Day: November 16, 2006

Poll: Bush Drops to 32% in Pew Survey

Jon Ponder

I still think Bush is very lucky to have even this much support:

Bush’s own job approval ratings have hit a new low in the aftermath of the elections. Just 32 percent of Americans approve of Bush’s job performance compared with 58 percent who disapprove. Bush’s job rating stands at just 24 percent among political independents, who proved crucial to the Democrats’ victory on Nov. 7.

Boy, those independents are smart.

Republicans Can Blame Limbaugh for the Loss of the Senate

Jon Ponder

Who is responsible for the Republicans’ loss of Congress last week? Some say it was George W. Bush and his negative coattails. The president, of course, blames someone else: his very own turd blossom, Karl Rove.

But a strong case can be made that Rush Limbaugh lost the Senate all by himself:

[My] favorite Election Day moment occurred at the very end of the process, when newly elected Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill slyly thanked Limbaugh for his role in her victory…

In contrast to Limbaugh’s trademark, piercing proclamations, McCaskill made her remark while flashing a big, triumphant smile. But she clearly relished in twisting the knife.

Fair enough. Limbaugh went too far when he blasted actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, on the eve of the midterm elections.

One view is that all’s fair in politics, and Fox had put himself in the public arena by becoming a spokesman for the pro-stem cell research faction. But everyone deserves to be treated with respect and compassion. Whether Limbaugh was guilty of bad manners or bad politics, it didn’t matter. And even when he explained his remarks afterward, his comments had a hollow ring.

In hindsight, it would have been wise for Limbaugh to leave Fox alone, especially after Fox shook violently during television commercials. But Limbaugh couldn’t do that.

Instead, trying to make Fox look as bad as possible, Limbaugh said he suspected that Fox hadn’t taken his medication. He reckoned that Fox had exploited his illness as a slick way to boost the public’s appeal for federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The stem-cell issue had become a pivotal part of McCaskill’s campaign in Missouri (and the initiative ultimately passed).

Here is the irony. If Republican Jim Talent had defeated McCaskill, the Republicans would have held on to control of the U.S. Senate. Not only did Limbaugh hurt Talent, he ended up screwing the whole Republican Party.

The truth is, the Republicans only have themselves to blame. No one forced them to give the Worst President Ever carte blanche to run the government to ruin. They deserved what they got, and whatever else may be coming their way.

Republican Terrorist Captured: Freeper Fan of Coulter, Malkin and Ingraham Allegedly Sent Fake Anthrax to Dems

Jon Ponder

Alleged Terrorist Tracked after Buying $15 Money Order Made out to Katherine Harris

Chad Castagana was arrested over the weekend for sending threatening letters to prominent liberals, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and television personalities David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, as well as Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone.

The alleged terrorist is 39 and lives with his parents in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills. He was apparently a frequent contributor to the ultra-rightwing extremist website Free Republic, whose members are known as “Freepers.”

Castanaga was arrested by the Joint Federal Terrorism Task Force in part because he purchased a money order for $15 that he had made out to “Friends of Katherine Harris” at the same time he purchased stamps and envelopes with which he intended to send another round of fake anthrax mailings.

On MSNBC’s Countdown yesterday, host Keith Olbermann, in an interview with Radar Online’s John Cook, revealed that Castagana was a follower of rightwing militarist talking heads Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin and Laura Ingraham:

OLBERMANN: [The] Ann Coulter-Laura Ingraham-Michelle Malkin connection is—how is that best described? Is that hero worship? Or crushes of some kind, or do we know what that is?

COOK: Well, I mean, if he is idolizing them, that sounds like hero worship to me … They sort of present a kind of rhetorical world view where they have their troops out there, and I think he thought of himself as one of their troops and wanted to live up to their standards. And I mean, I don’t think we can always hold these people responsible for the actions of the least hinged of their followers, but I think it is clear that he was an acolyte of the Coulters and the Malkins, and I think that they clearly enjoy having acolytes, and they clearly sort of issue calls to action — not necessarily to send threatening powder-filled envelopes to you in so many words, but they certainly exhort their followers to let themselves be known.

If convicted, Castagana could face 15 years in prison.