Year: 2007
Republican Candidates to Boycott Latino Convention
I hate going to Disneyworld too, so I understand every major Republican presidential candidate wanting to stay away. But…staging what amounts to a virtual boycott of what is known as the Latino political convention doesn’t seem like a smart move.
Especially when, according to a June 11 press release, all the Democrats will be there.
Do they take the votes of this demographic as a given, or are they writing them off as going Democrat?
Los Angeles, CA – The Democratic contenders in the 2008 presidential campaign will participate in a candidate forum hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) in Orlando on June 30…
The participating candidates will include, in alphabetical order, Senator Joe Biden (DE), Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Senator Chris Dodd (CT), former Senator John Edwards (NC), Representative Dennis Kucinich (OH), Senator Barack Obama (IL) and Governor Bill Richardson (NM).
NALEO extended identical invitations to the Republican presidential candidates to participate in a separate forum. All have declined to date.
So the question is, why do the Republicans think they can snub Latinos? Do they take the votes of this demographic as a given, or are they writing them off as going Democrat?
…several factors put the Hispanic vote in play. Among them: Non-Cubans aren’t as likely to have historical ties to the Republican Party as Cuban-Americans.
“Living in Weston, I see it just walking around the neighborhood. There are people from Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. They don’t have the same preconditioning to vote Republican,” said Weston resident Andrew Torres, president of the new Broward chapter of the state Democratic Party’s Hispanic Caucus…
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said once Castro is gone, “you will see Cuban-Americans shift to the Democratic Party.”
…Torres said the increasing numbers of younger voters and people from countries other than Cuba make this a good time to capitalize on trends favoring Democrats.
The explanation could be simple, of course.
National and state Republican officials did not comment on why GOP hopefuls will not participate in the conference, but the campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney cited scheduling conflicts.
Those durn scheduling conflicts. Funny how they never crop up when it’s time to come to South Florida and fund-raise. And no matter how you slice it, boycotting the convention of their fellow elected officials can’t win many friends. Not to mention there are two other groups piggybacking off the event — the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Summit.
Maybe there really is a simple reason. Republicans might just want to distance themselves from immigrants — and please their xenophobic base — as much as possible.
Story of His Life: Bush Finally Finds His Peeps – in Albania – and One of ‘Em Steals His Watch
Watch the watch. It disappears by minute 01:53.
Liz Cheney to Join Fred ‘K Street’ Thompson’s Campaign
On MSNBC just now, Tucker Carlson said an announcement will come soon that Liz Cheney, the vice president’s not-gay daughter, is joining the as-yet unannounced presidential campaign of former Washington lobbyist Fred Thompson.
If he were to win in 2008, Thompson would be the first lobbyist elected president.
Since 2005, Cheney has served in the specially created job of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Near Eastern Affairs, in the U.S. State Dept. Assuming Carson is correct, at the Thompson campaign, she will join other GOP operatives said to include Cheney-family lackey Mary Matalin and U.S. attorneys scandal figure Tim Griffin, the former Bush White House official who recently resigned as the federal prosecutor in Arkansas after evidence implicated him in Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign voter suppression activities.
If he were to win in 2008,Thompson would be the first lobbyist elected president. During his 18 years as a lobbyist, his clients included General Electric and Westinghouse, and he successfully pushed the passage of the deregulatory legislation that led to the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s.
Thompson also briefly served as a U.S. senator representing Tennessee.
Quote du Jour
Every great scientific truth goes through three states: First, people say it conflicts with the Bible; next, they say it has been discovered before; lastly, they say they always believed it.
— Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) Swiss-born American naturalist
State Approves Using Taxpayer Computers for Wiki Whitewash of Republican Florida Lt. Gov.
Is it vandalism or is it the way of the wiki?
Either way, Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration says it’s O.K. to do it on the taxpayer’s dime. Um, as long as whatever you’re doing is favorable to his folks.
The Florida Progressive Coalition knew something was up when almost all the bad
stuff in their wiki on Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp was replaced with good. Most of the changes concerned stories about the state having to pay $50,000 in an age discrimination suit brought after Kottkamp fired an older state worker. See actual examples of the vandalism/editing. Oddly, references to Kottkamp’s support of flying the Confederate flag, long before Charlie picked him as his running mate, were left in.
As you know (but evidently no one in the White House or Justice Department does), computers can be identified. Tracing the IP address of the computer improving Kottkamp’s wiki info showed it belonged to the Florida Department of Management Services. Further checking placed the computer on the desk of Larry Ringers, the Lieutenant Governor’s chief of staff.
After weeks of demanding an explanation of how this does not violate the state’s own policy concerning the proper use of taxpayer-funded time and equipment, FPC received a reply on June 8 from Crystal Armstrong, the deputy secretary for Enterprise Information Technology Services at the Florida Department of Management Services.
Mr. Harper,
Modifications were made to the Lt. Governor’s biographical information. Changes were made from the computer of Larry Ringers who works for the Lt. Governor. By nature, and as referenced in your correspondence, wiki pages are publicly editable.
Thank You,
Crystal Armstrong
I guess we can take that as a “Yeah, we did it. So what?”
Seven Deadly Sins Combo Chart
Via Jerry DeVilla, the Accordian Guy.
Update: I changed the sourcing from “created by” to “via” based on the comments below.
Rev. Huckabee Jokes about Edwards’ Haircut – But Does He Wear a Rug?
Is it a rug or the lighting? Left: Huckabee at the studios of WNYC in January 2007. Right: Another view.
Rev. Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and current vice-presidential hopeful, is leading the Republican charge to diffuse Democrat John Edwards’ campaign to alleviate poverty by joking about Edwards’ expensive haircuts:
It is as instructive as it is unsurprising that the rightwinger leading the charge against helping the poor is an ordained Baptist minister.
“We’ve had a Congress that spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop,” former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said to roaring laughter.
It is as instructive as it is unsurprising that the rightwinger leading the charge against helping the poor is an ordained Baptist minister.
But it is also interesting that he seems to have his own hair issues, as illustrated in the two photos above.
According to the Ten Commandments, it is a mortal sin to covet thy neighbor’s ass. But what about his hair, Reverend?
Since the Republicans and their cohorts in the media have made hair styles an important issue in the presidential campaign, I wonder if anyone will ask the good reverend if he wears a wig and, if so, how much does it cost, and who pays for its styling and upkeep.
If he’s not wearing a toupe, here’s a question our breathless TV newsers might then want to pursue: Should he? After all, we haven’t had a bald president since Eisenhower.
Senate GOP Kills Gonzo ‘No Confidence’ Vote
The move by Democrats to register a “no confidence” vote against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales failed in a procedural vote. The measure received 53 votes out of the 60 required to move forward. From my count via C-SPAN, all the Democrats voted for the measure.
The 38 votes against holding the vote all came from Republicans, except for Sen. Joe Lieberman, the former Democrat from Connecticut.
Republicans voting with the Democrats to proceed to the no-confidence vote included Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and others who are up for re-election next year in states that could swing to the Democrats, including Olympia Snowe of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and others.
Watch Out Christians – Atheists are Out to Get You
Pious paranoia: In a sign that the Bible thumpers are getting frustrated at their inability to impose theocratic doctrines throughout American government and society, our favorite Christian statistician, George Barna, has conducted a study to examine the similarities and differences between atheists and agnostics and those who believe in Santa Claus, virgin birth and transubstantiation. Barna notes that increasingly, atheists and agnostics are “critiquing” people of faith and — gasp! — publishing best-selling books that question the existence of God.
Two-thirds of Christians (63 percent) perceive that the nation is becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity.
Beyond the bestseller lists, however, a new survey shows there is indeed a significant gap between Christians and those Americans who are in the “no-faith” camp. For instance, most atheists and agnostics (56 percent) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam. At the same time, two-thirds of Christians (63 percent) who have an active faith perceive that the nation is becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity. (“Active faith” was defined as simply having gone to church, read the Bible and prayed during the week preceding the survey.)
Instead of using simple descriptive terms like “believer” and “nonbeliever” to describe the two groups, Barna frames believers as “active faith,” which sounds really positive and happening, versus “no-faith,” which is negative and sounds kind of hopeless. It’s the familiar old “pro-life” trick. I would argue that staunch atheists maintain a fervent belief in the nonexistence of God and hold as an article of faith that all religion is hokum.
According to Barna, about one out of 11 Americans, or 20 million, is an atheist or agnostic. That’s about 9 percent of the U.S. population, which means Satan’s recruitment program is working extremely well, and our ranks of the Godless are swelling.
Barna notes that only about 5 million no-faithers actually call themselves atheists and “staunchly reject” the notion that there is a God. He takes that to mean that the 15 million harbor doubts about the nonexistence of God. However, I cite Pascal’s wager as a likely reason for the seeming disparity. Blaise Pascal said that if one believed in God and God didn’t exist, then nothing was lost, but if one did not believe in God and God existed, then one was in for a world of hurt for eternity. Therefore, the safest bet would be to behave as if one believed in God — just in case.
The no-faith audience is younger, and more likely to be male and unmarried. They also earn more and are more likely to be college graduates.
Perhaps partly due to the younger nature of the audience, atheists and agnostics are more likely than are active-faith adults to say they are into new technology (64 percent among no-faith individuals versus 52 percent among active-faith adults) and to assert that they adapt easily to change (81 percent versus 66 percent). Atheists and agnostics are also significantly less likely to say they are convinced they are right about things in life (38 percent versus 55 percent).
One of the most fascinating insights from the research is the increasing size of the no-faith segment with each successive generation. The proportion of atheists and agnostics increases from 6 percent of Elders (ages 61+) and 9 percent of Boomers (ages 42-60), to 14 percent of Busters (23-41) and 19 percent of adult Mosaics (18-22). When adjusted for age and compared to 15 years ago, each generation has changed surprisingly little over the past decade and a half.
Cool. Atheists and agnostics are richer and smarter than believers. But then Barna gets down to the nitty-gritty as regards us unbelievers: We are less likely than active-faith Americans to register to vote, but more likely to register as an independent or with a non-mainstream political party. We are less likely to volunteer for a not-church-related nonprofit, to describe ourselves as “active in the community” or to “personally help or serve a homeless or poor person.” But worse yet, atheists and agnostics donate a paltry $200 per year to charitable causes, whereas the typical active-faith American donated $1,500 in 2006.
Ouch! But at least my $200 isn’t going to support some big-haired shiny-suited slick-talking preacher. It’s going to support National Public Radio and the Sierra Club.
Barna noted that both believers and nonbelievers experience personal difficulties with similar frequency, including being in serious debt, dealing with a personal addiction and trying to find good friends. Christians are fatter though, while atheists and agnostics are more likely to feel stressed out — probably from fighting attempts to teach creationism in their kid’s school or display the Ten Commandments at the local courthouse.
There is one thing the 20 million nonbelievers and the 58 million true believers agree on, however, according to David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group:
“Ironically, however, both atheists and committed Christians share one unusual area of common ground: concern about superficial, inert forms of Christianity in America. There are nearly 130 million American adults who describe themselves as Christians, but who are Christian in name only; their behavior includes little related to experiencing and expressing their alleged faith in Christ.”
Sounds like a bunch of Pascal’s gambling buddies to me.
