paul's service has been huge as well. I overheard the campaign manager (I believe) of Schmidt's campaign say to a Hackett staffer, "I have no idea how the hell you guys are raising this much money." They are worried.
I don't know what to say, other than this is a grassroots takeover. Whatever Paul Hackett accomplishes in this race will be because of us. The work done on the blogs, the volunteer and fundraising support of DFA, and Howard Dean's pledge to fight it out in all 50 states; if MoveOn were to jump in, the future of the Democratic Party will be completely represented in overcoming the most insurmountable of odds. When the ballots were cast on November 2nd, this is the moment we all looked towards. When Howard Dean was elected DNC Chair, this was the moment we all looked towards. In the first federal election since the fiasco in 2004, the grassroots of the party banding together, taking on the most dauting of tasks, and winning. Who would have thought we had such an opportunity, so soon.
While Jean Schmidt and her allies run a slash-and-burn campaign, attempting to "Swift Boat" Paul Hackett, the message is simple, if we can win here, we can win anywhere.
...here's the actblue link, for those who requested it.
Iraq
Herbert has an excellent read in the Times today. But, let me add in the political dimension. I wonder if Democrats realize that Iraq will be the central issue in both the '06 an '08 elections? I don't think they do. sad.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
DeLay
Apparently he's decided to ignore House procedures entirely to write his cronies a $1.5 billion check.
Spanking George Gilder
Oh this is funny. If you some free time, make sure click the original post and read through all of the comments. The Gilded one himself makes an appearance...
For more Gilder, here's an old Wired article.
For more Gilder, here's an old Wired article.
The Face of the Modern Republican Party
The swiftboating of Paul Hackett continues. This is the gratitude he gets for fighting their war, and this is the contempt they have for those who do.
Meanwhile, Crooks and Liars gives us a peek into the weird world of Hackett's opponent, Schmidt.
THE BALL IS GOING TO ATTACK!
The good news is that Hackett pulled in $55K in the last 24 hours...
Ridiculous New York Times Anonymous Sources of the Day
This is actually a couple of days old, but it seems that there's nothing, absolutely nothing, which can lead to reporters burn their lying and maniuplative sources.
"we're not at war here"
I've read this quote in this article about Paul Hackett a bunch of times and I still can't figure out what the hell it means. We're not at war? whuuh?
But Ms. Schmidt is a proven battler, having bested several better-known candidates, including Pat DeWine, the son of Senator Mike DeWine, in the primary. She contends that although voters respect Mr. Hackett's military service, it will not be the deciding factor.
At the Warren County fair, where Ms. Schmidt bought a 230-pound pig from a 9-year-old girl and watched a demolition derby, Charles Hartman, a Democrat turned Republican, agreed.
"It's a positive thing for him," Mr. Hartman, a substance-abuse specialist with a nonprofit group, said after meeting Ms. Schmidt. "But we're not at war here."
Philadelphia Really Needs Actual Celebrities
And I was drinking fine Yuengling lager, not cocktails.
Through the Looking Glass
!?!?!?!?!?
...photos here.
JESSICA SIMPSON wants to know where missing footage of her and husband NICK LACHEY's harrowing trip to Iraq got to - because she thinks Americans would like to see just how bad conditions are there.
The pop singers-turned-reality TV couple travelled to the war-torn nation to visit US troops as part of a recent ABC TV variety special, and they were both left shellshocked by what they saw.
But all the controversial moments and harrowing footage of the trip didn't appear in the fun-filled TV show.
Simpson says, "It was unbelievable. They didn't show a lot of what really went on with the enemy attacks and the shelling. There was so much stuff that went on and somehow the tapes got mysteriously misplaced.
"It put everything in perspective for me. It really did teach me the definition of sacrifice. I can't even fathom being out there right now. I was ready to come home."
...photos here.
Judge Roberts, What is Your Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream?
From what I can tell, that's the only question left which the Republicans think is appropriate for Democrats to ask in his confirmation hearing. It's apparently unfair or obstructionist or illegal or something to know anything relevant about a guy who's about to be appointed to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court.
It's weird, really, that the Right wants to nominate people to the Supreme Court whose opinions are as unknown as possible and then make it impossible to know them. They've turned Roberts into Schrodinger's cat, locked him in the box, and then argued if we take a peek inside we might find out that he's a dangerous wingnut and the nomination would be killed. Better, then, to leave Roberts in a state of quantum wingnut indeterminacy, a superposition of wingnut and non-wingnut.
It's weird, really, that the Right wants to nominate people to the Supreme Court whose opinions are as unknown as possible and then make it impossible to know them. They've turned Roberts into Schrodinger's cat, locked him in the box, and then argued if we take a peek inside we might find out that he's a dangerous wingnut and the nomination would be killed. Better, then, to leave Roberts in a state of quantum wingnut indeterminacy, a superposition of wingnut and non-wingnut.
Roberts - More Wingnutty Than Ted Olson
Wow.
Equal treatment for male and female prisoners? Sacrilege!
Minorities? Unqualified!
Lie to a widow! It's the Christian thing to do!
Equal treatment for male and female prisoners? Sacrilege!
"I recommend that you do not approve intervention in this case," Roberts wrote. He said that such a step would be inconsistent with the administration's belief in judicial restraint and that, if equal treatment for male and female prisoners was required, "the end result in this time of state prison budgets may be no programs for anyone."
Minorities? Unqualified!
In 1981, outgoing U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Arthur Flemming wrote a report lauding the accomplishments of affirmative action. That document landed on Roberts's desk for a critique. He derided what he called the "perfectly circular" arguments in favor of affirmative action, as well as Flemming's contention that any affirmative action failures are caused not by inherent flaws but instead by sabotage.
"There is no recognition of the obvious reason for failure: the affirmative action program required the recruiting of inadequately prepared candidates," Roberts wrote...
Lie to a widow! It's the Christian thing to do!
In September 1982, Roberts played the role of diplomatic coach, advising Smith on how to handle an upcoming meeting with Coretta Scott King, the widow of the slain civil rights leader. The Carter administration's Justice Department had supplied a $250,000 grant to the Atlanta-based King Center for Non-violent Social Change, to teach conflict resolution in the hopes of reducing violent crime.
The grant, approved in 1980, had run out and the Reagan administration planned not to renew it. Roberts, in a Sept. 16, 1982, memo, called the program "very poorly run" and said that it had only received funding because of "political ties" between King and Homer Broome Jr., a black Justice Department official. But rather than share those concerns bluntly with King, Roberts advised, Smith should instead tell her "there is simply no money available for additional funding," and "indicate support for the activities of the King Center, and even pleasure that the Justice Department was able to be of assistance in advancing" its goals.
Woof
From the Roots offers some suggestions for a personalized little Ricky signature.
Remember, you can get your book signed by little Ricky today if you're in DC!
12:30 at Trover Shop bookstore
221 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Wedneasday the 27th
Remember, you can get your book signed by little Ricky today if you're in DC!
12:30 at Trover Shop bookstore
221 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Wedneasday the 27th
Positive Agenda
Let's take stock of the latest publication of the DLC, edited by Peter Ross "always wrong" Range.
Al and Bruce tell Democrats to adopt the Republican platform.
Will Marshall tells Democrats to stop hating America.
Marshall and Magee tell us that poor kids should only get college aid if they go get their asses shot off in Iraq first.
Michele Stockwell says advertising needs to be more heavily regulated.
Jan Mazurek tells us that we must abandon "environmental extremism" and, if we do, conservative Christians will save the environment.
There are a couple more, but I'm bored...
Al and Bruce tell Democrats to adopt the Republican platform.
Will Marshall tells Democrats to stop hating America.
Marshall and Magee tell us that poor kids should only get college aid if they go get their asses shot off in Iraq first.
Michele Stockwell says advertising needs to be more heavily regulated.
Jan Mazurek tells us that we must abandon "environmental extremism" and, if we do, conservative Christians will save the environment.
There are a couple more, but I'm bored...
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Please, Mr. Republican, Be Nice!
It's late or I'd go into a bit more detail. But it's clear there are still democrats, especially certain Senate democrats, who imagine that appeasement will spare them from the right wing shit machine. Idiots.
Tools or suckers, you decide...
But for all the criticism directed at Mr. Bush and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill, some of the prospective presidential contenders warned that Democrats had to offer the public more than criticism of the Republican Party if they hoped to begin winning again.
"We can't afford to be anti-, against everything," Mr. Vilsack said. "America is waiting for us. They are desperate to know what we are for."
Republicans immediately fired back at the criticisms, mocking the council for reaching out to Mrs. Clinton, whom conservatives have long derided as a symbol of liberal excess.
"The fact that the centrist organization of the Democrat Party would anoint Hillary Clinton anything, exemplifies just how far left the Democrats have gone," said Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.
"There is nothing centrist about Senator Clinton's liberal record," Ms. Schmitt said in a statement.
Tools or suckers, you decide...
Wacky
Who knew bloggers were so important?
Makes it easier for journalists, I guess. They don't need to bother to call anyone anymore.
The most pointed critique of Clinton came in one of the most influential blogs on the left, Daily Kos out of Berkeley, Calif., which called Clinton's speech "truly disappointing" and said she should not provide cover for an organization that often has instigated conflict within the party.
"If she wanted to give a speech to a centrist organization truly interested in bringing the various factions of the party together, she could've worked with NDN," the blog said in a reference to the New Democrat Network, with which Daily Kos's Markos Moulitsas is associated. "Instead, she plans on working with the DLC to come up with some common party message yadda yadda yadda. Well, that effort is dead on arrival. The DLC is not a credible vehicle for such an effort. Period."
Other blogs noted that the day Clinton was calling for a truce, one DLC-sponsored blog was writing disparagingly of liberals. Marshall Wittman wrote from the DLC meeting in Columbus, "While someone from the daily kosy (misspelling intended) confines of Beserkely might utter ominous McCarthyite warnings about the 'enemy within,' here in Columbus constructive committed crusaders for progressivism are discussing ways to win back the hearts of the heartland."
Makes it easier for journalists, I guess. They don't need to bother to call anyone anymore.
Bobo's World
Nebraska edition:
LINCOLN, Neb. -- A 22-year-old man faces criminal charges in Nebraska for having sex with an underage 13-year-old girl, although he legally married her in Kansas after she became pregnant.
The man's lawyer said the couple, with their families' support, "made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem."
Matthew Koso, 22, was charged Monday with first-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He was released on $7,500 bail pending an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing.
After the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission in May for Koso to take the young woman to Kansas, which allows minors to get married with parental consent. The girl is now 14 and seven months pregnant.
"The idea ... is repugnant to me," said Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. "These people made the decision to send their ... 14-year-old daughter to Kansas to marry a pedophile."
Ollie Rove North
Susie provides an additional motive for Roberts' congressional hearings about Rove - an opportunity to provide immunity to all parties involved.
The Sentelle/Silberman precedent may return...
...short version, during Iran-Contra hearings Congress granted limited immunity to North and others. A 3 judge panel, including right wing hacks Sentelle and Silberman, determined that such limited immunity was enough to throw out North's felony convictions. Neiwert provides additional context.
The Sentelle/Silberman precedent may return...
...short version, during Iran-Contra hearings Congress granted limited immunity to North and others. A 3 judge panel, including right wing hacks Sentelle and Silberman, determined that such limited immunity was enough to throw out North's felony convictions. Neiwert provides additional context.
Ridiculous Washington Post Anonymous Sources of the Day
This is even worse than usual. The Post granted administration officials an embargo on the story which prevented them from having any Demcoratic response, while simultaneously allowing anonymous administration officials to spin the story. They went even farther by not even including recent quotes by Democrats which would've at least provided adequate response to the Republican spin.
Woof
DC folk - go to Santorum's book signing!
12:30 at Trover Shop bookstore
221 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Wednesday the 27th
12:30 at Trover Shop bookstore
221 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Wednesday the 27th
Open Thread
No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with a single thread. --Robert Burton
Liar
A majority of Americans believe the president of the United State deliberately miseld the country about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
You'd think such a fact would, just maybe, have an impact on the press. It might make them a bit curious. It might make the probe a bit deeper. They might be rather stunned that a majority of Americans came to this conclusion despite the fact that very rarely is this opinion actually expressed over the airwaves by any of the guardians of our political discourse.
You'd think such a fact would, just maybe, have an impact on the press. It might make them a bit curious. It might make the probe a bit deeper. They might be rather stunned that a majority of Americans came to this conclusion despite the fact that very rarely is this opinion actually expressed over the airwaves by any of the guardians of our political discourse.
This is a Horrible Idea
I mean, who the hell would want Bruce Reed and Al From showing up at their door?
"Stand With the President"
Hackett's opponent, the awful Schmidt, thinks the way to support the troops is to "stand with the president." I always associated that kind of thinking with certain military dictatorships I won't name. Hackett tells her to buzz off:
You can help here.
More info here, including news that the conservative Cincy Post has endorsed Hackett.
Schmidt commends Hackett for his service, but believes Hackett should "stand with the president" by "supporting the Iraqi war effort and our troops that are over there," her campaign manager Joe Braun said. (Through Braun, Schmidt declined to speak with Salon.) When asked to answer that charge, Hackett is blunt: "The only way I know how to support the troops is by going over there." He doesn't hesitate to criticize Schmidt's support of the war: "All the chicken hawks back here who said, 'Oh, Iraq is talking bad about us. They're going to threaten us' -- look, if you really believe that, you leave your wife and three kids and go sign up for the Army or Marines and go over there and fight. Otherwise, shut your mouth."
You can help here.
More info here, including news that the conservative Cincy Post has endorsed Hackett.
On DLC Wankery
Ezra:
[T]heir rhetorical devices... include 1) a lot of sniffing and despairing at all those hopelessly irresponsible liberals followed by a 2) high-minded promise to stroll into whatever trap the Republicans have set for them or 3) set one themselves if the right's been remiss.
Wanker of the Day
Eric Minamayer. Make sure to read through the comments.
Minamayer thinks he's justified in questioning Hackett's service because he was a Civil Affairs officer. You know, the guys who, like Hackett, have to go into Fallujah after we bomb the shit out of it and try to make nice with the local population. Surely not a dangerous or important job.
Minamayer writes:
Of course, here's what Minamayer said on his own website:
Minamayer in combat? Nope.
You know what to do.
Minamayer thinks he's justified in questioning Hackett's service because he was a Civil Affairs officer. You know, the guys who, like Hackett, have to go into Fallujah after we bomb the shit out of it and try to make nice with the local population. Surely not a dangerous or important job.
Minamayer writes:
Being a Civil Affairs Officer is a noble thing and carried the same dangers we all faced in the Middle East. If one’s role was not command or combat, however, one should not imply that it was.
Of course, here's what Minamayer said on his own website:
I fought the war on terrorism and now I will fight for you in Washington. At
least the liberals in Congress don’t have guns.
Minamayer in combat? Nope.
You know what to do.
Whiners
The DLC really are hilarious. Read this one.
Notice especially that they're trying to smear Markos not based on something he wrote, but simply because his "blog included" something - could've been a comment, an unpromoted diary, etc...
[edited]...ah, I found it. And, no, Markos didn't write it. It's funny how much they hate Markos with little reason - they have to reach to find quotes with which to try to smear him, and attribute things to him which he didn't even write. Hilarious.
If only we could hear such moral clarity from our own party's left! Instead, we heard from Daily Kos, the ur-liberal ur-blogger, whose blog included a cheer for, among others, outcast Labourite George Galloway, who blamed the attacks on Blair's Iraq policy -- and was roundly denounced by virtually all British politicians. "See, Democrats? That's how it's done," lectured the blogger ignorantly. Likewise, Matt Yglesias, an articulate liberal voice at The American Prospect, who belittled Marshall Wittmann's call for moral clarity as a phrase never used "unironically" anymore. No wonder Democrats are perceived to have a values problem.
Notice especially that they're trying to smear Markos not based on something he wrote, but simply because his "blog included" something - could've been a comment, an unpromoted diary, etc...
[edited]...ah, I found it. And, no, Markos didn't write it. It's funny how much they hate Markos with little reason - they have to reach to find quotes with which to try to smear him, and attribute things to him which he didn't even write. Hilarious.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Little Ricky
Did little Ricky just say on Aaron Brown what I thought he said? That Griswold was wrongly decided, and that therefore the state has the right to regulate the use of birth control by married couples?
If we had a decent press, the first question little Ricky would face at his next press availability would be - have you ever used any form of birth control of any kind?
If we had a decent press, the first question little Ricky would face at his next press availability would be - have you ever used any form of birth control of any kind?
DLC Loser Will Marshall
What Digby Says.
Though I'll add one thing... born in 1952, Marshall was of prime fighting age in 1970, though that little stint in Vietnam appears to be missing from his CV.
Never fear, though. Another round of enlistment eligibility age raising and he'll get another chance.
Though I'll add one thing... born in 1952, Marshall was of prime fighting age in 1970, though that little stint in Vietnam appears to be missing from his CV.
Never fear, though. Another round of enlistment eligibility age raising and he'll get another chance.
Dance PNAC Monkey Dance
PNAC Monkey Gary Schmitt today:
Note he's blaming Johnson for having a "pre-9/11 mindset" for something he wrote... pre-9/11.
What did Gary Schmitt write in November 2000?
(thanks to Cloudy who wants me to credit someone at the DU forum)
Well, it's good to see that the former CIA employee is now worried about the war on terror. But it's a bit late. On July 10, 2001--two months before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--Johnson wrote an op-ed for the New York Times ("The Declining Terrorist Threat") in which he argued that Americans were "bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism" and, in truth, had "little to fear" from terrorism. And, in turn, he rebuked his former colleagues in the national security bureaucracy for using the "fiction" of the terrorist threat to pump up their budgets.
Note he's blaming Johnson for having a "pre-9/11 mindset" for something he wrote... pre-9/11.
What did Gary Schmitt write in November 2000?
The reason is that, as horrific as terrorism can be, its human and material costs have a minimal impact on the American population. Oh, we loudly demand that the culprits be caught and justice meted out. But that indignation passes rapidly as the terrorists’ deeds fade and the terrorists themselves disappear into the shadows. And the dirty little secret is that governments are often happy that’s the case. If terrorism is state-sponsored, then governments are faced with a choice between waging war in return and ignoring an act of aggression, neither of which is without consequences.
...
Study of Revenge, then, is about an ongoing war. But this war by unconventional means is not recognized as such. Rather, as Mylroie points out, the conventional wisdom is that terrorism today is chiefly a product of transnational organizations, motivated by religious extremism, only loosely tied together and, more often than not, directed and funded by a single individual, Usama bin Laden. Witness our initial reaction to the attack on the USS Cole. Putting aside for the moment that even bin Laden depends on state sanctuary and state assistance to operate, isn’t it reasonable to ask what states had the most to gain from raising the price for our presence in the Gulf?
(thanks to Cloudy who wants me to credit someone at the DU forum)
On the Radio
Paul Hackett will be on the Majority Report at about 7:50 tonight.
The corrupt Ohio Republicans are starting to give him the Swift Boat treatment.
What they think of Vets:
You can help out here.
The corrupt Ohio Republicans are starting to give him the Swift Boat treatment.
What they think of Vets:
You can help out here.
Housing
Dean Baker discusses the potential housing bubble, and provides on clean fact I'd been wondering about (along with others):
It seems that price increases are slowing if not stopping in a lot of places, and that's without any uptick in mortgage rates.
Over 2 million housing units are being built annually, while the number of households is only growing by 1.4 million a year.
It seems that price increases are slowing if not stopping in a lot of places, and that's without any uptick in mortgage rates.
OH-02
Chris Bowers has a good update about the Hackett race. Short version - his opponent is almost broke while Hackett's got cash to spare.
This is an uphill battle - it is a Republican district - but clearly we're making them nervous. It's more proof of concept that the grassroots on the ground and the netroots can accomplish a lot. The sudden surprise injection of $150K or so in cash into a race like this is a big thing.
Something to keep in mind...
This is an uphill battle - it is a Republican district - but clearly we're making them nervous. It's more proof of concept that the grassroots on the ground and the netroots can accomplish a lot. The sudden surprise injection of $150K or so in cash into a race like this is a big thing.
Something to keep in mind...
Coingate
The neverending story.
Law firms reaped bounty in Noe case
$12,000 paid out from coin funds
By JOSHUA BOAK
BLADE STAFF WRITER
COLUMBUS - Law firms reaped thousands of dollars in fees from the state's $50 million rare coin investment with Tom Noe, raising questions about how the coin funds were managed and whether they served as Mr. Noe's personal account.
Facing criminal and civil action by state and federal authorities, Mr. Noe used money from the state coin funds he managed to pay more than $12,000 to law firms during 2004 and 2005, according to records released by the attorney general's office last week.
Attorney General Jim Petro said last week that Mr. Noe transferred nearly $4 million from the coin funds to private accounts, alleging that the money was spent on luxury vacation homes, automobiles, and boats.
As the state inspector general began to investigate the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's coin funds in April, Mr. Noe hired the same lawyer responsible for vetting the bureau's investments and paid him from the state coin fund's checking account.
"They used the injured workers' dollars to defend the state and Tom Noe," said state Rep. Chris Redfern (D., Catawba Island), the House minority leader. "And he probably filed briefs from houses bought with BWC money."
Hackett
8 days until the special election. TAP has some info:
[let me just add here that I don't think it's really appropriate to credit Dean either way for what the DCCC does. The DNC, DSCC, and DCCC are independent organizations.]
8 more days...
Now Hackett’s opponent, former state Representative Jean Schmidt, has been snared in a scandal of her own. On July 8, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Schmidt improperly failed to disclose that a biotech lobbyist treated her last fall to a lavish dinner and skybox seats at a Cincinnati Bengals game.
“We’ve got a real opportunity here,” Burke says. “Even if we lose, you at least are getting a great candidate out there talking the Democratic Party position on things like Iraq and Social Security and health care.”
The DCCC’s failure to support Hackett until late in the race raises questions about party Chairman Howard Dean’s promise to start competing in Republican strongholds. Will the Democrats start taking chances in red-state redoubts like the 2nd? Or will they remain a risk-averse party that falls ever further into minority status?
[let me just add here that I don't think it's really appropriate to credit Dean either way for what the DCCC does. The DNC, DSCC, and DCCC are independent organizations.]
“This race is a long shot,” admits Brewster Rhoads, a Cincinnati-based political consultant. “But the payoff is potentially huge. If Hackett does well, it shows that the Bush bandwagon is losing its wheels even on Republican turf.”
...
On economic issues, Hackett is solidly progressive. The corporate-friendly bankruptcy bill, which passed the House with a fair number of Democratic votes, Hackett calls “garbage.” And he’s appalled that Democrats have let the GOP define the debate on the “death tax.” “We should call it the ‘anti-aristocracy tax,’” he insists.
On questions of values, Hackett’s libertarian tendencies take over. “When I elect someone to go to Washington, D.C.,” he says, “I don’t elect a spiritual leader. I get that from my minister on Sundays when I go to church. Congress isn’t invited into my personal life; they’re not invited into the decisions my wife makes with her doctor any more than they’re invited in to check out what guns I’ve got in my gun cabinet.”
...
Ultimately, the best case for taking a risk on Hackett may come from Dean himself. In a recent Washington Post profile, Dean said of long-shot races, “If you lose, so what? It’s worth the investment if we can have somebody there who gives the message, who’s articulate and … respectful of the voters, because they’ll get a better impression of Democrats than they would otherwise.”
8 more days...
Rick Kaplan, Genius
Genius if his goal is to lose all his viewers:
Tucker Carlson? Appeal to 18-30 year old men?
Propeller-necked pundit Tucker Carlson may have found a platform for his towel-snapping brand of conservatism on MSNBC’s The Situation, but industry insiders are predicting a dim future for the critically-lambasted show. Positioned dead last in prime-time cable news ratings, the political rant-fest has been a disappointment from day one, sources say—a sentiment echoed by New York Times’ TV critic Alessandra Stanley, who last month suggested MSNBC pull the plug on the crapulent show and “end the misery.”
According to a network source, the 36-year-old motormouth landed the job after promising MSNBC he could deliver raucous debates with high-profile guests like Jon Stewart—who famously called Carlson a “dick” on Crossfire and accused him of “hurting America”—but that the debates have yet to materialize.
“The incident with Jon Stewart made Tucker a household name, and MSNBC thought they could parlay that into a show that would appeal to 18-30 year old men,” says our source. “The problem is, most 18-30 year old men are watching baseball or Sports Center at 9 p.m., and Tucker has yet to have one interesting person on his show.” (Instead, he’s been reduced to relying on fellow MSNBC commentators like Monica Crowley and Dan Abrams to fill the gaps in his guest list, the source notes.)
But Carlson, who snagged a high six-figure salary and stock options from MSNBC after being booted from CNN, is still sitting pretty. “For some reason the higher-ups keep kissing his ass, even though the show was DOA the week it premiered,” the source gripes. A spokesman for Carlson’s show did not return calls for comment by press time.
Tucker Carlson? Appeal to 18-30 year old men?
I Wonder Who This Was?
And did he wear plaid pants?
Amid the political hullabaloo surrounding white-bread Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, gay activist Michelangelo Signorile remembers a much more colorful candidate.
"There was a contender for the federal judiciary in the George W. Bush administration who I began receiving information ... about him making sexual advances on men in gyms in Washington and other cities," Signorile told us Friday. Immediately after sex, "he would ... go into a religious tirade and then tell them how morally wrong all this was. His record was really conservative."
Signorile, whose collection of essays, "Hitting Hard," is out next month from Carroll & Graf, outed Malcolm Forbes not long after the billionaire died in 1990. He now writes for www.signorile.com and has a show on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Having heard the stories about the would-be federal judge, the writer made a few calls to the White House.
"They said they'd have someone call me back, and they didn't," Signorile laughed.
"The upshot of it was, this person was just quietly no longer a contender!"
The Sgt. Schultz Party
Roberts is a made man whether or not he ever was part of the Federalist Society. Now we know he was an active member once but he just can't remember.
When they feel the need to lie about the little things (besides, wouldn't "Yeah, I was with them briefly but I didn't really fit in" been more effective?) we know they have no problem lying about the big ones...
When they feel the need to lie about the little things (besides, wouldn't "Yeah, I was with them briefly but I didn't really fit in" been more effective?) we know they have no problem lying about the big ones...
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Groundhog Day
The people in charge need to learn Bill Murray's lesson. Changing how you seem to be accomplishes nothing, changing what you are might.
Ongoing Investigation
Think Progress has an excellent question. Maybe some reporters should ask Scotty tomorrow:
If the Attorney General of the United States can answer questions on the ongoing investigation, why can’t the White House?
Pro-Adultery Santorum
Ouch, local paper giving it to little Ricky:
OR A GUY who just wrote a stinging book about family values, Sen. Rick Santorum sure sounded mealy-mouthed when asked about U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood’s dalliances.
“I don’t know how it’s going to shake out,” Santorum said Monday during an appearance at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Plains Township. “All I would suggest is that, again, until we know all the facts and we look at the job that Congressman Sherwood is doing and make decisions based on the facts and the work he’s doing.”
Santorum dodged a reporter’s question about whether the allegations against Sherwood have hurt the Republican Party.
“I think what hurts and helps the Republican Party is what we’re doing in serving the American people,” he said, shifting the focus to the media, which he said likes to focus on racy and scandalous stories.
Pretty wishy-washy, huh? Especially since Santorum’s new book, “It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good,” lashes out at the nation’s “divorce culture” and “hostile cultural climate,” influenced by television shows such as “Sex in the City” and “Friends.”
...
Santorum’s book contains many harsh words. We wonder, why didn’t he have any for Sherwood on Monday?
Can This Administration Do Anything Right?
Wow. Just stunning.
(via kos)
The Justice Department blocked efforts by its prosecutors in Seattle in 2002 to bring criminal charges against Haroon Aswat, according to federal law-enforcement officials who were involved in the case.
British authorities suspect Aswat of taking part in the July 7 London bombings, which killed 56 and prompted an intense worldwide manhunt for him.
But long before he surfaced as a suspect there, federal prosecutors in Seattle wanted to seek a grand-jury indictment for his involvement in a failed attempt to set up a terrorist-training camp in Bly, Ore., in late 1999. In early 2000, Aswat lived for a couple of months in central Seattle at the Dar-us-Salaam mosque.
A federal indictment of Aswat in 2002 would have resulted in an arrest warrant and his possible detention in Britain for extradition to the United States.
"It was really frustrating," said a former Justice Department official involved in the case. "Guys like that, you just want to sweep them up off the street."
...
At the time, however, federal prosecutors chose not to indict Aswat for reasons that are not clear. Asked why Aswat wasn't indicted, a federal official in Seattle replied, "That's a great question."
(via kos)
Return of Heads Up Gate
I'm glad Frank Rich reminded the world of the absolutely unjustifiable delay the White House was granted allowing them to hold off on officially being required to maintain documents. It's one tidbit of this case that I'd forgotten. NPR reported at the time:
It's another part of this scandal which should've raised more than a few eyebrows among the beltway kool kids, but they weren't too concerned about it at the time.
APJ lets us know that we've learned something new - that Gonzales told Andy Card that night.
While we're walking down memory lane, we must also remember that the documents were also vetted by Gonzales before they even got to the Justice Department.
The White house asked for and got permission earlier this week to wait a day before issuing a directive to preserve all documents and logs which led one seasoned federal prosecutor to wonder why they wanted to wait a day, and who at the justice department told them they could do that, and why?
It's another part of this scandal which should've raised more than a few eyebrows among the beltway kool kids, but they weren't too concerned about it at the time.
APJ lets us know that we've learned something new - that Gonzales told Andy Card that night.
While we're walking down memory lane, we must also remember that the documents were also vetted by Gonzales before they even got to the Justice Department.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Blackhawk Down Again and Again and Again
Andrew Sullivan's War:
WASHINGTON, July 23 - The Bush administration's rallying call that America is a nation at war is increasingly ringing hollow to men and women in uniform, who argue in frustration that America is not a nation at war, but a nation with only its military at war.
From bases in Iraq and across the United States to the Pentagon and the military's war colleges, officers and enlisted personnel quietly raise a question for political leaders: if America is truly on a war footing, why is so little sacrifice asked of the nation at large?
There is no serious talk of a draft to share the burden of fighting across the broad citizenry, and neither Republicans nor Democrats are pressing for a tax increase to force Americans to cover the $5 billion a month in costs from Iraq, Afghanistan and new counterterrorism missions.
There are not even concerted efforts like the savings-bond drives or gasoline rationing that helped to unite the country behind its fighting forces in wars past.
"Nobody in America is asked to sacrifice, except us," said one officer just back from a yearlong tour in Iraq, voicing a frustration now drawing the attention of academic specialists in military sociology.
Maglalang
Our friend Michelle writes:
Nice deflection. This issue is not those who are second-guessing cops who are frequently in horrible positions. I wasn't there and I don't know what they knew or what they thought they knew or what their orders were. Some of that will be revealed. The issue is the cheerleaders of the "shoot first ask questions later" attitude, and the critics of those who dare suggest that shooting someone the government has labelled "terrorist suspect" absent trial is problematic.
Bush and the Right generally have become masters of this rhetorical trick. Criticize the Bush policies in Iraq? You're attacking the troops! Criticze the Bush policies in Gitmo? You're attacking the troops! Criticize the 101st Fighting Keyboarders glee about the killing of "bad" brown people in London? You're attacking London bobbies!
It's long past time for the Right to take responsible for its own actions and rhetoric, and stop trying to pawn it off on those on the front lines.
Confronted with a furtive individual who reportedly refused to obey orders, dressed suspiciously, and fled over a turnstile towards the subway train, London authorities made a fateful split-second decision in a moment of great danger. I have a feeling that no one who works in law enforcement--here or around the world--will blame the police for the actions they took, and I doubt the majority of Britons will either.
Nice deflection. This issue is not those who are second-guessing cops who are frequently in horrible positions. I wasn't there and I don't know what they knew or what they thought they knew or what their orders were. Some of that will be revealed. The issue is the cheerleaders of the "shoot first ask questions later" attitude, and the critics of those who dare suggest that shooting someone the government has labelled "terrorist suspect" absent trial is problematic.
Bush and the Right generally have become masters of this rhetorical trick. Criticize the Bush policies in Iraq? You're attacking the troops! Criticze the Bush policies in Gitmo? You're attacking the troops! Criticize the 101st Fighting Keyboarders glee about the killing of "bad" brown people in London? You're attacking London bobbies!
It's long past time for the Right to take responsible for its own actions and rhetoric, and stop trying to pawn it off on those on the front lines.
12 Hours
Frank Rich reminds us of a long forgotten part of the cover up of this scandal:
But the scandal has metastasized so much at this point that the forgotten man Mr. Bush did not nominate to the Supreme Court is as much a window into the White House's panic and stonewalling as its haste to put forward the man he did. When the president decided not to replace Sandra Day O'Connor with a woman, why did he pick a white guy and not nominate the first Hispanic justice, his friend Alberto Gonzales? Mr. Bush was surely not scared off by Gonzales critics on the right (who find him soft on abortion) or left (who find him soft on the Geneva Conventions). It's Mr. Gonzales's proximity to this scandal that inspires real fear.
As White House counsel, he was the one first notified that the Justice Department, at the request of the C.I.A., had opened an investigation into the outing of Joseph Wilson's wife. That notification came at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2003, but it took Mr. Gonzales 12 more hours to inform the White House staff that it must "preserve all materials" relevant to the investigation. This 12-hour delay, he has said, was sanctioned by the Justice Department, but since the department was then run by John Ashcroft, a Bush loyalist who refused to recuse himself from the Plame case, inquiring Senate Democrats would examine this 12-hour delay as closely as an 18½-minute tape gap. "Every good prosecutor knows that any delay could give a culprit time to destroy the evidence," said Senator Charles Schumer, correctly, back when the missing 12 hours was first revealed almost two years ago. A new Gonzales confirmation process now would have quickly devolved into a neo-Watergate hearing. Mr. Gonzales was in the thick of the Plame investigation, all told, for 16 months.
Thus is Mr. Gonzales's Supreme Court aspiration the first White House casualty of this affair. It won't be the last. When you look at the early timeline of this case, rather than the latest investigatory scraps, two damning story lines emerge and both have legs.
Jean Charles de Menezes
Well, I suppose Michelle Malkin got one thing right. The "Muslim Council of Britain's grievance-mongerers" probably didn't have a case to monger any grievance, though the Brazilian Embassy of grievance mongerers might.
In all seriousness, the guy could be a Muslim for all I know. Or, even worse, look like one! But he also, apparently, was innocent.
In all seriousness, the guy could be a Muslim for all I know. Or, even worse, look like one! But he also, apparently, was innocent.
Five in the Noggin
Deep thoughts by John Gibson:
Punchline here.
(thanks to Doug)
What is also good is the Brit police tactics that we saw at work in the subway Friday morning. The tackle and kill team is incredible, if for no other reason than their bravery. Can you imagine the job of those cops? Tackle the guy wearing a vest bomb and hope your colleague is right behind with the gun to put five bullets in the noggin before he sets off the bomb.
Turns out he didn't have a bomb, and turns out he wasn't one of the four bombers Thursday. And if it turns out ultimately that he had nothing to do with anything, no doubt there will be hell to pay. But the police say he was linked to the terror probe, so let's wait and see.
Meantime, got to admire the cojones of those Brit cops to go after him like that. All of this trumps any of my other complaints that the Brits weren't making the right noises about fighting terror. They like to go about things a bit more quietly than us. Not my style, but okay, fine — as long as they get the five in the noggin of the right bomber boy. They do that and I'm fine.
So for the moment, alls well. Just catch the four bombers. Five in the noggin is fine. Don't complain that sounds barbaric. We're fighting barbaric.
Punchline here.
(thanks to Doug)
Blog Blogging
Dragonballyee talks about alt-weekly blogging. I've always been puzzled by the fact that alt-weeklies have largely missed the blogging boat. They seem to have all of the infrastructure in place to do the kind of local culture/arts/music/hipsters/politics/gossip/happenings blogging which is essentially what they do anyway. Doing that kind of local blogging well would be a smart move. Blogs with a primarily national focus and audience can't really expect to attract local advertisers, but a decently trafficked site with a local focus could.
I've never really read the Gothamist or its progeny but it's the kind of thing which could have had a happy home in house at an alt-weekly. For some reason they've been rather late to the table.
Along those lines, say hello to one of Gothamist's newest children, Phillyist.
I've never really read the Gothamist or its progeny but it's the kind of thing which could have had a happy home in house at an alt-weekly. For some reason they've been rather late to the table.
Along those lines, say hello to one of Gothamist's newest children, Phillyist.
Judgment
Fred Clark gives us his weekly installment of "he reads Left Behind so you don't have to."
He concludes with:
He concludes with:
The other option is to read such tirades as wholly directed at Other People. Judgement is never for Us, only for Them. This is one of the main points of LB and indeed of the entire pseudotheological framework of premillennial dispensationalism on which it is based.
This approach -- judgement for Thee but not for Me -- also helps to account for the current antigay mania of American evangelicalism. In a couple of Paul's other rants, he includes "sodomites" in his bestiaries of badness. Even if we accept, for the sake of argument, the dubious assumption that Paul misunderstood the story of Sodom, and therefore used this as a synonym for "homosexuals," it doesn't follow that "homosexuals are bad" is the main lesson that heterosexuals should be gleaning from such passages. But if you read such passages looking for any excuse to exempt yourself from the apostle's condemnation, this offers an ideal escape hatch. Preaching against self-love, ingratitude, love of money or love of pleasure can be a two-edged sword. But if you're heterosexual, and you're preaching against homosexuality, then you're safe. You've found the ideal target for self-exempting, self-justifying self-righteousness.
Judgment is for Other People.
Bobo's World
FL edition:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The state suspended the licenses of two church-affiliated day care centers where children allegedly were sexually molested, forced to eat worms and pick each other's noses during employee-led games of "Truth or Dare."
The former director of the Kid's Palace centers and one employee have been charged, and the investigation is continuing.
...
The former director of the day care centers, Joshua Palin, 25, has been charged with molesting 10 children, some of them during what investigators said were twisted games of Truth or Dare. He is the son of the affiliated church's pastor.
Palin was charged last month with molesting two girls, ages 12 and 13, and more charges were added this week after Clay County sheriff's investigators interviewed children at the child care centers.
Palin is charged with "daring" children age 5 to 14 to fondle him or each other or to perform oral sex on each other over a one-year span ending last month.
The centers, which were licensed for 176 children, were operated by Faith Ministries. The church did not return calls Friday or earlier in the week. The church closed the day care centers June 15, but they could have been reopened without the license suspensions.
Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs
From the most recent Harper's Index:
Number of killed or captured suspects reported so far by U.S. media to be Al Qaeda's "number 3" man: 4
Open Thread
No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with a single thread. --Robert Burton
Open Thread
No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with a single thread. --Robert Burton
Friday, July 22, 2005
Egypt
Horrible:
Certainly this will get less coverage than the bombings in London, despite that the fact that in many ways the bombings in Egypt might actually have greater long term significance. I'm not saying that's necessarily "right" or "wrong," but I do think that responsible news outlets should at least have an understanding of why they will give it significantly less coverage.
CAIRO, Egypt -- A series of explosions, including four car bombs, struck luxury hotels in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, killing at least 45 people, witnesses and police said.
Saturday's explosions _ the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade _ shook windows more than five miles away. Smoke and fire rose from Naama Bay, a main strip of beach hotels in the desert city at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, which is also popular with European and Israeli tourists, witnesses said.
Certainly this will get less coverage than the bombings in London, despite that the fact that in many ways the bombings in Egypt might actually have greater long term significance. I'm not saying that's necessarily "right" or "wrong," but I do think that responsible news outlets should at least have an understanding of why they will give it significantly less coverage.
Odds of this Story Showing Up on CNN?
Link:
Let's hope she's ok.
A young, pregnant, single mom from South Philadelphia is missing and police say she could be in danger.
No one has seen Latoyia Figueroa (right), 24, since Monday, when she didn't pick up her seven-year-old daughter from day care.
Police lieutenant Frank Vanore:
"Right now we have more questions than answers. Miss Figueroa is employed by a center city restaurant. She has not been to work in several days. She has not utilized her cell phone."
Let's hope she's ok.
Winning Elections
It feels like November 2006 is a long time from now, but it's amazing how time flies. I'm certainly not going to do the hard sell on fundraising for candidates any time soon (the Paul Hackett special election on August 2 was of course an exception). And, my default position is to stay out of any seriously contested primaries, though that isn't necessarily an unbreakable rule. On the other hand helping to finance candidates early gives them more free time to press the flesh and as they have to spend less time in the coldcall fundraising dungeon.
I've added Lois Murphy to my list of candidates, which you can find in the link to the left. Murphy's running in PA 6 against the odious Jim Gerlach. Gerlach just had a fundraiser with Karl Rove so you know he puts his personal political concerns over the national security of this country. Murphy only lost by about 7,000 votes in '04, with at least one local network affiliate calling the race (incorrectly) for her.
As I said, it's too early to get into high gear for the long hard slog to '06. I don't intend to be pushing the fundraising. But, if ever you're feeling the need to do something to help and have a few extra dollars in your pocket, the link will be there...
I've added Lois Murphy to my list of candidates, which you can find in the link to the left. Murphy's running in PA 6 against the odious Jim Gerlach. Gerlach just had a fundraiser with Karl Rove so you know he puts his personal political concerns over the national security of this country. Murphy only lost by about 7,000 votes in '04, with at least one local network affiliate calling the race (incorrectly) for her.
As I said, it's too early to get into high gear for the long hard slog to '06. I don't intend to be pushing the fundraising. But, if ever you're feeling the need to do something to help and have a few extra dollars in your pocket, the link will be there...
Sources
Steve Clemons:
TWN has just learned from a highly placed source -- and in the right place to know -- that John Bolton was a regular source for Judith Miller's New York Times WMD and national security reports.
The source did not have any knowledge on whether Bolton was one of Miller's sources on the Valerie Plame story she was preparing, but argues that he was a regular source otherwise.
Eye on the Ball
Larry Johnson to give tomorrow Democratic radio address. Transcript follows:
Audio here.
"Good morning. I'm Larry Johnson, an American, a registered Republican, a former intelligence official at the CIA, and a friend of Valerie Plame.
I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985 with Valerie. We were members of the Career Trainee Program. Senator Orin Hatch wrote the letter of recommendation for me which I believe that helped open the doors to me at the CIA.
From the first day we walked into the building, all members of my training class were undercover, including Valerie. In other words, we had to lie to our family and friends about where we worked. We could only tell those who had an absolute need to know where we worked. In my case, I told my wife.
I knew the wife of Ambassador Wilson, Valerie, as Valerie P. Even though all of us in the training class held Top Secret Clearances, we were asked to limit our knowledge of our other classmates to the first initial of their last name.
So, Larry J. knew Val P. rather than Valerie Plame. I really didn't realize what her last name was until her cover was betrayed by the Government officials who gave columnist Robert Novak her true name.
I am stunned that government officials at the highest level have such ignorance about a matter so basic to the national security structure of this nation.
Robert Novak's compromise of Valerie led to scrutiny of CIA officers that worked with her. This not only compromised her "cover" company but potentially every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company or with her.
We must put to bed the lie that she was not undercover. For starters, if she had not been undercover then the CIA would not have referred the matter to the Justice Department.
Val only told those with a need to know about her status in order to safeguard her cover, not compromise it. She was content with being known as an energy consultant married to Ambassador Joe Wilson and the mother of twins.
I voted for George Bush in November of 2000 because I was promised a President who would bring a new tone and a new ethical standard to Washington.
So where are we? The President has flip-flopped on his promise to fire anyone at the White House implicated in a leak. We now know from press reports that at least Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby are implicated in these leaks and may have lied during the investigation.
Instead of a President concerned first and foremost with protecting this country and the intelligence officers who serve it, we are confronted with a President who is willing to sit by while political operatives savage the reputations of good Americans like Valerie and Joe Wilson.
This is wrong and this is shameful.
We deserve people who work in the White House who are committed to protecting classified information, telling the truth to the American people, and living by example the idea that a country at war with Islamic extremists cannot focus its efforts on attacking other American citizens who simply tried to tell the truth.
I am Larry Johnson.
Thank you for listening.
Audio here.
2 Years
I can learn a lot from reading my own archives. I can't believe this damn Wilson story (and the Iraq war, for that matter) are two years old.
Larry Johnson testified this morning. Here's what he said.
Here's what he said almost two years ago:
Even Newsmax was annoyed once upon a time.
Larry Johnson testified this morning. Here's what he said.
Here's what he said almost two years ago:
This not an alleged abuse. This is a confirmed abuse. I worked with this woman. She started training with me. She has been under cover for three decades. She is not as Bob Novak suggested a "CIA analyst." Given that, i was a CIA analyst for 4 years. I was under cover. I could not divulge to my family outside of my wife that I worked for the CIA unti I left the Intelligence Agency on Sept. 30, 1989. At that point I could admit it. The fact that she was under cover for three decades and that has been divulged is outrageous. She was put undercover for certain reasons. One, she works in an area where people she works with overseas could be compromised...
For these journalists to argue that this is no big deal... and if I hear another Republican operative suggesting that, well, this was just an analyst. Fine. Let them go undercover. Let's put them go overseas. Let's out them and see how they like it...
I say this as a registered Republican. I am on record giving contributions to the George Bush campaign. This is not about partisan politics. This is about a betrayal, a political smear, of an individual who had no relevance to the story. Publishing her name in that story added nothing to it because the entire intent was, correctly as Amb. Wilson noted, to intimidate, to suggest that there was some impropriety that somehow his wife was in a decision-making position to influence his ability to go over and savage a stupid policy, an erroneous policy, and frankly what was a false policy of suggesting that there was nuclear material in Iraq that required this war. This was about a political attack. To pretend it was something else, to get into this parsing of words.
I tell you, it sickens me to be a Republican to see this.
Even Newsmax was annoyed once upon a time.
The burgeoning flap over the leaking to the press of the name of a CIA agent - a clear and serious violation of federal law - is a serious, serious legal and political problem for the Bush White House.
Woof
It takes a hypocrite. PDN columnist destroys little Ricky:
Here's what Santorum wrote about giving financial aid to poor single moms:
"The classic example of the failure of liberal social and economic policy is the Great Society welfare programs... . Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), as welfare was known until 1996, put government in the role of family breadwinner."
Clearly, Rick has a problem with paying moms to have babies, and frankly, I do too.
But here's what he wrote regarding his demand that government increase the child credit and tax deduction for parents with kids: "The government actually provides less help the more children you have. The opposite should be true, and I am working on some amendments to fix this inequity for large families. (OK, I admit that with six kids of my own at home, I'm biased; but the tax code really has it in for big families.)"
What I suspect he's really saying: An out-of-work mom with more kids than she can afford doesn't deserve the government's help. But a middle-class senator with more kids than he can afford sure does!
Where he sometimes gets help instead: Santorum told the New York Times that his parents help him out financially. "They're by no means wealthy - they're two retired VA [Veterans Administration] employees - but they'll send a check every now and then. They realize things are a little tighter for us."
Except that he makes $162,000 a year. I'll bet a welfare mom of six kids could live very well on that, so why is a 47-year-old man hitting up his elderly parents for cash? Or asking for tax breaks?
But at least his folks have the money to lend him. That's because both his parents receive pensions. Why? Santorum grew up in a two-career family - a kind of family he deplores in his book as being obsessed with giving their kids "things" instead of time!
"Children of two parents who are working don't need more things. They need more us!" he writes in his book.