Month: July 2007

Cheney Said to Consider Entering Presidential Race – Run, Dick, Run!

Jon Ponder

In a review of the new bio out on Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, an editorial writer for the rightwing New York Sun suggests Cheney may be considering getting into the 2008 presidential race:

At 18 percent, Cheney was less popular than Michael Jackson after he was tried for child molestation and less popular than O.J. Simpson after his murder trial.

The book quotes Senator McCain as saying, “Dick doesn’t like campaigning.” Nothing in the Hayes book suggests that Mr. Cheney is about to do it — except for that the vice president spent nearly 30 hours cooperating with the author and apparently gave the okay for many of his friends and colleagues to grant similar access. The Richard Cheney described in this book isn’t vain enough to do that simply for his reputation in history. My own guess — okay, hope — is that Mr. Cheney has taken a look at the Republican presidential field and sees an opening. If Iowa and New Hampshire Republicans start receiving copies of ” Cheney” in their mailboxes, Mr. Cheney’s popularity may yet begin to climb.

If Cheney gets in, I would seriously consider switching my support for the most beatable GOP nominee from Newt Gingrich to the vice president.

Meanwhile, back in reality:

The Washington Post’s polling expert, Richard Morin, noted that at 18 percent approval, Vice President Cheney was less popular than Michael Jackson after he was tried for child abuse and O.J. Simpson after he was tried for murder. Mr. Hayes quotes Mr. Morin as reporting that Mr. Cheney was “less popular with Americans than Joseph Stalin is with Russians.”

O’Reilly Blunders, Unintentionally Ratchets Up Netroots Support for Sen. Clinton

Jon Ponder


Via: Blogometer: Howard Wolfson, spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, went on Bill O’Reilly’s show Tuesday night to defend DailyKos from O’Reilly’s recent attacks. This line stands out:

Hey Bill: We’ve been attacking you for years, so, how about it? Show us some hate. It’s good for business.

Unfortunately with all due respect for you, the days where you can dictate where Senator Clinton and other Democrats go, who we talk to, are over.

Bill O’Reilly just can’t get it through his head that he is seen as such a bully that it actually helps his opponents when he attacks them. Just ask Al Franken, whose book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them,” made millions more than it would have if Bill hadn’t sued over Franken’s depiction of him.

Or ask Keith Olbermann, whose almost daily attacks on O’Reilly as the “Worst Person in the World” have helped make “Countdown” the most popular live show on MSNBC.

Now O’Reilly has turned his guns on DailyKos, labeling it a “hate speech” site, a charge he bases on a few vile and nasty statements cherrypicked from the site’s comments section — one of the largest boards on the Internets. O’Reilly’s campaign against DailyKos has had some success. He forced JetBlue to reneg on its promised level of sponsorship for the upcoming YearlyKos conference. Now he’s trying to bully the presidential candidates into skipping the event.

Predictably (to everyone but Bill), his attacks on the Kos community have had the unintended consequence of improving Sen. Clinton’s popularity among the Netroots. Until now, conventional wisdom considered the online left to be a big obstacle for Clinton in the primaries because of her conservative positions.

That dynamic appears to be shifting — thanks entirely to Bill O’Reilly. As a DailyKos member put it:

[O’Reilly] thinks he’s destroying kos’ credibility when in fact what he is doing is causing all the candidates to stand behind the [YearlyKos] conference and the web site, and by Hillary being so up front in defending Daily Kos, he is helping people here who don’t like her start to rally around her.

Hey Bill: We’ve been attacking you for years (the cartoon of your big giant head with a loofah background is a little something we worked up in 2005) — so, how about it? Show us some hate. There’s some pretty salty stuff — and some of it is about you — in our comments section, so please feel free to call us a hate speech site. It’s good for business.

Dems Pass Contempt Citation against Bolten and Miers in Committee

Jon Ponder

A House Judiciary Committee cited two top loyal Bushies with contempt of Congress charges today:

The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee, on a 22-17 party-line vote, approved citations against Joshua Bolten, White House chief of staff, and former counsel Harriet Miers. Bolten refused to turn over documents related to the dismissals, and Miers disobeyed a subpoena to appear before the panel and answer questions about her role in the firings.

The issuance of contempt citations, which also requires approval by the full House of Representatives, would escalate the dispute between Bush and Congress over the president’s assertion of executive privilege to forbid testimony by his aides.

Ignoring the fact that the refusal of the White House to turn over evidence had led to the citation, Republicans argued that the citation was unnecessary because there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

We are a long way from the glory days of Mission Accomplished, when the Iraq war was over before it was over — indeed before it really began — and the president could dress up like a fighter pilot and land on an aircraft carrier, and the nation, led by a pliable media, would applaud. Now, late in this sad, terribly diminished presidency, mired in an unwinnable war of their own making, and increasingly on the defensive about events which, to their surprise, they do not control, the president and his men have turned, with some degree of desperation, to history.

— David Halberstam (1934-2007), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author

How Appropos — FlaDems Meeting at Disney World

Buck Banks

I can’t think of a more appropriate place for a Mickey Mouse organization to convene than the fantasy land of Disney World. Between their ineffectual Five Point Plan and lead cheerleader Karen Thurman (the Annette Funicello of the Florida Democratic Party), these folks believe it’s a small world after all and they are living in their own Cinderella’s castle if they think they actually will be a factor in the upcoming elections.

Surprisingly, they are running out of blocked hotel space for the Oct. 25-29 statewide party convention, and have booked more space at Disney’s Yacht & Beachfront Resort, which is an ersatz New England coastal village (think Kennebunkport).

Seems a perfect venue for a faux political party.

Political Lightbulb Jokes

Buck Banks

From the funny pages of the Sunday Miami Herald:

  • How many Republicans does it take to change a lightbulb? Nobody knows, they won’t release the information!
  • How many degenerate liberals does it take to change a lightbulb? They never change anything, they just cry over the broken bulb.
  • How many third-partyers does it take to change a lightbulb? We’ll never know ….

From “Get Fuzzy,” by Darby Conley

Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Apologizes – For Not Being Homophobic Enough

Buck Banks

Remember Jim Naugle, the mayor of Fort Lauderdale who suggested to the city commission that its purchase of a $250,000 robotic toilet for one of the city beaches would go far toward helping curb male-on-male sex in public restrooms? Well, today he apologized, but not to the burgeoning number of gay organizations calling for his ouster:

Naugle apologized for underestimating the problem of men having sex with each other in public restrooms, and urged people to call police to complain when they come upon it. He also said Broward County leads the nation in the incidence of new AIDS cases involving men having sex with men, and questioned whether the county tourism office should be welcoming them here.

“I want to apologize to the children and parents of our community,” the mayor said, “for not being aware of the problem.”

In response to Naugle’s original bone-headed comments, where he noted that he pointedly uses the term “homosexuals” because they are not gay, they’re “unhappy,” an example of what Naugle calls “truth-speech.” gays have created Unite Fort Lauderdale, a coalition calling for Naugle to step down as mayor. In the aftermath of Naugle’s recommendation for the robotic toilet, the group printed up T-shirts with a “Flush Naugle” message.

Naugle issued his apology to the straight community from the steps of city hall, and the following exchange demonstrates the level of discourse in the community:

[Naugle] was flanked by conservative Rev. O’Neal Dozier, who pointed at the lightning and rain and raised his eyebrows to local gay activist Anthony Niedwiecki, whose partner, Waymon Hudson, organized the anti-Naugle group.

“It’s raining on you!” Niedwiecki shouted back.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

… the American government did not want to face the consequences of peace. It was, after all, one thing to wish for an end to the war and quite another to confront the issues upon which the war had begun. President Johnson had wanted to end the war; so, too, had President Kennedy. But to end the war and not to lose it: the distinction was crucial, and particularly crucial after all the American lives that had been spent and all the political rhetoric expended.

— Frances Fitzgerald (1940- ), from Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam, 1972.

Flag Creator Fails to Blackmail City with Rovian Logic

Trish

Barnett and his patriotic display

It was only a matter of time, I suppose, until someone co-opted Rovian phrasing to try to make a buck [see update]. A Florida business owner named Barry Barnett designed a yellow flag meant to show support for the troops. Then he tried to emotionally blackmail St. Augustine city officials into purchasing it.

“We’ve got people right now dying (in Iraq),” he said. “How do you think they feel about a community that won’t have the courage to fly a flag to support them?” Barnett said.

Ah yes. If you don’t spend $125 apiece on this junky looking thing I created — and buy one for every city flagpole — you don’t love our troops. Rove himself couldn’t have said it better.

Barnett had more success pedaling his product in nearby Palm Coast, where he lives, along with other cities in Flagler County. St. Augustine commissioners, who developed a strict flag flying policy a couple of years ago after gay pride supporters had the city purchase and display rainbow flags downtown, stood firm.

“We’ve got the red, white and blue up every day,” [Commissioner Errol Jones] said. “And for (Barnett) to suggest that if you don’t fly his flag, you don’t support our troops is ridiculous. He’s taking it to another level.”

Update: When this post was written, I was referencing local newspaper coverage which said Barnett was selling his flags.

The city would have to buy it from Barnett at a cost of $125. He says other cities, including Palm Coast where he lives, and De Land agreed to fly the flag.

Barnett has suggested that St. Augustine would be unpatriotic not to fly the flag.

I apparently missed the later correction, which Barnett has called to my attention.

Barnett took issue with a reference in our editorial Sunday — City should say no to yellow flag — that said he was selling the flags at $125 each. He said he is not selling the flags or making any money from this project. A flag company in Daytona Beach — Bob McGarity Advertising & Flag Co. — will produce and sell the flags after Barnett completes the final design, Rob McGarity, owner, said Monday. We stand corrected.

I have invited Barnett to post further corrections of this record, and look forward to finding out more. In the meantime, we can slam him for his definition of patriotism, but not for any profit motive.