Day: May 15, 2007

Wolfie in Slow-Mo Implosion

Buck Banks

Heckuva job: Wolfowitz is angering our European allies and making himself and the president look stubborn, rude and clueless:

“If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too.”
— Paul Wolfowitz

Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: “If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too.”

The remarks were published in a report detailing the controversy that erupted last month after the size of Ms Riza’s pay rises was revealed. The report slates Mr Wolfowitz for his “questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest”, saying: “Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply.”

The report brushed off Mr Wolfowitz’s defence that he thought he had been asked to arrange Ms Riza’s pay package, observing that “the interpretation given by Mr Wolfowitz … simply turns logic on its head”.

A normal president would have put Wolfie out of his — and our — misery by now.

Will Bushes’ Support Hurt Romney’s Campaign?

Jon Ponder

George W. Romney: There are definite signs now that the Bush family, their retainers and supporters are supporting Mitt Romney in the upcoming GOP primaries. While it might seem strange that the uber-establishment Bushies would go for the Mormon candidate, on closer consideration Romney is not only a logical choice but, in a sense, their only option.

The Bushes can relate to Romney. He is from the Northeast, WASP-ish (WASM?), worth $250 million or so, and the son of a famous Republican politician, the late governor of Michigan, George Romney.

They’re leery of John McCain who switched from Bush hater to Bush BFF practically overnight after the 2000 election, and could easily switch back after 2008. Giuliani is not a WASP and is squishy on social issues and, well, crazy. Besides, except for religion, they have much in common with Romney: He is from the Northeast, WASP-ish (WASM?), worth $250 million or so, and the son of a famous Republican politician, the late governor of Michigan, George Romney.

In any case, it is clear that Jeb, the president’s more successful younger brother, is supporting Romney behind the scenes:

While Jeb Bush has refrained from endorsing anyone publicly, he has personally introduced Romney to many of his political allies. Jeb Bush’s chief operatives — political strategist Sally Bradshaw and fund-raiser Ann Herberger — have gone to work for Romney. And his former lieutenant governor, Toni Jennings, is also backing Romney

Jeb’s cronies and the president’s other siblings are in the Romney camp, too:

[Jeb] has steered his allies to Mitt Romney … who is seen by some Republicans as the best combination of electability and conservatism. Another of the president’s brothers, Neil, and his sister Dorothy have directly helped Romney raise money…

And then there is “L” word:

Those close to Bush are deeply concerned with protecting the president’s legacy, and they want the next president to be someone who will pursue Bush’s agenda, especially in prosecuting the Iraq war.

They need to face facts about W’s legacy: That ship has sailed. Absent a miracle over the next 12 months or so, history will remember his presidency as one of failure and malfeasance.

Which brings us back to Romney. Is it smart for him — or any candidate — to be the standard-bearer for a failed presidency in campaign? Even if it were to help among Bush deadenders in the GOP primaries, Bush’s political taint would obliterate Romney’s chances among normal voters in the general.

Falwell Turned Protestants into GOP Special Interest Group

Jon Ponder

The Rev. Jerry Falwell died today. He was a major disseminator of bigotry, hatred and ignorance, much of which was directed toward gays. He will be remembered for perverting the New Testament’s message of brotherly love and peace into one of intolerance — and for successfully turning the once-great American Protestant religion into little more than a special interest group in the Republican Party.

The Confederate Flag Still Flies in the South and the North

Jon Ponder

The mayor of Columbia, S.C., the capitol of the state that led the rest of the Confederacy off the cliff of secession in December 1860, has a letter in the local paper in which he pleads with racist conservatives who still run the state to remove the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds:

To the rest of the world, the Confederate flag has become a symbol of racial hatred on par with the Nazi swastika

The presence of the Confederate flag in front of the State House … is an obstacle to economic development, and in particular to South Carolina’s and Columbia’s efforts to enter the knowledge economy. The flag creates an unnecessary, negative image of South Carolina to the world.

My experience is that outside of South Carolina, the flag creates a controversial and uncertain image of South Carolina that ties current state policy of flying the flag on the State House grounds to our history of racial segregation and intolerance. This negative image exists even though I readily accept the fact that most of the advocates for the flag do not intend to convey that message. Unfortunately, in today’s world of the Internet and national and international media, the Confederate flag, fairly or not, has become a symbol of intolerance.

The mayor, Bob Coble, is courageous for speaking out. He risks having a cross or two burned in his yard, at the very least. He could also be facing the end of his political career and, at worst, risking the safety of himself and his family.

He’s right about the battle flag. To the rest of the world, it has become a symbol of racial hatred on par with the Nazi swastika. As such, the flag at the South Carolina statehouse is one of the most lurid examples, since it was first raised in the Civil Rights era as a middle-finger salute to the United States Dept. of Justice, African-Americans, Yankees and anyone else who opposed Jim Crow.

There are still Southerners who cling to the delusion that the Confederate flag is symbol of the valiant cause of Southern independence. Whatever it once was, from the moment the North claimed victory, the Confederate flag became the symbol of a lost cause — and rightly so.

As long as the Confederate flag flies at its state house, South Carolina deserves its reputation as a backwater, with rankings in education, health care and productivity among the lowest in the country. And every multinational company that moves facilities there should be tarred with the same brush — especially including the German automaker BMW that saw no problem with a swastika, er, Confederate flag flying in the capitol when it opened a plant in Greenville.

As my colleague Trish often points out, stupidity about race is by no means a Southern trait. In Michigan, the Rapid City Businessmen’s Association flew a special KKK branded Confederate flag at its family picnic over the weekend:

[…]

Romney’s Mexico-Born Father Made Quixotic Run against Nixon and Reagan in ’68

Jon Ponder

Like George W. Bush, Mitt Romney is an Eastern elite whose father was a famous political figure. George W. Romney had a high-profile private sector job, as C.E.O of American Motors, manufacturer of the Rambler, before serving as governor of Michigan for three terms.

In 1968, Gov. Romney ran for the Republican nomination against Richard Nixon, who won that year, and Ronald Reagan, who went on to win in 1980. But what George Romney is best remembered for is being tripped up on a statement about his support for the Vietnam War:

Romney told a news reporter that he had been “brainwashed” by the military and the diplomatic corps into supporting the Vietnam War. As the year 1968 opened, Romney was opposed to further American intervention in Vietnam and had decided to run as the Republican version of [antiwar Democrat] Gene McCarthy. Romney’s support faded slowly, and he withdrew from the race on February 28, 1968..

But even if he had won the presidency, George Romney would have faced a constitutional question before he could be sworn in. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution, which says “No person except a natural born citizen … shall be eligible to the office of president”* prohibits people born in foreign countries from serving as president, and he was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, into a renegade sect of polygamous Mormons.

George Romney’s grandfather, Miles Park Romney, had five wives, and had moved the family to Mexico when polygamy became a federal crime in the United States. (It was a crime in Mexico, too, but was largely ignored in remote areas.) However, when the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, when George was about three years old, the famly returned to the United States, eventually ending up in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1969, Pres. Nixon appointed Romney as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a post he held until 1973.

*Update: Corrected citation from the Constitution that prohibits foreign-born presidents. H/t: Bob Sakowski in comments.