Here's the Sunday talking head line-up for the shows. Read it and weep: (via the WaPo)
ABC's "This Week" _ Reps. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., and Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.; former Secretary of State James Baker; actress Patricia Heaton, spokeswoman for Cure Autism Now.
CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Ray LaHood, R-Ill.
NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and his Democratic opponent, state auditor Claire McCaskill; journalist Bob Woodward.
CNN's "Late Edition" _ Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari; Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.; conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Citizens United President David Bossie; retired Maj. Gen. Edward F. Grillo Jr., president of the Air Force Memorial Foundation.
C-Span's Washington Journal: 7am – Newspaper Headlines & Viewer Phone Calls; 7:30am – Carl Forti, Nat’l Republican Congressional Cmte., Communications Dir.; 8:15am – Newspaper Headlines & Viewer Phone Calls; 9am – Aaron Friedberg, V.P. Cheney’s Former Adviser For Security Affairs (2003-05); 9:30am – Andrew North, BBC, Baghdad Correspondent
Today's bird is an eastern wood-peewee. Thought the name of this little fellow was particularly appropriate for what a lot of the discussion this morning is likely to be about, with Tom Reynolds on the guest list for This Week and Tony Perkins and Laura Ingraham on Fox, and Pat Buchanan on CNN and all.
Given that yesterday was the five year anniversary of the start of American operations in Afghanistan, and Sen. John Warner's pronouncement of things tanking in Iraq, and the whole Foley mess, and the new piss poor poll numbers for George Bush and the Republican party…well, it ought to be an interesting morning of spin.
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mornin’ Christy. Fitz!
Morning Jayt — was busy making coffee for a bit. How are you this morning?
Ah – quite well thanks.
Gonna fire up my own coffee pot and …. hey – an ‘eastern wood pee-wee’? You just made that up!
Morning all–could I get a mod to take a look at comment 93 on the “Bad Day for Tortureman” thread? They might want to bring a bucket of bleach water along.
jayt at 3 — nope, click through on the link to the Cornel ornithology website. *G*
Sophie — will take a peek. Thanks for the heads up.
What a bunch of crap. And to think, I woke up this morning anxious to see the debate and discussion about all the garbage in DC. Yuck.
blergh — thanks Sophie. Disgusting. Really appreciate the heads up — we try very hard to keep that sort of thing out of the comments section, but every once in a while something slips the filters. Ick.
Sunday chirping.
Pittsburgh Pa., Florida Gov. “Jeb Bush took refuge in a subway station supply closet to avoid the anti-Republican demonstrators… The protesters, made up of members of the United Steelworkers union and the anti-war group Uprise Counter Recruitment, chanted, “Jeb go home,” and said Bush blew them a kiss” A.P. Oct. 7. I grew up in Pittsburgh and can guaranty that sarcastically blowing a kiss to steel workers there will put your ass in a coke oven. Growing up in Pittsburgh as an early 70’s pot head kid I’ve been in a few broom closets and I’ve even hid from angry steel workers but the presidents brother hiding in a broom closet in Pittsburgh just kills me. Steel workers, bless your hearts (guts) and the union, yin’s did good.
“Coup? What coup?” NY Times today “coup cocktails.” on the beach. I love Thailand they disposed of their corporate corrupt (Berlusconi, Murdoch/Bush “the devil”), Thaksin peacefully with out a hitch as I hope the U.S. and Mexico will do someday. Moral oral majority, we know what that is, msm corporate God appointed corrupt liars, bullshit enough, to the closets and or a lump a coal upside their head.
I wonder why almost everyone I read here says they like Senator Feingold but he can’t win the presidency, isn’t it a little early to say that. Not only should the Democrats in congress get a backbone but the rest of us could get one too and learn from Thailand, Mexico and above all the Pittsburgh United Steelworkers union. Chase those Bushites to the broom’s, Yin’s are outa office slag piles!
Not too long ago I saw one of these birds come through my workplace. It was a very temporary visitor, unfortunately, but the song’s pretty unmistakable once you hear it.
Wish me luck. Today I go out canvassing for Mary Jo Kilroy in OH-15, against Deborah Pryce, for the second week in a row.
Didn’t Foley help craft a federal law that makes it a crime to engage in sexual activity over the internet with minors? If so,then why is the”age of consent”state level law being talked about as what matters here?
Sorry if that’s been covered before,I just wondered if the federal law overides the state level laws.
So, the networks unanimously agreed to let the thugs peddle their lies this Sabbath. At times I forget this is the “liberal” press. Cornyn alone is enough to make me shatter the TV screen.
Looks like a Titmouse to me Christy. Probably a close relative. As far as the “news” shows, you need a parking brake to keep you from rolling down the slant. Glad I don’t watch them. Just curious, whaddya think will be the final outcome on election day?
Mornin’ Christy–we’ve robins gathering up at our backyard “spa” and the juncos have started to move down from the further-north country.
First headline I saw this morning was a squib from the WP that Chee-knee is back on the “Dems are weak on national security” meme.
Good, luck with that again, Dickster… Ooops, does this constitute an assault on the V**P? Will it get me a visit from the s*cret s*rvice? Hey, guys, be real proud of yourselves for what you did to that dad in front of his 8 yr old son. You, too, Grandpa Dick.
Buffalo were strong, too, as they stampeded across the prairies in huge herds and ran right over the cliff.
is today olberman day?
I sorta wish that, for what appears to be the spin-a-thon that is coming today, I was a better reader of body language.
Lotta squirmin’ on the way, methinks.
me to me at 15 — Olbermann day is November 5. Today is a discussion of Andy Stern’s book — A Country That Works. If you look at the book listings for the club in the upper left side of the blog, you’ll see that we’ve listed dates of appearance with each book for handy reference. :)
Ray Lahood told Tweety the other night that they should discontinue the page program, as if the pages are the problem. Tweety made a somewhat half-hearted attempt to call him on it.
I hope Bob Sheiffer doesn’t let him get away with that shit.
Rep. Lasee: To Introduce Bill To Allow School Personnel To Carry Weapons
10/4/2006
Contact Rep. Frank Lasee: 1-(608) 266-9870
In Wake of School Shootings Lawmaker Says All Options Should Be on the Table to Prevent School Violence
Madison…Following three violent school shooting that struck the nation in the past two weeks, including one in a small rural town in Wisconsin, State Representative Frank Lasee (R-Bellevue) announced his plans to introduce legislation that will allow teachers, principals, administrators, and other school personnel to carry concealed weapons. The lawmaker said that while his idea may not be politically correct, it has worked effectively in other countries.
“To make our schools safe for our students to learn all options should be on the table,” said Lasee. “Israel and Thailand have well trained teachers carrying weapons and keeping their children safe from harm. It can work in Wisconsin.”
Israeli teachers and parent volunteers have been carrying concealed weapons in their classrooms for twenty five years. Before teachers armed themselves, schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip had been repeatedly attacked by Palestinian terrorists. Hundreds of children were killed. Not one child has been harmed by gunfire in an Israeli school since. Thailand followed Israel’s lead and allowed their teachers to carry guns for protection after their schools were targeted by Muslim extremists. The results have been the same – less violence and a safer learning environment for their children. In both countries several terrorist attacks have been prevented by anonymous well trained teachers who carry concealed weapons.
“The element of surprise is a powerful tool,” added Lasee. “In Israel and Thailand several lives have been saved because criminals don’t want to attack schools where well-trained marksmen and women may return fire.”
Lasee said he wants to bring this proven program to Wisconsin. Lasee’s bill will NOT require all teachers and school personnel to carry weapons. It will simply give them the option. The proposal will require stringent training both on the range and in the classroom for any school employee who wants to carry concealed.
“We have a duty to protect our children,” said Lasee. “If we truly want to make our schools safe havens for learning, we should give our teachers and school employees access to the tools and training they need to protect our kids from harm.”
The lawmaker said he will offer the bill for co-sponsorship when the state legislature reconvenes early next year.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 17If you look at the book listings for the club in the upper left side of the blog, you’ll see that we’ve listed dates of appearance with each book for handy reference. :)
didn’t see the log, thanx christy
me to me at 20 — You are welcome. :) I thought you might have missed it — we thought it would be helpful for everyone to have a rolling calendar on those. We’ve all got enough to keep track of on a daily basis as it is. *g*
ppp (9), I grew up in the Pittsburgh area, too, and happily visualized those steelworkers closeting Jeb. What is it about the Bushes and their kisses–Lieberman and now Jeb? For Jeb to blow a kiss at those angry guys is testimony to how out of touch our royal family is. The pot is boiling throughout our great country. If the Riffraff steal these elections, count on a rebellion.
“This too shall pass.”
One if my favorite sustaining sayings during difficult times. Sure fits for the world these days.
Noonan, I read about that earlier. Seems to say to me that W has given the okay for a culture of crazies. All the most farfetched ideas come crawling out from under the rocks like garden slugs.
Nov. 7 we’ve gotta restore the garden.
Does anyone have any idea what Tom Davis will be talking about on Face the Nation? The other guest LaHood clearly will be addressing Foleygate. LaHood, last I recall, was standing foursquare behind Hastert, blaming it all on Hastert’s staff (although not naming names and not saying anything about Hastert’s rejecting Stokke’s resignation letter and the allegation against Palmer by Fordham), and wanting to get rid of the whole page program. Davis has been known to stray from the party line, used to claim to be a moderate, is representing a district that is turning bluer by the day, and has a serious capable challenger, Andy Hurst, who, though underknown and underfinanced, may well dent Davis’s political future, if not actually win (everyone here thinks Davis wants to succeed John Warner in the Senate in ‘08). Would Davis actually use this platform at this time to call for Hastert’s resignation?
Noonan at 19 — that is the incredibly dumb. And I would bet that law enforcement will be livid about it. The last thing you want is some poorly trained, trigger happy idiot running around with a gun in a school — and putting it in the hands of a teacher who hasn’t been trained in proper use is just as bad. Let alone the liability issue for school boards in a civil context, the potential for an accidental shooting or for the gun not having the safety on and going off in a small, packed classroom, and…well, that’s just off the top of my head. Jeebus. What a moron.
Cute bird.
It’s Sunday “Well, strip down and get relaxed.” MF.
Morning All,
I came too late for the Pull Up a Chair discussion yesterday. The music that I put on after the Senate voted for the torture bill was the second movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581, which perfectly matched my deep sorrow. It always brings tears. When I checked the liner notes with my CD, it turns out to have been written in 1789, the same year the Constitution was adopted. Studying history, I truly believed the pragmatic optimism of the Enlightenment. Now I am ashamed of my country.
There’s a great book review in today’s NY Times:
In November 2005, Fritz Stern received an award for his life’s work on Germans, Jews and the roots of National Socialism, presented to him by Joschka Fischer, then the German foreign minister. With a frankness that startled some in the audience, Stern, an emeritus professor of European history at Columbia University, peppered his acceptance speech with the similarities he saw between the path taken by Germany in the years leading up to Hitler and the path being taken by the United States today. He talked about a group of 1920’s intellectuals known as the “conservative revolutionaries,” who “denounced liberalism as the greatest, most invidious threat, and attacked it for its tolerance, rationality and cosmopolitan culture,” and about how Hitler had used religion to appeal to the German public. In Hitler’s first radio address after becoming chancellor, Stern noted, he declared that the Nazis regarded “Christianity as the foundation of our national morality and the family as the basis of national life.”
Stern was of course not suggesting an equivalence between President Bush and Hitler but rather making a more subtle critique, extending his idea that contemporary American politics exhibited “something like the strident militancy and political ineptitude of the Kaiser’s pre-1914 imperial Germany.” At 80, Stern has just published a sprawling memoir, “Five Germanys I Have Known,” and as with that speech, he does not file away his experiences of Nazism in a geographical or temporal box.
Yet the value of Stern’s work is precisely that it has refused to keep Nazism safely on the other side of a historical and geographic chasm. His first book, “The Politics of Cultural Despair” (1961), is one of the durable masterpieces of 20th-century history because it seems to locate the roots of a peculiarly modern malaise. As he explained in a later edition of the work, “I attempted to show the importance of this new type of cultural malcontent, and to show how he facilitated the intrusion into politics of essentially unpolitical grievances.”
…Rather than looking for obvious parallels among contemporary dictators who ape the style of the Nazis, Stern looks for the nihilistic undercurrents in our own educated, commercial societies. Hunger and poverty have little to do with the politics of cultural despair. It thrives especially well at moments of plenty and prosperity, when people have enough social advantages to dwell on their inner alienations and resentments.
By probing history for answers to how Germany progressed from radical illiberalism to Nazism, Stern has created a cumulative canon of warning signs for the degeneration of any great nation’s politics.
Wetterling and her opponent up now on CNN
Oh good lord. Arming teachers is the answer to school shootings? What planet do these people live on?
Does it ever occur to any of these people to actually talk to kids and teachers about the problems facing schools today? Something tells me that if they actually did that,guns wouldn’t be among the answers.
The day something like that happens(arming teachers)is the day I pull my son out of school.
Oh, barf, CNN grilling Patty about her ad saying Republican leaders covered up. CNN interviewer siding with Bachmann…facilitating her attacking Wetterling.
CNN, you are dead to me.
Good morning. Christy, thank you (that’s a collective “you”) for keeping FDL clear of the noxious trolls. I can only imagine how much work that is, and I’m grateful that I don’t have to do more than imagine it.
I’m looking forward to seeing the republicans trying to distance themselves from pedophilia and at the same time blame it on the democrats. It could be amusing.
Morning.
Guess I won’t be watching the barking heads today.
Oh, wait a minute-I NEVER DO!
Did anyone else catch Digby kicking Dobson’s ass? It’s hilarious.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com…..5802691019
Bachmann is bragging about her jump in website hits and contributions after the Wetterling ad began.
Anybody got Wetterling’s website? This would be a good time to show her opponent and the Rethugs that more media-enabled spin just ain’t gonna cut it.
Minnesota needs to turn this district blue.
Morning Christie:
As an avid media watcher, I thought I should tell you that I’ve heard that Reynolds cancelled his appearance on TW this morning. Don’t know if that’s the case as we don’t get it here until 10, but thought you should know. Yet another brave Rethug running from danger.
pattywetterling.com
Please send her some $$$$$love.
Also, Christy, for your consideration once the political campaign season dies down, Elizabeth Edwards has a new book out that may be worthy for the Book Salon. NYT lists it at #4 this weekend. She’s someone I admire very much, for her strong relationship with her husband and family, her professional expertise, her personal character and her survival skills!
Maybe I’m feeling especially keenly this morning the power of family and survival skills after a rigorous medical week this week.
And needing to contemplate a good antidote for the likes of Michelle Bachman and Laura Ingraham and the other harpies of the right who give cover for the likes of Foley and his protectors with their shrillness, sanctimony, and over-talking.
My god. The saints preserve us. Sunday morning talking ‘brain’ lineup. For clear thinkers this IS kinky. Sadistic on the part of the shows producers. And I am most certainly not into masochism or mental self-flagellation. Thank you very much. I’d rather cook shell-fish stew, which is precisely what I’m going to do.
well Good Morning Firebirds -
thought in light of the Hastert la Vista fest I might actually watch Sunday Squalk, but Biden & Emmanuel’s all they could muster – jeesh! traditionally, this is when you trot out your known smartasses/quipmeisters (eg: Bentsen, Harkin, Waxman, etc.) yeah, I know . . .
but speaking of old school, was so fixated on Olbermann & Blumenthal, didn’t realize today is ANDY STERN day – the anti-pundit – actually, passio9nately doing the work to save what’s left of American middle class life – a cbl hero – Yeay !!!
I want a bumper sticker which says – “It’s the Hypocrisy, Stupid!”
jayt @ 37
I clicked on the buttons in the blogads at the top of the page here at FDL. There are some good ones.
jayt @ 37
Or even “It’s the Stupidity, Stupid!” would work.
Thanks for the troll cleanup, Christy–meant to check back in earlier, but instead went down to start some pancakes and got sidetracked.
I’ll be interested to hear what Ray LaHood says to try to excuse Hastert’s behavior, and how it plays in Peoria–literally.
I was very glad to see so much interest in
BUCK O’NEIL. He should be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame as soon as possible.
I think sporswriters vote on this. I would suggest lobbying your newspaper sports editors if
they vote on this. Maybe FDL can help correct this injustice.
You can also find out more about his career, not just as a player at
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/
jayt,
It’s the Incompetency, Stupid !
It’s the Mendacity, Stupid !
It’s the Cowardice, Stupid !
It’s the Projection, Stupid !
It’s the Avarice, Stupid !
It’s the Demagoguery, Stupid !
It’s the Authoritarianism, Stupid !
It’s the Sociopathy . . .
cbl @ 41
I’m gonna need a bigger car.
personal note – anyone heard from al-Scooter lately ? – regular commenter not seen in a few weeks
Frank33 @
41
Completely agree and thanks for the link. The film clip that I saw most often yesterday was Buck saying how grateful that he was simply to be considered for the Hall, no bitterness, just gratitude. What was tough Buck said, was not being allowed to attend high school (he didn’t mention, that he was refused it was because he was African American)…..
semi off-topic….
Its time once again to call out the Lieberman endorsing “Gay Rights” group, the Human Rights Campaign Fund…
Jeff Trandahl, the openly-gay former Clerk of the House who is at the center of this scandal, refuses to explain his role in the Foley coverup.
Trandahl is a director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund. http://www.hrc.org/Content/Navig…C/ HRC_Board.htm
HRCF has consistently condemned the handling of the Foley matter — issuing a number of press releases…. http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm? …ContentID=10074
none of which, of course, mention Trandahl and his role in the scandal.
I’d really like to see John make an issue of this — insist that HRCF require Trandahl to explain his role publicly, or throw him off the board of the HRCF. That organization should not be associated with people who are enablers of sexual predators like Tom Foley — and unless Trandahl comes clean immediately, HRCF should dump him unceremoniously.
(cross-posted at Americablog)
If you want an alternative to the trash talk shows this a.m., check out C-Span2 w/John Brady Kiesling, former diplomat & author of “Diplomacy Lessons:Realism for an Unloved Superpower”.
Are the paiges able to file a sexual harrasment suit against Foley and the GOP (since none of the Dems were informed this was going on)? How given the number of victums how much could this cost the GOP assuming each claim receives an average settlement. Also just how many paiges received an email? I think this could bankrupt the GOP but maybe I’m being optimistic
An Angry Old Broad @
11
The e-mails and IMs (that we know of) all took place before the law was passed.
“…count on a rebellion.”
Yes. But a ‘revolution’ would be good. But some of my progressive friends term me a “Radical-Progressive”. I don’t know what this means. And neither do my friends, when pressed.
“You say you want a revolution? We’el ya knowww… we all want to change the world” (John Lennon). Some accuse me of being borderline seditious? But as I interpret the law on sedition, it has something to do with “lawful” authority. Bush: lawful?
hi christy and all you lovely folk,
it’s a sunshiny, cool, late afternoon here in dresden. i haven’t been on much in the past ten days, just a few “drive-bys” and a bit of lurking. i’ve been doing extra work duty had a good friend come visit for a few days. i’m spreading the work around here about the change in mood of the country and all, with fingers crossed for something substantial next month. this pat week has given me some hope. i’ll go back and read the thread now……
mOropeza @ 48
From what we know, he only hit on former pages, not current ones. I suspect he’s in the clear as far as workplace harassment goes. I think his MO was pretty refined by the time he got to DC. Which means he probably started while he was in Florida. I’m still surprised that nobody’s looked into that yet. From what I’ve heard, he used to live with the (also single) GOP candidate to replace Governor Bush.
These Sunday News shows feature 11 Republicans and just 3 Democrats, so much for the ‘Liberal’ media myth.
Prairie Sunshine @
32
http://www.pattywetterling.com/
Thanks Frank33.
Frank Probst,
your comment last night was intriguing –
was disappointed none of the resident legal eagles responded -(wink wink nudge nudge) of course, I still don’t understand how they got away with the whole Enemy Combatant thing in the first place . . . all this blathering ad nauseum of “We’re at War!”, yet these guys aren’t Prisoners of Same
‘cuse me for a sec, Rahm is on, have to get Mr cbl’s bp meds . . .
ppp @
9
right on! about Feingold. I got on somebody’s case about that very thing yesterday. Does anybody else represent the mythical consensus around here better than Feingold? I don’t think so…………..
He was right about Iraq (before most. not sure if he predated Howard Dean on that).
He wanted congress to censure Bush. very short line on that item.
He spoke out against trashing the Constitution including a walkout on one of Arlen Specter’s faux meetings.
Just to name a few. No, he’s not perfect but the man has a pair. How many other Democrats can you say that about? Hint: It’s a very short list and we can only hope that most of those that seem to, get elected for the first time next month.
I’m perfectly willing to accept the will of the people in the Democratic Primaries. I hope they do choose Russ Feingold but if they don’t I’ll back the candidate that is chosen. Meanwhile, people shoudn’t be damning with faint praise one of the best guys out there.
mOropeza @ 48
I’m not totally familiar with the federal sexual harrassment statutes, but, as a lawyer and a gambler, I would bet that Congress has exempted itself from the law’s provisions. Again, I’m not an expert and would welcome a more fully informed opinion on this
Anybody know who that republican was on This Week? Is he up for re-election this year?
John Casper: There is even a
guestbook/blog on BUCK, lots of folks have posted there.
http://www.legacy.com/kansasci…..d=19506811
The KANSAS CITY STAR has an 8 page special section about BUCK. I do not know yet how
to get a copy but The STAR likely can send this to people who would like one.
Curious in Central Texas @ 59
ALL congressional republicans (and democrats) are up for re-election this year. This guy was Reynold’s deputy who came on because Reynolds chose to duck and hide. (hey, I like that expression. “Duck and Hide Republicans”)
I can barely contain myself. I just saw Rahm Emanuel on TV. He was amazing. Everyone has to see this performance. He was on message and on target. The other guy looked stunnned. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Every democrat should watch that interview and learn from it. Drain the swamp asap…..
This is unbelievable!!!
First it was with Bob Casey in his debate with Santorum letting Santorum control air time with his GOP talking points and not interrupting and taking him on with his lies. Now, again, we have McCaskill doing the same thing.
NO FUCKING WONDER WE CONTINUE TO LOSE ELECTIONS!!!!!!
Overtalking is a core tactic of the Rethugs.
Tim @ 63
If you want to see how Dems SHOULD handle debates like this, take a look at the Menendez/Kean debate (video is here: http://wcbstv.com/politics). Bare knuckle politics, but Menendez fought like a guy who WANTS to win.
Ha! Russert just used Jane’s petri dish analogy on Jim Talent. Good one!
What about anti stalking laws at least one paige complained and nothing was done?
Ok the server won’t let me edit my comment, but somehow my comment about menendez should have gone OUTSIDE of the quote about the MO senate debate by Tim.
[Mod Note; refresh your screen and see if it looks better now.]
Apparently Hugo Chavez needs some “dictator” lessons. Massive anti-Chavez rally in Venezuela.
-GSD
Have you seen the TIME magazine cover story. End of the Revolution…
and cover picture?
http://img.timeinc.net/time/ma…..16_400.jpg
That picture will be at checkout counters all over America for the next seven days!
The HRC is a disgraceand has been for years. No glbt individual should so much as consider giving the bastards ONE DIME.
Meanwhile. . .
“Open the closets on Capitol Hill
Silence about gay politicians is a relic of an era when gayness meant secrecy and shame. It’s a disservice to gay people, to voters, and to the politicians themselves.
By Louis Bayard
Oct. 07, 2006 | In 1960, when Gore Vidal ran for Congress, his Republican opponent tried to spread word that Vidal was a homosexual. This was not, strictly speaking, news. Vidal had written one of the first explicitly gay novels in American literature (”The City and the Pillar”) and had never been at great pains to conceal his private life. But in trying to fan the flames that Vidal himself had ignited, J. Ernest Wharton ran up against a strange conundrum. The same media outlets that would have jumped all over a heterosexual scandal turned strangely mum the moment homosexuality entered the picture. For the New York Times and the Associated Press and Time magazine, this was the love that could not speak its name.
And still can’t. In the swirl of controversy surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley and his overtures to congressional pages, one thing has been clear all along: Foley’s offenses have nothing to do with being gay, everything to do with being a pedophile. And one thing is emerging with new clarity: The mainstream media’s treatment of gay politicians is essentially unchanged from when Gore Vidal ran for office 46 years ago. This long-standing policy of nondisclosure can now safely be called a disservice — to gay people, to voters, to the politicians themselves, to everyone. It must change.
Since Foley came to Washington in 1995, his sexuality has been, as they like to say, an open secret. For those of us working on Capitol Hill at the time (I was a Democratic communications director), it was common knowledge. And yet, outside of the alternative or gay media, you would have been hard-pressed to find a newspaper or wire service or radio or television network willing to mention it. Even during Foley’s abortive 2003 U.S. Senate bid, when rumors about his private life reached such a pitch that he felt obliged to dismiss them as “revolting and unforgivable,” the mainstream media refused to do what they had done so gleefully in the case of Gary Hart or Bill Clinton. By common consent, and with an almost audible sigh of relief, they eschewed the bedroom bivouac, the morning-after stakeout, the bimbo safari. They crept back into the night, like skunks at a garden party.
This bizarre reluctance to positively identify Foley as gay — a reluctance so uniform as to qualify as a code of conduct — has been explained away as chivalry, as delicacy, as respect for privacy. It is none of these things. It is an inherited squeamishness, the relic of an era in which homosexuality meant secrecy and shame.
That era has passed, despite the fondest wishes of some conservatives, and it is time that the American media — and, yes, the closeted culture of official Washington — awakened to that fact. It is time, in short, to end the hypocritical double standard that shields gay politicians from the implications (and the promise) of who they are. Let the doors open wide.
Do I mean “outing”? Yes — within limits. I hold no brief for those hysterics on the far right who want every homosexual working in the Republican Party to be called out by name — as a precursor, presumably, to being expunged. Nor do I think that gay congressional staffers forfeit all rights to privacy simply by virtue of their jobs. But I do believe that every man or woman who courts public office must be held to some public standard of honesty — of coherence.
A few years ago, during consideration of the Defense of Marriage Act (which was against gay marriage), some opponents of the bill caused an uproar by threatening to publicly identify the gay members who supported it. (Foley was one. So was Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe, who is openly gay.) Behind these guerrilla tactics lay a certain implacable justice: A gay legislator who voted for anti-gay legislation deserved to be impaled on his own hypocrisy.
And yet even commentators sympathetic to gay concerns cried foul. The process of coming out, they declared, was too private, too personal, to be adjudicated by strangers. We were asked to show a little sensitivity for these trembling GOP homosexuals, freshly foaled, still finding their legs.
The decision to come out is personal. So is the decision to run for office. Why should the second choice be privileged over the first? Why should homosexuality be privileged over heterosexuality? Why should a same-sex partner (Foley has apparently had one for many years) be any less a subject of discussion than a wife or husband?
The answer is as dismaying as it is obvious. Some 33 years after the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses, our mainstream media persist in believing that something unnatural, something embarrassing, something other adheres to the condition of being gay. Or else — and here I’m bending over as far backward as I can go — they believe that equating a gay relationship with a straight relationship is simply too controversial a statement to make in the pages of a major metropolitan newspaper or over the airwaves of a major commercial network.
They are wrong. Worse, they are patronizing. An America that, by and large, accepts gay musicians, gay actors, gay authors, gay talk-show hostesses, the gay children of politicians and even the occasional gay politician can be trusted, I believe, not to blanch at the prospect of one more. And if, in fact, a candidate’s sexuality proves to be a deal-breaker for voters, then let the deal be broken. Better to be shown the door than smuggled through under a cloud of pretense.
If Mark Foley had been forced from the closet, would it have prevented him from hitting on teenage pages? Likely not (unless the constituents of his Florida district had voted him out). But a little plain-spokenness might have torn some of the veil of secrecy in which he was shrouded. It might have broken House leaders of the old pernicious habit of treating a gay member’s private life — in all its aspects, licit and illicit — as something to be shoved under a rug. And it might have allowed us to talk about Mark Foley’s sexuality and Mark Foley’s sexual offenses as the separate issues they really are.
A year before Gore Vidal ran for office, Allen Drury published a novel, “Advise and Consent,” in which a dashing young senator, Brigham Anderson, is blackmailed for a long-ago gay affair. Anderson, in the way of most common gay characters of that era, chooses suicide over exposure, at which point the Senate majority leader (if I’m recalling the movie version correctly) announces that Anderson’s shame should “die with him.”
It’s amazing to think that nearly a half-century later, we are all reading from the same script. Mark Foley’s sexuality was considered his “shame.” And until events forced their hand, the House leadership and the mainstream media were fully prepared to let it die with him. The shame is theirs. Open the closets.”
Agh…I’m so glad that somebody’s watching the Sunday Morning debacles for me, I can’t do it.
Spent a chunk of my day yesterday doing door-to-door, to discover a HUGE contingent of voters on which we should be putting a lot of effort.
Angry white women who can’t afford retail therapy.
ANGRY.
Angry enough to come out on their porch, sit down and tell you in no uncertain terms how pissed off they are about the mess in this state.
Jeepers. They are ANGRY at everybody. I ran into this multiple times, with women who were forced out of their auto industry jobs, who were laid off when the rest of the service industry supporting auto workers collapsed, with women trying to care for elderly parents on Medicare, with women trying to put kids through college on their own.
ANGRY. They are SO angry in this state they don’t want to vote for either the incumbent Dem governor (who’s been systematically backstabbed by a Repug majority in legislature) or the moronic Repug opponent.
Seems like we need to do something to help them vent this anger while educating them about their choices; when we got past the anger, it was obvious they had no real information about the Dem candidates.
[sigh]
I can’t watch the puling this morning after facing reality yesterday.
Good morning CHS and firepups. Been sorta saving this for you.
Nearly three weeks a go, I found myself driving thru Crawford, TX, since it was on my route dictated to me by permit, issued from the state of Texas. Coming into the sleepy little town, a billboard with Dubyas and Pickles smiling visages, welcomed people to Crawford. The one stop sign in town was witness to a flurry of activity, it seems a train had derailed, in downtown Crawford, and cranes were loading up the mashed-up hulks of ruined train cars, loading them on tractor trailers, to be hauled off.
I remember thinking, how symbolic, now I think it was an omen. You just can’t make this shit up.
I might actually watch the shows today, just to see for myself the lengths to which these creeps will go. I’d say watch ‘em squirm, but I don’t think they’ll be pressed enough by anyone. I do so hope it’s over for them.
We have the sweetest little canyon wrens living in our yard, right outside my kitchen window (what luck!). They are tiny, grey/brown birds with long, narrow beaks and a thrilling trill – descending, unmistakable, reminds me so much of being on the river. The male hops around the yard, inspecting the bug situation. A few days ago he hopped into the garage looking for spiders and scared the whiskers off the cat, who was sleeping in there.
Ewww, who would have sex with Hastert? Ewwww!
Thanks dratty. I saw that debate and jumped up cheering for Menendez when he didn’t let Kean get by with his BS. That’s how it should be done!
Another example of how weak we look; I’m now watching Putnam and Rahm. Reynolds says he couldn’t be there so he sent in a Putnam in as as a substitute. Compare that to this morning on C-SPAN when there was a scheduled debate between spokesmen of the NRCC and the DCCC. The DCCC didn’t send in a substitute, they left the spokesman of the NRCC there alone to say whatever he wanted with no one there to counter.
Pathetic.
Bunky @
63
Agree.
Rham is doing the same thing.
Until we get someone in leadership with balls, we will continue to lose elections..and deservedly so.
Woodward now on Russert.
Rayne how about introducing these women to the internet at the libary and firedoglake. Most modern libaries have kids book sections and regularcomics/japanese magna (which can appeal to girls as well) for older kids. That plus DVDS/tapes for the VCR they can check out while mom reads the blogs
Rahm shows how to deal with overtalking.
Just keep talking, calmly, without stridence, without matching the shrill. Just keep talking and make your points.
The verbal bullies can keep making fools of themselves. But Dems must just keep making their points. Keep talking. If the moderator persists in enabling the overtalkers, just keep talking. Cool, calm. Change. A new direction. A new tone.
People will get the message.
Tom Davis on Scheiffer says the Ethics Committee page investigation will get to the truth, “there will be interrogations…”
Complete with waterboarding? After all, Republicans assure us that it’s the only way to get the truth out of witnesses…
Can somebody give me the rundown on the debate on meet the press…? How did Claire do…overall..?
James Baker III on Stephanopulus. Baker has an “Iraq Study” group, that will release its results after the midterms.
“Complete with waterboarding?”
LMAO.
Is there a way to get to that original Rickie Lee Jones “Had Enough”, YouTube thing, that was here a couple weeks ago? I want to send it to some family and pals here and in Texas.
anyone else think it strange that we never see anyone willing to talk about the facts in the foleyerect routine?
all they are going to put on are people that are willing to lie about what happened, and have!
maybe Soros or someone will actually start a new news network that understands the cronkite or the murrow reality of news, you know, just the plain facts? guess we will wait a while
Noonan:
Frank Lassee is a well known kook in Wisconsin. I actually think that he is a “useful idiot” to us, because the airwaves and the papers are now full of police, educators and lawmakers psushing back from that comment and making some rational gun control points.
The Sunday morning paper here is Madison (which is very conservative, even though it is ostensibly to some extent a joint publication of the weekday liberal and conservative papers) was instead all about gun locks. I don’t know for sure, but this seems to be an NRA-sponsored response to the rash of school shootings.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m willing to believe that gun locks might help, but I can’t believe they will do much more than the lock on the box that held the guns that killed the Weston High School principal here a week or so ago. Parents lock guns up now, but their kids routinely find a way to get to them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to be a gun-industry friendly placebo offered up at times like this to divert attention from the ubiquity of guns in our society.
Finally, an interesting column that ran in the local paper the weekend of the recent local shooting, although it was written before the shooting happened. It is by Joel McNally and is titled: “What’s With The Violence That Attracts White Folks?” It got some letters to the editor from people that didn’t understand the satirical aspects:
http://www.madison.com/archive…..300050.php
mOropeza #79 — ever run into a woman so ANGRY she wasn’t ready to listen?
Yeah. I could try, but yesterday was NOT the day.
Maybe it was full moon madness, but they just wanted to dump yesterday. You’ve got to be up to the job of listening until they are through with it, and it could take a while. I’m half tempted to go back to these same individuals in a week and try it again, to see if they’ve chilled out a wee bit, enough for me to answer highly specific questions.
mikeNmo @ 83
I was surfing, I didn’t see all of it.
I thought Russert hit Talent a lot harder.
IMHO, her inexperience wrt the ME was pretty apparent. She wants to “redeploy” to other countries in the ME and evidently none of her people explained to her that that’s very dicey. Nobody wants our troops in their country. Russert asked her and she didn’t seem to understand that it was an issue.
She clearly emerged as more open to withdrawal than Talent. On that basis, I’d say she won, but I’m not exacty neutral.
Morning everyone! Interesting mix at the lake today. Makes up for the moldy talking heads. Latter will just have to babble without my presence today. I’ve had it up to here with spin, & the sun’s shining on our maples in the woods. Ah-h-h.
oilfieldguy 74
OMG! And you didn’t get a picture? Heck.
Probably just as well, though. No doubt you’d a been slapped in the pokey for yer trubbles.
Besides, your words alone, and all the references earlier to Jeb’s private closet, are worth a 1000 pix in my head. THANX. ;->
OK at 86 — here’s the easiest place to find just the song. If you want the original video, I’ll have to do a little more digging for the link.
mOropeza @ 80
That’s a great idea. I’ve been (perhaps annoyingly) pushing an idea for FDL to create business cards for purchase on their cafepress website. These business cards would have the site address, the name, an elegant logo, and a pithy and intriguing quote that would draw people to the website. We, the readers of FDL, could share the cards with our friends, family and acquaintances. We could leave them behind in hotel lobbies, library tables, college cafeterias, and anywhere people might be receptive. It is one thing to tell people about FDL, and another thing entirely to give them a card that they can ponder and refer to later. And a card lends the website a certain authority and legitimacy that increases the likelihood that people will stop by and see what is going on here.
OK kiddo — here’s a selection of them at YouTube, take your pick.
Prairie Sunshine @ 81
Prairie Sunshine,
Do you not see that any Republican or Independent voter that might want to vote Dem will see this and relate it to how the Democrats handle the threat of terror?
People will get the message.
Iceberg straight ahead.
U.S.S. Chimpy and Whimpy setting sail for a coral reef near you.
-GSD
John Casper @ 84
We in this family have conducted our own little focus group on Iraq. We include Demos, Repubs and neither, with a generous sprinkling of military members, and vets. We have decided it’s way, way past time to leave Iraq.
OK Kiddo – just the song from C & L
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/HYHEMix.mp3
ps – I want some props for restraint shown in not discussing a certain college sporting event yesterday *g*
Rayne @ 94
T.Y.
Rayne @ 89
I went door-knocking for Lamont the other day. I found that the people were most responsive to the simple message:
“Ned Lamont will stand up to George Bush. He will not be Bush’s best friend, the way that Lieberman is. Ned Lamont will help to end the war in Iraq, bringing our troops home and reinvesting all that money in Connecticut”
atrocities starting now on West Coast…..HouseGate must be killing them, if Fox would rather lead with Iraq.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 96
I completely agree, although I’m sorry to say others in my family are
fuckingbrain dead.Our operations in Iraq violate every principle of the Powell Doctrine for the use of Military force. Our troops are taught to fight in conjunction with artillery and airpower. They are taught to take “military objectives,” such as a hill or a beachhead. Building democratic institutions is not a “military objectives.” That’s why we have the Posse Comitatus Act, we don’t want the Armed Forces doing in American what Bush wants them to do in Iraq.
cbl @ 98
T.You.
And yes, I know all about the very recent sport events, like in yesterday, concerning Oklahoma and Texas. Needless to say, we here (in OK.) were not pleased.
Wolffie just hammered Republican Patrick McHenry when McHenry tried to blame it on the Democrats.
“Do you have any evidence?” Wolffie kept asking.
McHenry didn’t.
John Casper @ 103
Patrick McHenry is making a fool out of himself LOL
Sorry about your day Rayne I did the census once and had to listen to a lot of angry people who hate the government explain why they hated the government. On the other hand some people were great I hope you have a good day next time.
OT…here in Hudson Valley NYS…Repub attack ads all bright and obnoxious hitting the airways, slime central. ugh.
BirdiePolice Alert to aisle 13.
Apologies, Deacon Blues, especially on a Sunday, but I do believe Christy has her birdie I.D. spot-on.
Definitely looks like an Eastern Wood-Pewee to me as well.
And pewees, being flycatchers, probably aren’t closely related to titmice at all.
Flycatchers (Fam. Tyrannidae) are thought to have arisen in the Neotropics. And the family is found only in the New World.
Titmice are in Fam. Paridae (chickadees, tits etc.). Parids are widespread in temperate and boreal regions around the world.
So, other than being feathered, small and cute, ….
ArchTeryx? What say you??
Boids! ReddHedd! Repuke implosion! Fitz!
Hi everybody!
I danced my ass off at the local rock & roll dive last night. Got compliments on my new bumper sticker HATED BUSH BEFORE IT WAS COOL.
Tom Reynolds cancels This Week appearance
“Flu like symptoms”
Uh huh
Sharkbabe @ 108
Love that bumpersticker!!!
Sharkbabe @ 107
Nothing like a night of dancing to make you feel better. I know it works for me.
I did not want to worry about FOLEY-GATE myself because I have another campaign-PHILIP ZELIKOW MUST RESIGN. ZELIKOW is the evil genius who sabotaged, obstructed and lied in the 9/11 Commission Report. He totally covered up about July 10 2001 meeting.
However the public is definitely focusing on Child-Molesting CongressMEN. Last night, Nancy Grace on CNN, was so very sexy when she quoted Maf54, “Do I make you horny”.
Have many of you seen that Maf54-FOLEY actually
logged on to his instant messaging account AFTER entering Rehab for alcholism (and the secret Rehab center is rumored to be scientology rehab).
Also rumors say Foley did not seem to have a drinking problem. But Foley was still trolling for teenagers-after resigning! (But I am going to have a drinking problem is this stuff continues. I must have been accidentally transported to an Evil Parallel
Universe.)
Further if one-tenth of what Wayne Madsen is reporting is valid, then it is proof that this really is an EPU.
http://waynemadsenreport.com/
In the Sep. 30/Oct. 1 edition of WMR, it was reported: “. . . WMR has learned of possible connections between GOP lawmakers and former school teacher John Mark Karr, who was arrested in Thailand and deported to the United States after he claimed, falsely, that he killed six-year old Jon Benet Ramsey at her Boulder, Colorado home in 1996. After Boulder prosecutors declined to prosecute Karr for JonBenet’s death, he was transferred to Sonoma County, California to face misdemeanor child pornography charges. However, U.S. intelligence source report to WMR that the high degree of interest shown by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. intelligence officials in Karr — including having one CIA officer in Bangkok intercede, along with DHS Bangkok attache Ann Hurst, with Thai law enforcement authorities after Karr’s arrest — was due to Karr’s knowledge of the involvement of top U.S. government officials in a major pedophilia ring.”
Tim, letting the Rethug shut you down when you’re a Dem on camera sure isn’t working. Sends a nasty subliminal message.
Just keep talking, cool, calm, make the factual points. If the opportunity presents, make a “XXX may want to shut me up, but the facts will be heard…” kind of comment and then continue. Just keep it up, keep talking, cool, calm…Dems are going to change the tone….
I stand by my tactic.
Al-Jazeera Leak Hearing starts tomorrow. Probably nothing interesting will come of it. But who knows.
Rangel doing well on Late Edition
Christy Hardin Smith @ 92
Thanks! I think I know how busy you are. So don’t worry about it. I’ll dig for it.
Tony Perkins on Fox saying the repugs couldn’t say anything due to not wanting to gay bash…
Laura Ingrahm talking head on Fox saying it’s the media’s fault (making air quotes and describing the tittillating nature of the Foley story)
Love the birds, Christy – you’re inspiring me to actually put out a feeder this winter.
Also musing about the fact that traditional media buyers get commissions on their buys; pardon my cynicism, but wouldn’t that skew their choices away from what’s actually in the best interests of our candidates…
Prairie,
It’s just our different styles. I see the Rethug tactic and how effective it was. Using our same tactics, the one you want to continue to use, will give more of the same-lost elections.
I say come at them like a rabid bulldog. You can send a message if you speak it louder than theirs.
Like Menendez did. He fired up the base. You can see it by the comments here. That’s what we need.
you mean like this one blondie ?!?!?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209163,00.html
Rayne @
89
I sometimes forget it’s not this way for everyone. It certainly is in this part of Ohio, for many many people.
People go to different agencies to get help paying the water bill, heating, etc.
They don’t get treated for bronchitis because it’s just too expensive.
Retail therapy? There is no money for shopping.
Prairie Sunshine 114 and earlier
I agree! In my experience, whining & shouting turns people off.
Sober, thoughtful, tough and unshakable, continuing to talk through the obnoxious interruptions (even when Timmy’s asleep at the switch). That’ll do it.
The contrast tw’ repugs’ TALKINGPOINTRANT and Dems’ tough, well-reasoned, logical ADULT voice adds power to the Dem’s message, IMO.
Tim,
Tim,
Tim.
I’m NOT saying use the same tactic. Take a look at Democratic speakers on with Republican speakers. There’s been a consistent pattern that when the Rethug starts over-talking, the Dem shuts up.
That’s what has to stop. Keep talking, keep talking. Cool, calm, “XXX may want to talk over me, but the facts will be heard….”
Sharkbabe…8:18am
“danced my ass off”
Your ass is gone? I’m concerned. You obviously should be in the hospital. We don’t want to lose you.
Adie @ 124
Fine, you and Sunshine have the right to your opinions. But it brings my blood to a boil when we have pacifist debates by Dems while the other side controls the tempo. I say fight fire with fire.
We need to change our tactics in debates- just like we need to change them in Iraq. Both are not working.
OldCoastie at 116
YEAH! I love listening to old gravel-voice ply his craft. He’s a master of the art! ;->
Tim — this is not a pacifist approach. This is the quiet, firm I-will-not-be-silenced approach of candidates and speakers who know they have truth on their side.
I’ve seen Rethugs get our speakers to shut themselves down by overtalking for years…even the hot-shot so-called expert consultants. That’s how they’re able to keep up the Dems are weak meme…it shows every time a Dem clams up during overtalking. Change the tone…Be firm in your convictions. The truth will set you free of the overtalkers….
Teddy Roosevelt: speak softly and carry a big stick.
“XXX may yell louder than me, but the facts will be heard…” Keep talking. Cool. Calm. Don’t let the bastards shut you down….
Prairie Sunshine @ 125
I agree with you there, Sunsine. Don’t let them this sit there and control the tempo and air time.
But I know that if you show passion, as cons do in debates, you will fire up the base.
Look at it this way. The Dem candidate message will get out no matter what via ads or speaking engagements, news coverage, etc. I’m talking about being passionate-not passive-in debates by not letting them get by in trying to show Democrats are pacifists.
Sunshine,
I’ll use my reply to your other comment in my reply to this one also.
Beautiful peewee shot. Rented a house upstate a few summers ago, where there was a pair of phoebes nesting on the side of the house. Reminded me of the chimney swifts of my youth.
In other news, even Tweety is apparently coming down on these lying hypocrites. Via C&L:
Matthews: “You’ve had three sex scandals in a row knocking off your top guy, maybe the voters will pay attention to that?”
. . . the FBI’s failure to investigate the Foley e-mails. The FBI continues to claim that their initial review of the e-mails “was hampered because the group that provided it the email on July 21st of this year wouldn’t name the page and edited the messages.”
That group would be CREW. “I would call that a lie, in fact” was Melanie’s response to the FBI claim. In fact, the e-mails weren’t redacted. The page’s name and the staffer’s name were on the e-mails . . .
snip
This suggests executive branch knowledge and involvement.
This story needs some sunlight, fertilizer and water.
Link
Tim.
I respect your point of view more than you might think. And I think you and Prairie Sunshine are perhaps closer to agreement on tactics than it might appear from this kerfuffle.
PS’s key that wins me over is NOT FALLING QUIET. NOT SHUTTING UP. NOT GIVING IN.
I’d like to see Dems. mix it up more, but with a different style from the most annoying of the repugs.
Now, at long last, I think the repugs are beginning to suffer from Talkingpoint-Overuse Syndrome. The public may just be waking up to cue in on this, for whatever reasons, & it might signal a shift in who they listen to most carefully, who they’re willing to believe. That quiet-talker you find so annoying might be getting through better than before. At least, I hope so. I think we all can agree that, the Dems MUST KEEP TALKING, and not let their message(s) be silenced.
Google was leading the Hastert stories with this LTE from the Indianapolis Star:
House leadership wrong to avoid action on Foley
October 8, 2006
I think we’re talking nuance of the same tactic, Tim. Seems to me that if we try to outshout the Rethugs one danger we set in play is their ability to make the argument–see, we’re all the same–stick with us. Better the ranter you know than booga, booga, those Dems…and then set in play their fear tactics of Pelosi or other specific individuals in charge….
I thought Rahm Emanuel did an effective job of doing doing the calm, cool, keep talking, keep putting out the facts tactic. Show assured self-confidence compared to the sky-is-falling we must be very afraid Rethugs who hide in closets of hypocrisy…literally and figuratively.
Hey, I gotta check out to put on my caregiver hat. Been great talking with you Tim!
“Rice’s Tour of Mideast Yields Little Progress on Key Issues”
We have two very bad dogs in the Middle East. The Bush government and the Israeli government.
Sometimes it’s very difficult for me to comprehend which tail is wagging which dog.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00699.html
I’ll add some good news to what I saw on C-SPAN this morning.
Many people, probably Dems, called in and brought up the problems with Diebold and ESS voting machines and the fact that they and are Republican owned.
They called in so much that the host, Peter ??? mentioned that they would have more talks on it.
Finally
windje at 8:54 am
I completely agree and thanks for the link.
I think it suggests that the WH knew for at least the last three months. I think that’s why the WH is defending Hastert, he’s their first Firewall.
John Casper @ 84
Not good results, then. I’m not surprised.
CHS at 67
Sorry to be so out-of-touch. Could you give me a short take on Jane’s “petri-dish analogy”? Thnx
Cozumel @ 110
Tom Reynolds makes me want to barf, so it’s not hard for me to believe he has that effect on himself.
Sunshine and Adie,
Yes, we are. We are on the same side in this discussion.
I’ll leave it at that. Maybe we stirred up some in our base. haha
Have a great day!
Christy:
Thought of you with your little Peanut when I heard this during a long drive last Friday
You are my little bird
http://www.npr.org/templates/s…..Id=6210683
John Casper @ 138
I think Abu Gonzales (FBI = DOJ) quashed this.
Under the covers with Foleygate – part II
Tim
I like your style & pizazz.
It takes all of us, eh? ;->
I thought McCaskill did reasonably well and made some telling points against that dweeby looking no-Talent. But jeebus, woman, speak up – just start talking steady and polite,like Rahm (can’t stand that man but he did a good job) but keep talking and maybe it would wake Timmeh up.
As she’s a woman, I’m sure she was advised to avoid looking angry or strident, and choked back at least two responses she wanted to blurt out. She knows she has to work that outstate Missouri vote and that is the audience I think she was playing to.
From article in SF Chronicle about as goes missouri so goes the nation:
“McCaskill admits that she lost her race for governor two years ago against Matt Blunt (son of Republican House Majority Whip Roy Blunt), by ignoring rural Missouri, counting instead on the bright blue blotches of Democrats bisecting the state”
Fresh thread, gang. :)
I just saw an egregious campaign ad for Tom Reynolds; he apoligizes about the Foley deal! As in, “I’m sorry I trusted everyone else who fucked up in their handling of this matter.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pYWsl2Ml_A
Adie, Thanks.
And you hit the nail on the head. It takes all of us.
I couldn’t have said it better.
No matter what tactic we use. How ’bout a mix of mine, yours and Sunshine’s?
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Adie,
Thanks. And you hit the nail on the head:
How ’bout a mix of mine, yours and Sunshine’s?
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Bingo!
Oilfieldguy, I always think valentines to you. The trainwreck!
Adie,
Remember Clinton washing the floor with Chris Wallace.
I loved it!
I saw Rahm on This Week. He did a very effective job by simply listing the reasons for the huge blowback of this scandal. I am in Massachusetts and believe me, after the church scandal’s here–voters are in no frame of mind to tolerate this crap from these career politicians. Parents and especially soccer moms are livid over these revelations.
If I were a democrat on one of these “talk shows” I would very quickly rebut “but Gerry Studds and Barney Frank”–with that was 23 years ago, Studd’s was censured, and the voters of both of those district CHOSE to send them back for many more terms. Now, let’s talk about the events that have led us up to this mess–who knew, when did they know, and WHY were they protected!! To say that I am disgusted is to put it mildly. I knew Matthew’s and Russert because we were all on the Hill at the same time–they didn’t have a hundred bucks between themelves and now they are making big money (and think they are legends in their own minds) they have quite simply, forgotten where they came from!!
There is so much blame to go around–the congress, the press, the media–they are all to cosy with each other and they are all complicit.
Tim
Confession here. At the time of the notorious Clintonrant, we were in process of getting back up to speed with our toobz here, so I missed it even on the telly.
Did catch delicious snippets in replay tho. Can hardly wait till chores around here ease a bit and I can replay the whole interview.
Now THERE was a time when a Dem. used a perfectly-controlled “temper tantrum” to stunning advantage, thereby proving YOUR point above. HAH!
Gonna bet FOX will NEVER invite BigDawg back, heh heh. But, thanx to the toobz, anyone & everyone can replay the performance to their hearts’ content. ;->
who needs FOX when you have MSNBC.
MSNBC = All GOP / All the Time !
The main “news” on MSNBC might as well read, “will voters come back to sanity and vote GOP in November”.
I just can’t watch this crap any longer.
Absolutely disgusting.
Sunshine,
I’m not sure you’ll see this but I just watched Rahn mop the floor with Putnam. I had missed it because I was watching the debate on MTP
He stayed on target, didn’t blow up, and made clear concise points. But most of all, he didn’t let Putnam control the tone.
I stand corrected.
Love this thread! Wish I’d been on real time during the shows.
One thing I love to do is watch for the talking points they will be trotting out over the next week. If you watch a couple of the Sunday morning shows you can spot them pretty quickly.
I did get pissed when I was watching George’s show though. I thought Rahm Emmanuel should have come down hard on Adam Putnam, who strikes me as an insufferable little s**t.
Posted by the Lemming Herder from Don’t Be A Lemming!
This just in….
Mike Malloy on MSNBC today on Foley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOFh0rEjPpA
and, added bonus, he’s PACKING HEAT!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8TubU-YbHs
Guess he takes that ‘watch your back’ stuff seriously.
All kidding aside, he shreds this Malzberg creep, and Malzberg gets put in his place by the hostess
when he whines about being cut off at about the 5:50 mark in the second clip.
Pull quote from Malloy:
“I don’t think that this is a Foley scandal, or Congressional scandal, it’s a *Republican* scandal.”
nwa