Larry Kudlow of CNBC usually fawns all over any Republican that appears on his show with a Stepford type quality that is standard for right wing talkies, but Mike Allen’s (chief political correspondent) almost drooling segment is quite appalling for a neutral <journalist>. Back in May, ‘05—Robertson told THIS WEEK, that Rudy was a good friend of his and would do a super job as President even though he didn’t share his views. (Judges are a bigger threat than Hitler to Pat.)
Allen: The campaign did a masterful job of ramping up the suspense. They announced a big endorsement and we were wondering if it would be Colin Powell or who it would be and this took everyone by surprise. Larry, this is the good housekeeping seal of approval for Christian Conservatives who are suspicious of the Mayor’s views on Gay rights, abortion rights, as you know, some of who are offended by some parts of his life style. Now you have the most famous Christian leader , short of the Pope and Billy Graham —saying Rudy Giuliani is acceptable. And Larry, this is big.—Pat Robertson said the biggest issue for social conservatives IS—and you know what it is…Selection of Judges. Now that’s spin for Rudy because that’s the one place where as you know he’s congruent with them…
What’s sad about this report by Allen is that Rudy has not appointed strict Conservative judges when he had the chance in the past. Allen could have easily turned to one of the Politico’s own articles written by Ben Smith:
A Politico review of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York state’s lower courts found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8 to 1. One of his appointments was an officer of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Another ruled that the state law banning liquor sales on Sundays was unconstitutional because it was insufficiently secular.
Doesn’t that seem like a very relevant piece of information to bring to a report instead of offering spin for Rudy? Most people know that Pat Robertson is one step removed from the loony bin so any endorsement by him for a candidate carries virtually no weight in the extreme religious right community—except in the mind of Allen and Lawrence Kudlow: “Rudy’s Big Score“
The Dobson/FRC base shudders at the thought of Rudy. Laura Ingraham said on the O’Reilly Factor that many callers from Robertson’s club of listeners were not happy with Pat’s endorsement of Rudy because it goes against their values.
Bill Moyers looks at the quandary we find ourselves in Musharraf’s Pakistan vis à vis stability in the Middle East that has eerie parallels to our schizophrenic relationship with Saddam Hussein in Iraq:
Musharref and Saddam Hussein, our friend only twenty years ago, were cut from the same cloth…so once again America’s support of a dictator has backfired. Musharraff now says elections will be held by February and he’ll quit the army…but he’ll still be the man in power so we face a quandary: back a dictator against his own people in the name of a failed strategy to fight terrorists…or back the people and risk democracy. The U.S. invaded Iraq saying democracy was just around the corner. but more than four years of war produced chaos, not democracy.
And proof positive that information is the great democratizer, even though Musharraf silenced the news media, pictures of the rebellion (would that our own lawyers and judges feel as strongly here about the flagrant violations of the law) make their way worldwide via the Internet.
I was interviewed a while ago on Mr Media’s blog and he asked me about my political beliefs. The idea of what a Centrist means has always baffled me as a belief system. I understand calling yourself that, but not as a bargaining tool. Right wing bloggers like Hugh Hewitt use the word “center/right” to hide their extremism to a guy like Wolf Blitzer.
ANDELMAN: I have one last question: many people find that their political views become more conservative as they get older. Are you seeing any sign of that within your own beliefs?
AMATO: What is the center? Do you know what I mean? Has anybody defined what the center is? I believe that we all through our experiences in life, we all come to decisions and conclusions which we are comfortable with morally, what we think is the right thing to do. So that’s how I’ve developed my convictions, so they are not changing, they’re only getting stronger since I’ve been involved with blogging and in the political process.
Let’s be clear that “centrism” is, for the most part, a cosmetic pose for the benefit of Beltways journalists who know that The Most Important Thing Is To Be A Centrist.
In terms of what those centrists actually support in terms of policy, I’d say there are roughly 3 kinds of things. Occasionally they live up to their name and push through genuine compromises between left and right. More often than that they push fake “split the baby” compromises which achieve nothing genuine but have the appearance of doing “something.”
And, most often, “centrism” is used as a cover for what amounts to bipartisan endorsement of corruption in the name of furthering the Might and Majesty of the establishment powers.
One of the state’s largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved.
Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed.
Health Net had sought to keep the documents secret even after it was forced to produce them for the hearing, arguing that they contained proprietary information and could embarrass the company. But the arbitrator in the case, former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Cianchetti, granted a motion by lawyers for The Times, opening the hearing to reporters and making public all documents produced for it. Read on…
There is little doubt that similar policies exist at nearly every health insurance provider.
In his latest installment of IOKIYAR, Chris Matthews chastises Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in general for their suggested solutions to dealing with immigration even though Craig Crawford points out that Giuliani’s rhetoric doesn’t differ all that much from Hillary Clinton’s.
From C&Ler Heather’s email:
In an amazing example of double speak here Chris Matthews slams the Democrats’ stance on immigration while defending the Giuliani stance that drivers licenses should not be allowed but still thinks there should be an ID issued. What’s the difference as an end result? Personally I’d like to know when we’re going to end the practice of slave labor here which we’re using as surely as we were in the lead up to the Civil War, and give these workers some rights and protections and put an end to the abuse of the companies which are hiring them to the detriment of the workers themselves and to American workers who have their wages driven down as well. [..] The entire framing of this debate by the media is ridiculous. As long as we’re arguing about driver’s licenses vs some other ID’s, we’re talking about meaningless semantics which solve nothing.
Here’s some more on what exactly happened in the negotiations that led up to the rushed confirmation of Michael Mukasey yesterday.
According to sources inside and outside the Democratic leadership, Harry Reid allowed a vote on Mukasey because in exchange the Republican leadership agreed to allow a vote on the big Defense Appropriations Bill, which contains $459 billion in military spending but doesn’t fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One key reason Dem leaders wanted this defense approps bill passed, sources tell me, is that they wanted to be able to argue that they had sent a bill to the President funding the military, if not the war itself. The idea was that doing this would allow them to protect themselves in the days ahead when the battle over Iraq funding heats up and Republicans inevitably charge that Dems are refusing to fund the troops.
“This lets us argue, `Hey, we just sent $450 billion to the military,” one leadership source tells me. Read on…
Instead of a candidate today, Firedoglake is doing something different in the Blue America slot. We’ll be discussing the Rahm Emanuel-Tom Tancredo alliance and how to deal with it. The leader of Illinois biggest immigrants’ rights coalition (130 organizations), Josh Hoyt of the Illinois Coalition of Immgrant and Refugee Rights will be our guest. Many of us met him at Yearly Kos and know he’s a dedicated fighter. Speaking with him for an hour on the phone just now made me certain that for those of us who want to make Emanuel feel accountable have a great ally in Josh.
In September, PBS hosted a Republican presidential candidates’ debate at historically black college in Baltimore — and all of the top four GOP candidates decided to skip it. This followed close on the heels of a Univision-hosted Republican debate in Miami on Latino issues — which was cancelled when all but one candidate declined invitations. The National Council of La Raza asked Republican candidates to address its annual conference in July, but none showed up. The National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials extended similar invitations to the entire GOP field, but only Duncan Hunter agreed to attend.
Just two weeks ago, the entire Republican presidential field blew off the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s debate, co-hosted by Fox News. A not-so-subtle pattern emerged — if you’re darker than a manila envelope, the GOP candidates aren’t interested in talking to you.
But now, I’m pleased to report that the Republicans have had a change of heart.
Jilted by the GOP earlier this year, viewers of the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network will get a chance to see the Republican presidential candidates debate in Miami on Dec. 9.
Simon Rosenberg attributes the sudden turnaround to the GOP’s new-found understanding that the party’s strategy isn’t working.
GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain appeared on Hardball yesterday with his 95 year old mother, Roberta. We all have family members who say or do things that embarrass us from time to time, but rarely does it happen on national television — this was one of those moments.
It’s obvious that Mrs. McCain is very proud of her son and she did a wonderful job touting his experience and service to our country. But when she was questioned about one of her son’s opponents, Mitt Romney, she wandered into strange territory, leaving Senator McCain scrambling into damage control mode;
Matthews: “…You don’t think Romney’s done much heavy lifting for America then?”
R. McCain: “No, I don’t. I think being Senator - uh a Congressman, uh, a Senator - whatever it was, a Governor for four years. And as far as the Salt Lake City thing, he’s a Mormon and the Mormons of Salt Lake City caused that scandal and to clean that up, I - it’s, it’s not even again, it’s not a subject.”
J. McCain: “The views of my mother are not necessarily the views of mine.”
(nervous laughter from Sen. McCain and Matthews)
R. McCain: “Well that’s my opinion and you asked me.”
Hey all! Actor212 here, and it’s my last day of guest-blogging Mike’s Round Up. I want to thank John, Nicole, Blue Gal and the rest of the crew here for making me welcome and helping me get this thing right for you, and of course, you for reading my pieces. I’ve had a blast. You guys have made it feel like the old days…
And a special thank you to Mike for tossing me the keys. Thanks, Mike!
Let’s get right to this, then…
- Quick administrative note: The Pepper Farm tells us that Rick Santorum is scheduled to pay a visit to the University of Virginia on Monday, so if you’re in the area, stop by and give him our regards. Bring a dog. Redjalapeno hopes the work load will lift enough that a report can be posted of this event. Sounds like fun!
- James Wolcott on the right wing views of torture. Believe it or not, someone thinks we DON’T torture enough! Wolcott’s always a hoot…which I suppose is in its own right “torture” to right wingers.
- Ho-hum…another terror alert…and just in time for Christmas! To periphrase Thers, maybe we could start a rumour that Al Qaeda will give a pass to any store that says Happy Holidays. I wonder if that would get the Keyboard Kommandos off their butts and standing a post?
- Nevermind Republicans, aren’t Americans supposed to be moral? Badtux compares Iraq to My Lai, and wonders where the outrage went.
- Over at Bill’s Big Rant, Bill asks, “Will the Presidential power grab end in 2009?”
- Now here’s a room with a view that would make me pause: Lydia Cornell talks to Elizabeth Kucinich.
It is my great honor and great pleasure to introduce next week’s guest blogger here. A woman who’s blog is a go-to for any progressive, a woman of great renown, not only in Blogtopia (thanks, Skippy!), but in the real world.
Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Shakespeare’s Sister!
Please mail all Round Up tips toshakespeares_sister at comcast spot net
OK, as Percy Dovetonsils would say “That’s thirty, as they say in the biz, and that means it’s time for me to leave…
I remember how committed the Southern California grocery strikers were a few years ago. They were picketing for months and months and people really responded to them…
Digby writes about Unions and supporting the striking workers as only she can.
Unions and the solidarity it promotes are an important key to a progressive America, whether it’s the Writers Guild or the UAW or the janitors or the health care workers. They promote a strong and stable middle class — and help us see ourselves as one people with common interests…read on
Realistically, it’s almost impossible to believe that Bush is some kind of Manchurian President, intentionally screwing up and deliberately undermining the United States. But sometimes, it’s hard not to wonder. Dan Froomkin, for example, did a nice job today describing Bush’s disastrous dollar policy.
President Bush doesn’t talk about the dollar much, but when he does, he’s got exactly one thing to say about it: “We have a strong dollar policy.”
It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that Bush’s “strong dollar policy” is driving the greenback into the ground.
The dollar is hitting record lows this week amidst fears that the mortgage-market meltdown will spread to other parts of the economy and as the Chinese make noise about moving more of their investments into euros. But it is the underlying dynamics of the American economy — continued massive trade deficits and a whopping national debt — that have put the dollar in such a precarious position.
A true strong dollar policy, aimed at increasing the confidence of international investors, would require Bush to do a bunch of things he doesn’t want to do. For instance, he would have to stop borrowing so much money to fund his tax cuts and his wars. He would need to encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, rather than depend on it to keep propping up the domestic economy by decreasing them. That sort of thing.
Instead, Bush just offers the strong-dollar line, without specifics, and moves on.
If Bush were a Manchurian President he’d, well, probably do exactly this.
Meteor Blades has a great post up. John Conyers doesn’t seem overly excited to start Cheney/impeachment hearings and neither does Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And I liked her during the Schiavo debacle.
On Thur the Senate joined the House in an overwhelming majority to override the Bush veto of the The Water Resources Development Act authorizing projects “to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, restore the Everglades and Great Lakes fisheries and build flood-control projects nationwide.”
On a day when the Senate saw fit to kowtow once again to the President and the Republican minority, I would really like to cushion my profound disappointment by lauding them for this defeat over Bush’s feigning fiscal responsibility over a $23 billion bill aimed at protecting millions of Americans from another Katrina while at the same time begging for $200 billion a year to keep his war of choice afloat. As Jack Cafferty was quick to point out, this from a President that has forced our country further into debt in just his first 5 years than all 42 administrations preceding him combined. The national debt has now surpassed $9 trillion (12 zeros). However, I would be remiss in not pointing out why Sens Russ Feingold and Claire McCaskill were the only two Dems to vote against it.
The sad reality is that this bill-now-law lacked sorely needed reforms to prioritize projects and since it “only authorizes projects and does not appropriate funds” … “and with a limited annual construction budget of around $2 billion” it seems that most of these projects will never actually see the first dime spent on them, and the ones that do will not necessarily be the most needed.
It’s got to be one or the other, because Rahm Emanuel is behind efforts to build Democratic support for the Shuler/Tancredo “enforcement-only” bill currently winding its way through the House.
Think about it — our House leadership is strong-arming Democrats into backing a bill which is the central agenda of the biggest racist xenophobe Tom Tancredo…read on
Tancredo’s racism is such that he’s the darling of the Malkin wing of the GOP. Americans want to secure the borders, but they also understand that we need true immigration reform and not some whacked out policy initiated by a man that called Miami a “Third World country.”
It’s hard to say for sure when the “silly season” started in the media’s coverage of the presidential campaign. If there was a “serious season,” it was exceedingly short. I’m afraid I missed it.
After yesterday’s flap over Hillary Clinton’s tip at an Iowa diner, a waitress tried to set campaign reporters straight: “You people are really nuts.”
Just like holiday Christmas retailers, the spawn of BillO and Dobson like to rush the season. Talk2Action:
These days, the Religious Right doesn’t even have the decency to wait until Thanksgiving to start whining about what terms people use to describe the December holidays.
Liberty Counsel, a Religious Right legal group associated with the late Jerry Falwell, issued an alert Oct. 30 vowing to slap retailers with either a “Friend” or “Foe” label this year based on whether the word “Christmas” appears in their ads, in catalogs and on Web sites.
Focus on the Family, in an effort to be hip and trendy, has a new video short out featuring Stuart Shepard, one of its faux reporters. The cheeky Shepard explains how this year he’s celebrating “Tossmass” by discarding all of the catalogs that fail to use religiously correct terminology.
Not to be outdone, the folks at World Net Daily are hawking “Christmas Defense Kits” featuring a bumper sticker that reads, “This is America! And I’m going to say it: `Merry Christmas!’”
Thursday’s Worst Person In the World segment on Countdown was a real hoot. BillO took the Bronze and Silver for his discount Factor merchandise and his refusal to let go of the Rosie/MSNBC story and the Gold went to right wing nut jobs Melanie Morgan and Kathleen Willey on Fox Noise for accusing the Clintons of murdering their cats!! What?
Olbermann: “Do you people do nothing but sit there and smoke dope all day?!”