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At Picnic, Bush Tells New Orleans Jazz Musician to ‘Pick Up Trash’ After Performance

Jon Ponder

At the annual congressional picnic yesterday, Pres. George Bush, addressing the crowd of 1,500, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggested that the African American musicians performing for the event should earn their keep after they performed:

THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)

MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over. (Laughter.)

Via Eric Alterman at Media Matters.

Lowering the Bloom — On the GOP

Buck Banks

Political analyst Craig Crawford says that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s noisy exit from the Republican Party and foray into the ranks of political independence helps the Democrats and harms the Repugs:

Even though he was once a Democrat and despite his liberal social views, Bloomberg more naturally appeals to those Republicans who are iffy on social matters but who tend to admire a wealthy businessmen who runs government like a CEO (which he also once was).

What little polling data exists right now suggests a break toward Democrats. For instance, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York nets an across-the-board gain of three percentage points in a 3-way matchup against Bloomberg and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani done this month by SurveyUSA in battleground states. A Bloomberg candidacy boosts Clinton’s net margin in 10 of the 15 states surveyed, while giving Giuliani a bump in only three and producing no change in two.

The Bloomberg assist to Clinton is most evident in Southern and border states. Missouri actually flips from a Giuliani lead to a Clinton lead if Bloomberg is in the mix. And in Kentucky – one of the few Southern states that the Clinton campaign intends to target – the Bloomberg factor tightens a Giuliani lead to a dead heat between he and Clinton.

While a slew of new polls will surely test other matchups, expect the Bloomberg spoiler effect to narrowly benefit Democrats.

Bloomberg had better run for something and win because he’s quickly running out of potential party affiliations. Forget the Greens, maybe the Libertarians and there’s always the World Socialist Party of the United States or the National Nihilist Party, if he gets really desperate.

L.A. City Attorney’s Publicity-Seeking in Paris Hilton Case Wrecks Promising Political Career

Jon Ponder
L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo

Crash and burn: Nothing compelled Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to join the fray in objecting to Paris Hilton’s early release from the county jail earlier this month.

Judge Michael Sauer, whose sentence was curtailed by the decision to let Hilton serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, called a hearing into the matter and had it under control.

But Delgadillo (“Del-gah-dee-yo”) weighed in for no reason other than to cash in on the national publicity around the case.

Now it appears inserting himself into the Hilton case may have permanently sidelined his ambitions for higher office. Here are headlines from this month in the Los Angeles Times that tell the story:

Delgadillo has had his eye on higher office. Last year, he ran for California State Treasurer in the Democratic primary, losing to former Gov. Jerry Brown, who went on to win the general. Now he’ll be lucky to keep his job through the next city elections.

It didn’t have to be. For one thing, if Hilton had been a regular non-celebutante citizen, she would have spent zero minutes in jail, according to L.A. County Sheriff Lee, the man in charge of the jails here.

If you doubt it, watch this video of Baca saying Hilton would not have gone to jail if she were a non-celebrity. (Starts at 04:18.)

Poll: Bush Approval Remains Amazingly High at 26%

Jon Ponder

Pres. George Bush scored his lowest approval number yet in the latest Newsweek poll. Now only 26 percent of Americans say the think he’s doing a good job.

The only true revelation here, of course, is that 26 percent of our fellow Americans are delusional, by which I mean, “Republican.” Nearly two-thirds of Republicans still cling to the illusion that Bush is competent, according to the poll.

Cheney Claims to Be Above the Law – Literally

Jon Ponder

Rogue Vice President Who Exposed CIA Agent’s Secret Identity Now Refuses Security Oversight That Protects State Secrets

Just when you think you’ve run out of capacity for outrage, comes this:

So does this mean Cheney can’t claim executive privilege?

For the last four years, Vice President Dick Cheney has made the controversial claim that his office is not fully part of the Bush administration in order to exempt it from a presidential order regulating federal agencies’ handling of classified national security information, officials said Thursday.

Investigators for the House government oversight committee revealed yesterday that Cheney’s office has refused to allow the National Archives security unit to conduct mandatory inspections to ensure that sensitive materials were being handled properly.

According to Cheney, he is exempt from security oversight because the vice president has two functions, one in the Executive Branch and in the Legislative Branch, where he serves as president of the Senate.

Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the House committee, also said Cheney tried to have the inspectors’ department — the National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office — abolished because it tried repeatedly to force the vice president to comply with the regulations.

On one hand, this really shouldn’t be surprising since it was Vice President Cheney who orchestrated the traitorous campaign to reveal the identity of U.S. secret agent Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent who was tracking black-market sales of weapons of mass destruction.

The final irony is that the compliance is part of a presidential directive established 30 years ago and then amended by Pres. George W. Bush in 2003.

So does this mean Cheney can’t claim executive privilege?

H/t: Thomas Kent

Study: Firstborns Are Smarter

Jon Ponder

Of course they are:

Wading into an age-old debate, researchers have found that firstborn children are smarter than their siblings — and the reason is not genetics, but the way their parents treat them, according to a study published today.

The study of 240,000 Norwegian men in the journal Science found the IQs of firstborns were 2 to 3 points higher than that of younger siblings. (The average IQ is 100.)

Though that may not sound like a lot, experts said even a few IQ points could make a big difference over the course of a lifetime — and set firstborns on a trajectory for success.

An informal poll of the editorial staff at Pensito Review found that Buck and I are firstborns, while Trish, the smart one, is not. However, our results may be skewed by the fact that none of us are Norwegian.

Republican Mom Leaves Party to End Stop Loss

Trish

Blogger and lawyer Suzanne Miller with her son, Army Specialist Matthew “Cory” Beard

Michael Bloomberg isn’t the only one discarding the Republican party. A war mom who twice voted for Bush but defines his “stop loss” policy as indentured servitude has also left their ranks.

If, like me, you gritted your teeth when Cindy Sheehan spoke…well, don’t expect to feel warmer or fuzzier about Suzanne Miller, Jacksonville lawyer and mother of Army Specialist Matthew “Cory” Beard. Local alt weekly, Folio, whose stories are only available offline, interviewed Miller after she launched a blog called End Stop Loss Now.

Miller disputes that the open-ended occupation in Iraq qualifies for stop loss — the policy of rescinding the release of service members who have already served deployment terms and sending them back to battle, sometimes for three or four tours. Folio writer Jane Akre:

I was…responding to comments Laura Bush had made regarding how much she and the President suffered over the loss of our troops. I lay awake thinking about their suffering all night long and finally the solution to their problem came to me: BRING OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME.

Miller the attorney believes stop loss is an illegal and unconstitutional policy. The military vehemently disagrees, and points to paragraph 9c in the enlistment contract: “In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.”

But Miller takes exception of the military’s definition of war, which she says is being defined loosely to mean any conflict. “I’m pretty sure we have not declared war on Iraq and I’m pretty sure they haven’t declared war on us,” she says firmly.

Officially, she’s right. The U.S. hasn’t officially declared war since World War II…

…in the now-famous “Mission Accomplished” speech of May 1, 2003, Pres. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. “In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed,” he announced. “And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.”

Miller’s blogging style could best be termed, “full-contact.” She posts replies to almost every comment, which are mostly from active military or their families and are about 60 percent in favor of her wave-making and 40 percent of the “leave the decision-making to our leaders” variety. But Miller pulls no punches and her opinions are decidedly right-wing.

We are losing dozens of soldiers each month for a country that will never be civilized. For the most part, they are barbaric. The cultural difference is too great. We gave them the greatest gift on earth and that is “freedom” and look what they have one with it. Not one more of our soldiers needs to die trying to make these people get along. They are simply not worth it.

Nor does she regret voting for Bush.

If Gore had been elected, he would still be bunkered down somewhere worried about the 3 trees in Afghanistan and nothing would have been done. At least George Bush did something.

Yet the only love Miller has found has been among Democrats. She petitioned all the cable news talk shows, she said, but none of the conservatives would touch her. She was embraced instead by Alan Colmes, we venture to say, for her wit and sarcasm.

I was, again, on the Alan Colmes nationally syndicated radio show responding to comments Laura Bush had made regarding how much she and the President suffered over the loss of our troops. I lay awake thinking about their suffering all night long and finally the solution to their problem came to me: BRING OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME.

Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and California’s Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey have also responded to her campaign.

I was greatly honored that Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey chose to quote me on the House floor. I agreed with everything she said about the civil war in Iraq. Ten billion dollars would have brought our kids home. So to Congresswoman Woolsey, I say “thank you” for not only recognizing that this is a useless war but also recognizing the fact that the stop loss policy is a policy that needs to end. I no longer call myself a Republican. I am American. I will vote according to my conscience and not a party affiliation.

Where Is Team Thompson’s Rapid Response? ‘Daniel Boone’ Error Still Up on Campaign Site

Jon Ponder

Former senator and lobbyist, Joe Don Thompson, with friend

The presidential campaign team of former lobbyist Fred Thompson is either unaware — or does not care — that the Tennessee-born candidate’s bio contains an error about an important historical figure in his home state.

The mistake, which I saw at TBogg’s place and reported on yesterday, is a mix up of the identities of Davy Crockett, a native son and hero of Tennessee, and Daniel Boone, who was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in North Carolina. The Thompson bio reads, in part:

In the tradition of Daniel Boone of Tennessee and President George Washington, citizen-legislators and leaders Thompson had admired growing up, he walked away from an easy reelection victory to seek new challenges.

As of 8 a.m., Pacific, the error had not been corrected. Republicans who cling to Thompson as their last best chance for keeping the White House had better hope his campaign’s rapid response team gets its act in order before he enters the race next month.

We speculated that the source of the confusion is, first, the lack of Tennesseans on the campaign team, which is dominated by non-Southern elites like Mary Matalan, Larry Lindsey, Ken Khachigian and Victoria Toensing. Secondly, like Thompson, these folks are all Boomers, and probably confused Crockett and Boone because the actor Fess Parker established himself as an icon 40 years ago by playing both men.

Our friends at BuzzFlash.com, in effort to help Team Thompson keep straight which frontier hero is which, posted a link to the lyrics to the Davy Crockett theme song. Buzz said:

To Assist the Fred Thompson “Hollywood Light” Campaign, We are Posting the Lyrics to the Davy Crockett Song. We Saw Davy Crockett on TV, and Fred Thompson is No Davy Crockett.

We also had a couple of comments yesterday that were interesting.

Stephen Crockett — co-host of Democratic Talk Radio — who should know from Davy Crockett, agreed with BuzzFlash:

Fred Thompson is no Davy Crockett. My ancestor was a strong defender of the poor and powerless. Thompson is an enemy of the poor and powerless.

While a Senator, Thompson represented the interests of Wall Street. He spent a third of his professional life as a corporate lobbyist.

Davy Crockett would have been a campaigning actively against any elected office for Fred Thompson. This Crockett will do the same!

And from Ricardo, who wrote:

That’s OK. I confuse Fred Thompson with Joe Don Baker. Another actor that played dumb hicks in movies.

Thanks, Ricardo — you inspired our choice of photos to go with this story.

Update: 11:25 a.m., Pacific: Had a nice note from the Thompson campaign website developers who said the text of the site had been corrected. The bio now reads, “In the tradition of Daniel Boone and President George Washington.” Not “Davy Crockett of Tennessee.”

A Bad Day for Rudy: Report Says He Was Kicked Off the Iraq Study Group for Poor Attendance — And His S.C. Finance Chair Was Indicted on Coke Charges by the Feds

Jon Ponder

George Bush famously had no foreign policy experience before he was elected president, and after seven years of bumpersticker slogans and bad, sometimes awful, decision-making, the result of his inexperience has been disastrous by every rational measure.

The fact that Rudolph Giuliani is the GOP frontrunner demonstrates that the Republicans are fully prepared to foist another tough-talking foreign policy featherweight onto the rest of us again.

The fact that Rudolph Giuliani, whose foreign affairs resume is equally thin, is the GOP frontrunner at the moment demonstrates that the Republicans are fully prepared to foist another featherweight onto the rest of us again, mainly because he makes the slogans sound convincingly mean.

But a revelation today about the events that led to Giuliani’s abrupt resignation from the Iraq Study Group in 2006 will provide ammunition for his critics:

Rudolph Giuliani’s membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel’s top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

He was replaced by former Attorney General Edwin Meese in May 2006.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina:

South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a former real estate developer who became a rising political star after his election last year, was indicted Tuesday on federal cocaine charges.

Ravenel and another man were accused of distributing less than 500 grams of the drug starting in late 2005…

Thomas Ravenel is also the state chairman for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

Fred Thompson’s Campaign Confuses Home State Icon Davy Crockett with Daniel Boone

Jon Ponder


The campaign team for Fred Thompson, the Tennessee-born former lobbyist who is running for president, made a mistake on its website that wouldn’t get past your average 10-year-old from Chattanooga: They confused Tennessee-born frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett with Daniel Boone, the trailblazer who was born in Pennsylvania, raised in North Carolina, and served in the Virginia legislature.

Comparing the former K Street lobbyist to George Washington is wildly hubristic, but the Daniel Boone mix-up is just sloppy.

The site serves as the official house organ for the Thompson campaign until, as TBogg says,”[Thompson] gets done with sitting on the front porch and whittling and finally moseys on into town to file papers with the county recorder or some other act suitably bucolic enough to make Chris Matthews swoon.” (We hear Thompson is fixin’ to get ready to announce in mid-July.)

Framing Thompson, who worked as a Washington lobbyist for 18 years and served in the Senate for nine years, as a “citizen legislator,” the campaign site says:

In the tradition of Daniel Boone of Tennessee and President George Washington, citizen-legislators and leaders Thompson had admired growing up, he walked away from an easy reelection victory to seek new challenges.

Leaving aside the wildly hubristic comparison with George Washington, the facts about Daniel Boone are wrong.

After his family moved south from Pennsylvania, Boone grew up in the Yadkin River Valley near present-day Mocksville, N.C. As an adult, he made his name by establishing the trail through the Cumberland Gap from Tennessee into the Kentucky wilderness. He did serve as a legislator, but in the Virginia Assembly, not Tennessee’s. In fact, while Daniel Boone lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and even bought land near Pensacola, Fla., he was never a permanent resident of Tennessee, as far as I can tell.

On the other hand, Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee, and later represented the state in the U.S. House. But Crockett did not walk away from an easy reelection victory.

Elected in 1828, he lost his seat in 1830 but won it back in 1832, only to lose it again in 1835, at which point he famously said to his constituents, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” He did just that — leaving behind his wife, children, mother and siblings. In March 1836, he was killed at the siege of the Alamo.

Of course, what may be confusing the campaign team — which is said to include non-Tennesseans like Mary Matalan, Lawrence Lindsey, Ken Khachigian, Dave Bossie and Victoria Toensing — is the fact that Crockett and Boone were both played by Fess Parker on television 40 years ago.