Year: 2007

Chicken Dance Time! Rove is Leaving

Trish

As Karl Rove leaves the White House to spend more time with his family and work on his memoir, we can’t help but say, “We knew it!”

The timing is suspect, coming just as the Democrats in Congress are really digging in to how the White House has been run, possibly even finally getting at those deleted emails.

The line that was deleted in later versions: “He’s been talking with the president for a long time, about a year, regarding when might be good to go,” Perino said.

This is the quote you’re seeing in all the stories concerning the “why now” aspect of Rove’s departure:

“I just think it’s time,” Rove told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.”

But look at how the earlier versions quoted White House deputy spokestool Dana Perino when she made the happy announcement.

“He’s been talking with the president for a long time, about a year, regarding when might be good to go,” Perino said. “But there’s always a big project to work on, and his strategic abilities, and our need for his support, kept him here. He said there’s never a good time to leave, just the ‘right’ time.”

He’s been talking to the president for about a year? My bet is he’s been talking to president about it since last November, when Rove proved dead wrong on the midterm elections. I think he was a hair away from following Donald Rumsfeld out the door back then and has been on thin ice ever since, as Scooter Libby was convicted and as the Alberto Gonzalez scandal continues to grow.

Of course, no matter when Rove leaves, we’re just thanking God and Greyhound that he’s going.

Hey John Edwards, Learn to When to Stop Talking

Trish

I know just how Jon feels. He is disenchanted with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, whose poor showing in the recent “gay debate” left Jon revisiting his early support.

In a job interview you’re not supposed to say that you’re late a lot or call in sick when you’re not. Does anyone really need this explained to them? Apparently Edwards does.

Like Jon I’ve been cringing but over John Edwards, my early favorite. It started with the monumentally idiotic criticism of Hillary Clinton’s jacket during the YouTube debate. For a man trying to shake off the “vain and shallow” characterization by Republicans to cluck his tongue and cock his head over the senator’s suit was dumb, dumb, dumb. Especially after making the case that he could represent women better than a woman can. Way to not get what women are up against, John.

And it’s not like Edwards didn’t have time to prepare his response, waiting as he did for Mike Gravell and Chris Dodd to go first, and following Dodd’s ovation for refusing to say anything negative about Edwards. John started out fine, admiring Clinton’s work as a senator and her husband’s service. No need to go further. But he did.

Does he not get that when you are asked to, “Say what you don’t like about the person to your left,” that’s your cue to say you don’t like how smart they are, or how good they are at golf? It’s like being asked in a job interview to name your flaws. You’re expected to say you work too hard or that you’re too much of a perfectionist. You’re not supposed to say that you’re late a lot or call in sick when you’re not. Does anyone really need this explained to them? Apparently Edwards does.

And now he’s done it again. Edwards was talking about the recent comment by Bush’s new war czar about possibly reinstating the draft.

“Enough is enough,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “Let there be no doubt that the Bush administration’s new talk of a draft is a profound measure of how much this President has failed our brave men and women in the military, and the American people. This is exactly the wrong way to go.”

If only he had stopped there. But alas, no.

“Our all-volunteer force has helped make America what it is today.”

Yeah, they have. Along with all those who answered the call when they were drafted during World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and oh yeah, the Civil War. They had a little something to do with making America what it is today also.

There are those who think the reason there aren’t mass street protests ala Vietnam over Iraq is precisely because there is no draft. Edwards is right that for Bush to bring it back would be yet more proof of how badly this invasion was planned, and for five long years, executed. But John, please learn to stop talking while you’re still right.

Poll: Over 90% of Gays Voted in 2004 – Proves Americans Will Vote When Their Rights Are At Stake

Jon Ponder

Could this trend be a harbinger of things to come?

Consider that last statistic for a moment: a turnout rate among gay men more than twice that for the nation’s voters as a whole.

A recent study by San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. found an eye-popping 92.5 percent of gay men report they voted in the 2004 presidential race, and almost 84 percent said they cast ballots in the 2006 midterm election. Among lesbians, the results were almost as impressive; nearly 91 percent in 2004 and 78 percent in 2006.

By comparison, the Washington-based Committee for the Study of the American Electorate puts the turnout for all Americans eligible to vote at about 61 percent in 2004 and roughly 40 percent in 2006.

Consider that last statistic for a moment: a turnout rate among gay men more than twice that for the nation’s voters as a whole.

The survey questioned more than 12,000 gay men and more than 10,000 lesbians, giving its results a minuscule error margin of plus or minus 1 percent.

What this shows is that people will vote when they feel like they have something at stake. It speaks to the central point in “Sicko,” Michael Moore’s documentary about the corruption of the American healthcare system. Moore suggests that in Europe, where universal healthcare is, well, universal, voters control the politicians. Governments there are vulnerable to the citizens’ displeasure, both at the ballot box and from civil unrest in the streets.

But in America, says Moore, the politicians control the voters — or rather corporate interests control politicians who run the government to benefit the corporations at the expense of citizens. Voting is considered a waste of time and boring, and protest is only fashionable among scruffy vegan ruffians.

In 2004, Republicans were using gay rights as a wedge issue in the states to gin up the homophobe vote in their base. Feeling under assault, gays answered with the weapon available to all: they voted.

Perhaps the good news here is that we gays are considered to be trendsetters. Who knows, maybe this voting thing could catch on.

Rudy in 1994: ‘Freedom Is About Authority’

Jon Ponder

Paging Mr. Orwell: Rudolph Giuliani may be a liberal on social issues but when it comes to his views on the authority of the government to regulate the lives of its citizens, he is 100 percent conservative.

“Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”
— Rudolph Giuliani, 1994

During his tenure as mayor, Giuliani was in a constant struggle to impose authoritarian rule onto a city known for its liberal, non-conformist culture. At one point, things grew so contentious that America’s Mayor declared it illegal to criticize Himself.

That came as no surprise to locals. For one thing, in March 1994, early in his first year as mayor, he laid out his views on the supremacy of the authoritarian state in remarks during a forum on crime:

We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

In other words, life was better back in authoritarianism’s golden age because citizens bowed to the government and kept to their place. Looking ahead from 1994, he seemed to be saying that the only way to quell the disorder in the streets was to bring all the citizens, especially the criminal element of the lower classes, into submission.

In the authoritarian way of thinking, social ills at the root of unrest are unimportant, and will likely resolve themselves after order is imposed. Of course, suppressing the criminal element does not make crime disappear. It just pushes it into someone else’s district.

After eight years of Cheney and Bush shredding the Bill of Rights and ceding power to themselves, it is unsettling to think that more of the same, or worse, could lie ahead under a Giuliani regime. If he becomes the GOP nominee, all he has to do is run a rematch of 2004, pummel the Democrats, as Bush did, with fear politics and the specter of 9/11 — and cakewalk into the White House. Now that is scary.

Will Someone Please Take Bill Richardson to the Gay Rodeo?

Jon Ponder


I’m still on the fence about which candidate to support next year but have been leaning toward Bill Richardson. He’s got more boots-on-the-ground foreign policy experience than all the other candidates in both parties combined. He’s served in cabinet posts, was a member of the House of Representatives and he’s run two successful campaigns for governor of New Mexico, a state that tends to elect more Republicans than Democrats to high office

But Richardson’s appearance Thursday night at the Human Rights Campaign Presidential Forum has given me pause. It’s not just that he said that homosexuality was a choice — an incredibly stupid statement that he later took back — it was his entire performance. He was obviously uncomfortable, and it was clear that he had not given gay civil rights issues an in-depth analysis. (I know the campaign is being run on a shoe-string but was there no one available who could have given him a briefing?)

My sense is, Richardson is not a dyed-in-the-wool bigot but rather a a clueless macho straight guy who was suddenly immersed in the heady waters of gay politics and quickly found himself to be in over his head.

If Richardson had performed so badly in front of any other group — blacks, union members, women, Irish-Americans — his campaign would be in freefall right now. Fortunately, it was only the gays, so hardly anyone will take notice and he can recover.

He can even rehabilitate his image with gays, if he chooses to. All he has to do is introduce himself to a strata of gay life with which he can probably relate — the gay rodeo. As it happens, a golden opportunity presents itself next weekend when the 16th Annual Zia Regional Rodeo, sponsored by the New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association (NMGRA) will be held in Albuquerque.

Maybe someone in the leadership of NMGRA could invite the governor to attend the rodeo so he could get a taste of gay life closer to his own experience, and begin to rehabilitate his campaign after a disheartening presentation on gay issues.

Growingly Desperate, Army Trying Anything to Nab Recruits

Trish

You know the Army is getting desperate for recruits when it starts overlooking drug use, criminal records, age, and obesity. But oh yeah, you still can’t tell anyone you’re gay.

Despite spending nearly $1 billion last year on recruiting bonuses and ads, Army leaders say an even bolder approach is needed to fill wartime ranks.

Under a new proposal, men and women who enlist could pick from a “buffet” of incentives, including up to $45,000 tax-free that they accrue during their career to help buy a home or build a business. Other options would include money for college and to pay off student loans.

This would come after the other recent enhancements to recruiting failed to get the numbers up, including:

  • Increasing to $20,000 the bonus for troops who join by Sept. 30 and leave for boot camp within a month
  • Raising the enlistment age to 42
  • Allowing recruits to come in with non-offensive tattoos on their hands and neck
  • Offering a $2,000 bonus to Army soldiers who refer a new recruit
  • Enlisting recruits who don’t meet weight standards and must trim down their first year
  • Advertising that targets potential recruits’ parents
  • Increasing the number of recruits with general education diplomas (GEDs) rather than regular high school diplomas
  • Creating a more pleasant boot camp environment
  • Sending “gung-ho” soldiers fresh from boot camp or war zones back to their hometowns to visit old friends and schoolmates to promote the Army
  • Increasing to more than 15 percent the number of Army and Army Reserve troops given waivers for medical and moral reasons or for positive drug and alcohol screen tests

The Army blames the dwindling numbers on several factors.

More high school graduates are going to college, and the economy is strong, providing lots of civilian jobs. At the same time, only three of 10 people between 17 and 24 fully meet the military’s standards.

Less obvious factors have also decreased the recruitment pool. They include higher obesity rates, more people diagnosed with mental health conditions such as attention-deficit disorder, more criminal citations due to the increase of the drinking age from 18 to 21.

Let’s see, did we miss anything? Nah, I guess that pretty well covers all the possible reasons people aren’t joining the Army.

Oh yeah, how about THE FRICKIN’ WAR? Maybe the idea of being cannon fodder in an endless and futile bad idea doesn’t appeal to a lot of people.

Alaska Republican (A Different One) Suspected of Biggest Earmark Grab Ever

Trish

The stench from a recently discovered earmark in the 2005 Federal Transportation bill is making members of the Lee County, Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization board swoon. They are also demanding an explanation.

Back in 2005 — before voters the following year tossed out corrupt Republican politicians by the handfuls — it was business as usual for Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Bob Young (R-Alaska) to pay back a donor with a gift from the public till. He appears to have done just that by slipping into the bill new I-75 exit and entrance ramps to a development project being built by a crony.

“I’ve seen little gimmicks and little tricks used to make sure somebody’s friend or contributor is taken care of but this is by far one of the more underhanded, surreptitious examples I’ve seen — ever.”

Young visited Southwest Florida in early 2005 to attend a town hall meeting.

While in town, Daniel Aronoff, a wealthy part-time Naples resident who owns property east of Coconut Road and would benefit from the interchange, held a fundraiser for Young…

The words “Coconut Road interchange” were not in the federal transportation bill approved by Congress in 2005.

Those words were attached to a $10 million earmark sometime after the House and Senate votes but before the president signed the bill into law.

Young can at least be proud that people are hailing his alleged move as one of the most egregious ever. After all, if you’re going to go then go big. But if he did it, as O.J. would say, then how?

The language within the earmark was changed during a process called “bill enrollment,” when technical corrections are made to legislation before being sent to the president. Such corrections include changes to punctuation, section numbers or updates to reflect final actions taken by the House and Senate.

“This goes beyond the intent of the technical corrections process,” said Keith Ashdown, a researcher for the Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group. “It’s supposed to be about getting your punctuation right, not about making sure that your major benefactor is getting their pork…I’ve seen little gimmicks and little tricks used to make sure somebody’s friend or contributor is taken care of but this is by far one of the more underhanded, surreptitious examples I’ve seen — ever.”

Even after people started getting whiffs of the stinky largess, Young and fellow Republican Rep. Connie Mack tried to make it sound like an offer Naples, Florida couldn’t refuse.

In letters to county leaders, Young and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, warned that the money could be lost and future funding jeopardized should it be rejected.

In fact, funding reallocations happen all the time.

Board members want to get to the bottom of the issue by their Aug. 17 meeting when they will decide how, with all the actual urgent priorities for roads in their area, the money should best be spent.

Bush’s Doctors Kept Lyme Disease Secret for a Year; Is the Condition Why His Mind is Degenerating?

Trish

We’ve all seen the video, and if not, you really can’t watch it enough: George Bush when he was governor of Texas, using big words and whole sentences, making sense and not embarrassing anyone. It’s a marvel!

“Brain fog” involves episodes of cognitive dysfunction or confused thinking and is associated with forgetfulness, losing one’s train of thought, depersonalization, and the inability to remember the correct words when speaking or writing

But Bush now is a whole different animal, leading many to wonder if it’s Alzheimers, if he’s back on the sauce, or if Dick Cheney is slipping something into his fried quail.

An even better explanation is Lyme disease. Although doctors one year ago treated him for what they now claim was early stage Lyme disease, who knows when he got it? And dementia is one of the main manifestations of undiagnosed Lyme disease.

Bush was treated for what his doctors described as “early, localized Lyme disease” last August after developing the characteristic bullseye rash. The doctors said he has had no recurrence.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the disease was not disclosed earlier because it happened after he had his last physical, on Aug. 1, 2006.

Right. So why bring it up until now? After all, it’s not like we ever hear about any of the other Bush health problems, like hangovers — whoops, I mean stomach flu — at global summits.

The president’s main form of exercise and recreational activity is biking. His doctors advised him to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts and use bug spray when in risk-prone areas, such as Maine, where the president is spending a long weekend starting Thursday at his parents’ summer home on the coast.

Bush has had a lifetime of opportunities to contract Lyme disease, if you can get it from mountain biking in Maine. But the curious circumstances of his recent annual exam have really got me wondering what gives.

Last year’s presidential physical was conducted as usual on a visit to the National Naval Medical Center in suburban Maryland. This year’s took place in a series of exams at the White House starting July 17 and ending Tuesday night. The exams were not revealed until Wednesday…

A total of 11 doctors were involved in the exams, overseen by White House physician Richard Tubb and Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the president of The Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. The group included skin, hearing, heart, eye, neurological and sports medicine specialists.

Each signed a statement saying that “within the scope of my specialty” he found Bush “fit for duty” with the expectation that he will remain so for the duration of his presidency.

It’s all kind of odd, don’t you think? It seems like presidents always have their exams at Bethesda. I wasn’t aware the White House kept the equipment on hand that you’d need for 11 different specialists to perform tests.

But listen to what happens when, instead of the early stage Lyme disease the White House claims Bush had, you don’t know you have it and it goes untreated too long. Symptom types include:

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FOX Called on Compact Fluorescent Hatchet Job

Trish

The Sierra Club’s “Mr. Green” rebuts the FOX News (motto: “Don’t ask me, I watch FOX News”) slam against compact fluorescent bulbs. FOX’s own “Junk Science” columnist says the bulbs, which contain mercury, require hazardous materials clean-up if broken and that mandating their use denies consumers choice. After all, if people want to burn up scarce resources we might have to invade other countries to secure, it’s their own business.

Mr. Green corrects the misinformation.

The people at Fox News are either brain-damaged from huffing mercury (they do seem to have a fondness for the highly toxic) or they have unscrupulously cherry-picked their facts…

Imagine that all 4 billion residential lightbulbs have become CFLs. Even in the incredibly unlikely scenario that every single dead bulb were smashed and its contents released into the environment, switching to CFLs would yield a maximum 3.1 tons of mercury each year. Coal-burning power plants emit 50 tons.

This classic example of enviro-bashing is full of flaws. First, the Fox writer trots out one report of one environmental bureaucrat’s overreaction to a bulb breakage to make it sound like a busted CFL will turn a house into a Superfund site. The fact is, CFLs do contain mercury, but nowhere near enough to provoke panic or evacuation. If you break a bulb, you can do the cleanup yourself, without renting a moon suit or contacting authorities.

The EPA advises the following treatment:

1. Open a window and leave the room for at least 15 minutes (to let the mercury vaporize).

2. Remove all materials (i.e., the pieces of the broken bulb) without using a vacuum cleaner. You don’t want even a small amount of mercury lurking in your vacuum. To do so:

* Wear disposable rubber gloves, if available. (Never touch the bulb pieces with your bare hands.)
* Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard (you don’t want the stuff to get on your broom or dustpan either).
* Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipe. Sticky tape, such as duct tape (yet another use for the versatile material!), can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

3. Place all cleanup materials in a plastic bag and seal it. If your state permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the garbage, seal the CFL in two plastic bags and put into the outside trash (if no other disposal or recycling options are available). If your state doesn’t allow this, consult the local hazardous-waste authority for safe-recycling information. Some hardware stores will also accept old bulbs; to find a recycler near you, try Earth 911, or (800) CLEAN-UP…

4. Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

5. The first time you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag once done cleaning the area (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag and/or vacuum debris, as well as the cleaning materials, in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash…for normal disposal.

So much for that part of Fox’s story, but I’m not quite done with calling them on their hokum.

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