Month: June 2006

Gov. Schwarzenegger Admits CA National Guard Has Become Unprepared on His Watch — Media Fails to Notice

Jon Ponder
This story sums up in a very neat package where we are in the age of the supine media. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s campaign team is able to manipulate the news, inserting the governor into the headlines by cravenly using his troops as political props — and inadvertently admits the state is unprepared for a Katrina-like disaster — but the media reports it without question or nuance.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s abrupt reneging on his promise to President Bush that he would send an additional 1,500 California National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border has made a big splash in the national news.

But lost in the coverage of the story of the Republican governor’s apparent rebuke of the Republican president is the revelation that in playing politics with the California National Guard, Gov. Schwarzenegger inadvertently admitted that troops under his putative command have become unprepared to handle the disasters California is prone to, including, but not limited to, earthquakes, fires and riots.

The governor’s non-statement explaining his sudden about-face sounded eerily like the sort of carefully crafted, tautologically reasoned statements the president himself makes:

“We are stretched too thin, if we were to send an extra 1,500, so that’s why we won’t send an extra 1,500.”

And as they do with spin from the president, the media has focused solely on the superficial meaning of the governor’s explanation while ignoring its content. What they heard was a rebuke of the president, but what the governor said was, the California National Guard is “stretched too thin,” and it has gotten that way on my watch.

It is shocking but not surprising that this admission of dereliction of duty should go over the heads of the media. Just as President Bush once said no one could have anticipated the levees breaching in New Orleans, perhaps the Beltway gang is unaware that few areas in the United States are as vulnerable to a disaster on the scale of the Katrina disaster in the Gulf than are California’s two major population areas. When the city of New Orleans was destroyed, its metro population was slightly more than 1 million. In California, a major earthquake could lead to damage, displacement and death affecting 14 million people in the Los Angeles metro area and 8 million in the Bay Area.

The Schwarzenneger campaign team’s motive for refusing the president’s request in a matter related to immigration policy is simple: President Bush’s popularity has tracked 5 to 10 percentage points lower (even) than Gov. Scharwzenegger’s for at least a year, especially among the state’s millions of independent and latino voters. The president rebuke was a deliberate move to put Schwarzenegger into a confrontational position with Bush for the benefit of two constituencies where he desperately needs to improve his numbers.

Fortunately, Phil Angelides, the governor’s Democratic opponent in November, did notice the meaning of Schwarzenegger’s statement. “As governor, I will fight for the proper levels of funding and support from Washington, so our state’s National Guard can always meet its mission,” he said, in response.

This story sums up in a very neat package where we are in the age of the supine media. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s campaign team is able to manipulate the news, inserting the governor into the headlines by cravenly using his troops as political props — and inadvertently admits the state is unprepared for a Katrina-like disaster — but the media reports it without question or nuance.

Corrupt Christian: Report Reveals Ralph Reed’s Payoffs from Abramoff — Money Was Laundered Through Norquist’s Nonprofit

Jon Ponder
By calling it a “bipartisan Senate report,” the Times infers that the Republicans who control the Senate determined that there was no way to cover up Reed’s malfeasance and so decided to throw him to the wolves.

When there is a buck to be made, all the high-minded moralizing of Christian Nationalist leaders like Ralph Reed flies out the window:

A bipartisan Senate report released on Thursday documented more than $5.3 million in payments to Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a leading Republican Party strategist, from an influence-peddling operation run by the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of Indian tribe casinos.

By calling it a “bipartisan Senate report,” the Times infers that the Republicans who control the Senate determined that there was no way to cover up Reed’s malfeasance and so decided to throw him to the wolves.

Reed’s college pal Grover Norquist, who operates an anti-government nonprofit group called Americans for Tax Reform (where “reform” means to de-fund the government so that anarchy arises), and who is a close ally of White House political boss Karl Rove, was all too willing to help his Christianist buddy launder the money:

Moving money from a casino-operating Indian tribe to Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition founder and professed gambling opponent, was a problem. Lobbyist [Jack] Abramoff turned to his longtime friend Norquist, apparently to provide a buffer for Reed.

The result, according to evidence gathered by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, was that Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform became a conduit for more than a million dollars from the Mississippi Choctaw to Reed’s operation, while Norquist, a close White House ally, took a cut.

When you hate the government, as these guys do, you entitle yourself to ignore the rules the government sets forth. See how that works?

Fox News Readies ‘Daily Show’ Ripoff Starring Laura Ingraham — We’re Laughing Already

Jon Ponder

The tipster said, “The writers and producers should be embarassed to show this one to [Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes].”

TVNewser is reporting scuttlebutt that the Fox News Channel is prepping a satiric news show to compete with Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart.” According to the TV news blog on the Media Bistro website, the host of the show is radio talk show host and professional Clinton-hater, Laura Ingraham:

An anonymous tipster says Ingraham’s pilot is known as “Watch This Right Now.” The tipster calls it “an absolutely terrible rip off of Daily Show” including a “music and video montage” and “mouth replacement of known news figures.” (Huh?) “They want to keep it a secret so they hired all freelance tech people,” the tipster adds. “The writers and producers should be embarassed to show this one to Roger.”

If I were compelled to come up with a one-word description of Ingraham, the word would be “humorless.” In all the years she has been in the public eye, I can’t think of a single funny thing she has said. Does she think she’s funny? Maybe. Here is how Ingraham describes an exchange from her radio show that she remembers as being “hysterical,” in which she punked an anti-war activist who hadn’t read up on Ingraham’s pro-Bush, pro-war stance:

One of the most hysterical exchanges I’ve had is with Maya Jones, who represents an anti-war group called Not In Our Name. I tried to debate her, and she said, “You really should tell people who are coming on if you’re not going to agree with them. I came on to promote the anti-war march, and I only have a few more minutes left.” She finally hung up on us.

OMG! LOL! Can you stand it?? Those liberals, huh? Can’t live with ’em, can’t shoot ’em.

[…]

In Miami We Have Home-Grown Loser Terrorists

Buck Banks

Seas of David: Okay, it’s kind of a catchy name for a group of terrorists, but it’s also pretty pathetic. Apparently, the FBI stung a bunch of wannabe terrorists who were operating from a warehouse in Liberty City, one of Miami’s poorest, mainly black inner city neighborhoods.

The members of the group — all seven of them — apparently spent their time at the warehouse exercising and not eating meat, and they supported themselves by selling shampoo and “hair grease” on the street.

Alleged targets of their operation included the Sears Tower in Chicago and FBI headquarters in Miami, as well as several other unnamed locations. as far as the FBI can tell, the group has no ties to al Qaeda and no explosives or weapons.

For the whole story, including some amusing quotes, visit the Miami Herald’s cover story here.

First Commissioned Officer Refuses to Deploy to Iraq

Buck Banks

Hell no, he won’t go: We received a press release today from www.ThankYouLt.org about First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada, who refused orders today to deploy to Iraq with Stryker Brigade. He reported to duty at 2 a.m. at Ft Lewis, Wash., and refused orders to move to the adjacent McChord Air Force Base to prepare to fly to Iraq. Watada was ordered to remain on site pending further orders from his commanding officer and cannot make or receive phone calls or have any communications with anyone off-base.

The press release says that Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq. He faces possible court-martial for disobeying orders and he intends to defend himself based on the illegality of the Iraq war and occupation. Lt. Watada, age 28, was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii where he enlisted in the Army and was obligated to serve on active duty as an Army officer for a term of three years ending Dec. 3, 2006.

Visit www.ThankYouLt.org to see photos of Watada and his parents and a video message from Watada, and to read messages of support. If you find his story compelling and want to show your support, you can sign a petition here.

Pensito Review to Kentucky – Go Ahead, Block Our Site

Buck Banks

Entering the fray: Apparently, the State of Kentucky’s Commonwealth Office of Technology, which handles the e-mail and Internet access for all state employees, has started blocking access to select Web sites and weblogs. Mainly these have been sites critical of Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

We at Pensito Review are always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance our site’s profile and gain wider recognition and readership. We saw in the COT’s Draconian censorship a chance to “get some press.” Accordingly, I sent the following message via the “contact us” button on the COT’s Web site:

It is our understanding that the Commonwealth Office of Technology of the State of Kentucky has started blocking access to liberal Web sites and weblogs that have been critical of Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Pensito Review is a liberal politics and culture site that should probably be blocked by the COT. Our content, though not specifically critical of Gov. Fletcher, is certainly subversive enough to make red-blooded red-staters either apoplectic or question their wingnut assumptions.

We would appreciate it if we could be added to the COT’s blocked site list. In a world where it is difficult to stand out from other weblogs, being blocked by the COT along with Wonkette and BluegrassReport.org would do wonders for our marketing efforts.

Although we have not been directly critical of Gov. Fletcher, we’ve consistently been pretty hard on the governors of Florida and California, in case that would qualify us for blocking. If necessary to earn blocking status, we would be glad to start criticizing Gov. Fletcher, who we understand is a rabid Southern Republican with a funny accent who kicks his dog.

Please let me know when we can expect to have www.pensitoreview.com blocked from all Kentucky state employees’ computers so we can issue a press release to the appropriate media.

Thanks,

Buck
Pensito Review

Stay tuned to see if the COT will help make us as famous as Wonkette. Hey, we’re willing to lose a few readers from Kentucky, if that’s what it takes to make Pensito Review a household name.

Poll: Both Parties Agree — Congress Sucks!

Buck Banks

Congress of dullards: A ccording to Congress Daily’s PollTrack, a new Zogby poll finds that the only thing that can bridge the gap between the Republican and Democratic parties is the bipartisan view that Congress is doing a heckuva crappy job.

Just 20 percent of respondents gave Congress’ performance a favorable rating; 57 percent gave the legislative body a big thumbs-down. Two-thirds of Republican respondents said Congress isn’t doing a good job, despite the fact that it is dominated by their party. Eighty-nine percent of Democrats agreed. Come November’s midterm elections, 38 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Democratic congressional candidate, while 29 said they’d vote Republican — the same split as Zogby’s May survey.

Other polls show similar results. Forty-four percent of CNN poll respondents said they planned to vote for the Democrat in their district, and 36 percent said they would vote Republican. And an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released last week showed that 49 percent of respondents want a GOP-controlled Congress, while 38 percent said they want Democrats to control the legislature.

Voters are feeling none too optimistic about the future — 55 percent of Zogby respondents said the U.S. is headed on the wrong track, while only 35 percent expressed confidence in the country’s direction. The negative sentiments are down slightly from early June and May, however, when about six in 10 said the country was on the wrong track.