Author: Trish

Five Year Old Lies Continue Killing

Trish

One of my favorite off-line reads, The Week magazine, is usually unswervingly neutral in its coverage. Not this time. The editor’s note for the current issue comes down hard on the Bush administration, blaming it not just for 9/11, but for the greed and consumerist ideology that placed the economy above safety.

The government let them down—just as surely as it did when it ignored warnings that Muslim men with foreign citizenships were learning how to fly commercial jets

Just hours after Sept. 11, Jeffrey Endean of the Morris County, N.J., Sheriff’s Office plunged himself into the nightmare of ground zero. Endean rushed to the still-burning ruins, volunteering to search for survivors and counsel emergency workers. He worked there for two months on nights and weekends, without ever wearing a mask. “The EPA said the air was safe,” he said. “That was all the talk—it was just dust.” Today, Endean’s lungs, larynx, and vocal cords are all scarred from a cocktail of atmospheric toxins—dioxin, lead, asbestos, and pulverized glass. His asthma is so bad that he awakens most mornings gasping for breath…

A new study by Mount Sinai Medical Center has found that about 70 percent of ground zero workers have serious respiratory problems caused or worsened by inhaling the poisoned air at the site. Even as they worked in the dust and the fumes, many had concerns about what they were breathing. But the Environmental Protection Agency blithely insisted that the air was fine. If people didn’t return to downtown Manhattan, of course, Wall Street would remain closed, and the economic damage would be severe…But a small army of selfless laborers are now paying the price with their health; some have died. The government let them down—just as surely as it did when it ignored warnings that Muslim men with foreign citizenships were learning how to fly commercial jets.

Officials Getting Paid to Sell Out the Environment

Trish

Not that kind of green: The Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and TPMmuckraker.com (LCV) have proof that the more lobbyist greenbacks your man and woman in Washington accept, the more likely they will vote brown.

What’s the connection between a bad environmental voting record and corruption? Follow the money.

Six years into George W. Bush’s presidency, anti-environmental extremism has become Capitol Hill’s standard operating procedure. Hardly a major bill goes by that someone doesn’t saddle with a rider to drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge…

What’s the connection between a bad environmental voting record and corruption? Follow the money. Votes against clean air and water are not cast out of antipathy to summer zephyrs and babbling brooks but to help some favored campaign contributor make an extra buck.

The LCV ranks elected officials based on their environmental voting record. So just to see if the theory would hold, the groups also looked at how involved the low-rankers were in the Abramoff/K Street scandals.

The results are convincing. The list of two-time losers (those with money scandals and anti-environment records) begins with former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.). There’s also a state-by-state roll call of elected officials who earned a score of cold zero from the LCV. My guy, U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is on it. Is yours?

More Questions About Rove Exorcism

Trish

Cousin Jon beat me to this newser but I still have to add my two cents’ worth.

I was going to say it would be funny if you could just ignore the other parts.

Rove, the Bush political shaman Democrats love to demonize, enlisted a trio of clergymen to exorcise Hillary Rodham Clinton’s left-wing spirit when he moved into her West Wing office in 2001…

“I talked to Karl; he said it’s not true and, beyond that, he will have no comment,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said…

Deal Hudson, a former Fordham University professor Rove enlisted to woo Catholic voters, told Moore and Slater that he witnessed the exorcism, which he described as “an actual liturgical ceremony.”

Other parts: Is this what actual leaders of organized “mainstream” religions do?

Does Rove honestly fear other people — in this case, Hillary Clinton — and believe them able to hurt him through their leftover “vibes”?

If was just an attempt to be cute, can Rove and his “actual liturgical cohorts” be more cynical or blasphemous than to invoke God’s protection against someone who only happens to hold differing views?

Quote du Jour

Trish

“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”

— Adlai Stevenson (1900 – 1965), Illinois governor (1949-1953), Democratic candidate for President in 1952 and 1956, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1961-1965)

Florida’s Dark Days Could Be Over: The Boring Guy and the Possibly Gay Guy are Ahead in the Governor’s Races

Trish

No matter what, if U.S. Rep. Jim Davis (the boring guy) and Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist (the possibly gay guy) continue to maintain the leads they have now in the governor’s primaries, Florida will be so much better off soon that we will all dance in the streets for the rest of the week!

Here’s some background on the race, but it appears there are blue skies ahead for the Sunshine State, because either of the two finalists are so much better than Jeb that I might wet my pants. Thanks, Florida voters, for helping get us out of this nightmare!

P.S. Yes, Katherine Harris is winning the Repiglican primary.

P.P.S. And pro-life extremist Randall Terry’s getting stomped!

Going to walk the dog. Will update in a little while…

Update: Tom Gallagher has conceded the Republican primary to Charlie Crist in the governor’s race. In what will hopefully represent a trend repeated nationwide this fall, the St. Petersburg Times described how the two candidates conducted their campaigns, and how Gallagher’s style is so two years ago.

Crist ran as someone who champions consumer causes and [Jeb] Bush’s policies – at least when it came to crime, taxes and education. But he wasn’t afraid to step out of line with the governor on some issues.

He questioned Bush’s decision to intervene in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case and said that he won’t try to change the class size limits that the governor tried and failed to put back on the ballot.

“All I want to be is the people’s governor and they should rest assured that if they elect me in November, no one will fight harder for the people than Charlie Crist,” he said. “This is a time when we need all of Florida to come together – Republicans, Democrats and independents.”

Gallagher lost despite positioning himself to come across almost exactly the same as Bush all the way down the line, abandoning a more moderate stance on social issues he had the last time he ran for governor for far-right positions opposing all abortions, gay marriage and adoption and stem cell research. He also promised to outlaw billboards for adult businesses like strip clubs.

Update: Harris has 49% of the Republican vote, splitting the remaining votes with her three challengers. So she won the primary, and will go on to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November. Yeah, right.

Jeb Slammed By Righteous Florida Senator

Trish

Update: Villalobos won!

In Florida’s meanest and most expensive state Senate race, Miami Sen. Alex Villalobos was reelected Tuesday night, overcoming the millions spent by third-party attack groups and the ire of Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped run a candidate against the moderate Republican.

I have a new hero and she’s a Republican.

Florida State Sen. Nancy Argenziano has never been accused of hiding her feelings, but a masterpiece scathing email she sent about Jeb Bush last week is too fun not to share.

“The Governor has a history reflecting accommodation of special interests as evidenced by his agencies’ contracts, and his flexible Republicanism is at odds with both America and actual Republican principles. In his heart of hearts, the Governor prefers dictatorship to democracy.”

First, a little background. Fellow Republican Florida Sen. Alex Villalobos was in the queue to be the Senate majority leader until he parted ways with Big Boy on two initiatives the Florida governor has refused to abandon, despite being overruled by the people of Florida and the state supreme court: lowering class sizes (duh) and furnishing vouchers to public school students for private school tuition (no way).

After Villalobos, who would have been the first Cuban-American to lead the Florida senate, sided with his constituents over Jeb, he found himself the subject of a Jeb-led coup. And as Michael Schiavo could tell you, there is no pettier or more vindictive bully than a pissed-off Jeb Bush.

But Nancy’s on the case. When Jeb sent a fundraising letter to state legislators on behalf of Villalobos’ opponent, Frank Bolanos, Argenziano had enough. She emailed back, and cc’d her missive to the Tallahassee Democrat.

Full text:

Mr. Bolanos:

You are grossly in error in presuming to send me this garbage, especially through my legislative e-mail.

[…]

Quote du Jour

Trish

When an objection cannot be made formidable, there is some policy in trying to make it frightful; and to substitute the yell and the war-whoop, in the place of reason, argument, and good order.

— Thomas Paine (1737 -1809) Pamphleteer, anti-monarchist, American founder

Florida Cliff Hanger: Final Candidates to Replace Jeb to be Selected Tomorrow

Trish

Tuesday, Sept. 5 is the day so many Floridians have waited for: when we find out if the candidates for our next governor will be — on the Republican side — a Schwarzenegger or a DeLay, or — on the Democratic side — a Bill Nelson or a DeLay.

A few months back, I told people I preferred Davis but would be happy with either man. Now Rod Smith has pissed me off enough that I would consider voting for Charlie Crist — the Schwarzenegger Republican.

The Republican race started out as the more interesting of the two, and while it hasn’t lost any drama, the Democratic one has my attention.

In the beginning, there were complaints that the two Democrats were too similar, too nice to each other on the campaign trail, and too boring. Then Rod Smith, a former state senator, found himself behind in the polls and pulled out the heavy ammo: U.S. Sugar.

When Smith headed the state’s agriculture committee, he evidently made some friends with money — the huge sugar industry, which Florida has spent years in court trying to get to clean up the Everglades. That money is now painting U.S. Rep. Jim Davis — a plodding, deliberate but pragmatic boy scout ala U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — as a racist in a series of ads and phone calls because of a vote from 16 years ago. […]

A Cuban’s As Good as a Nod to a Blind Idiot

Trish

The always fun In The Hoop blog at Indianz.com caught the Current Occupant exhibiting his colossal dunderheadedness again.

Oh they all look alike…

One is a Democrat from New Jersey. The other is a Republican from Florida. Both are Cuban. And both serve in the Senate. AND they have similar last names. Easy to mix them up, si? But what if one of them used to serve in your administration?

Well, that won’t help you tell them apart. Just ask President Bush, Al Kamen of The Washington Post reports in his In The Loop column. At a recent White House event, el gobernor anterior de Tejas went up to Sen. Robert Menendez (the one from Jersey) and told him, “Senator Martinez, you’ve been very quiet.”

Menendez was quiet no longer. “That’s Martinez,” he told the president, pointing to Sen. Mel Martinez (the one from Florida), who served in Bush’s Cabinet no less.

“Bush turned bright red, we’re told. Señor Mayor?” Kamen writes. The White House wouldn’t confirm.

Bush To Be Assassinated on British TV

Trish

You can’t help but wonder what prompted the British to make a TV movie about assassinating Pres. Bush. One thing’s for sure: such a film could never be made in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The program uses actors and digital manipulation of real footage to show a fictional account of Bush being gunned down after delivering a speech in Chicago

The program, to be aired Oct. 9, uses actors and digital manipulation of real footage to show a fictional account of Bush being gunned down after delivering a speech in Chicago, Peter Dale, the head of More4, told a news conference. More4 is the digital offshoot of Britain’s Channel 4.

“Death of a President,” which will first be shown this month at the Toronto Film Festival, in September, focuses on all those linked to the pretend crime — including nearby antiwar protesters, suspects, Secret Service guards and investigators, Dale said.

The White House declined to comment on the network’s announcement, saying it would not dignify the program with a response.

Plus, they couldn’t think of anything.

“It’s an extraordinarily gripping and powerful piece of work, a drama constructed like a documentary that looks back at the assassination of George Bush as the starting point for a very gripping detective story,” Dale told reporters. “It’s a pointed political examination of what the war on terror did to the American body politic.”

I wonder if it will be banned in this country.