To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of Gray Davis. His politics something of a mystery, Arnie joins the hunt for California governor. As Joe Conason notes, perhaps Republicans will finally shut up now about Susan Sarandon, the Dixie Chicks, and other left-leaning Hollywood activists (although somehow I doubt it.)
Category: GOP
Repeating Lies.
True to form, the Bushies tried to make everyone accept the false Iraq-Niger claim by dint of sheer repetition. Strange how Tenet is supposed to take the fall for this even after explicitly removing the claim from one of Dubya’s speeches.
Fritz Hollering.
“I can tell you this categorically, we’ve got the weakest president and weakest government in the history of my 50 years of public service. I say weak president in that the poor boy campaigns all the time and pays no attention to what’s going on in the Congress. Karl Rove tells him to do this or do that or whatever it is, but he’s out campaigning.” On his way out the door, South Carolina’s Fritz Hollings speaks his mind on Dubya. Hear hear.
Who’s the Patriot?
The ACLU and six Muslim groups launch the first constitutional challenge against the Patriot Act. This should be one to watch. In related news, James Ridgeway examines the Clintonian antecedents of the Act.
The Buck Finally Stops.
In a tortured press conference in which he also came out firmly against gay marriage, Dubya finally admits he’s to blame for the Iraq-Niger claim in the State of the Union (while letting Condoleeza Rice cry “mea culpa” on Newshour.) Why on Earth did it take him so long to state the obvious? As President, he is in fact responsible for his own utterances.
Breeding Shock Troops.
“‘How am I a closet Democrat? I’m racist, I love guns and I hate welfare.'” Michelle Goldberg of Salon checks out the college Republican convention in DC, and discovers many of the attendees to be exactly the bitter, troubled, pugnacious, and ignorant children you might expect (and as the study suggests.) “I’m a Republican because liberals make me sick,” says one deluded soul, for example, “I don’t like whiny people and tree-huggers.” (He then proceeds to whine incessantly about how affirmative action and taxes screwed him over.) Meanwhile, the “adults” at the convention spend their time fostering this hate in the name of the almighty buck. “Gene McDonald, who sold ‘No Muslims = No Terrorists’ bumper stickers at the Conservative Political Action Conference in January, was doing a brisk trade in ‘Bring Back the Blacklist’ T-shirts, mugs and mouse pads.” Scary stuff.
“Arrogance of Power.”
In the nearly-ten years since the 1994 “Contract with America,” notes the Washington Post, the GOP has come to embrace the same heavy-handed tactics they once railed against. Can’t say I’m surprised.
Showing their cards.
“Ann Coulter may have committed ‘treason’ against conservative good taste. But she’s done the rest of us a favor. She has exposed the often empty semantic difference between the “responsible” right and its supposed ‘fringe.'” Sam Tanenhaus of Slate examines why conservatives hate Ann Coulter (too).
Planning Ahead.
While I’m loath to link to these guys given the trouble Klayman caused back in the day, Judicial Watch gets a hold of Cheney Energy Task Force briefings from March 2001 and finds…maps of Iraq? (Via Pigs and Fishes.)
DeLay’s Dollars.
“Tom DeLay is the king of congressional influence-money. In DeLay’s world, the operating rule is you have to pay to play.” Democracy 21 takes a comprehensive look at the Exterminator’s money machine, and it ain’t pretty.