While everyone else OD's on the Fred Thompson will-he-or-won't-he hype,
Fishwrap is excited by the news
that former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Georgia Democrat, may seek the Green Party
nomination.
Via the Corner, Laura Ingraham unloads on President Bush.
"The good news is that President Bush has finally taken the gloves off... the bad news is he's chosen to take them off to beat the hell out of us." (A paraphrase.)
Oh man. She is brutal.
She notes he goes out of his way to not question the patriotism of
Democrats voting to de-fund our troops, but extends no such courtesies to his
own voters.
Hey, President Bush? F#ck off. You are going down in history in a neck-and-neck battle with Jimmy Carter as worst president of the twentieth century.
And you know what? You are, pretty much, a f#cking moron.
Message To The Left: I'm not saying you should impeach him, I'm just
sayin', you know, go with your hearts.
Not The Twentieth Century: D#mn, I'm still writing "the twentieth
century" on all of my checks; takes me at least a couple of decades to get used
to writing the new one.
Mark points out that Bush can't be tied with Carter as worst
president of the twentieth century, as all of his presidency has taken place in
the twenty-first.
So, on a technicality, Bush misses out on that distinction.
House conservatives are ready to stop the Senate immigration bill in
its tracks with a potent procedural weapon should the contentious measure win
passage in the upper chamber.
The trump card conservatives may hold is a constitutional rule that
revenue-related bills must originate in the House. The Senate immigration
measure requires that illegal immigrants pay back taxes before becoming
citizens, opening the door to a House protest, dubbed a “blue slip” for the
color of its paper.
House Republicans used the same back-taxes mandate for a blue-slip
threat that derailed last year’s immigration conference. The new Senate bill
still must survive two more weeks of voter scrutiny and contentious amendments,
but several conservatives already are lying in wait for the Senate to “make the
same mistake twice,” as one House GOP aide put it.
The post above is a good one, so hit it and read it all.
Update: Mark Leven has this to add.
Bush and Mehlman make exactly that case. They write:
Both of us have spent much of our professional lives working to help
build the Republican Party. We believe this legislation will be good for the
GOP. Hispanic Americans are natural Republicans.
Does that argument sound familiar? The White House told conservatives
the same thing in 2003 when Karl Rove and President Bush strong-armed
Republicans in Congress into supporting the largest entitlement program since
the days of LBJ’s Great Society. The Medicare prescription drug bill, we were
told, would guarantee Republicans the majority for decades. Three years later,
the GOP was knocked out of power in Congress.
President Bush took on parts of his conservative base on Tuesday by
accusing opponents of his proposed immigration
measure of fear-mongering to defeat its passage in Congress.
“If you want to scare the American people, what you say is
the bill’s an amnesty bill,” Mr. Bush said at a training center for customs
protection agents and other federal agents here in southeastern Georgia. “That’s
empty political rhetoric trying to frighten our citizens.”
It was some of Mr. Bush’s toughest language as he started an
intensified effort to build support for the compromise bill in the Senate.
It was the conservative opponents to whom Mr. Bush seemed to speak most
forcefully here.
“If you want to kill the bill,” he said, “if you don’t want
to do what’s right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it. You
can use it to frighten people.”
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson (R.)set the strongest signal of his
intentions to date when he told potential donors on a conference call yesterday
afternoon that he will formally announce his decision to run for President over
the Fourth of July weekend and could file papers to start raising money as soon
as June 4.
Today, Thompson is not a formal candidate for the Republican
nomination for President, but he is tied with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney in the Real Clear Politics poll average. Both Thompson and Romney are
polling 10 percent. Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) is polling 18.2 percent and the
former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is leading with 26 percent.
The Founding Fathers: They meant what they wrote
President Bush attacked immigration enforcement proponents for
engaging in "empty political rhetoric"--and the NYTimes was all too happy to report on it.
President Bush, meet ArticleIV, Section IV of the U.S. Constitution:The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
President Bush, meet your oath of office in accordance with Article II, Section I
of the U.S. Constitution:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Talk about "empty rhetoric," President Bush.
Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic
vision Tuesday, saying it's time to replace an "on your own" society with one
based on shared responsibility and prosperity.
The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an
"ownership society" really is an "on your own" society that has widened the gap
between rich and poor.
"I prefer a 'we're all in it together' society," she said. "I
believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for
none."
That means pairing growth with fairness, she said, to ensure that
the middle-class succeeds in the global economy, not just corporate
CEOs.
In the fall of 2002, as Congress debated waging war in Iraq, copies of
a 92-page assessment of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction sat in two
vaults on Capitol Hill, each protected by armed security guards and available to
any member who showed up in person, without staff.
But only a few ever did. No more than six senators and a
handful of House members read beyond the five-page National Intelligence
Estimate executive summary, according to several congressional aides responsible
for safeguarding the classified material.
• The House intelligence committee believed the voluminous House-Senate
report was so important that it temporarily changed its rules to allow all
members of the House to read the classified report. "There weren't a lot of
takers on the 9/11 report," said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the committee's
vice chairman. Partly, she said, this was because members' personal staffs were
not given access, leaving the hard work to members themselves. "Some didn't want to do the homework," she said.
The full ranking, from 1-100, is as below, where 100% represents 100%
voting with Kennedy/Specter:
Graham (R-SC) 100%
Kennedy (D-MA) 100%
Lieberman (ID-CT) 100%
Lugar (R-IN) 100%
Martinez (R-FL) 100%
Salazar (D-CO) 100%
Specter (R-PA) 100%
Akaka (D-HI) 86%
Cantwell (D-WA) 86%
Carper (D-DE) 86%
Domenici (R-NM) 86%
Feinstein (D-CA) 86%
Hagel (R-NE) 86%
Kyl (R-AZ) 86%
Lincoln (D-AR) 86%
Menendez (D-NJ) 86%
Snowe (R-ME) 86%
Bennett (R-UT) 71%
Bingaman (D-NM) 71%
Cardin (D-MD) 71%
Coleman (R-MN) 71%
Craig (R-ID) 71%
Gregg (R-NH) 71%
Kerry (D-MA) 71%
Klobuchar (D-MN) 71%
Kohl (D-WI) 71%
Lott (R-MS) 71%
Mikulski (D-MD) 71%
Murkowski (R-AK) 71%
Smith (R-OR) 71%
Stevens (R-AK) 71%
Voinovich (R-OH) 71%
Warner (R-VA) 71%
Wyden (D-OR) 71%
Alexander (R-TN) 57%
Bond (R-MO) 57%
Boxer (D-CA) 57%
Brown (D-OH) 57%
Burr (R-NC) 57%
Casey (D-PA) 57%
Chambliss (R-GA) 57%
Cochran (R-MS) 57%
Collins (R-ME) 57%
Conrad (D-ND) 57%
Cornyn (R-TX) 57%
Durbin (D-IL) 57%
Ensign (R-NV) 57%
Feingold (D-WI) 57%
Harkin (D-IA) 57%
Hatch (R-UT) 57%
Hutchison (R-TX) 57%
Inouye (D-HI) 57%
Isakson (R-GA) 57%
Lautenberg (D-NJ) 57%
Leahy (D-VT) 57%
Levin (D-MI) 57%
Murray (D-WA) 57%
Nelson (D-FL) 57%
Pryor (D-AR) 57%
Reed (D-RI) 57%
Reid (D-NV) 57%
Stabenow (D-MI) 57%
Webb (D-VA) 57%
Whitehouse (D-RI) 57%
Biden (D-DE) 43%
Brownback (R-KS) 43%
Clinton (D-NY) 43%
Crapo (R-ID) 43%
DeMint (R-SC) 43%
Dodd (D-CT) 43%
Grassley (R-IA) 43%
McConnell (R-KY) 43%
Obama (D-IL) 43%
Rockefeller (D-WV) 43%
Sanders (I-VT) 43%
Allard (R-CO) 29%
Bayh (D-IN) 29%
Bunning (R-KY) 29%
Dole (R-NC) 29%
Enzi (R-WY) 29%
Landrieu (D-LA) 29%
McCain (R-AZ) 29%
McCaskill (D-MO) 29%
Roberts (R-KS) 29%
Schumer (D-NY) 29%
Sessions (R-AL) 29%
Shelby (R-AL) 29%
Byrd (D-WV) 14%
Corker (R-TN) 14%
Dorgan (D-ND) 14%
Inhofe (R-OK) 14%
Nelson (D-NE) 14%
Sununu (R-NH) 14%
Tester (D-MT) 14%
Thomas (R-WY) 14%
Thune (R-SD) 14%
Baucus (D-MT) 0%
Coburn (R-OK) 0%
Johnson (D-SD) 0%
Vitter (R-LA) 0%
U.S. congresswoman Gwen Moore, Rep. Wisconsin and congressmen David
Price (D - NC), Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R - NE) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) meet
with Egyptian Lawmakers including the head of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood�s
parliamentary bloc, at the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 27,
2007.
Four Congressional representatives, 3 Democrats and 1 Republican,
met with leaders of one of the most dangerous jihad organizations in the world!
These are the people who represent you - the American public! Time to ACT!� Make
a difference.� Let them know how you feel about this act of treason. TAKE THE
TIME TO MAKE�THE FOLLOWING CALLS:
1. David Price (D-NC)(202)225-1784 (D.C. Office)
(919) 859-5999
2. Gwen Moore (D-WI)(202) 225-4572
(414)297-1140
3. Nick Rahall (D-WV)(202) 225-3452
(304) 252-5000
4. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)(202) 225-4806
(402) 438-1598
"Hello media, do you know you indirectly kill American soldiers every
day? You inspire and report the enemy's objective every day. You are the enemy's
greatest weapon. The enemy cannot beat us on the battlefield so all he does is
try to wreak enough havoc and have you report it every day. With you and the
enemy using each other, you continually break the will of the American public
and American government.
"We go out daily and bust and kill the enemy, uncover and destroy huge
weapons caches and continue to establish infrastructure. So daily we put a
whoopin on the enemy, but all the enemy has to do is turn on the TV and get
re-inspired. He gets to see his daily roadside bomb, truck bomb, suicide bomber
or mortar attack. He doesn't see any accomplishments of the U.S. military (FOX,
you're not exempt, you suck also).
"Let's give you an example. A couple of days ago we conducted an air
assault. We lifted troops into an area for an operation. The operation went well
and our ground troops killed (insurgents) and took several prisoners, freed a
few hostages and uncovered a weapons cache containing munitions and chemicals
that were going to be used in improvised bombs.
"The next morning I woke up and turned on AFN (Armed Forces Network)
and watched the nightly news (NBC). Nothing, none of that reported. But the
daily car bomb report was reported, and the file footage was not even from the
event. There was a car bomb in the Sadr City area and your news report showed
old car bomb footage from another part of town from some other time.
"So we really set the enemy back that night but all the enemy had to do
was turn on the news and be reassured that the enemy's agenda (objective) was
still going to be fed to the American public.
"We, the soldiers, keep breaking the back of the enemy. You, the media,
keep rejuvenating the enemy.
Datamar released a new Florida poll today..
Edwards leads Clinton for Democrats
and Fred
Thompson is five points behind Rudy Giuliani among Republicans.
Democrats
Edwards 26
Clinton 24
Obama 19
Richardson 7
Biden 6
Clinton has a 18-point lead in the RCP
Average.
Republicans
Giuliani 27
Thompson 22
Romney 18
McCain 12
Giuliani holds a 13.5-point lead in the RCP
Average
Would-be candidate Fred Thompson has stolen his first major backer away
from one of the already-announced contenders.
After endorsing Mitt Romney in January, third-term Rep. Marsha
Blackburn (TN) said in a statement today that she will get behind Thompson if he
gets in he race. Romney had dubbed Blackburn a "senior adviser" when
he announced her support.
If you are having trouble getting through the Capitol switchboard to express
your opinion about the Bush-Kennedy shamnesty, there's a special hotline number
you might like to try.
1-800-882-2005. (Spanish number)1-800-417-7666. (English number)
Freepers picked up on it this morning. Bryan Preston dialed it earlier today and captured audio of the hotline. He reports:
The hotline is paid for by something called the Coalition for
Comprehensive Immigration Reform and it’s being blasted to pro-open
borders groups all over the country. The hotline gives its callers access to
their senators that average Joes don’t have.Here's what the "Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform" is directing its pro-illegal alien activists to do:
Call between 9:00am and 5:00pm Eastern time to have a better chance of
connecting with the Senate offices.
When you call, you will hear a recording
1) The system will scan your phone number (or ask you to enter it)
to verify your Senators.2) The system will ask which Senator you would like to be connected to.
3) Before connecting, you will hear a brief message about immigration reform to deliver.
4) After the message, you will be connected to your Senator.
5) After you are done, be sure to call again and connect to
your other Senator's office.
Now, you can use it, too:
1-800-882-2005.(Spanish number)1-800-417-7666. (English number)
Operators are standing by...Call now!
As former Republican Senator Fred Thompson ponders a late entry into
the 2008 presidential race, the actor's biggest advantage just might be that
people feel they already know exactly what he would be like as Commander in
Chief.
As with Hillary Clinton, this is not his first rodeo (a phrase that
rolls smoothly in his accent). Like Barack Obama, he is poised and compelling.
Like Rudy Giuliani, he can fall back on bold self-confidence in the face of
tricky questions. Like John McCain, he can appeal to independents. And like
George W. Bush in 2000, he presents a decided equanimity toward his future. As
he told an interviewer, "One advantage you have in not having this as [a]
lifelong ambition is that if it turns out that your calculation is wrong, it's
not the end of the world."
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert
"black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former
officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive
nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal
presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly
includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and
manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
Media Spins/Spikes Disturbing Finding That Quarter of American Muslim
Young Men Support Terrorism
Your very professional newsmedia knows better, however. They use their
j-school expertise to find the truly important stuff in the poll.Let's check the headlines, eh?
USAToday: Poll:
Most Muslims seek to adopt American lifestyle
Wow! "Most!"
Awesome!
Personally, I'm a little bit more worried about the 26% of young
Muslim males who want to kill me, but it's good to know that "most Muslims" seek to adopt the "American lifestyle." (Which may or may not involve killing
Americans.)
