Day: July 22, 2007

Conyers: If Three More Reps Will Support Impeachment, We’ll Proceed

Jon Ponder

Via the BRAD BLOG — at an appearance hosted by the Progressive Democrats (PDA) in San Diego yesterday, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers signaled a new willingness to proceed on impeaching both Pres. George Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, according to sources in the room.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s take them out!”
— Rep. Conyers

In a report on the event posted to the PDA website by Judy Hess, a member of the San Diego chapter who helped organize the event, Conyers opened his remarks by referring to a pro-impeachment banner near the stage:

“What are we waiting for? Let’s take them out!” The room jumped with applause and shouts of approval.

Hess also reported that Conyers said he is seeking additional support for impeachment from his colleagues:

In his remarks, he said he needs three more Representatives to contact him in support of impeachment in order to move forward, with or without Nancy Pelosi.

Radio talk show host Bree Walker was also at the event and confirms Hess’ account, via AfterDowningStreet.com.

In January, at an anti-war rally on the National Mall, Conyers said, “We can fire them,” but when he was asked about it later, he waffled. That could happen here too, but if you support impeachment, this might be a propitious time to let your House member know.

Why Is This Man Smiling?

Jon Ponder

Pres. Bush recently hosted a Kool-Aid party with a gaggle of rightwing pundits at the White House. Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post put together a round-up of the pundits’ reviews of the president’s demeanor:

National Review’s Kate O’Beirne, who joined the presidential chat in the Roosevelt Room, told me that the most striking thing was the president’s incongruously sunny demeanor … Bush was “not at all weary or anguished” and in fact was “very energized,” wrote Michael Barone of U.S. News & World Report. He was “as confident and upbeat as ever,” observed Rich Lowry of National Review. “Far from being beleaguered, Bush was assertive and good-humored,” according to David Brooks of the New York Times.

Why is Bush so happy? Because he knows he is doing God’s bidding:

One of the more unnerving reports out of the president’s seminar with the pundits came from Brooks, who quoted Bush as saying: “It’s more of a theological perspective. I do believe there is an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to all is freedom. And I will tell you that is a principle that no one can convince me that doesn’t exist.”

I think I see where he’s going. God told him to invade Iraq to secure the Iraqis’ oil, I mean, freedom. So blame the failure of the war on God, not Bush.

Tnx CBC

How Harry Reid Blew It

Trish

I consider Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) the Democrats’ own dirty little Mormon secret. I am embarrassed every time I hear the man speak. I cringe when he claims to represent people like me.

And I guess I’m not alone. The Houston Chronicle’s Cragg Hines seems to agree, showing how Reid keeps getting it wrong.

What did President Bush want? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq. What did Reid’s move give Bush? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

There should be an especially fiery place in the political hereafter for Harry Reid if the Democratic leader continues to mismanage the Senate debate on the Iraq war.

To the ga-ga applause of at least some of the most vocal antiwar forces, Reid yanked from further immediate consideration the legislative vehicle that provided a platform for the debate.

The ultimate goal of Reid, some of his senior colleagues and the antiwar movement is wholly admirable. But they have the strategy bass-ackwards.

Reid, once a Golden Gloves middleweight, got sucker punched.

What did President Bush want? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

What did Reid’s move give Bush? At least 60 more days to prosecute the ill-omened battles in Iraq.

Given the long congressional recess in August, there is now little, if any, prospect for significant Senate debate on a real change of course in Iraq until after Labor Day.

Republican Cash MIA Over Slate of Drippy Candidates

Trish

Not only have Republicans told pollsters they don’t like their party’s candidates, they are also holding back donations.

First came the news that “none of the above” is increasingly the top choice among potential GOP voters.

The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney, and no one candidate has emerged as the clear front-runner among Christian evangelicals…

A hefty 23 percent can’t or won’t say which candidate they would back, a jump from the 14 percent who took a pass in June.

GOP Donor: ”It’s hard for some of us who have been loyal to one family for so long just to flip over to someone else… Ask yourself: Is it going to be the same as it was with Bush 41, with Jeb or with W?”

Now we hear that the big money in Florida, one of the deepest pockets for the Republicans, is missing in action.

Two-thirds of the top Florida donors to President Bush have yet to write a check to any Republican presidential candidate this year, reflecting a nationwide disquiet in the GOP that threatens to undermine its hold on the White House…

”We’re six months before the Florida primary. I would think at least half would be signed up with one campaign or another,” said Fort Lauderdale lobbyist Justin Sayfie, a top Bush donor turned fence-sitter.

The habit of giving to those lovable, whacky Bushes is hard to break, and harder to replace.

A Bush — the 41st president named George, the 43rd governor of Florida named Jeb, or the 43rd president named George W. — has appeared on seven of the last 10 general-election ballots in Florida.

”It’s hard for some of us who have been loyal to one family for so long just to flip over to someone else,” said Michael Hightower, a Jacksonville healthcare executive who served as the local GOP chairman. “I’m not saying we don’t have good candidates, but you ask yourself: Is it going to be the same as it was with Bush 41, with Jeb or with W? And the realistic answer is no, because we don’t have the same relationship.”

Excuse me while I gag.

Our team, of course, is doing fine.

Among Democrats, it’s a different story. About three-fourths of the leading fundraisers for the 2004 Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry, have put their money on a 2008 contender.

Those who really can’t find anyone they like still have a choice. The Committee Against Mediocrity in Politics (CAMP) is urging them to back an amendment that would let them vote for None of the Above.

CAMP is calling for Amendment XXVIII to the United States Constitution. This Amendment would add “None of the Above” to all federal election ballots, allowing voters to choose not to vote for a ballot of mediocre candidates.

Should the “None of the Above” option receive a majority of votes in any given election, then that election would yield no winner and the election would need to be rerun with new candidates on the ballot.

Ralph Nader should love it.

RIP Tammy Faye

Jon Ponder

She died yesterday:

Tammy Faye Messner, whose can-do Christian cheer helped her survive the PTL scandal and forge a second career as a pop-culture queen, died Friday after battling cancer for more than a decade.

She was 65. News of her death at her home near Kansas City, Mo., was posted on her Web site Saturday night.

A family service was held Saturday in a private ceremony, where her ashes were interred, said Joe Spotts, Messner’s booking agent. Spotts said that the family is considering a public memorial service for the coming weeks.

For Tammy Faye, like Elvis, no last name was necessary.