More Democracy For My Home State

Shortly after The Republicans lost every statewide office in Ohio last November, the State Capital's young but reasonably promising Progressive radio station was turned into a Right-Wing station. Ratings for that station have dropped 60% and it is now in last place. The Legacy of Ken Blackwell.

Starting on Monday, Progressive radio returns to Columbus OH. this is a victory for organized lefties who fought to get all sides of the spectrum on the air in Ohio.

Now, my oldest friend needs to start listening to Stephanie Miller (much smarter than Howard Stern!)

Thanks to the efforts of Ohio Majority Radio and longtime radio executive Gary Richards, central Ohioans will once again hear progressive talk from favorites like Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, and Randi Rhodes. We'll also hear coverage of local high school football, boys and girls basketball, and other local sports.

It all starts at 6 AM this Monday, December 3rd. Tune to AM 1580 WVKO.
How can an individual listener like you help keep Progressive Talk radio on the air?
Contribute to Progress Ohio's radio ad campaign fund!

By donating to Progress Ohio's radio ad campaign fund, you will not only be helping keep Progressive Talk on the air, you'll be supporting Progress Ohio's 112 community partnerships.

It's been a long road to secure Progressive Talk radio in Columbus. After all this hard work, let's do everything we can to keep it on the air.

Now that it's back, click here to support WVKO's Progressive Programmi

Theocrat Ethics

Why should we wait? Here's some opening info on the Reverend Huckabee:

From Polico.com (11/21/07)

But his career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.

Some of the ethics complaints deal with fairly penny ante stuff, and most were dismissed.

They did, however, yield five admonitions and $1,000 in fines from Arkansas' Ethics Commission and, perhaps more significantly, a pattern that strategists for two competing GOP campaigns privately predict could become fodder for attacks playing on the culture-of-corruption theme Democrats used to pound Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections.

In fact, when Huckabee entered the presidential race in January, the Democratic National Committee was quick to highlight a couple of the ethics issues that have dogged him and urged him to “come clean about his … history of ethical lapses."

... Huckabee’s campaign, in a statement to Politico, said it was “suspect” that the ethics issues are being raised as Huckabee surges in the polls and said Huckabee repeatedly addressed the issues during his time as governor.

The campaign said the state ethics commission, which Huckabee sued twice, “has been misused as a weapon against Republicans” and that Huckabee “has been unfairly attacked regarding his ethics history while governor of Arkansas.”

... The ethics commission fined Huckabee $1,000 for failing to report that he paid himself $14,000 from his 1992 U.S. Senate campaign and $43,000 from his 1994 lieutenant governor's campaign.

The latter payment — for the use of his eight-seat, twin-engine plane — was reported in a cryptic way that didn’t identify Huckabee and his wife as the owners of the plane.

... Huckabee unintentionally failed to disclose $23,500 he received from a nonprofit organization set up to handle his speaking engagements and supplement his income before he became governor.

... Allegations by a former governor’s mansion employee in 1998 became part of the basis for a lawsuit against Huckabee over his family’s use of a $60,000-a-year fund. The lawsuit also dealt with Huckabee’s assertion that $70,000 worth of furniture donated to the governor's mansion was his to keep.

... As the Huckabees prepared to leave the governor’s mansion last year for a private home in the Little Rock suburbs, Janet Huckabee’s friends set up registries on two stores' websites listing $7,000 worth of housewarming gifts, ranging from napkins to a $300 KitchenAid mixer.

... Before leaving office Jan. 9, Huckabee spent $13,000 in state funds to destroy the hard drives of nearly 100 computers in the governor’s office.

A lawyer is suing Huckabee, alleging that he misspent state money on the destruction

Q.E.D.

The first time (out of a total of oh, two) that I ever entered a 'chat room' I was called a 'conserv-o-phobe' within about 5 minutes.

I have always thought that I am simply a stupid-o-phobe and even more importantly, a fascist-o-phobe.

As you know, I have repeatedly pointed out over the last few years that The Right, particularly the 'values voter' / Capital 'C' christian right, is not about the teachings of Jesus. Nor the Constitution. They are about authoritarianism.

I have asserted that the teachings of an unemployed (an-unmarried) hippie communist from Nazareth has no bearing on what they actually believe. Nor does the Constitution.

I have said that Authoritarians use ideology simply as a frame work upon which they hang justifications for their desire to bully and control.

I have expressed my concern about the similarities between Jesus' and Elvis' fan clubs.

So?

Joe Klein attended a focus group of Republican voters as they watched the debate this week. the Focus Group was conducted by Frank Luntz, the mad genius behind coining the term "Healthy Forests Initiative" for policies by the Bush administration that favor expanded logging by the logging industry, the term, "Death tax," and "energy exploration" (oil drilling).

In the next segment--the debate between Romney and Mike Huckabee over Huckabee's college scholarships for the deserving children of illegal immigrants--I noticed something really distressing: When Huckabee said, "After all, these are children of God," the dials plummeted. And that happened time and again through the evening: Any time any candidate proposed doing anything nice for anyone poor, the dials plummeted (30s). These Republicans were hard.

But there was worse to come: When John McCain started talking about torture--specifically, about waterboarding--the dials plummeted again. Lower even than for the illegal Children of God. Down to the low 20s, which, given the natural averaging of a focus group, is about as low as you can go. Afterwards, Luntz asked the group why they seemed to be in favor of torture. "I don't have any problem pouring water on the face of a man who killed 3000 Americans on 9/11," said John Shevlin, a retired federal law enforcement officer. The group applauded, appallingly.

They also hated anything that Ron Paul said (high 30s to low 20s), especially on the war in Iraq.

They tended to like Huckabee a lot (60s to 80s anytime he opened his mouth), but afterwards most said he was too extreme, religiously, to be President. Really, they did.

OK, was I being too nice? Too understanding?

Take Your Pick

Talk about 'what your definition of 'is' is' ...

Rudy gives round-the-clock versions of what all that security expense for his affair with future wife Judith Nathan were for.

From Salon:

Explanation No. 1: No explanation whatsoever. When the Politico explained the charges it would be making to a Giuliani spokeswoman before the story appeared, the spokeswoman declined to comment at all.

Explanation No. 2: "It's not true." At the GOP presidential debate Wednesday night, Anderson Cooper asked Giuliani whether, as mayor, "you took trips to the Hamptons and expensed the costs of your police detail to obscure city offices." "First of all, it's not true," Giuliani said. Then, after saying that he needed security because he was the subject of threats, Giuliani said that the security teams "put in their records, and they handled them in the way they handled them. I had nothing to do with the handling of their records, and they were handled, as far as I know, perfectly appropriately." Giuliani hasn't explained what wasn't "true" about the story, and in fact, no one is disputing the basic allegation: that the security expenses were billed to obscure city agencies rather than to the NYPD.

Explanation No. 3: It's a "hit job." After the GOP debate, Giuliani speculated that the Politico piece might be the handiwork of one of the other presidential campaigns -- but only a Democratic campaign, of course. "I would not accuse any of my opponents of doing it," he said. "But who knows, it could be on the Democratic side." If Giuliani had any evidence that a rival campaign was behind the story, he didn't offer it.

Explanation No. 4: Everybody does it like this. Shortly after the Politico story broke, Joe Lhota, a deputy mayor under Giuliani, told the Daily News that the practice of billing obscure city offices for mayoral security has "gone on for years" and "predates Giuliani." When told Thursday that spokesmen for Giuliani's predecessors disagreed, Lhota said he needed to "reverse" himself. "I'm just going to talk about the Giuliani era," he said. "I should only talk about what I know about."

Explanation No. 5: Whatever it was, it wasn't a coverup: Having abandoned his "everybody does it" defense, Lhota told the Daily News Thursday: "I don't understand when it started. I don't understand why it started. But I do know one thing: It was consistently done ... in no way shape or form did it imply a coverup." But as the New York Times has reported, when a city auditor started asking questions about $34,000 in security-travel expenses he found in the city's Loft Board's ledgers in 2001, Giuliani's office "refused" to answer, citing "security" concerns.

Explanation No. 6: We were helping the cops. On Thursday -- the same day he told the Daily News that he didn't "understand why it started" -- Lohta told the Associated Press that the security expenses were paid out of offices tied to City Hall rather than by the NYPD itself because the NYPD took too long to reimburse the poor police officers assigned to Giuliani's detail. At the end of each year, Lohta said, the NYPD would reimburse the various city agencies that had been stuck with the tab in the meantime. But even if that's true, it doesn't explain why the costs were distributed among random city offices rather than paid out of a single budget account, which is how city comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. tells the Times it should have been done.

Barry O, Jesus Creeping up In Polls

Wait til the news people start looking inot Huckabee's finances in Arkansas ... What Would Jesus Give as a going away gift?

Anyway ...

New Polls Show Clinton Fading, Huckabee Rising

The American Research Group released new polls from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. In the Democratic presidential race:
Iowa: Obama 27%, Clinton 25%, Edwards 23%
New Hampshire: Clinton 34%, Obama 23%, Edwards 17%
South Carolina: Clinton 45%, Obama 21%, Edwards 12%

Key findings: Since the last ARG survey, Clinton has dropped 10 points among women in Iowa and she has dropped 17 points among men in New Hampshire.

In the Republican presidential race:
Iowa: Romney 28%, Huckabee 27%, Thompson 14%, Giuliani 9%, McCain 9%
New Hampshire: Romney 36%, Giuliani 22%, Huckabee 13%, McCain 11%
South Carolina: Giuliani 23%, Romney 21%, Huckabee 18%, Thompson 13%, McCain 10%

Key findings: Since the last ARG survey, Huckabee has gained 8 points in Iowa and 13 points in South Carolina.

Fox In The Hen House

From the Wall Street Journal On-line

Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself
Bloch Used Private Company,Geeks on Call, to Delete FilesOn His Office Computer
By JOHN R. WILKENovember 28, 2007; Page A6

WASHINGTON -- The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove's White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call.

Scott Bloch runs the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan political activity. Mr. Bloch's agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect Republicans in 2006.

At the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the federal Office of Personnel Management's inspector general is looking into claims that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination.

The Importance of Iowa and New Hampshire

You know that this will change when someone starts looking like a winner. If one candidate wins both IA and NH they should be poised to take SC and then march into Feb 5 with some seriously buffed electoral cred.

South Carolina Still Up for Grabs for Democrats

The new Clemson Palmetto Poll shows that the Democratic presidential race in South Carolina is even more unsettled than the Republican race (see our earlier post). Sen. Hillary Clinton leads with just 19%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 17% and John Edwards at 12%.

Clinton is down seven points from August, while Obama is up one points and Edwards is up two points.

Key takeaway: 49% of those surveyed are still undecided -- up 12 points from the August poll.

More Wal-Mart Horror

Enabling these insufferable whining wimp is a crime against humanity.

Desperados

The Eagles team up with Wal-Mart. How dare they.

Sunday, November 25, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST wall street journal

One of the most popular rock bands of all time has finally managed to offend--not for its songs, but for how it sells them. There's a lesson here in technology, new business models, and hidebound "progressives."

The first new album from the Eagles in over a decade, "Long Road Out of Eden," has already sold more than a million copies, hitting Billboard's #1 in its first week. It's the kind of blockbuster that used to pay Christmas bonuses at the big record companies, only this album wasn't produced by a big record company. The Eagles released it themselves and are selling it exclusively through Wal-Mart.

Hat tip to Mr G. Baker for reminding me of this atrocity

Hmm

Uh Oh, Theocrats have found their candidate.

From Polical Wire

Huckabee Passes Romney in Iowa

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey in Iowa caucus finds Mike Huckabee leading among Republicans with 28% support, followed by Mitt Romney with 25% support and everyone else far behind. Rudy Giuliani comes in third with just 12% and Fred Thompson is the only other candidate in double digits at 11%.

Key factor: Huckabee now gets 48% of the Evangelical Christian vote -- more than all the other candidates combined.

Analysis: "Given the margin of error, the challenges of determining the relatively small number of people who will participate in a caucus, and other factors, the race is far too close to call at this point in time. However, the fact that Romney is no longer the clear frontrunner in Iowa reflects a stunning change in the race."

And Also This

Romney, Huckabee Surge in South Carolina

The new Clemson Palmetto Poll shows Mitt Romney leading the Republican presidential race in South Carolina with 17% support, followed closely by Fred Thompson at 15%, Mike Huckabee at 13%, Sen. John McCain at 11%, and Rudy Giuliani at 9%.

Since the last poll in August, Romney has gained six points while Huckabee has gained seven points. All other candidates have seen their support drop.

Complete results are available.

9% for Fuhrer Hopeful Rudy???!!!

Bye Bye

OK, If Rudy can recover from this he's a greater Politician than St. Bill

Taxpayers Financed Giuliani's Extramarital Affair

"As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons," according to documents obtained by The Politico.

The documents "show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants. At the time, the mayor’s office refused to explain the accounting to city auditors, citing 'security.'"

Why Can't They All Talk Like This?

"[Giuliani] knows so little about foreign policy he confuses terrorists cells and organizations with countries. There was no al-Qaeda in Iraq before this war. Al-Qaeda became a Bush-fulfilling prophecy. It didn't exist until Bush went to war. Even our own intelligence community says that. But these guys buy into this silliness that if you don't fight them in Baghdad you're going to fight them in Boston. Give me a break," - Joe Biden, to CBN.

Ja Wohl!

Just in case anyone thinks that GT12 engages in hyperbole when referring to the authoritarianism at the heart of the Republican party....

Remember The Nazi Party? Remember the Communist Party? They don't in Virginia. Or do they?

Polical Wire Reports:

Virginia GOP Will Make Voters Sign Oath

Voters planning to vote in Virginia's Republican presidential primary will be required to sign an oath swearing their Republican loyalty, the AP reports."The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request to require all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing that they'll vote for the party's presidential nominee next fall... Virginia doesn't require voters to register by party, and for years the state's Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their open primaries."

Caveat: "There's no practical way to enforce the oath."

Salon's take:

So you live in Virginia and want to vote in the state's Republican presidential primary? That's fine -- so long as you first sign an oath swearing that you'll vote for the GOP presidential nominee come next November.

The oath is completely unenforceable, but it can't sit well with Virginia Republicans who might entertain the idea of voting for a Democratic or third-party candidate in 2008 if the nominee the GOP picks isn't to their liking.

As the Roanoke Times opines, the oath leaves such voters with a touch choice to make: "lie," "stay home from the Feb. 12 elections and keep your options open," or "commit to an unknown Republican candidate nine months before the election."

"Honorable Virginians do not give their word lightly and will not lie, even under these obtuse circumstances," the Times says. "We hope, too, that they put candidates' ideas, character and experience ahead of party affiliation. Honest, responsible voters therefore can only skip the primary."

That, or vote with the party that doesn't require such an oath in the first place.

Fact Check

We love our FactCheck.Org emails!

This will be useful info for those of you happening upon Republicans at your Holiday parties:

The Not-Quite Truth About NYC
November 27, 2007

Giuliani twists facts about crime and liberalism in the Big Apple.

Summary

Rudy Giuliani's latest TV ad falsely claims New York City experienced "record crime ... until Rudy." In fact, the city recorded its highest rates of both violent crime and property crime years before he took office. The downward trend was well established before he was sworn in.

The ad also claims New York is "America's most liberal city," but his campaign offers no evidence showing that the city is more liberal than, say, San Francisco; Berkeley; Washington, D.C.; or Detroit, all of which rank as more liberal in a study of voting behavior in the 2004 elections. In that study, New York ranked 21st among cities with populations of more than 100,000.

Giuliani's ad also repeats some boasts we've found to be misleading in the past. It claims he cut taxes by $9 billion but counts several tax cuts that he didn't initiate or sign, and one that he lobbied against before changing course. It also boasts that he cut welfare rolls by 60 percent but fails to note that the reduction in New York was a bit less than it was for the nation as a whole.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article, along with graphics and video of the ad, may be viewed on our Web site:Desktop users

Another Reason to Avoid Walmart

As if more were necessary ... On to Target'!

"Wal-Mart is doing something good for the family here; they're refusing to recognize homosexuals as being married, and we encourage people to shop at Wal-Mart as much as possible,"

- American Family Association Chairman Don Wildmon.

Wal-Mart refuses to give the domestic partners of its gay employees health insurance. Target does. Hat tip: Brayton.

An Even Bester Reason

The awwwwfullll Babs gives her thumb up for HRC

"Barbra has used her immense talent to be an advocate for truth, justice, and fairness and I deeply appreciate her confidence in my candidacy as we work together to change the direction of our nation," - Senator Hillary Clinton.

Now, Even Bushier!

We Can Beat this guy ... Think withering compare contrast images merging The Dauphin-In Chief with The Mayor of 9/11

Always wrong, never in doubt.

“Rudy Giuliani said yesterday he ‘never had any doubt‘ that if he were President four years ago, he would have invaded Iraq. He said he is now ‘even more certain’ that it was the correct national security move.” Rudy then kicked it up yet another notch: “I actually believe that Democrats are going to agree with me on that by the time we get to the general election.”

So You Can Keep Track

The One Who wins will be the one who has the money to run basically a national campaign between New Hampshire and Feb 5.

If John Edwards were to win Iowa he still won't have the resources to beat HRC on the Super Tuesday that is Feb 5. And he's not going to win Iowa.

John, I've always been a fan but call it a day after New Hampshire.

On the Republican front the question is similar: Can Rudy actually recover from the fabulously wealthy Romney's IA and NH victories. Especially if Huckabee gets enough IA bump to gain Power Cred from the Southern Fundies to undercut Rudy's comfrotable Southern-style totalitarianism in SC....

And They're Off

With the date of the New Hampshire presidential primary set at last, the primary calendar is finally in order. The first votes will be cast 38 days from today in Iowa. The course ahead over the next three months:

Thursday, January 3: Iowa
Saturday, January 5: Wyoming Republicans
Tuesday, January 8: New Hampshire
Tuesday, January 15: Michigan
Saturday, January 19: Nevada; South Carolina Republicans
Tuesday, January 29: Florida; South Carolina Democrats
Saturday, February 2: Maine Republicans

The contest then moves on to the Tuesday, February 5, "national primary": Alabama; Alaska; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Georgia; Idaho Democrats; Illinois; Minnesota; Missouri; New Jersey; New Mexico Democrats; New York; North Dakota; Oklahoma; Tennessee; Utah; and West Virginia Republicans. Then...

Saturday, February 9: Louisiana; Nebraska Democrats; Washington State
Sunday, February 10: Maine Democrats
Tuesday, February 12: District of Columbia; Maryland; Virginia
Tuesday, February 19: Hawaii Democrats; Wisconsin

I Am Somebody (Who's Relevant)

Desperate for the Politcs of old

Jackson Says Candidates Have Ignored African-Americans

Jesse Jackson, writing in the Chicago Sun Times:

"The Democratic candidates -- with the exception of John Edwards, who opened his campaign in New Orleans' Ninth Ward and has made addressing poverty central to his campaign -- have virtually ignored the plight of African Americans in this country. The catastrophic crisis that engulfs the African-American community goes without mention. No urban agenda is given priority. When thousands of African Americans marched in protest in Jena, La., not one candidate showed up."

Bye Bye

An Opportunity for GT12's great friend's on 2nd Street

CHICAGO — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who made a farewell speech to House colleagues 11 day earlier, made his resignation official Monday with a letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Hastert's formal resignation, which was to take effect at 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, came the same day that Mississippi GOP Sen. Trent Lott announced he would retire by year's end after 35 years in Congress.

Hastert had announced in August he wouldn't seek another term and earlier this month confirmed he wouldn't finish his 11th term, but he hadn't said when he would resign his seat.