Guns don't kill people. Your crazy kids kill people... with your guns.

Obviously, keeping your firearms locked up inside your house isn't quite enough to keep your kids from using them to kill people.

It's hard to count the number of times crimes have been prevented because of a gun in the house. However, it's unfortunately all too easy to count the number of times a crime has been committed because a gun was readily available.

The whole thing is tragic, really.

Another bad day of press looming for George Allen

Here's 2K from Friends of Mark Foley that George Allen better dispose of in a hurry. The image is from the last page of Foley's amended July 2005 quarterly report. Foley also gave money to Bob Ney, proving that his judgment is just terrible all-around.

It just keeps getting better.

Roll Call: Foley Interviewed About Page Last Year; Democrats Not Told

Reading this is like being bukaked with stupid. It would appear that House Republican leadership employed the following plan to deal with Mark Foley's interactions with the House page staff:

• Make sure the Majority Leader, NRCC chair, and someone from the Speaker's office finds out.
• Don't tell any Democrats, especially the Democrat who's served on the page board for two decades.
  
• Confront Foley about the allegations.
• Take his word for it when he says his actions weren't inappropriate and won't happen again. I mean, why would he possibly lie about sex chat with underage boys?
  
• Twiddle thumbs, wait for bomb to explode.

So much for Bush's plan to scare America into voting Republican in November. This election is now about Congressional Republicans tolerating and covering for a pedophile in their midst.

GOP. Guarding Our Perverts.

What the Republicans are saying about Foley

Where better to figure out what typical, rank-and-file Republicans think about the Mark Foley debacle than by touring Free Republic!

To be clear, all of these are actual quotes. I don't have to make anything up to be alternately humored and repulsed by this stuff:

"This is not one of those ultra-lithe freaks seen in gay pride parades. Remember that next time someone tells you that their 'friend' is one of the 'good gays'."

"Too bad this came to light right before the election, but Republicans should purge any other Republican homosexuals from the Congress." (Guess that means you, Dreier! And what about Lindsey Graham?)

"One more queer gone from leadership. A good thing even though he wasn't a dimorat."

"DemocRATS pull this kind of sick crap everyday!"

"Don't let anyone tell that homosexuality is normal and that they do not prey on our children, especially males. That is precisely why the Boy Scouts refuse to admit them into the organization."

"The only solution is one strike, and your in jail forever no parole, and the government takes your penis off. We need to break the cycle."

"#1 - It was well-known that Foley was gay, though he refused to say either way in public. He had an open relationship with his boyfriend.
#2 - Foley supported "gay rights" legislation
Yet the Republicans in his district kept supporting him and even tried to get him to run for Senate. Shame on them!"

Impressive. Genuinely impressive.

Are all Congressmen sexually abusing our children?

(Props to Fox News for teaching me that I can legitimize a completely outrageous statement by phrasing it as a question.)

Questions you probably wouldn't want to hear from your Congressman:

1. Did you spank it yourself this weekend?
2. Did any girl give you a hand job this weekend?
3. Do you really do it face down?
4. Where do you unload it?
5. Is your little guy limp... or growing?

Read the rest here.

More interesting is that from a political standpoint, there are now rumblings from various corners of the internets that Republican leadership may have known about this for at least a year and borrowed a page from the playbook of the Catholic Church. They ignored it.

At bare minimum, this is going to generate at least a week of terrible, crap-on-Republicans press smack in the middle of an election cycle. And if it indeed turns out that there was a don't tell policy regarding Rep. Foley's extremely disturbing alleged behavior, this could be that unpredictable event in the election cycle that gives political consultants nightmares and decisively turns the tide.

Guess we'll see what happens.

For a guy who wasn't doing anything wrong, boy he folded like a tent

So it appears six-term Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) is resigning, after stating flatly just days ago that there was nothing suspicious about the "friendly" emails he was sending a 16-year-old male Congressional page. Some news sources have reported it is out of fear that other damaging emails may come forward. Might have something to do with ABC News reporting that they've been given copies of IM conversations between Foley and and other pages in which the congressman talked dirty with them.

For those of you who haven't seen the original email exchange but would like to, you can read it here. He's got a myspace profile that corresponds with his personal email address as well. Not much there. You know, the kind of profile people put up just to look at other people's profiles and, who knows, maybe chat with them.

Too bad, really. Foley has long refused to address speculation regarding his sexuality. If, however, Foley is indeed a gay Republican, it would've served the party far better for him to just come out on his own terms. By all accounts, he was an intelligent and well-liked member of the body. And goodness knows the Republican Party could stand for some more diverse perspectives under that tent filled with suburban and rural whites and people with deep pockets.

Without Foley, we can only hope that David Dreier or Ken Mehlman will pop out of the closet one of these days. If only all Republicans could be part of a party where they would be respected and embraced regardless of their sexual orientation.

In any case, I hope this all works out for the best for all parties involved.

"Two vultures fighting over the eyeball of a dead wildebeest."

Fantastic imagery from Steven LaTulippe in his post entitled "My Election Prediction" over at LewRockwell.com.

Also brilliant is that while rightly claiming that Republicans need to lose badly this fall in order to protect our nation from their arrogant excesses of recent history (the wars, the lying about wars, the spending, the lying about spending, the wiretapping, the email snooping, the torture...), here's what he has to say about the party you should vote for this fall:

The Democratic Party has inflicted unconscionable damage on our republic. Their history is replete with militarism, statism, and socialism. They lied us into WW I, WW II, Korea, and Vietnam. They’ve been indefatigable in their promotion of ever-bigger government. They’ve overseen the creation of several gargantuan and unsustainable entitlement programs, and they’ve inflicted the plague of mindless political correctness on our culture. The Democrats are, in short, a pack of shameless, government-worshipping charlatans.

I may not share all the beliefs of the Libertarians, but man, they're right on when they say that both of our current parties completely suck, as do most of the occupants of said parties.

A refresher on some basic rules of politics

Gard Campaign: Q: Why is Dr. Kagen Ducking Debates?

Rule #481: When you are polling ahead, there is no reason to debate. Debates only give your opponent earned media. You don't need more earned media. You're already ahead.

Rule #482: When you are trailing in the polls, challenge your opponent to a whole bunch of debates, and then criticize him for avoiding them.


Spice Boys: Polls show tight race, but where's the spin?

Gard mouthpiece Christine Mangi told us that even asking about (poll results) was verboten.

"I thought you were aware of our policy that we don't comment on polls," Mangi said.

A pretty odd response, considering the campaign playbook calls for countering a bad poll with your own positive numbers - assuming, of course, that you have better ones to show.

Rule #312: When you're down in all the polls, even your own internal polling numbers, never discuss polls with the media. There is no good answer to the question "Why is John Gard trailing in a seat that has only been out of Republican hands for 20 years since its creation in 1873?" None.


Sheldon Wasserman to Alberta Darling: Bring It

Rule #1: In politics, timing is everything. Demographics suggest that Alberta Darling can't really move to the right and retain her seat in 2008. And thanks to the virulence towards and negativity heaped onto moderate Republicans, conservatives are probably going to embrace Darling with all the enthusiasm of a dirty diaper. The good doctor is playing his hand perfectly, and this seat could be set to go Dem in two years.


GOP picks Twin Cities for its 2008 convention

Rule #14: No matter how much they think it matters, where a political party hosts its convention has absolutely no bearing on whether they will win or lose that state in the subsequent presidential election. Want to have a shot at winning Minnesota, Republicans? Put Tim Pawlenty on the ticket.




Rule #7: When you are the red line and your only message for three months has been "Mark Green is a fun guy and Jim Doyle is a crook," maybe it's time to go back to the kitchen and try a different recipe. (picture courtesy of pollster.com)

Historical basis for GOP campaign agenda unearthed

"Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war... That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Republican campaign agenda: fear, fear, and more fear. But at least they have a plan.

I've never been one to believe that the president's bully pulpit or even his agenda has much to do with the economy. I think Bill Clinton got way too much credit for the economic prosperity we saw in the 1990's. Similarly, I think George W. Bush took too much heat for the economic slowdown during his first term.

I'm also not surprised to see that the Republicans, given a lack of high profile accomplishments (except their pro-horse legislation), are resorting to their usual shallow, two-pronged attack of "Democrats love terrorists and high taxes."

However, President Bush and his team need to be careful that the economic issue doesn't get reframed in such a way that is less flattering. Bush wants to remind everyone of that absolutely awful tax increase that Bill Clinton and the Democrats in Congress pushed through back in 2003, you know, the one that cut taxes for 15 million working families and provided tax breaks to nearly all small businesses while raising taxes on fewer than 1 in 50 filers. Those aggregate tax hikes also played a role in shoring up our nation's finances, pushing us consistently into the black for the first time in a long while.

(Then again, I guess I'm impressed by that because I'm a real fiscal conservative, one that believes a balanced budget is real responsibility and that it's better to raise taxes and/or cut spending to take care of that than to just push tax cuts and red ink budgets like Bush has.)

Nobody likes tax hikes, but Democrats and Republicans are both guilty of enjoying what you can do with the extra revenue. Democrats will usually create new social programs and Republicans will usually lock more people up and give the rest back to their rich friends. But one can easily argue that the federal budgets offered during the Clinton administration were infinitely more responsible than the budgets Bush has presented, the ones totally written in red ink.

If Democrats were smart, they'd just reframe the issue into a take on an old classic: are you better off now than you were in the 90's? Ten bucks says that overwhelmingly, Americans would say no. Some of that may have to do the whole pre-9/11 nature of the 90's, but Democrats don't have to mention that. Let that work subconsciously with voters.

I'm not saying that Democrats are smart either. As best I can tell, they're on the verge of pissing away a 1994-like opportunity by failing to coalesce around any kind of agenda that Americans can find without GPS navigation.

But here's what Democrats can talk about in the 90's that bodes well for them:

- Longest economic expansion in U.S. history
- Turning record budget deficits into record budget surpluses
- Paying down the national debt
- 22 million new jobs
- Increasing the minimum wage
- Steady, strong decreases in unemployment

Democrats have a lot of good things that they can unashamedly take credit for in the 90's. If that's the game the President wants to play, play it. Bush doesn't have an economic record that looks anywhere that good, so he's going to resort to the old stereotype. He's banking that if he puffs his chest out and talks big, Democrats will puss out like they always do.

If Democrats were smart, they'd punch him in the mouth and watch him run to his mommy.

The Republican election strategy is that of the playground bully. It's all bravado. They think that by talking big they can distract everyone from the fact that they're more insecure about their chances in November than in any election since 1994. The less they accomplish, the bigger they talk. And they have no real accomplishments to talk about, on the federal or state level, unless you're a horse, in which case you're cutting big checks to the GOP. So for a few months, they'll try to convince you that Democrats want to tax America to death and then hand the keys over to Osama. That gay marriage is a bigger threat to your way of life than your stagnant paycheck. It's all hogwash. Voters just need to be smart enough to not be manipulated by the rhetoric.

If idiot Republicans like John Boehner are going to talk about how Democrats are more interested in protecting terrorists than Americans, it's clear that even the leadership of that party has hit rock bottom in terms of desperation. So I have no problems with Democrats going in front of Americans and taking credit for an economic boom in the 1990's that would've happened without their "assistance." In fact, I encourage it.

But as a better approach, I would just encourage my fellow Americans to turn off the television and radio and stop reading newspapers or newsmagazines or blogs until the day after the election. C'mon guys, you know what's important to you without all these political monkeys on both sides trying to scramble your brains and confuse you. They're not trying to make you smarter or more informed. They're just trying to manipulate you. All they want is your vote, and they will say anything they have to say in order to get it. And the day after the election, they're going to dump your ass and crawl back into bed with their lobbyist buddies and the special interest groups that pump all the money into the 527s that cheapen political discourse in America.

So instead of subjecting yourselves to the cascading rivers of bullshit, go read a book. Take your kids to the park. Rake the leaves in the backyard. Get to that nagging honey-do list. Vote your priorities, the ones you had before the political consultants told you what you're supposed to care about, and come on back after the election. Trust me, you won't be missing anything out here. Besides, deep down, you already know who you're voting for. And if you can't tell me right now whether you're voting for Green or Doyle, or Van Hollen or Falk, or Gard or Kagen, you should probably do everyone a favor and sit this election out.

Maybe I should give Scarborough a second chance.

Long ago, I stopped watching Joe Scarborough because his show was terrible. But seeing this clip from last month makes me think I should give him a second chance.

It's about time that someone had a critical discussion about whether or not George Bush is stupid, or just sounds stupid. And frankly, when it comes to being credible on the global stage, I'm not sure the world perceives much of a difference. There are foreign leaders who employ English as a second language more effectively than Bush employs it as his first.

Ten minutes of worthwhile and humorous television. Kick back and enjoy.

Cap Times Has Interesting Take on Debate, History of School Financing

So I was reading Dave Callender's piece in The Capital Times just now on last night's debate. Since people don't actually watch these debates, especially in mid-September on a Friday night, it's important that the media accounts are fair and accurate. I'm guessing that more people read about the debate on Saturday than watched it on Friday.

Well, we can all be thankful that nobody reads the Cap Times because Dave Callender laid out this absolute doozy at the end of his piece.

School cost guarantee: Green did hold out one potentially significant cut.

After the debate, he acknowledged that he could not guarantee the state would continue to pay two-thirds of the cost of local schools, a move that has been critical in holding down property tax increases.

"I would love to fund two-thirds, but I am not going to let two-thirds destroy our ability to hire cops" or fund other local government services, he said. "I want very much to do it, but I cannot make an unconditional commitment to do it."

Um... yeah... about that two-thirds thing, Dave? Gov. Doyle scrapped that in his 2003-05 budget proposal. Here's a link to the LFB summary of the DPI provisions in the 2003-05 budget. And here's a link to the LFB paper cited in the previous document.

Given the Governor's track record, shouldn't we keep in mind that his commitment to two-thirds hasn't exactly been sacred? And he didn't quite take the straight and narrow path to two-thirds in the 2005 budget, instead relying on some elaborate shuffling of monies from other accounts to accomplish his goal. You can't do that forever.

So are you suggesting that Gov. Doyle did not care about limiting increases in property taxes when he threw two-thirds on the funeral pyre in his first budget proposal? I'm confused, Dave. You choose words that make it sound as though Mark Green is suggesting something sacrilegious by stepping softly around two-thirds. In reality, he's not suggesting anything his opponent hasn't done.

And next time Dave, spare us your characterizations of the candidates' demeanor. Doyle appeared "relaxed and confident?" Green "seemed to hesitate in his answers," but "managed to work in folksy references?" The only thing that could read worse than this is the opening paragraph of a Jessica McBride novel.

Funny stuff.

I normally wouldn't link to a joke, but this one's pretty good. Thanks Owen.

Green To Cool Kids: Won't You Please Help These Kids Get Laid?

(An Abandoned Warehouse Somewhere in Wisconsin) - Mark Green appeared with nearly two dozen College Republicans today and issued a desperate plea to their fellow collegians to help them get laid.

"To those of you in college with social skills - in other words, you liberal kids - I would ask that you kindly take one of these fine youngsters under your wing and teach them the necessary skills to, well, get their groove on," said Green. "I know that my opponent might call my request extreme, but these kids clearly need to be extremely less serious about themselves."

Green campaign manager Mark Graul noted that College Republicans chapters are often filled with socially-maladjusted youngsters who seek out conservatism as a method of creating a false sense of superiority over "lower" social groups who are allegedly dependent on government assistance: minorities, women, gays, the disabled, and hippies, for example. But deep down, Graul says, they just want someone of the opposite sex to pay attention to them. "Look, we've got one hot guy and one hot girl - Charlie and Lisa over there - to hang around headquarters, and we give them $30 an hour to hang out with these dorks from 5-9 every time we need some mailings done. Between that and a some free pizza, we can get these CR's to work for hours on end." said Graul. "It's cheaper than outsourcing the work to Bangladesh - or Canada for that matter. That's where we get our goodie bags for parades."

Green added that this didn't have to be a "girlfriend/boyfriend" thing. "Just take them out on some Friday night, give them a little liquor, put on a little Sade or whatever the kids are making out to these days and show them a good time," said Green. "At first, they're going to try and talk to you about some bullshit, like which Dinesh D'Souza book was his best, or how much cooler Scalia is than Alito. You just gotta get through that. Once they hook up with someone, they'll see whole new colors out there. It'll be like coming out of the closet - well, none of them are gay, of course, so that's a bad analogy. But think about it. Next time, instead of singing the praises of Katherine Harris' positions on the war in Iraq, they'll finally notice what a smoking hot body she has for a 49-year-old."

When asked about Green's proposal, Doyle flack Anson Kaye pointed out that Doyle had proposed a $1.2 million program in the 2003-05 budget that would have helped over 5,000 College Republicans lose their virginity, but that program was removed from the budget by the Legislature.

"Look, I've got a stack of sampling data a mile high over there in the corner that'll tell you that once a kid gets laid, they're three times more likely to vote Democrat," said Kaye. "So we're all for Mark Green helping these kids to stop helping themselves, if you know what I mean."

Kaye added that "If there's one thing I learned working out east, it was how to have a good time. And the looks on the faces of these poor Midwestern kids tells me that they're definitely undersexed. I mean, look at the guys in this picture. It's like the clearance rack at Old Navy threw up on them. Not only do they need some sex, they need some fashion sense too."

Primary review!

Well, what have we learned? Nothing new, really. But let's take a look at last night's action!

Most importantly, staff flog leggies! - Congrats to Greg Gasper, who managed to break 50 percent against Dennis Lund and Joe Hermanny in the Republican primary in the 37th. That Dave Ward and Debi Towns were both meddling on behalf of Lund is the worst kept secret in the world. So is the fact that these two rocket scientists basically convinced RACC to pencil Lund in for the general and forget about this primary altogether. What they failed to take account of is two very important things:

1. How hard Greg was willing to work for this. Greg doesn't have nearly the roots of Dennis Lund, but Greg managed to outhustle, outraise, and flat-out outwork his opponents.

2. How hard staff were willing to work for Greg. Gasper assembled a virtual army of foot soldiers who were busting their tails to make their bosses eat crow. In the last few weeks of this race, word spread far and wide that Ward had been overheard on multiple occasions saying that he didn't want a staffer to win his old seat. Don't think that didn't end up on the proverbial locker room wall, Wardo. You want to motivate staff? Talk about them like they're not capable of doing your job. They all know better. Don't insult the people who made you look good all those years.

And Debi, that's a mighty nice endorsement of Greg you put out. Hopefully, you'll be able to overlook the fact that he's not a farmer, which seemed to be a big deal to you in your endorsement of Dennis Lund. You rave about Lund and all you can basically bring yourself to say about Gasper is that he's a nice guy. Grow up, Debi. This is why smart politicians stay the hell out of primaries. Don't expect to see many staffers down there helping you out in your own reelection campaign. You're not exactly popular these days. And maybe you can find nicer things to say about Greg before that press conference starts in a little bit.

Money talks - I think it'd be hard to argue that ideologically, there was much of a difference between J.B. Van Hollen and Paul Bucher. They even managed to act equally juvenile in debates. But in the end, Van Hollen was willing to put the bank's money where his mouth is, and his willingness to go head over feet into debt was probably the nail in Bucher's coffin. Bucher simply lacked the financial resources to be competitive. Is a system in which candidates are encourage to borrow large sums of money in order win a good system? In my opinion, no. But it's what we've got at the moment, and Van Hollen played his hand well. By the way, I've never been so glad to be wrong about a race in my life. So will "Paul's Wife" spend as much time whining about his loss as she does whining about immigrants or Eugene Kane?

Incumbency, and incumbency alone, is often enough to get the job done - Nobody can tell me that Dave Travis and Carol Owens won because of anything exceptional they've done lately. Similarly, nobody can tell me that people who heard from both Scot(t) Ross and Doug LaFollette were totally blown away by LaFollette. These three all managed to win last night solely based on longevity and name recognition. One of the hardest things to accomplish in a campaign is to get people to admit that the decision they've been making for years is no longer a good one. Lots of people have voted for these three time and time again, often because they had no other choice on the ballot. Regardless, habits die hard, and these three should be especially grateful for that today. I guess Mark Pocan will have to put up with another two years of Carol refusing to ride in an elevator with him.

If Republicans don't take care of her now, Kathy Falk will be your next Democratic governor, and Democratic U.S. Senator, and... - Remember back in 1998 when Republicans had a chance to actually hold Scott Klug's 2nd CD seat and blew it by nominating Jo Musser instead of John Sharpless? Tammy Baldwin's a lifer as a result of that one decision.

Kathy Falk is potentially the most formidable statewide candidate the Democrats have on the ballot this fall. If Republicans don't beat her now, she'll be moving into the Executive Residence sometime in the next four to eight years. Falk is pragmatic, does her homework, stands her ground, is tough without seeming bitchy. In other words, she's the kind of candidate that Wisconsin will lap up. And she's going to outraise and outspend J.B. Van Hollen, who may be "Two Mortgages, an Equity Loan, and there went my Roth IRA" Van Hollen by the time this is done.

Have the SE Wisconsin conservatives lost their mojo? - I make no contention that there weren't other factors in play in many southeast Wisconsin races. Jim Ott being on television for decades probably didn't hurt his cause. Still, it's interesting to note that the candidate branded as the "conservative" candidate lost in so many primaries smack in the middle of CRG's stomping ground. Jim Ott beat John Wirth by a 2-to-1 margin in the 23rd. Chris Lufter lost to Bill Kramer in the 97th by double digits. Brad Schimel handily knocked off Dennis Krueger by 16 in the Waukesha County DA primary. Three high profile Republican primaries in which the candidate with the conservative label took a digger. Looks like the TABOR gang may be losing steam.

All that work for 56 percent? - Finally, its really funny that Nick Voegli barely showed up on the radar and still managed to reel in 44 percent against former Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Jean Hundertmark in the Republican primary for Lite Gov. Talk about pathetic. Voegeli barely ran a campaign against Hundertmark and got 44 percent. He was the nominee in the general against Gary Hebl two years ago and only did 41.5. Good to see Mark Green has such a mighty fine asset on the ticket. Jean probably won't even carry Clintonville for the guy.

NRCC: Robin Hood is A-OK as long as he's stealing from Steve Kagen

This is how bad your campaign is going if you're John Gard: you're got the NRCC cutting negative ads against your likely opponent, faulting him for expecting his customers to pay their bills. That's a concept that Republicans (and frankly, all decent people) have held dear since the beginning of time. Apparently it's getting in the way of an attack ad, so it's gotta go.

The NRCC is set to go negative on likely 8th CD nominee Steve Kagen, faulting him for suing over 80 of his patients. Of course, what the ad fails to mention is that Kagen's not suing them to be a prick. He's suing them to get paid. The patients being sued are patients who have failed to pay Kagen for the services they purchased. In other words, they're stealing from him.

One would ordinarily think that Republicans would laud such action, since they encourage individuals to be financially responsible. After all, Republicans took millions from big businesses as they pursued a tireless quest in Congress to make it harder for Americans to file bankruptcy. The whole purpose of that legislation was to make it easier for businesses to collect debts. Now, when a business owner actually tries to collect what is legally owed to him, Republicans cut negative ads saying he lacks compassion. For who, deadbeats?

The hypocrisy is almost incredulous, except Republicans know they're in for a bad November. The machine is showing that they're prepared to completely sell out their ideals in order to save a seat or two. Anyone who's seen the machine from the inside knows the truth in this. Conservatives on the outside are pissed off that Republicans haven't done squat to address issues that are important to them, be it TABOR or immigration reform or controlling taxes and spending. Fiscally conservative social moderates are bent that the party is chasing after pointless issues like gay marriage and the death penalty trying to corral the wingnuts into the voting booths. Meanwhile, insiders are desperate to not be the ones left holding the bag for what will undoubtedly be the worst Republican showing in the last decade.

Until a Republican convinces me otherwise, what I can only conclude from this ad is that Republicans now believe you never have to pay your bills - especially if you owe money to someone who is rich. So the next time you go to Wal-Mart, use a store credit card. Spend a couple of thousand dollars, and when you swipe the card, be sure to tell the clerk that you have no intention of ever paying your bill. When Wal-Mart goes after you for the money, send them a letter and a copy of the script for this NRCC ad. Tell them you're not paying. Then remind them that Democrats hate big business, and Republicans no longer believe in financial accountability.

So don't pay your credit card bills. Stop making your mortgage payments. And while you're at it, don't pay your taxes either. I mean, all of these are causing you financial hardship, and Republicans don't want anyone to cause you financial hardship. Because that's mean and lacks compassion.

It's not just that this ad is misleading. It's that it completely betrays one of the bedrock principles that Republicans profess to hold so dear: that businesses deserve to be paid for the services they provide.

Flashback: Hitchens on Bush and Leadership

From The Mirror, September 14, 2001

WAR ON THE WORLD: COMETH THE HOUR COMETH THE MAN?

Christopher Hitchens

If you knew as little about American politics as, say, George Bush does, you would have been forgiven this week for thinking that the President of the United States was a tall, thin, serious man named Rudolph Giuliani.

Standing in smoking rubble under arc lights, wearing battle harness, finding the right words to say, giving out crisp bulletins, appearing - but not posing - with grimed and weary toilers and local heroes, he was every inch a statesman.

But who was that nervous little chap in a suit, hovering around the edges of the Pentagon yesterday, muttering platitudes about being "sad" before remembering he was supposed to say "angry"?

The same man who made a later conference call to Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki of New York, perhaps hoping to emulate their stature with some Texan pseudo-tough talk about "whipping terrorism" and some therapeutic babble about visiting Manhattan to "thank and hug and cry".

Newspaper editors have to be pitiless at times like this, with no superfluous stuff on the front page.

Thus, US Today, the nation's coast-to-coast broadsheet, ran the President's remarks of Wednesday on page four.

While the New York Times only put him on the front page so that he could give his excuses -through a spokesman - for taking 10 hours to get himself back to the capital.

On the day of days, Air Force One hopped like a panicked pussycat from Sarasota in Florida to Shreveport, Louisiana, to Omaha, Nebraska, and only then, after this irrelevant provincial tour, crept under cover of dusk back to Washington DC.

Bush then read a short and toneless statement declaring "war" on nobody in particular.

Nobody likes to criticise the Commander-in-Chief at a time like this. It's what people do not say that hurts.

The level of response has been as tepid as the original Presidential remarks, with points being awarded to the Chief Executive for saying, in effect, no more than he had to say.

Meanwhile, it's considered unkind to notice that Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defence, was at his desk in the Pentagon when the plane hit, and even briefly joined the rescue team.

While Vice President Dick Cheney remained in the underground bunker beneath the White House; safe enough perhaps, though risking an aircraft piling in on top of him. Bush's Solicitor General, Theodore Olson, meanwhile, was taking two agonising cellphone calls from his wife, Barbara, as her flight hurtled towards its lethal conclusion.

Moments like this occur once, if at all, in the life of most Presidents, and become, as we say, "defining".

Mr Lincoln stayed in Washington as the victorious Confederate army approached the river.

Mr Kennedy took charge during the Cuban missile crisis and prevented his commanders from doing anything suicidal or genocidal.

Mr Reagan took a bullet in the chest and made jokes on the way to the hospital. Even Mr Clinton managed to make a decent speech after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Mr Bush will remember 11 September 2001 for the rest of his life, and writhe at the thought of what he could and should have done. This is not just a cosmetic question.

Two sayings of Benjamin Disraeli come to mind.

The first is his sarcastic observation during one crisis that: "The hour is great but the honourable gentlemen, I must say, are small."

The second is that: "Like all weak governments, they resorted to strong measures."

There is now intense pressure on Bush to "do something" and one must sympathise with his obvious dilemma, which is that there is nothing very self- evident that he can apparently do.

Under the lash of embarrassment, however, he may feel obliged to do something theatrical or grandiose; perhaps even something foolish.

The truth of the matter, though, is that he is unlikely to be the one taking the decisions.

More than ever this week, we were reminded that this President is essentially a frontman: A slight and malleable figure who was invented by a committee of stronger men as an "electable" symbol.

He is a shadow framed by powerful advisers and handlers, a glove puppet with little volition of his own and a celebrated indifference to foreign affairs.

America needed a hero this week, and it had to content itself with Jeremy Glick, who called his wife from United Airlines flight 93 and said that he and his friends were preparing to take on the hijackers with the butter knives from the airline breakfast tray.

They did manage to wrestle with the murderers and crashed the plane in a remote field.

As Ronald Reagan once asked on another occasion: "Where do we find such men?" Not at the top, or not this time.

And on a lighter note...

The conservative-leaning (and often funny) website IMAO posted a list of ways that all Americans (but wingnuts in particular) can work to ensure America's safety:

FRANK IDEAS TO HELP FIGHT TERRORISM

* Stand outside a mosque and do the “I’m watching you” hand signal to anyone entering or exiting.

* If you see anyone who looks Arab on a flight, report it to the captain.

* Wear a “Terrorists should die; ask me why” button. (available soon from the IMAO store)
>
* Report any suspicious, terrorist-like activity – such as reading the New York Times – to the FBI.

* If you run a restaurant, make sure all items have bacon in them to keep away terrorists.

* When visiting neighbors, check their bookshelves for a Koran. If one is spotted, immediately flee and call the police.

* If you hear someone speaking French, punch him in the face. Speaking French may not help terrorists, but it sure seems like support of terrorism.

* When leaving a parking lot, checks underneath your car and the cars next to you for a bomb. If you see anything you don’t recognize, leave a note on the person’s car saying, “You have a bomb.” Make sure to put a smiley face on the note since you’re being helpful.

* If you see a reporter, beat him with any nearby blunt object. He was probably about to do a news report that would embolden terrorists.

* If you see a terrorist, kill him.

There. I know I feel safer now.

Ah, the 9/11 post, we cannot avoid you, can we?

If you haven't read Jenna's blog today, you should take a look at her memorial post on Amelia Fields. It's done as part of the 2,996 project, which seems like a very nice way of reminding people that beyond the number, those who died on 9/11 included a lot of moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and generally good people who did not deserve the fate that befell them.

For as much as this has become America's tragedy, I think it's interesting to note that of the nearly 3,000 individuals who perished or are unaccounted for, 246 - nearly 10% of the total - were not American.

Take Emmanuel Afuakwah, for instance. He is one of the many victims that not much is known about, at least to the public. He was a porter at Windows on the World. He lived in New York City, perhaps the greatest melting pot of race, religion, and ethnicity the world has come to know. And Emmanuel came to the United States from Ghana.

I never met Emmanuel, but I have had the opportunity to make the brief acquaintance of a number of Ghanaians in my life. I've never met a group of people who seem to love America more. They love Americans. They love what America represents. Many of them have family or friends that have come here to visit, or to build a life. America is what many of them want their own country to aspire to.

Regardless of how the world feels about the actions of our government at any finite point in time, America still represents something very special in the history of the world. Imperfect, indeed, but if ever there has been a benevolent empire, ours is it. Even our misguided actions are generally directed by good intentions.

H.L. Mencken said that "the average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe." By allowing politicians to willingly and blindly sacrifice our freedoms in the name of security or electoral success, we not only dishonor those who perished on September 11, 2001, we give those that hate what America represents exactly what they want. A country that turns on itself, on its core ideals, out of a fear that far transcends anything terrorism alone might be able to accomplish. The greatest weapon a terrorist has is not a bomb or an explosive. It's fear.

What has made America special is its openness. Its spirit of tolerance. Its respect for civil liberties. Its willingness to embrace all who come to its shores and who are willing to commit themselves to the notion that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is something that belongs inherently to all men everywhere.

As we remember those who lost their lives on this day five years ago, let us also reflect on those ideals that made us a target in the first place. 2,996 people perished because America represents, at its essence, something good, something special. Something that terrifies those that prefer ignorance to knowledge, fear to freedom, oppression to liberation. Let us not, in response, similarly become a people who prefer fear, and ignorance, and oppression in our own lives and in the policymaking of our government.

Instead, let us honor those who died by recommitting ourselves to the ideals that our country was founded on, ideals that millions of people - Americans and non-Americans alike - have given their lives for. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "they who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security."

Thank you for coming to America, Emmanuel. I will always be honored that of all the places you could have gone, all of the places you could've chosen to call home, you chose America. May God be with you, and may He comfort your family and friends on this day.

Endorsement update

I just checked my email and noticed that I received the following message yesterday from Scot(t) Ross. Unfortunately, I now must rescind my endorsement of Ross for violating a cardinal rule of campaigns: Thou shalt not send fundraising solicitations that look like Nigerian Bank Scam emails.

I CAN'T SAY WHAT IT'S FOR, BUT I NEED TO RAISE $4,720 TO FINISH THIS CAMPAIGN OFF ONCE AND FOR ALL.

WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT STATEWIDE COMMUNICATION AND THERE'S LESS THAN A WEEK TO GET THE MONEY FOR IT.

THIS IS THE LAST MOVE ON OUR CAMPAIGN CHESSBOARD. I WANT TO WIN AND WE CAN. BUT I NEED YOUR HELP ONE LAST TIME. AND TODAY IS CRITICAL.

EITHER MAIL YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO ROSS ACROSS WISCONSIN, PO BOX 2318, MADISON, WI 53701 OR GO TO OUR WEBSITE AT: ROSSACROSSWISCONSIN.ORG

EMAIL US IF YOU'RE SENDING SOMETHING, SO WE CAN COUNT ON IT.

RESULTS MATTER. CALL ME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS: 608-215-2096.

CHECKMATE,
SCOT

The Playground hereby encourages those voting in the Democratic primary to write in the nominee of their choice.

Playground Primary Endorsements

Like Owen, I too will stick my neck out a little bit and offer up my thoughts on some of the races Wisconsin will be weighing in on next Tuesday. My support is more often than not the kiss of death, so I look forward to being blamed six days from now by supporters of all of the following candidates.


Attorney General (Democrat) - Kathleen Falk

I've got nothing against Peg Lautenschlager. I'll even forgive her for that little boo-boo with the state-owned car and the ditch. People make mistakes. If she'd since repeated her mistake, I'd feel differently. She handled herself responsibly and took responsibility for her actions. Heck, even the officer who arrested her thinks she's still a good choice for Attorney General.

That said, the Playground throws its support behind Kathy Falk. Falk's been such a popular County Executive in Dane County that Republicans couldn't find anyone to run against her back in 2005. That's right - she stood unopposed in her campaign for a third term as county exec.

Falk is sharp, articulate, and has the administrative knowledge necessary to lead a large department. She's been leading Dane County for nearly a decade, with a budget five times greater and a structure more complex than the Department of Justice. Falk's record as Public Intervenor shows her willingness to stand up on behalf of the interests of Wisconsin citizens. And, sad as it is, we have to consider that she comes without a certain type of baggage that Peg took on as a result of her DWI charge. In a close race, that could make the difference.

Democrats have two good choices, but one's a little better than the other. Vote for Falk.


Attorney General (Republican) - Paul Bucher

J.B. Van Hollen's people likes to blather on about grassroots this, statewide campaign that, blah blah blah. Fact is, look at where statewide races are won in Wisconsin. That's right - Dane County and the metropolitan Milwaukee area. Every competitive statewide race in the last 20 years has been won there. Kohl in 1988. Feingold in 1992. Feingold in 1998. Gore in 2000. Doyle in 2002. Kerry in 2004. The outstaters will do as they will, but they just don't account for enough of the electorate to make much of a difference. A Republican would have to win outstate areas in a landslide just to compensate for three or four points' difference in the crown jewels of Wisconsin electoral politics.

If deer could vote, Van Hollen's strategy would make sense. In the general, Bucher won't do any worse than Van Hollen in the areas of the state where deer outnumber people. More importantly, he's better equipped to compete in the Milwaukee suburbs. For any Republican to win this race, big numbers need to come from Ozaukee and Waukesha counties and the candidate needs to be reasonably competitive in Milwaukee County.

Besides, Republicans should really be voting to rebuke Darrin Schmitz's tired, worn-out approach of focusing a campaign around a vehicle. It didn't work with that awful McCallum school bus, and it's time to send the Van Hollen RV out to rural watering holes in search of all those terrorists J.B.'s convinced are lurking out there in Spread Eagle and Poy Sippi and other backwater communities.


Secretary of State (Democrat) - Scot(t) Ross

I knew Doug LaFollette's campaign was in trouble the second I saw that his campaign email address was sosdoug@hotmail.com. The address begins with SOS. Talk about a cry for help! For the first time in ages, Doug has a real challenger, and in the last six months, he's come across as someone who is just woefully out of touch with voters. Whether it was using state property for campaign use or getting busted for storing a classic car in a state-owned parking spot, it would seem that Doug has so integrated the trappings of public office into his private life that he doesn't know which end is up anymore. Not saying Doug's a bad guy, but Democrats clearly have a better alternative in Scot(t) Ross. Tommy Thompson stripped the SOS of most all its authority, so it's good to see that Ross at least has a game plan for keeping busy. The incumbent could serve another four years and at the end of it probably still couldn't figure out which was his campaign laptop and which was his state laptop.


8th District Congressional (Republican) - John Gard

Terri McCormick is crazy. Okay, not like clinically crazy or anything. I don't have the appropriate background to diagnose her. But she's run a terrible campaign, bitches about Gard ducking debates only to start no-showing them herself, and has basically burned every bridge within the Republican Party. Staff, legislators, and lobbyists alike rejoiced loudly the day nomination papers were due. Many were terrified that Terri would puss out and run for her old seat, again making life hell for those under the dome. Time for Terri to take her goofy personality tests and set up shop in the private sector.

I've had my beefs with John Gard, but he's still pretty smart and decent on the issues, as Republicans go. Gard's not been the greatest speaker ever, but if we judge him by the body of his work, he was an effective team member in prior sessions and certainly can do the same for Republicans in Washington.


8th District Congressional (Democrat) - Steve Kagen

Duh. He's appealing, comes without a voting record, and has strong credentials on health care, an issue that will easily be one of the top issues in voters' minds this fall. And did I mention he's loaded and has tons of positive name recognition from spending a few decades fixing people with the sniffles?

Jamie Wall would've gotten the nod had Steve Kagen and his millions not stolen all of Jamie's thunder. And Nancy Nusbaum will have plenty of other opportunities to run for public office, as a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, a Green, or whatever the hell else Nancy decides to call herself next week.


37th Assembly District (Republican) - Greg Gasper

Okay Greg, here's the deal. You get the Playground's nod but you've gotta promise to not be like some of those other staffers-turned-legislators. No bringing your kids to the office and making your staff babysit. No screwing around with caucus staffers turned whistleblowers while you're still married. And please, no insincere asskissing of bloggers. I'm not endorsing you to get you to like me. You are, however, far and away the best choice in this district. I mean, the last thing the Assembly needs is another farmer/local government official like Dennis Lund. Farmers are the welfare queens of Wisconsin, always walking around with a hand out looking for some new subsidy or tax break. The Playground will NEVER endorse a farmer or someone without a college degree. Elitist? Sure. But so were our Founding Fathers, and they did a pretty good job of getting this place running.


53rd Assembly District (Republican) - Dick Spanbauer

The Playground endorses Dick Spanbauer in the 53th Assembly District Republican Primary. I'm going to avoid cheap shots and just say that anyone who sleeps on the job as much as Carol Owens probably shouldn't be re-elected. A couple of weeks ago at a debate, Carol touted her near-perfect attendance record as a reason for her constituents to vote for her. "I don't know how I could get any better than have perfect attendance," said Owens. Um, maybe perfect attendance AND staying awake? If this were the private sector, Owens' boss would've nudged her into retirement a few years ago. Carol's district would be wise to kindly send her into a well-earned retirement. Note: Please do not confused Dick with serial child killer and rapist David Spanbauer.


81st Assembly District (Democrat) - Henry Sanders

Dave Travis doesn't get anything done. He's a career politician who cashes his check and needs to be sent out to pasture. You've got a chance to send to the Capitol a guy who is smart, ambitious, and will actually work hard to raise some hell and get some things accomplished. Time for change here. Henry Sanders is your guy.

Two More Months! Two More Months!

You know, I've often wondered what it would look like if someone deliberately attempted to run a political campaign as badly as possible.

And thanks to the ever-smart Republican voters in the great state of Florida, we get two more months of it, baby!

Now someone hand that candidate a possum!

Sunday Funnies

Hack Job

If there's ever been a situation where one can find a little bit of wrong in everyone, this is it.

The Elections Board finally came out of the closet, proving to the world what everyone had suspected for years: that when push comes to shove, a board packed with members appointed by political parties will act like... well... a board packed with members appointed by political parties.

One can certainly argue that Mark Green was being a schmuck by trucking into Wisconsin hundreds of thousands of dollars given to him by Washington fat cats to curry favor with him in Congress. In fact, I invite you to use that argument. However, whatever we think of it, it wasn't illegal at the time Green did it. For the Elections Board to try to apply a law retroactively is absurd.

Doyle... hmmm... well, Green only needed this cash because Doyle's got Stan Johnson and Chief Soft Money bankrolling his campaign. And of course, WEAC and the tribes don't have any agenda at all. They're benevolent societies and their giving is entirely charitable.

Whatever. Either they're rewarding the governor for past actions or they're trying to influence future actions. All money in politics is dirty. It all comes with an agenda. I've never been a huge proponent of public financing but this may well be the election that changes my mind. It shouldn't only be rich guys like Herb Kohl who can proclaim their independence from special interests because they're loaded enough to self-finance.


Tommy's Boy

Speaking of self-financing, "Two Mortgages" Van Hollen continues to prove his commitment to serving this state by dumping more and more of his own money into the Republican AG primary. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a shill for Jessica's Husband here, but if Van Hollen liked his internal numbers, he probably wouldn't be loading up like this in the primary. That he's throwing this much on the table this soon is likely a sign that his own polls are either close or have him trailing. I'm not going to get involved in this discussion until the Playground primary endorsements are released later this week. I also don't have any interest in hosting the ridiculous conversations between the online supporters of Bucher and Van Hollen.

One can only wonder what Two Mortgages' personal finances will look like in November if he does manage a primary win. Did someone pencil an extra zero onto the AG's salary when trying to convince him to run?


Yeah, well Falk You

Kathy Falk says Peg's a drunk. Meow! Let the games begin! Again, interesting strategy. Peg goes negative first, but Falk goes negative harder. My guess is that both sides think this is close and the Falk folks have a feeling this issue still has some salience. Time will tell.


Assembly GOP "Secret" Caucuses Aren't So Secret

Someone should really tell Assembly GOP legislators that their staff find out everything anyway, usually in advance because legislators are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. Not telling staff about "secret" meetings only pisses them off. Funny how GOP leadership constantly talks about the "team." But really, they've completely disenfranchised staff, relegating them from skill player to water boy in just four years. Scott Jensen knew that staff could be a powerful weapon and worked to include staff in the policy making process. Under the current leadership, many of the building's best and brightest minds have resorted to leisure reading and three hour lunches because members steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their staff, by and large, are smarter than most of their own colleagues. Staff have figured out that "team" is just code for "please drop lit and do doors for members who, in many cases, are entirely too damn lazy to get out and work for themselves." I mean, isn't everyone just waiting for the last-minute "help Carol Owens" plea to go out? It always does.


Who said I'm not constructive?

Word is that the Assembly budget is in good shape for the first time in ages. So it's understandable that many offices are grumbling about the fact that John Gard has reportedly refused to authorize the General Wage Adjustment for Assembly employees. For those playing at home, this is the raise that all other represented state employees get, usually on July 1. You know, all one percent of it? Speaker Kreuser would authorize it, and Republican staff know it. Perhaps Republican leadership could boost their drooping staff morale by signing off on this rather inconsequential increase. After all, sometimes it's the small things that do wonders to improve people's outlook.


We're Number Three! We're Number Three!

Congratulations to the U.S. men on their third place finish in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. That's a couple of places better than I had you pegged for.