Day: May 26, 2005

McClellan Lies About Lying About Newsweek Story’s Effect

Buck Banks

Editor & Publisher published a report that uses White House press conference transcripts to show Press Secretary Scott McClellan is a (surprise!) liar. McClellan claims that he did not say that people died in the riots in Afganistan following the Newsweek article on abuses of the Koran at Guantanamo, Cuba.

He also claimed that he had never said it did, even though a check of transcripts disputes that. On May 16, for example, he said, “people have lost their lives.” On May 17, he said, “People did lose their lives,” and, “People lost their lives” due to the Newsweek report.

Here is part of the transcript from the latest White House press briefing which shows McClellan in full BS mode:

Q: One other question. Karzai was quite definite in saying that he didn’t believe that the violence in Afghanistan was directly tied to the Newsweek article about Koran desecration. Yet, from this podium, you have made that link. So —

McCLELLAN: Actually, I don’t think you’re actually characterizing what was said accurately.

Q: By whom?

McCLELLAN: As I said last week, and as President Karzai said today, and as General Myers had said previously, the protest may well have been pre-staged. The discredited report was damaging. It was used to incite violence. But those who espouse an ideology of hatred and oppression and murder don’t need an excuse to incite violence. But the reports from the region showed how this story was used to incite violence.

Three Cross Burnings Last Night in Durham, a Southern Liberal Bastion

Jon Ponder

Three crosses were burned last night in Durham, N.C., home of Duke University, and one of the bluest cities in the South. KKK fliers were found on the scene. Pam’s House Blend, which is published in Durham, has the story – go there for details, additional links and photos – but here are the highlights:

A police officer and firefighters arrive at the scene of a cross burning Wednesday night on South Roxboro Street, about a quarter mile from Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Mayor Bill Bell can’t recall a cross burning since he moved here in 1968.

Three crosses were burned last night in my progressive hometown, one only a couple of miles away from our house, near a middle-class, suburban subdivision. Some are tying it to the visit of members of the Rotting Cryptkeeper’s church visit to our city to protest the Laramie Project play held at the Durham School of the Arts. The pathetic Phelps family picketed and were overwhelmingly outnumbered by supporters of the play and its performers…

It’s hard to understand what kind of cretins think that they are going to find support for this rat-bastard, cowardly deed — hey you f*ckers, show your faces — but they won’t find it in Durham.

Poll: Californians Don’t Want Das Guber’s Special Election

Jon Ponder

In his “State of the State” speech last January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his plan to hold a special election this fall in order to “go over the heads of the politicians” and get state voters to ratify his government “reform” schemes. Since then, support for the special election has dropped 12 percentage points:

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a special election this November, he will have to face voters angry at the prospect of yet another statewide ballot, a new poll showed today.

By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio, California adults would rather see Schwarzenegger’s government reform plan go on the ballot for the scheduled June 2006 primary election than this fall.

The governor’s crack team of message-makers has a good reason for the poor polling:

The governor’s supporters, however, argue that the poll was taken before a television ad campaign that began in early May could have much effect.

That’s right. Forget the substance – Arnold’s star power and electrifying personality can sell anything to the unsuspecting masses. Just wait and see.

Meanwhile, the level of protests at the governor’s campaign stops – er, community outreach sessions – protests are ratcheting up:

[T]housands of demonstrators converged on the Capitol and downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday for the largest protests of the Republican governor’s administration.

But as the governor’s polls drop – he has about a 40 percent approval rate – the Democratic controlled Legislature is even more unpopular. Earlier this week, as a perfect illustration of the cause of their unpopularity, the pols in Sacramento voted themselves a whopping 12 percent pay increase.