Category: Politics (2005-2006)

Griffin in the door?

Finally, a Dubya nominee I can get behind. At his confirmation hearing, Michael Griffin — the administration’s pick for head of NASA — suggests the Hubble may still be worth saving. “Griffin, a physicist-engineer who holds six advanced degrees, is known as a devotee of human space travel and a firm advocate of Bush’s ‘Vision for Space Exploration’ aimed at the moon and Mars…He bluntly expressed his intention to lead a resurgence in American ‘spacefaring,’ noting that Russia and China had both put humans into space since the space shuttle last flew.”

Bolting the Ranks.

“‘I’m as conservative as John Bolton is,’ Ford said. ‘But the fact is that the collateral damage and the personal hurt that he causes is not worth the price that had to be paid.'” A former State Department intelligence chief, described in the WP as “a loyal Republican, a staunch supporter of Bush and a ‘huge fan’ of Vice President Cheney,” entreats the Senate to reject Bolton as UN Ambassador. (Alas, the GOP members don’t seem to be biting.)

Plenty of time, no love or tenderness.

“In short, John Bolton came off as strikingly lacking in the credibility, values, and basic commitment that, especially these days, the job of U.N. ambassador requires.” Slate‘s Fred Kaplan, a frequent critic of Dubya’s freak show choice for UN ambassador, sizes up Bolton’s performance before the Senate today.

Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Farm No More.

“[F]or many investors Thatcher’s plan has fallen flat. Many investment funds charged huge commissions and fees, leaving contributors worse off than they would have been in the state system. The stock market collapse four years ago compounded their losses. Meanwhile, many private pension plans have gone bust, after companies drained those plans to pay off rising debts.” As England’s experience since Margaret Thatcher suggests, Dubya’s desired privatization of Social Security will likely cause more problems than it solves. (Somebody tell the nation’s business associations.)

Momentum v. DeLay.

“Tom‘s conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election.” Calling Boss DeLay “an absolute embarrassment to me and the Republican Party,” moderate Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) calls for the Hammer’s removal. And even right-winger Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), forced to shore up his centrist cred for a tough 2006 reelection bid, now says DeLay has some questions to answer.

And here’s even more trouble for the Hammer: The investigatory noose is tightening around “Casino Jack” Abramoff, a sleazeball GOP lobbyist of the first order and one of DeLay “closest and dearest friends.” Can the DeLay Ring be saved? While the Dems may even want him around at this point, it doesn’t look like it, not with Dubya already suffering terrible poll numbers. “‘Within six months, Karl will force him out,’ a senior administration official from the first term says.“

Feeding Frenzy.

American Airlines is not alone. “‘Neither the House nor Senate offices responsible for keeping records on K Street’s activities have audit or investigative powers,’ said Roberta Baskin, the center’s executive director. ‘It is impossible, for example, to determine how many lobbyists there actually are in Washington.’” A report by the Center for Public Integrity finds that, while lobbying expenditures have doubled in the past six years, nobody in DC is minding the store.

Feeding the Beast.

Need a loan? Call American Airlines. By way of Drop the Hammer, a spokesman for the company rationalizes its $5000 donation to the Tom DeLay defense fund on the grounds that, despite laundering half a mill of PAC-money through his family over the past three years, the Hammer is “facing substantial legal bills that he was unable to pay personally because of their size and his limited resources.” Aw, shucks, how nice of ’em. It’s like something out of a Capra film, ain’t it? Hopefully, American will be equally generous to the 500 workers they just laid off in Kansas City.

By the way, if you haven’t been keeping up with Boss DeLay’s recent shenanigans, Lou Dubose offers a concise overview in today’s Salon, with further comment by David Paul Kuhn on the political fallout for the GOP and Joe Conason on previous DeLay family boondoggles.

From Russia with Cash.

Sorry, GOP’ers, you really should have dropped him when you had the chance. The WP unearths yet another lobbyist-financed boondoggle taken by the Hammer in recent years, while the NYT finds that Boss DeLay’s PAC has paid his wife and kid over $500,000 since 2001. Didn’t the 1994 Contract with America say something about restoring “accountability to Congress” and ending “its cycle of scandal and disgrace“? Well, if the Republican Party had any shred of credibility left, they’d start working on phasing out Tom DeLay immediately. But, sadly, no.

Update: DeLay’s response? “[I]t’s just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me.” Nice. Liberal media or no, I’d say you’re doing a pretty bang-up job of embarrassing yourself, Tom. Unfortunately, you’re bringing down the country with you…so it’s time to go.

Rewriting Roosevelt.

“He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.” Or is quoting Orwell too shrill? Well, you tell me — A coalition of women’s groups are blocked from holding a forum on Social Security at the FDR Library in Hyde Park because none of the attendees wanted to support Dubya’s ill-conceived privatization plan (Two Republican representatives were invited to speak — both declined.)

I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that, despite the lies of Brit Hume and FOX News, ole FDR himself would probably have agreed that dismantling one of his most enduring achievements so that Dubya’s Wall Street cronies could pad their wallets is a lousy idea. (For what it’s worth, FDR’s grandson agrees.) At any rate, the new head of the National Archives, Allen Weinstein, is trying to mitigate the damage. And, well he should, for after all: “Weinstein has been on the job for six weeks. Several historical organizations opposed his selection, fearing he would politicize the archives. Bush removed the previous archivist without providing a reason to Congress.”