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Saturday, July 14, 2007
To His Coy Candidacy
Posted by on 7.14.07 @ 7:50PM
Had we but world enough, and
time,
This coyness, Thompson, were no crime.
...But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near.
"Democratic aides argue that [Fred] Thompson could be violating campaign finance laws by 'ducking' a full filing," reports Mike Allen in The Politico. Legal or not, the foot-dragging is starting to get a bit unseemly -- not to mention ironic. "In the Senate, Thompson was an advocate of campaign-finance reform, and held four months of hearings on the Democratic campaign finance scandals in 1997," notes Allen.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Romney's 99 Percent Burn Rate
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 5:49PM
A rival campaign points me toward Mitt Romney's second-quarter financial report, which shows a burn rate just shy of 99 percent. Including the $6.5 million he donated to the campaign himself, Romney took in $20,997,715.31 and spent more than $20,739,814.25.
Romney has spent that money building his organization, and by taking out advertisements in early primary states, which have given him leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, and brought more credibility to his campaign. But can he maintain this pace given that his fundrasing totals declined from the first quarter to the second quarter? Or will he have to kick in more and more of his own money?
More McCain Highlights
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 5:47PM
Self-Parody Alert
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 5:20PM
One might think that serious Democratic contenders would have a rich enough rhetorical repertory that they needn't resort to echoing Kanye West. One would be wrong. The subject line of Joe Trippi's latest fundraising email on behalf of the Edwards campaign is "George Bush doesn't care about poor people."
(Won't someone please think of the midgets?)
Re: McCain's Responsibility
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 5:01PM
The other day our friend Sean Higgins (an occasional AmSpec contributor) reminded Investors Business Daily readers that McCain didn't run such a great campaign in 2000, either.
Re: One America for Serious Candidates...
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 4:53PM
I'd say that the caught-on-tape Edwards-Clinton exchange is a classic Kinsley gaffe -- the phenomenon (famously identified by Michael Kinsley) wherein a politician accidentally speaks the truth. Of course the top tier candidates agree that the debates would be more illuminating if the also-rans weren't crowding the stage. And they're right! It's just impolite to say it.
"Key Republican Senators"
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 4:46PM
What makes a senator "key?" I ponder it in my Brainwash column today. Plus: Prostitutes and killer Nobel Peace Prize laureates!
"Go ahead, guy. Take me on."
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 4:24PM
Dr. Marlo Lewis's recent AmSpec column on climate change has drawn an absolutely unbelievable silly-yet-threatening response from Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council On Renewable Energy. Go here now to read it.
McCain Says His Campaign Has Debt
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 2:21PM
John McCain just confirmed reports that his campaign has debt. He said he couldn't say how much it was, and that we'd have to wait until his second quater filing with the FEC over the weekend to find out.
McCain: 'I'm responsible'
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 2:12PM
John McCain in a blogger conference call just acknowledged the problems his campaign was facing. "The responsibility is mine and mine alone." He said he was sorry to have to part company with his close aids (presumably Weaver and Nelson), and they would remain friends.
Re: Thompson and Lobbying
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 11:18AM
After reviewing my emails with Thompson's spokesman, his missive through Campaign Spot, and the last round of commentary on this issue I think much is still unclear. If Thompson did call Sununu and talk about their respective recollections(as Thompson told Sean Hannity earlier this week) was this appropriate and wise? Has Thompson's initial denial about representing this group and lobbying the White House in fact been revoked? ( I think so, but he hasn't quite said so.) I concur entirely with Phil that the substance of this story stemming from his alleged lobbying actions 16 years ago is less important than the way in which he and his campaign have dealt with this. One of the risks in delaying his official announcement is that the "gap" in news gets filled with stories like these and then, if not properly responded to, the inevitable critiquing of how he handled it.
One America for Serious Candidates...
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 11:03AM
John Edwards is apparently ready to ship Dennis Kucinich off to the Other America.
Thompson and Lobbying
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 10:46AM
Not to focus too much on Fred today, but just to play catch up
on a story that we've been following on this blog, Jim Geraghty quotes a "friend of
Fred Thompson" who responded to a Jennifer Rubin item I posted earlier this week in which
she reported that Thompson's spokesman Mark Corallo contradicted
his own candidate over whether Thompson called John Sununu to
compare recollections about whether he lobbied for an abortion
rights group:
Regarding Jennifer Rubin's accusation that the Thompson team had "contradicted" Fred Thompson, I'm afraid that was a misunderstanding. Rubin apparently thought she was asking whether Thompson had called Sununu at all. Corallo thought she was asking whether they'd spoken to coordinate their stories. Obviously, Thompson had called Sununu, and we'd already said that.
Meanwhile, the Politico's Mike Allen reports Thompson "is backing off his flat denial that he once lobbied for an abortion-rights group. He now says he doesn't remember it, but does not dispute evidence to the contrary." As I wrote initially, I found his denial fishy. In my view, the idea that he may have lobbied for an abortion rights group 16 years ago should not disqualify him from the nomination, nor do I even think it's that big of a deal. However, I think the Thompson camp would have been much better off initially by avoiding a flat out denial, or by using the defense that as a lawyer/lobbyist he represented all sorts of clients and that shouldn't be a political issue. But I think he extended the life of the story by intitialy attacking it as a left wing smear job that was totally bogus, considering that the story is likely true.We weren't denying something we'd already confirmed…it was just a case of distinctions being lost in the text translation.
UPDATE: Jim Geraghty agrees that Thompson should not be associating himself with these kind of attacks.
Peggy Noonan Would Like to Fire George Bush
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 10:43AM
Peggy Noonan, in her own chatty style today, comments on the Bush press conference yesterday. She is sympathetic with viewers, even devoted Republicans, who would like to "fire" Bush. As Wlady and Quin discussed yesterday, Bush has now so depleted his political capital and effectiveness that even solid performances no longer resonate with the GOP base, let alone the public. At times it does seem like those delightful Charlie Brown TV cartoons when you hear "squawk!" "squawk!" whenever the grown-ups speak. Whether others --be it John McCain or Joe Lieberman or General Petraeus-- can step into the role and make the case to the Congress and public is questionable. Surely this is Example 999 of why it is critical to find a presidential candidate for 2008 who can articulate a message, sell the public and inhabit the role of Persuader in Chief.
Fred and the Firefighters
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 10:04AM
Yesterday, Fred Thompson met with, and courted, the head of the firefighters' union that just went after Giuliani in a 13-minute video. It struck me as a cheap stunt to add legitimacy to a hatchet-job that that even the NY Times called "factually questionable." But my disappointment with Thompson over this is deeper. In my view, one of the things that conservatives have had to fight for nearly six years now is this conspiracy mindset, this Michael Moore world in which Bush went to war in Iraq to give no bid contracts to Halliburton. The firefighter video makes some similarly outrageous claims--including that Giuliani only cared about removing gold from the World Trade Center site, not dead bodies. Again, none other than the NY Times called that "an accusation widely dismissed by people who closely monitored the cleanup." I have a problem with Thompson legitimizing this to score some political points.
It should be noted, though it should not be a secret to any regular reader of this blog, that I am a supporter of Rudy Giuliani. I was inspired by his leadership while living in New York City both before, during, and after 9/11, so the idea that his 9/11 image was all an "urban legend"--as the firefighters' union claims--doesn't sit well with me. So, I'd like to hear from other people who aren't as sympathetic to Rudy. Am I making too much of this? Is it a cheap stunt by Thompson? Or just smart politics by trying to undercut his chief rival's greatest strength?
UPDATE: Jim Geraghty agrees that Thompson should not be associating with these type of attacks, and concludes, "Bad move and bad timing on Thompson's part."
Meanwhile, in comments, somebody who describes himself as a
"Giuliani fan" believes Fred's move was okay, and some Fred fans
come to their candidate's defense.
Hillary And Big Business Not Like Oil And Water
Posted by on 7.13.07 @ 8:50AM
Over at the Examiner, Tim Carney looks at how Hillary Clinton campaign manager Mark Penn's business interests comport nicely with legislation supported by the Senator from New York:
Bloomberg News acquired and reported on some of Penn's in-house messages at Burson-Marsteller, which suggest that Penn, despite his denials, is also actively working with Royal Dutch Shell, an oil company. While Clinton has had little good to say about oil and the industry's "windfall profits," many of her "clean-energy" proposals would profit Penn's client.For at least a decade, Shell has been investing hundreds of millions of dollars in "renewable fuels" such as solar energy and biomass, and the company supported the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Through investments in currently uneconomical technologies, Shell could reap big profits if government action mandates or subsidizes these technologies. Sure enough, Hillary has sponsored or co-sponsored many bills pushing subsidies for renewable fuels such as those owned by Shell.
Read it all.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Snow Promises What I Suggested
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 3:20PM
From a blogger's call with Tony Snow today, courtesy of Jim Geraghty at NRO: "So far we have had very few visuals to confirm what Americans want to believe. We have an amazing and heroic American military... The only way to change public opinion [on Iraq] is to present a fuller, more nuanced and more accurate picture." ..Snow says he's going to put up slides, video, and audio on new screens behind him during the daily press briefing."
That's good news. Of course, I must note this passage from my column yesterday: Somehow, some way, create a new narrative. Pull in outside communications advisors, perhaps, and figure out a way to tell the stories of this war's heroes -- its Audie Murphys, its Sergeant Yorks, its Andrew Jacksons or (to bolster the idea that we still do have allies) even its Lafayettes. Trumpet the successes in Iraq -- the hospitals built, the schools opened, the new businesses started -- and explain how we Americans might benefit from a friendly and more prosperous Iraq. (It's also a good idea always to provide photos and footage of us doing good over there. This helps balance the ugly images that normally emerge from Iraq.)
Re: Bush Tries So Hard
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 3:05PM
Wlady and Quin, it's worse. There is a nasty rumor sweeping the officer corps that the Army will end up being blamed for Iraq, and Bush is doing nothing to dispel that. And did you see John Derbyshire's observation that he thought Bush was perfectly intelligent, but he saw no evidence that Bush actually does think -- because he has never had to.
Wlady is Correct
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:57PM
Wlady -- I agree entirely with you. As a matter of fact, if I HAD "nitpicked" (which I said I wouldn't do), the exact part of the press conference I would have criticized most strongly is the one you highlighted, namely the answer about Tommy Franks. When the question was asked, I started talking out loud to my TV set, saying, "PLEASE answer this right, please do it right, please..."-- and then found myself getting angry when he again refused to acknowledge that no matter where the advice came from about troop levels, the advice was wrong, wrong, wrong, dead freaking WRONG. He would gain so much politically if he would ever, directly and unambiguously, admit that he personally has made an error in decisionmaking, and that he has LEARNED from it. The extreme lack of confidence so many people have (concerning Bush and his judgment and competence) stems in large part from the sense that he never learns, never adjusts (or unless not until WAY too late), never even admits to himself that he can possibly be or have been wrong, and therefore doesn't ever IMPROVE on bad performance. It drives me nuts. One letter writer today said Bush's mind seems "hermetically sealed," and her impression is definitely understandable.
That said, I repeat that the man's overall goals in Iraq are right and just, indeed profoundly moral; and that his insistence on victory there is wise and very much in the interests both of the United States and of world peace and justice. I also believe that other government officials have the responsibility to stand firm behind the president's aims rather than slinking off like cowards at the first sign of political trouble... and that the American people need to grow up a little, learn a little history, and realize that war isn't easy, that this war has been comparatively light in terms of casualties (although every casualty is a tragedy), and that there are things a lot worse than just wars are -- that wars fought on behalf of freedom and human rights, and the honorable rule of law, can be well worth fighting, and that they can save millions and millions of lives at the cost of the lives (or limbs) of a few thousand brave heroes. Bush understands these things, and deserves credit for it.
McCain's Economic Policy Team
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:54PM
The McCain campaign continues, and today it has rolled out its economic policy team. Gerry Parsky, a partner with California-based Aurora Capital Group, will serve as senior economic advisor. The team includes Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and Phil Graham.
Re: Bush Tries So Hard
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:53PM
Wlady, I fear the little plaque on the President's desk in fact reads
THE BUCK STARTS HERE
Murder by Hugs
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:51PM
"Right now, I could kill George Bush," she said at the Adam's Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. "No, I don't mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that." [...] [Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty] Williams started her speech by asking every member of the audience to hug everyone around them. -- Dallas Morning News
The question answers itself, no?
Re: Bush Tries So Hard
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:30PM
But sometimes, Quin, I think he doesn't try hard enough. His press conference this morning had its high points, but some not so high. I was struck by his reluctance, as America's leader, to accept full responsibility for Iraq policy. Instead, he seems to hide behind his commanders, as in these remarks:
"I have an obligation, a sincere and serious obligation, to hear out my commander on the ground. And I will take his recommendation."
"I'm going to wait for David to come back -- David Petraeus to come back and give us the report on what he sees."
When later asked about if more troops should have been used from the outset, he commented:
"I mean, one of the questions is, should we have sent more in the beginning? Well, I asked that question, do you need more, to General Tommy Franks....My primary question to General Franks was, do you have what it takes to succeed? And do you have what it takes to succeed after you succeed in removing Saddam Hussein? And his answer was, yes."
In the case of Petraeus, he gives the impression that he's expecting the general to be his miracle worker or at least someone who'll buy him some time. In the case of Franks, the president clearly implied that if anyone should be blamed it's Franks and not he. Bush himself is now said to welcome being compared to Harry Truman, whom history has treated much better than his contemporaries did. If so, when do we see the Bush version of the buck stops here?
Government Must Continue
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 2:29PM
Norm Ornstein has a crucially important column in today's Washington Post about the failure of Congress to provide for continuity of the federal government in case of nuclear strike or other catastrophe that kills large numbers of government employees. It is a must read. Ornstein is right on target. The fact is that the Constitution has a hole in it in this regard. Congress, led (or not led, as the case may be) by the execrable Dennis Hastert during the time when Ornstein first issued his report, was then and continues to be wholly irresponsible on this matter. Do read the column. And do wonder why our legislators are so unable to do serious work in a serious manner. I've written on this many times in the past, and it's not too difficult a subject to understand or handle. Congress should first be ashamed at its failure so far, and then it should dust off the Ornstein commission's recommendations and get to work at implementing them.
Mitt Romney Flip Flop Narrative
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 12:48PM
For a while now, I've argued that regardless of whether or not conservatives come to terms with Mitt Romney's flip flopping because he is currently pandering to them, his record of shifting positions will be devastating in a general election, just as it was for John Kerry. This ESPN clip shows that the Romney flip-flopper narrative has already made it into popular culture.
Via Jonathan Martin.
Bush Tries So Hard
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 11:43AM
Bush's press conference just ended. Lord knows I have criticized his effectiveness at communicating. But what I don't get is how ANYbody with any rationality or any discernment can watch Bush talking about Iraq and come away believing anything OTHER than that this is a very sincere man, very principled, making what he truly thinks are the best decisions for the national interest, and the best from an idealistic standpoint. Sure, others may argue about his judgment, about his choice of ideals in the first place, or about his competence in trying to put those ideals into effect. But to accuse him of nefarious motives, of hidden agendas, is outrageous.
In this blog post, this time, I'll leave aside the nitpicking about his verbal delivery, and leave aside the rehashing of earlier decisions, and instead concentrate on the overall message. The message is A) that we must win in Iraq because failure there would be catastrophic for the US national interest AND a humanitarian catastrophe; and B) that we CAN win in Iraq because we already are seeing success in formerly bleak Anbar Province and because Petraeus is a talented and wise general, etc.
Ronald Reagan's "strategy" for dealing with the Soviets should be applicable to the battle against Islamic terrorists, especially in Iraq: "We win. They lose." It IS still eminently achievable, if only we show the political will to do so. Let's stop carping and, on this central issue of our time, start rallying in support of the cause of victory in iraq.
Re: Clandestine About Climate
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 11:16AM
I outlined in my Washington Times piece how the alarmist-funded Center for Climate Strategies prods states to adopt global warming policy development, and then presses the governors to issue executive orders to do just that. And later on in the article I note how Florida is one of their current targets.
Well, sho' nuf, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has just drafted a batch of those directives. CCS is not above targeting GOP administrations, either, as South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is on board as well, as is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
For more background on CCS, a series of investigative reports I've done are posted at the Web site of my employer, the John Locke Foundation, as is another commentary by my colleague, Roy Cordato.
How Green Was My Candidate
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 10:50AM
MoveOn.org has anointed John Edwards the "greenest" of the presidential candidates, and will run newspaper ads for him in Iowa and New Hampshire because of his new status.
As he has with his anti-poverty posture, he sure has proven his eco-credentials in his personal life. Just imagine how big the clear-cutting swath for his home could have been!
Clandestine About Climate
Posted by on 7.12.07 @ 7:38AM
The environmentalists have circumvented the Bush Administration on global warming policy and have enacted a state-by-state effort to implement their lifestyle control ideas like smart growth. Today, in The Washington Times, I explain how the nonprofit Center for Climate Strategies is using liberal foundation money to influence policy in several states, way below the radar.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Firefighters Against Rudy
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 6:27PM
The International Association of Fire Fighters has released a 13 minute web video, available here attempting to tear down what they view as an "urban ledgend" of Giuliani's leadership on 9/11. The main criticisms are that he failed to provide firefighters with working radios that could have saved lives before the towers collapsed, that he located an emergency command center in the 7 World Trade Center building even though the WTC complex had been attacked in 1993, and that he didn't allow firefighters enough time to search for dead bodies.
The Giuliani campaign has fired back with two press releases, one touting his support for firefighters as mayor, and another attacking the IAFF as a partisan Democratic union.
Also, here was what Giuliani had to say to Chris Wallace in May about the location of the emergency command center:
WALLACE: Nine-eleven. No one questions your courage or your leadership in the days after 9/11, but one question has come up that I'm very curious about. You put the emergency response command center in the
in 1997, even though your director of emergency management suggested — recommended that you not put it there because it had been a target in 1993. Why'd you do that? World Trade Center GIULIANI: My director of emergency management recommended 7 World Trade Center, and that was...
WALLACE: I have got a copy right here of Jerry Hauer's directive to you. And there were meetings in which Jerry Hauer said that it's a bad idea. And the police chief, Howard Safir, said it was a bad idea.
GIULIANI: Jerry Hauer recommended that as the prime site and the site that would make the most sense, and he recommended it because...
WALLACE: Then why did he say the building — he said it's not — the place in Brooklyn is not as visible a target as buildings in
Lower Manhattan .GIULIANI: He recommended that site as the site that would be the best site. It was largely on his recommendation that that site was selected.
And the reason that that site made sense was it was also the location of the customs service, the Secret Service and a number of the federal agencies, some of which I'm not even sure I can mention at this date, that we had to be in contact with.
And we also had backup centers at the police department. In
Brooklyn , we had another backup center, and we had a virtual command center. So when that command center was inoperable, within a half hour of September 11 we were able to move — or within a half hour on September 11 we were able to move immediately to another command center.So the way you're interpreting it, it was as if that was the one fixed command center. It was not. There were backup command centers, and it was a virtual command center, and it was selected because that's where all the federal agencies were that we would have to be in contact with, including some that would give you the intelligence that you needed during an attack.
More to come, I'm sure.
UPDATE: The Giuliani campaign has passed along this clip of Jerry Hauer, Rudy's director of emergency management, saying he "absolutely" was in favor of the location of the emergency command center, along with another clip of Pete Gorman, a former IAFF chapter president who is featured in the anti-Rudy video, acknowledging that the video was a "political message." In addition, the campaign has put out a more detailed response to specific criticisms made in the video.
Examiner Supports Iraq Effort
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 6:01PM
For an excellent and concise argument for staying the course (and continuing the surge) in Iraq, see today's Washington Examiner. I'll go even farther: Any senator who calls for an early pullout before giving Petraeus time to make his September report is a rank coward and a disgrace.
Deficit Matters
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 5:43PM
President Bush today was celebrating news that the FY 2007 budget deficit will shrink to $205 billion, which is lower than projected, and slighly less than half of what it was in 2004. A slide presentation from the Office of Management and Budget's mid-year review is available here. It is important to note what this tells us and doesn't tell us about the nations' fiscal health.
The numbers once again reinforce supply side theory, because tax receipts have continued to rise with the growing economy that has experienced steady growth as a result of the Bush tax cuts However, it is important to note that a shrinking deficit does not necessarily mean that the size of government is shrinking--as long as spending is increasing along with tax recipts.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the annual deficits mean very little in the context of the looming entitlement crisis, which could mean long-term deficits somewhere in the neighborhood of $59 trillion, by one recent estimate.
So yes, it's better that the deficit is narrowing rather than growing, but it's important to put the number in a broader context.
Save Southwick!
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 12:48PM
PLEASE, PLEASE read these excellent blog posts by Ed Whelan at NRO's Bench Memos. They make a supremely strong case that 5th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Leslie Southwick is being terribly mistreated by Senate Democrats, and that the right should rally around his cause--not least of which because not only is Southwick wonderfully qualified, but because he is a true hero, and this is a fight that, on PR grounds, we can win overwhelmingly if we will only wage it. (Cross posted at Confirm Them.)
Thompson and Sununu
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 10:46AM
Jennifer Rubin emails in that she believes Fred Thompson's spokesman Mark Corallo has contradicted his own candidate:
Audio of Thompson's appearance on Hannity here (the relevant part begins around the 3 minute mark). Worth listening to if nothing else to experience Hannity's hard-hitting question. I must say that regardless of the merits of the Times story, judging from the reaction of the crowd, it sounds like Thompson's spin that the liberal media is attacking him because "they know who to be afraid of" has been pretty effective.
Shakespeare and McCain
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 10:21AM
From Henry IV, Part 1 Act 1, Scene 2:
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
Mr. Paul's Shrimp Spending
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 9:15AM
The Washington Times reports today that Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, Republican from Texas, has risen from the level of "who's that" to "sleeper." The Times reports:
As we've learned in recent days, there are a few exceptions to Rep. Paul's principles on government spending. Clearly the missis is happy to have the good doctor working in Congress on her behalf.
For Your Own Good
Posted by on 7.11.07 @ 4:35AM
Dick's Drive-In is a Seattle institution -- "the place where the cool hang out," according to Sir Mix-a-Lot. Now the busybodies are threatening to ruin its fries:
Over the past four months, cooks have conducted side-by-side tastings of potatoes fried in Primex - the oil that has created the crispy magic since Dick's opened in 1954 - vs. nontrans-fat oils.If Seattle is intent on bulldozing its local culture in the name of public health, the obvious next step is to require that all coffee be served black (cream and sugar are fattening, you know). And then there's that dangerous sharp object that dominates the skyline...It's a risky enterprise for a reputation built on flavors that never change.
"Our goal is to remain the same so our customers will have the same experience they had in '54, '64 or '74," said Ken Frazier, general manager for the five Dick's Drive-Ins. "Consistency is an absolute for us."
He has not found an acceptable alternative. Soon he may have to.
To reduce the risk of heart disease, the King County Board of Health is expected to vote July 19 on whether to require all restaurants and food services to stop using trans fats. Primex is a trans fat.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Re: The Mayer of Stoopid
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 6:38PM
More John Mayer: "If you're hoping Live Earth doesn't work, you have a lot of soul-searching to do."
Actually, my support for Live Earth is entirely contingent on whether rising sea levels will stop this half-hearted Eric Clapton wannabe hack from churning out indifference anthems and making sensitive college freshmen swoon even though his own tastes run more to the Jessica Simpson end of the spectrum. If rising sea levels won't do that, then, sure, sign me up.
Taking Mayer's advice, I just searched the deepest, darkest recesses of my soul. When I came up against a wall I lit a match and all I could see was a wall full of scandalously vandalized I Hate John Mayer posters. Search complete. What's up next, boss?
LA Times Responds To Fred Story
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 6:28PM
I emailed Michael Finnegan, the reporter on the Thompson LA Times story, asking him to respond to the main remaining criticism of the article in my mind: why did the Times alter, without correction, its original version of the story to delete a reference to Thompson re-enacting a cowboy death scene at a supposed meeting with an abortion rights group?
Finnegan's explanation seems reasonable to me, but I'll post his response and let everybody judge for themselves:
The Thompson article was first posted on the LA Times website on Friday afternoon. It was replaced Saturday morning by the version that was published in the newspaper. The Times often reworks stories between the time of their initial posting on the web and their final publication in the newspaper. The print version is the one that we keep posted on the website. In this case, deletion of the movie reference was one of many final editing changes. Based on DeSarno's account, the scene that she said Thompson reenacted appears to be from "Keep the Change," a TNT television western that would have been in production around the time of the lunch and dinner that she described.
As far as I'm concerned, while I'd still like to see a "smoking gun" in the form of billing records, none of the criticisms of the Times story have held up to close scrutiny.
More on "Keep The Change" here.
Kelly Jane Torrance...
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 6:24PM
...on Philip K. Dick. Perfect per usual:
Some may complain that a genre writer has beaten Hemingway and Upton Sinclair into the Library of America. But these four novels--The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik--are not simply outstanding examples of their form. With their haunting evocations of alienation, thoughtful meditations on reality and religion, and vivid prose style, they are among the best American novels written in the last century.
The sci-fi genre, in fact, was just a colorful trapping Dick used to frame his tales of ordinary people caught up in situations they can barely understand, let alone control. As one character in The Man in the High Castle says of that book's novel within a novel, "He told us about our world.... He wants us to see it for what it is."
Thompson and Cowboy-Gate
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 4:39PM
From comments:
The eye witness in the LAT article that was purportedly shot down by a non-existent Cowboy scene…. what about "Keep the Change" which was Released in 1992. It was a Western with William Peresen and Jack Palance wherein Fred played a character named Otis. I am not sure that Otis was killed in either the final version or in any shot version (I have not seen it). However, I do know that films are usually release about a year after they are shot, and if this was released in 1992, this Western was probably shot in 1991 and was presumably very fresh in Fred's mind when he was lobbying that same year.
A good point. If anybody out there is familiar with this obscure Jack Palance TV movie, let me know. However, even if it turns out to be true, it still doesn't explain why the LA Times altered the story without noting it.
McCain at His Finest
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 4:34PM
Unfortunately for John McCain, all the news about his campaign shake-up has overshadowed his stirring presentation before the U.S. Senate today in which he argued against retreating in Iraq. His remarks included a firm rebuke of Barbara Boxer, who suggested McCain pay more attention to polls showing Americans favor a retreat:
MCCAIN: The fact is, I do read the polls. And if the Senator from California had paid attention to my opening statement she would have known that I made it clear that I understand the frustration and the sorrow of the American people.
I also know that a lot of us are not driven by polls. A lot of us are driven by principle. And a lot of us do what we think is right no matter what the polls say.
Video over at the Corner.
All those conservatives who still support the surge strategy in Iraq, especially those who were critical of McCain for holding his ground on immigration, should give McCain a collective pat on the back for standing up for his beliefs at a time when other Republican Senators are doing the politically expedient thing.
Most of my criticisms of McCain have arisen from the fact that I don't believe he'd make the best president in the field of options open to us, and as an observer, I think he's been running a lousy campaign. With that said, and for all of his faults, McCain still is an American hero and a man of tremendous personal and political courage who deserves all of our respect.
Big News in Boston Talk Radio
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 4:03PM
From a Free Republic post, via Boston Herald. Howie Carr has been on WRKO for more than 20 years.
Sources: Howie Carr
jumps to rival WTKK
Boston Herald ^ | 7/09/07 | Jessica
Heslam
Posted on 07/09/2007 12:00:22 PM PDT by
SteveBosell
In a bombshell development, WRKO-AM radio host Howie Carr is jumping ship to rival station WTKK-FM, where he'll take over the prized morning-drive slot, sources tell the Herald. Carr, whose contract with WRKO-AM (680) expires in September, will host WTKK's morning drive show solo and replaces shamed syndicated talk jock Don Imus, who lost his national show after the "nappy-headed hos" scandal. Carr inked a multi-year deal with WTKK (96.9), sources said. Carr could not be reached for comment and is vacationing in Florida. His move to WTKK pits him against disgraced, ex-House Speaker Tom Finneran, Carr's longtime nemesis. Finneran's morning-drive show on WRKO has bombed since he got behind the mic earlier this year. WRKO was banking on the former speaker to boost their dismal morning ratings. Carr informed WRKO of his decision to leave today, sources said. A Boston Herald columnist, Carr is WRKO's marquee talent and is their highest-rated radio host by far. He has been with the AM station for 20 years and has had his afternoon-drive show since 1994. After Imus was canned in April, former Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle replaced him on WTKK but left the station altogether last month after failing to strike a deal with WTKK. With his jump to FM, Carr escapes WRKO AM's weaker signal and AM radio's dwindling, younger audience.
Rick Davis to To Become McCain Campaign Manager
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 4:00PM
As expected:
ARLINGTON, VA - John McCain's campaign today announced that Rick Davis will serve as campaign manager, having previously served as the campaign's chief executive officer. Davis was the campaign manager for Senator McCain's 2000 campaign. Rick Davis issued the following statement:
"This campaign has always been about John McCain and his vision for reducing federal spending, defending traditional values, and winning the war against Islamic extremists. Today we are moving forward with John's optimistic vision for our country's future."
Creative Careers For Your Liberal Arts Degree
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 2:16PM
Robert Stacy McCain has a fun bit/round-up on the Vitter mess, that ends:
But James makes an interesting point about the D.C. Madam, namely that her escorts were college-educated. Liberal arts majors, probably. Wonder if they reported their careers in the alumni newsletter?
Probably not, but maybe now they will!
More McCain Resignations
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 2:09PM
Reed Galen, the deputy campaign manager, and Rob Jesmer, the political director, have joined the list of those quiting the campaign, Johnathan Martin reports. The fact that these top resignations have been made public without the campaign immediately announcing a clear succession plan, suggests to me that that they were not planned by the campaign, but happened suddenly. The campaign had better announce a clear plan of who is in charge (indications are it'll be Rick Davis), and soon, because the longer there are reports of a mass exodus among McCain staffers without an indication that this is all part of a larger plan, it will look less like a mid-campaign shakeup, and more like the end of the road.
Rudy's Foreign Policy Gurus
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 1:43PM
It's turning into a busy news day. The Giuliani campaign announced today that Charles Hill, former aide to George P. Shultz when he was Reagan's secretary of state, and a lecturer in the International Security Studies program at Yale University, will serve as chairman of the campaign's foreign policy advisory board and chief foreign policy advisor.
Also:
Senior foreign policy team members include Norman Podhoretz and Senator Bob Kasten. Other team members include Steve Rosen, Senior Defense Advisor; Martin Kramer, Senior Middle East Advisor; S. Enders Wimbush, Senior Public Diplomacy Advisor; Peter Berkowitz, Senior Statecraft, Human Rights and Freedom Advisor; and Kim R. Holmes, a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor.
McCain's Troubles
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 12:31PM
On the bright side, McCain's election to the presidency does remain slightly more likely David Vitter's.
McCain's Campaign Manager, Strategist, Resign
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 11:32AM
Hot off the presses:
"As of today, I have resigned my position as chief strategist to
John McCain's presidential campaign. It has been my honor and a
distinct privilege to serve someone who has always put our country
first. I believe that most Americans will come to the conclusion
that I have long known there is only one person equipped to serve
as our nation's chief executive and deal with the challenges we
face, and that person is John McCain." - John Weaver, Chief
Strategist
Is this the beginning of the end?
UPDATE: Or, perhaps, the end of the beginning:
ARLINGTON, VA - U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement today:
"Today, John Weaver and Terry Nelson offered their resignations from my presidential campaign, which I accepted with regret and deep gratitude for their dedication, hard work and friendship. Terry is a consummate professional, who has ably lead this campaign through a challenging political environment. John Weaver has been my friend and trusted counselor for many years and to whom I am greatly indebted. In the days and weeks ahead this campaign will move forward, and I will continue to address the issues of greatest concern to the American people, laying out my vision for a secure and prosperous America."
Thompson "Of Counsel" at Firm in May '91: Letter
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 11:27AM
I have just obtained, from another campaign, a letter from Fred Thompson in which he writes that he was "of counsel" at Arent Fox since May 1991, providing further evidence that the timeline of the LA Times story about his lobby work for an abortion rights group is consistent with Thompson's employment at the firm.
The letter is dated September 3, 1993, and is addressed to Phil Williams of Channel 2. The relevant portion reads, "I have been 'of counsel' at Arent Fox since May of 1991."
Thompson goes on to describe that he has only lobbied for a foreign government once, on behalf of Jean Bertrand Aristide, calling the White House "sometime in 1991" at the request of Arent Fox partner Michael Barnes.
So, assuming this document is accurate, Thompson was working with Barnes (who was quoted in the Times story) and contacting the White House on behalf of clients at the time at the LA Times said his abortion rights lobbying work took place. Again, this doesn't explain some of the other problems with the Times story.
I am working on posting a copy of the letter.
Involuntary and Unilateral
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 11:02AM
I'm not sure if Tabin has plugged his most recent Brainwash column here yet, but it' real good and has this great little jab at McCain:
The McCain campaign, meanwhile, has only $2 million on hand and is shedding staff and cutting salaries. McCain continues to make progress -- albeit involuntary and unilateral progress -- toward his dream of getting money out of politics.
Viguerie Unloads on Fred Thompson
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 10:42AM
Obviously, everything Richard Viguerie writes should be taken with a grain of salt, given that he has made a career out of being the conservative who attacks Republicans for being insufficiently conservative--just look at his attacks on Reagan during the 1980s.
With that disclaimer, I'll note that Vigeurie has just issued an assault on Thompson's conservative bona fides:
The Mayer of Stoopid
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 10:30AM
"Awareness works likes a vitamin. You go to the bathroom and 99 percent of it is gone but you hope that you retained 1 percent," added John Mayer.
Don't be fooled, Shawn. Only if we're all as stupid as Mayer -- or if our short term memories are as damaged as his -- do we need, every time the sun comes up, to have our awareness raised again. Awareness works like a vitamin, like an antidepressant pill, like an anti-hair loss treatment. You have to keep taking it...for the rest of your life...or it's all a waste. Tomorrow Darfur will mean nothing to you unless reminded. Next time you sit down to breakfast you will find yourself instead reverting to sexual practices more common before the arrival of AIDS. You will, in only a matter of hours, stand gazing upward in rapt appreciation at the towering blaze of unrecycled old tires and jarred cow farts that you thought it'd be fun to unleash on the ozone layer.
Take your medicine! Know your doses! Without daily awareness treatment, we could set the clock back on human evolution fifty years!
Trouble for Rudy's Southern Friend
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 10:23AM
One of Giuliani's strongest conservative southern endorsers--U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana--has a problem.
United Nations Smackdown?
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 9:48AM
Mark Goldberg of UN Dispatch, who I noted in yesterday's column as a Megadeth critic, has emailed to direct me to his fuller critique, "Critic Watch: Megadeth Smackdown Edition."
Booze Cool
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 9:23AM
The Megadeth bit--probably the only piece yesterday to be featured on both Lucianne and Blabbermouth--went over better than expected with AmSpec readers, but angered some heavy metallers. Here is one of dozens of responses:
WHAT THA HELL!!!!
RUST IN PEACE COOL
MICHAEL MOORE "SICKO" COOL
BOOZE COOL
ATHEISTS & AGNOSTICS COOL
RELIGIONS SUCKS
BUSH SUCKS
UNITED ABOMINATIONS SUCKS
REPUBLICANS SUCKS
BASH ON UNITED NATIONS??? DOESNT MAKE SENSE F@#%G TURD
Oh yeah, and:
Don't let the hair fool you? Fool them into thinking what - that you have a Ph.D in political studies, or that you recorded every album high on a different drug?
Media Changes, Bartlett Quits
Posted by on 7.10.07 @ 9:06AM
The way newspapers are handling the craft of commentary today (with many of them carrying the same few columnists from The Washington Post and New York Times), and the growth of blogging and the Web, have led Bruce Bartlett to give up his weekly column. He says he's going to focus on books instead.
Probably a wise decision -- undoubtedly the product of strong economic analysis of the situation. Newspapers ought to similarly consider dramatic changes.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Live Earth Newsflash: RFK is Crazy...
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 11:21PM
...and John Mayer is stupid.
"Get rid of all these rotten politicians that we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies. This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors," said RFK, Jr.
"Awareness works likes a vitamin. You go to the bathroom and 99 percent of it is gone but you hope that you retained 1 percent," added John Mayer.
Maybe we should add No More Restroom Breaks to the Seven Point Pledge. Plant More Trees can probably be scuttled in the interest of 100 percent awareness, no?
Fascist Cop Alert
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 10:23PM
A 70-year-old Orem, Utah pensioner was arrested last week for failing to keep her lawn lushly moistened. Police allegedy cracked Betty Perry on the schnozz with a pair of handcuffs when she balked at giving her name. The septuagenarian desperado spent an hour in the city hoosegow. Orem police are currently looking for Mrs. Perry on a related charge: possession of a tattered terrycloth robe.
More Thompson vs. LA Times
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 5:21PM
In my post below, I mentioned that if a "smoking gun" document appears linking Fred Thompson to lobbying work for the abortion rights group (such as billing records), it could raise honesty questions about Thompson given that his campaign has steadfastly denied it. The flip side, of course, is that the story could be proven completely bogus, in which case it would be a huge coup for Thompson by rallying conservatives on his behalf against the mainstream media.
Captain's Quarters has led the charge in trying to debunk the story. Ed points out that Thompson wasn't registered as a foreign lobbyist with his firm until October 1991, which was a month after the meeting minutes in the LA Times story, which as I noted represented a bit of documentary evidence that contradicts Thompson's account. Is this significant, or is it possible that there was a lag time between when he began to do domestic lobbying and when he was registered as a foreign lobbyist?
Jim Geraghty, meanwhile, points out that the LA Times story has been altered without any explanation to remove a reference to a 1991 meeting in which Judith DeSarno, the head of the abortion rights group in question and Thompson's primary accuser, recalled that "Thompson re-enacted a cowboy death scene from one of his movies." He hadn't been in a cowboy movie by 1991. That is pretty damaging to the credibility of the Times story.
It's pretty clear that somebody is not telling the truth here, and now the onus is on the Times to provide harder evidence.
UPDATE: It appears that Fred Thompson actually joined Arent Fox as of April 1991. An April 17, 1991 Washington Post story, accessed via Nexis, begins:
Fred Thompson, the former minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, who in recent years has become a familiar face on the big screen in some blockbuster movies, is making a more permanent connection here. The Tennessee lawyer, who headed his own firm in Nashville and came here on an infrequent basis, has joined Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, the Washington firm with which his close friend John Culver, the former senator, is also affiliated.
So, this means that Thompson was at the firm in Sept. 1991 and could have theoretically lobbyied for the abortion rights group during the time period mentioned in the LA Times story. This still doesn't explain why the LA Times removed the cowboy movie reference.
Syria Reinvading Lebanon
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 3:18PM
Depressing news from Michael J. Totten:
If Israel sent the IDF three kilometers into Lebanon and started digging trenches and building bunkers it would make news all over the world. But Syria does it and everyone shrugs. Hardly anyone even knows it happened at all.Syria can, apparently, get away with just about anything. I could hardly blame Assad at this point if he believes, after such an astonishing non-response, that he can reconquer Beirut. So far he can kill and terrorize and invade and destroy with impunity, at least up to a point. What is that point? Has anyone in the U.S., Israel, the Arab League, the European Union, or the United Nations even considered the question?
'Die N-word!'
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 2:24PM
The NAACP buries a word apparently not even they are allowed to pronounce in public. If words could quake in their boots, I'm pretty sure this letter-plus-slash would be right now.
Edwards to Media: Come with Me
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 11:52AM
John Edwards wants the media to follow him on his "poverty tour," Politico reports:
Just don't ask if you can tour his house!
LA Times vs. Thompson
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 11:08AM
Over the weekend, I read the LA Times story on Fred Thompson that the Prowler had previewed on Friday, and I found the denials coming from the Thompson campaign to be a bit fishy. For those who are unfamiliar, the LA Times reported that Thompson lobbied the first Bush White House in 1991 on behalf on an abortion rights group in an effort to relax a ban on federal funding for clinics that offered abortion counseling. Much of the story is he said, she said: the head of the family planning group (Judith DeSarno) and a colleague at Thompson's law firm at the time (Former Rep. Michael D. Barnes (D-Md.)) both say it's true, while a Thompson spokesman and John Sununu, who was supposedly Thompson's contact at the White House, deny the report. One thing that Thompson has going for him is that the story is coming from the LA Times with liberals as the accusers, so the campaign may be able to dismiss it as a hit piece coming from the left, which is quaking it its boots about the Thompson juggernaut.
However, the Times did uncover one bit of documentary evidence that contradicts Thompson's account:
Republicans and Iraq
Posted by on 7.9.07 @ 10:24AM
The NY Times reports that the White House has begun a debate over a possible pullout from Iraq with support eroding among Senate Republicans. The WSJ, meanwhile, editorializes:
If the U.S. does end up withdrawing from Iraq in what is widely viewed as a defeat, many war supporters such as editorialists at the WSJ will argue that surge was showing signs of success, and if it weren't for Democrats, the media, and weak Republican Senators, we may have won. Just for the record, I do believe that the surge should be given more time to work before we consider withdrawal, however, I don't think that President Bush should escape blame if mounting political pressure forces him to withdraw sooner than he would have liked. The truth is, both before the invasion, and for years after the invasion, President Bush was encouraged to send more troops to Iraq--including prominently by John McCain. Bush could have replaced Rumsfeld and attempted a sustained surge in early 2005, from a position of strength after winning re-election. Not only would the political environment been more receptive, but it would have been before the sectarian violence spiraled out of control in Iraq, so the chances of success would have been greater. Now that Republican support is starting to peel back, many war supporters are arguing that the surge has only been in full effect for a month, and hasn't been given enough of a chance. While I agree, it must also be said that the long troop deployment time was again, a legacy of Rumsfeld's stubborn refusal to increase the size of the military while fighting two wars at once. There is no reason why the American military should have taken 4-5 months to deploy 20,000 troops. So now we're in a situation in which even though the surge has only been in full effect for about a month, in the public consciousness, it has been going on since Bush announced it in January. The point of all of this is while it's easy to blame the media, the politicizing of the war by the opposition party, and the impatience of the American people, like it or not, these are all realities of modern warfare that need to be taken into account as part of any strategy.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Hagel: Republican For Now
Posted by on 7.8.07 @ 1:28PM
Chuck Hagel says he won't run for president as an independent, unless he does. Or something. You try to figure it out.
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