Laura Bush Claims She and the President Poisoned in Germany

MoonHowler

Former First Lady Laura Bush claims that she, the president, and other members of their entourage were poisoned in 2007 in Germany during a G8 summit meeting.   Mrs. Bush’s assertions open up a diplomatic can of worms in her new book, Spoken From the Heart. Members of their entourage also lost hearing, had difficulty walking, and other issues that seem more indicative of poisoning than a virus. The Secret Service went in to overdrive but came to no definitive conclusions. According to CNN:

“Nearly a dozen members of our delegation were stricken, even George, who started to feel sick during an early morning staff briefing,” Mrs. Bush writes. “[O]ne of our military aides had difficulty walking and a White House staffer lost all hearing in one ear. Exceedingly alarmed, the Secret Service went on full alert, combing the resort for potential poisons.”

“George felt so ill that he met with [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy and did not even stand up to greet him,” she continues, adding later, “We never learned if any other delegations became ill, or if ours, mysteriously, was the only one.”

Excerpts of the book were first published by The New York Times on Tuesday.

The 432-page memoir is both a recount of the rare experience of being a first lady and a reflection of the eight years she spent in the White House as her husband’s popularity gradually declined.

 

One has to ask themselves what makes a family choose politics.  Is anyone thick skinned enough to have a loved one attacked like George Bush was attacked?  Can you imagine being his parents or his wife and children?  Perhaps politics are just too cruel for the average person to participate.  Perhaps the Ukrainians throwing eggs at each other are ultimately more civilized than the American people and their politicians. 

I suppose we will never know if the Bushes were poisoned.  Wasn’t a shoe bad enough?   Perhaps now Mrs. Bush has gone public, we will find out the truth.

To Diane’s uncle, and all the other uncles out there…

MoonHowler

One of our regulars was very offended by the video from the president (see below). I am not. However, I am going to tell the story of my hair stylist’s uncle. Her name is Diane (changed for privacy reasons). Diane is a late 30-something black woman who was raised in Prince William County. She has been my hair person since she was a youngster, right out of high school.

Diane’s uncle had never voted in his life. He had never had reason to, in his mind. In 2008, as an old man in his 80’s, suffering from 2 different serious cancers, he got up, got dressed and registered to vote. He said it had never seemed important to him. He said he never thought in his life he would ever have the chance to vote for a black man for president. And vote he did. Shortly after President Obama took office, Diane’s uncle passed away, but as she told me with tears in her eyes, her uncle got to vote for a black man for president.

That’s not something I will ever be able to feel. It sure made my eyeballs sweat a little when she told me about it though. On the other hand, how often have I gotten to vote for a woman for president, and is it really the same thing? I am thinking probably not. Somehow its just a little bit different. 

Should people be offended when the president wants to make certain that certain demographics stay involved in the election process?  How about other politicians?  Isn’t that what goes on anyway?  What makes young people, Blacks, Hispanics and women worthy of being specially cited?

Maybe I am missing something. I am just not offended.

Don’t Let a D-Bag Teabag Sen. Lindsey Graham

MoonHowler

Guest Post by Colonel Morris Davis, Attorney and Former Chief Prosecutor for Guantanamo Military Commissions. Colonel Davis is a Prince William County resident.

South Carolina has a reputation for setting the political bar as low as it can go and seeing who can slither under it. It’s the place where in the 2000 presidential primaries Karl Rove put the shiv to John McCain’s bid with a whisper campaign asking people if they’d be less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he’d fathered an illegitimate black child. While McCain hadn’t, oddly enough, the long-time South Carolina senator and leading segregationist Strom Thurmond had and hid the fact for decades until his death. It’s the state currently under the stewardship of Governor Mark Sanford who last year gave the phrase “hiking the Appalachian Trail” a whole new meaning when he lied to his wife and his constituents about his whereabouts while he was bumping bellies with his “soul mate” down in South America.

The bar was recalibrated downward again last week at a Tea Party Patriots rally in Greenville, S.C., by William Gheen, head of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC). Interestingly — at least to me — Gheen and I are from the same small town, Shelby, N.C., and we’re both graduates of Shelby High School, although I’m several years older and don’t recall ever meeting him. Gheen fired up the Tea Party base and had all of the Patriots in the crowd cheering when he said:

“Barney Frank has been more honest and brave than you (referring to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham). At least we know about Barney Frank, nobody’s going to hold it over his head. Look, I’m a tolerant person. I don’t care about your private life, Lindsey, but as our U.S. senator, I need to figure out why you’re trying to sell out your own countrymen, I need to make sure you being gay isn’t it.”

ALIPAC issued an email press release saying:

The national border security organization known as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is officially calling for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to make his homosexual lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security.

“U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is gay and while many people in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., know that, the general public and Graham’s constituents do not,” said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC.” I personally do not care about Graham’s private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret.”

On the ALIPAC website, it says Gheen is a “veteran campaign consultant” known for “creating new voter outreach methods.” There’s nothing new about the slash and burn tactic of ambushing opponents with sleazy innuendo. Rove and others of his ilk in the radical right mastered the tradecraft long ago. The citizens of South Carolina have swallowed the bait before — ask John McCain — but I hope by now they have wised up and won’t let Gheen set the hook and drag them over the transom.

What brought the wrath of the radical right down on Senator Graham is that on occasion he breaks ranks with right wing orthodoxy and, heaven forbid, works with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on legislation. Isn’t that what our elected representatives in the legislative branch are supposed to do? If, as Gheen, ALIPAC, and the teabaggers seem to expect, all elected representatives stay in strict lockstep with the party then every vote in the Senate is a preordained 59-41 tally. What’s the point in convening Congress if there’s guaranteed gridlock and an immovable impasse? We don’t need fewer members like Senator Graham, we need more; members who don’t have their heads so far up the rear ends of the Svengalis that pull the strings of their parties that they’ve lost sight of why the voters sent them to Capitol Hill.

It’s disappointing to see groups like ALIPAC and the Tea Party Patriots try to stake a false claim to patriotism. The motto of Gheen’s organization is “fight back with ALIPAC,” but it appears the only fighting Gheen’s a veteran of is a verbal ambush of his own making on a career military officer. Gheen never served a day defending the country as a member of the armed forces (another PINO – Patriot In Name Only) while Senator Graham has been a member of the U.S. Air Force for 28 years. It’s one thing to talk the talk like Gheen, but Senator (Colonel) Graham has walked the walk in defense of America.

I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay when the Supreme Court struck down the judicial system created by President Bush’s executive order and put the ball in Congress’ lap to craft a solution. Senator Graham invited me to his office and asked one thing: “What do you need from me to get the job done right?” That’s the attitude I’ve seen from Senator Graham; what’s the right thing to do, not what’s most politically expedient or what’s tracking best in the polls. In my view, that’s called integrity and there’s not enough of it on Capitol Hill.

The people of South Carolina elected Senator Graham to represent them in the legislative branch of government, not to be head deacon at their church. William Gheen and his type want to derail a good man — an actual patriot, and a dedicated public servant — by pandering to prejudice. I don’t care about Senator Graham’s sexual preference or if he even has one, but I do care about the direction our country is headed. We need leaders with integrity and principles who put the needs of the citizens ahead of their political fortunes. We need more Lindsey Graham’s and the citizens of South Carolina should be proud he’s their senator. I hope they don’t get teabagged by a d-bag like Gheen.

John McCain’s Political Foe

MoonHowler
Man-Horse Nuptials?
Man-Horse Nuptials?

John McCain has been all over the talk shows on cable this week. He is a shadow of his former self. John McCain used to seem fair-minded. He co-sponsored the Immigration Reform Bill of 2007 along with Edward Kennedy, for Pete’s sake.

I heard him on TV today calling illegal immigrants ‘illegals’ and calling for our military along our borders. I was disappointed to hear him use the term ‘illegals.’ He is an educated man. He knows that illegal is an adjective. But I heard him on Fox News so maybe he was just trying to fit in. Most of those anchors say ‘illegals.’

McCain is fighting a tough primary to be held in August. His opponent is J. D. Hayworth whose political stomping grounds are the suburbs of Phoenix. Hayworth is sort of a Tancredo on steroids. He continues to try to paint McCain as the Uber RINO.  According to the Washington Post:

Hayworth’s 12 years representing parts of the Phoenix suburbs have been described by his former colleague Dick Armey as a “fairly short, undistinguished congressional career.” But Hayworth attracted national attention after an epiphany of sorts in 2005. Though he had previously sponsored legislation to create a guest-worker program, Hayworth became a militant foe of Mexican immigration. Not just illegal immigration. Hayworth proposed a moratorium on legal immigration from Mexico. He declared an intention not merely to secure the border but also to “stand up for our culture” — which implies that Mexicans adulterate American culture. Hayworth warned of activists who would create an Aztec state on the ruins of American sovereignty in the Southwest. He voted against an anti-immigrant measure — which, among other provisions, prohibited religious charities from aiding illegal immigrants — because he thought the legislation was too soft.

From 2004 to 2006, Hayworth’s share of the vote in some Hispanic-influenced precincts dropped by more than 20 points, and he was carried away in the national anti-Republican deluge. Hayworth now presses his anti-immigration message in a primary challenge to McCain — contesting for the right to run for the Senate in a state that is about 18 percent Hispanic. To this appeal, Hayworth has added a “birther” message accusing President Obama of “identity theft.” Here he is on legalizing gay marriage: “I guess that would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse.”

The Tea Party also plays an important role in this primary. Some pundits are speculating that the future of the Tea Party might very well be defined by this primary election.  Some Tea Party People supposedly like Hayworth but want to distance themselves from his less ‘mainstream’ persona.  Michael  Gerson of  the Washington Post also added:

Tea Party leaders have been understandably reluctant to endorse a candidate likely to embarrass any movement elastic enough to include Hayworth. Both Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sen. Jim DeMint have declared themselves officially neutral in the Arizona Republican primary. Sarah Palin has campaigned for McCain.

So we are all kept in suspense by these politicians from Arizona.  Many people expect this race to dominate the election cycle.  McCain and Palin still seem very much like the odd couple to me.  Does he pay her to appear or does she appear free of charge as a thank you gesture to him for bringing her down to the lower 48?

J. D. Hayworth gives his opinion of the gay marriage court case in Massachusetts:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Not to Seek Re-election

MoonHowler

Rep. Bart Stupak, the Blue Dog Democrat who was the hold out vote for the health care reform legislation has announced that he will not be seeking re-election. Readers will remember that he is the congressman who was speaking on the floor of the house when he was called a ‘baby killer.’

Bart Stupak probably wants to spend more time with his family rather than deal with the stress of re-election. He was also being targetted for defeat by the Tea Party, according to the Washington Times:TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan tells the Associated Press he’ll retire from Congress rather than seek a 10th term this year.

Stupak has drawn stinging criticism from opponents of the recently enacted health care overhaul after leading a bloc of anti-abortion Democrats whose last-minute support was crucial to its approval by the House.

The Tea Party Express is calling for his defeat at rallies in his sprawling northern Michigan district this week.

But Stupak tells the AP the attacks didn’t influence his decision and he could win re-election if he tried.

He plans to announce his decision at a 12:30 p.m. news conference at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

He says he wants to spend more time with his family and start a new career after 18 years in Congress.

This sort of explains the caliber of people we get running for elected office. Of course, Stupak PO’ed the right and the left. That will teach him to act on his own sense of integrity! [sarcasm alert]

Parliamentarian Robert Dove: The Rules of the Senate

MoonHowler

 Contributor Rez sent me this video on the rules of the Senate.  Robert Dove served as the Senate Parliamentarian from 1981 to 1987 when he was dismissed by Senator Robert Byrd. He then went on to work for Senator Robert Dole until he was reappointed Senate Parliamentarian in 1995. According to that great source of misinformation, Wikipedia:

In 2001, he determined that Senate rules allow only one budget bill per year to be immune from filibuster.[3] The Parliamentarian may delete provisions in a budget bill if the provision has only policy implications or if it has no budgetary implications.[4] In 2001, Dove ruled to remove a Republican provision to allocate over $5 billion in the 2002 budget for natural disasters.[3] Following Republican anger about these rulings, he was dismissed by Republican Majority Leader Trent Lott. [5] Both times Dove was dismissed, he was replaced by Alan Frumin.

Upon leaving the United States Senate, he became a professor at The George Washington University, specializing in Congressional issues.[6]

Why is a Parliamentarian even subject to dismissal? Shouldn’t the Parliamentarian be independent of politics? It would seem to me that the American people would be better served if the Parliamentarian were appointed for a term of x years.

The Rules of the Senate

Hearing Mr. Dove speak reminded me of many of the roasts heard during the various services held for the Lion of the Senate, Teddy Kennedy, upon his death.  As I listened to a political opposite like Senator Orrin Hatch speak of his affection for the late Senator Kennedy, I realized how much of both of their lives had been spent on building coalitions and honest to goodness friendships. The senators need to return to the good old days.

Was Nancy Pelosi “Asking for It?”

MoonHowler

Much as been made on talk shows, radio, electronic media and print media of that famous walk across the capitalgrounds by the Congressional leaders, in particular, House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.   The Capitol balcony had Republican congressmen and women holding signs and leading chants from a sea of people on the lawn, the sidewalks and the roadways were lined with angry people shouting ‘kill the bill’ and other slogans. 

The picture below has been circulated all over the Internet.  It has been perceived as a victory lap by both parties. 

That crowd appeared extremely hostile if one is to assume that angry people are hostile.  Depending on who you listen to, the crowds have been described as peaceful but angry and others have called the crowds dangerous, hostile, and that getting through them was very much like running a gauntlet.

Many commentators have criticized Nancy Pelosi and the Congressmen and women for walking on the street.  Many have said they could have chosen another route that didn’t fan the flames. Most Fox News commentators vocalized that Nancy Pelosi did not have to go to the Capitol along that route. Glenn Beck took things a step further.  He accused her of goading the crowd and ‘asking for it:’

[Note:  the date when Pelosi teared up over Harvy Milk was Sept. 2009.  Beck conveniently made it look like her speech was a more recent response.]

 

I have a problem with anyone saying that a person walking on the street is ‘asking for it.’ That is tantamount to saying a rape victim was ‘asking for it’ because of their attire. Should members of congress have to slink away through the underground parking garage? Should the crowd have been allowed to get that close? Should Pelosi et al not walked from one building to the other? The gavel she carried was the one used when Medicare passed.

Have there been other times in history where legislation or election outcomes have been this contentious? Who took their victory laps? Is it tacky to take victory laps? How about the election of 2008? Impeachment hearings, the Civil Rights Act(s)?  I can’t see either party apologizing for passing legislation.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy Relaxed

MoonHowler
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Thursday, March 25, the military policy known as ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ which was enacted in 1993 under president Bill Clinton to ‘integrate’ gays into the military, was altered. Only Congress can appeal ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’ If you think the new Health Care Legislation was contentious, just revisit gays in the military as a political hot bed of contempt.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is still the policy for gays in the military in the United States. However, yesterday Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the new rules that relax how a gay person serviing in the military would be eased out if their ‘openess’ became ‘open.’ Sounds like weasel words, doesn’t it?  I have never totally understood ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’ I think it says, its ok to be gay in the military but don’t let anyone find out or they will throw your ass out. Yea, any way you cut it, that’s what the policy says. Let’s take a look at what happened via Time Magazine:

Pentagon took a giant step toward integrating openly gay men and women into the U.S. military on Thursday. No, it didn’t repeal 1993’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law — only Congress can do that. But it did something that could be almost as important: it eased the enforcement of that law by loosening the regulations that have been used to snare 13,500 gays — and boot them out of uniform — since 1994. “These changes will allow us to execute the law in a fair and more appropriate manner,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. The revised regs “provide a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved.”

Read More

Courtland Milloy: Congressmen show grace, restraint in the face of disrespect

MoonHowler

Courtland Milloy is a Metro Section Washington Post columnist. The other day someone on this blog intimated that I would have no idea how a black person would feel and that I was insulting. Let’s look at it through someone’s eyes who meets all the qualifications. I have no opinion. Milloy has been with the Washington Post since 1983. I found the opinion piece to be rather humbling. I would like to highlight someone else’s opinion. We don’t have to agree with Milloy, but we need to view this incident through someone’s eyes other than our own. These are not MY sentiments but I feel it is imperative that we acknowledge how someone else might feel.
 

 Washington Post 3/24/10

Courtland Milloy: Congressmen show grace, restraint in the face of disrespect

I know how the “tea party” people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health-care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their “Obama Plan White Slavery” signsand knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.

I am sick of these people — and those who make excuses for them and their victim-whiner mentality.

Read More

“Baby Killer” Utterer Randy Neugebauer Turns Himself In

MoonHowler

As anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak attempted to speak on the House floor, a lone voice called out what sounded like ‘Baby Killer.‘  The entire House errupted in muffled whispers over the affrontery.  Gavels were banged and people whispered back and forth over what they thought they heard.  Rep. Stupak had held out his vote for Health Care Reform until President Obama promised to write an executive order stating no public funds were to be used for abortion.   The ‘baby killer’ remark must have smarted.  Again, rudeness. 

Now the shouter has stepped forward and confessed, along with a little equivocation.  It seems that he meant the Health Care Reform legislation was a baby killer, not Stupak.  Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tx)  had the following to say:

Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase ‘it’s a baby killer’ in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership. While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself.
“I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill. The House Chamber is a place of decorum and respect. The timing and tone of my comment last night was inappropriate.”

Yea right, Mr. Neugebauer. Let’s have a listen. It’s brief:

We must live in an ‘anything goes’ culture where the rules of civilized society have been abandoned. On the national level, Members of Congress call the the President a liar, call each other names like ‘ Baby Killer.’ Outside, protestors spit, make racial slurs, and threaten with gun signs. At the local level a supervisor thinks its ok to call his constituents names and refer to them as ‘crap.’ There must be some rules of decorum. It’s one thing to speak informally with friends. It’s quite another to make public statements and direct racial slurs at people. The threatening and bullying must stop. And our leaders and entertainers who reach into millions and millions of homes per day must stop aiding, abetting and inciting this kind of behavior.

GOP Fliers left on House Dem Seats During Debate

MoonHowler

 
floorfile –

According to Huffington Post:

House Democrats on Sunday were greeted with a particularly partisan, somewhat juvenile sight when they took their seats inside the chamber.

On several of their chairs were fliers warning them that if they happened to pass health care reform that night — which they did — it would result in a repeat of the 1994 midterm election, which became known as the Republican Revolution.

“IN 1993 THEY VOTED YES. A YOUNG PRESIDENT TOLD THEM ‘DON’T WORRY, IT’LL BE OKAY,'” the flier read, substituting in bold red font for individual words. “34 INCUMBENTS DEFEATED, 54 SEATS LOST.”

Pictured on the flier are the head shots of 25 of those members in a “wanted” style framing — the margin of electoral defeat they suffered in ’94 under their name.

A Democratic aide passed on the literature to the Huffington Post, relaying that Republicans had put them on some seats but “not all.”

This tactic seems to just be more bullying and threats.  Time will tell what happens in the mid-term elections.  If history repeats itself, there will be some majority party losses.  It’s expected.  Remember, those same Democrats would be facing the people who sent them there if they didn’t vote the way their base elected them to do.  

There is also a good chance that the Republicans will suffer backlash for for perceived hard ball tactics.  Time will tell.

Where were the Republicans during the past 8 years?  The need for health care reform was obvious to everyone who didn’t in a cave.  Our premiums kept going up and up as did our deductible and our services diminished.  Need for change was not a news flash.

Speaking of flash, the full screen function on flier works.  Use escape key to return to normal screen.

Bret Baier Totally Rude to the President

MoonHowler

Did his parents raise him wrong or does he work for a company that encourages boorish behavior?   Baier was unconscionably rude to the President of the United States.  I don’t care if you like or hate the President, no one addresses the President like that.  Why didn’t Baier just tell the President to shut up, throw a shoe at him  or call him Bub?  It would have been no more rude.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fox News should be ashamed and put Baier on administrative leave. Interrupting has become a part of politics and it is very much a sign of disrespect  and ill breeding. 

Is there ever an excuse for rudeness like this to any President of the United States?

UPDATE:

Cargosquid left parts 1 & 2 of the entire interview.  The video that is posted is an encapsulation.  It is important to me to give honest information.

Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWHlry2pNA

Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUc2TAe9Og

NCLB on Steroids?

MoonHowler

And speaking of NCLB on steroids, the President announced his intentions to overhaul NCLB and our education system. From the White House:

The President discusses his blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind, the latest step from his Administration to encourage change and success in America’s schools at the local level.

Another “feels good/looks good on paper” unfunded mandate on the horizon, it sounds like. As titillating as Texas Hold ’em on Texas objectives is, this situation is far more serious. This appears to be another huge, omnibus education plan where one size fits all.

Here is the link to the Core Curriculum State Standards Initiative. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

When the politicians and the ivory tower gang admits that not every child learns at the same rate, the same depth, the same material, and for the same reasons all kids will be better off.   This concept is not rocket science.  Cookie cutter expectations must stop.  A kid with a reading disability is expected to learn the same material that a gifted child learns, in the same amount of time.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Scrap NCLB.  It was a good idea gone bad.

I think I have wasted an hour of your time….

MoonHowler
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
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I am sure Glenn Beck is disappointed that there just wasn’t more red meat out there.  But as Jon Stewart says, he got a new sign off slogan.  I liked the dog best.

And on another score, I feel like I have been wasting my time trying to establish dialogue on issues that people are talking about or want to talk about.  Interesting, that Elena and I can be insulted at the drop of a hat, and if we so much a speak back, the self righteous start in on us again about our manners.   That’s not going to work any more. 

I don’t feel like swimming through a sea of partisan politics and sound bites only to be insulted.  I don’t feel like spending the day defending one lone person who comes through the blog on his way to work and throws a poke at the Tea Party.   Not meaning to be Gospel Moonie but, “First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

I do hope this subject doesn’t have to be revisited.  Enjoy Jon Stewart.  He is funny in this video and I am simply too tired to look for anything more stimulating.