Bush/Rove v. Giulliani in '08

Well they've done it again.

Bush's Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, has said regarding the vetting of Bernard Kerik: "Many of the questions that have been raised in the media were well understood by the White House when they considered Bernie Kerik."
oh! Which questions were "well understood" when Bush introduced Kerik as his nominee for the Homeland Security post: The undocumented nanny? The extra-marital affairs? The alledged mob connections? The unexplained financial dealings?

In addition to the usual lies and inability to admit mistakes, what else is at work here?
Perhaps there is a simple answer. Card made this unbelievably dumb statement simply to protect their nominee for Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who headed up the vetting process on Kerik.

Or perhaps there is a more nefarious explanation:
According to Rush & Molloy (Daily News, 12/21/04): "'[Karl] Rove used Rudy [Giuliani]and Kerik to tout Bush as the anti-terrorism candidate,' says one Republican Party player. 'But Rudy is too socially liberal for the true-believers. So they let him shoot himself in the foot. Rove...Went along with the nomination, betting that the heat would come down on Rudy, which it has.'"

Rush and Molloy end with a dire warning: "...Rove and Bush have one man in mind for the Oval Office: brother Jeb Bush. They're saying, 'we own the Party now'...'and we're not going to give it away."

Dumb quote of the week

We've reached that time of year when everyone is giving out awards. Here's a suggestion for "Father of the Year:"
According to the New York Post's "Page Six," Jessica and Ashley Simpson's dad/manager, former Baptist minister, Joe Simpson told GQ magazine, referring to Jessica, "She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double D's! You can't cover those suckers up!"
Thanks daddy!

Three cheers for the Supreme Court

Every once in a while the Supreme Court surprises. It did that yesterday when it decided not to take up the right-wing generated challenge to the Massachusetts High Court's approval of gay marriage. (For full story)

Frank Rich on Nicolette Sheridan/Terrell Owens

Frank Rich on Nicolette Sheridan/Terrell Owens
Frank Rich, as usual, sheds his clear light on the media nonsense over the Nicolette Sheridan-Terrell Owens Monday Night Football encounter. Rich puts it in the context of media madness about the recent election. (See New York Times, 11/28/04)

Dumb quote of the week

"There will be people who see Alexander the Great's bisexuality [in the film "Alexander"] as applauding that lifestyle, and unfortunately it will lead some young boys, young men down a path that I think they'll regret someday," said Bob Waliszewski, a film critic with Focus on the Family, a Christian group. (New York Times, 11/20/04, B14).

A taste of Thomas Frank

For a taste of Frank try his post-election analysis in New York Magazine "What the Democrats Missed at the Populist Revolution"
"It is almost a ritual in Washington: The Democrats are handed some stunning defeat...and the powerful Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)...announces that the Democrats in question have lost because they foolishly clung to the party's old, liberal, thirties identity." (To read the full article).

Post-elections feelings

More and more these days I am feeling a great kinship with Alice. I too feel as if I have fallen down the rabbit hole into a world which makes absolutely no sense. Black is white, lies are truth, incompetence is rewarded and everything is upside-down. There is much to understand about what happened and where to go from here.
A good beginning is What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank (Metropolitan Books. Henry Holt and Company). Frank may help us crawl out of the rabbit hole.
One thing we have going for us is that the Right Wing will almost surely over-reach as do most rulers with too much power and too few brains.
More soon.

music weekend

What a weekend!
Wall-to-wall music.

Friday night we went to the Friends Meeting House to see one of the true musical geniuses of our time: jazz pianist, composer and broadcaster (arts reporter for the CBS Sunday morning with Charles Kuralt) Billy Taylor. In the very friendly and intimate atmosphere of the Friends Meeting House, Taylor played solo and with pianist/composer Michael Wolff. Between songs Wolff talked to Taylor about jazz and his music. An evening not soon to be forgotten.

Then last night (Saturday) we heard Charlie King and Karen Brandow at the Peoples' Voice Cafe. We have been fans of Charlie and Karen's for many years. They continue to enlighten the political scene with their music. And right now we need their light-hearted musical vision more than ever.

On Nov. 20th Peoples' Voice will feature MacDougal Street Rent Party, a quintet of political and labor artists, and Chris Lang and The Whole Shebang, a country rock and blues fusion band. I don't know either of these groups, but we'll try to get there and find out more about them.
(For more info about the Peoples' Voice Cafe: www.peoplesvoicecafe.org )