Author: Trish
South Slammed as Rest of the Country Gets Free Pass — Again
A never-ending debate here at PR* concerns the degree of racism in the South, compared to the rest of the country. Editor-in-Chief Jon, who was born in Texas, grew up in North Carolina, and considers California home, feels the South is correctly maligned regarding racism. Editor Trish, who was born in North Carolina but grew up in Florida and considers it home, feels the South is used as a scapegoat to allow the rest of the country off the hook and an air of superiority to boot. Editor Buck, who was born in Florida and returned here after college, largely stays out of the argument.
George Stephanopoulos covered the Tennessee Senate race to fill Bill Frist’s seat on This Week. He unknowingly bolstered Trish’s case when he explained about candidate Rep. Harold Ford, that “if elected, he would be the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.”
Because you know how we are down here: all unenlightened and everything, unlike the rest of you who are so colorblind and forward thinking. Take a moment now and pat yourselves on the back because it’s not at all surprising to hear Southern states would have sent less African-Americans to the Senate than say, California. Or New York. Or Ohio.
Except that none of those places has ever sent any.
In fact, only five African-Americans have served in the U.S. Senate — two from Mississippi, two from Illinois, and one from Massachusetts.
My point is not that the South is right to have done so little to erase color barriers in this country, rather that it is not alone in this deficiency. And as long as people can point to the South as the “real problem,” they avoid solving what is, in fact, an American problem. So what George Stephanopoulos should have said is that Ford would be the first African-American elected to the Senate in 48 states since Reconstruction.
And that sucks. Go, Rep. Ford.
*Where —full disclosure — we are all white.
Was It Good for You Too? Foley Said Bush Gave Him the Shaft
Then-U.S. Rep. Mark Foley complained in an e-mail to Gov. Jeb Bush in 2004 that he was being ignored by President Bush on his trips to Florida after several hurricanes.
“I know it is nothing you have done,” Jeb assured Foley.…Foley complained that U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam accompanied President Bush on a visit into Putnam’s central Florida congressional district and noted that state Rep. Joe Negron was on another trip.
“I can’t quite figure what I have done, but this is a continuing pattern of slights,” Foley complained in a Sept. 29, 2004, e-mail to the governor, obtained by The Palm Beach Post in a public records request.
“Sorry to trouble you . . . and I wouldn’t if this wasn’t so frequent,” Foley wrote. “Have I done something to offend the White House? I am always getting the shaft.”
The governor responded less than three hours later that he thought it was because the president was spending a lot of time in debate preparation in his 2004 re-election campaign.
“I know it is nothing you have done,” he assured Foley.
Blessed are the Peacemakers
In the spring of 2003, I was fortunate to be among a group of about 50 other people in a seminar taught by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In the first few sessions, he lectured about the Peace and Reconciliation process, which allowed South Africa to begin to heal the wounds of apartheid. The last meeting was reserved for him to answer our questions on any subject we liked.
It was the night of March 16, and Bush had issued his moronic ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to get out of Iraq by St. Patrick’s Day or else. Everyone was thinking of what might happen the next day as we listened to Tutu.
A remarkable man with an air of both impishness and solemnity, Tutu believes that no one is beyond God’s love or God’s redemption. His speech reflects his absolute rejection of the idea that some people are good and others evil. We are all both.
I held my question, sure that someone else would ask it so I wouldn’t have to. Finally I raised my hand. Tutu came and stood next to me and I asked if he had any thoughts for us on the eve of Bush’s threatened invasion of Iraq.
I could see he actually had many thoughts and seemed to be struggling to rein them in. Finally, he spoke. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he said. And that was all.
I subscribe to the usual daily emails: horoscopes, inspiration, news, etc. Today I received one that said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Are other people worrying about Iran and North Korea, as I am? Are other people realizing just how long two years and three months is, and wondering if we will make it, as a country and as people, out of the Bush presidency? Is it time to wake up from our stupor and shed our outrage fatigue and take back our future?
If we do, we have nothing to fear — after all, blessed are the peacemakers.
Instead Messaging
Cute column by Daryl Lease in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Somewhere in cyberspace …
TheSpeaker: Thank you all for gathering on such short notice. I apologize for choosing instant messaging as the venue for our meeting, particularly in light of everything that’s happened, but it seemed the quickest way to get everyone together without attracting the media’s attention.
SpinMaster: = : O
TalentOnLoanFromGod: = : O
TheSpeaker: Oh, right. I almost forgot: I took the liberty of inviting Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh to join us for our strategy session today.
TheDoctorIsIn: Fine, but we have to use those dopey icons and abbreviations? Not all of us know the lingo.
TheSpeaker: Good point, Sen. Frist. As always, speak English; we’re in America.
FriendOfMacacas: And welcome to it!
TheSpeaker: Thank you, Sen. Allen. Now, if I may continue. I’ve also invited the president’s trusted adviser, Karl Rove, to lead our session. Karl?
TurdBlossom: Greetings, everyone. Let’s get right to it. As you know, our party is facing a major crisis just weeks before the midterm elections. We need to divert the nation’s attention quickly.
StraightTalk: So catch bin Laden already.
TurdBlossom: Thanks for the “suggestion,” Sen. McCain. We haven’t located Osama just yet, but we do have roughly 6,437 of his second-in-commands that we intend to capture or kill before Nov. 7. Anyone else have SERIOUS ideas on how to divert the attention of the American people?…Rush?
TalentOnLoanFromGod: One word: Billary. If the Clintons hadn’t lowered our moral standards, we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in.
StraightTalk: I think I need a painkiller.
TalentOnLoanFromGod: Oh, so this is torture too, huh?
TurdBlossom: Boys, boys!
maf54: Heeey, what’s everybody wearing?
TheSpeaker: Foley! Get out of here! Right now!
(maf54 signs off.)
TurdBlossom: O’Reilly, what say you?
SpinMaster: FOX News plans to keep using that graphic misidentifying Foley as a Democrat as often as possible. We’re confident that’ll confuse our viewers.
TurdBlossom: That might help. Anyone else?
FriendOfMacacas: We could stuff a deer head in somebody’s mailbox. It’s a real attention-getter.
TurdBlossom: Thank you, Sen. Allen. But that’s just gross.
RepLaHood: I say we get rid of the page program.
StraightTalk: Oh, jeez. Here he goes again.
RepLaHood: Seriously. If we remove the temptation, we remove the problem.
…TheSpeaker: All right, that’s enough for today. Thanks, everyone. Good luck on the campaign trail. And, remember, before you kiss any babies, get the parents’ express, written permission!
Republicans Way Down, Democrats Way Up in Newsweek Poll
If we could turn back the hands of time to 2004: Can’t, but the next best thing is knowing that more of us share that wish. A new poll from Newsweek shows Bush & Co. held in the lowest esteem yet. And Democrats strong, strong, strong.
Democrats now outdistance Republicans on every single issue that could decide voters’ choices come Nov. 7
For the first time since 2001, the NEWSWEEK poll shows that more Americans trust the Democrats than the GOP on moral values and the war on terror. Fully 53 percent of Americans want the Democrats to win control of Congress next month, including 10 percent of Republicans, compared to just 35 percent who want the GOP to retain power. If the election were held today, 51 percent of likely voters would vote for the Democrat in their district versus 39 percent who would vote for the Republican…
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has fallen to a new all-time low for the Newsweek poll: 33 percent, down from an already anemic 36 percent in August. Only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, while 67 percent say they are not. Foley’s disgrace certainly plays a role in Republican unpopularity: 27 percent of registered voters say the scandal and how the Republican leadership in the House handled it makes them less likely to vote for a Republican Congressional candidate; but 65 percent say it won’t make much difference in determining how they vote.
Most of the participants in the poll seemed to have it right. Instead of magnifying the Foley disaster into a more generalized dissatisfaction with his party, those questioned correctly connected the dots from the Iraq disaster to everything else.
While 52 percent of Americans believe Hastert was aware of Foley’s actions and tried to cover them up, it’s part of a larger loss of faith in Republican leadership, thanks mostly to the war in Iraq. For instance, for the first time in the NEWSWEEK poll, a majority of Americans now believe the Bush administration knowingly misled the American people in building its case for war against Saddam Hussein: 58 percent vs. 36 percent who believe it didn’t. And pessimism over Iraq is at record highs on every score: nearly two in three Americans, 64 percent, believe the United States is losing ground there; 66 percent say the war has not made America safer from terrorism (just 29 percent believe it has); and 53 percent believe it was a mistake to go to war at all, again the first time the NEWSWEEK poll has registered a majority in that camp.
I saved the best for last.
Democrats now outdistance Republicans on every single issue that could decide voters’ choices come Nov. 7. In addition to winning—for the first time in the NEWSWEEK poll—on the question of which party is more trusted to fight the war on terror (44 to 37 percent) and moral values (42 percent to 36 percent), the Democrats now inspire more trust than the GOP on handling Iraq (47 to 34); the economy (53 to 31); health care (57 to 24); federal spending and the deficit (53 to 29); gas and oil prices (56 to 23); and immigration (43 to 34).
So why do I have this niggling doubt? Maybe it’s because somewhere along the road from 2000 to 2004, I lost faith in my country’s ability to hold honest elections. Maybe 2006 will restore an idea I never used to question — that our votes will be counted correctly.
Quote du Jour
“A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady, diplomat, author (1884-1962)
Give to the GOP – Help Pay Those Legal Bills
When you donate to a Republican candidate, it’s quite likely your money will be used, not for getting the word out about how qualified your guy or gal is, but for legal bills to keep his or her butt out of the slammer.
Just look at Mark Foley.
Last year, the Federal Election Commission issued an opinion that former California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham could use his campaign money for legal expenses surrounding his conviction on bribery charges
Foley also had a political action committee whose purpose was to give money to other political candidates. Foley’s latest report shows he had about $14,000 in that account, which was run by his sister, Donna Winterson.
That money could be used in any manner the committee determines…
Last year, the Federal Election Commission issued an opinion that former California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham could use his campaign money for legal expenses surrounding his conviction on bribery charges related to his congressional duties…
Federal election laws allow the use of excess campaign money for political purposes such as paying campaign staff, storage costs for records and contributions to other political candidates and political parties. But the money may not be converted to personal use, such as paying for rehabilitation for alcoholism.
Well, that’s a relief. But even if Foley pays for his own legal defense (which is a pretty damn big “if”), he’s still on the publicly-assisted dole.
In addition to campaign money, Foley will be entitled to his congressional pension. Based on his age and 12-year service in Congress, Foley would be eligible to receive a pension of about $22,600 a year beginning in 2010 — when he turns 56 — or about $32,100 in 2016, according to House staff and the National Taxpayers Union.
But think about it, friends. Foley’s got that money coming (no pun intended) for all his hard (no pun intended) work to keep our kids safe as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children (pun intended).
It’s O.K. to Vote for Foley, Florida Elections Officials Say
Florida elections officials, whom you met in 2000 even you don’t live here, are being helpful again. Just trying to avoid voter confusion, they say, and make sure all those morons who normally rely on being able to spot the “R” after a candidate’s name are not repelled by seeing “Foley” preceeding the “R” and for once in their miserable lives vote “D.”
Election officials are considering posting signs in polling places and including notices in absentee ballots clarifying that a vote for former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley is a vote for his Republican replacement, Joe Negron
Yes, the folks who brought us the butterfly ballot, credited with helping one of the most most heavily Jewish population centers in the entire country go for Pat Buchanan in 2000, are at it again.
Election officials at state and local levels are considering posting signs in polling places and including notices in absentee ballots throughout the 16th Congressional District clarifying that a vote for former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley is a vote for his Republican replacement, Joe Negron.
Supporters of Negron’s opponent, Tim Mahoney, and some legal experts are crying foul, saying this would give the Republican an unfair advantage in a congressional race already overshadowed by controversy and turmoil.
…[B]ecause Foley pulled out of the race after the primary-election results were certified, it will be his name, not Negron’s, on the Nov. 7 ballot in District 16.
…Sterling Ivey, spokesman for the Florida Division of Elections, said state law does not prohibit such signs from being posted at polling places in an effort to clear up confusion for voters.
…Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Arthur Anderson said he liked the idea of signs and didn’t think they would put Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, at a disadvantage.
“Often times people don’t read signage at polling places,” Anderson said. “I don’t think it would necessarily do anything to Mahoney.”
Well of course not. But some might ask, if that’s true, why put up signs?
I feel confident that if the situation were reversed, and some Democrat was forced to resign after being exposed as an ephebophile, Republicans would be lining up to “help” voters understand. *Snork*
The Word of the Day
Our word today, students, is “ephebophilia.”
Ephebophilia is the clinical term for an adult with a strong sexual attraction, not to children, as referred to in the word, “pedophilia,” but to postpubescent adolescents, generally those 14 or older.
