October 5, 2006 Posts
08:15 Harry's Attempt At Wit 09:34 Swann vs. Rendell 14:51 Patty's Prevarication on Foley's Fiasco 15:38 ACORN's Activities 19:41 Democrats Demagogue Foley Fiasco Despite Facts 21:23 Democratic Culture of Corruption Update, Part III
Harry's Attempt At Wit
In one of the most bizarre statements I've ever read, Harry Reid tried responding to President Bush's attacks on Democrats' fecklessness on national security. Here's what he said:
"Instead of ranting and raving every day on the campaign trail, President Bush should spend more time on the trail of Osama bin Laden. The American people are tired of the President's empty tough talk. They want leaders who are tough and smart. The President and his Republican Congress have no credibility left, and it's time for a new direction."Of course, Mr. Reid isn't saying that President Bush should fly over to Afghanistan and join the troops. This is just his inept way of pointing out that UBL hasn't been captured. I do agree with him that Americans want "leaders who are tough and smart", though those people are in short supply in the Democratic Party. They're especially lacking in that area amongst their leadership.
Harry, Remember something for me. There's nothing strong or tough about "killing the Patriot Act." That's best characterized as stupid and dangerous.
Of course, Harry's House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi, had to defend Democrats' indefensible votes in this official statement:
"This week, the President misrepresented Democrats' position on electronic surveillance, refusing to acknowledge that Democrats in the House supported a bipartisan surveillance proposal that would have allowed the communications of terrorists to be monitored legally. House Republican leaders, with the President's support, refused to allow that proposal to even be considered.That alternative legislation isn't a serious proposal. All it recommended was to add more judges that would hear wiretap applications, hardly the streamlining of the system. Ms. Pelosi tried getting a jab in:
"It is clear that, in the battle of ideas, the President is unarmed and can do nothing but make baseless charges in an effort to distract attention from his own failed policies in Iraq and elsewhere that have not made America safer."Talk about a snotty remark that's unbecoming of a person in leadership. They should be seen for what they are: a pathetic attempt to distract attention from the recorded votes that show Democrats as voting against final legislation for the important tools that were used in preventing numerous terrorist plots.
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 8:19 AM
August 2006 Posts
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Swann vs. Rendell
One of my favorite political analysts, Alexander K. McClure, watched the Ed Rendell vs. Lynn Swann debate last night. Alex is calling it a clear win for Lynn Swann. Here's some of the specifics from Alex's post:
On the school shooting in Lancaster County: Rendell talked about measures putting more police on the street and drug dealers. What does putting more police on the street have to do with gun violence in schools? Was the person who shot the school up a drug dealer? A few minutes later Swann pounced on Rendell's answer, noting that his answer had nothing to do with violence in schools.Frankly, I expect that people saw Rendell as a tired political hack who blamed everyone except himself for his failures. I also think that peoples' first impression of Mr. Swann was that of an energetic, charismatic leader who would lead people to a better Pennsylvanians. I also think they see the difference between a leader and a politician.
SATs: Pennsylvania's SAT scores are behind those of the neighboring state. Rendell did a classic Fast Eddie and said that more Pennsylvania seniors take them than across the nation. We're not comparing PA to Mississippi Eddie. We're comparing it to New Jersey. As for Rendell's pledge to hand out laptops, Swann handled it with all the grace ("poetry in motion") he brought to the football field - what good is the computer, he asked, if they can't read?
Closing Argument: Rendell came across as a classic liberal, a rather bizarre move for a debate being held in conservative Southwestern Pennsylvanian. He made the same old pledges he made in 2002 - smaller class size, all-day kindergarden. Rendell was reading off notes too. So much for being the brighter candidate in the race.
Swann came across in his closing statement as a reform conservative. He hit on the issue of doctors leaving the state, a huge issue in Pennsylvania, one not touched upon in the debate.
If alot of people were watching, I can't see how this debate didn't turn the momentum in Swann's favor in a big way.
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 9:34 AM
August 2006 Posts
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Patty's Prevarication on Foley's Fiasco
If ever there was an issue that was teed up for Patty Wetterling's lone area of expertise, it's the Foley Fiasco. Instead of hitting it out of the park, Patty's prevarication provided proof that she's afflicted with Fever Swamp disease. Here's what the Strib's Eric Black said about Wetterling:
Political scientist Steven Smith, who lives in the Sixth District, said the Foley case offers Wetterling "about as fat a pitch down the middle of the plate as you can get in politics."To continue the metaphor, Ms. Wetterling got that pitch and hit a feeble comebacker to the pitcher to end the inning. Frankly, Ms. Wetterling went over-the-top in her commercial. Had she used it to say something like:
"Representative Foley's actions are a reminder of how dangerous the internet can be. I pledge that I will work hard to write new laws so that our children are protected", she likely would've sounded like a sympathetic, credible figure on this issue.Instead the ad says:
"It shocks the conscience. Congressional leaders have admitted to covering up the predatory behavior of a congressman who used the internet to molest children."At minimum, that line is a fabrication.
BREAKING UPDATE: Here's what Drudge is reporting about the Foley IM's:
CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRYThis casts the
**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**
According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.
According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.
The primary source, an ally of Edmund, adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund. Both are fearful that their political careers will be affected if they are publicly brought into the matter.
The news come on the heels that Edmund has hired former Timothy McVeigh attorney, Stephen Jones.
Developing...
Amid evidence that the race is tight, Smith said the attention might rejuvenate Wetterling's flagging campaign. A new poll by the Zogby polling organization showed Bachmann ahead 46-43 percent. The poll was taken over several days, both before and after the Foley story broke , and Zogby spokesman Fritz Wenzel said there was no discernible difference in the poll findings between the pre-Foley and post-Foley interviewing days. If the Foley story is really going to help Wetterling politically, it would show up in the next round of polling, Wenzel said.That poll doesn't prove that the race is tightening up. It proves that Zogby used one of the oldest tricks in the book to cast this race in the best light for Ms. Wetterling. First of all, the Foley Fiasco broke Friday. The old trick that I'm refering to is polling on weekends, which favors Democrats with numbing consistency.
I tracked that in 2000, 2002 and 2004. I'd watch Zogby's and Rasmussen's tracking polls. The days that included Saturday and Sunday polling always gave a boost to Democrats. As soon as the tracking poll didn't reflect Saturday and Sunday polling, it returned to numbers that came closest to predicting the final outcome.
Smith said Wetterling is about to receive "a truckload of favorable publicity for her background, her personal history and her expertise that will be worth more to her than all the advertising she can buy for the rest of the campaign."That "truckload of favorable publicity" just got rerouted because the Foley Fiasco just went south because of today's developments. Instead, all of the DCCC's money won't buy Ms. Wetterling's credibility back.
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 2:51 PM
August 2006 Posts
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ACORN's Activities
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is raising a ruckus about an AP article. Here's a portion of their official statement on the AP article:
Despite a misleading first paragraph, the AP article actually contains not even a single allegation that ACORN has ever knowingly submitted a fraudulent application or sought to get an ineligible person to cast a ballot. The story wrongly conflates alleged fraudulent applications, incomplete applications, duplicate applications, and even complaints about bad handwriting, treating them as a manifestation of the same problem on ACORN's part. An incomplete card or one with messy handwriting represents a legitimate attempt by a person to register to vote. While ACORN makes every effort to make sure applicants complete their applications, including calling them, before submitting them, this is not always possible. Duplicate applications are often the result of applicants who may not remember whether or not they are already registered to vote at their current address.If I hadn't known about ACORN's prior activities, I might've bought some of that. Unfortunately for them, I have a memory of such things. They shouldn't have protested that loudly because then I wouldn't have googled them. Here's what I found:
ACORN Voter Registration Fraud Allegations Are Just The Tip of The IcebergIt appears as though ACORN's claim that the AP article doesn't contain allegations of wrongdoing might be right. Unfortunately for them, there are other articles that contain quite specific details of their illegal activities. This is just one paragraph of one such article. There's more to this article, too:
Illegalities, Fraud and Contradictions Detailed in Report on Lead Organizer of Florida's Amendment 5
A Florida state attorney is investigating thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registrations associated with the leading organizer of Florida's Amendment 5 ballot initiative. But this is just the tip of an iceberg of illegalities, fraud and contradictions connected to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). In recent days, ACORN has been at the epicenter of reports on thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registrations across the nation, including many by ex-felons, submitted by ACORN employees in the presidential swing states of Ohio, Colorado, Missouri Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Minnesota.
ACORN has paid workers for every voter registration card collected, a felony in Florida and also illegal in Missouri and Pennsylvania. ACORN also routinely accepted signatures for Amendment 5 from individuals who were not currently registered to vote, a requirement under Florida law. Voter registration and petition fraud is just the latest chapter in ACORN's long sordid history.Then there's this:
In the late 1990s, ACORN's Project Vote was involved in an $850,000 embezzling scheme, where union funds and kickbacks were used to illegally aid the 1996 re-election bid of then-Teamsters President Ron Carey. A New York federal jury found the Teamsters political director guilty of the conspiracy.Then this:
In 1996, the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps program stripped a $1 million grant from the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC). When applying, AHC had denied any connections to ACORN, since the grant was not intended for political advocacy organizations. Evidence later uncovered by the Inspector General found that not only was AHC created by ACORN, engaged in numerous transactions with one another, and sharing staff and office space, but it utilized the AmeriCorps grant to increase ACORN membership, a violation of federal guidelines.Why stop there?
Most egregiously, ACORN promotes ballot initiatives and local ordinances to force businesses to pay higher minimum wages, as they are currently doing with the minimum wage proposal in Amendment 5. In 1995, however, ACORN sued the state of California to have its employees exempted from the state minimum wage. ACORN argued that being forced to pay higher wages would mean that they would hire fewer employees, the very dilemma faced by businesses. Incredibly, ACORN stated that paying its employees a lower wage would allow them to be more sympathetic to the low- and moderate-income families they were attempting to help. ACORN argued that abiding by the state minimum wage would limit their ability to promote their agenda and would therefore be a violation of their First Amendment rights. The trial court judge dismissed ACORN's suits, stating, "leaving aside the latter argument's absurdity , we find ACORN to be laboring under a fundamental misconception of constitutional law."This is a classic case of winning a fight and getting clobbered in the war. It's apparent that ACORN isn't averse to using 'extraordinary techniques' to achieve its objectives.
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 3:47 PM
August 2006 Posts
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Democrats Demagogue Foley Fiasco Despite Facts
Democrats are about to get whip-sawed if they keep their jaw-jacking up much longer. They're acting as if this Drudge Report didn't exist. That's a monumental mistake.
CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRYThe Drudge Report article notwithstanding, Howard Dean issued the following incendiary statement:
**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit the DRUDGE REPORT**
According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.
According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats.
The primary source, an ally of Edmund, adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund. Both are fearful that their political careers will be affected if they are publicly brought into the investigation.
The prank scenario only applies to the Edmund IM sessions and does not necessarily apply to any other exchanges between the former congressman and others.
The news come on the heels that Edmund has hired former Timothy McVeigh attorney, Stephen Jones.
Developing...
"What Republicans don't understand is that this is about children, not politics. People are looking at this as concerned parents, not as Republicans or Democrats. It's disgraceful that Speaker Hastert and the Republican leadership didn't stand up for our children and do the right thing when they learned about the problem years ago, rather than a week after it became public. They chose to protect Congressman Foley and their party instead of the victims. Americans don't want to see finger pointing from the Republican leadership, they don't want to see the Speaker dodging tough questions. They want to see the people involved unequivocally stand up, take responsibility for their failures and investigate immediately."Excuse me, Gov. Dean, but the IM's were to an adult, age 18. Furthermore, the thought that "Democratic operatives" had this information and did nothing with it until now suggests that Democrats weren't interested in children as much as they were interested in playing political games with the information. In fact, it suggests that Democrats were counting on this 'October Surprise' all along in their efforts to win control of the House and Senate.
Not to be outdone, Harry Reid issued his own statement:
"It is not enough for House Republican leaders to work to ensure this disgrace is not repeated in the future. Every parent in America expects them to fully investigate why it was permitted in the first place. The problem today isn't the page program, which has been in existence since the time of Daniel Webster. The problem today is that House Republican leaders had evidence of a sexual predator in their ranks and chose to cover it up instead of choosing to protect these children. What is needed is for Republican leaders to testify under oath about what they knew, when they knew it, and why they didn't properly act."Excuse me Senator Reid, but who's the sexual predator you're refering to? It seems to me that Drudge's article proves that the lurid IM's were a prank, not reality. It also says that Democratic operatives had this information and held onto it until they could spring an 'October Surprise' in their desparate attempt to win back the House and Senate. Too bad it's about to backfire:
Let's think about the implications of all this if it is true and Jordan Edmunds, Republican, was simply a person in on joke IMs from 2003 with Foley. It means ABC News did not perform minimal due diligence since bloggers Wild Bill and Ms. Underestimating were able to get a brief glimpse at the AOL account name and find the young man in Oklahoma in a few short days. Can we assume ABC was able to get that far? Why not, they should have been able to. Then how is it they did not get the potentially damaging story that these were pranks emails, not for real? How could they miss that? And how could ABCNews miss the fact the source was a Democrat operative?Thanks to A.J. Strata and Ms. Underestimated for their doing their due diligence, something that the Agenda Media wouldn't do. Isn't it time that the Agenda Media developed a curiosity for all the details, not just the details that help Democrats?
Well, there are only so many reasonable conclusions we can speculate about. Option (1): The Democrat operative could have pretended to be Edmunds and lied to a lot of people about a lot of things. But recall these IM messages came AFTER a well publicized leak regarding questionable (but legal) emails from 2005. So were these two different sources? Still, how is it ABCNews missed the real Jordan Edmunds? Option (2): Edmunds was approached about the IMs and provided them to the Democrat operative, possibly for something in return (e.g., cold hard cash, keeping quiet). This way Edmunds would pretend to be the victim to ABC News when it caught up to him. Option (3): ABCNews was so sloppy (or negligent) they printed anything they got and did no due diligence whatsoever, or were never inclined to for other reasons.
UPDATE: Stop past Hugh's post for why he thinks Foleygate won't have the effect on the GOP that Howard Dean is imagining it will.
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 9:59 PM
August 2006 Posts
Comment 1 by Thomas at 20-Oct-06 08:28 PM
Well here we are fifteen days later and it turns out that you were totally wrong. Nobody in the real media picked up the "story" and it appears that it was utterly false; Foley is still a pervert. Will you apologize? I'm not asking you to apologize because you made an incorrect prediction (which you should apologize for anyway since it was criminally stupid) but because you contributed to spreading lies to the American people, and I think deep down you knew that the things you were saying weren't true, but you did it anyway because you are a partisan hack with no concern for the truth. Your goal is to influence, not educate, and if you have to lie to do it you will without a second thought. Thank god nobody reads this blog but me, or your lies may have done some real damage.
Democratic Culture of Corruption Update, Part III
The Missouri GOP has information that shows the McCaskill campaign and the Missouri Democratic Party coordinating activities, which is illegal except in limited instances.
The Missouri Democrat Party is illegally sending millions of pieces of mail on behalf of Claire McCaskill's campaign to unsuspecting Missourians, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed today by the Missouri Republican Party.If this is accurate information, then this is proof that Claire McCaskill is a living, breathing election law criminal. Earlier, I reported this McCaskill quote:
"Direct mail pieces being distributed by the Missouri Democrat State Committee provide strong evidence that the Democrat Party is engaging in a large scale and illegal coordinated campaign to support Claire McCaskill," said Jared Craighead, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party. "This is a clear example of Democrats turning a blind eye to federal election law and they should be held accountable."
Coordination between a political party and a federal candidate is permitted only for certain, specific volunteer activities. Otherwise, such coordinated activities count as contributions to the candidate's campaign and are strictly limited by federal campaign finance law.
"...here (St. Louis) and in Kansas City the mayor and the county executive have donated 150 employees to work on the election on Election Day..."Now we find out that the Missouri Democratic Party's staffers are sending out "millions of pieces of mail on behalf of Claire McCaskill's campaign to unsuspecting Missourians", according to an FEC complaint filed by the Missouri GOP. This begs these questions:
- Why is the state party doing these mailings?
- Why have St. Louis and KC elected officials "donated' government employees for GOTV operations?
- Doesn't Claire McCaskill have enough supporters willing to do this work?
Posted Thursday, October 5, 2006 9:23 PM
August 2006 Posts
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