Iraq, Abramoff, torture, wiretapping, energy, the economy, Delay, Foley…In a perfect world, of course, the GOP would be dead in the water right now. But, as Bob Dylan famously noted, money doesn’t talk, it swears. And, with a month to go before the election, the GOP are rolling out their dough machine, and the loot is awash over everything. Some system.
Tag: Election 2006
Foley and the Fall.
More Foleygate fallout: As the representative in question heads to rehab for alcoholism (I always thought alcoholism meant you drank too much…never knew about the whole IM’ing underage folks about their masturbation habits part of it), the House GOP leaders’ story keeps changing about what they knew and when they knew it (apparently, warning signs of Foley’s shadiness go back to 2001), and the Republicans as a whole wonder if this might be the straw that broke their electoral back… Update: As Foley’s story continues to get creepier, his attorney adds childhood abuse by a Catholic clergyman to the explanatory alcoholism. Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion?
Foley’s Tomfoolery.
The GOP’s annus horribilis continues: Another once-safe House seat comes into play as Florida Republican Mark Foley abruptly resigns in the wake of a growing scandal involving inappropriate (or “sick sick sick“) e-mails sent to a 16-year-old page. “Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.” Foley was the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.
The United States of Torture.
“We don’t blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won’t remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration. They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.” Abu Ghraib becomes standard operating procedure as Dubya’s terror bill — horrifying as it is — passes the House 253-168 (roll call) and the Senate 65-34 (roll call.) Twelve Senate Dems (well, eleven Senate Dems and Lieberman) voted for the bill: Carper, Johnson, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Menendez, Nelson, Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Stabenow. Chafee was the only Republican to vote against it, Snowe abstained.
Shameful, pitiful, demoralizing, pathetic. What else is there to say? As Rebecca Blood sums it up (via Medley): “We have lost the war on torture. It’s devastating.“
Trouble Among Allen’s Confederates.
“We’re all aware, ourselves included, of the statements that got him into this. The infamous macaca statement. He’s using our flag to wipe the muck from his shoes that he’s now stepped in.” With his penchant for the N-word revealed and his bizarre reaction to his Jewish roots, George Allen was already having a bad week. (Allen’s still up on Webb, but barely.) Now, the Sons of Confederate Veterans want an apology for his recent remarks on their battle flag, which Allen recently discovered (at the age of 54) is offensive to most African Americans. Here’s a tip, George: So’s the noose.
The bagmen feel neglected.
In related news, as the battle for control of the House tightens, the GOP’s K-Street cronies find they’ve been put on hold to make way for terror terror terror schtick. “This bottleneck has disappointed and angered organizations that have worked closely with the GOP and have won many legislative benefits. Oil and gas producers, for instance, had high hopes of adding to their legislative gains the opening of drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.“
Tribunes v. Tribunals.
“Purely from a strategic point of view, this is another mess…Every time Republicans think they have an issue to unite them and divide the Democrats, the Republicans end up spending most of the time fighting among themselves.” As fear-mongering and falling oil prices perhaps help the GOP get back in the race this November, the WP surveys the political implications of the recent stand of principle by Senators Warner, McCain, Graham, and Snowe against Dubya’s grotesque tribunal plan. Politics or no, Dubya’s proposed gutting of the Geneva Conventions must be stopped: “‘What is being billed as “clarifying” our treaty obligations will be seen as “withdrawing” from the treaty obligations,’ Graham said. ‘It will set precedent which could come back to haunt us.'”
Ney Guilty? Aye.
“Sen. Conrad Burns gazed at a debate audience and asked if anyone could guess who was blocking efforts in Washington to control health-care costs. ‘Abramoff?’ shouted a heckler.” Taking a look at the Montana Senate Race, the Post argues that the Casino Jack scandals still aren’t making much of a dent in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, the case continues to play out in official Washington: After agreeing to plead guilty last Friday to corruption charges stemming from the Abramoff investigation, the GOP’s Bob Ney — recently the recipient of a Republican standing O for his flouting of the law — is forced to give up his House chairmanships. Ney hasn’t given up his seat yet, but either way, he’s out in November.
Chafee Safe?
In somewhat unhappy news for prospects of a Senate takeover in November, GOP moderate Lincoln Chafee withstands a primary challenge from his right, in the form of Cranston mayor Steve Laffey, 54-46%. Still, Democrat (and son of Chafee’s father’s roommate at Yale) Sheldon Whitehouse is effectively tied with Chafee in recent polls, so the damage from a bruising primary race may still pay dividends for the Dems.
Fear Factor.
“The power of his rhetoric is in marked decline…We are losing a war right now, and there is no way to get around that.” Five years after the 9/11 attacks, Dubya and the GOP are once again in full “terror, terror, terror, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11” mode. But, really, what can you expect? Other than going virulently negative, it’s the only trick these jokers have left. If we let them pull it again this November, shame on us.