Guess who Pioneered Miranda Attack On Obama? Cheney & Ridge

By GottaLaff

It always starts with you-know-who:

It turns out that the criticism surrounding the decision to read Miranda rights to the attempted Christmas bombing suspect didn't originally come from any office-holding Republican.

Rather, it was pioneered by Tom Ridge and Dick Cheney in the days after Christmas, and only later picked up by members of Congress like Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).

For a tick-tock, go here. These snakes stayed true to form.

Yes, Dickless McHeartStent strikes again... and his little dog, too!

H/t: Gr8RDH

Tom Ridge: BushCo pushed to raise security alert for political reasons prior to re-election

By GottaLaff

BushCo politicized the Justice Department, BushCo politicized... well, everything. The latest revelation (as if we didn't know this already, right?) from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is that they politicized the security of our nation:

[I]n the book, Ridge reveals that he considered resigning because he was urged to issue a politically-motivated security alert on the eve of Bush’s re-election.

He considered resigning, but he didn't resign. Way to put America first, Tom.

Among the headlines promoted by publisher Thomas Dunne Books: Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was “blindsided” by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

Playing politics with terror was a relatively frequent occurrence in the Bush administration.

See how safe BushCo kept us? If you read Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side, you can see how they made a habit of blindsiding, shunning, withholding information, and politicizing. But remember... whatever we do, we shouldn't look back, just keep looking forward.

Tom Ridge: I disagree with Cheney

By GottaLaff

Hey, Dick. Who was in charge on 9/11? Who has a record of over 4,000 American military deaths on their watch? Who broke the law so many times that all they can do is fight for cable TV time to try to scare the country out of prosecuting them?

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told CNN Thursday that former Vice President Dick Cheney's charge the Obama administration has made the country less safe is wrong.

I'm sorry, who's Tom Ridge again? Oh yeah. BushCo's head of Homeland Security.

"Yeah, I disagree with Dick Cheney," the Pennsylvania Republican and former Bush administration official told CNN's John King, adding he "does not" think the country is more vulnerable to an attack under President Obama.

Why is an irrelevant, failed, unscrupulous war criminal, a universally-accepted known-liar allowed to take up the air waves with his verbal flatulence? Here's why: Nielsen ratings. The fact that there is an attempt at serious debate that includes anything this thug says is appalling.

Ridge appears to agree with a majority of Americans, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. In that survey, taken last month, 72 percent of registered voters said they did not think the country was less safe under President Obama.

Ridge:

"It's just the whole notion of a Republican vice president giving a speech after the incumbent Democratic president," he said. "It's gotta go beyond the politics of either party."

That's dandy. But... and there's always a pesky "but":

The former Pennsylvania governor also took issue with a portion of Obama's speech, during which he said some Bush national security decisions were based on "fear, rather than foresight."

"I'm surprised that President Obama, who I really, truly believe knows better, would make such a statement," said Ridge. "The men and women in charge of America's security, whether they're military, or the intelligence community — the president, the vice president, the attorney general, the FBI director — did everything they could at the time to prevent another attack on America. And did it consistent with the Constitution and the rule of law."

I'msorrywhat? Really? Really??

"He [Obama] keeps looking backwards to justify what he's doing now and I don't think at the end of the day — I think that becomes more politics than policy, and I don't think it's the kind of approach that we need to bring America together on this very important issue," he said.

Anyone with a pending criminal trial should be hand-clapping gleeful over Ridge's comments. After all, why look back on any crimes one has committed? Pfft! That was yesterday. And as Scarlet O'Hara declared, "Tomorrow is another day".

Ridge not running

By GottaLaff

Toomey Alert Level: Red...

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge will not run for U.S. Senate in 2010.

"After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate," Ridge said in a statement, adding later, "The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection. All of the above made my decision a difficult and deeply personal conclusion to reach. ... To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges; they are right. To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. ... And so my desire and intention is to help my party craft solutions that both sides of the aisle can embrace."

This is a blow to Republicans who were hoping to recruit a candidate with the ability to defeat Arlen Specter, who defected to the Democratic Party. Recent polls, in fact, showed Ridge leading both Republican Pat Toomey in a GOP primary and Specter in a head-to-head general-election match up.

Tom Ridge Listed Residence in Maryland

By GottaLaff

Orange Ridge alert:

Political Wire has learned that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) listed his residence as Chevy Chase, MD on a recent foreign agents registration filing with the U. S. Department of Justice. He reported he was representing the Government of Albania.

If Ridge chooses to run for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, expect this to be a big issue in the Republican primary.

The latest reports suggested he would make a decision in two weeks.

Poll: Specter's party switch pays off

I get more and more queasy about Specter's change, especially after pretty solid proof that he fabricated the "I did not say I would be a loyal Democrat" statement.

A new poll shows Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) ahead in two general election match-ups following his party switch, but suggests the contest would become instantly competitive if former Gov. Tom Ridge (R ) entered the race.

The Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvania voters shows Specter leading Ridge, the former governor and Homeland Security secretary, 46-43.

Specter would look much stronger, however, if the GOP nominee winds up being his 2004 primary opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). In that matchup, Specter leads 53-33. The margin is particularly interesting given that, in previous polls when Specter was still a Republican, Quinnipiac had shown Toomey with a wide lead in their primary matchup.

Independent voters favor Specter by nine points over Toomey, but those voters flip for Ridge, preferring him by a 10-point margin over Specter.

It appears there is little nostalgia for Specter among Republicans, as he takes just 10 percent of the GOP vote against Ridge and 18 percent against Toomey.

Cartoon via.

Alert level: Orange-- Tom Ridge Considers Senate Bid

By GottaLaff

Get the charts out:

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) is considering running for the U.S. Senate nomination in his home state, reports Roll Call.

National Republicans "have been publicly and privately urging Ridge to consider a Senate bid since Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) announced earlier this week that he was switching parties and would run for re-election as a Democrat in 2010."

Ridge's "moderate politics and national profile would make him a more viable candidate" in the general election than former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

No argument there.

Former Homeland Security SecretaryTom Ridge: We were wrong to torture

By GottaLaff

Was Tom Ridge for torture and illegal detention before he was against it?

America's first homeland security secretary has accepted some criticisms of the US "war on terror" made in a recent report by legal experts.

Tom Ridge told the BBC that the report's attacks on extended detention and torture were justified. [...]

The report the International Commission of Jurists said anti-terror measures worldwide had seriously undermined international human rights law.

After a three-year global study, the ICJ said many states had used the public's fear of terrorism to introduce measures including detention without trial, illegal disappearance and torture.

It said the framework of international law that existed before the 9/11 attacks was robust and effective, but had been actively undermined by the US and the UK.

Mr Ridge, who was appointed to the new post of homeland security secretary after the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the US, said the ICJ was on "solid ground" in its commentary "with regard to torture and sustained detention without due process".

In an interview with the BBC's World Today programme he said that regardless of what terrorism suspects had done, the US still needed "to afford them some sense of due process."

"It has taken a while for us to get to that point but we are certainly there now," he said.

He added that there was now a consensus in the US and beyond that water-boarding - a harsh interrogation technique that simulates drowning - was torture, saying there had been no allegations of its use since 2003.

Oh goody. He says we only waterboarded people until 2003. That's a relief. I bet he can't wait for those who were brutally tortured to get wind of this... the ones that survived.

And how nice that he finally feels free to openly acknowledge these horrendous, illegal abuses... in 2009.

Oh, did I forget to mention this?

However, Mr Ridge also defended US policy, saying counter-terrorism work was now about detaining people before they were able to commit terrorist acts. [...]

Many suspects had "embraced an ideology, a belief system, that said it's perfectly all right in order to advance a cause to kill innocents along the way", he said.

"They had no loyalty to a country so they're not the traditional prisoner of war, they don't wear the uniform of a country so we can't treat them as we have done in previous wars."

Mr Ridge added: "How we dealt with them in terms of returning them to their potential country of origin was a difficult issue that not only the United States but other countries have had to deal with.

"So, we're in the process of dealing with it."

But are we in the due process of dealing with it?

Sidebar: I wonder if Mr. Ridge is currently employed. If so, he may be one of the lucky 25%.

VIDEO: Tom Ridge calls McCain "John Bush"

By GotttaLaff



Short and suh-weet.

H/t: Joeyess

John Sidney McCain's pro-choice choice?

By GottaLaff

About that Tom Ridge for V.P. idea...

Rich Lowry of National Review's "The Corner": "NR has learned that the McCain campaign has been calling key state GOP officials around the country the last couple of days and sounding them out about the consequences of a pro-choice VP pick. The campaign is asking about the reaction of conservative grass-roots activists to such a pick and whether a pro-choicer can be sold to them. This is an indication that the McCain campaign is serious about the possibility of a pro-choice VP nominee and that McCain leaving the door open to Tom Ridge last week may not have been merely a friendly nod to a longtime supporter. In this scenario, McCain's emphatic pro-life statements Saturday night and his pledge that he'll run a "pro-life administration" would have been partly an attempt to reassure conservatives in the event of a pro-choice pick."

So. J Sid's a pro-life religious true believer who gives forceful and decisive answers to pre-screened questions as he forcefully and decisively implies that a pro-choicer could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, should he keel over.

The Tale of John Sidney McCain and the Three Veeps

By GottaLaff

Once upon a time, there was a very forgetful, confused Republican named John Sidney McCain. He got lost in the nation's capital one fine summer's day, and came upon a cottage. And living in the cottage were the Three Veeps. There was Pro-Choice Veep, Not-American-Born Veep, and the scariest Veep of all: The Poison Bush.

Joe Klein says "the word in Republican circles is that John McCain is quite frustrated by the vice presidential selection process because he can't go with any of his top three choices."

The problem? One is pro-choice (Tom Ridge), one is named Bush (Jeb) and one was born outside the United States (Sen. Mel Martinez).

Confused Little Sidney tasted the Pro-Choice Veep's porridge and spit it right out! Ptooey!

Next, he tasted the Not-American-Born Veep's porridge and nearly burned his waggy little tongue off! Much, much too hot for D.C. Land!

And last of all, when he got to the Poison Bush's porridge, well, he held his nose and turned away. After having a taste of a previous Poison Bush's porridge, a sadder-but-wiser Little Sidney was he, so off he trotted, as far from that toxic brew as his little legs could carry him!

What was poor, lost, Confused Little Sidney to do? Looks like he'll need to find another cottage, one that's safer, with a stronger foundation and a modicum of insurance-- if he could afford it, that is! Until then, it's very likely that Confused Little Sidney will continue to be lost, continue to meander through the Land of D.C., and may not live happily ever after.

The End

V.P. Tom Ridge? Don't ask, don't tell, don't share

By GottaLaff

Advisory: There is an elevated threat of Tom Ridge entering our consciousness again:

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, appearing on 'Fox News Sunday,' said he wouldn't rule out being Sen. John McCain's vice president — if asked — but would have to first discuss a policy position that sets him apart from the Arizona senator: Abortion rights.

"If he asks me, we'll have a private conversation and we'll decide whether or not we ought to tell you what we said," Ridge said.

Oh good. That bodes well for transparency in a McCain White House, doesn't it? It's the Don't Tell, Don't Tell strategy.

So would Ridge's views conflict with his support for a McCain administration? Apparently not. [...]

"But that doesn't mean that you don't share a belief that you've had your entire life. But again, those are really difficult and challenging questions when the vice president and the president
disagree on a wide range of issues, but the vice president's job is to support the administration."

But then again, that doesn't mean you do share a belief that you don't share, if, again, those questions of sharing beliefs were to challenge the beliefs of others, because, there are a wide range of beliefs to share, and sharing and supporting are important, as long as you share them, which we'll do... in private... without telling... or sharing... with anyone. Clear? Clear.