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Why are Mitt Romney and Karl Rove's books in Women's Studies?

Bush Light

Obama says the US "lost its way" fighting terror, reassuring his antsy progressive base who are beginning to suspect that on terror, he may be Bush Light. (link)

Wait, so all that posturing and anti-Bush self-righteous rhetoric slandering Bush the last eight years was nothing more than politics? No!

The reality of this issue, is that Obama said they were going to come here. Supermax prisons? Oh, well he didn't say that. He said they're getting "released" here. And everyone went batnuts over the idea. And the Democrats lost a battle.

And now Obama is so awesome that he can even make Karl Rove happy: "Barack Obama inherited a set of national-security policies that he rejected during the campaign but now embraces as president. This is a stunning and welcome about-face." (link)

Now that the revolting Senate Democrats are telling him he can't have money to shut down Gitmo, MAYBE, that wasn't such a good idea - and MAYBE - there was a pretty good reason why the bad guys were put there in the first place? And MAYBE after hearing that 1-7 of the bad guys (link to that report) who were released end up going straight back into the fight - potentially killing innocents or American soldiers?

No word what the other six guys end up doing. Dentistry perhaps?

What amazes me is that ole' Mr. Personality, Dick Cheney is not only back in the news, he's able to shape and win the debate... oh, there's probably a cartoon for that - here you go....


Come on Obama voters, is this the Hope and Change you voted for? Is this what you were expecting?

Me, I thought the second Obama and the Congressional Democrats won, they'd put their war helmets on, put John Kerry in an important committee and declare that the war had been fought incorrectly, and now it's their turn to do it right - then they'd pull a couple FDR references and fight the war "correctly."

Hey, they own it now. It's all theirs. Gitmo, Afghanistan [not as much Iraq, for some reason] and Iran. It's theirs. They wanted the job, and they got it. But how come they are still using Bush's playbook, and listening to the fired coach? That's the better question.

Karl's Krazy Road Trip

Rove avoids subpoena by fleeing the country.

Yesterday, Karl Rove refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to testify about the politicization of the Justice Department, despite a subpoena. During the hearing, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) revealed that Rove had not only skipped out of the hearing, but had skipped out of the entire country.

So, let's put the debate of what executive privilege is and who that extends to aside... if you ignore a Congressional subpoena, then bail the county, and flip the bird to Congress... that's normal and customary behavior, right? I mean, this isn't the actions of a person who has anything to hide, right?

I think it looks a little bit like Daffy Duck going batshiat insane, but that's just my opinion.

This story ends in January when George throws a pajama pardon party the night before the inauguration ball.

Roh Roh Rezko

Obama’s Best Friend, Tony Rezko, has been Convicted Of Sixteen Crimes.

The jury reached a verdict in the corruption trial of Chicago “slum landlord” Tony Rezko, the sleazy best friend of Barack Obama.

Rezko for those of you who don't know - was a prominent fundraiser for Obama back in the day, and even helped him buy his Hope Mansion in Chicago, plus he bought the lot next door on the same day.

Rezko was convicted of “12 counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of aiding and abetting bribery.” But what’s the worst the judge could throw at him for such petty misdemeanors? Oh and: “300 years in prison.” So what? Obama will just pardon him in January, 2017.

From the Sun Times:
Here are eight things to know about all this:

1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.

2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.

3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm's clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.

4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.

5. Rezko's low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama's Illinois Senate district.

6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.

7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.

8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity. (by Tim Novak)

Look for this to come up in some talking points... but not by the GOP - as Rezko and the Republican leaders in Illinois (yeah, there are a couple left) are in his pocket too - and Karl Rove is part of that deal with Rezko to get US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald out in order to install a "puppy dog" who will obey orders.

Dirty, dirty scum bag - typical of Illinois politics. Ladies and Gentlemen, your nominee who's all about change?

It just keeps going

For as God Like or R-Kelly like the painting suggests, our good friend Karl Rove wonders, why can't Obama just put Hillary away? This is a good question. Karl said in an interview, “The problems that Barack Obama has with working class voters are real, and they’re not going away. It’s cultural. They view him as an elitist — as somebody who’s condescending and doesn’t share their values.” Way to use established talking points... Hillary's talking points, I might add.

Also, in Rove’s opinion, “Obama should not have gone [back] to Iowa and said, ‘I’ve got a majority of the elected delegates.’ Let somebody else do that. He should have focused on substance, not try to say, ‘[look at me], I’m ahead.’”

The issue will ultimately be settled by the Democratic National Committee, when its Credentials Committee meets next Saturday to making a final ruling on the heated dispute.

Does Clinton have a chance at seating some of those delegates?

“She might have a chance with the committee,” Rove says, “because it’s set up in a certain way where she has a lot of friends on the committee.”

And then there's Florida and Michigan, which if seated, would put her behind by a mere 50. 50. If you wonder why she's not dropping out - that's it. She can still take this thing, by golly.

Roh Roh, Rezko (cont'd.)

OneF will love this one... based on the revelations in the Tony Rezko trial, House Judiciary Committee intends to (finally) investigate Karl Rove.

Investigators are intrigued by the timing of the alleged conversation about Fitzgerald. According to the Rezko prosecutors, it took place in November 2004—weeks after Fitzgerald had subpoenaed Rove to testify for the third time in another matter he was aggressively investigating, the Valerie Plame CIA leak case.


Hey, OneF - here's a Shopped Photo for your collection. Not going to happen - but funny to dream, right?

Roh Roh Rezko

The Trial of Tony Rezko just got a little more interesting -

As the federal probe into Illinois' Gov. Blagojevich's administration heated up in late 2004, there were discussions between GOP powerbroker Robert Kjellander and Bush White House insider Karl Rove to oust corruption-busting U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald from his job, according to a man whom prosecutors want to testify at Tony Rezko’s trial.

Rezko — a former top fund-raiser for Blagojevich, a Democrat, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Barack Obama — also has been a big supporter of Bush, helping host a major fund-raiser for the GOP president in 2004.

The 'aleged' ties to Bush are all new - and ties in the scandal filled mine field of the Att. General firings. Those were very un-sexy, but extremely difficult to prove or prosecute. We also have a Congress that likes to show it's belly to the Administration. It's just not a beejay, so no one cares. Just like the Valerie Plame situation. Had they called it an 'Affair' there would have been at least a TV movie of the week about it.

And before OneF froths up at the chance to finally nail our lame duck President and Karl Rove, let's just remember what a circus this trial is trying to become... in other words, don't hold your breath, OneF, (but you can cross your fingers)

The list of the Bush pardons will make an excellent blog posting some day....

Huck-a-gee

What's with the sudden Huckabee appeal? For evangelical Christians, I don't think it would be out of bounds to say that it's his background as a pastor and his wide stance on abortion. Guiliani and Romney are both moderates - you know, like everyone else. Not caring enough to march... or blow up a Planned Parenthood... or abort a fetus to stop global warming.

But the Huckabee appeal is also catching on with potential opponents. The 'Liberal Media' and more importantly the DNC could easily be thinking that it would be a lot easier to paint Huckabee as some sort of a nut than the other nuts up for the ticket. And Huck could be a nut that Hillary can beat easily. They hope to build him up now, and tear him down later.

Perhaps.

It's kind of like the Karl Rove approach to Hillary - except that Karl Rove could engineer a Ron Paul victory over Hillary. With a blind fold. And an arm tied behind his back. Perhaps I'll point you to my previous post on the poll that said that ANY Republican can beat Hillary, but all would LOSE to Obama or Edwards. As if that's a news flash to anyone who gives even a minor care to politics and the goings-on of this silly election process?

Anyhow, look for secret DNC money going toward Huckabee advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire -- like RNC money went to make Ralph Nader ads in 2000.

Pot Calls Kettle Black!

Conservative Christian power-broker Gary Bauer (that one-time presidential hopeful?) turned his attention to a new threat, one social conservative leaders hope will shake their constituents from their apathy about the 2008 presidential race.

"The war against Islamofascism is in many respects a 'values issue,'" Bauer wrote. "That may seem like an odd statement at first glance, but, as I have often said, losing Western Civilization to this vicious enemy would be immoral."

From one perspective, branding "radical Islam" as a family values issue is yet another example of the broadening of the evangelical agenda. But next November, it also could energize one of the Republican Party's key voting blocs, much like anti-gay marriage measures did in 2004.

And if that's if this illegal immigrant drivers license thing doesn't work out. I think it'll piss people off - but not enough to get them into the polling booth... but Rove's got a plan, don't you worry.

The use of "Islamofascism" is the buzzword de jour among the faithful. Proponents of the term argue that Islamic radicals who embrace totalitarian methods magically evokes some sort of European fascist movements of the early 20th century. You're kidding, right? Some critics call it manufactured propaganda, a 21st-century scare tactic that fails to capture the complex causes of terrorism. You say tomato, I say effing tomato...

A quick review of Evangelicals railing against militant Islam recently:

• Televangelist Pat Robertson, explaining his endorsement this week of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said "the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists."

• Perhaps the nation's most influential evangelical leader, James Dobson, has spotlighted the issue a dozen times over the past year on his Focus on the Family radio show. Dobson has warned that both Republicans and Democrats need to "wake up" to the dangers of militant Islam.

• At the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, evangelical thinker Charles Colson spoke of a "long war" against Islamofascists.

Tensions between evangelical Christianity and Islam are long-standing, too. You know, with the Crusades and the Battle of Tours and such. Oh, and that oil and Israel thing too...

They're also trying to 'grow the business' and you just can't have a Subway and a Quiznos in the same parking lot, for some reason.

John Green, a senior fellow with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and Balloon Doggies said, "radical Islam, in the same way that radical Communism was, is a threat that would interfere with families, with good government, and also the church and the spreading of the Gospel."

U.S. Muslim leaders are critical of the pitched rhetoric and warn of the consequences if evangelical leaders fail to separate militants from the vast majority of Muslims. Or what? Or else they'll bomb them? Uh, what's up with that, guys? You MAY want to consider firing your PR firm. Just some free advice there for ya.

"If you look at the global picture, what these groups are doing is reinforcing the idea that America is in a crusade against Islam, and that this not a war against a group of extremists, but a war between religions," said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council. "In the long run, it's to the detriment of America's interests and it's pandering to a bloc of voters in a very shortsighted way." Yeah, say what you will Salami, it's a free country, after all, but those people do vote! And they do have a history of voting on the fear ticket.

In meetings with Republican presidential candidates, Christian conservatives are most interested in hearing an acknowledgment of the Islamic threat.

The GOP hopefuls are obliging. Here's your scorecard:

Giuliani — whose preferred term is "Islamic terrorists" — has denounced Democrats for failing to use the phrase. Christian conservative leaders acknowledge their elevation of the issue has contributed to an ironic twist at the top of the polls: Giuliani, the candidate most associated with the war on terrorism, not only won Robertson's endorsement but is polling well among evangelicals despite his two divorces and support for abortion rights and gay rights.

Mitt Romney, who is aggressively courting evangelicals, produced a TV ad in Iowa titled "Jihad," in which he says, "It's this century's nightmare, jihadism — violent, radical Islamic fundamentalism." He's also Mormon, so it's likely that the evangelical support would offset.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council accused former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a favorite of many Christian conservatives, for failing to grasp the threat of radical Islam.

Mike Huckabee has since tried to make amends. In a Republican debate in Orlando, the former Southern Baptist minister labeled Islamofascism "the greatest threat this country's ever faced."

Green, of the Pew Forum, said if radical Islam does become a major campaign issue, it will help the GOP nominee because voters tend to view Republicans as stronger on national security. But he isn't sure it will motivate conservative Christian activists. To be whipped up into some kind of religious fury; a kind of jihad, if you will?

"If you get off into issues of taxes or foreign policy, their eyes glaze over," Green said. "If politics is going to be about those things, they'd rather be back at their churches saving souls."

Another influential conservative activist, Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, said it's unclear whether conservative Christian voters understand the threat of radical Islam well enough for it to become a factor in the election.

"We've got a year to make sure they know what's going on," said Weyrich, a Romney supporter. "If they do, probably this will be the motivating issue. If they don't, you can forget it. I think the election goes to Hillary (Clinton)."

I would have thought that Hillary alone would be enough to get the Conservatives into the polling places? Eh, I guess Rove figures he oughta' whip 'em up good, just to make sure.

Original story By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer. Edited and editorialized by The Cap'n.

MC Rove

Rove continued attacking Hillary, and Hillary ate it up and played into his trap like a tiger in some kind of cage. Apparently, this is how John Kerry came out of the unknown corner and popped into the nomination. Let's review real quick though. Lieberman was the front runner up until before the people of Iowa actually went to the polls. And then after Howard Dean took Iowa it didn't exactly help his cause to show his imitation of Rick Flair to the nation. Weew! That kind of knocked him right out.

But apparently Rove was much more afraid of John Edwards as the Dem's nominee and pushed for Kerry. He did this by making comments about Kerry, which was interpreted as an attack, and brought Kerry much needed attention. Kerry 'the butt of the dirty Republican attacks' quickly rose to the top of the puddle of choices - which I never did quite understand - and Edwards was pushed to the second half of the ticket.

Wonder if he's 'nominating' Hillary to beat Edwards again, or if he's more afraid of Obama?

Karl Rove on waivers

It appears that Karl Rove's release from Major League Politics is yet another brilliant got-you-looking move by the master of disguise and deception. Truly a master. He's making pot shots at the Democrats outside the Alamo now, and the strategy has already stirred up the wasp nest that is the Clinton campaign.

Up until yesterday, when the Clinton Machine was merely focused on destroying the image and lives of Obama and Edwards - the first barrage from Rove hit their starboard side. Outside the White House compound, Rove has impunity from directly linking himself to Bush policy.

Never mind the fact that Rove will most likely still be a policy advisor to the President - but on a contract or consulting basis. Perhaps he'll make more money in this capacity?

What's the bottom line? Good for Rove, good for Clinton. Rove has basically named Hillary as the nominee to the Democratic Party. His endorsement will undoubtedly elevate Hillary to the martyr status she desperately seeks. This will put double digit distance from Obama and Edwards, and will probably choke their fundraising abilities. Not at first, but within the next couple months. Mostly because of these 'Republican attacks' from the deeply hated and feared 'Rove'. However, questions should be raised - why would Rove do this to help Hillary?

Obviously he realizes that she's the better candidate for a Republican to face in the general election. Which one? Does it matter?