John Warner Retirement = Blue Virginia

3:52 pm EST August 31st, 2007 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

As I’ve documented before recent Democratic wins in Virginia have been sort of a lead-up to that state going blue in the next election. Both the Governor and junior Senator are Democrats, and you’ve got to figure if Mark Warner runs for the seat it’s his to lose. Virginia Dems will likely be extra-energized to get a sweep and it will help the Democratic nominee, whoever it may be.

Topic: Virginia

Hillary Clinton Top 10 On Letterman

3:46 pm EST August 31st, 2007 | Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Some good ones.

Topic: Hillary Clinton

GOP 2008: More Of The Same

2:31 pm EST August 31st, 2007 | Republicans | 4 Comments

The Republican party is torn between the American people, who seek to move away from the Bush years as soon as possible, and the Republican base who is deluded beyond reason about the leadership skills of President Bush and the utility of the war in Iraq. As such, they’re floating names like Tommy Franks for a vice presidential position. Franks, you will remember, was one of the architects of the failing Iraq strategy – one of the generals who abdicated his duty and instead told the leadership what they wanted to learn to in exchange for American security and lives. The Republican party in 2008 is the same old crap we’ve had for the last 7 years. They’ve just changed the names.

More GOP Dirty Tricks: Iraq Edition

2:25 pm EST August 31st, 2007 | News | 6 Comments

Anyone surprised? I’m not.

This morning, the Washington Post has a story on how lawmakers are being “slimed in the Green Zone” when they travel to Iraq for congressional delegation trips. Reps. James Moran (D-VA), Jon Porter (R-NV), and Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) recently returned from such a trip. While there, Tauscher and Moran noticed sheets of paper that “seemed to be everywhere” in the Green Zone, “distributed to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank.”

Topic: Iraq

Audio Of Larry Craig’s Interrogation

2:16 pm EST August 31st, 2007 | Republicans | 1 Comment

Don’t know how you come back from that, even as a Republican.

Anti Immigration Activists Tell The Truth, Yell “White Power”

11:36 pm EST August 30th, 2007 | News | 23 Comments

At least these kids are much more honest than Tom Tancredo and a lot of the conservative Republicans.

It started with a simple question and ended with at least one student chanting “white power” in a classroom.

It happened Tuesday in a classroom at Holy Family High School, the Catholic school that sits at the corner of 144th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Broomfield.

The classroom discussion started with the question: Why do students need to learn Spanish?

According to the Archdiocese of Denver, the conversation soon became about immigration and it turned ugly.

“It became a heated discussion and some rhetoric was used that was inappropriate for the classroom,” said Jeanette DeMelo, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Denver.

At least one e-mail sent to 9NEWS said that at least one student started a chant of “white power” and some said that all Mexicans should go back to Mexico.

By no coincidence the Univision-sponsored Spanish language debate for the GOP has been postponed and likely canceled because only one candidate had agreed to appear. This is actually the one area where Karl Rove is right. The Republican party is doing its damnedest to stand against the fastest growing demographic in America, and while things may work out for them in the short term by scaring up the conservative white vote, it is long term doom.

Topic: Immigration

An Honest Question From A Straight Guy To Gay Folks

11:26 pm EST August 30th, 2007 | Politics | 17 Comments

Why in God’s name is the public bathroom a hookup spot?

As longtime readers know I support equal rights for gays, gay marriage, etc. I just don’t get why anyone gay or straight would pick somewhere as totally ick as a bathroom.

This is an honest question.

Dear GOP,

7:14 pm EST August 30th, 2007 | Republicans | 5 Comments

You’ve essentially appointed Tom DeLay as the point man to go in the media today to push the idea that Democrats are more corrupt than Republicans.

The most corrupt majority leader of the US House who resigned in shame and scandal is the Republican point man for defending Republican honor.

I honestly could not have come up with that myself!

Thanks and Love,

Oliver

UPDATE: The Newshounds are similarly stupefied. Tom freaking DeLay. Up next: OJ lectures on domestic violence, while Pete Rose discusses the evils of gambling.

Iowa To Date

3:04 pm EST August 30th, 2007 | News | 2 Comments

Not usually my thing, but I whipped up this chart of ARG’s polling in Iowa to date of the Democratic primary. Noticeable drop-off for Edwards along with forward movement for Obama and a slight drop-off for Clinton. Looks pretty up for grabs, still.

Topic: 2008 Election

The Truth About The “FairTax”

12:13 pm EST August 30th, 2007 | News | 106 Comments

First off, FairTax was created by Tom Cruise’s wacky scientologists.

For those who never heard about it, the FairTax is a national retail sales tax that would replace the entire current federal tax system. It was originally devised by the Church of Scientology in the early 1990s as a way to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service, with which the church was then at war (at the time the IRS refused to recognize it as a legitimate religion). The Scientologists’ idea was that since almost all states have sales taxes, replacing federal taxes with the same sort of tax would allow them to collect the federal government’s revenue and thereby get rid of their hated enemy, the IRS.

The FairTax is a shell game tax hike.

Boortz and Linder contend that actual consumer prices would not rise under the NRST, but regardless, their proposed “tax-inclusive rate” is a 30 percent sales tax as most Americans understand it. But even this 30 percent number probably underestimates what Boortz and Linder’s proposal would entail. In fact, in order to meet their requirements, the effective tax rate could be as high as an astonishing 56 percent (tax-exclusive).

Topic: Economy