Category: Politics

Topic Header

First Lady Dress Faux Pas

Jon Ponder

The Bush era’s “Walmart-ification” of America was symbolized at a White House reception last Sunday, December 3, 2006, for the Kennedy Center Honors gala event, when First Lady Laura Bush and three other women showed up wearing the same dress:

With guests in the spotlight at the exclusive White House receptions that go with the ceremony, the designer gowns are always scrutinized. And on Sunday, four women at the reception wore the exact same $8,500 Oscar de la Renta dress, Mrs. Bush among them.

Letitia Baldridge, Jacqueline Kennedy’s chief of staff and White House social secretary, says the gown was beautiful, but oh, what a faux pas!

“They all should have congratulated one another on their good taste and the fact that they could afford the dress. … Jacqueline Kennedy, when she was first lady, made sure, and her couturiers made sure, that nobody else wore that dress that season.”

Laura Bush is no Jackie Kennedy, that’s for sure.

Rightwing Propaganda That No ISG Members Served in Military Is a Lie

Jon Ponder

The rightwing noise machine doesn’t like the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group because it repudiates their Dear Leader. One complaint the lying liars are bandying about is that none of the groups’ members served in the military. In fact, among the Democrats, two were uniformed officers and a third served as secretary of defense. The GOP chairmain, James Baker, also served.

Democrats:

• Former Rep. Lee Hamiltion did not serve in the military.
• Vernon Jordan did not serve.
• Former Clinton chief of staff and congressman from California Leon Panetta:

In 1964 he joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant. There he received the Army Commendation Medal, and was discharged in 1966 as a Captain.

• Chuck Robb, former Democratic senator and governor of Virginia, was a Marine:

A Marine Corps veteran who finished first in his class at Quantico, Robb became a White House Honor Guard. It was there that he met and eventually married Lynda Johnson, the daughter of former U.S. President, Lyndon B. Johnson. Robb went on to serve two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he led a rifle company in combat, and was awarded the Bronze Star. After the war he attended the University of Virginia Law school earning a LL.D. in 1973, and following a federal judicial clerkship he entered private practice.

• William Perry served as Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1997.

Republicans:

• Former Sec. of State James Baker:

He … served in the United States Marine Corps for two years as a lieutenant.

• Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor did not serve.
• Former Secretary of State (for 10 minutes) Lawrence Eagleburger did not serve.
• Authoritarian former Attorney General Edwin Meese did not serve.
• Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson did not serve.

Mitt Romney’s Great-Grandfather Had Five Wives

Jon Ponder
The fact that Romney had (at least) eight great-grandmothers — traditionalists believe you should only have four, tops — and yet still makes opposition to nontraditional marriage a cornerstone of his politics says it all: What an asshole.

In his run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has made it clear that he’ll do or say whatever it takes to appeal to his party’s Troglodyte base.

He has flip-flopped on key social issues including abortion and gay rights, both of which he supported when he ran for governor in 2001 — and both of which he did 180s on, after he was elected.

When Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages in 2004, Gov. Romney made a name for himself in national conservative circles as a champion of traditional marriage by rabidly opposing legalization every step of the way as it moved through the legislature and the courts.

But in 2008, Romney will face a challenge among cave dwelling primary voters: He’s a Mormon, a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, which many evangelical types consider to be a satanic polygamist cult.

But hold onto your hat — not only is Mitt Romney a member of the LDS, his great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, had five wives. That’s two more than Bill Paxton has on “Big Love.”

The Mormons de-legitimized polygamy in 1890, and its leaders repudiate it now. But the folks in the Christian right never let facts get in the way of their judgementalism, so it will be interesting to see if they’ll slough off Romney’s exremely nontraditional heritage, or whether they’ll regard him as a freak. (Bet on “freak.”)

For the rest of us, the fact that Romney had (at least) eight great-grandmothers — traditionalists believe you should only have four, tops — and yet still makes opposition to nontraditional marriage a cornerstone of his politics says it all: What an asshole.

Mitt Romney will never be president, and I, for one, look forward to his tearful concession speech on primary night in South Carolina, after the Trogs have passed him over for St. McCain.

WaPo Says Iraq Report Is ‘Repudiation’ of Bush, Neo-Con Policies

Jon Ponder
This is where George W. Bush has led the United States, to a choice between alternatives that are (paraphrasing Paul Krugman) “truly awful” and “much worse than that.”

Iraq and a hard place: Listening to the newsers’ chatter about the report released by the Iraq Study Group yesterday, two things are apparent: Experts on all sides of the war have found a lot to criticize about the group’s suggestions for extricating the United States out of Iraq, — but no one (outside the White House) disagrees with their finding that the source of the problem is gross incompetence on the part of the Bush Administration and its neo-con advisers.

The Wasington Post’s front page story, titled “The Realists’ Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region,” sums up the bitch slap delivered by the gray beards to the Bush Administration about its incompetent management of what has become the Iraq Civil War:

From the very first page, in which co-chairmen James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton scold that “our leaders must be candid and forthright with the American people,” the bipartisan report is nothing less than a repudiation of the Bush administration’s diplomatic and military approach to Iraq and to the whole region…

Overall, it strongly suggests that Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have bungled diplomacy in the region with unrealistic objectives and narrow strategies.

And:

The report’s description of the violence in Iraq, which amounts to an attack on the administration’s understanding of the facts on the ground, will likely set the new baseline for how the Iraq conflict is portrayed.

“The ability of the United States to influence events within Iraq is diminishing,” the report warns.

The reason no one likes the ISG’s proposals for getting out of Iraq is that there is no way out that doesn’t risk the lives of thousands more innocent people.

A quick extraction is not possible. There are too many of our people there — not just the 100,000-plus military personnel but maybe another 100,000 civilian aid workers and private-sector contractors, plus the media. Evacuating these people would takes weeks, during which the they would be vulnerable as the level of violence among the insurgents escalates.

This is where George W. Bush has led the United States, to a choice between alternatives that are (paraphrasing Paul Krugman) “truly awful” and “much worse than that.”

On This Date – December 7

Jon Ponder
  • 2004 – In Iraq, a soldier who was shot dead on patrol in Baghdad became the 1,000th U.S. military fatality since the invasion began on March 19, 2003. [Guardian]
  • 1999 – The school board in Orange, California, voted 7-0 to reject an application from students at El Modena High School to form a gay/straight alliance. [365Gay]
  • 1993 – The Long Island Rail Road Massacre: Colin Ferguson opened fire on a crowded commuter train, killing six people and injuring 19. [Wiki]
  • 1982 – In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the US. [Wiki]
  • 1973 – The Nixon White House could not explain why there was an 18-minute gap in a tape recording from a device in the Oval Office. Chief of Staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that “some sinister force” erased the segment. [Washington Post]
  • 1941 – World War II: Attack On Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the US Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. [Wiki]
  • 1836 – Martin Van Buren, a New York City lawyer is elected President of the United States. [VS]

State May Hate Crippled Boy, But Floridians Show Their Love

Buck Banks

Warm fuzzies: We reported yesterday that the state of Florida had actually gone to court — spending thousands of dollars — to deny Kevin Estinfil, a severely disabled 12-year-old $360 for thermal blankets his caretakers say he needs to maintain his health and comfort. The media coverage of Kevin’s plight brought forth an outpouring of money — and shame.

Crist said he was not aware of the litigation until he read about it Wednesday in The Miami Herald.

Floridians across the state opened their checkbooks Wednesday, including Gov.-elect Charlie Crist. Of course, it was Crist’s attorney general’s office that was fighting in court to deny the boy $360 a year for the blankets. In an admission of cluelessness that hearkens back to the heyday of Ronald Reagan — and one that seems sure to be a hallmark of his tenure as Florida’s governor — Crist said he was not aware of the litigation until he read about it Wednesday in The Miami Herald.

Crist said he ordered an immediate halt to the attorney general’s office’s role in the case, calling the legal fight “unconscionable.” Sorry, Charlie, but we think its unconscionable that you were not aware of what your office was doing (Big Sugar, take notes!), but thanks for ponying up a $360 check for another year’s worth of blankets for Kevin. Fell better now?

Of course, that still doesn’t resolve the $248 for surgical masks for Kevin’s caretakers the state still won’t pay for. Hey Charlie, why not reach for your checkbook while it’s still warm, or, better yet, why not call for an investigation of how such health-care travesties happen in Florida.

Two GOP Senate Nutcases Vote Against Gates

Jon Ponder

Gates was approved 95-2.

Former CIA Director Robert Gates was approved by the Senate this afternoon to become Pres. Bush’s next secretary of defense. The vote was 95-2, with every Democrat from the 109th Congress, and all but two of the outgoing majority members, voting in favor:

Two GOP senators, Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, voted against Gates. Santorum … said in a floor speech that he found fault with Gates’s support for diplomatic engagement with Iran as part of a regional solution to the crisis in Iraq.

The rationale for Bunning’s vote was unclear as of press time, but he has voted against high-profile Bush nominees in recent months, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Sen. Bunning’s inexplicable vote is actually in character. He is apparently senile. Sen. Santorum lost his reelection bid and won’t be back for the 110th.

Webb-Bush Contretemps: What Would JFK Do?

Jon Ponder

Now that St. McCain has revealed his true colors as a do-anything-say-anything-to-get-elected pol, some are suggesting that Sen.-Elect Jim Webb be the real straight talker, especially after his unpleasant encounter with the president last month:

This strange interlude at the White House, when Bush asked Webb about his son in Iraq, Webb said he wants to bring the troops home, and Bush barked: “I didn’t ask you that” says a lot about Bush and Webb.

Jim Webb has vast and enormous experience in military combat and military policy over the decades. Why on earth didn’t Bush pull him aside and ask his private counsel? Not only does Webb know far more than Bush about real wars and not only does Webb have an infinitely better record than Bush being right about this war, but Webb probably could have given some serious insight about what his son tells him from the ground.

But the Decider has already Decided.

My guess is, what JFK would have done, is invite Webb to the Oval Office, and while they were sitting in the Oval Office would have called the son in real time and asked: what the hell is going on over there? What do you think we should do?

But just like McCain is no Webb, Bush is no JFK.

Spending Explodes as New Florida Repub$ Take Over

Trish

Incoming Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) is practically throwing taxpayer dollars from the back seat of the Hummer limo.

The new speaker of the Florida House, a self-described fiscal conservative, now employs the highest-paid spokesman in state government, adding to a growing list of staffers drawing six-figure paychecks.

“These fiscal conservative Republicans are spending money like drunken sailors,” said Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach

Rep. Marco Rubio’s press secretary, Jose Fuentes, is getting an annual salary of $119,484.

That’s $23,000 more than Gov. Jeb Bush’s communications director, and just $9,500 less than the governor himself…

The Miami Republican has hired a $10,000-a-month financial consultant, former Bush adviser Donna Arduin, given a $100,000-a-year job to former Republican lawmaker Ken Sorensen and created a parliamentarian position that pays $133,908.

Rubio has given jobs to a number of longtime government workers who might otherwise be unemployed with the departure of Bush. Many are paid more than $100,000 a year…

Expanding the payroll is only the beginning. Rubio thinks it’s time for a little remodeling also.

A $550,000 revamp of the Florida House ordered by House Speaker Marco Rubio includes a members-only dining room, a first for the Capitol building…

The building now has a cafeteria in the basement and a snack bar on the 10th floor, both of which are open to the public. The new dining room…has its own kitchen and a plasma TV on the wall…

The irony of this profligate spending isn’t lost on everyone, however.

“These fiscal conservative Republicans are spending money like drunken sailors,” said Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach.

But it’s all for the good of the citizenry, Rubio asserts.

Rubio did not talk with a reporter Tuesday, issuing a statement instead.

“…we felt we had to provide our members with the most talented and experienced staff possible. Attracting such talent often requires paying salaries competitive with the private sector.”

He’s got us there. Parliamentarians probably make, like, a real lot in the private sector.

Another 1990s Sitcom Star Apologizes for Using ‘N-Word’

Jon Ponder

The most racist region of America may actually be TV Land.

Now Andy Dick has apologized for using the “N-word” on the stage of the West Hollywood Improv Saturday night, December 2, 2006:

According to sources, the hopped-up comedian hopped onstage … at L.A.’s Improv comedy club and dropped the n-bomb on a room full of stunned clubgoers.

Andy was heckling comedian Ian Bagg during his routine, when Dick allegedly got out of his seat, jumped onstage and began joking with Bagg. The subject of Michael Richards came up, but the two comics quickly moved past it. As Dick exited the stage, he suddenly grabbed the mic and shouted at the crowd, “You’re all a bunch of niggers!”

Apparently, Dick, who starred in the 1990s sitcom “News Radio” felt bad after he sobered up:

“I chose to make a joke about a subject that is not funny,” the statement said. “In an attempt to make light of a serious subject, I have offended a lot of people, and I am sorry for my insensitivity. I wish to apologize to Ian, to the club and its patrons and to anyone who was hurt or offended by my remark.”