Month: March 2006

Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. turned in his resignation over the weekend which President Bush accepted. This morning, the announcement was made that Joshua B. Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget would replace Card on April 14th.

Turning to Bolten, Bush described his new chief of staff as a creative thinker and a strong advocate for accountability and effective management in the federal government.

“He is a man of candor and humor and directness, who is comfortable with responsibility and knows how to lead,” Bush said.

Bush said Card had approached him earlier this month about the possibility of stepping down, and Bush accepted his offer this weekend, when the two were at Camp David.

“He’s been here 5 1/2 years. The average tenure of chief of staff is two years,” said a senior administration official, who spoke before the announcement, but refused to be named so as not to upstage the president. “Change can be good and necessary and that’s what they had discussed.”

The official said the decision was Card’s, not Bush’s: “Andy initiated it with the president.”

I know that lots of Democrats will call this the beginning of some big “Bush Shakeup”. It’s not. Card is tired, pure and simple.

Via Reuters: Former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who played key roles in the shaping of the so-called Star Wars missile defense program and the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan administration, has died. He was 88 years old.

Caspar Weinberger Jr. said his father had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week and died at 5 a.m. EST in the intensive-care unit of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, about 40 miles from his home in Mount Desert.

Weingberger’s wife of 63 years, Jane, his son and daughter, Arlin, were at his bedside when he died.

“He was just a worn-out guy,” his son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., told Reuters.

RIP.

Associated Press reports Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who faced execution for converting from Islam to Christianity, has been released.

The Senate Judiciary Committee couldn’t bare the thought of voting in opposition to demonstrators, so they approved legislation today which tramples on the rule of law. If they get their way, being in this country illegally won’t really be illegal anymore.

Nice job.

“All Americans wanted fairness and they got it this evening,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who played a pivotal role in drafting the legislation.

Apparently, Uncle Teddy doesn’t (hiccup) want to lose the (hiccup) servants he has employed under the table (hiccup) all these years.

The 12-6 vote was unusual, with a majority of Republicans opposed to the measure even though their party controls the Senate.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted for the bill but signaled that some of the provisions could well be changed by the full Senate once debate begins there Tuesday.

Taking his cue from John Kerry, no doubt. Specter votes against upholding the rule of law, before he votes for it (if he absolutely has to).

In general, the bill is designed to strengthen the Border Patrol, create new opportunities for so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Oh sure, that’s what the bill is intended to do, but it’s really just simple amnesty. Once that cow is out of the barn…

At several critical points, committee Democrats showed unity while Republicans splintered. In general, GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who is seeking re-election this fall, sided with Democrats. That created a majority that allowed them to shape the bill to their liking.

Whoring for votes…priceless.

Short term pandering aside – what we have here is the makings of a national security nightmare, not to mention the economic problems that will erupt. The estimated 11 million illegal immigrants more likely number in the 100 million range, and this number will soar if weak legislation like this is ultimately passed. Our borders are already in a state of crisis. This will compound the problem exponentially. Let’s face it – the immigration problem can’t be fixed by waving a magic amnesty wand.

I’m sick and tired of our elected officials voting to protect their careers, and this action today is just another example of them exercising a life extension program.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to a reporter who took his picture just as he was flashing the international fowl symbol.

Mary Winkler, the minister’s wife who confessed to killing her husband showed up for the first time in court today. The only words uttered by Winkler were “No sir” when she was asked if she had any questions. She didn’t enter a plea. She appeared in an orange jump suit and was shackled.  (Video)

Winkler is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, the minister at Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee, a small town 80 miles east of Memphis.

Funeral services for her dead husband are scheduled for Tuesday in the church where he served as Pastor.

 

Meanwhile, a friend who visited Winkler in jail says the 32–year old is sorry for everything that happened.

Church member Pam Killingsworth visited Winkler after Sunday services and said the preacher’s wife gave no indication why her husband of 10 years was shot.

“She just said she was sorry and for me to write a note to the church saying that she was sorry for everything she had done,” said Killingsworth, as she walked away from the jail in tears.

So far, Winkler’s motive remains a secret.

MORE: Columbia preacher shocked, saddened by friend’s slaying |

Isn’t this a little like that?

“We are illegal immigrants if you trace our heritage all the way back, but we are here and we are working and we are living the American dream,” said Janet Padron, a 22-year-old Allen Park, Mich., resident who was raised in California.

Hello, INS? Where were you when all of these illegal immigrants were marching down the streets of America?

This is a serious problem, especially when, for political reasons, we refrain from enforcing existing laws. The minute we let our guard down and allow people into this country just because they want a job, we’ll face a national security problem beyond any estimation.

Immigration is a great thing, as long as it is LEGAL.

This is very good news.

The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation’s new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet.

In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person’s Web site.

The decision means that bloggers and online publications will not be covered by provisions of the new election law. Internet bloggers and individuals will therefore be able to use the Internet to attack or support federal candidates without running afoul of campaign spending and contribution limits.

“It’s a win, win, win,” Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub said, adding that the rule would satisfy concerns of campaigns, individuals and the Internet community about whether the campaign finance law applies to Internet political activity.

The commission was forced to act after a federal court ruled that the FEC must extend some of the campaign financial and spending limits to political activity on the Internet.

Phew!

Zacarias Moussaoui confessed in court today that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth plane on September 11th and fly it into the White House. The revelation itself isn’t all that shocking. The fact that Moussaoui blurted it out in court is.

No matter what happens to Moussaoui, my hope is that more coverage will be provided in this case and that the memories of that day in September come back to Americans. I can’t help but worry that we’ve grown soft on 9/11, and that we’ve become so absorbed in our lives that the worst terrorist attack this nation has ever known is becoming nothing more than a blip on history’s radar.

Reading about Moussaoui’s confession brought me right back to that day, that moment…everything. It reminded me how important it is that we never forget the horror that was brought on our nation, and more importantly, that we don’t grow too soft on the very perpetrators of that horror.

I had no idea that Markos Moulitsas of ‘Daily Kos’ is really just an 8 year-old kid. Imagine my surprise.