AP Newsbreak: SC Governor ‘Crossed Lines’ with Women
Tamara Lush & Evan Berland, AP, June 30, 2009.
Criminal Probe Darkens Sanford’s Political Prospects
Patrick Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, June 30, 2009.
Sanford Admits to More Contact with Mistress
Chris Cillizza, The Fix, Washington Post, June 30, 2009.
GOP’s Coleman Concedes, Sending Franken to Senate
Brain Bakst, AP, June 30, 2009.
“Davis lives in St. Charles County, one of the wealthiest districts in Missouri. If she doesn’t see hunger and poverty where she lives, in her mind it doesn’t exist.”
– ChattahBox, “Republican Missouri Rep. Derides Gov. Spending to Feed Hungry Children: They can Get Free Food at Church or Get a Job!” June 22, 2009.“Davis is correct, hunger can be a motivator. One hopes it ‘motivates’ folks to replace her next election, those that hunger for better leadership in Missouri.”
– Comment by garyro on June 23rd, 2009 8:39 am at ChattahBox.com.
There’s Justice for the Mark Sanford’s and Then There’s Justice for the Rest of Us
“The vices of the rich and great are mistaken for error; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.”
– Lady Marguerite Blessington
The Tattlesnake isn’t quite as forgiving as was Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown June 26. Alter said he felt sorry for Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) and concluded he was a ‘nice guy.’ Sanford’s having an extramarital affair is really none of our business, and even his lying about it, to an extent, is understandable, but there are some other dimensions to the lurid Sanford saga that display a ‘public servant’ who is considerably less than what most would consider a ‘nice guy,’ aside from his towering hypocrisy.
First there was his attempt to deny $700 million in federal financial aid to South Carolina’s schoolchildren and unemployed, merely to score political points with the GOP base with an eye to a 2012 presidential nomination. That doesn’t sound very ‘nice’ to me.
Then there’s the fact that, after all of the soap-opera revelations regarding his affair with a married Argentinean woman, and outrageous lies concerning his whereabouts as he disappeared for seven days, followed by tearful public apologies, he still refuses to resign.
Moreover, he has confessed to violating South Carolina state law prohibiting misuse of public funds and adultery – yet Sanford has not been arrested for either.
“The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one.”
“Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
– Benito Mussolini, as quoted by the London Sunday Express, December 8, 1935.
Item 1: Let’s make this Independence Day National Waterboarding Day! Here’s the way it would work: At each major public gathering on Saturday, July 4, 2009, have a crew there ready to waterboard all comers. Bring your conservative friends and relatives who deny that waterboarding is torture and challenge them to personally experience this ‘enhanced interrogation technique’ for themselves. Let them deny it’s torture after they beg for it to stop after 6 or 7 seconds as Mancow Muller did. Just to sweeten the deal, offer a prize of $25.00 for anyone who lasts a full minute. Vets for Peace and other military groups could provide the waterboarders and the equipment is cheap: a few gallons of water, some water bottles, a board that can be slanted and some washcloths. I know this is short notice, but I hope MoveOn.org, True Majority and kindred liberal organizations pick this up and run with it.
Item 2: How did we ever get to the point where sacrificing our health for the profits of a large corporation is an acceptable idea? How did we get to the point where a faceless corporate bureaucrat in a for-profit business denying health care to a sick person is an acceptable idea? How did we go from doctors visiting your home when you were ill to making sick people sit in a waiting room to see the doctor? And, BTW, I’m tired of Congressional Republicans telling us that we have the best health care system in the world. Of course we do – if you happen to be a member of Congress. The rest of us have to take our chances. Want to see instant health care reform? Make the Senators and Congress-Creatures go to the Emergency Room when they get sick. After several hours in pain or feeling ill, sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair waiting for an overworked ER intern to see them, those Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats will be ready to sign on to anything that ends that scene from Dante’s Inferno.
Violence and anger escalate as thousands resume protests against Iranian election
Ali Akbar Dareini & Nasser Karimi, AP, June 20, 2009.
Khameinei vs. Rafsanjani…
Jeff Weintraub, June 19, 2009.
Khamenei’s Speech: Learning from the Shah?
Meir Javedanfar, Huffington Post, June 19, 2009.
For a complete list of Murdoch’s extensive News Corporation holdings, read the Columbia Journalism Review, ‘Who Owns What? here.
Also read:
News Corp. Suffers Staggering $6.4 Billion Loss
Ryan Nakashima, Huffington Post, Feb. 5, 2009.
“Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it.”
– Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) on June 16, 2009, as quoted by the AP. “Sen Ensign Admits Affair with Ex-Campaign Staffer““Our families were close … That closeness put me into situations which led to my inappropriate behavior. We caused deep pain to both families and for that I am sorry.”
– Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) on June 16, 2009, as quoted by the AP.
“Ex-Campaign Aide to Sen. Ensign Confirms Affair““A born-again Christian, Ensign has been a member of the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes marital fidelity.”
– Manu Raju, et al, “Admission clouds Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s future,” Politico.com, June 16, 2009.“There’s too many people that paint with a broad brush that we’re all corrupt, we’re all amoral…And having these kinds of things happen, whether it’s a Republican or Democratic senator — we certainly have had plenty of Democratic scandals in the past — we need people who are in office who will hold themselves to a little higher standard.”
– Sen. John Ensign, as quoted by CNN’s Political Ticker, Oct. 18, 2007.“This is a personal situation and I hope he gets it resolved.”
– Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Ensign’s affair, as quoted at Politico.com. [Graham wasn't quite as generous to Bill Clinton.]“I’m pulling for him.”
– Sen. Harry Reid (D-Idiot) on Ensign’s adultery, forgetting what team he’s supposed to be playing on, as quoted at Politico.com.
“We’re digging ourselves out of a deep hole. We took it in the shorts with Bush-Cheney, the Iraq War, and by sacrificing fiscal responsibility to hold power.”
– Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), as quoted by Jim Galloway, Political Insider, June 12, 2009.
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Sanford and Satan