Author: Trish

Republican Breakthrough: Candidates Finally Suck Up to an Ethnic Group

Trish

The Republican presidential candidates’ “scheduling conflicts” seem to only crop up around events that cater to Latino, African-American, or YouTube voters. Not only are the Daytimers wide open for Jewish groups, many of the candidates have such an affinity for all things Hebrew that they might call Madonna for Kaballah lessons.

Just ask them.

…it came as no surprise yesterday when five presidential aspirants addressing a forum of Republican Jews all touted their Jewish credentials…

Yet not one of the candidates condemned the recent comments of Republican shock jockette Ann Coulter, who said Jews need “to be perfected.”

Mitt Romney spoke of his “old friend” Binyamin Netanyahu. Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson used the words “Israel,” “Israeli” or “Israelis” 13 times in about 45 minutes. Sen. Sam Brownback told a story involving how hard it is to find a “nice, young Jewish man” in his home state of Kansas. And Rudy Giuliani recalled the moment in 1980 or so when he just knew the Gipper was going to become the next president.

“I was at a bar mitzvah reception in Manhattan,” the former New York City mayor said. “One after one, everybody’s talking about voting for Ronald Reagan.”

Oh puh-lease. Can you for one second imagine substituting these fond phony-isms about Jews with ones about blacks or Hispanics or — holy moly! — gays?

Mitt Romney: “As I told my old pal Tyler Perry the other day…”

John McCain: “I’ll never forget when my family was at a Quinceañera celebration and everyone was talking about voting for Bob Dole…”

Actually, it would probably sound more like Bill O’Reilly marveling over how much like regular people the blacks at the restaurant he visited are. Actual O’Reilly quote:

“I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.”

Maybe it’s best if the Republicans confine the sucking up to groups with whom they feel comfortable.

Yet, even with everyone whipping out their yarmulkes, not one of the candidates took a moment to condemn the recent comments of Republican shock jockette Ann Coulter, who said Jews need “to be perfected.” Come on guys, where is your real loyalty? To your new Jewish pals or your old reliable Republican mouthpieces?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Stop Tossing Out Catalogs

Trish

We like to bring you ideas on how to tread a little more lightly upon the earth. The web site, catalogchoice.org, can help by keeping catalogs you don’t want out of your mailbox, recycle bin, or — yikes! — trash.

You register your name and primary mailing address (which are only used to match up your catalog solicitations), then identify which catalogs you don’t want from a searchable list.

After about 10 weeks, viola: no more catalogs. If any do come through after that, catalogchoice will follow up with the merchant for you.

The service is free — and quite reputable.

Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund.

And in case you’re feeling sorry for the nice folks who keep thoughtfully sending you these gifts in the mail, rest assured that they would prefer their catalogs go to people who actually want them. You’re doing them a favor by getting off their mailing list.

Florida Lite: Now With 50% Less Bush

Trish

That Florida is a different — and better — place with 50 percent less Bush was made plain in an editorial in the Palm Beach Post.

I doubt such sentiments would have appeared while Jeb was still brutishly steering the ship of state in Tallahassee. But a new story by reporter, author, and Jeb critic S.V. Date (pronounced dah-TAY), whose wife Mary Beth was recently hired into Gov. Crist’s Office of Policy and Budget, has people talking. Freely.

It seems that consultant Donna Arduin, Jeb fan and beneficiary of Florida tax dollars, is still ripping into the public till like a grizzly bear that found a bag of marshmallows in your backpack.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, The Post reported this week, still spends $10,000 of the public’s money each month for the services of Donna Arduin’s consulting firm. Originally, that contract was supposed to end June 1. Ms. Arduin served as the former governor’s budget director, and is a keeper of the Jeb-is-wonderful flame.

If Donna Arduin’s job is to keep pushing Jeb Bush’s ideas, there’s no market for them

As he began his last year in office, Mr. Bush was denying that he cared about his legacy. In fact, he was installing loyalists who would continue his policies after he left.

When he became speaker, Rep. Rubio found jobs for 18 of Mr. Bush’s former aides. Putting Ms. Arduin on the payroll naturally followed. The question now is what she actually does to earn the money… Her only known contribution this year was the idea that Florida abolish the property tax and replace it with a sales tax that could have been as high as 13 percent…

Maybe the fact that she doesn’t do anything is a good thing. But, then, why pay her? Asked for specifics about what Ms. Arduin does these days, Rep. Rubio responded with platitudes. If her job is to keep pushing Jeb Bush’s ideas, there’s no market for them.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. After eight years of Jeb, I’d almost forgotten that.

Friday Night Lights: Illuminating and Proselitizing

Trish

The age-old question of which side is God on has taken a decidedly local turn in these parts. Our independent weekly recently ran a couple of stories about a football coach who forces kids not just to pray before games, but to adopt his Christian evangelical POV. Parents, the stories reported, were afraid to protest to school board and administrative authorities, fearing retribution against their sons in winning college football scholarships. The reaction among the independent weekly readers was that the coach, and his supporters, were all wrong.

On prayers before high school football games: “If God is there, could He just take time out from sports to fix the rest of the world?”

But then our local daily, the St. Augustine Record, caught wind of the story, and ran a prayer-friendly version. The reaction among the daily readers — where the story was that all high school football coaches force prayer upon their players and what’s wrong with that? — was that the coach was a hero. Their follow-up story said 74 people wrote in support of the crusading coach and five against.

That’s the background. Here’s a great letter to the editor on the subject in the local daily:

I am against prayer before, after or during a football game.

Players are not praying for welfare of all mankind, for a responsible government, for peace in the demolished land of Iraq. They are praying to win a football game. They should pray that if they are to be hurt, let it be on the football field. They will have some medical coverage.

The Constitution calls for separation of church and state. Whose religion are we talking about? We see plenty of “Jesus” in the arguments for prayer. How about those who want to pray to Adonai or to Allah?

…The Record said it had 74 reactions for school prayer, and five against.

Does that make those five wrong? Does it say something about our city, our community?

My parents came out of World War II convinced there was no God. And if there was a god who let 20 million people die, he is an awful god.

Seeing what is happening today, I do not believe in God either.

If God is there, could He just take time out from sports to fix the rest of the world?

Gore Wins Nobel Prize and MSM Only Yammers About Politics

Trish
Nobel Laureate Al Gore

Al Gore becomes a frickin’ Nobel laureate and all the mainstream media can talk about is whether he will now run for president. Like Gore’s been waiting until he could build his resume enough, say by winning a Nobel prize, to launch a campaign. ABC alone has devoted three web pages to the topic, while CNN is covering the story in its “Politics” section where it quotes an anonymous source on Gore’s prospects.

But he will not run, because he won’t take on the political machine assembled by Sen. Hillary Clinton, said the source. If the senator from New York had faltered at all, Gore would take a serious look at entering the race, the source said. But Gore has calculated that Clinton is unstoppable, according to the source.

Enough already. At least Reuters took a better angle on the “prize as presidency potential” coverage of the award. They are looking at the honor through the lens of Gore’s last run, not any future ones.

While Gore has grown in international stature since his narrow election loss, Bush has seen his credibility damaged at home and abroad by the Iraq war and other foreign policy woes.

Like Gore’s been waiting until he could build his resume enough — say by winning a Nobel prize — to launch a campaign

He is struggling to stave off lame-duck status and stay relevant while increasingly hemmed in by a hostile Democratic majority in Congress. His inner circle is steadily eroding with almost weekly departures of key aides and advisers.

And the president’s public approval rating, which soared to 90 percent after the September 11 attacks in 2001, has sunk close to historic lows, with some polls putting it below 30 percent.

Around the world, Bush has won few friends with his stance on Gore’s signature issue — climate change.

At a White House-convened summit last month, some of the world’s biggest greenhouse polluters called Bush “isolated” and questioned his leadership on the problem of global warming.

I’m glad Gore won the Nobel prize but, selfishly perhaps, I would have preferred he won the White House back in 2000. What a different — and better — world it would be if he had.

Attention Larry Craig: It’s National Coming Out Day

Trish

Come out, come out, wherever you closeted Republican hypocrites are! Oct. 11 is National Coming Out Day, a time to resolve to live openly as you are. And, in the case of some Republican politicians, to quit trying to make homosexuality go away by legislating it out of existence.

You can even find help at www.comeout.org. There, you’ll get answers to such questions as “Does the Bible really say gay people go to hell?” “Can you turn me straight?” and “Does God make mistakes?” (Hint: all the answers are “no.”)

If only former New Jersey Republican Governor James E. McGreevey, former Florida Republican Representative Mark Foley, and former evangelist Reverend Ted Haggard had come out sooner, who knows how many wives, pages, and victims of homophobia would have been spared.

So come on, Larry, come out! And while we’re at it, let’s not forget to invite:

  • Former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed (yeah I know he’s married but let’s get real)
  • South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (not married but ditto on the get real part)
  • Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (labeled “My Old Kentucky Homo” by many in the state)
  • Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who owns a house with her long-time female “friend”)
  • Chief of Staff Josh Bolton (BFF with skank Bo Derrick — nuff said)

Who’d I miss?

NY Post’s Podhoretz: Thompson’s a Drag

Trish

It’s not a good time to be Fred Thompson. After his debate debut, which confirmed that his fire in the belly is most likely from too much fried food, many folks who hailed him as the next big thing for the GOP are proclaiming their disappointment.

The New York Post’s John Podhoretz drilled down to the problem. Fred’s depressing.

Podhoretz — These debates are mostly about the impressions they offer of the candidates, and the impression Thompson offered was: He’s old.

…these debates are mostly about the impressions they offer of the candidates, and the impression Thompson offered was: He’s old.

This has nothing to do with his age.

John McCain is six years older than Thompson but with the renewed enthusiasm he’s been showing lately, he looked and sounded five years younger.

And Rudy Giuliani is only two years younger than Thompson, but in offering yet another punchy performance, he seemed as though he were a member of a different, younger generation.

Thompson’s chief problem – the problem that reinforces the impression not that he’s full of enthusiasm at the prospect of leading the country but more that he’s ready for the Earlybird Special – is the world-weary mien he wears as he talks about the problems and difficulties facing the United States.

He’s not the crabby grandfather of the Ross Perot type who harangues you with one of those “in my day we worked for a living” speeches. That role is increasingly being filled by Ron Paul, the anti-war libertarian.

Thompson is more like the impressive and kindly elderly gentleman who’s just seen too much in his life to get all fired up, but when asked he will allow that things are going to hell in a handbasket and there’s not much we can do about it.

Maybe that’s why the pictures of him and his way younger second wife, especially the ones with their spawn, creep me out so much. The thought that anyone would want to get funky with that face, those liver-spotted lips, that…well, anyway. The point is, Fred’s no fun.

Democrats Stuck on Name for 48-State Strategy

Trish

What does the DNC do the day after the news that five Democrats (Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich) are so incensed about Michigan moving its primary up that they pulled their names off the state’s ballot?

If you guessed, “Um, they launch an idiotic campaign to win in all 50 states which, thanks to their own pigheaded bumbling by allowing no campaigning in two of the most populous states in the country, is so unrealistic and pie in the sky that they can’t even think of a name for it?” you’re right!

An email from one Tom McMahon at the DNC is pleading for my help — and yours too — to name their 2008 organizing plan. Finding a catchy title for this stillborn brainchild is paramount in the minds of our national leaders, so I am appealing to all of you loyal Pensito Reviewers out there to help. Please leave your suggestion here, and remember, “Take Your Heads Out of Your Ass Before It’s Too Late” is already taken.

Bush Bombshell: He Dislikes All the Candidates

Trish

Bush’s answer was so quick and so definitive that it was overlooked, coming two-thirds of the way through a long, rambling Q & A with a friendly group put together by the Lancaster County, Penn. Chamber of Commerce.

Question: Are you able at this point to support any of the presidential candidates coming up?

The President: No.

Q: After saying you’re still having fun, I have even more respect for you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Q: But my question is a little bit lighter, I guess. Two things. One, are you able at this point to support any of the presidential candidates coming up?

THE PRESIDENT: No.

Q: All right. (Laughter.) Then my next question. I have recently watched the interviews with your daughters, and you have to be very proud of them.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)

Q: I’m proud of my daughter. My question is, would you rather see your daughters go into business or politics?

THE PRESIDENT: I’d rather them do whatever they want to do…

And that was that. Bush never backed up and explained why he doesn’t support any of his party’s candidates, or elaborated on the subject in any way.

We knew the Republican candidates were distancing themselves from Bush. We didn’t know the feeling was mutual.

It will be interesting to see if that changes after a nominee is selected. I find it very hard to imagine that Bush/Cheney will refrain from supporting the Republican. Surely they know that after they leave the White House, someone’s bound to trip over a body or two left behind by their administration. Surely they’d rather that someone be a Republican.

His answer also explains why the Bush cash machine hasn’t cranked up. The Rangers are so far hanging on to the millions they made available in the last two presidential cycles, leaving Republicans lagging.

Combined, the top three Democratic contenders — Clinton, Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards — have raised nearly $190 million compared to the $121 million Romney, Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have raised.

What’s Your Walk Score?

Trish

No, it has nothing to do with heart-rate monitors. Your walk score is determined by analyzing your proximity to stores and services.

We help homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents find houses and apartments in great neighborhoods. Walk Score shows you a map of what’s nearby and calculates a Walk Score for any property. Buying a house in a walkable neighborhood is good for your health and good for the environment.

In my case, the results were a bit disappointing.

Despite the fact that I am about midway between a full-service grocery store and the main branch of the public library, my walk score was a weak 43 on a scale of 1 to 100. But when I clicked around the results screen a little, I noticed the grocery had disappeared, and a movie theater that is actually several miles from my side of town was shown on the next block. The popular sushi restaurant on the corner was listed as a catering service, while Arnold’s, the diviest dive bar I know, was featured prominently.

Maybe your results will be more accurate. Check it out and see how your address rates. If nothing else, you will see all the great reasons you have to walk instead of driving. Unless you’re trying to catch a movie. In that case, you’ll definitely want to crank up the roadster.