Category: News & Comment

What the Poodle Knew

Jon Ponder

As one who never bought the Bushies’ hogwash in the run-up to the war in Iraq, the only piece of the puzzle that made me doubt my instincts that the Bush team – Bush, Cheney, Powell and Rice – were simply lying about the reasons the reasons for going to war was the strange case of the whole-hearted support they received from British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He’d seemed a like sensible guy during the Clinton years – almost a Britsh version of President Clinton, sharing the same ability to state his case convincingly and to connect with his audience. How could this apparently otherwise savvy politician buy into the lies, so much so that he was dubbed “Bush’s Poodle” in the British press?

I still can’t answer that one. But now it is clear he went farther than simply buying into the lies:

The Prime Minister was warned it could be illegal for Britain to attack Iraq. Not liking the advice from his lawyers, he pretended that advice was different in public, and persuaded them to change it in private.

We can add this noxious fact to the others we already knew. He lied about a non-existent threat to this country from Saddam Hussein. He lied about weapons of mass destruction which were not there.

And it is clear from all that has happened since this unwise adventure that life for most Iraqis is actually worse as a result, not better as he claimed it would be and still pretends that it is.

It is difficult to imagine a more wretched catalogue of falsehood and incompetence – exposing our soldiers to possible prosecution, debasing the parliamentary process, suborning the intelligence services so that they became propaganda agencies, bullying civil servants into bending the truth, then spending billions on false pretences and, above all, bringing about the deaths of innocent civilians and of British servicemen.

Yet here we are in the midst of an Election, and the man responsible, incredibly, is ahead in the polls and likely to cruise to a third successive victory.

Welcome to our world, mate!

Jeb Has Conscience, But Still No Reflection in Mirrors

Trish

Jeb’s looking presidential again. He went to Rome to attend the pope’s inauguration.

Reuters:

Bush, who converted to Catholicism to share the faith of his Mexican-born wife Columba, will lead the U.S. delegation to the inauguration of Pope Benedict on Sunday on behalf of President Bush.

Why do they say “Mexican-born?” Why don’t they just say, “Mexican?” They make it sound as if Florida’s first lady’s parents were on a Mayan cruise when she was born.

And BTW, does Florida pay for this stuff, or the federal government? Can we take it out of the 2008 Republican campaign fund?

Anyway, Jeb admitted to a passing twinge when the last pope slammed Bush-family methods.

Whether it is the war in Iraq or the death penalty, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he is given “pause” when the policies he and his brother support run against the views of the Roman Catholic Church.

“I get uneasy when the Vatican writes me letters when a death penalty case is about ready to take place in Florida. I’ll be honest with you, that gives me pause. It makes me pray harder,” Bush told reporters in Rome on Saturday.

“But having said that, I think the president’s decision (on Iraq) was the right one,” he added…

Good background info:

Pope John Paul, who died on April 2, sought in vain to avert the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and was a stern and vocal opponent of capital punishment.

Jeb Bush considered postponing an execution earlier this month until after John Paul’s funeral on April 8…

President Bush oversaw the most executions of any U.S. governor in modern history when he was governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. Texas executed 152 people.

The Republican party receives strong support from Christian conservatives and is often allied with the Catholic Church on divisive issues like abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage and euthanasia.

I wonder if Neil Bush was there to see his old pal be sworn in (if that’s what it’s called)? New York Newsday recently reported the two go way back.

Neil Bush, the president’s controversial younger brother, six years ago joined the cardinal who this week became Pope Benedict XVI as a founding board member of a little known Swiss ecumenical foundation.

The charter members of the board were all well-known international religious figures, except for Bush and his close friend and business partner, Jamal Daniel, whose family has extensive holdings in the United States and Switzerland, public records show…

Besides then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, founding board members included Rene-Samuel Sirat, the former chief rabbi of France; Jordan’s Prince Hassan, a Muslim dedicated to religious dialogue; the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, another prominent Muslim; Olivier Fatio, director of the Institute of the History of the Reformation; and foundation president Metropolitan Damaskinos, a Greek Orthodox leader.

Gary Vachicouras, a theologian and foundation official in Geneva, would not explain in a telephone interview yesterday why Bush, who has no clear public connection to religious causes, was on the first board.

Probably wants to bring moral values to the world. After all, Neil is a shining example for us all.

In his highly publicized divorce last year, Bush revealed he and Daniel are co-chairs of Texas-based Crest Investment Co., which pays him $60,000 a year for consulting. Recently, Crest Investment officials used Bush’s name as a reference in cutting an exclusive deal with Texas officials on construction of a liquid natural gas storage facility that will guarantee Crest payments of at least $2 million a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the divorce proceedings, Bush also revealed that while he was in a hotel in Asia, women on at least three occasions came into his room and had sex with him. Daniel hosted Bush’s second wedding at his home.

Sex Offenders Get Life Whether They Know It or Not

Trish

When did we as a society and individuals become a lynch mob? A very sad case in Florida shows what happens when hysteria over recent child killings by sex offenders takes on a life of its own.

Southwest Florida Herald-Tribune:

A convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs posted in his neighborhood calling him a “child rapist.”

Clovis Ivan Claxton was found dead by his father Thursday with one of the signs beside his body, less than a day after his release from a psychiatric hospital.

Like 75-year DUI records and throw-away-the-key sentences for non-violent drug violations, laws to brand sex offenders forever seem terrific on paper. Supporting them is also a winner on a politician’s campaign resume. But in real life…

Bright yellow, laminated signs displaying Claxton’s picture, date of birth, address and the words “child rapist” appeared earlier this week on utility poles in his neighborhood after a county commissioner proposed posting such information in the community. The sheriff rejected the idea…

After seeing the signs, Claxton, 38, told the sheriff’s office that he felt “extremely scared and feels that people in the neighborhood are now out to possibly hurt him.”

When he threatened suicide, he was involuntarily committed to the mental health hospital Tuesday and released the next day.

Well, good riddance, right? That’s what he gets for doing whatever he did. Ah, if only life were so simple.

Claxton was convicted in Washington state in 1991 of molesting a 9-year-old girl. He was 20 at the time, but his mother said he was developmentally much younger due to a brain injury.

Sounds like Clovis wasn’t much of a threat, especially after 18 years without a single incident of recidivism.

Jane Claxton blames County Commissioner Randy Harris, who proposed the flyers, for her son’s death…

She said her son required constant care and recently relied on leg braces and a wheelchair.

“He hasn’t been in trouble for 18 years, and he’s branded for life,” she said.

So does the county commissioner with the bright idea have any remorse? Nah.

Harris said sex offenders need to take responsibility for their actions.

“I don’t blame his death to the signs,” he said…

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation movement says that even the worst sinner can be redeemed, after owning past mistakes. Focusing on restorative, not retributive justice, changes lives. Clovis Claxton was doing everything right but he was still considered by an ignorant community deserving of threats and harassment.

Today, Florida’s Senate unanimously passed the Jessica Lunsford Act. It provides a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 25 years to life for people who molest children under 12. Any offender released from prison must wear an electronic monitor for life. And since life is so simple, so black and white, who could be against that?

Worthless Mel Strikes Out Again

Trish

One of the things that probably kept Florida’s new senator, Mel Martinez, too busy to notice his staff writing memos was his vote to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He claimed he sold out Alaska in order to save Florida, but the state’s other senator, Bill Nelson, scoffed and said all Mel did was take credit for protection that was set to expire anyway.

Nelson continues trying to get real preservation.

Southwest Florida News-Press:

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Melbourne, sent a tersely worded letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Thursday…

In the letter, Nelson complained that Norton failed to respond to a previous request from him and that her staff had been dismissive of his inquiries.

“I’m surprised you haven’t responded directly, and that your staff seems to feel it would be a waste of our time to discuss the issue before you make your decision,” Nelson wrote.

Nelson wants Norton to say that a large chunk of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, south of Pensacola and west of Tampa, will be included in the moratorium on new drilling off the Florida coast that expires in 2012.

But wait a minute, didn’t Mel already bag that?

Triggering Nelson’s concern are recent media accounts that reported the Interior Department plans to include the area in the comprehensive five-year oil and gas leasing program that covers 2007 to 2012.

“They are starting to develop the leasing plan now,” said Mark Ferrulo, director of Florida PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), which for years led opposition to drilling off Florida’s coast.

The issue is being raised as Congress attempts to craft an energy bill which includes nothing about conservation but plenty of tax breaks for the energy industry. South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

The House voted to dispense billions of dollars of tax breaks for energy producers, rejected new standards for fuel efficiency and approved relatively few incentives to develop alternative energy sources. One of the most controversial provisions would shelter from liability the makers of a gasoline additive that is polluting water supplies…

The bill would provide $8.1 billion of tax breaks over 10 years, mostly for oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear industries. It also calls for $2 billion to fund research into oil and gas recovery in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida Democrats Kick Like…Donkeys

Trish

More signs of life from Florida Democratics, whose House members continue to challenge Republican-sponsored attempts to shut voters out of the state constitution. From their press release today:

Driven by their purported desire to “rescue the voters” by restricting a citizen’s right to participate in their government, the Republican-led Florida House of Representatives rejected a proposal by three House Democrats that would have allowed everyday voters to amend state law.

“The legislature is trying to close the door in voters’ faces by making it harder to amend the constitution,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Dania Beach) said…

The Republican drive to restrict a voter’s ability to change their own government stems from their belief that “the people of Florida need us [the legislature] to rescue them.” These words, uttered by State Representative Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) at a Judiciary Committee meeting in January, illustrate a belief by some Republicans that the legislature is better informed than everyday people to make decisions about the state’s future.

“We are building a moat around the Capitol and drawing up the bridges,” said Rep. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach). “It’s like some are saying that democracy would be a whole lot easier without the voice of the people.”

Recruitment Blues

Trish

It must be hard to make the Army sound appealing these days. At least, that’s what some top ad agencies so rudely found out today.

AdAge.com:

In a blow to six agencies that have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to pitch the U.S. Army for its advertising account, the government today canceled the long-running review…

The government had originally intended to announce a review winner last December, but decided to delay the award for six months. Executives familiar with the matter said the Army today told agenices that “at this time, Government anticipates re-soliciting for the ‘U.S. Army Recruiting and Advertising’ program,” in a fax distributed to the contenders…

Calls to the Army were not returned at press time.

A review, as you probably gather, is when a client invites several agencies, usually including the one they’ve already got, to take a fresh shot at things. Yours truly, and most freelancers, avoid such shenanigans, in which agencies give up their best ideas on spec.

Anyway, it’s interesting that some of the biggest names in the biz (the article goes on to list them) couldn’t come up with anything the Army thought would help them. Maybe it goes back to the old truism that even a great ad can’t sell a bad product.

Message Point: If Being Gay Is a ‘Choice,’ Ergo Heterosexuality Is a Choice Too

Jon Ponder

Wingnuts like Lou Sheldon (right), chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, and the reverends Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and their ilk must cast gayness as a “choice” in order to prevent same-sex orientation from being considered “natural,” which would make gay people worthy of protection under civil rights laws. (Thus ending one of their most lucrative fundraising hot buttons.)

Many years ago, the best response our side could come up with to charges that we “chose” to be gay was – Who would choose to be part of a hated underclass – a societal pariah?Although there is truth to this, it conjures up the very sociological paradigm we’re trying to move past.

The fact is, nobody chooses their sexuality. Some people are born with a predeliction to be 100% straight; others are born definitely gay. What muddies the water – especially for rigid-minded, unworldly folks like Evangelicals who can only see the world in black or white – is that there’s a third group of people whose sexuality is more fluid. These people experiment in college but usually settle down, one way or the other. In this sense, bisexuals can, and do, “choose” their sexual preference.

But here’s the point: If gay people “choose” their sexuality – and presumably this happens at some point during adolesence – then it stands to reason that straight people must make a choice during their teen years too.

So here are some open question to Lou Sheldon: Sir, would you please tell us about the moment in your life when you chose to be heterosexual? What sort of introspection led up to this decision? Was it a difficult choice? And how many sexual encounters with other males did you have before you decided to be straight?

(Of course, this assumes that Sheldon is, in fact, straight. His effeminate, even mincing behavior has set off more than a few gaydar detectors over the years. And the record is now replete with self-loathing gays in the Republican ranks – Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, Rep. Mark Foley, Rep. David Dreier, and Gop operative Arthur Finklestein, just to name a few.)

Schwarzenegger Meltdown Continues – Top Dem Ally Brought in

Jon Ponder

Today’s Los Angeles Times – front page, above the fold – has a story titled “Schwarzenegger’s Top Ally Steps In.” The “ally” is, of course, Gov. Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, shown at right consorting with the enemy at last year’s Republican convention.

The Schwarzenegger regime (the Times refers them as his “senior staff” and “campaign team” ) is roiling from what insiders describe as a “dysfunctional” atomsphere and a “civil war” within its upper ranks.

Schwarzenegger is facing infighting among his senior staff and campaign team, which has contributed to a series of political missteps that threaten the once soaring governor’s ambitious agenda, more than a dozen aides and lawmakers said Thursday.

“More than a dozen” aides were quoted?! When that many people are talking with reporters, I think the term “meltdown” is accurate for what’s going on in the Governor’s office.

One sign of the governor’s troubles is the active involvement of his wife, Maria Shriver. The first lady is conferring with consultants to refine the governor’s message and working to ensure that her husband hears a broader range of voices.

Begs the question: Why? If we’re to believe Maria’s various quasi-patronizing quotes over the years about her husband’s right-leaning politics then we can assume that underneath her journalistic objectivity she’s still a Kennedy-style liberal.

Since she’s constantly stepping in to help Arnold out of political jams, further analysis would bring us to the conclusion that whatever her political beliefs are, she’s laying them aside in order to help her husband – and thereby the enemies of liberalism and its tenets of freedom, fair play, privacy and integrity -in the Republican Party. Shriver wades into these frays inside the GOP without batting a lash. This makes her a collaborator of the first order. Beyond that, whatever journalistic bona fides she may have had are forever compromised by these political activities.

Flipping it around, you also have to wonder why the Gop operatives around Arnold – like Mike Murphy, for just one example – would be comfortable having a Kennedy within the inner circle.

But back to the Governor’s problems:

Schwarzenegger is reeling after successive policy reversals, gaffes and clashes with well-organized opponents have deflated his once-buoyant approval ratings. The latest setback came this week when he told a newspaper publishers association that the United States should “close its borders.” He later apologized, explaining that he misspoke because of his imperfect command of English.

Who are you reminded of when you hear the excuse that Arnold’s “imperfect command of English” caused the gaffe?

If this were happening in, say, April 2006, as Arnold’s campaign for re-election was gearing up, I’d say there was genuine hope that he could be defeated. But, as I noted in a previous rant, Schwarzenegger can communicate with Calfornia voters via a megaphone that no other politician in the state can acces: He can go over the heads of the California television news – which doesn’t cover politics anyway – and go on Oprah, Access Hollywood or other national entertainment outlets – which most Californias do watch. This is how he got elected last time, and it’s almost undoubtedly how he’ll do it next year.

In fact, Shriver is already doing it:

Several people familiar with the governor’s office described Shriver as very “unhappy” and “frustrated” over her husband’s fortunes. Shriver, the niece of former president John F. Kennedy who has intervened before when her husband’s political interests were in jeopardy, is using a national tour promoting her new self-help book for teenage girls to defend her husband, making her case with administration talking points.

Media Matters Answers Murdoch’s Challenge to Prove Fox News is Biased

Jon Ponder

TVNewser:

In a letter to Rupert Murdoch today, MediaMatters president David Brock, right, responds to the News Corp chairman’s challenge to “show Fox News has any bias in it.” Brock links to MM’s database of Fox News Channel items, and says: “Because we suspect your challenge was rhetorical, rather than a reflection of a sincere desire to assess Fox News’ ‘balance,’ I suggest submitting these examples to a mutually-agreed-upon panel for review. Let’s let a neutral body, rather than the CEO of Fox News’ parent company, decide if Fox News ‘has any bias in it.'”

In case you missed it, Rupert’s challenge is here.

Could Arnold Be the 1-Term-inator?

Jon Ponder

LA Weekly columnist Bill Bradley (who is not the Bill Bradley, former presidential candidate) looks at the buzz in California politics nowadays that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, may be vulnerable in next year’s gubernatorial elections.

Arnold Schwarzenegger could well be a one-term governor. Unbelievable as that seemed at the beginning of the year, which the action superstar entered as arguably the most popular governor in California history, it may end up that way…

Schwarzenegger’s proclaimed “Year of Reform” — intended to capture the national political spotlight in this normally off year — has turned into his year of living dangerously. In a few months, depending on the poll, he has lost a quarter, perhaps as much as a third, of his popularity. And his ballyhooed initiatives are falling like dominoes. Meanwhile, strategist Mike Murphy is said to be telling Schwarzenegger that things are fine.

Facing a firestorm of opposition, he has already had to drop his fatally flawed public-pension initiative. He will soon drop his initiatives on merit pay for teachers and lengthening the time it takes for a teacher to achieve tenure, now only two years. Like pension reform, merit pay was ill-conceived, and Schwarzenegger has already compromised his way from a 10-year service requirement for tenure down to five years; the Democrats want four years. No need for an initiative there.

The central problem the Governor has, frankly, is that he and his administration have accomplished very little during their time in office except for borrowing billions of dollars (which, by the way, was the solution to the budget crisis that Schwarzenegger campaigned against during the Recall election) and a series of gaffes.

In particular, the only headlines made by former LA Mayor Richard Riordan, who leads the governor’s education department, were generated when he bizarrely insulted a young girl during a photo avail. “…Riordan told a child at a reading-promotion event in Santa Barbara that her name [Isis] meant ‘stupid, dirty girl,’ then told the shocked crowd that he was joking. Riordan is expected to leave his post in the near future. ”

Things have gotten bad inside the Schwarzenegger camp too.

A telling scene came last week at a strange little event at the Capitol. Billed as a “Thank You, Arnold” rally, heavily promoted with blast e-mails, robocalls and talk radio, it was a complete bust. A mere 100 supporters turned up to see the strange duo of Hollywood libertine Tom Arnold (the comedian who was Schwarzenegger’s sidekick in True Lies) and abstemious conservative 2003 gubernatorial candidate Tom McClintock.

Looking as if they could scarcely believe their great good fortune, three of Schwarzenegger’s chief Democratic tormentors, Salazar, Steve Maviglio and Bob Mulholland, converged on the L.A. Weekly as the little rally reached its desultory end. “This is really happening,” said Salazar with a note of wonderment. “We shouldn’t compromise with this guy at all,” declared Mulholland. “We don’t have to.”

Warren BeattyEven Arnold’s Hollywood friends are turning on him.

“He’s operating as governor like he is in one of his movies,” notes Warren Beatty, right. Despite his long, friendly relationship with Schwarzenegger, who has cited the actor/director as a role model in learning how to control his Hollywood career, Beatty — whose buddy Jack Nicholson arranged coaching for Schwarzenegger when he was trying to break into movies — has broken the Hollywood superstar code of silence and is criticizing the governor. Shortly after a dinner at Schwarzenegger’s home, Beatty gave a widely noted speech last month at a fund-raiser for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a persistent Arnold antagonist, but turned down an invitation to speak at the Democratic convention because he didn’t want to look like he’s running for governor.

“This is an Arnold picture,” says Oscar-winner Beatty. “Superman walks in the room, and shit happens. That can be pretty spectacular. As long as all the characters follow the script. But this isn’t a movie.”