Day: April 23, 2008

GOP Congressional Candidate Seeks the Nazi Vote

Buck Banks

zirkle.jpgIn his campaign for the congressional seat in Indiana’s 2nd District, Tony Zirkle says he’ll speak to any group that invites him. Even if they are neo-Nazis. Even if it’s Hitler’s birthday. Even if they are wearing swastika arm bands.

It happened Sunday, when Zirkle addressed the American National Socialist Workers Party in Chicago. Wait! Last time I checked, Chicago isn’t in Indiana. So not only does Zirkle not know much about geography, he claims not to know much about neo-Nazism:

Zirkle said he did not know much about the neo-Nazi group and that his intention was to talk on his concern about “the targeting of young white women and for pornography and prostitution.”

Sounds like he had a pretty good idea about his audience, which bills itself as “America’s Only Organization Struggling for the Interests of the White Working Class.” Of course, Zirkle’s local Republican Party leader was quick to disown the budding Brown Shirter:

“He certainly doesn’t hold the view of the of the Republican Party,” [Porter County Republican chairman Chuck] Williams said. “I don’t know why you would stand up in front of a picture of Adolf Hitler when millions of Americans fought against that kind of oppression.”

But this apparently is not new territory for the zany Zirkle:

The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he’s not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure. “My primary purpose is to educate and inform,” he said.

I know what those Chicago haters learned from Zirkle last Sunday — that he’s one of their own.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

Older men declare war. But it is youth who must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

— Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31st President of the United States

Poll: Bush Is Most Disliked President in Gallup Poll History

Jon Ponder

When comes to being unpopular, George W. Bush is not only an international trendsetter, he is a record breaker. Gallup has been polling on the approval rating of presidents since 1938, when Franklin Roosevelt was president, but in those seven decades, no president has been as unpopular as Bush has:
Among Republicans, 66 percent approve and 32 percent disapprove.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28 percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69 percent disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67 percent was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

(Bush also recently surpassed Truman as the president with the longest losing streak of unpopularity, having gone 39 months now without an approval rating over 50 percent, breaking Truman’s record of 38 months.)

The most disturbing number inside the Gallup poll is the tremendous support Republicans still give Bush, whose record over the seven years and three months he has been in office includes not a single accomplishment worth noting:

Views of Bush divide sharply along party lines. Among Republicans, 66 percent approve and 32 percent disapprove. Disapproval is nearly universal — 91 percent — among Democrats. Of independents, 23 percent approve, 72 percent disapprove of the job he’s doing.

Another record in the poll: 63 percent of Americans now say invading Iraq was a mistake.

Most Folks Think Most Leaders Suck at Their Jobs

Buck Banks

OK, we live in democracies, so we determine who gets to be our leaders, right? Apparently, the whole democracy plan isn’t working out so well. Seems almost nobody approves of the job their leader is doing. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the world’s leaders and their current approval ratings:

George W. Bush, President of the United States: 28 percent

United States Congress: 23 percent

Nicholas Sarkozy, President of France: 36 percent

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Britain, 32 percent

Brendan Nelson, Australia’s Federal Opposition Leader, 7 percent

Hugo Chavez, Dictator of Venezuela, 30 percent

On the other hand, two guys who are not selected based on the popular vote are doing pretty well:

Pope Benedict XVI, God’s Rep on Earth, 70 percent

Vladimir Putin, Czar of Russia, 80 percent