Month: November 2005

Swedes: Gay-Bashing OK If Done In Church

Buck Banks

Scandinavian scandal: Reuters reports that Sweden’s supreme court on Tuesday cleared an evangelical preacher of inciting hatred after he labeled homosexuality “a cancerous tumour” responsible for AIDS during a 2003 sermon.

The case has acted as a rallying point for Christian groups in Sweden and abroad that have defended the pastor’s right to freedom of speech and faith. One gay rights group said it would open the door to further pressure from right-wing Christians.

The highest court upheld a ruling by a lower tribunal affirming Pentecostal Pastor Ake Green’s right to preach religious views even if many found them offensive.

Green told Swedish radio he was relieved, adding: “There will be no limitations on the way we can preach.”

The court said his comments could not be considered hate speech as they were made in church on a biblical theme.

It also said the European Court of Human Rights would likely find a conviction of Green to be against the European Convention on Human Rights, which Sweden has signed.

The lower court had overturned a sentence of one month in jail for inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Gay rights group RFSL said the verdict showed Sweden’s hate speech law needed reform to include the religious sphere.

“It is very serious that the church has been made into a free zone of persecution. We will now unfortunately experience growing religious persecution from extreme right religious groups,” RFSL chairman Soren Andersson said in a statement.

Sweden’s Lutheran church, of which 80 percent of the country’s 9 million people are nominal members, faces a revolt by more than 700 of its 5,000 priests over a decision to bless gay couples.

The church separated from the state in 2000 and attendance is low in one of the world’s most secular countries. It ordained its first woman priest in 1960 and in 1998 the late Pope John Paul II canceled an audience with its head, Archbishop K.G. Hammar, over his pro-gay views.

Pastors from Sweden’s west coast protesting at the ordination of women and gays have called in an archbishop from Uganda to anoint their own first bishop.

Replacing Scottie: Let America Pick Next White House Spokesman with TV Show, ‘America’s Top Liar’

Jon Ponder

Vox populi: Think Progress speculates that White House spokesliar Scott McClellan may be out of a job soon. (Probably because his credibility was shot when he lied to the press when he denied that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby were involved in leaking the name of secret agent Valerie Plame.)

Here’s the pitch: “Today’s he’s a used car salesman in Dallas – tomorrow he could be the spokesliar for the President of the United States!”

Talk about bread and circuses, maybe its our Hollywood roots but here at the PR we see this as a fabulous opportunity for the Bush team to reconnect with the American public by turning the vetting process for a new spokesman into a realty/game show like “American Idol.”

Think about it: What better way to shift the public’s attention from Iraq and the administration’s other scandals than a multi-week televised extravaganza to find “America’s Top Liar.”

The contest would be structured like “Idol” – and, what the heck, broadcast on Fox – with candidates winnowed down by a panel of celebrity judges and call-in votes from viewers. (Sorry, Democrats, Republicans from Red states only!)

In the show, contestants would be given a set of “facts” – some true, some not – to present to the audience. The audience would have to decide whether or not the contestant was lying. Through an elimination process, the prospective spokesperson who is the most successful at convincing the public that that his or her lies are true would be the winner.

Replacing “Idol” judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, any number of GOP experts on disseminating falsehoods could serve as celebrity judges – Rush Limbaugh, Karen Hughes and Armstrong Williams come to mind. And instead of “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest, we would propose some with high “Q” appeal (so to speak), the quintessential media whore himself, Jeff Gannon.

This show would definitely have a populist appeal. Here’s the pitch: Today’s he’s a used car salesman in Dallas – tomorrow he could be the spokesliar for the President of the United States!

Brent Bozell, GOP Blowhard and Coward

Jon Ponder

All talk: From former CIA agent Larry Johnson:

I was contacted by an MSNBC booker late today (Monday, 28 November) who asked if I would appear tonight on the Joe Scarborough Show to discuss whether or not the media are hypocrites when it comes to covering the leak to the Washington Post about the CIA secret prisons. The booker told me that Brent Bozell, head of the Media Research Center, was accusing the media of focusing too much on the leak of Valerie Plame and not enough on the leak about the prisons.

I agreed to come on air to debate Mr. Bozell. My point was simple–the leak to Dana Priest came in part from CIA officers who were concerned that the effort by the Vice President and Director Goss to allow a torture loophole would discredit and destroy the CIA’s future effectiveness.

This is a far cry from the President and Vice President authorizing the leak of CIA clandestine operative’s identity because her husband had the temerity to blow the whistle on the White House trying to bamboozle the people of the United States. I was looking forward to discussing the issue with Mr. Bozell.

Apparently, Mr. Bozell is a coward. He told MSNBC he would not appear if I was on the show, even if they scheduled me before or after him. He couldn’t handle a man-to-man debate. Typical conservative coward. I think the term is “Girly Man”. Tough talker when he is alone but unable to handle an informed debate. What is really sad is the MSNBC is caving into Bozell, rather than insisting that its audience hear both sides of an issue.

Shocked, anyone?

Rove ‘to Be Charged Or Make Plea’

Jon Ponder

Obstruction: Raw Story says Patrick Fitzgerald’s case against Bush lackey Karl Rove appears to hinge on instructions Rove gave his assistant for logging calls from reporters:

Why does this alleged felon, who is accused of lying to the U.S. government, still have a top-level U.S. security clearance?

Rove has remained under intense scrutiny because of inconsistencies in his testimony to investigators and the grand jury. According to sources, Rove withheld crucial facts on three separate occasions and allegedly misled investigators about conversations he had with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper.

The attorneys say that Rove’s former personal assistant, Susan B. Ralston — who was also a special assistant to President Bush — testified in August about why Cooper’s call to Rove was not logged. Ralston said it occurred because Cooper had phoned in through the White House switchboard and was then transferred to Rove’s office as opposed to calling Rove’s office directly. As Rove’s assistant, Ralston screened Rove’s calls.

But those close to the probe tell RAW STORY that Fitzgerald obtained documentary evidence showing that other unrelated calls transferred to Rove’s office by the switchboard were logged. He then called Ralston back to testify.

Earlier this month, attorneys say Fitzgerald received additional testimony from Ralston — who said that Rove instructed her not to log a phone call Rove had with Cooper about Plame in July 2003.

Ralston also provided Fitzgerald with more information and “clarification” about several telephone calls Rove allegedly made to a few reporters, including syndicated columnist Robert Novak, the lawyers said.

If true, this is perhaps the most significant evidence Fitzgerald has obtained suggesting Rove deliberately sought to mislead investigators. Her testimony may help Fitzgerald prove that there were inconsistencies in Rove’s account of his role in the leak and assess why he withheld a crucial fact from the prosecutor: that he had spoken with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper as well as Novak about Plame and confirmed that she was an undercover CIA agent.

Which brings us back to an important question: Why does this alleged felon, who is accused of lying to the U.S. government, still have a top-level U.S. security clearance?

Bush: ‘God Put Me Here’

Jon Ponder

Delusional: The president’s religiosity is over the top:

“He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ ”

Bush’s closest advisers have long been aware of the religious nature of his policy commitments. In recent interviews, one former senior official, who served in Bush’s first term, spoke extensively about the connection between the President’s religious faith and his view of the war in Iraq. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told that Bush felt that “God put me here” to deal with the war on terror. The President’s belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that “he’s the man,” the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reëlection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose.

The deaths of American soldiers and innocent Iraqi children mean nothing to Mr. Bush, who sees these losses as part of God’s plan:

“The President is more determined than ever to stay the course,” the former defense official said. “He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ ” He said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice-President Cheney. “They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway,” the former defense official said.

Don’t worry. Jesus is in his head, talking to him, telling him what to do:

Current and former military and intelligence officials have told me that the President remains convinced that it is his personal mission to bring democracy to Iraq, and that he is impervious to political pressure, even from fellow Republicans. They also say that he disparages any information that conflicts with his view of how the war is proceeding.

Japanese Virologist: China Is Lying About Bird Flu Deaths

Buck Banks

Dr. Masato Tashiro, a Japanese World Health Organization consultant, believes that China has had 300 human deaths from avian influenza and is hiding the true extent of the disease from the rest of the world. Masato, Director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Influenza at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, and head of the Department of Virology of the National Institute of Infectious Disease (Japan), astonished colleagues with this information during a speech at a recent retirement dinner for a fellow virologist, Hans-Dieter Klenk.

Having just returned from the Hunan province of China on behalf of WHO, Masato claimed that a reliable source had provided him with details of the true nature of the H5N1 virus in China. “We are systematically deceived,” he is reported to have said.

Masato visited China on behalf of WHO in Hunan province. His laboratory, at the National Institute for Infection Research in Tokyo is one of the Asian points of contact for the United Nations and had been particularly entrusted with investigations into avian influenza in Asia and China. Masato gave his lecture in the University of Marburg Clinic before some the leading virologists in the world and shocked the meeting with his unauthorized [and unsubstantiated] report from inside China.

The Japanese virologist said he believes in the reliability of the source and its data. The secrecy of the Peking government is causing concern — as it was at the beginning of the SARS epidemic disease — noted Masato. At least five medical co-workers who should be reporting on the situation in the provinces were arrested, and other researchers were threatened with punishment if they released the information, Masato said.

Duke Goes Down — Another Corrupt Repug Bites the Dust

Buck Banks

Dirty dealings: Decorated Vietnam vet and U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, took a plea deal and resigned his seat at his trial on corruption charges today, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. In return for bribes to the tune of $2.4 million, Cunningham, an eight-term Republican representative from Southern California, steered Pentagon contracts toward a defense contractor.

Oh yeah, he also cheated on his taxes. But at least he cried at the press conference:

“I misled my friends, family and myself. The truth is, I broke the law and disgraced my office and myself,” Cunningham said after his plea, breaking into tears at a news conference.

“I know I will have to forfeit my freedom…. In my life I have great joy and great sorrow, and now I know great shame,” said Cunningham, a Vietnam War flying ace who won the Navy Cross.

Cunningham pledged to make amends. He said he admitted his fault, apologized and asked for “God’s grace” as he moves forward.

Move on forward, Duke, but please save a place for Tom, Scooter and Bill.

CDC Seeks Stronger Quarantine, Tracking Powers

Buck Banks

Watch out for the cough police: If you thought the Patriot Act put the kibosh on your personal liberties, wait till you see what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are asking the gubmint for. According to Medical News Today, the CDC is asking for the first major changes to its quarantine protocols in more than a quarter century, looking to capture and retain personal information on travelers and beef up its ability to detain those with a runny nose or obvious fever.

Here are some specifics of what the CDC wants:

  • Require airlines and cruise lines to keep electronic records of passengers’ personal information — including detailed contact information and seat location — for at least 60 days.
  • Require airlines and cruise lines to provide that passenger information to CDC within 12 hours of a request.
  • Allow passengers to refuse to give their personal contact information and still be allowed to travel.
  • Require ship and airline captains to report to CDC any deaths or signs of serious illness on board, ideally before arriving at their destination. Existing requirements state only that captains report illnesses and deaths to local health departments.
  • Expand the definition of illness to include respiratory ailments like influenza. Passengers would be considered ill if they had a temperature of 100.4 degrees or greater in addition to rash, swollen lymph nodes, headache with neck stiffness, and changes in levels of consciousness or cognitive function. Diarrhea, a fever that has lasted more than 48 hours, severe bleeding, jaundice, severe persistent cough or respiratory distress also would indicate illness.
  • Allow CDC to detain a sick individual for three business days without a hearing, with an option to extend the quarantine if medical tests confirm the need to do so.
  • Prohibit CDC from forcibly isolating individuals for longer than the amount of time it takes for the suspected illness to no longer be communicable — generally less than a month for most diseases.
  • Clarify the appeals process for individuals who are quarantined to allow for “administrative due process.”
  • Give health officials explicit authority to offer vaccination, drugs and other appropriate means of prevention on a voluntary basis to those in quarantine.

The proposed changes are expected to cost an estimated $185 million to $865 million annually to implement. The cost to the airline and cruise industries could be as much as $395 million annually.

Katherine Harris Staffers Can’t Get Out Fast Enough

Trish

The average member of Congress holds on to high-level folks for four to five years, but nine months is about all anyone can stand with Florida U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris. Great job by the Sarasota Herald Tribune, which uncovered the red flag in the Harris office.

Her turnover rate is so rare it prompted a longtime GOP consultant to describe it as “chewing through staff like an industrial wood chipper.”

In just under three years, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris has had four chiefs of staff, four district directors and four press secretaries…

Turnover isn’t limited to Harris’ congressional office, either. As she prepares to run against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, Harris has been hampered by turnover on her campaign staff. Her campaign manager quit last week, after just a few months on the job and not long after she lost a pollster and a campaign finance director earlier this year.

Harris can explain each and every departure, and why each former staffer is unwilling to talk to the media about the experience of working for her.

…Harris said most of the employees have left because they’ve gone on to better jobs. If anything, the turnover shows her staff members are in high demand after gaining experience in a “high-profile” office.

“They always get stolen away,” Harris said.

She also said the Capitol Hill lifestyle — long, unpredictable hours and bad pay — make it hard for her to keep staff.

But her turnover rate is so rare it prompted longtime GOP consultant Rick Wilson to describe it as “chewing through staff like an industrial wood chipper.”

Poor communication and micromanagement seem to be big factors in making Harris the Boss from Hell.

Harris failed to tell her congressional staff that she planned to run for U.S. Senate before she announced it to the media. Some staffers, including her now-former district director Kim Hutchens, called the newspaper to hear about her decision.

She’s also not averse to making her employees redo their work, even after it has been sent out. In October, after a press spokesman released a statement answering questions about her fund-raising totals, Harris required him to send out a revised statement with minor wording changes.

Inside the GOP’s Circular Firing Squad

Jon Ponder

Lott’s spite: A New York Times article yesterday covered former Senate Majority Leade Trent Lott’s mouthing off against his enemies inside the GOP as if they had significance beyond a petty need to exact revenge:

The senator has also thrown darts in the direction of Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser. With Mr. Bush’s poll ratings dropping, Mr. Lott has said the White House might consider “bringing in some new people” – a jab at Mr. Rove, who helped engineer Mr. Lott’s departure as Republican leader.

The current majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, also seems to be in Mr. Lott’s sights. In his book, “Herding Cats: A Life in Politics,” published in August, Mr. Lott wrote that he considered Mr. Frist’s leadership bid in 2002 “a personal betrayal.”

When Mr. Frist pushed for a Congressional inquiry to determine the source of a Washington Post article about secret prisons run by the C.I.A., Mr. Lott complicated matters by suggesting the leak might have come from a Republican.

Some wonder if Mr. Lott’s recent barbs are a preretirement parting shot. Others say he remains deeply bruised from his fall in 2002 and is exacting payback. His close friends, who expect Mr. Lott to make a decision about his future by year’s end, try to dismiss the notion of revenge.

“I wouldn’t say it’s revenge,” said Robert L. Livingston, a Republican from Louisiana who was due to become House speaker in 1998 but left Congress amid revelations of an extramarital affair. “But he has a long memory.”

We suppose it depends on what the definition of “revenge” is.