Tag: Fox News

Flashback 1999: Former White House Flack Takes Flak For Tell-All Book about Sitting President

Jon Ponder

As has been widely noted, critics of Scott McClellan’s new memoir, “What Happened,” are trashing the book’s author, not his writing, because they can’t dispute his accuracy. Karl Rove hurled a particularly nasty epithet at Scott. He compared him to a “liberal blogger.” Harsh.
After his book was released, Stephanopoulos was called “turncoat,” “backstabber,” “ingrate,” “a self-absorbed opportunist” and even “shorty.”
This was predictable. Bush supporters can’t refute McClellan’s claims about the propaganda campaign before the Iraq invasion, the conspiracy to leak information about a covert CIA anti-WMD program and the rest, so all they’ve got left is killing the messenger.

There is a deja vu aspect to this story. In 1999, a former senior White House official was lambasted for publishing a tell-all while his former boss was still in office.The book was “All Too Human: A Political Education,” and the official was George Stephanopoulos, a former campaign adviser, spokesman and aide to Bill Clinton, and who is now the host of ABC News’ Sunday political hour. The external circumstances are so similar the names of the writers and their bosses are practically interchangeable.
Writing then for Time Magazine, Margaret Carlson (now at Bloomberg) described the criticism Stephanopoulos was encountering:

In a nonstop round of interviews, George has been hit with scathing criticism. On NBC, Katie Couric asked him how it felt to be called a “turncoat” whose take on the President was “kind of creepy.” Over at CBS, Mark McEwen said the author was being called a “backstabber” and an “ingrate.” On CNN former Clinton adviser Mandy Grunwald noted that if the President hadn’t given George the “opportunity of a lifetime,” George might still be a Capitol Hill aide, not a “multimillion-dollar book writer and commentator” (inside the White House make that “commentraitor”). And James Carville says Washington has become The Truman Show, broadcasting Clinton’s private life in something approaching real time.

Even George, at one time, wouldn’t have approved of George. Commenting on Dick Morris’ memoirs, George said, “You have a responsibility not to embarrass the President. It hurts the country. It’s just stupidity and weakness.”

From the book, Carlson mentioned this interesting insight into the Clintons’ relationship:

We get a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary feeding Clinton honey-soaked lemon wedges but then the usual, albeit accurate, picture of a paranoid First Lady, responsible for many of the early mistakes. George doesn’t like it that she didn’t trust him. Of course, she may have had good reason, since George goes on to disclose that Whitewater made her cry. Ouch.

Here’s a snippet that has probably come back to bite Jake Tapper on the ass. He was then a freshly minted young writer at Salon.com but is now Stephanopoulos’ colleague at ABC News:

[…]

Internal Email Urges Obama Supporters Not to Demonstrate at DNC Rules Meeting

Trish

The Hill:

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign is urging its supporters not to demonstrate at Saturday’s highly anticipated Democratic National Committee (DNC) meeting on how to handle the delegates of Florida and Michigan.

Even with just Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and Chris Dodd competing on the Michigan ballot, Clinton received only 55 percent of the vote. Yet HRC math still concludes she is entitled to 100 percent of Michigan’s delegates.

In an internal campaign e-mail obtained by The Hill, the Obama campaign states, “We look forward to the meeting proceeding smoothly — and we’re asking our supporters not to show up to demonstrate, passionately as they feel about this campaign.”

…the Obama campaign wants to avoid heated intraparty confrontations that would attract national headlines and be replayed on the cable news networks. Saturday’s potential public relations nightmare comes as the Obama campaign is taking steps to unify the party as the Democratic primary process appears to be winding down.

…In a Q&A section of the e-mail, a question reads, “Sen. Obama has such a large lead that the outcome of this nomination is all-but academic. Why not just seat the delegates as they voted so that Sen. Clinton has one less reason to continue her campaign?”

The answer states, “That’s not Sen. Obama’s decision to make. The rules for this nomination contest were designed and are enforced by the Democratic National Committee. That’s why our campaign is working to forge a fair agreement that will ensure Democrats from Florida and Michigan will be able to participate in our convention.”

…The DNC bylaws meeting is seen as Clinton’s last-ditch effort to make up significant ground on Obama in the delegate count. Clinton won both states easily, but Obama pulled his name off the ballot in Michigan and, like the former first lady, did not actively campaign in Florida.

The talking points memo provides some answers to potential questions about Saturday. One reads, “I don’t think that any of us are in a position to speculate about possible outcomes at the meeting — but what I do know is that the Obama campaign is as eager as anyone to see this situation resolved fairly, which reflects the desire of these delegations to be seated and the fact that we and all the candidates competed under rules in which there were no delegates to be awarded and no campaigning took place.”

Interesting factoid: Even with just Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and Chris Dodd competing on the Michigan ballot, Clinton received only 55 percent of the vote. The other candidates whose names appeared took a total of 5 percent, and “Uncommitted” got 40. Yet HRC math still concludes she is entitled to 100 percent of Michigan’s delegates.

Rove Shows His Hand — and His Guilt — in Siegelman Case

Trish
Rove sputters on This Week

It was obvious after watching Karl Rove on This Week with George Stephanopoulos why he refuses to testify in public before the House Judiciary Committee. It has questions for him about his role in the likely false imprisonment of former Gov. Don Siegelman (D-Ala.). Most people believe those who were involved and have come forward to say that Rove was behind the attempts to frame the governor so he could be replaced by a Republican.

Rove has said he will answer questions only in writing or behind closed doors, with no members of the press or electorate allowed.

When asked to explain himself in the light of day, as he was on This Week, Rove stumbled badly. His attempts to parse and twist words, so effective from behind the scenes in the Bush White House, don’t play as well when the heat’s on him.

Commenter: “By answering the imaginary question, Rove in no way answers the real one”

Stephanopoulos: You were subpoenaed this week by the House Judiciary Committee to give testimony on any involvement you may have had with the prosecution of the former Alabama Gov Don Seigleman. He’s claiming there was selective prosecution. He’s out on bail now, even though he was convicted. He says your fingerprints were all over it.

Here’s what the House report said. It said, ‘In May, 2007, a Republican attorney from Northern Alabama named Jill Simpson wrote an affidavit stating that in November, 2002 she heard a prominent Alabama Republican operative named Bill Canary say that Karl Rove had contacted the Justice Department about bringing a prosecution of Don S. The question for Mr. Rove is whether he directly or indirectly discussed the possibility of prosecuting Don Siegelman with either the Justice Department or Alabama Republicans.’ Did you?

Rove: Let me say three things. First of all, I think it’s interesting, everybody who was supposedly on that telephone call that Ms. Simpson talks about says that the call never took place.

Stephanopoulos: Although she’s produced a cell phone record, according to the committee.

[…]

An Invitation to Hillary Clinton: Retire in Florida

Trish

Palm Beach, Florida has issued an invitation to Hillary Clinton, via columnist Frank Cerabino.

There isn’t a more outspoken, Democratic concentration of older white women in America than right here in condoland, and let’s face it, everybody likes to be around loved ones at the end

For Hillary, there’s no better place to wrap things up than right here in Palm Beach County.

To quote the line of the Eugene Levy character, Dr. Pearl, in the movie, Waiting for Guffman, “You have to go where the love is.”

And the love for Hillary, right now, is in South Florida.

There isn’t a more outspoken, Democratic concentration of older white women in America than right here in condoland, and let’s face it, everybody likes to be around loved ones at the end.

…If that’s the case, she should think of South Florida as her own political hospice. We’ll do this right and make her feel no pain right until the end.

She can live these final weeks in a place that will delude her into thinking that she’s the most popular candidate, even if the numbers say otherwise.

…She can ride out the final few days of the campaign as a hero, playing mah-jongg with the girls, taking in a show, maybe, with Bill, at the clubhouse.

“I don’t care what the pundits are saying,” she could tell the national media as she boards the bus for an afternoon charter to play the slots at an Indian casino. “All I know is what I see.”

And she’ll see nothing but cheering crowds. And she’ll get nothing but calls to fight on.

Polls: Clinton Ahead of McCain in Florida, Obama Trails

Jon Ponder

To win the presidency, Barack Obama will need to take all the states John Kerry won in 2004, plus either Florida or Ohio. At the moment, Florida is not looking good for him:

The latest polls, though, show Clinton would be the stronger candidate in Florida in November against John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute and Rasmussen Reports, in results released Wednesday and Thursday, show Obama would lose to McCain in Florida. Clinton, though, would beat McCain in the state.

The Rassmussen poll shows Clinton would defeat McCain 47 percent to 41 percent. Quinnipiac has it 48-41 Clinton.

The Rassmussen poll shows McCain would defeat Obama 50 percent to 40 percent. The Quinnipiac numbers show McCain would beat Obama, 45-41.

The good news is Obama’s numbers tend to go up significantly in areas where he spends time campaigning. Until this week, because of the early primary controversy, he hadn’t spent much time in Florida. Let’s hope he camps out there over the summer.

Obama Floats Punishment for Florida: Cut Delegation in Half

Jon Ponder

Now that Barack Obama is officially the pre-presumptive Democratic nominee, he’s going to have to decide what to do about “punishing” Florida and Michigan for moving their primaries too close to the sacred lead spots held by Iowa and New Hampshire.
Obama should undo what mean Dr. Dean threatened to do and seat the entire delegations.
In Florida yesterday, he floated this idea:

Delving deeper into Florida’s Democratic delegate debacle than he ever has to date, Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that “a very reasonable solution” would be to count Florida’s disputed primary votes and cut the state’s delegation to the convention in half.

That may be a bit too Solomonic. Cutting the baby in half risks making everybody involved half unhappy. Obama has misjudged the mood among “average Floridians” about this issue:

The Illinois senator, just shy of securing the nomination, stressed that he intends to win Florida and doubted the controversy over Florida’s primary would cause any serious damage to his prospects.

“I don’t think that the average Floridian is spending all their time thinking about this,” he said, as his campaign bus cruised from Tampa to Kissimmee.

“I think what they’re thinking about is $4-per-gallon gas. I think what they’re thinking about is ‘my health care premiums have gone up 25 percent and my deductibles have gone up and I’m trying to hang on to the health care that I’ve got.”’

We are going to need all the happy Democrats in Florida we can muster in November. Since Obama will win the delegate count even if Clinton gets her larger shares in Florida and Michigan, he should countermand mean Dr. Dean and seat both delegations.

House Committee Subpoenas Rove in Siegelman Case

Jon Ponder

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers announced this afternoon that a
subpoena has been issued to Karl Rove in the Don Siegelman case:

Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) issued a subpoena to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for testimony about the politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), including former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman’s case. Yesterday, Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, sent a letter to the Committee expressing that Rove would not agree to testify voluntarily, per the Committee’s previous requests.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Rove has failed to cooperate with our requests,” Conyers said.

“Although he does not seem the least bit hesitant to discuss these very issues weekly on cable television and in the print news media, Mr. Rove and his attorney have apparently concluded that a public hearing room would not be appropriate. Unfortunately, I have no choice today but to compel his testimony on these very important matters.”

Separately, Chairman Conyers recently received a letter from DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) indicating that the office has opened an investigation into allegations of selective prosecution of Siegelman and others.

The BRAD BLOG has links to pertinent documents, including full text of the subpoena and letters to and from Rove’s lawyer.

McCain Hosts Possible Veeps at His Million-Dollar Ranch Near the New Age Resort of Sedona

Jon Ponder

John McCain has invited three possible running mates to his ranch in Page Springs, near the resort town of Sedona, Arizona, for a weekend visit. The three prospective veeps are Florida’s perpetually tanned, bachelor governor, Charlie Crist; former presisdential candidate, Mitt Romney; and Louisiana’s new governor, Bobby Jindal.
Jindal’s family immigrated from India, and he is brown-skinned. Putting him on the ticket might confuse the GOP’s racist base, who tend to view anyone with dark skin with suspicion. (This could be another ding against Crist, come to think of it.)
• Crist is popular enough in Florida to make a difference in a tight race this fall, but at least one GOP operative has insisted that Charlie must get married, but quick, lest yahoos in the GOP base think he is gay.

• Romney proved himself to be so inauthentic during his self-financed run against McCain last winter that it is hard to imagine why McCain would seriously consider him. Perhaps he’s on the list because, if McCain was chosen because he was the least-bad candidate, Romney was second least-worst.

• Jindal is a wild card. He was a congressman before running for governor, and is well-known in Louisiana but not elsewhere, which means introducing him to the country would eat up campaign time and resources. Compounding this is his ethnicity. McCain can’t run on the success of the Iraq occupation or the Bush economy, and he’s even been botching his purported strong suit, foreign relations and security, lately. That means the best — maybe only — thing the McCain campaign has going for it is the fact that his opponent, Barack Obama is African-American, a factor that will energize the GOP racist base. Jindal’s family immigrated from India, and he is brown-skinned. Putting him on the ticket might confuse those core voters, who tend to view anyone with dark skin with suspicion. (Another possible ding against Crist.)

In any case, McCain adviser Charlie Black denies that the weekend at the ranch is going to be anything but a fun sleepover for grown-ups. It will be “purely social,” he insists, and has “nothing whatsoever to do with the vice presidential selection process … Wouldn’t it be difficult to interview people for vice president with the other competitors there?”

McCain’s wife Cindy is worth $100 million, we’re told, and, not surprisingly, the setting of the McCains’ vacation home sounds pretty nice:

[The] 6.6 acre ranch is located about 13 miles west of Sedona. It is in a small town called Page [sic] Arizona. It is the best-kept secret in the Verde Valley.The town is bordered by 2000 acres of National Forest and is located between Sedona and Cottonwood, on the banks of Oak Creek it is located at 3,400 feet in a quaint setting of giant oak trees, sycamores, old cottonwood trees and artesian streams.The Oak Creek has created a migratory corridor for more than 500 species of birds traveling from Canada to South America – a bird watcher’s paradise…

The area has many points of interest, parks and monuments to offer travelers full days of activities and fun. Page boasts several wineries. Javelina Leap Vineyard & Winery, Oak Springs Winery, Page Springs and Echo Canyon Vineyard and Winery.

Sedona is also a world-famous spiritual center — but this is a different kind of spiritualism for the fire-and-brimstone, apocalyptic religiosity promoted by McCain’s BFF John Hagee:

[…]

Hamilton Jordan Dies

Jon Ponder

Today:

Hamilton Jordan, the former top strategist and aide to Jimmy Carter, died Tuesday night after a long battle with cancer.

Friends said death came at around 7:30 p.m. and that he was comfortable and surrounded by friends. His son, Hamilton, Jr., return[ed] from Europe in time to be with his father…

He was 63 years old.

Jordan was a key advisor and strategist for Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign and during Carter’s administration. He was White House Chief of Staff in 1979-1980.