Day: January 18, 2006

Take a look at this picture and tell me it’s not the worst example of a bad PhotoShop job on a major news site.

I was wondering why no prominent Democrats have come out to repudiate Hillary Clinton’s ‘Plantation’ remark made on MLK day. It became clear to me that there’s one simple reason.

Fear.

What else could explain this?

Sen. Barack Obama and other black Democrats are defending Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s description of the House of Representatives as a “plantation.” First lady Laura Bush says Clinton’s remark was “ridiculous.”

Clinton, D-N.Y., a potential presidential candidate for 2008, did not retreat from the “plantation” remark, telling reporters the term accurately describes the “top-down” way the GOP runs Congress.

Obama said Wednesday he felt her choice of words referred to a “consolidation of power” in Washington that squeezes out the voters.

The Illinois senator told CNN’s “American Morning” he believed that Clinton was merely expressing concern that special interests play such a large role in writing legislation that “the ordinary voter and even members of Congress who aren’t in the majority party don’t have much input.”

“There’s been a consolidation of power by the Republican Congress and this White House in which, if you are the ordinary voter, you don’t have access,” Obama said. “That should be a source of concern for all of us.”

New York Rep. Gregory Meeks also defended Clinton.

“There was no race card played here. If any card was played here it was a joker, because that’s who seems to be running the House right now if you look at the leadership,” said Meeks, a black Democrat.

How can two black congressmen agree with what Hillary said and not consider the remark blatantly racist?

It’s all about politics, naturally, and many will sell their souls for the promise of a successful political career.

It is for this reason that these two Democrats are cuddling up to Hillary. Obama is clearly a future candidate for president, and he wants access to Hillary and her money machine. Meeks probably believes that Hillary will be president someday and he’s hoping for a cabinet position, or some other role in her administration. As such, they turn the other cheek and brush aside the racism in the hopes that they’ll benefit in some way.

If I could ask Obama a single question about his defense of Hillary, it would be this:

Would Martin Luther King have done the same thing?

Leif Garrett before heroin.

Leif Garrett after heroin.

Gettin’ busted will do that to you, among other things.

Laura calls ‘em as she sees ‘em – and it’s about time too.

Laura Bush criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday for suggesting that the Republican-controlled House is run like a plantation where dissenting voices are ignored.

“I think it’s ridiculous – it’s a ridiculous comment,” Mrs. Bush told reporters when asked about the remark during a return flight to Washington following her four-day swing through West Africa.

Clinton made the comment in Harlem at an event honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She said the GOP was running the House “like a plantation” because ideas from the minority Democrats were not respected. The White House on Tuesday called the senator’s comments “way out of line.”

Mrs. Bush, who said her next trip likely will be to New Orleans to visit schools damaged in the hurricane, also reacted to a comment by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin that stirred controversy. Nagin had said: “This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.” He later apologized.

Nagin also said the hurricane that devastated New Orleans was God’s way of showing displeasure about U.S. involvement in Iraq. “Surely God is mad at America,” Nagin said in a speech Monday. “Surely He’s not approving of us being in Iraq under false pretense. But surely He’s upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”

Asked about the comment, Mrs. Bush joked that she didn’t really think she could speak for God. 

Amen.

Perhaps Laura’s been learning a thing or two from her mother-in-law Barbara? She’s never had a difficult time telling it like it is.

There’s nothing wrong with calling people on the carpet, and it should be done more often. Laura Bush gives credibility too, which is why it’s important for her to be more outspoken. 

Unhinged.

Ohio US Senate candidate Paul Hackett (D) made the following statement in a Sunday column and he’s not a bit sorry about it.

“The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world.”

“I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it,” he said.

And have any other Democrats come out to condemn Hackett?

Nope. Nadda. Nein.

It’s shameful.

h/t Blogs for Bush

OK, so they’re not all shrill moonbats.

Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate voice in the U.S. Congress, on Tuesday became the first Senate Democrat to announce his support for conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who is expected to be confirmed later this month by the full Republican-led Senate.

“I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Samuel Alito,” Nelson said in a statement issued by his office.

“I came to this decision after careful consideration of his impeccable judicial credentials, the American Bar Association’s strong recommendation and his pledge that he would not bring a political agenda to the court,” Nelson said.

Arlen Specter looks to obtain the confirmation vote from the Senate sometime next week. Practically no one predicts that Alito won’t be confirmed.