Regime Change with a Smile: Senator Centerfold

MoonHowler

Alas, the Lion of the Senate’s old seat old was snagged by a young stag.  I don’t know much about Scott Brown other than he is a hunk and a Republican.  Born in 1959, Brown has held several political offices.  He will serve as Massachusetts U.S. Senator for the remain 3 years of Senator Kennedy’s term.  He will probably irritate the good people of Massachusetts and a Democrat will be in at the next election.

The significance of this win cannot be understated.  It brings the Senate down to 59 Democrats  rather than the 60 needed to pass legislation the easy way.  There is fear that health care reform will not make it through now.   The balance of power has been tipped. Democrats need to pay careful attention and so do Republicans. It was only a year ago that the GOP got their heads handed to them. Perhaps both parties need to change–big time.

 Now I am sitting here wondering if  the playmate of the month could ever win a U.S. Senate seat.  I am guessing someone would make a huge deal out of  her ‘past.’   Scott Brown was a centerfold in Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1982. Apparently being a centerfold doesn’t hurt males, especially good looking ones.

Warning! Incredible HUNK pictures!

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Blue Dog Breaks from the Pack

MoonHowler

From Politico:

 

Democrats got a punch in the gut on Tuesday when freshman Congressman Parker Griffith (D-AL) announced he would switch parties.  Griffith is what is known as a blue dog Democrat, or a Democrat who is more fiscally conservative than the average Democrat.  He stated as his reason for switching parties:

[H]e can no longer align himself “with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy and drives us further and further into debt.”

 “Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system,” Griffith said in a statement. “I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress – but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues.

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GOP Political Suicide?

Elena

Michael Gerson wrote an insightful op-ed in the Washington Post. He talks about the future of the Republican Party if they continue to choose to ignore the extremists when it comes to immigration and reform. Although Senator Martinez has yet to publicize WHY he left the Republican Party, it is not too far fetched to believe it may be the hateful extreme rhetoric espoused by many on the extreme right about Latinos.

Mel Martinez’s recent resignation from the U.S. Senate was for personal and family reasons. But the departure of the Republican Party’s most visible Hispanic leader crackles with political symbolism.

Conservative shock radio, on its frightening fringes, can be overtly racist, referring to Mexican immigrants as “leeches,” “the world’s lowest primitives” and diseased carriers of the “fajita flu” who may “wipe their behinds with their hands.” Pat Buchanan sells books with this title: “State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America.”

As Martinez points out, many Republicans who oppose his pro-immigration views are not divisive or inflammatory. But other, angry voices crowd them out. As a result, Republican support among Latinos is collapsing. In Martinez’s home state of Florida, for example, 56 percent of Hispanic voters cast ballots for George W. Bush in 2004. Four years later, 57 percent voted for Barack Obama.

This country needs a robust Republican Party, but if they continue to pander to the extremists on every issue, it will be some time before healthy productive debate returns.

Senator Graham Says ‘Birthers’ are Crazy

MoonHowler

Senator Lindsay Graham went on the record and said that the Republican Party needs to distance itself from the fringe. He looks at various media that is known for whipping up people into a frenzy and he feels it is hurting his party. His distain extended to Glenn Beck:

“Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.”

He extended his criticism beyond individuals to include movements like the ‘birther’ movement and speculated what it would have been like to write the founding documents of this country in an environment where news channels were on 24/7:

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about “the passions of cable TV” whipping up the emotions of the public. “If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it,” he said, before labeling “Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle” as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.

“Can you imagine doing D-Day with cable television?” he asked. “Can you imagine writing the Constitution — you know, O’Reilly says Ben Franklin’s giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment?”

More at Huffington Post

Jon Henke Crusades Against the ‘Fevered Swamp’ Mentality

MoonHowler

Jon Henke feels that much of what is reported in the WorldNetDaily is just hideously embarrassing to the Right and is calling on Conservatives with a brain to reject this mentality, which he calls the ‘fevered swamps.’

Jon Henke of The Next Right takes up this crusade and challenges Republicans to veer away from the cyber-tabloid and its fringe lunacy thinking.   Henke calls on Conservatives with a brain to reject this mentality.

An example from WND of what Henke feels is extremely embarrassing can be found at The Next Right:

[T]he Web site Worldnetdaily.com says that the government is considering Nazi-like concentration camps for dissidents. Jerome Corsi, the author of “The Obama Nation,” an anti-Obama book, says that a proposal in Congress “appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany

.”

Jon Henke has some impressive credentials. According to Lowell over at Blue Virginia:

Jon Henke was George Allen’s netroots coordinator, New Media Director for the Republican Communications Office in the U.S. Senate, Online Brand Manager for Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign, and is co-founder of The Next Right.

I welcome Henke’s attempts to bring normalcy back to the Republican Party. Right now, all I can do is laugh. There are many people out there who, like me, aren’t really comfortable with the Democrats but who can’t stop laughing at the fringe lunatics.

It is time for all Republicans and Democrats to engage in honest debate of issues and leave behind conspiracy theories and other wing nut theories if either party is to have any credibility with people of reason.

The McCain/Palin Rift Continues

MoonHowler

You don’t have to be a Republican to feel the internal strife between the McCain people and the Palin people. Many blogs around the nation are commenting on the rising tensions between the 2 encampments.

The McCainites feel Palin is a loose cannon and want to rein her in. The Palinites feel that she was sabotaged at every turn, from her initial introduction to the shopping spree that she had nothing to do with, according to her.

From the Washington Post (E. J. Dionne’ Blog):

It’s hard to believe that the infighting in the Republican camp is so fierce with a week still left to go until Election Day. The battle between the camps of John McCain and Sarah Palin is something to behold. McCain’s loyalists are clearly trying to shift some of the blame for the ticket’s troubles to Palin, and Palin’s people are fighting back. In today’s Post, Dana Milbank cites this astonishing quotation that a McCain adviser offered CNN: “She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.” The McCain adviser also described Palin as “a diva.” Palin in the meantime is reported to be furious about how the McCain campaign botched the roll-out of her candidacy. She feels a need to defend herself, particularly against charges stemming from the Republican National Committee’s high-end shopping spree on her behalf. Since I thought from the beginning that the choice of Palin was a mistake I’m not surprised that it’s all come to grief for both of them. Palin is certainly right that the McCain campaign’s too obvious fear of letting her off on her own did her image no good….

Now it’s your turn. Who is to blame? Has Palin been short-changed or is she a prima donna? Has McCain been set back by Palin? Has she hurt or helped the ticket?

What do the folks on Anti think?

BOCS Chairman Stewart Not Too Happy With McCain Rally

MoonHowler

According to the Gainesville-Times, Corey Stewart is not too happy with the McCain Campaign because Senator McCain did not address the immigration issue. McCain supports a pathway to citizenship and co-sponsored an Immigration Reform bill in 2007 which went down in defeat.

Apparently, Corey Stewart felt that the McCain Campaign dissed him and his fellow Republican leaders at the October 18 rally at the County Complex:

…Stewart resented what he perceived as the McCain camp’s attempt to distance itself from the county’s crackdown.
“We had no real place other than getting introduced through a long line of people,” Stewart said of his fellow Republican county supervisors, referring to an honorees list read by Clerk of the Circuit Court Michele McQuigg.
Though she had asked the audience to hold their applause until the end, Stewart’s name was the only one cheered after she read it.
“I don’t feel that proper protocol was respected, and I think that’s going to hurt him, frankly. The local Republicans know how to win elections here,” said Stewart.
“I’m very, very disappointed in McCain’s campaign here,” he added.

Earlier in the week Stewart bragged that he has practically begged the McCain campaign to come to Prince William County. The Gainesville-Times further elaborates on the immigration issue in Prince William County and how it relates to Stewart.

One issue noticeably absent from Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s speech to supporters in Prince William on Saturday was illegal immigration.
Unlike the majority of the Republican base, McCain has supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
So for him to stop in the county that was the national hotbed for illegal immigration controversy just last year and not talk about the issue troubled of Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R).

Stewart complained :

“But I think that clearly McCain’s campaign has tried to distance itself on Prince William County’s local crackdown on illegal immigration,” he said. “And I think that’s a blunder. And I use that word very strongly and I mean it.”

In order to connect with the crowd on illegal immigration, “All he had to say was ‘Protect the borders’ and unlike [Democratic president nominee Sen.] Barack Obama, he does not favor workforce rights and giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. That’s all he had to say,”

Does this mean that Corey is going to just get angry and support Obama? Somehow I can’t see that happening. What I do see here is a sore loser. I wonder what he thinks about the campaign choosing Tito the Builder over him?

Did Corey think the McCain Rally was his very own little pep rally, just for him and his buds? Let’s hope Corey doesn’t trip over his lip.

Tito the Builder: Tito Introduces Governor Palin in Leesburg

MoonHowler

It is rather neat that a Prince William County immigrant was chosen to introduce the Republican Candidate for Vice President of the United States. Only in America. Gov. Palin now mentions Tito in most of her speeches, including the out of state rallies like Kissimmee, Florida.

The next video continues with the one showed on the previous thread. Tito the Builder very eloquently introduces the candidate and gives us a little biographical glimpse of our Prince William Icon.

Has the local media overlooked the national attention Tito the Builder is getting? I thought surely some of the other blogs would pick up on his recent fame.

The New PWC Hero: Tito the Builder

MoonHowler

It looks like there is a new Republican working class hero: Tito the Builder. His name comes up now in all the Republican speeches and has been a rallying cry all week.

He is almost a home grown hero, discovered right here in Prince William County last weekend during the McCain rally.

The irony is staggering. Tito the Builder is actually Tito Munoz, we assume from Prince William County. Tito came to the rally dressed for the part of new Republican icon. The irony? Tito is an immigrant from Colombia. I guess he doesn’t know that Corey Stewart and John Stirrup belong to this same Republican party as Senator McCain?

According to Trailhead, the campaign blog in Slate:

Munoz showed up at a McCain rally in Woodbridge, Va. last weekend dressed in a yellow hardhat and orange surveyor vest, decked out in McCain-Palin flair and sporting a sign that read “Construction Worker for McCain-Palin” on one side and “Media—Tell the Whole Story!” on the other. During McCain’s stump speech, Munoz was behind the candidate, alongside “Phil the Bricklayer” and “Rose the Teacher.”

The video shows a verbal argument, mainly aimed at the press and led by Tito the Builder. It is hard to believe all this was going on in Prince William County. Expect to see Tito as the new mascot for HSM.

Hit it, Tito!

Some of this stuff you just can’t make up.

[sarcasm button on]