Day: April 15, 2010

Adult Entertainment Star Gives Vitter a Pass in Senate Race

Buck Banks

Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels
Adult entertainment professional Stormy Daniels says she’s calling off her challenge to David Vitter for one of Louisiana’s U.S. Senate seats. She chose April 15 — Tax Day — to make her announcement because she says she simply can’t afford to run against Vitter’s $5 million war chest.

In a long, rambling statement, Daniels strove to position herself as a victim while using every big word in or out of her vocabulary.

To begin with, like Governor Palin, I have become a target of the cynical stalwarts of the status quo. Simply because I did not fit in their mold of what an independent working woman should be, the media and political elite have sought to relegate my sense of civic responsibility to mere sideshow antics.

They did this not simply for the sake of expediency but because to have a woman of my background challenge the core conscripts of our political and social culture is simply too much for a system that holds that only lawyers and insurance salesmen are qualified to lead.

So, she didn’t just appear in Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse, High Society, GQ and FHM, she obviously read them, too.

But now it’s time for Stormy to get up on the high horse of victimhood:

I am not running for the US Senate because I am an adult entertainment star. I am not running for the US Senate for the same reason that so many dedicated patriots do not run — I can’t afford it. On this day inparticualar , we should all take time to reflect on the loss to our country that comes from the sad fact that those who may truly desire to contribute to our society are barred by those who only seek to unjustly profit off it.

I think she really needed a double negative in that first sentence because I think she’s trying to say she’s not not running because she’s a porn star, though she is. A porn star. This is so hard to follow.

It seems the main plank in her platform calls for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and implementation of the “Fair Tax.”

And yet, while many so-called conservatives like Senator Vitter have bent over backwards to pander to the burgeoning ranks of anti-tax conservatives and Tea Partiers, he has not once joined me in this call.

Well, the Tea Partiers might be racist and stupid, but they’re not porn stars, which is probably why Vitter hasn’t called, Stormy. But, like the fallen angel with the heart o’ gold, she’d gladly endorse Vitter if he would see the error of his ways and reform:

I believe so strongly that the time has come to reform our tax system that I would be willing to consider overlooking Senator Vitter’s hypocrisy and support him if he would come around to the need for real tax reform …

Then, her statement rises to its inevitable climax (cue violins):

And while I will not be participating in this campaign, I do not expect to go quietly into the good night. I will be looking for opportunities to fight for fairness for hardworking people everywhere. And I will continue to talk about the need for fiscal and personal responsibility. We will keep fighting so that one day the voices of the dishwashers, cashiers, bus drivers and porn stars will be heard just as loudly as those of the lawyer, the banker and the insurance company executive. This is my pledge. This is our fight.

Vitter is probably relieved he doesn’t have to beat a porn star in the primary, but he still faces Democrat Charlie Melancon, who doesn’t appear to be a porn star, bus driver or dish washer, but seems instead to be a member of Congress.Good luck, Charlie, we put your chances of winning at slightly more likely than a porn star and slightly less likely than a dishwasher.

Crowd at Tea Bagger Rally in Boston Is Half the Size Or Less Than Organizers Anticipated

Jon Ponder

screenshot-aerial-crowd-boston-tea-bagger-2010Before the rally:

In anticipation of the arrival of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, activists began to gather on Boston Common Wednesday morning.

Palin was slated to begin her remarks at 10:40 a.m., making Boston the final stop of the Tea Party Express before its close-out event in Washington, D.C. on Tax Day. The first Tea Party Express bus rolled into Boston before 8:00 a.m.

The early arrivals, at least, are looking forward to hearing Palin address the crowd, expected by organizers to be made up of up to 10,000 people. (Emphasis added.)

After the rally, via the right-wing propaganda daily newspaper, Washington Times:

“Is this what their ‘change’ is all about?” Mrs. Palin asked a sun-splashed crowd of roughly 5,000 gathered just a mile from the site of the original Boston Tea Party, from which the movement got its name. emphasis added.

Media Matters cites right-leaning Politico estimating the crowd to 3,000, while the Associated Press assessed it at “roughly 5,000 people” and the Boston Globe put the number at 6,000 — meanwhile, true to form, a right wing blogger simply made stuff up. Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft said the crowd was between 13,000 and 16,000, based on numbers provided by Ken Pittman, a right-wing radio host based in Boston.

Poll Reveals All You Need to Know about Tea Baggers: 57% Still Support George Bush – And, Yes, Their Rage Is Fueled by Racism, Fox News

Jon Ponder

art-buprsh-miss-me-yetIn the CBS/New York Times poll that came out this week, one response in particular provides definitive insight into the tea bagger mindset: 57 percent of self-described tea party supporters have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush.

This is the same George Bush who left office with 21 percent approval — in fact, his approval level had been below 50 percent since Jan.16, 2005 — by far the longest period of disapproval for any president since polling presidential approval began in the 1930s. Today, while only 4 percent of those polled said they had attended a rally or donated money to tea party organizers, about 18 percent said they agreed with tea party anti-establishment ideals. This 18 percent of Americans who support the tea parties and the 21 percent who supported Bush when he left the White House are similar to the 20 percent or so of Americans also supported Richard Nixon when he resigned in disgrace. In other words, tea baggers are, at least statistically, nothing new. They represent the rock-hard right-wing base that has been a factor in United States politics for generations.

The other 80 percent of Americans remember — nor will likely ever forget — that George Bush had not a single accomplishment of historical significance during the eight long years he was president. Quite the opposite, in fact. Bush, Cheney et al lied about the pretexts for invading Iraq, a fact that makes the wasted blood of thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi families even more tragic — not to mention the billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars needlessly drained for the treasury at the very moment that the economic collapse was looming. But it was Bush’s ineptitude — and baldfaced lying about it — in addressing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that finally forced normal Americans to recognize George W. Bush for what he was: Worst. President. Ever. His approval ratings never recovered after that debacle.

And since it was health care reform that agitated the tea baggers into spittle-spewing rage, let’s not forget that, under Bush, American taxpayers provided free universal health care to 30 million or so Iraqis while 45 million Americans had none.

It speaks volumes that it’s this barely articulate, incurious aristocratic bully that tea baggers voted for — twice — and still support to this day. How can they be so blind to this reality? Here’s how: In the poll 63 percent of tea partiers said they restrict their news consumption to Fox News. Only in Fox’s alternate reality can you be outraged over the Obama administration’s efforts to pull the nation back from the brink of economic collapse while ignoring the fact that the person most responsible for the Bush Recession is, well, George W. Bush.

Another prime example of the influence of Fox propaganda: A whopping 64 percent of tea baggers believe Pres. Obama has raised taxes on most Americans. As CBS noted in their coverage of this poll result: “[The] vast majority of Americans [95 percent] got a tax cut under the Obama administration.”

One unsurprising result from the poll is that tea baggers love Fox News’ most popular propagandists. They approve of Sarah Palin by 66 percent and Glenn Beck by 59 percent. This adoration of Beck, in particular, helps explain another aspect of the poll: Like Beck, tea baggers loathe the U.S. president:

Eighty-eight percent disapprove of President Obama’s performance on the job, compared to 40 percent of Americans overall. While half of Americans approve of Mr. Obama’s job performance, just seven percent of Tea Party supporters say he is doing a good job.

Asked to volunteer what they don’t like about Mr. Obama, the top answer, offered by 19 percent of Tea Party supporters, was that they just don’t like him. Eleven percent said he is turning the country more toward socialism, ten percent cited his health care reform efforts, and nine percent said he is dishonest.

Seventy-seven percent describe Mr. Obama as “very liberal,” compared to 31 percent of Americans overall. Fifty-six percent say the president’s policies favor the poor, compared to 27 percent of Americans overall.

The fact that 56 percent of tea baggers say Pres. Obama’s policies favor the poor is telling. While only about 13 percent of Americans are black, a great many white people labor under the misperception that most poor people are black. More about tea baggers’ views on race below.

Ninety-two percent of Tea Party supporters believe President Obama’s policies are moving the country toward socialism. Fifty-two percent of Americans overall share that belief.

Asked what socialism means, roughly half of Tea Party supporters volunteered government ownership or control, far more than any other answer. Eleven percent cited taking away rights or limiting freedom, and eight percent said it means the redistribution of wealth.

Thirty percent of Tea Party supporters believe Mr. Obama was born in another country, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Another 29 percent say they don’t know. Twenty percent of Americans overall, one in five, believe the president was not born in the United States.

Not surprisingly, the poll found that tea baggers hold deep-seated racist views:

Fifty-two percent believe too much has been made of the problems facing black people. Far fewer Americans overall — 28 percent — believe as much. Among non-Tea Party whites, the percentage who say too much attention has been paid to the problems of black people is 23 percent.

A majority of Tea Party suppers believe the Obama administration treats both blacks and whites the same way. But one in four believe the administration favors blacks over whites, an opinion shared by just 11 percent of Americans overall and seven percent of non-Tea Party whites.

As to demographics, no surprise here. The poll that most tea baggers are middle-aged, white and Southern:

Eighteen percent of Americans identify as Tea Party supporters. The vast majority of them — 89 percent — are white. Just one percent is black.

They tend to skew older: Three in four are 45 years old or older, including 29 percent who are 65 plus. They are also more likely to be men (59 percent) than women (41 percent).

More than one in three (36 percent) hails from the South, far more than any other region. Twenty-five percent come from the West, 22 percent from the Midwest, and 18 percent from the northeast.

A lot of the coverage of this poll focuses on the surprising result that self-identified tea baggers claim to be wealthier and more educated than would otherwise be expected from people who are so easily manipulated and duped into believing facts that are easily disproved. The best plausible explanation for this apparent outlier is, as Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, a tea bagger hero, might say:

They lied!

FL 19: Dem Trounces Tea Bagger Favorite in U.S. House Special Election

Jon Ponder

Ted Deutch
Ted Deutch
Democrats are two for two in special elections to the House. After flipping New York 23 from Republican to Dem last November, they held Florida 19 in a special election on Tuesday, despite tea bagger predictions that the Republican they favored would win the race, thus “sending a shot across the bow” that voter antipathy to health-care reform was going to lead to upsets in House races this fall.

Ted Deutch handily beat his Republican opponent Ed Lynch, 62 percent to 35 percent, retaining the seat held by Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler, who retired to join a think tank.

The district is home to many seniors, and Lynch vigorously campaigned against health care reform law, hoping to make the election a referendum on it, which he claimed was unpopular in the district.

Earlier this week, a tea bagger blogger predicted that a win by Lynch would send a signal that tea baggers were set to “take back” the House:

The TEA Party’s clout may be felt this week in the race for the open Congressional seat in Florida’s 19th District on April 13th. This may be the first shot across the bow of Republicans running for national, state wide, and local offices.

Tow the conservative line or else may be the message sent if TEA Party favorite Edward Lynch wins this special election.

I just received an e-mail from a friend saying that TEA Party members have made over 10,000 phone calls in support of conservative Edward Lynch for Congress. Edward is running against Florida Senator Ted Deutch a Democrat who embraced President Obama’s healthcare bill, anti-Israel posturing, and stimulus package. Edward won a special Republican primary election in February and now will use that momentum to turn a Democrat seat into a Republican seat – the first in Florida.

This special election may turn out to be the first in a wave of elections to take back the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. Florida may be set to take three Congressional seats currently held by Democrats – FL8, FL19 and FL22. Patricia Sullivan is running in District 8 and Allen West in District 22. Sullivan and West are both TEA Party favorites.

Lynch was a big hit at CPAC in February:

“He is a candidate for the next House election that’s going to occur…It’s the seat vacated by that loudmouth Robert Wexler in Florida that you might remember from cable television,” said Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund in his introduction of Lynch.

Lynch, who is Hispanic and head of the Latin American Republican Club in Palm Beach County, was part of a four-member panel discussing immigration reform. He spoke for six minutes and got big applause when he called for making English the official language of the United States.

“One of the most racist things we do in our country is not make English the official language,” Lynch said. Failure to learn English limits opportunities for Hispanics, Lynch said.

Lynch also got a big response when he suggested a phone-answering system that says “push 1 for English and push 2 to go home.”

Lynch faces long odds in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19, where Democrats hold more than a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage and Democratic rival Ted Deutch has raised more than $1 million. Wexler left office in January to head a Middle East think tank.

Lynch is hoping his appearance before the nation’s premiere gathering of conservatives will nationalize the race.

“Let’s Do This Together!” says a flyer handed out by the Lynch campaign to CPAC attendees. “Just like the Scott Brown race in Massachusetts, this race will have national implications. As the first House race of 2010, it will set the tone for all of the November elections!”

Lynch, who came to Washington this week with six campaign staffers, has spent a few hours getting issue briefings from the conservative Heritage Foundation, meeting with representatives of the National Rifle Association and other PACs and visiting Wexler’s old office on Capitol Hill.

Of course, despite the crowing from the tea bag set about the momentous signal a win by Lynch would send, purveyors of inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom are downplaying the significance of Deutch’s win in this heavily Democratic district. But even as Chris Cillizza, for examples, tamps down the significance of the win in a post titled, “Why FL-19 Isn’t a Health Care Referendum,” (even though the tea baggers said it was) he acknowledges that “Democrats point out — rightly — that had they lost this race (or even narrowly won it), the national press would have painted it as an electoral Armageddon. True enough.”