March 8, 2006 - Pensito

Bush Commands that DHS Shall Get Religion

March 8, 2006March 8, 2006 Buck Banks

God’s in the White House: In a move that is intended to either a) establish a theocracy in Washington, or b) consign faith-based initiatives to the dustbin of incompetency, yesterday George Bush signed an executive order calling for the establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

I am not making this up, here’s the link. The austensible purpose of this order is to “to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet America’s social and community needs.”

Within 45 days from the date of the order, the secretary of DHS, Michael Chertoff, is supposed to appoint a director in consultation with the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (or WHOFBCI director in White House speak), put together appropriate staff, administrative support, and other resources to meet the center’s responsibilities.

Sounds like crony time!

Bush did end the order with this caveat: “This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.”

Well, that’s a relief!

Mean Jean Forced to Remove Endorsement Claims from Site

March 8, 2006June 2, 2009 Jon Ponder

Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, has been forced to remove two purported endorsements of her candidacy for reelection from her campaign website.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, the Republican anti-immigration zealot from Colorado, demanded that Schmidt remove his name from her site yesterday:

Early in the afternoon yesterday, Schmidt’s homepage touted that Tancredo was publicly backing her: “Rep. Tom Tancredo — Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus endorses Congresswoman Jean Schmidt and thanks her for her hard work to end ‘illegal’ immigration and protect American jobs.”

But Tancredo never endorsed Schmidt in her bid for reelection this year, said his spokesman, Will Adams.

“Congresswoman Schmidt and Congressman Tancredo recently met to discuss immigration,” Adams said. During the meeting, Schmidt joined the immigration-reform caucus but that was all that transpired, he said.

“There was no endorsement,” Adams said flatly. “We normally do not endorse out-of-state races.”

He added that while Tancredo had done so occasionally this was not one of those instances.

At the same time, another Ohio Republican congressman, Rep. Steve Chabot, denied that he had endorsed Schmidt, even though her site listed him as a supporter:

Rep. Jean Schmidt’s campaign Web site lists several political endorsements, including one from fellow Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood.

There’s only one problem.

Chabot says he didn’t endorse Schmidt, who faces a primary challenge May 2 from Republican Bob McEwen, a former congressman from southern Ohio.

“We have not been asked for an endorsement by anyone in that race,” Chabot spokesman Gary Lindgren said Tuesday, adding that Chabot backs both Schmidt and McEwen.

Liberal Group Launches Ad Campaign against Dobson over Abramoff Ties

March 8, 2006 Jon Ponder

The Campaign to Defend the Constitution, a liberal group that fights Christian extremism, has launched an advertising campaign against mullah James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based hate group, over his ties to disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff:

The campaign will begin with a $200,000 ad in The New York Times, claiming that “These Religious Leaders Have a Serious Gambling Problem.” Television ads will run in Colorado Springs, Washington, D.C., and New York.

The ads center on the actions of Abramoff, who represented Indian tribes with gambling interests before he was accused of bilking the tribes out of millions of dollars and improperly influencing public officials.

One of Abramoff’s clients, the Louisiana Coushatta tribe, tried to block approval of a competing casino project in Louisiana by the Jena Band of Choctaws.

Abramoff reportedly paid former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed to start a campaign blocking the Jena project.

Meanwhile, e-mails released during a subsequent congressional investigation, suggested that Abramoff claimed he got Dobson involved, too.

Dobson’s group denies the charges.

GOP Senate Intelligence Committee Backs Bush’s Illegal Spying

March 8, 2006March 8, 2006 Jon Ponder

“The committee is, to put it bluntly, basically under the control of the White House.”

— Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D- W.V., vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee

Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed their status as a giant, expensive rubber stamp for President Bush and the worst of his fascistic tendencies yesterday when they opted to approve — not investigate — his illegal domestic spying program:

The agreement, hashed out in weeks of negotiations between Vice President Dick Cheney and Republicans critical of the program, dashes Democratic hopes of starting a full committee investigation because the proposal won the support of Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. The two, both Republicans, had threatened to support a fuller inquiry if the White House did not disclose more about the program to Congress.

“We are reasserting Congressional responsibility and oversight,” Ms. Snowe said.

The proposed legislation would create a seven-member “terrorist surveillance subcommittee” and require the administration to give it full access to the details of the program’s operations

Snowe also called it “the beginning, not the end of the process” — where “process” means “our heritage as a democratic nation.”

Keith Olbermann on C-SPAN’s Q&A Sunday

March 8, 2006 Jon Ponder

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s “Countdown,” will be interviewed on C-SPAN’s hourlong show, “Q&A,” this Sunday at 5 p.m., Pacific time. If you don’t have cable, you can watch of podcast of the interview from the site at www.q-and-a.org.

Day: March 8, 2006

Bush Commands that DHS Shall Get Religion

Mean Jean Forced to Remove Endorsement Claims from Site

Liberal Group Launches Ad Campaign against Dobson over Abramoff Ties

GOP Senate Intelligence Committee Backs Bush’s Illegal Spying

“The committee is, to put it bluntly, basically under the control of the White House.”

— Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D- W.V., vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee

Keith Olbermann on C-SPAN’s Q&A Sunday

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”