Category: Politics

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Florida’s New Jeb Trying to Befriend the Press

Trish

The man who pledged to voters to be as much like Jeb as possible without surgical alterations is making some changes. Gov. Crist-Crossin’ Charlie has changed his mind again, this time for the better.

Reporters’ comfort and happiness were rarely concerns of Bush, who notably locked reporters in his office in 2000

Crist also ended Bush’s tradition of meeting with the media at the bottom of a spiral staircase in the Capitol basement before the biweekly meetings of the Florida Cabinet. The meetings became mini-melees as a dozen or more TV and newspaper reporters crowded Bush. The image on TV stations around the state was similar to a “60 Minutes” encounter, complete with a sense of tension.

Crist has moved those meetings to an office where reporters can sit and the governor can appear more statesman-like with a new sign containing a picture of the Old Capitol behind his podium.

“A little change of venue,” Crist said Thursday. “I wanted to have this [room] open to visit with you, make sure you’re comfortable and you’re happy.”

Reporters’ comfort and happiness were rarely concerns of Bush, who notably locked reporters in his office in 2000 when they wouldn’t leave lawmakers who were staging a sit-in to discuss an issue with Bush.

No Protection for Surge Troops — or the Ones Already There

Trish

The problem with having a commander in chief whose only personal consideration in fighting a war was how to get out it is becoming clearer. Bush keeps sending troops off to fight in his private war of aggression without armor or protection.

Most of the 21,500 troops President Bush has ordered to Iraq as reinforcements will not have access to specialized blast-resistant armored vehicles

…the Pentagon’s effort to protect its troops against roadside bombs is in disarray, with soldiers and Marines having to swap access to scarce armored vehicles and the military unsure whether it has the money or industrial capacity to produce the safe vehicles it says the troops need.

On Jan. 10, The [Baltimore] Sun reported that most of the 21,500 troops President Bush has ordered to Iraq as reinforcements will not have access to specialized blast-resistant armored vehicles because they are in such short supply.

…In congressional testimony and interviews last week, senior Army and Marine Corps officers acknowledged that they are struggling just to meet the needs of service members already in Iraq. Even if the Pentagon can find millions of dollars not currently budgeted, and even if it can find factories to produce the armored vehicles, most U.S. troops in Iraq will not have access to the best equipment available, as President Bush has often promised.

The Army acknowledged last week, for example, that it is still 22 percent short of the armored Humvees it needs in Iraq despite heated criticism in 2004 and 2005 over the lack of armored vehicles. Army officials said it will be another eight months before that gap can be filled.

Maybe part of the problem is the current leadership’s decision to use big-ass, tough-looking Humvees. Didn’t wars used to get won without those?

To augment its fleet of armored Humvees, the military is intent on buying thousands of new armored vehicles whose V-shaped hulls deflect blasts from beneath upwards and outwards, unlike the flat-bottomed Humvees that absorb the blasts. These Mine-Protected Vehicles, or MPVs, designed and manufactured for years by South Africa and other countries, have a proven record of surviving powerful blasts.

Based on requests from commanders in Iraq, the U.S. military needs 6,465 MPVs, according to Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, the Army’s top supply officer. Under the current program, the first portion of those vehicles wouldn’t be delivered to Iraq until March 2008 or later, even if the services can find the funding.

Let’s hope most of the troops will be elsewhere (and I don’t mean Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan) by March, 2008.

None of these facts will keep Bush from continuing to lie like a rug. Let’s all pledge to drink a shot during tomorrow night’s State of the Union address every time he mentions how dedicated he is to providing the best protection for our troops in the field.

Let the Obama Bashing Begin

Buck Banks

Mudslinging madrassah: It’s bad enough having “Hussein” as a middle name, but when the Moonie-owned Insight magazine starts putting it out that you were educated in a radical Muslim school and the New York Post prints the headline “‘Osama’ Mud Flies at Obama,” Barak has to know the campaigning truly has begun. The allegation that
illinois Sen. Barak Obama was indoctrinated in a radical madrassah in Indonesia when he was 6 was also picked up and reported repeatedly on FOX News, with the only source noted as Insight magazine, which conveniently failed to provide its own source.

It’s an obvious right-wing hit job by a Moonie publication that was designed to attack Senator Clinton and Senator Obama at the same time.

Worse yet, the FOX folk put it about that it was Hillary Clinton’s people who were slinging the Muslim mud at Obama. It’s a twisted tale, and is likely a precursor to what we can expect as the race heats up and the campaigns typically sink to the lowest common denominator:

Thus, in the first media controversy of the 2008 campaign, two of the leading candidates find themselves forced to respond to allegations lacking a single named source.

“The allegations are completely false,” says Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. “To publish this sort of trash without any documentation is surprising, but for Fox to repeat something so false, not once, but many times is appallingly irresponsible. This is exactly the type of slash-and-burn politics the American people are sick and tired of.” Obama, aides note, is a Christian and belongs to a Chicago church.

Clinton campaign officials were relieved that what they regard as an absurd allegation was not picked up more widely. “It’s an obvious right-wing hit job by a Moonie publication that was designed to attack Senator Clinton and Senator Obama at the same time,” says Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson. Insight, like the Washington Times, is owned by a company controlled by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. No one answered the phone at Insight’s office yesterday and its editor did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Ex-FEMA Head Says Bush Targeted Democratic Louisiana Governor

Trish

If Michael Brown is lying, he sure is good at it. Despite White House denials (by a third-tier spokesperson), Brown’s latest tidbits about the handling of Hurricane Katrina — and taking over Louisiana operations — sound awfully credible.

“Certain people in the White House were thinking we had to federalize Louisiana because she’s a white, female Democratic governor and we have a chance to rub her nose in it”

Some in the White House suggested only Louisiana should be federalized because it was run by a Democrat, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Brown told a group of graduate students at a lecture on politics and emergency management at Metropolitan College of New York.

Brown said he had recommended to President Bush that all 90,000 square miles along the Gulf Coast affected by the hurricane be federalized, making the federal government in charge of all agencies responding to the disaster.

“Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking we had to federalize Louisiana because she’s a white, female Democratic governor and we have a chance to rub her nose in it,” he said…

Blanco reacted sharply on hearing what Brown had said.

“This is exactly what we were living but could not bring ourselves to believe. Karl Rove was playing politics while our people were dying,” Blanco said through a spokeswoman, referring to President Bush’s top political strategist. “The federal effort was delayed, and now the public knows why. It’s disgusting.”

Gov. Richardson Accused of ‘Lewd,’ ‘Demeaning’ Behavior Toward Women

Jon Ponder
Rumors have long swept around Santa Fe that Bill Richardson makes a constant festive joke out of demeaning women.

That didn’t take long. In discussing Gov. Bill Richardson’s announcement that he was running for president, I said yesterday that he had more experience than the senators in the race “and (probably) the least amount of baggage.”

Today I read an article by Steve Clemons, editor of the Washington Note — and whose progressives bona fides are in good order — accusing Richardson of inappropriate behavior around women:

Have you behaved inappropriately or not in public settings with female members of your government administration, jokingly or not? Have you gestured to female public servants and political appointees — who work as colleagues with you — and made lewd gestures, specifically pointing to them and then pointing at your crotch with a room full of media and other politicos there in the room?

I ask this not to demean or undermine Richardson.

I ask it because I was not in the room when this particular incident occurred but many others were — and rumors have long swept around Santa Fe that Bill Richardson makes a constant festive joke out of demeaning women. These incidents don’t have to do with the comments by Lt. Governor Diane Denish that Richardson is a “touchy” and “feely” Governor. They have to do with questions about a far more crude kind of gesture that demeans professional women.

These concerns I have heard may be completely contrived, but after speaking with several senior level New Mexico officials, my sense is that it needs to at a minimum be addressed by the Governor who wants to be President. Some suggest that Richardson “can’t stop himself” or “doesn’t even realize what he is doing” or thinks that “this sort of thing is part of New Mexico’s political scene.”

One accuser is the lieutenant governor of New Mexico, Diane Denish. It appears the Richardson campaign could be putting out a fire before it puts out its shingle.

She’s In: Hail Hillary, the Ralph Nader of 2008

Trish

It’s what passes for official. Hillary Clinton has announced she is forming an “exploratory committee” to run for president. Editor’s note: When did this particular euphemism/hedge get adopted? Didn’t people just used to declare they were running? When did they start declaring they were exploring?

Anyway.

The trailblazer doesn’t usually win but she does open a door that never closes in the same way again

It seems to me that by grabbing all the true believers for whom being their idea of right is more important than being elected, Hillary Clinton will be the Ralph Nader of the 2008 elections. By siphoning off primary votes from candidates who stand a chance in the general election, she will lead us to ultimate loss in November.

The woman just has too much baggage all the way around. She will never be forgiven for marrying Bill, for being too secure to pull a Knots Landing/Desperate Housewives/soap opera maneuver and instead determining adultery isn’t a deal breaker for her, and for, as the Dixie Chicks would say, not making nice.

But maybe it’s time for a woman to be a serious contender in a presidential election. Part of me has to hand it to Clinton for being willing to chart this particular territory. What usually happens in these situations is not that the trailblazer wins but that she opens a door that never closes in the same way again.

Check her out here.

Richardson to Announce Prez Plans Sunday

Jon Ponder

Looks like Gov. Bill Richardson is in the race:

Richardson, 59, is a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and Energy Department secretary. He brings a wealth of experience in international affairs that has extended even into his governorship of a sparsely populated but politically important swing state.

He has hosted talks on North Korea’s nuclear program and most recently traveled to Sudan to meet with the country’s president to press him for an end to the bloodshed in Darfur.

Both Al Gore and Senator John Kerry considered Richardson as their running mate because of his impressive portfolio, his potential to win over Hispanic voters and his home in a western swing state.

Yet Richardson enters the 2008 race as an underdog. Polling in early voting states shows him ranking near the bottom in a very crowded Democratic field led by Clinton, Obama and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards.

Out of the candidates listed here, my money is on Richardson. He has the most experience and (probably) the least amount of baggage.

Fox Poll: 68% of Republicans Say Bush Is Doing a Heckuva Job

Jon Ponder

The new Fox News poll (pdf) finds that 58 percent of Americans disapprove of Pres. George Bush’s job performance. Conversely, 35 percent of our fellow citizens still live under the delusion that the president is not incompetent.

Seven percent of Americans say they live in blissful ignorance about the president. They “don’t know” whether he’s doing a good job. (I’ll take a prescription to whatever they are on.)

As we’ve seen consistently in polling lately, Pres. Bush’s approval is artificially high becase of support from within his own party. A whopping 68 percent of Republicans approve of his performance. About a quarter of Gops have awakened to the reality that they have elected the Worst President Ever — twice. And 8 percent of party members “don’t know” what to think about the president’s peformance.

Virginia Considering Mandatory Vaccination of Young Girls Against Sexually Transmitted Disease

Buck Banks

Hot shots: Should a state force girls as young as 9 to take a three-phase vaccination that prevents infection from a sexually transmitted disease which could lead to cervical cancer, even if it’s recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which, by the way, advocates abstention as the best form of birth control)? Does this not sound plain wrong? According to the Virginia Pilot, it’s a question that the Virginia state legislature will have to answer, thanks to the lobbying efforts of — you guessed it — a drug company.

Hamilton said pharmaceutical company representatives approached him about submitting the bill, PROBABLY because he chairs the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions.

Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, has introduced a bill that would add the human papillomavirus vaccine to the list of immunizations needed for school attendance, and if it passes, it would go into effect in time for the 2008 school year. But when was the last time you heard of a Republican proposing a health measure for the greater good? Right, Hamilton makes a weasel’s excuse for volunteering to sponsor the bill:

Hamilton said pharmaceutical company representatives approached him about submitting the bill, probably because he chairs the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions. Drug companies have been among the largest contributors to Hamilton’s election campaigns.

“Probably?” You bet, Phil. And keep cashing those checks, buddy.

While the vaccination is mandatory for school attendance, the bill does provide that parents can opt out on moral, religious or just creepy grounds, just because they feel a little queasy about vaccinating their 9-year-old against a sexually transmitted disease. Not to mention that the bill would seem to undermine Virginia’s Abstinence Education Initiative, which is run by the state health department.

Not to belittle the seriousness of cervical cancer, but there are apparently about 10,000 cases of it diagnosed in the United States every year, and about 3,700 women die of cervical cancer annually. And the papillomaviruses are so common (there are 100 strains) that 75 percent of all sexually active women will likely become infected at some point, and of those, only about 1 percent will develop cervical cancer.

To me, that does not indicate a pressing need to vaccinate milions of schoolgirls who may or may not engage in safe or unsafe sex.

But then, I don’t work for the pharmaceutical industry like Philip Hamilton does.