Tag: Conservative Values
President Bush Played Golf Today
As the saying goes, “It is good to be the king.” Before he jetted off to the hurricane-ravaged Deep South today for a day of photo ops and mumbling keyword-laden “speeches,” President Bus played golf. No kidding.
Bayou Buzz Reports Hastert AWOL on Relief Vote
Dennis the Menace Hastert must have really meant it when he said rebuilding New Orleans is optional. Bayou Buzz reports the Speaker is planning to attend a Republican fundraiser rather than showing up for an emergency vote on aid to Katrina victims.
Hastert AWOL During House Katrina Vote
Republican Congressman and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert who set off a firestorm on Thursday when he questioned the need to rebuild New Orleans might be making another major bonehead decision.
The legislation passed by the U.S. Senate of 10.5 billion to rebuild the Gulf Coast and New Orleans is moving to the House. Guess who will not be there when the vote occurs? Dennis Hastert. He will be at a fundraiser.
Think of the importance of his presence to lead this legislation. Instead, he is playing partisan politics—raising money for his party or for a fellow republican. Is this a show of leadership?
See update of this story GOP House Leader Denies Advocating Bulldozing New Orleans Despite Published Record of Statements.
Wingnuts Using Hurricane to Smear Liberal Journo
Pundits from the far wrong are resorting to schoolyard-level smears in the wake of Hurrican Katrina. Blowhard Rush “Feelin No Pain” Limbaugh has taken to referring to the storm as “Hurricane Katrina vanden Heuvel,” after the editor of The Nation, which is solidly left of center, to say the least.
In her Editor’s Cut column vanden Huevel responds with wry humor:
When Fox started calling the storm Killer Katrina, I prayed some right-wing idiot wouldn’t stoop so low as to link me to this human suffering. But wouldn’t you know, the biggest dittohead on the block, Rush Limbaugh, is calling the storm Hurricane Katrina vanden Heuvel. National Review’s Jonah Goldberg, who has never seen a bad-joke bandwagon he could resist jumping on with both feet, blogged, “It would be pretty cool if Fox played to caricature and repeatedly referred to the hurricane as Katrina vanden Heuvel.” He went on to imagine the lines, “The destruction from Katrina vanden Heuvel is expected to be massive. The poor and disabled are particularly likely to suffer from the effects of Katrina vanden Heuvel.”
vanden Huevel’s point is well-made — such third-grade name calling merely belittles the people who are living through and dying in the United States’ worst natural disaster in history. She also nails both numbskulls:
At least Limbaugh has the excuse that drug abuse tends to stunt emotional development. What Goldberg’s problem is nobody has yet discovered. Natural disasters should be above infantile politics.
While Deep South Collapses, Condi Goes Shopping – Has Citizen Who Dared to Criticize Her Forcibly Removed
You know the old saying: When things get tough, the tough go shopping:
According to Drudge, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently enjoyed a little Broadway entertainment. And Page Six reports that she’s also working on her backhand with Monica Seles. So the Gulf Coast has gone all Mad Max, women are being raped in the Superdome, and Rice is enjoying a brief vacation in New York. We wish we were surprised.
What does surprise us: Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman.
Angry Lady, whoever you are, we love you. You are a true American.
White House Becomes Official ‘Chickenhawk Roost’
Chickenhawk Roosting Area
Warning: Although cowardly, chickenhawks may become aggressive when confronted by reality. Please use caution in this area.
Professional Homophobes Crash Military Funerals – Are They Creating Sympathy for Gays & Lesbians?
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays.
Is it possible that Fred Phelps could turn out to be the best thing to happen in the gay equality movement since “Queer Eye?”
As strange as it sounds, his latest shennanigans could have the unintended consequence of actually creating sympathy (or something close to it) for gays and lesbians in places where they are least accepted: Deep in the heart of the Red states.
Like the reverends Don Wildmon, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and many others, Rev. Fred Phelps makes his living off of homosexuality. He is a professional homophobe. (Pam Spaulding refers to him as the The Rotting CryptkeeperTM.)
Now Fred and his evil spawn have taken to crashing funerals for U.S. service members who were killed in Iraq. They hit some funerals in the Midwest earlier this year but last week, they descended on a small town in Tennessee, and the locals didn’t like it at all:
Prosecutors Say GOP Rep Duke Cunningham ‘Demanded and Received’ Bribe
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham “demanded and received” a bribe from a Pentagon contractor who paid far above market value for the congressman’s Del Mar-area home in 2003, according to court documents filed yesterday by federal prosecutors.
Without citing details, prosecutors said in the documents that Cunningham sold the house in return for his influence in Congress, where he serves on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending,
The allegation is the most specific and damaging that has been made public since a federal investigation was launched into the powerful Rancho Santa Fe Republican’s dealings with defense contractors.
In His Own Words: Pat Robertson Is the Poster Child for Conservative Lies & Corruption
You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop… We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.
– Pat Robertson, Wednesday, August 24, 2005
I didn’t say “assassination.” I said our special forces should “take him out.” “Take him out” could be a number of things including kidnapping.
– Pat Robertson, Thursday, August 25, 2005
Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him.
– Pat Robertson, later on Thursday, August 25, 2005
Robertson Claims He Was Misrepresented on His Own Program
Pat Robertson is back-peddling harder than Lance Armstrong, trying to get around his blatant call for the murder of a head of state.
“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.
