Month: September 2010

Verbatim

Buck Banks

To begin with, combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even if they come from senior officials. The situation on the ground in Iraq is no different today than it has been for some months … Unless there is balancing language, our content should not refer to the end of combat in Iraq, or the end of U.S. military involvement. Nor should it say flat-out (since we can’t predict the future) that the United States is at the end of its military role.

— An internal Associated Press memo advising reporters not to believe President Obama’s declaration of the end of combat operations in Iraq.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

“And if I decide to run for president, I won’t know what the answer is, either. But I will know this: if I run for President, what you see is what you get, and I am from Mississippi, I do have a Southern accent. I was a lobbyist and a pretty damned good one. … And I will tell you this — the next president of the United States on January 21, 2013 — is going to start lobbying. He’s going to be lobbying Congress, he’s going to be lobbying other countries. He’s going to be lobbying the business community. He’s going to be lobbying the labor unions, the governors, because that’s what Presidents do, and I feel like it’s an advantage for me to have the chance to do that.

— Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), addressing how he’ll handle questions about his former profession if he decides to run for president in 2012, according to GOP 12.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R): ‘We Have Did What Was Right for Arizona’

Jon Ponder

New York Times:

[It] was 13 seconds or so of silence that is being talked about more than anything else.

During her opening statement, Ms. Brewer began by defending her stewardship: “I have, uh, done so much and I just cannot believe that we have changed everything since I have become your governor in the last 600 days. Arizona has been brought back from its abyss. We have cut the budget. We have balanced the budget and we are moving forward. We have done everything we could possibly do.”

At that point, she stared down at the papers in front of her, clutched her hands together, laughed nervously but struggled to come up with anything more to say. It was painful to watch.

Finally, though, she recovered and said: “We have did what was right for Arizona.”

Boehner Invites Birther Radio Host to Broadcast from House ‘Speaker’s Office’ on Election Night

Jon Ponder

Willy Cunningham
Willy Cunningham
Ohio-based racist hate-speech provocateur Willie Cunningham first made national news in February 2008 when GOP presidential candidate John McCain threw him under the bus after Cunningham had warmed up the crowd at a McCain campaign event with a long screed insulting then-candidate Barack Obama as “a hack, Chicago-style Daley politician” and saying that “the great prophet from Chicago [will one day take] the stand and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing Kumbaya together around the table with Barack Obama.”

Now Speaker Wannabe John Boehner has invited Cunningham to broadcast his radio smearfest from Boehner’s office on Election Night:

[…]

Verbatim

Buck Banks

I was always taught as a young officer, when you succeed you give credit to others. When you fail, you take responsibility. The President, I guess, never got that lecture.

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview on Fox News, on President Obama not praising former President Bush for the “surge” that helped end combat operations in Iraq.

Rick Scott Running Out of Running Mates

Trish

Carroll
Florida Dist. 13 Rep. Jennifer Carroll
Finding a running mate hasn’t been easy for Florida Governor candidate Rick Scott. The disgraced former HCA/Columbia Healthcare CEO left scorched earth between himself and the Republican Party of Florida in his primary campaign with state Attorney General Bill McCollum. And while state party partisans were quick to claim “unity” after the voters’ decision, they aren’t casting their personal fortunes with Scott.

The long list of people to turn down a chance to be Scott’s Lieutenant Governor include state Sen. Paula Dockery, former Lt. Gov. (under Jeb Bush) Toni Jennings, University of North Florida Pres. John Delaney, and state Reps. Mike Weinstein and Juan Zapata. It got to the point earlier in the week that Florida politicos were tweeting in jest, “Deeply honored but must turn down Scott running mate offer. Would take too much time from family.”

As Scott finds the field of Number Twos narrowing, persistent rumors point to his selection of state Rep. Jennifer Carroll (R-Orange Park). Like Scott, Carroll has had more than her share of ethics questions during her years of pubic service.

[…]