‘Republican for Impeachment’ Attends Antiwar Rally

“My odyssey simply is: I’ve been a registered Republican for in excess of thirty years and I think the Party’s been hijacked by the policies of George Bush! I think a president should be smarter than I am.

“This is my first demonstration. I felt strongly enough to come. What I hope will happen is that the Democrats and Republicans with a mindset similar to mine get people to change their minds about the direction this country is taking. Remember, Clinton was impeached for a lot less. I saw a sign that said, ‘Clinton lied, no one died,’ and that just about sums it up.

Cathy Hickling, a financial consultant from Maryland, who carried a sign that read, “Republicans for impeachment,” at the antiwar rally in Washington, D.C., Sept. 24, 2005

Protesters Greet Gov. Schwarzenegger in Mexico

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thought he could shake off the protest groups that dog his every step, he was wrong:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t the only Californian to travel to Mexicali, Mexico this past weekend for the Governor’s meeting with Baja State officials.

As the Governor’s motorcade pulled in front of the building for the meeting, he heard from protesters who drove from San Diego to express their opposition to the Schwarzenegger administration’s immigration policies…

“He said he wouldn’t take money from special interests,” protester Vicente Rodriguez told CNN. “Yet his has raised more money than the two governors before him put together.”

Why Was Federal Prosecutor Pulled of Abramoff Investigation Three Years Ago?

“Whatever the motivation in replacing Fred, his demotion meant that the investigation of Abramoff died.”

The case against GOP uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff seems to expand every day. Now investigators are going back three years to a case in which a federal prosecutor was pulled off his investigation into Abramoff, just as it was reaching a crucial juncture:

The Justice Department’s inspector general and the F.B.I. are looking into the demotion of a veteran federal prosecutor whose reassignment nearly three years ago shut down a criminal investigation of the Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, current and former department officials report.

They said investigators had questioned whether the demotion of the prosecutor, Frederick A. Black, in November 2002 was related to his alert to Justice Department officials days earlier that he was investigating Mr. Abramoff. The lobbyist is a major Republican Party fund-raiser and a close friend of several Congressional leaders.

Colleagues said the demotion of Mr. Black, the acting United States attorney in Guam, and a subsequent order barring him from pursuing public corruption cases brought an end to his inquiry into Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying work for some Guam judges… […]

Bush: Everyone Must Conserve Fuel But Me

The key phrase here is “non-essential travel” – which can be defined as a trip made purely as a photo op:

“If it makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail nonessential travel, it darn sure makes sense for federal employees,” Bush said. “We can encourage employees to car pool or use mass transit, and we can shift peak electricity use to off-peak hours. There’s ways for the federal government to lead when it comes to conservation.”

The White House also will be looking at ways to conserve, press secretary Scott McClellan said, although that didn’t include curtailing the president’s travel plans. Tuesday marked the president’s seventh trip to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes in less than a month.

GOP Congressional Leadership Launches Public Relations Offensive

What do conservatives do when they are down and out – and clearly in the wrong? They do the only thing they do well: spin, spin, spin.

“This leadership group is so out of touch, it’s unbelievable.”
— GOP Rep

Faced with the gargantuan task of rebuilding New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the leadership of the Grand Old Spending Party in Congress has no plan to offset or raise revenues to cover these huge expenditures – other than to borrow another $200 billion or so from Communist China.

Rather than deal with the substance of the problem, the Gops are launching a full PR assault, using the trusty Libruhl Media, to change the perception that they are mismanaging the government’s money.

Prodded by conservatives, President Bush and GOP leaders have said they are willing to offset those costs with spending cuts. But realistically, the political will does not exist to vote through the cuts that have been proposed, said House leadership aides and sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Nor have Republican leaders given serious thought to reversing course on tax cuts, lawmakers said yesterday.

“I don’t see any change in fiscal policy,” said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), a former vice chairman of the Budget Committee…

“This leadership group is so out of touch, it’s unbelievable,” said one House lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid inflaming leaders further.