Year: 2007

Poll: Insiders Piling On Gonzalez

Buck Banks

If only they could wipe off that perpetual smirk: In National Journal’s poll of Washington insiders, the consensus is that the attorney general is generally a screw-up who probably should lose his job:

Things aren’t looking good for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. After finding himself mired in controversy over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, two GOP senators seeking re-election next year in their blue-tinted states called for his dismissal.

‘One more example of poor management by the current administration. They couldn’t manage themselves out of a wet paper bag.’

Republican lawmakers continue to pile on the criticism. National Journal’s congressional insiders poll this week reveals that just 48 percent of the 33 surveyed said they are confident in Gonzales’ performance as attorney general.

But at least two of those respondents weren’t enthusiastic in their affirmations. One who answered yes added, “But [my confidence] is rapidly waning.” After offering a lukewarm avowal, another retorted, “Do I have confidence in his ability to avoid jumping up and down with both feet on another political land mine? Nope.”

One-third of the GOP respondents said they didn’t have confidence in the attorney general’s abilities, and 18 percent couldn’t make a call. One of the naysayers claimed to never have had confidence in Gonzales, explaining, “He is a weak administrator and was without ability from the start.” Another blamed the White House: “One more example of poor management by the current administration. They couldn’t manage themselves out of a wet paper bag.”

Democratic insiders were nearly unanimous in their misgivings — 93 percent said they lacked confidence in Gonzales. “The attorney general should move to a Republican campaign committee. It would be more in keeping with what he does,” one offered. And another Democrat who gave a thumbs down quipped, “But I’m sure he already knew that. After all, Gonzales and John Ashcroft listen in on all my calls!”

Of course, Gonzales is not the only administration official feeling the heat these days. A new Gallup poll conducted following the verdict in the I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby trial — which resulted in further media scrutiny of Libby’s former boss, the vice president — shows that just 34 percent of respondents approve of the job Dick Cheney is doing, the lowest Gallup rating to date.

Strip Club Freebie Sweetens Pot for Reluctant Voters

Trish

A Tampa strip club owner and city council candidate is making voters a deal: he’ll trade admission to his Mons Venus gentlemen’s club for an “I Voted” sticker.

Hmmm. I wonder what type of voting demographic this will increase turnout in?

“I hope it helps turnout,” [City Council Candidate and strip club owner Joe] Redner said Wednesday. “And the publicity is good for me, too.”

Yes, the publicity be berry berry good to you, Joe.

Interested voters can obtain the sticker by casting a ballot anytime before March 24, the early voting period. Or they can wait until election day, Tuesday, March 27. And then bring on the girls!

KSM Also Confessed to Nicole Simpson Murder and Causing Rift in Bushes’ Marriage

Jon Ponder

Facing scandals and controversies everywhere it looks, the Bush Administration released a confession yesterday made over a month ago by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — one of dozens of Osama bin Laden’s “number two” men:

“I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z.” He also confessed orchestrating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid’s December 2001 bid to “down two American airplanes.” Many of the plots Mohammed … took credit for planning never occurred, but were of a similarly grand scale as the September 11 attacks. Mohammed said that he plotted second wave attacks targeting U.S. skyscrapers like the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower, as well as the assassinations of Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Pope John Paul II, and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Other crimes he confessed to, according to humorist Don Imus, included the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and the character of J.R. on the soap opera, “Dallas,” in the 1980s. Another cynic suggests he also confessed to the Watergate burglaries, stealing all the “W” keys off White House computers in the early days of the Bush Administration, killing Chandra Levy, causing the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina, as well as forcing Scooter Libby to lie to the FBI, firing eight U.S. Attorneys last December and being the “third party” who has caused problems in the Bushes’ marriage.

Newt’s Going to Run, Says Former Campaign Manager

Trish

He should know. Newt Gingrich’s former campaign chairman, now a Jacksonville-based political columnist, has analyzed the tea leaves and predicted a presidential run by the porcine one.

Matt Towery says Newt’s admission to James Dobson that he was covering up an affair with an aide while voting to impeach Pres. Clinton for trying to cover up an affair with aide was the capper.

Newt’s admission to James Dobson that he was covering up an affair with an aide while voting to impeach Pres. Clinton for trying to cover up an affair with aide was the capper

It’s time for me to say it: I’m 100 percent positive that Gingrich will enter the battle for the GOP nomination.

Timing is everything, Towery explains, and Newt’s time is running out.

The real issue for Team Gingrich on a presidential announcement is not if, but when. Newt’s original strategy was to sit by and watch earlier-announced candidates flounder and waste money. That might have seemed workable before nearly all heavily populated states with ambition decided to move their presidential primaries to early February…

[Newt’s] problem is that too many of the key Republican activists and campaign contributors are already joining other campaigns. A check with one of Gingrich’s most prominent sources of major funding confirmed that they might be close to opting for another Republican candidate if Gingrich doesn’t give the proper signals soon.

So is Towery trying to “help” by giving the signal for him? The pundit says former Tenn. Sen. Fred Thompson’s possible announcement is an important factor, but the candidate to beat is Rudy Guiliani.

…which candidate would most need to fall on his face in order for Gingrich to enter the fray?

Rudy Giuliani. That’s right. Many say otherwise, that Gingrich needs another right-wing darling to stumble. But the real fall guy is the former New York City mayor.

By making his “confession” to James Dobson last week, and by then receiving forgiveness from major religious-right leaders, Gingrich outflanked Giuliani and his own publicly unacknowledged transgressions.

These scenarios all make sense. But I can’t see Newt making it through a year-long national campaign without getting on everyone’s last nerve, even Republicans.

Towery is also CEO of InsiderAdvantage and is developing his 1998 book, “Powerchicks: How Women Will Dominate America” into a weekly show. Can’t wait for that one.

Florida Rep Says Gay Students Need Psychological Treatment

Trish

A Republican Florida state lawmaker was right on target when he brought up the need for psychological treatment regarding homosexuality in high school students. Somebody does need to see a shrink.

But it’s not the kids.

“After telling him my story he proceeded to say he was repulsed by homosexuals and we needed extensive psychological treatment”

The idiot in question, Rep. Alan Hays (Umatilla), a retired dentist, reportedly implied to students lobbying for an anti-bullying law, the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Act,” that being homosexual is fair game for taunts.

The bill named for a Cape Coral teenager who killed himself in 2005 after being bullied at school would define “bullying” and direct schools to set up clear rules for how to handle threatening behavior…

The bill defines “sexual, religious or racial harassment” as bullying, but makes no mention of sexual orientation.

Its sponsor, Rep. Nick Thompson of Fort Myers, said that is because the bill is broad enough to cover all forms of harassment.

But critics said it intentionally left out homosexuals so conservative Republican lawmakers would vote for the bill.

Didn’t work, according to one of the students.

“After telling him my story he proceeded to say he was repulsed by homosexuals and we needed extensive psychological treatment,” said Jessica Osborn, 22, a University of Central Florida student and one of the three coalition members who met with Hays. Hays confirmed Tuesday he met with the students but said he couldn’t recall saying he was “repulsed” by homosexuals.

“I did tell them that they needed some psychological treatment,” said Hays, who said he first asked them if they wanted to hear his views on homosexuality.

The bill’s sponsors say the three biggest topics of derision among high schoolers are gender, race, and sexual orientation. Personal experience by the author bears that out, although I would replace gender with body weight/puberty development issues. Either way, a bill that deals with bullying but doesn’t include homosexuality is a stupid bill.

If GOP Sen. Domenici Is Forced Out, Dem Gov. Richardson Would Appoint His Replacement

Jon Ponder

The scandal swirling around Pres. Bush’s firing of eight U.S. Attorneys last December could lead to the resignation of Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico — which could change the dynamics in the Senate by adding another Democrat to the majority.

“Domenici is going to send over names tomorrow (not even waiting for Iglesias’s body to cool).”

David Iglesias, the fired prosecutor from New Mexico, testified to Congress last week that he believes that two New Mexico Republican members of Congress had him fired because he wouldn’t pursue their political opponent. One of the pols was Rep. Heather Wilson. The other was Sen. Domenici:

On the day of the Dec. 7 firings, Miers’s deputy, William Kelley, wrote that Domenici’s chief of staff “is happy as a clam” about Iglesias.

A week later, Sampson wrote: “Domenici is going to send over names tomorrow (not even waiting for Iglesias’s body to cool).”

If Domenici were to step down, his replacement would be named by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, who is running for president in 2008. Assuming the governor would replace Domenici with a Democrat, the balance of power in the Senate would undergo a subtle shift toward the Dems.

The parties are evenly divided now, with 48 Democrats and 48 Republicans, with two independents who both vote with Democrats. But one of those independents, Joe Lieberman, has been leaning Republican lately, especially on the war. The implicit threat that he might switch sides at any moment gives him power over the Democrats that he did not earn.

Upping the ranks of the Dems even by one vote would tend to neutralize Lieberman on issues related to the war, and it would put the Democrats one vote closer to a supermajority of 60 votes on appointments and clotures.

Bush Team Planned to Use Patriot Act to Replace U.S. Attorneys Without Senate Confirmation

Jon Ponder

If you are wondering why Bush’s mass firing of U.S. Attorneys in December has even Traditional Media types upset, here, in part is why:

Sampson also strongly urged bypassing Congress in naming replacements, using a little-known power slipped into the renewal of the USA Patriot Act in March 2006 that allows the attorney general to name interim replacements without Senate confirmation.

“I am only in favor of executing on a plan to push some USAs out if we really are ready and willing to put in the time necessary to select candidates and get them appointed,” Sampson wrote in a Sept. 17 memo to Miers. “It will be counterproductive to DOJ operations if we push USAs out and then don’t have replacements ready to roll immediately.

“I strongly recommend that as a matter of administration, we utilize the new statutory provisions that authorize the AG to make USA appointments,” he wrote.

By avoiding Senate confirmation, Sampson added, “we can give far less deference to home state senators and thereby get 1.) our preferred person appointed and 2.) do it far faster and more efficiently at less political costs to the White House.”

Must’ve sounded like a great plan — on paper.

Republicans Aren’t Buying Schwarzenegger’s ‘Post-Partisanship’

Jon Ponder

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger describes his new mode of working cooperatively with the Democrats who control the state legislature as “post-partisanship.” The way the former bodybuilder describes it, post-partisanship is bipartisanship on steroids — yes, he’s working with the Dems but, no, he is not kowtowing to them. Post-partisanship, he suggests, empowers both sides.

GOP Sen. McClintock and I are are in rare agreement. Schwarzenegger’s “post-partisanship” is a pile of hooey.

California Republicans aren’t buying it. As state Sen. Tom McClintock, a hardcore rightwinger and therefore a sad and lonely figure in these parts, said, post-partisanship “is the process by which Arnold sits down with Democratic leaders and gets them to do exactly what they wanted to do all along.”

Sen. McClintock and I are are in rare agreement. Schwarzenegger’s “post-partisanship” is a pile of hooey.

Schwarzenegger was forced to move to the left politically in order to get reelected, and now he has to govern that way to stay popular. This move fools no one on the left or the right in California, which is fine with the governor and his messagemesters. The post-partisanship message was not crafted for Democrats or Republicans, it was designed to appeal to California’s burgeoning independent voters — and they are eating it up.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or even a political scientist, to game this out. In his first term, Schwarzenegger governed to please California’s Republican minority — probably in the misguided belief that his celebrity alone would convert voters to his side. As a result, by the end of his term, the governor’s popularity was around 30 percent.

In his second term, he has done a strategic 180 to appeal to Democrats and independents, and guess what? His poll numbers have flipped, and now hovers above 60 percent.

So what’s with the post-partisanship hooey? In politics. if you don’t define yourself early in the minds of voters, your opponents will define you the way they want voters to see you. The label Schwarzenegger is terrified of is “moderate,” which for the GOP is a code word for “liberal.” To be a moderate — or let’s just say it — a liberal Republican is to be an apostate to the party’s troglodyte-Dittohead base.

In the days before Republicans re-framed the word “liberal” into an epithet, liberal Republicans were commonplace and even powerful.New York City Mayor John Lindsay, Vice Pres. Nelson Rockefeller and even Pres Gerald Ford were liberals. But liberal Republicans were unceremoniously kicked off the bus in the Reagan era because they fuzzied up the GOP’s new dumbed down marketing plan to attract unsmart voters: “Liberal” means “bad.” “Conservative” means “good.”

As elegantly streamlined as this marketing plan was, it would have never worked if the left had not capitulated. By the end of the 1980s, even liberals ran from the “liberal” label — they were “progressives.” (Contrast this with, say, gay people who neutralized the slur “fag” somewhat by wearing it proudly.)

To avoid the “liberal” stank, poltiicians with money to burn, like Gov. Schwarzenegger, pay strategists big bucks to come up with bushwa like the “post-partisanship.”

Schwarzenegger can waste his time and money on re-branding his liberalism anyway he chooses but Californians have a right to ask what he is up to. There is speculation he’s running for Barbara Boxer’s U.S. Senate seat in 2010 . Fine — but why is he taking his post-partisan campaign to the New Hampshire and Iowa, of all places?