Month: December 2005

FAIR Finds Quantifiable Rightwing Bias on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal

Jon Ponder

Unbalanced: Here in the West Coast wing of Pensito Review’s electronic garret we start our day seven days a week by watching “Washington Journal” on C-SPAN. (Yes, it starts at 4M.) It is a great source of news about the goings-on in the Capitol, and one gets the sense that they try hard to prevent pros and cons for each side of every issue. But one also gets the sense that they tilt to the right.

Now Extra, a service of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), has done an analysis that quantifiably proves just that:

To test C-SPAN’s claims of fairness, Extra! studied Washington Journal’s guestlist, tabulating all 663 guests that appeared on the show in the six-month period from November 1, 2004 to April 30, 2005. Guests were classified by gender, ethnicity, party affiliation (if any) and occupation. The study also looked at the think tanks most prominently represented on the show.

Despite C-SPAN’s stated goals, Extra!’s study found Washington Journal skewing rightward, favoring Republican and right-of-center interview subjects by considerable margins over Democratic and left-of-center guests. The study also found that women, people of color and public interest viewpoints were substantially underrepresented.

Overall, people of European ancestry made up 85 percent of Washington Journal’s guestlist—563 out of 663. (Extra! was able to identify the ethnic background of more than 99 percent of guests.) People of African (26) and Asian (24) heritage accounted for 4 percent each, while those of Middle Eastern (22) and Latin American (18) descent represented 3 percent each. No Native Americans were identifiable on the guestlist from November 1, 2004 to April 30, 2005.

Gov. Blanco Releases Katrina Docs That Show Bush Disengagement

Jon Ponder

Whitewash: The Republicans in Congress promised a thorough investigation into the federal government’s tragically negligent response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. They were lying, of course. Their intent then, as now, was to sweep this lowest benchmark in the Worst Presidency Ever under the rug.

Blanco’s request from FEMA of 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems never materialized.

The Republicans have succeed in this – and probably will prevail. But Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has launched a broadside at them in the form of a document dump of over 100,000 pages of emails, notes and other correspondence from the days before and immediately after the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast:

“We need everything you’ve got,” Blanco is quoted in a memo as telling President Bush on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall. But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were “standing by,” Blanco’s aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show. “We need buses,” Andy Kopplin, chief of staff to Blanco, said in an e-mail to Blanco staffers late on Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit. “Find buses that can go to NO [New Orleans] ASAP.”

Two days later, on Sept. 2, Blanco complained to the White House that FEMA had still failed to fulfill its promises of aid. While cloaked in customary political courtesies, Blanco noted that she had already requested 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems, according to a press office e-mail of the text of her letter to Bush.

“Even if these initial requests had been fully honored, these assets would not be sufficient,” Blanco said. She also asked for the return of the Louisiana Army National Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team, then deployed to Iraq.

Tensions between state leaders and the White House seemed at times near the boiling point. At 3:49 p.m. on Sept. 2, after spending three hours to appear with Bush at a Mississippi news conference, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wrote Blanco’s staff, “I am returning home to baron[sic] rouge in hoping I can accomplish something for the people I represent other than being occupied with PR.”

He added that Bush’s “entire effort on behalf of the federal government has been reflected in his and his people’s nonchalant attitude to the people of LA. You may give him this to read.”

Gov. Blanco Releases Katrina Docs That Show Bush Disengagement

Jon Ponder

Official apathy: The Republicans in Congress promised a thorough investigation into the federal government’s tragically negligent response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. They were lying, of course. Their intent then, as now, was to sweep this lowest benchmark in the Worst Presidency Ever under the rug.

The Republicans have succeed in this – and probably will prevail. But Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has launched a broadside at them in the form of a document dump of over 100,000 pages of emails, notes and other correspondence from the days before and immediately after the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast:

“We need everything you’ve got,” Blanco is quoted in a memo as telling President Bush on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall. But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were “standing by,” Blanco’s aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show. “We need buses,” Andy Kopplin, chief of staff to Blanco, said in an e-mail to Blanco staffers late on Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit. “Find buses that can go to NO [New Orleans] ASAP.”

Two days later, on Sept. 2, Blanco complained to the White House that FEMA had still failed to fulfill its promises of aid. While cloaked in customary political courtesies, Blanco noted that she had already requested 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems, according to a press office e-mail of the text of her letter to Bush.

“Even if these initial requests had been fully honored, these assets would not be sufficient,” Blanco said. She also asked for the return of the Louisiana Army National Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team, then deployed to Iraq.

Tensions between state leaders and the White House seemed at times near the boiling point. At 3:49 p.m. on Sept. 2, after spending three hours to appear with Bush at a Mississippi news conference, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wrote Blanco’s staff, “I am returning home to baron[sic] rouge in hoping I can accomplish something for the people I represent other than being occupied with PR.”

He added that Bush’s “entire effort on behalf of the federal government has been reflected in his and his people’s nonchalant attitude to the people of LA. You may give him this to read.”

Dems Demand Inquiry into Fed’s Approval of DeLay’s Texas Redistricting Plan

Jon Ponder

Contempt for democracy: In December 2003, then-House Speaker Tom DeLay engineered a coup of sorts in the state of Texas when he rejiggered the state’s electoral districts to ensure that Republicans would win a majority of seats in Texas delegation to the U.S. House.

“Washington Republicans, led by the White House and Tom DeLay, are dismantling minority voting rights as fast as they can,” said state TX Sen. Leticia Van De Putte (D). “It is ironic to find out now that the Justice Department civil rights attorneys agreed with us.”

Electoral districts are usually redrawn after each census so it was unusual to reconfigure them three years into the decade. It was also expedient and effective. In the 2004 congressional elections, delegation flipped from a 17-15 Democratic majority to a 21-11 Republican majority.

But a memo leaked this week shows that Bush political appointee at the Justice Dept. quashed objections to the redistricting plans on grounds that it violated provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Democrats want answers:

The House Democratic leader wants an independent inquiry into the Justice Department’s decision to approve a Texas redistricting plan that staff lawyers concluded diluted minority voting rights.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the decision by senior officials to ignore the staff lawyers’ conclusions – contained in a 73-page memo made public Friday – was political.

“There must be an independent inquiry into the contemptible politicization of the Justice Department to rubberstamp U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay’s illegal redistricting scheme in Texas,” Pelosi said.

The plan was pushed through the state legislature by DeLay, R-Texas, to help elect more Republicans to the House when he was the chamber’s GOP leader. It was approved in time for the 2004 elections.

Several political hacks who were installed by the Bush team at Justice allegedly helped DeLay enact his redistricting scheme, including Sheldon Bradshaw, an assistant to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, overruled the staff and approved the plan for use in the next election cycle. Hans von Spakovsky and Brad Schlozman, political appointees to the civil rights division, were also alleged to have been involved.

DeLay’s plan was audacious. He did it right out in the open. Liberals were outraged but the media treated it like a political stunt. Texas House Democrats halted the plan briefly in regular session by breaking a quorum and going to Oklahoma. Senate Democrats held it up for two months with a quorum break in New Mexico.

Democratic Texas Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, who was involved in the failed fight to stop DeLay’s plan back in 2003, says:

“Washington Republicans, led by the White House and Tom DeLay, are dismantling minority voting rights as fast as they can. It is ironic to find out now that the Justice Department civil rights attorneys agreed with us.”

Bush Bails On Jury Duty

Buck Banks

I’d rather be stacking the Supreme Court: Worst President Ever George W. Bush had to explain that he was too busy running the United States, fighting a global war on terror and trying not to get impeached to report for jury duty.

Bush never received the summons to appear at a court in Crawford, Texas, for jury duty on Monday and the White House only learned about it through media reports, White House spokesliar Scott “I Only Lie When My Lips are Moving” McClellan lied Thursday. Bush, whose ranch is in Crawford, is scheduled to give a speech in North Carolina on Monday.

“We have since called the court to inform them that the president has other commitments on Monday, and that he would like to reschedule his jury duty,” McClellan lied.

“One serious note: jury duty is an important civic responsibility. And it’s important that people do serve,” McClellan lied.

Last week, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, served as foreman on a jury for two days at a civil case in Boston.

Chinese Arrested for Selling Fake Bird Flu Vaccine

Buck Banks

Pandemic profits: Nine people have been arrested for selling fake bird flu vaccines that are suspected to have contributed to an outbreak of the disease in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province.

Police found that two companies had manufactured and sold 200,000 vials of 12 different kinds of bird flu vaccine nationwide, the Liaoxi Commercial Daily reported Wednesday. With 29 outbreaks of the disease discovered so far this year, China is seeking to vaccinate an estimated 5.2 billion farm-raised birds.

Investigators found that fake vaccines were used on farms in Liaoning’s Jinzhou region, where an outbreak of bird flu occurred in mid-October. Some 2.5 million farm-raised birds were culled in the region following the outbreak, devastating the livelihood of farmers in the region..

“The use of fake and shoddy vaccines will result in a disaster,” Agriculture Minister Du Qingling said. “If the vaccines are not up to standard, then immunization to the virus will not be uniform or effective. This could bring huge losses. If we miss the chance to exterminate the virus in the early stages, then the difficulty in wiping it out will increase by several times, as will the spread of the epidemic.”

Simple Reason Why the Death Penalty Is a Bad Idea

Buck Banks

Too expensive: Kenneth Lee Boyd has bought the farm with a lethal injection in Raleigh, N.C., for the murders of his estranged wife and father-in-law — in front of his children. He was the thousandth person killed by the gubmint since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Boyd told reporters he didn’t want to be remembered as a statistic, but that’s what he has become.

What’s wrong with the death penalty is not that it unfairly is applied to the income and racially challenged of America, nor that it is inhumane and cruel and unusual, it’s that it costs too much.

The typical capital punishment case, once it has run its course through the various appeals processes and courts, costs over a million dollars. The average cost of housing a convict is $50,000 per year. In other words, we could house a convicted murderer for 20 years for what it costs to put him on death row. Which means that since Boyd was convicted 17 years ago, besides the million-plus we spent on defending the decision to kill him, we also spent about $850,000 to keep him alive until we could kill him. That’s what’s wrong with the death penalty. Oh, and it’s also cruel and doesn’t deter crime.

An Example of What’s Wrong with the Democratic Party

Buck Banks

Clueless losers: I received this e-mail today from someone purporting to be the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, though the writer never identified itself other than by the cryptic e-mail address, kthurman@fladems.com. This e-mail is an example of what’s wrong with the Democratic Party — they are clueless on how to mount a communications and marketing campaign. Here’s an example of the limp drivel the Dumbocrats think will inspire and incite their constituents:

As the Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, I want to remind you that our 2005 Conference is coming up in just over a week. We still have room for a few good Democrats and I wanted to take this last chance to let you know what we have planned.

That might have been a good place to mention WHERE the conference is being held, but that little detail is missing from the entire text of the e-mail. And we won’t mention the embarrassing random capitalization of nouns that was popular in the 17th century.

First up, for the dinner on Saturday, December 10, we have featured speakers US Senator Barak Obama and our National Party Chair, Dr. Howard Dean. Senator Obama and Dr. Dean will talk about the Democratic Party’s message for the 2006 election cycle, and discuss the many opportunities ahead for Democrats from all over the country to be part of our march to victory next year. We also have former US Senator John Edwards and Governors Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack making presentations. But these three prospective Presidential candidates are just the beginning. All of our statewide candidates will be with us: US Representative Jim Davis and State Senator Rod Smith, who are running for Governor; State Senator Walter Campbell, running for Attorney General; Alex Sink, running for Chief Financial Officer and Eric Copeland, running for Agriculture Commissioner.

There will also be exciting opportunities for training. We will have workshops on Small Donors Fundraising, Campaign Finance Compliance, our new Voter File application (the Voter Activation Network, known as “VAN”) Early & Absentee Voters and Earned Media. Our Outreach Caucuses will be meeting to discuss the issues affecting African-Americans, Women, Young Democrats, GLBT Democrats, Hispanics, Democrats with Disabilities and Carribbeans. The Small Counties Coalition will also meet.

Man, don’t that sound exciting? Makes me want to go, if I knew where it was.
[…]

Bush Admin Quashed Justice Dept. Objections to DeLay’s Texas Redistricting Plan

Jon Ponder

Washington Post:

Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.

“The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect,” the memo concluded.

The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department’s voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.

“The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect,” the memo concluded.

The memo also found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options.

But the Texas legislature proceeded with the new map anyway because it would maximize the number of Republican federal lawmakers in the state, the memo said. The redistricting was approved in 2003, and Texas Republicans gained five seats in the U.S. House in the 2004 elections, solidifying GOP control of Congress.

J. Gerald “Gerry” Hebert, one of the lawyers representing Texas Democrats who are challenging the redistricting in court, said of the Justice Department’s action: “We always felt that the process . . . wouldn’t be corrupt, but it was. . . . The staff didn’t see this as a close call or a mixed bag or anything like that. This should have been a very clear-cut case.”

Babs Is Angry with Rove, Cheney & Card over Junior’s Fall in Polls

Jon Ponder

The Washington Note:

Barbara Bush is allegedly TICKED off at Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Andy Card, nearly all of them — except Karen Hughes — for how her boy is faring in the hearts and minds of Americans.

The matriarch of the Bush clan is colder than North Pole ice right now to those around her son who she thinks have undermined him. I’ll tell who my sources are if Patrick Fitzgerald gives a call and makes me — but the sources are very close to Poppa Bush (41), who has been traveling a bit with some of his old entourage, including Brent Scowcroft and others of the first Bush regime…

Should be interesting to watch the role of the First Mother in the coming couple of months. Watch for a lot to change right after the State of the Union address, I’ve been told.