Daily archives: November 27th, 2009

FOX News Chicago Surveys 193% of Republicans for 2012 Presidential Race

November 27, 2009
ElectionsHumorRepublicans
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FOX News Chicago recently released results showing who 193% of Republicans favor for a 2012 Presidential run.

Yes, that’s 193%.

From NBC Chicago:

When you give something your all, you give it 100 percent. Unless you work for My FOX Chicago – then you give it 193 percent.

During a Friday broadcast, Fox News’ local Chicago affiliate reported on the results of a recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll. Anchor Byron Harlan said that Sarah Palin currently has the most support for a 2012 presidential nomination among Republican candidates.

“When it comes to landing the nomination, Palin is at 70 percent, about a third higher than this past July,” said Harlan. “Mike Huckabee stands at 63 percent. Mitt Romney’s 60.”

But rather than use an appropriate bar chart, the accompanying graphic displayed a pie chart. Mathematically, pie charts have to total 100 percent.

FOX’s pie figures add up to 193 percent.

We know math is difficult, but come on.

To make matters worse, the opinion poll never actually asked respondents whom they supported as a presidential candidate.

According to their own published results (PDF link), telephone pollsters asked 900 registered voters if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of a list of names. The numbers Harlan reported are the “favorable” ratings among voters who identified themselves as Republican (approximately 324 voters).

FOX News: Fair and only 93% Unbalanced.

Dick Cheney: The GOP’s Last Great White Hope

November 27, 2009
ElectionsRepublicans
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Dick Cheney

Christopher Barron, a Washington-based campaign consultant and lawyer, wants Dick Cheney to be your next President of the United States. He wants your help to convince the GOP’s last Great White Hope to run for president in 2012.

Yes, I know. At the mere mention of the word “draft,” Dick Cheney will be crying for a deferment.

From the Chicago Tibune’s Swamp:

An admirer of the former vice president filed papers today in Washington for a committee with a goal of getting Cheney to run for president in 2012.

“The 2012 race for the Republican nomination for president will be about much more then who will be the party’s standard bearer against Barack Obama,” says organizer Christopher Barron. “The race is about the heart and soul of the GOP.”

Barron calls Cheney, the former congressman and Defense Secretary in the first Bush administratiion who arguably was the most powerful vice president of all, who played a central role in the war strategies and national security initiatives of the second Bush admnistraton, who served two terms as vice president and served three other presidents in his time, the only member of the GOP “with the experience, political courage and unwavering commitment to the values that made our party strong.”

Barron served as the national political director for the Log Cabin Republicans, ” the nation’s only organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans.” The Log Cabin Rebublicans boast on their home page they are working to build an “inclusive GOP,” and they support “fair-minded Republican leaders.”

The Events Calendar on DraftCheney2012.com is full through August 2010:

  • Nov 26 Thanksgiving Day
  • Dec 25 Christmas Day
  • Jan 1 New Years Day
  • Jan 20 Dick Cheney’s Birthday
  • Aug 14 Lynne Cheney’s Birthday

Good luck to Mr. Barron. With Dick Cheney joining Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck as the prime contenders for their party’s 2012 presidential nomination, the GOP primary season should be one for the record books.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Takes Executive Mansion ‘On the Road’

November 27, 2009
EconomyHomelessnessInternationalJobsLiberia
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I’ve decided to pay more attention to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. I am just finishing This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President. Johnson Sirleaf’s story is amazing, and her memoir offers an incredible history of Liberia.

It is not my intention now to write a review of the book. Yes, I recommend it. Johnson Sirleaf is brilliant, with a strong background in economics and finance. She appears to be keenly aware of the needs, potential and promise of Liberia, and the African continent as a whole. At this point, I want to keep up with President Johnson Sirleaf’s current work, so I’m introducing a new category on Turning Left: Liberia. Expect to read more in the days and weeks ahead.

Let me begin here: Johnson Sirleaf writes stirring and frightening accounts of the bloodbaths of former Liberian presidents Samuel K. Doe and Charles G. Taylor. Charles Taylor is currently on trial in the Hague. President Doe was captured in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, by faction leader Prince Y. Johnson on September 9, 1990. He was tortured and killed. According to Johnson Sirleaf’s memoir, Doe’s ears were sawed off before he died. No one deserves to die that way, Johnson Sirleaf comments, no matter what they’ve done.

So I’m going to start following Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I believe she is worth of attention. For all I know, she could secretly be a scoundrel — but I don’t think so. My gut tells me she’s for real.

The latest I was able to find is a piece dated today regarding President Johnson Sirleaf taking her Executive Mansion "on the road," visiting the people where they live.

From AllAfrica.com:

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has virtually taken the Executive Mansion "on the road," as the implementation of development projects becomes more compelling, with the arrival of the dry season.

The President was, a little over a week ago, in Falie, Grand Cape Mount County, discussing with her direct representatives-the Superintendents-in the political sub-divisions of the country, their programs and challenges. A number of issues emerged at the forum which not surprisingly, included the administration of the County Development Funds (CDF).

The exercise has, understandably, come under serious criticism, owing to what critics see as a lack of transparency in its administration. The President acknowledged that some of the accusations may not be true. "Some may be rumors; some may be misunderstanding, but in several cases, funds have been misused or misallocated. Your responsibility is to take charge of the CDF in such a way that the mandates given by our Constitution to the three branches of Government are fully respected.

"We are not going to do anything in a confrontational way; we are going to do it through consultations, through dialogue, through working with colleagues with one common objective in mind, an objective that is common to all the branches and to all the leaders and to all the citizens of the County, and that objective is: to bring development to the people. I am sure that in that spirit, we will be able to find a solution, to come up with new procedures that will enable us to get more results and have more effectiveness and efficiency in the implementation of our County Development Projects," the Liberian leader reminded her officials, urging them to start a process of consultation to achieve the objective.

Too many times, she observed, leaders are removed from the people they serve. "Many times the People do not know; this is why sometimes the lack of information gives way to rumors and to wrong information. You are responsible to hold consultations with your citizens. You need to go into the districts, the communities, in the villages. Tell them what you are doing. Show them that the CDA comes out of a process in which they contributed. It’s their project. This is what has been done; these are the problems; this is our progress-so they can know. Because they are the ones that will defend you," she urged the County Superintendents.

I am completely impressed. This sounds just like the woman I read about in This Child Will Be Great. And I look forward to reading more.