Senator Barack Obama did fantastic job in front of a relatively hostile audience. Pastor Rick Warren asked about his personal moral failures and his opinion on America’s moral failures. Obama talked openly about his youthful drug use. He also talks about America leaving behind those that are the least among us. It was a great answer.
I’ve read a ton of political books from both end of the political spectrum over the past five years. From the nauseating Sean Hannity’s “Deliver us from Evil” (as it turns out Hannity didn’t even write the book, it was ghost written for him) to the enlightened Molly Irvins’ “Shrub.” One of the books that I will not be reading is Jerome Corsi’s “Obama Nation.”
Corsi is a right-wing neocon who uses the most inflammatory language to discuss liberals. He is also the author of the 100 percent discredited book “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.” This book holds the award for the biggest pile of crap ever shoveled into the American mainstream. Almost nothing in that book was true. I’m sure that “Obama Nation” will follow the same pattern.
In the meantime, there are several books that I will recommend in the coming days.
Update: Senator Barack Obama and his camp have refused to be swift-boated by this moron again. John Kerry didn’t respond until the damage had been done. Obama already has a 41-page rebuttal: “Unfit for Publication.”
I saw this piece yesterday but I just now have a chance to talk about it. Fox News has done some really bad reporting over the years, pushing stories that simply weren’t true. Now, as a new low, they have used digital editing of photos to make two guys from the New York Times (reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe ) look uglier. How juvenile!!!
The good folks at Editor and Publisher interviewed the New York Times but were unable to get Fox or News Corp (Fox’s Parent organization) to comment.
Scott McClellan, former Press Secretary under George W. Bush, wrote a book with a critical eye toward his the president.
McClellan is a turncoat– Just like his mom.
McClellan’s mom, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is well-known here in Texas because she has run for office as a a Democrat, Republican, and as a third-party candidate. Strayhorn served as Democratic Mayor of Austin and as a Republican Texas State Comptroller. She then ran for Governor in 2006 as an Independent against a Republican incumbent. She dropped and changed party affiliations to suit her ambitions.
If McClellan had a real problem with President George W. Bush, he could have resigned in protest. Instead, he is making big money with a book. He has no loyalty to either President Bush or the American people.
Above you see a picture of some apples on a tree. This reminds us that the apples do not fall far from the tree. In this case, though, they are root and branch the same rotten fruit.
Here is what it says in Matthew about trees and the fruit they bear:
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
As I noted in previous posts, last week was really bad for Senator John McCain, BUT that appears to be nothing compared to the way that this week has started off.
Former Texas Senator and presidential hopeful, Phil Gramm is a lobbyist for UBS as well as an economic adviser under McCain. Gramm is credited with the deregulation “reform” which may have led to the current subprime mortgage crisis.
TPM:
Below I noted MSNBC’s story tonight about how former Senator Phil Gramm (McCain’s economics advisor) was advising him on his subprime mortgage bailout policy while Gramm was also a registered lobbyist for the Swiss bank UBS.
Now, it’s clear from the report that UBS had some exposure on the subprime front. But I wasn’t aware of the true extent of it. TPM Reader KB sends in articles Businessweek and Forbes that show just how big a player UBS was. Forbes says that UBS is among the banks hit worst by the global credit crisis, particularly in their direct exposure to the US subprime market. According to Forbes, UBS has some $37 billion in write-downs on assets tied to bad U.S. mortgages. In other words, the bank’s very life appears to be on the line with regards to how the U.S. government chooses to handle the matter.
As MSNBC reported, UBS deregistered Gramm as a lobbyist for the company on April 18th, though he continues to serve as a vice chairman of the bank. But that was fully a month after McCain’s speech outlining his own approach to the crisis.
So, although the Daily Show didn’t really do the Eliot Spitzer thing on Monday night, they did bring it on Tuesday. Samantha Bee felt she had to admit her infidelity with a group of men the night before. This is a funny skit. Enjoy!
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Jeff posted something that I have been thinking about ever since I heard about Eliot Spitzer. Five thousand dollars for a hooker? Come on. That is a ridiculous amount of money. Jeff lists what he would expect from a woman whom he pays $5,000 for sex.
Eliot Spitzer. I don’t think that I care any more. I’m sorry. Somebody just fix this. Wrap it up for me.
Here’s the outstanding questions that I have -
Re-Posted
I thought that would introduce a new segment to Where’s the Outrage - medical ethics.
A 20 year old female presents to the ER. She complains of feeling like somebody is trying to get into her head. The patient looks scared and anxious. Her eyes are darting back and forth. Her speech is pressured and rapid. You are the ER physician. You run a battery of tests and conclude that the patient may be a danger to herself. You ask her if she will be willing to come in the hospital for some treatment that you think will help her. She agrees. As soon as you walk out of the room, the patient is seen by the charge nurse trying to leave.
What should you, as the ER physician, do?
David Letterman has been doing this for over 30 years. He is still funny. He has the Top Ten Spitzer Excuses. I can tell you that one of them has to do with Bill Clinton. This is funny.
On a serious note, I’m not sure that Eliot Spitzer needed or should have stepped down. Sex between adults. I’m sorry. I don’t care. The problem is that we have an elected official who had placed himself on the moral high ground. Okay, if you are going to do that, then you have to walk the walk.
I was on call last night. I had an opportunity to watch the news. There has been a media frenzy over Elliot Spitzer. New information was being served up almost continuously. Spitzer was thought to be Client #9 in federal papers. Next, we found out that he reportedly paid these high classed hookers $1500 per hour. Only a couple of hours later we found out about a weekend that he went to DC and spent some time with “Kristen”. This morning or late last night we heard that he may have spent over $80,000 over several years. Reports of carefully planned transactions designed to throw off authorities.
It is my belief that politicians need to live up their rhetoric. Elliott Spitzer was compared to Elliott Ness - one of the untouchables. He was a crusader against unethical corporate behavior. He was a bull in a China shop. He made a ton of enemies.
Today Elliott Spitzer resigned.
As the Democrats return to power around the country after 25 - 30 years of Republican domination, Democratic leaders need to be better than Republican counterparts. Better in an ethical way. I think that Elliott Spitzer was the “perfect” democratic politician. He had a strong record for being tough on crime. He took no prisoner yet believed in a progressive agenda. He was being talked about as a future Democratic Presidential candidate in the next 4 - 8 years. All of that is now gone. Completely gone. I’m extremely saddened by Mr. Spitzer’s behavior. I guess the old adage is true if it looks too good to be true it probably is.
This isn’t funny. Drunk driving is never funny. This is my world. As a trauma surgeon, I see the effects, the bad effects of drinking and driving everyday. Half of the injuries that I see are related to drugs or alcohol. I’m positive that this guy has hurt someone. He has hurt them either physically or emotionally and/or financially. Not only does this guy need to be locked up, they need to throw away the key.
I really don’t like earmarks. They don’t help democracy. They help incumbents stay in office. Mitch McConnell seems to be in a little hot water over one of his earmarks. Now, I guess that you could label earmarks into 3 categories - bad, worse and awful. I think that pushing for a defense contractor is bad. Pushing for an overseas (British) contractor is worse. Trying to get a $25 million project to a company that is under investigation by the Justice Department is awful, isn’t it?
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From the Lexington Herald-Leader:
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is pushing $25 million in earmarked federal funds for a British defense contractor that is under criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and suspected by American diplomats of a “longstanding, widespread pattern of bribery allegations.”
McConnell tucked money for three weapons projects for BAE Systems into the defense appropriations bill, which the Senate approved Oct. 3. The Defense Department failed to include the money in its own budget request, which required McConnell to intercede, said BAE spokeswoman Susan Lenover. (more…)
The following is from American Colonies: The Settling Of North America by Alan Taylor.
The specific issue being addressed in the paragraph is the killing and enslavement of the Taino people on Hispaniola and nearby islands by Christopher Columbus.
“Columbus’s slaughter and enslavement of Indians troubled the pious Spanish monarchs, who declared in 1500 that the Indians were “free and not subject to servitude.” But Ferdinand and Isabella failed to close the legal loophole exploited by the Spanish colonizers. It remained legal to enslave Indians taken in any “just war,” which the colonists characterized as any violence they conducted against resisting natives.”
And there you have the self-serving logic of power defined.
There is so much to say about this. Vitter came to office blowing all of that family values stuff. Personally, if you have to tell someone that you are for family values then you probably aren’t for family values.
Poor Senator David Vitter’s phone number has turned up on the DC Madam’s phone log. This can’t be a good thing for the family values Senator. More allegations about Vitter stepping out in Louisiana have been circling. So, Vitter and his wife, who said that she was more like Bobbitt than Hillary, held a press conference the other day. He said that God and his wife forgave him. She asked that the press some hounding her.
Now, in the South, and Louisiana is the south, when woman has to do something relatively formal, the pearls come out. Doing something formal with an adulterous husband requires some thought. One would figure that she would pick out something very conservative. No neck line. Nothing that reveals any hint of a figure but NOOOO, Ms. Vitter wears some clingy, plunging neck like thing. She is wearing something would cause a stir at one of those high brow country clubs. I’m sure that her choice reveals something about her and their marriage but I’m not going there.
Since both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report tackled the Vitter thang, I thought I would combine them into one video. Enjoy.
Wow. This isn’t a parking ticket. 94 count indictment. I’m wondering why Louisiana re-elected Mr. Jefferson. Just wondering.
From House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office:
“The charges in the indictment against Congressman Jefferson are extremely serious. While Mr. Jefferson, just as any other citizen, must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power.
“As we have demonstrated in implementing tough ethics reforms and passing tough lobbying reforms already this year, Democrats are committed to upholding a high ethical standard and eliminating corruption and unethical behavior from the Congress.”
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From WaPo:
Rep. William J. Jefferson was indicted today in a longstanding FBI corruption probe centering on allegations that he took bribes to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa.
The Louisiana Democrat faces charges that include racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to solicit bribes by a public official. The 16-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Alexandria. (more…)
Are the Democrats taking back their promise? I sure hope not. The only thing that I hope that would separate the Dems from the R’s is integrity. If that is gone then they are the same. We have a one party system with both parties sucking up to big business on one hand and shafting the public on the other. I hope not.
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From Yahoo News: After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress’ pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.
Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify “earmarks” — lawmakers’ requests for specific projects and contracts for their states.
Rather than including specific pet projects, grants and contracts in legislation as it is being written, Democrats are following an order by the House Appropriations Committee chairman to keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them. [Read more →]
A few days back I had lunch at a Mexican seafood restaurant here in Houston. I looked at the menu and saw that I could order octopus. In the past I’d of ordered the octopus. I’ve had that dish many times.
However, since I last had octopus I’ve seen some nature programs showing just how smart these creatures are. I saw an octopus in a lab leave its tank and slither over to another tank where some food was kept. Apparently the octopus is a curious creature. It will investigate and, seemingly, ponder things it encounters in the ocean.
I looked at the menu and felt a measure of revulsion at the thought of this smart creature being captured and killed.
I’ve been reading Writings on an Ethical Life by Peter Singer. Singer, a professor at Princeton, has written about globalization, euthanasia and animal rights. His book about globalization ,called One World, is excellent and stresses the equal value of all persons wherever they may live on the Earth.
In a chapter from Writings on an Ethical Life, Singer says the issue is not the intelligence of the animal, as I considered about the octopus, but simply the fact that the animal has a capacity to suffer.
Animal rights issues or becoming a vegetarian are not things at the top of my list at the moment. However, I was surprised at the intensity of my reaction to the octopus on the menu. Who knows where this line of thought may lead? We always have the capacity to see issues in a new light as we acquire new information.
Okay, I think that it is clear that White House officials used RNC e-mail accounts for official business. Somehow between White House e-mails and RNC e-mails CREW estimates that as many as 5 million e-mails maybe missing, lost or deleted. This is in spite of the Presidential Records Act which prohibits destroying this material. Oops.
It seems that our friend Karl was the one who started the discussion of firing the US Attorneys. He thought that firing everyone would be a good way to cover the fact that they really only wanted to get rid of a few of them.
I have taken my own spiritual journey as should everyone. Everyone should doubt. Everyone should find their own path. My journey started with the logic of religion. Why is it that I can not comprehend the majesty of God? If you have never heard of Jesus, can you be saved? If humans rarely change religions is it possible for a Jew to be saved if he doesn’t believe in Jesus? What about a Muslim or Buddhist? If you are a good person (use whatever definition that you would like) and don’t believe in God can you still be saved? After sometime I was able to believe in God and understand the truths of science. This is an excellent article from Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Human Genome Project. His most recent book is “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.”
From CNN.com:
I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.
As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God’s language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God’s plan.
I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked “What do you believe, doctor?”, I began searching for answers.
I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as “What is the meaning of life?” “Why am I here?” “Why does mathematics work, anyway?” “If the universe had a beginning, who created it?” “Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?” “Why do humans have a moral sense?” “What happens after we die?” (more…)
In Mr. Kyle Sampson’s opening statement there was a very interesting paragraph -
“The distinction between political- and performance-related reasons for removing a U.S. attorney is, in my view, largely artificial. A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective, either because he or she has alienated the leadership of the department in Washington or cannot work constructively with law enforcement or other governmental constituencies in the district, is unsuccessful.”
Let’s remember that these were “loyal” republicans. All of these attorneys were Republicans. Most of them were selected by their Senator who told the Bush White House that these guys were loyal republicans. If they weren’t they wouldn’t have been nominated.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
