By GottaLaff The "big tent" Rushpublic party is very skilled one thing: pushing members right out of that big tent. You're either far right or you're wrong... except in the states in which being a not-extremist pays off. Apparently Florida isn't one of those:
"Reliable sources" tell the Southern Political Report that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) "is preparing to announce sooner rather than later that he will leave the GOP and continue his run for Senate as an independent. Sources add that the speech Crist will use in his announcement is now being drafted."
"The only thing that likely would stop a Crist independent run now is for the pressure from disillusioned Republicans and longtime Crist supportersto put so much pressure on him not to run at all that he relents. That pressure is mounting almost by the hour. Or that pressure could only speed up his party switch."
Sen. John Ensign's re-election campaign took in just $50 in contributions, from one contributor, during the first quarter of 2010, according to FEC reports.
What does that say about the donor? We know what it says about Ensign's future.
The GOP has been awfully quiet about his little antics. They've also been quiet about what's in store for him, if anything. And remember Doug Hampton, Ensign's former top aide? And Dougie's wife, who had the affair with Ensign? And Ensign lining up lobbying work for Mrs. Hampton's husband? All those various and sundry allegations and nefarious activities?
Back in 2007, our co-editor Cliff Schecter asked me to write up a piece on Rudy Giuliani. It was one of my first efforts. I decided to dig it up and re-post it, what with Rudy being all over the news again.
"Mayor 9/11" was never the hero he (and others) made himself out to be. And in the video below, Rachel Maddow points out that, based on his recent memory lapses/blantant lies, his political career is over:
Now let's take a trip back to yesteryear and flash back to an expose I did on Mayor Noun, Verb, Lie Eleven. Here is my original post:
On September 11th, 2001, this was heard from a police helicopter hovering over the World Trade Center:
''About 15 floors down from the top, it looks like it's glowing red,'' the pilot of one helicopter, Aviation 14, radioed at 10:07 a.m. ''It's inevitable.''
Orders were given to evacuate. There was just one hitch. One fatal hitch:
Yet most firefighters never heard those warnings, or earlier orders to get out. Their radio system failed frequently that morning. Even if the radio network had been reliable, it was not linked to the police system. And the police and fire commanders guiding the rescue efforts did not talk to one another during the crisis.
At least 121 firefighters died as a result.
Now, after months of grief, both the Fire and Police Departments are approaching the end of delicate internal reviews of their responses to the attack. Those reviews have concluded that major changes are needed in how the agencies go about their work and prepare for the next disaster, senior officials say.
So, let's see...how could this have happened? Where do we begin? Got it! At the top. The management, maybe?
A six-month examination by The Times found that the rescuers' ability to save themselves and others was hobbled by technical difficulties, a history of tribal feuding and management lapses that have been part of the emergency response culture in New YorkCity and other regions for years.
And who was in charge? Why, it's as if it were almost yesterday...
Although Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani created the Office of Emergency Management in 1996 and spent nearly $25 million to coordinate emergency response, trade center officials said the agency had not conducted an emergency exercise there that included the Fire Department, the police and the Port Authority's emergency staff.
How's that whole wrapping-yourself-in-9/11-thing working out for you, Rudy?
Sally Regenhart, whose firefighter son died at the World Trade Center, contended that one of the reasons so many firefighters died on 9/11 was the inadequacy of the radios they carried – a situation for which she blamed Giuliani. [...] "He died because of the failures of the Giuliani administration – numerous failures but the most glaring one that contributed to his death was no radios . The radios they was given, he had no idea that they didn't work. He had no idea that they were the same ones that didn't work in 1993. He had no idea that he couldn't communicate with anyone in the World Trade Center."
Thomas Von Essen, the city's fire commissioner from 1996 through 2001, and a former president of the main fire union:
''But you have to start thinking about the reality of the world that we live in today. And that demands better leadership, more accountable leadership, a better-trained leadership, a more disciplined leadership that then filters down to a better-trained and more disciplined set of troops.''
See, Rudy, just beingin a city that gets hit by terrorists doesn't qualify you to lead the city...let alone an entire country. The father of another fallen firefighter:
"One hundred and twenty one firefighters in the north tower died that day. Giuliani now says he was a hero. But, all he did was run, that day."
Bernard B. Kerik, the police commissioner at the time, said he did not believe that any communication problems between the agencies had significantly affected their performance. ' 'I was not made aware that day that we were having any difficulty coordinating,'' he said.
This is the same Bernie Kerik who had ties to organized crime , been sued for sexual harassment, and had employed an undocumented alien as a domestic servant. The very same one who Rudy recommended for the job of Secretary of Homeland Security. Yeah, he's credible. About as credible as Giulianitaking a "spontaneous" phone call from his wife.
Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer was the first chief to reach the north tower after the first plane crashed. He sent fire companies, including one led by his brother, Lt. Kevin Pfeifer, up the stairs of the building, but when he went to use his two-way radio to communicate with them, guess what failed to work? His brother didn't survive.
After both planes had struck, Assistant Chief Joseph Callan called an order in to clear the building.
Virtually no one answered his call.It seemed that few people, apart from those standing near him, heard it. Chief Peter Hayden, who was at the scene, said: ''We had ordered the firefighters down, but we weren't getting acknowledgments. We were very concerned about it.''
Let's recap: The radios the firefighters used that day were identical to the ones they used at the trade center eight years earlier.
''It's a disgrace,'' he said. ''The police are talking to each other. It's a no-brainer: Get us what they're using. We send people to the moon, and you mean to tell me a firefighter can't talk to a guy two floors above him?''
No, a firefighter can't. But America's Player Mayor can talk to his third wife during a political speech. It's obvious that to Rudy, the only kind of communication that's important is the self-serving kind.
Here's a quick MSNBC update on the Washington cop killer:
He was shot dead earlier, as has been reported. On his body was one of the policemen's guns. More have been arrested for aiding and abetting him, helping him get away.
Andrew Perez on The New Argument notes that in the past few days, Steele’s blog has been disabled, and now just redirects to the RNC homepage. Perez writes, “One has to wonder if the RNC has taken the site down in response to the attacks being launched there by the conservative base.”
One has to wonder why Michael Steele is still allowed on the Tee Vee Machine.
When you need to bring in a second chairman to do the real work.... Two words: Mr. Toast--
According to Mike Allen, the people around Michael Steele are thinking he should bring on a co-chairman who will focus on organizing, management and fundraising and let Michael stay focused on TV appearances where he's doing such a bang-up job...
Ada Fisher, one of only three black members of the Republican National Committee, is asking Michael Steele to step down as RNC chairman.
In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina’s national committeewoman, said Steele is “eroding confidence” in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside. [...]
“I don’t want to hear anymore [sic] language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn’t going to win us any votes and makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish,” Fisher wrote.
The son of embattled Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) "is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago," the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
"Blagojevich's administration hired Roland W. Burris II as a senior counsel for the state's housing authority Sept. 10 -- about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service slapped a $34,163 tax lien on Burris II and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure suit on his South Side house."
CQ Politics has another Burris bombshell: "The names of lobbying clients that Sen. Roland Burris declared to a state legislative panel do not match those on records he filed over the last decade with Illinois and Chicago agencies."
Maybe he should start reading up on himself before he opens his big mouth.
Just as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is pushing an energy plan that fronts her as presidential material for 2012, two of her top aides-- Communications Director and Press Secretary, Bill McAllister, and Palin's Anchorage office director, Kris Perry--are being hit with new ethics charges, to be filed with the state Attorney General on Monday.
Well-known Alaskan political watchdog Andree McLeod--a registered Republican who was once a close political associate of Palin's and who has worked at a variety of jobs in Alaskan government--said that she is filing the complaint because "employees working for Palin conducted partisan political activities while on the clock and on the public's dime."[...]
In her current complaint against McAllister, McLeod sites a series of activities that she contends violate Alaska's "Executive Branch Code of Ethics," which prohibits public officials from using or authorizing "the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another government asset or resource for partisan political purposes."
"These campaign activities have absolutely nothing to do with the public's business, and everything to do with promoting Palin's personal endeavors and political aspirations," McLeod declared in an exclusive interview. "This must not go unchallenged." [...]
McLeod finds Palin's hypocrisy troubling. "The self-proclaimed queen of ethics has again crossed the line and violated her own oft- repeated ethics principles," McLeod declared. "This dog won't hunt."
This dog won't even wake up from her nap. For all the juicy details, go here. Grandma DimBulb is such an easy target.
I think the smell of the burnt toast is unpleasant to some. Note how Crist is sucking up to Palin, but can't be bothered for McCain. Via Taegan-
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), "who helped deliver Florida for McCain during the primary, said he will be spending more time minding the state's weak economy than campaigning for the Arizona senator in the final weeks before Election Day," according to the Miami Herald.
Said Crist: ''When I have time to help, I'll try to do that."
Crist traveled around the state last week with Gov. Sarah Palin but over the weekend "he skipped a McCain football rally and instead went to Disney World."
Here is the transcript of a five minute conference call with Sarah Palin, Meg Stapleton, the Anchorage Daily News, and local TV stations KTVA, and KTUU. The journalists got one question each with no follow up. [...] [It comes] after the Branchflower Report on the Troopergate investigation was released, stating that she had abused her power as governor. As a matter of fact, let’s review Finding Number One as it is written:
“For the reasons explained in section IV of the report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.11(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.
“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”
Remember, that the Legislative Council, made up of TEN Republicans and FOUR Democrats voted unanimously to begin the investigation, and unanimously to release the results of the investigation. Continuing with the transcript (emphasis is Mudflats'):
Stapleton: Sure governor, go ahead.
Palin: OK cool.
Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.Todd did what anyone would have done given this state trooper’s very, very troubling behavior and his dangerous threats against our family. Todd did what I think any Alaskan would do.
And he, Todd did what the state’s Department of Law Web site tells anyone to do if they have a concern about a state trooper. And that’s you go to the commissioner and you express your concern. And Todd did what our personal detail asked him to do. Bob Cockrell early on as I was elected and was asked are there any threats against ya, and Todd brought the concern as I did to Commissioner Monegan about the state trooper’s threats. He did what any – I think — any rational person would do so again, nothing to apologize there with Todd’s actions and again very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing.
(Stapleton invites the first question).
ADN: Governor, finding No.1 on the report was that you abused your power by violating state law. Do you think you did anything wrong at all in this Troopergate case?
Palin: Not at all and I’ll tell you, it, I think that you’re always going to ruffle feathers as you do what you believe is in the best interest of the people whom you are serving. In this case I knew that I had to have the right people in the right position at the right time in this cabinet to best serve Alaskans, and Walt Monegan was not the right person at the right time to meet the goals that we had set out in our administration. So no, not having done anything wrong, and again very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all.
ADN: Have you read the whole report? (No response; Stapleton invites question from KTVA reporter).
KTVA-Channel 11: … The report that came out yesterday, do you think that the end result is partisan?
Palin:Yeah, I did think it did turn into a partisan circus to tell you the truth. Yes I did. You know from Day One it’s been the Personnel Board that clearly laid out in state statute there — Personnel Board deals with any issue of question regarding a governor, a lieutenant governor or an attorney general in the state of Alaska. What this legislative investigation — quote unquote — turned into was a political circus.
KTUU-Channel 2: Governor, so good to hear from you. Do you approve of the way that your campaign has handled themselves here in Alaska? We’ve had a lot of people voice concerns about what they call attacks of good people in our state while you are away.
Palin: Well I haven’t heard of any attacks on good people in Alaska from our campaign. If you have specifics there, maybe I could answer specifically. But no, in John McCain’s mission here, in taking the high road, as you’re going to see too with a lot of unfair shots he has taken in this campaign with some of his opponents’ supporters, McCain and I taking the high road, being positive. I wouldn’t support nor would I condone taking shots at any good Alaskans.
KTUU-Channel 2: Let me answer your question since you asked for specifics.
Palin: Sure.
KTUU-Channel 2: Walt Monegan was called “rogue.” How do you feel about that?
Palin:Rogue isn’t a negative term when you consider that in a cabinet you need a team effort going forward with a governor’s agenda. And our agenda has been to find efficiencies in every department and make sure that we are serving the people of Alaska to the best of our ability given the resources that we have. And remember I fought very hard to increase funding for state troopers so that we could fill positions there and goals not being met that included not being able to recruit and retain all the state troopers that I wanted to best serve Alaska. That could be characterized I think as a cabinet member who – it’s not a negative term I think — being rogue in terms of not meeting those goals.
Palin: Hey, thank you so, Meg. Thank you so much. Thank you also to our local reporters up there in Alaska. Even hearing your names make me feel like I’m right there with you at home. It’s good to get to speak with you. Let me talk a little bit about theTasergate issue if you guys would let me and, Meg, you want me to just jump right on in there?
The shark has been jumped.
So let’s recap. The report states she has abused her power as governor, and she’s really glad she’s done nothing wrong. Todd did what any “Alaskan” would do. She thinks the mostly Republican legislative council has turned into a partisan circus, but she hasn’t heard anything about attacks on anyone in Alaska from her campaign. The McCain campaign is taking the high road and being positive. And being a rogue cop isn’t a bad thing. Any questions?
If you want to read Lisa Demer’s full account, and hear the interview in the Governor’s own voice:CLICK HERE.
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