It’s true in the West, it’s true in the Southwest, it’s even true among the reddest of the red. And, in perhaps the final straw for the GOP this November, a new poll puts independents breaking for the Dems 59%-31%. Yes, y’all, it looks like a wave is coming…(provided, of course, Diebold doesn’t ride to Dubya’s rescue.)
Category: The Dubya Era
Course Correction.
As Medley pointed out yesterday, Dubya and the GOP are now “cutting and running from ‘stay the course.‘” Instead, Tony Snow tells us, “What you have is not ‘stay the course’ but in fact a study in constant motion.” And that motion, folks, is a full-out freefall. As even Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) noted yesterday, “We’re on the verge of chaos” And, frankly, that’s being charitable.
No Dubya Left Behind.
“But if the list is for real, it’s evidence of presidential dereliction of duty, and perhaps an outright threat to national security. Two books a week is an uphill battle for a graduate student whose responsibilities don’t even include showering. For a president, who lives at work, reading and comprehending two serious books a month takes a Herculean effort.” (Hey, I shower!…um, most days.) Slate‘s Bruce Reed discusses Dubya’s newfound love for books, suggesting that his recent reading contest with Karl Rove is part of the reason why things have gone so astray of late for this president. Well, call me old-fashioned, but — My Pet Goat notwithstanding — I’d usually rather see Dubya with his nose in a good book than see him make any more lousy world-threatening decisions. Besides. Dubya dug himself in this hole long before 2006…some healthy book learnin’ might’ve done him right earlier in his tenure. Hey, at the very least, he might’ve locked down that whole pesky Shia-Sunni thing.
Take your seats.
“‘The Democrats are going to gain somewhere between four and seven seats,’ said Stuart Rothenberg, author of an independent newsletter that tracks campaigns nationwide.” The WaPo surveys recent trends in the battle for the Senate, concluding that a Dem takeover is still eminently possible, if not yet probable. “Of the battlegrounds of Tennessee, Virginia and Missouri, [Rothenberg] said, ‘They need two of the three, and they have a pretty good chance’ of winning them.”
They Have the Bodies.
Wasting no time after signing the godawful terrorism bill into law, Dubya tells the US District Court that it has lost jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions filed by Gitmo detainees. “What’s being blocked and what the government is opposing tooth and nail is the most simple thing of all: a hearing before a district court judge,’ said Jonathan Hafetz, who handles many detainee cases for the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. ‘The government will do anything to prevent Guantanamo detainees from being able to present evidence in court.‘”
All the Duke’s Men.
“By himself, Cunningham had no authority to or ability to award a contract to MZM…[He] needed to secure the cooperation, or at least the non-interference, of many people: the appropriators and authorizers in Congress…the various Department of Defense (DOD) officials responsible for execution of the money…and officials of the agencies for which the contracts were to be performed. This was a lot of people to persuade, cajole, deceive, pressure, intimidate, bribe or otherwise influence to do what they wanted.” A new report by the House Intelligence Committee delves into Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s bribery operation on the Hill (or at least, it does what it can given that the GOP, acting sketchy as usual, refused to subpoena Cunningham. Can we please get a little oversight up in here?)
November Reign?
“Lame Duck” Dubya and his man behind the curtain, Karl Rove, may be “inexplicably upbeat,” but John McCain is apparently contemplating suicide. Meanwhile, Dems Carville and Greenberg suggest breaking out the party credit cards, while the bellwether state of Ohio sours on the GOP completely. Only 20 days left until Election 2006…
Dispatch War Rocket Ajax.
As threatened in the past, Dubya has apparently signed a new National Space Policy that heavily emphasizes the weaponization of space. “Theresa Hitchens, director of the nonpartisan Center for Defense Information in Washington, said that the new policy ‘kicks the door a little more open to a space-war fighting strategy’ and has a ‘very unilateral tone to it.’“
Talk to Ken.
“‘Everyone would appreciate it if you would contact Ken only and not others here at the WH,’ reads one message to Abramoff from Bush advisor Karl Rove’s assistant Susan Ralston, ‘because they just forward it to him anyway.'” Salon‘s Mark Benjamin takes a gander at Casino Jack’s man in the White House, Republican Party chair Ken Mehlman. “More than once, Abramoff asks for a favor, Mehlman fulfills the request, and then one of Abramoff’s wealthy Indian tribe clients sends a political donation to a GOP cause.“
Not-so-Super-Grover | Ney Day.
A new minority staff report by the Senate Finance Committee concludes that “[f]ive conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, ‘appear to have perpetrated a fraud’ on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.” Among the organizations called out are Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (sheah), an outfit created by Norquist and former Dubya Interior Secretary Gail Norton, whose office was already waist-deep in ill-gotten Casino Jack loot. (In fact, Abramoff’s point person in Norton’s office was CREA’s president, Italia Federici.)
Update: In related news, Abramoff flunky Bob Ney pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and making false statements (without, mind you, resigning his seat in Congress.) While he didn’t speak with reporters, Ney’s written statement noted that the “treatment and counseling I have started have been very helpful, but I know that I am not done yet and that I have more work to do to deal with my alcohol dependency.” Ok, one more time, people. Alcoholism means you drink too much. It does not mean that you bilk the public, indulge in bribes, or send teenagers dirty IMs.