Hastert Set to Resign from Congress?

House Speaker Dennis Hastert

Rumor has it from some very well-placed sources in the 14th district in Illinois that House Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to resign from the United States Congress soon. If he does so within the next 9 months, a special primary will be held, and the Democrats will have another chance to take the district.

John Laesch has already been told that he will not be the man.

And the Associated Press reports that Democrats now have complete control of the United States Congress. Webb has won in Virginia.

The sun also rises.

Donkey in the sun

Rumsfeld resigns – Getting out of Dodge?

Donald Rumsfeld

CNN reports that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday. President Bush is expected to make an announcement later on today.

Would the Republicans have lost Congress if Rummy had resigned last week?? Or last month?? Or last year?? Was it really worth it for the president and Dick Cheney and Karl Rove to keep him around so long?

Is Rumsfeld “getting out of Dodge” because of all of the investigations to come in a Democratic-controlled House, and possibly Senate? Does the president have plans for a presidential pardon for Rummy in two years or sooner?

There are three things that happened yesterday:

1. The nation spoke. Well, the nation actually roared its disapproval of the president’s policies.
2. The Democrats won, fair and square.
3. And the Republicans lost miserably, all by themselves, on every front. The Republicans lost on the foreign affiars front. The Republicans lost on the moral front. The Republicans lost on the domestic front.

And the sun rises.


The Sun Also Rises

Donkey in the Sun

The Associated Press is reporting that the Democrats have taken control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.


Vote today

Vote for MattYou’ve already heard it so many times. But today is the day. Vote for Matt. Vote for all those lost in Iraq. Vote for yourself.

It doesn’t matter why.

Just vote.


Cheney Defiant

Dick CheneyIn an appearance this morning on ABC News This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Vice-President Dick Cheney was quick to mention 9/11, the War on Terror, and gave strong indication of how he would relate to a Democratic-controlled Congress. If served a subpoena, he would refuse to comply.

Cheney said the administration is moving “full speed ahead” with its policy on the war in Iraq.

“We’ve got the basic strategy right,” Cheney told George Stephanopoulos in an interview that was broadcast Sunday on “This Week.”

ABC News reports on the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll which shows 57 percent of Americans said that the war was not worth fighting. The poll also showed President Bush’s job approval rating dropped to 37 percent, the second-lowest mark of his presidency.

Cheney said that even with most pollsters predicting that Democrats would gain seats in both houses of Congress, voter sentiment would not influence Bush’s Iraq policy.

“It may not be popular with the public — it doesn’t matter in the sense that we have to continue the mission and do what we think is right. And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Cheney said. “We’re not running for office. We’re doing what we think is right.”

Dick Cheney: staying the course.


Hypocrisy

The Haggard mess is just another example of right wing hypocrisy. The religious wrong preaches drivel that would be laughable if people didn’t take them so seriously. The saddest part of all this is that the more liberal main stream churches are so timid about refuting the evangelicals misinterpretations of the Bible. It is so the right time to give up on guns and gays and begin to preach that peace and social justice are what Jesus taught. Old Testament – “Thou shat not”. New Testament – “Blessed are they…”


Looking Haggard and Drawn

Ted HaggardThis story adds a new category to Turning Left: Evangelicals. And this story fits nicely into three categories: Evangelicals, Republicans, and GLBT.

By now Ted’s story is well known. George W. confidant, president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, the largest evangelical group in America, a man who wielded influence on Capitol Hill and condemned both gay marriage and homosexuality, resigned on Thursday after a male prostitute reported that he had drug-fueled trysts with Haggard.

Haggard, who is also founder and senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a man of truth to the last, admits to receiving a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel, and that he bought meth for himself from the man. However, he says he never had sex with Jones, and never used the drugs. “I was tempted, but I never used it,” the 50-year-old Haggard told reporters from his vehicle while leaving his home with his wife and three of his five children.

Jones, who advertises himself as an escort only in gay publications or on gay web sites, scoffed at the idea that Haggard learned of him through an employee at a hotel. “No concierge in Denver would have referred me,” he said.

Haggards web site boasts of his popularity with the media, securing his place as a true leader in the Evangelical community:

Pastor Ted has been interviewed by Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, Bill O’Reilly, Chris Matthews, and more. Time included Pastor Ted in their list of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America. Harper’s says, “No pastor in America holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism than does Pastor Ted.”

Any day, perhaps, but today. AP reports, “Jones did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press on Friday.”


Kerry Apologizes. Boehner pulls, well…, a Boehner

John Kerry apologized today for his “botched joke” today. All that fuss because he left out the word “us” from his planned speech:

I can’t overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.”

That was the planned statement, and he’s said it many times in previous speeches. This time, however, he botched it.

U.S. Newswire reports that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released the following statement on House Majority Leader John Boehner’s decision to blame the troops for Republican failures in Iraq.

“John Boehner ought to be ashamed. He’s blaming our troops for failures in Iraq. If he wants to cast blame, he can start by looking in the mirror because he and his Congressional Republican colleagues have rubberstamped the Bush Administration’s failed policy for nearly four years. Our troops in Iraq have performed bravely. It’s political leaders like Congressman Boehner and Donald Rumsfeld, who have failed. I expect President Bush and Congressional Republicans, who demanded John Kerry apologize, hold their own party’s majority leader to a much higher standard. There’s no spinning his disparaging comments. He made them. He needs to apologize.”

The remarks?

House Majority Leader John Boehner: Wolf, I understand that, but let’s not blame what’s happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

Wolf Blitzer: But he’s in charge of the military.

House Majority Leader John Boehner: But the fact is the generals on the ground are in charge and he works closely with them and the president.

Boehner should be House Majority Leader for a few more days. After that, well, let’s see what happens Tuesday.

In the meantime, since Republicans are always poised to “Swift boat” Democrats for every grammatical error, let’s not forget the education president, father of No Child Left Behind, and enjoy these priceless gems from U.S. Commander in Chief, the POTUS himself, George W. Bush:

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

George Bush at signing of defense appropriations bill, August 5, 2004

“I mean, if you’ve ever been a governor of a state, you understand the vast potential of broadband technology, you understand how hard it is to make sure that physics, for example, is taught in every classroom in the state. It’s difficult to do. It’s, like, cost-prohibitive.”

Washington, D.C., June 24, 2004

“I’m honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein.”

Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004

“The illiteracy level of our children are appalling.”

Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

And, perhaps the greatest testimony to his presidency:

“I’m the master of low expectations.”

Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

What a country.


Kerry Blasts White House – Again

Senator John Kerry refused to apologize for his remarks telling a group of college students they could either work hard in school or “get stuck in Iraq.” CNN reports on President Bush’s response, “Even in the midst of a heated campaign season, there are still some things we should all be able to agree on, and one of the most important is that every one of our troops deserves our gratitude and respect.”

Kerry was unapologetic, “The White House’s attempt to distort my true statement is a remarkable testament to their abject failure in making America safe,” the Massachusetts senator said. “It’s a stunning statement about their willingness to reduce anything in America to raw politics.”

Former U.S. Senator Max Cleland defended Kerry, “John Kerry is a patriot who has fought tooth and nail for veterans ever since he came home from Vietnam. He has stood with his brothers in arms unlike this administration, which exploits our troops to make a political point and divide America,” Cleland said in a statment.

Kerry fired back in a pointed statement. “I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq.” He further criticized “Republican hacks who have never worn the uniform of our country.”

“If anyone owes the troops in the fields an apology, it is the president,” Kerry said.


Judges Contribute to GOP

Salon.com reports that at least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four month study by the Center for Investigative Reporting finds that 6 appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of $44,000 to pols who were influential in their appointments.

The entire report is very revealing:

CIR’s investigation analyzed the campaign contributions of 249 judges who were appointed by President Bush to U.S. District and Circuit courts around the country. While some judges did not give contributions at all in the years leading up to their appointments, others continued to make political donations while their nominations were pending in the Senate.

There are no laws forbidding such contributions. The official Code of Conduct for United States Judges does prohibit political contributions by sitting federal judges.? It does not address donations made by judicial candidates seeking appointment.? However, it can certainly appear unethical.