10.31.06
Carmen Who?
Always been a sucker for buttons…and dark hair…
A Glimmer of Bravery…From the DCCC?
As the death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq passed 100 for the month, officials said ads criticizing Republican candidates for following the president’s lead on the war would air in the campaign’s final week in Connecticut, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Iowa and other areas they declined to name.
Public opinion polls show widespread public dissatisfaction with the war, helping give Democrats their best chance in more than a decade at winning control of at least one house of Congress.
“Rick O’Donnell. He’s George Bush’s candidate for Congress. O’Donnell wanted to send 75,000 more troops to Iraq,” says an ad in a suburban Denver race that Democrats are particularly optimistic about winning.
“Despite a war gone wrong and no plan for victory politicians like Rob Simmons keep voting to stay the course again and again, following George Bush’s failed leadership no matter what the cost,” is the accusation against Rep. Rob Simmons of Connecticut.
Rep. Dave Reichert “just sides with Bush on Iraq,” says the announcer in the ad against the Washington state congressman. “Iraq is just a disaster. Iraq is a complete disaster. It’s heartbreaking.”
Yet another ad shows Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., saying, “We need to stay the course,” followed by an announcer’s voice saying, “No, we don’t.”
“After The Jump” Is Always the Best Part…
In a letter sent today, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is asking the Virginia State Bar to release the application materials Allen submitted when he applied for a license to practice law in the Commonwealth in the 1970s. “Mr. Allen’s bar application was submitted less than five years after two arrest warrants were issued in his name in Albemarle County, Virginia,” DSCC Executive Director J.B. Poersch writes in the letter. “Since the official arrest records have been purged, your organization may be one of a handful with official documentation regarding these arrests.”
Allen’s name appears in an Albemarle County court index from 1974. It’s not entirely clear what that means. A court spokeswoman has told Talking Points Memo’s Election Central that the listing could reflect an arrest warrant or could be for something less serious, such as a summons for unpaid parking tickets. State bar associations generally require would-be lawyers to document and explain any prior scrapes with the law. Thus, as the DSCC says, Virginia bar’s records could disclose whether “Mr. Allen was arrested for unpaid parking tickets or for something much more severe like assault or battery.”
The request comes as the Allen-Webb race seems to be moving deeper into the too-close-to-call category. An MSNBC/McClatchy poll released early last week had Allen up by three, which was pretty consistent with the overall averages we’d been seeing. But then a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll put Webb up by three later in the week, and the DSCC is out today with an internal poll showing Webb up by five points with just a week and a day to go before Election Day.
Suprise, suprise, suprise!
~Gomer Pyle
Uhh..no Jim we don’t want you to sing…please no…Run for your life everyone!!!
Corruption By Coincidence…
At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them. Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship.
Republicans who received money from judges en route to the bench include Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Gov. George Pataki of New York.
In Pennsylvania, Sen. Arlen Specter has recommended dozens of judicial candidates to the president during his career. As a longtime member of the Judiciary Committee, and its chairman since 2005, he has helped oversee Bush’s hundreds of appointments. Speaking by phone last week, Specter said political contributions are “not a factor” in who gets recommended in his home state or elsewhere. Citing the thousands of contributors and tens of millions of dollars raised in his 2004 campaign, Specter said that “it’s just not possible to know everybody” who gives money.
However, in order to avoid any impression that the contributions carry influence, he said, “I think once an individual becomes a [judicial] prospect that that would be a cutoff point.” In Pennsylvania, Specter said, that point would come when candidates apply for the job with a bipartisan selection committee set up by him and Rick Santorum, the state’s other Republican senator. “I don’t know of anybody who has made a contribution beyond that,” Specter said.
In fact, the investigation revealed at least three judges in Pennsylvania who gave money to Specter, Santorum or President Bush after they were formally under consideration for the jobs.
As a Judiciary Committee member, Specter also helped oversee the confirmation of Judge Gene Pratter. Pratter gave Specter $1,500 between February and March 2003, and interviewed with the Pennsylvania selection committee in “spring” 2003, according to her Senate questionnaire. Pratter then interviewed with White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez in July and September 2003 — and in September she contributed $2,000 to Bush.
The records of other federal judges appointed by Bush in Pennsylvania reveal a similar pattern. Judge John E. Jones of Pennsylvania gave $1,000 to Santorum after he was recommended by the senators’ committee. Judge Michael Baylson, nominated and confirmed in 2002 after serving for decades as legal counsel and then treasurer for Specter’s campaigns and committees, gave $2,000 to Specter after it was reported in the press that Baylson was a likely candidate for the judgeship.
“If I had known about it,” said Specter, “I would have returned their contributions. I don’t want anybody to think that it’s relevant.” He added, “You ought to look at all the others who were nominees who didn’t make contributions. I don’t think anybody would believe that those contributions would influence a decision on making anyone a judge.”
Over There…
Tony Blair faces the risk of a humiliating Commons defeat today over his refusal to allow a wide-ranging inquiry into the crisis in Iraq. The Tories, Liberal Democrats and as many as 40 Labour rebels are threatening to support a nationalist demand for a parliamentary examination of the war and its aftermath.
The suggestion of any investigation is being fiercely opposed by Downing Street, which argues that it would undermine the British forces and give succour to Iraqi insurgents.
David Cameron turned up the pressure on the Prime Minister by warning that the Tories were ready to vote against the Government unless it bowed to demands for an inquiry.
Alex Salmond, leader of the SNP, said: “If the motion were to be carried, the Prime Minister’s tenure in office would be measured in hours and days … but even if the Government wins it by a narrow margin - which I think is the reality - then he would be in a Neville Chamberlain situation where you win the battle but lose the war.
“This is an opportunity for the House of Commons to bring to account a government which has led us into this bloody quagmire.”
Chertoff Party Hack…
The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 8 percent fewer illegal immigrants last fiscal year than the year before, reversing a two-year increase in the historically volatile benchmark, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced yesterday.Analysts immediately disputed Chertoff’s claim of an unprecedented decline in arrests. Border Patrol apprehensions have risen and fallen like a roller coaster over the years, peaking at almost 1.7 million in 2000 before bottoming out at 932,000 in 2003.
Chertoff denied any political motivation for the early release of the Border Patrol statistics, which are usually reported in January. He said he “owed the public kind of a year-end closeout,” since he made similar reports every few months.
Chertoff cited “a very, very significant increase” and “dramatic” shift in U.S. targeting of employers whose business models are based on the use of illegal labor. The United States brought 716 criminal worksite enforcement arrests and charges in 2006, up from 24 in 1999 and 25 in 2002, Chertoff said.
Another Ahhh-nold…
The district attorney said Monday that authorities have reopened their investigation into a cocktail waitress’ claim that a Republican congressman running for governor assaulted her in a parking garage after a night of drinking.
District Attorney David Roger said the case involving Rep. Jim Gibbons — which had been closed after the woman, Chrissy Mazzeo, dropped her complaint — is under investigation again.
Mazzeo, a Las Vegas Strip casino waitress, accused Gibbons, 61, of pushing her up against a wall Oct. 13 and propositioning her. Mazzeo, 32, said she had been pressured and offered cash from people linked to the Gibbons campaign to drop the complaint.
The five-term congressman, who is in a close race with Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus for Nevada’s open governor’s seat, has denied wrongdoing and sued Monday to force police to release surveillance videos he said would disprove Mazzeo’s claim.
A judge set an emergency hearing for Tuesday.
Mazzeo’s lawyer, Richard Wright, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that his client will press charges after all.
Gibbons, in statements to police and at a news conference with his wife earlier this month, said he walked Mazzeo to the garage, caught her when she tripped and walked away
Police previously said surveillance cameras in the garage weren’t working. A property management company for the garage, however, said it turned hours of tapes over to authorities.
The police department said in a news release Monday that it would not comment until a judge ruled on the matter.
As previously posted, the police have now changed their story three times regarding this case, and the Sherriff has endorsed Gibbons for governor.
Gibbons story has also changed and doesn’t explain why he was outside when he left the bar half an hour before the woman, or why he walked away after she tripped, before she got to her car.
QOTD…
I have, on a few occasions, met people who claim to love ironing. They revel in the satisfaction of an extra-crisp collar or well-pressed sleeve. They contend that the very act of ironing, the repetitive back-and-forth motion, is a kind of meditation. While I do my best in life to be nonjudgmental, I am certain these people are crazy, lying, or both.
10.26.06
Provoking Iran into Attacking Our Navy?
There is a massive concentration of US naval power in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Two US naval strike groups are deployed: USS Enterprise, and USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group. The naval strike groups have been assigned to fighting the “global war on terrorism.”
Concurrent with ths concentration of US Naval power, the US is also involved in military exercises in the Persian Gulf, which consists in “interdicting ships in the Gulf carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles”
The exercise is taking place as the United States and other major powers are considering sanctions including possible interdiction of ships on North Korea, following a reported nuclear test, and on Iran, which has defied a U.N. Security Council mandate to stop enriching uranium.
The exercise, set for Oct. 31, is the 25th to be organized under the U.S.-led 66-member Proliferation Security Initiative and the first to be based in the Gulf near Bahrain, across from Iran, the officials said. A senior U.S. official insisted the exercise is not aimed specifically at Iran, although it reinforces a U.S. strategy aimed at strengthening America’s ties with states in the Gulf, where Tehran and Washington are competing for influence”
Gee, Iran attacks us and we respond with a massive bombing of Iran nuclear facilities a week before an elections?
Too subtle for Rove?
A small freighter explodes near a US destroyer, explosives supplied by the Iranian guv’mint?
David Gregory…Kissin Ass When It Counts…
Tony Snow astutely noted the dramatic difference between NBC News reporter David Gregory’s combative questions in the briefing room and his on-air reports which, Snow said, do “an effective job of laying out our point of view.”
Here’s tough, skeptical David Gregory yesterday at the press conference : “So why shouldn’t the American people conclude that this is nothing from you other than semantic, rhetorical games and all politics two weeks before an election?”
Here’s stenographic NBC Nightly News David Gregory on the air yesterday: “With political pressure over the war bearing down on this White House, the president was somber today as he acknowledged the public anxiety and anger over Iraq. But at the same time, he was also insistent that U.S. losses in Iraq are worth it.”
The only skepticism in his report: a 10-second sound bite from Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.
Bee-otch…
Here I go…On the Road Again…
The moment is at hand for hometown Bob Seger fans: The rocker’s concert plans for metro Detroit are coming Friday, the Free Press has learned.
Seger is expected to release details at 5 p.m. Friday about a December date, his first Detroit area show since playing eight sold-out concerts here on his 1996 tour.
Seger’s new tour, his first in more than a decade, will launch with concerts in Grand Rapids (Nov. 8 and 12) and Saginaw (Nov. 10) before heading across the Midwest for dates through mid-December.
Early ticket sales have been strong across the board, say Seger insiders, who expect sellouts in all 14 cities announced so far. His dates in Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and St. Paul, Minn., are already sold out.
“Face the Promise,” the latest album from the 61-year-old Seger, continues its strong showing in metro Detroit: It was the area’s fourth-best selling record last week, according to Nielsen Soundscan, maintaining the top five perch it has held since release Sept. 12.
Waddya mean “We”, Kemosabe?
Unrelenting daily attacks in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar have made October the deadliest month of the Iraq war for U.S. troops in combat since the all-out American offensives on Fallujah in April and November of 2004, according to U.S. military figures. The military on Thursday reported five more American troops killed, raising the toll for U.S. deaths in hostile action so far this month to 92.
The latest reported deaths — those of four Marines and a sailor — occurred Wednesday in Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold. The increasing death toll in Anbar comes after months in which U.S. and Iraqi commanders had said that sectarian warfare between Sunnis and Shiites was their prime concern and that Baghdad was the focus of their efforts.
It was not clear whether Wednesday’s killings were all in Ramadi, and the military gave no details about how they occurred. Local leaders in Ramadi reported that a series of planted bombs and suicide car bombs had targeted American forces around Anbar on Wednesday.
In 2004, thousands of American troops were involved in two concentrated offensives against Sunni Arab insurgents in Fallujah, and the toll in April of that year also included deaths in heavy fighting against forces of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in southern Iraq. The number of Americans killed in action that month was 126; in November 2004, 125.
Bush says we’re winning…
Of course he thinks evolution is just a “theory”…
10.25.06
Hooked on Stupid To be in Warren Thursday…
On Thursday, President Bush is busy fundraising in the Midwest. First he heads to Des Moines, IA to help out House candidate Jeff Lamberti followed by a fundraiser for Senate candidate Mike Bouchard in Warren, MI. Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) speaks to the Asia Society in New York City. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) celebrates her 59th birthday.
10.24.06
Why We Vote…For Anyone Else…
The top American commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he may call for more troops to be sent to Baghdad, possibly by increasing the overall U.S. presence in Iraq, as rising bloodshed pushes Iraqi and American deaths to some of their highest levels of the war.
The commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., also said he now believed Iraqi forces would be ready to take over security responsibility from the Americans no sooner than late 2007 or early 2008. The announcement of a 12- to 18-month target again pushes back the withdrawal of the bulk of the 145,000 or so U.S. troops in Iraq.
“This is not a country that is awash in sectarian violence,” Casey said. “The situation’s hard, but it’s not a country that’s awash in sectarian violence.”
Casey said later that any additional troops for Baghdad could come from a variety of sources, including from the Iraqi military, from U.S. forces elsewhere in Iraq or from outside the theater.
U.S. commanders moved at least 6,000 more American troops to Baghdad over the summer for Operation Together Forward, an effort to arrest the violence in the capital. To get those extra troops, commanders had to take the unpopular step of extending one unit’s deployment just as it was going home to its base in Alaska, as well as calling in emergency reserves based in Kuwait.
In all, about 15,000 American troops and 9,000 Iraqi soldiers are now deployed in Baghdad for the special security operation.
Despite the concentration of efforts in the capital, violence here has climbed more than 43 percent since midsummer. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top U.S. spokesman in Iraq, said last week that attacks had climbed 22 percent in the first two weeks of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began in late September, compared with the preceding two weeks.
Casey said last year that he hoped for “fairly significant” withdrawals by spring 2006, but he said Tuesday that rising sectarian violence had made such a drawdown impossible.
Sen. Larry Craig is Gay…
I have done extensive research into this case, including trips to the Pacific Northwest to meet with men who have say they have physical relations with the Senator. I have also met with a man here in Washington, D.C., who says the same — and that these incidents occurred in the bathrooms of Union Station. None of these men know each other, or knew that I was talking to others. They all reported similar personal characteristics about the Senator, which lead me to believe, beyond any doubt, that their stories are valid.
He now has a wife, three children and nine grand children. Since 1982? He must have gotten married the next day, kinda strange…