Author: Trish

Robertson Claims He Was Misrepresented on His Own Program

Trish

Pat Robertson is back-peddling harder than Lance Armstrong, trying to get around his blatant call for the murder of a head of state.

Reuters:

“I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping,” Robertson said of Venezuela’s leader on his “The 700 Club” television program.

“There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted,” added Robertson.

Let’s see. “Take him out” could mean take him out for a nice dinner and dessert. Or it could mean exposing him as a homosexual or a CIA agent, as in “take him out of the closet.” Now what were Robertson’s exact words on his own T.V. show on Monday again?

“If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it.”

“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.”

Not a lot of room to misinterpret that, buddy.

You would think the White House – which is leading the global struggle against violent extremism – would have been among the first to chastise Robertson.

The White House remained silent despite calls by Venezuela and religious leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson for Bush to repudiate Robertson’s remarks. However, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday said political assassination was against the law and was not U.S. policy.

Whew, strong stuff – “not U.S. policy.” Torture is against U.S. policy too, which is how we know it doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, the Venezuelans aren’t letting it go so easily.

Venezuelan officials said Robertson’s remarks, while those of a private citizen, took on more significance given his ties to President Bush’s Christian-right supporters.

“Mr Robertson has been one of this president’s staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House,” Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States Bernardo Alvarez said.

Big, Fat, and Sweaty: Life in the South

Trish

Everyone knows Americans are getting fatter but a new study shows the problem is particularly huge in the South. In fact, the only state in the entire country that didn’t have to buy elastic-waist pants is Oregon, whose obesity rate, while not the lowest, didn’t increase.

Palm Beach Post:

Who would have guessed, y’all? There is a statistical correlation between being fat and living in the land of fried chicken, cornbread, grits with red-eye gravy, sweet iced tea, pecan pie, porch swings and Sunday afternoon naps.

The Trust for America’s Health released a report Tuesday showing that obesity is rising like a buttermilk biscuit all across America.

Mercifully, Florida was an exception to this rule, being out-leaned by only 12 other states.

Miami Herald:

Among the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults, seven were in the Southeast — Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky [Editor’s note: poor Kentucky — the only time they are considered in the Southeast is when someone wants to use them as a bad example] and South Carolina. More than a quarter of adults in those states are obese.

Mississippi’s 28.1 percent obesity rate was the nation’s highest; Colorado’s rate, 16.4 percent, was lowest.

Roughly 119 million adult Americans, or 64.5 percent of the population, are overweight or obese.

While complicated, the reasons for the fat epidemic boil down to: lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle.

“As we build cul-de-sac-type subdivisions, people can no longer just walk to school, walk to church, walk to work,” said former Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening, one of the report’s authors. “They can’t walk anyplace, so they have to get in the car and drive someplace.”

“It’s a toxic food environment,” said Sheah Rarback, a registered dietitian at the University of Miami. “Every gas station sells food. Every place we go, we’re stimulated to eat. It’s very hard to escape this constant stimulation for these quick grab-and-go foods, which are usually high calorie, low nutrition.”

What is it with this country and taking up maximum space? New houses are built right to the lot line, SUVs barely squeeze into parking places, and Enormous Omelet Sandwiches provide a day’s caloric intake (and a week’s worth of cholesterol) in one meal.

My theory: as public space like parklands and forests shrink, people try to take up all the private space they can. Might as well start with our own bodies. Can you move over, please? I need a little wider chair.

Nine Out of Ten Venezuelans Agree: Robertson is Cracked

Trish

Pat Robertson calling for your murder can be a good thing. A South Florida newspaper is reporting a new spirit of unity among critics and fans of Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez. Both groups now agree on one thing: Pat Robertson is ape shit.

Sun Sentinel:

Some of Chávez’s most ardent opponents, who once led street marches back home but are now exiled in South Florida, said the comments were inappropriate and will further fuel tensions between the two countries.

“I think Chávez will grab this thread and make himself out to be the victim and justify the idea there are international groups that want to kill him,” said Carlos Fernandez, a Weston [Florida] resident and former opposition leader who helped lead a 2002 national strike that shut down Venezuela’s petroleum production.

…some wondered if Robertson was paid to make such an outlandish comment.

“I wonder if someone paid Robertson to say such a thing so Chávez could be vindicated,” said Ernesto Ackerman, founder of Independent Venezuelan American Citizens. “Otherwise those are the comments of a madman.”

[…]

Jeb Throws Honor to the Wind and Florida to the Wolves

Trish

Floridians can rest easy, knowing that growth, resource protection, and the environment is in the hands of a Bush family lackey who is up on state ethics violation charges. I know I feel better.

Palm Beach Post:

Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty to a panel charged with creating a master plan for how the state should handle growth, even as she faces charges of violating state ethics laws…

McCarty is under investigation by the Florida Commission on Ethics, which last week tanked a proposed settlement in which she was to admit to illegally accepting $3,750 in contributions to her legal defense fund.

The ethics panel is looking into thousands of dollars of contributions from employees of developer Kenco Communities, which may have violated the state cap of $100.

Even fellow Republicans are appalled by Jeb’s hubris and ability to pick the lowest hanging fruit.

McCarty joined a list of appointees with close ties to the Bush administration, including former chief of staff Kathleen Shanahan and lobbyist Steve Uhlfelder, who stepped down from the Board of Governors this year amid criticism from Senate President Tom Lee.

Lee, R-Brandon, had sought to remove lobbyists from state boards that make decisions on contracts, spending and rules…

Shanahan, who served briefly as chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, joined Tampa-based WRS Infrastructure and Environment Inc., as chief executive officer in July.

But McCarty has nothing to worry about. Looks like Jeb took care of her little “ethics problem” while he was at it.

Bush also chose four new ethics commissioners, including Norman Ostrau, a former lawmaker who said Monday he had resigned as a registered lobbyist earlier in the day at Bush’s request.

I think Florida has much more of this in store during the dying days of the Jeb administration. Not that he’s ever made much of a pretense of acting honorably or fairly, but all bets are off now.

If You Got the Money, Honey, Bush Has the Time

Trish

Things Bush doesn’t have time to do:

1. Ask Karl Rove if he blew Valerie Plame’s CIA cover

2. Meet with Cindy Sheehan

3. Attend a single funeral for any of the fallen in the Iraq war

Things Bush has all the time in the world to do:

1. Entertain big-buck supporters on the ranch

St. Petersburg Times reporter Adam Smith’s blog noted that Bush and Karl Rove provided a leisurely barbecue lunch in Crawford to a group of Florida “Regents” flown in for the occasion. Regents are those who gave at least $25,000 to the Republican Party during the 2004 election.

Thanks to Florida Politics for calling this to our attention.

Arnold Proven Smarter Than the Rest of Us

Trish

This is huge. Science confirms what women have long suspected.

According to the print edition of The Week,

Researchers at Cornell University tested the effect of insecurity on men’s attitudes by giving a survey on gender identity to about 50 men. The men were then told that an analysis of the survey showed that they exhibited “weak” male characteristics – indeed, that their attitudes were effeminate. The researchers then surveyed the men’s attitudes toward politics, homosexuals, and car purchases, comparing them with a group of men whose masculinity had not been questioned. The threatened men were more likely to support the war in Iraq, more likely to oppose gay marriage and denounce gays, and more likely to express a desire to buy an SUV… “Masculinity-threatened men also reported feeling more ashamed, guilty, upset, and hostile,” says lead researcher Robb Willer.

So Arnold was really on to something with that “girlie men” remark.

In case you were wondering:

Women, the study found, did not change their attitudes when they were told their attitudes were masculine.

Nightmare Scenario for Florida: Sen. Jeb

Trish

Florida Republicans fall into two camps: 1) Anybody But Katherine Harris, and 2) Jeez, O.K., Katherine Harris.

The Sarasota Herald Tribune said MSNBC talk show host Joe Scarborough, recruited by Elizabeth Dole, is:

…the latest on a growing list of candidates who have been asked to run instead of Harris. Retired Gen. Tommy Franks, Florida Senate President Tom Lee, Sarasota businessman Vern Buchanan, Florida House Speaker Allan Bense and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher are among those on the list.

Harris — whose political baggage most famously includes throwing the 2000 presidential election to Bush — has been euphemistically called, “too polarizing” by GOP leaders. What they don’t say is that her history of shady finances and her well-known zippy side — including accusing the press of doctoring her image to make it appear she wore heavier makeup and inviting Kabbalah mystics to try to cure citrus canker — don’t exactly qualify her as “carry-on” either.

But the scariest prospect is the one being bandied about the Sunshine State now. Harris herself has let it be known that the only person for whom she would step aside is the one, the only (please, Jesus), the King of Snide himself, Jeb Bush.

With only 17 months until Florida is free of him, the horrifying idea that Jeb could be our next senator is painfully easy to imagine. Like his brother, despite piss-poor management and a record of failure at every turn, Jeb remains popular. He talks the talk, in perfect English (something his brother can only envy), Spanish/Cuban/Puerto Rican, and most Caribbean Creole tongues as well. People say he has charisma (although I haven�t noticed). In short, he could go the Ted Kennedy route standing on his head.

Scarborough is saying he “leans against” running. Harris has said only Jeb could end her candidacy. Republicans continue to hope for a miracle. The rest of us can only pray that Harris stays in, and that a record of fair, decent, energetic, honest public service is enough to win re-election for the slow-talking and sedate Bill Nelson. If not, Washington is about to learn a whole new definition of the word, “nasty.”

Santorum: It Takes a Police State

Trish
After teenagers at a book signing made a joke about Santorum’s homophobia, his security threatened them with arrest: ‘You’re going to embarrass your family, you won’t get into college with this on your record.”

According to Delaware Online columnist Al Mascitti, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Loopyland) espouses a variety of controversial views on current issues — “that women shouldn’t work outside the home, that legalizing gay marriage would lead to legalizing polygamy and bestiality, that government should discourage birth control.”

But anyone who wants to discuss their opposing views at one of Santorum’s appearances where he is hawking his book, “It Takes a Family,” might want to reconsider. Unless they want to be threatened with jail. That message was heard loud and clear by some teenagers and their parents last week at a Delaware shopping mall.

Santorum appeared at the Barnes & Noble bookstore adjacent to Concord Mall on U.S. 202 Wednesday night for what was billed as a book signing and discussion. College students Stacey Galperin and Miriam Rocek of Newark decided to attend to hear what he had to say.

“I knew about him from his promotion of the federal marriage amendment,” said Rocek, 19. “I thought I would go and just talk to him during the book signing, tell him I disagreed with a lot of his policies, just engage him in dialogue.”

[…]

Murder Charges Look Likelier for Abramoff

Trish

Tom DeLay’s sugar daddy, Jack Abramoff, should be sweating. After all, Florida still has the death penalty.

An amazing coincidence was previously reported by PR. The guy Abramoff swindled — SunCruz Casinos owner Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis — was riddled with bullets at about the same time he would have been finding out Abramoff never intended to pay him. The matter is suddenly getting close police scrutiny. Lakeland Ledger:

Abramoff, 46, and 41-year-old Adam Kidan are charged in a six-count grand jury indictment with conspiracy and wire fraud in the September 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos from Boulis. Prosecutors say the pair concocted a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear to lenders they were putting a sizable stake of their own money into the deal…

A few months following the $147.5 million sale of SunCruz, Boulis was shot to death in his car after it was blocked by other vehicles and an assailant pulled alongside in what police say was an apparent hit. The killing occurred after weeks of acrimony stemming from the sale, including a physical altercation between Kidan and Boulis, who also founded the Miami Subs fast-food chain.

Police wanted to question Abramoff from the get-go about the killing but for some reason (um — influence?) they never followed up when he failed to appear.

The lawyer, Neal Sonnett, said after a brief scheduling hearing in federal court that Abramoff had expected to meet with Fort Lauderdale homicide detectives shortly after the February 2001 slaying of Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis.

The interview never happened, Sonnett said, and now Fort Lauderdale detectives are expressing new interest in talking with Abramoff.

Abramoff is free on bail right now on charges he swindled American Indians out of $66 million. Tom DeLay, who partied hearty on Abramoff’s dole, continues to get away with murder in Congress.