GOP Faithful Like Palin, Romney, Huckabee in 2012

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are most interested in seeing Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee run for the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Those three received the highest scores among the 10 possible candidates evaluated in a recent Gallup Panel survey.



The Nov. 5-16 survey asked a nationally representative sample of Gallup panelists who identify themselves as Republicans or are political independents but "lean" to the Republican Party to say whether they "would or would not like to see" each of 10 Republicans "run for president in 2012."

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Something tells me these people know nothing about Petraeus's moderate domestic views, or really his views on anything besides "ZOMG SURGE".

and LOL @ Mittens being so popular with liberal Republicans

Discrimination argument is bogus in gay-marriage debate

The politically clever way to get special privileges is to call them "rights" -- especially "equal rights."

Some local election campaigns in various states are using that tactic this year, trying to get special privileges through affirmative action quotas or through demands that the definition of marriage be changed to suit homosexuals.

Equality of rights does not mean equality of results. I can have all the equal treatment in the world on a golf course and I will not finish within shouting distance of Tiger Woods.

When arbitrary numerical "goals" or "quotas" under affirmative action are not met, the burden of proof is put on the employer to prove that he did not discriminate against minorities or women. No burden of proof whatever is put on the advocates of "goals" or "quotas" to show that people would be equally represented in jobs, colleges or anywhere else in the absence of discrimination.

Putting the burden of proof on everybody except yourself is a slick political ploy.

The time is long overdue for the voting public to see through it.

Another fraud on the ballot this year is gay "marriage."
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sauce

I actually found this note on someone's facebook and I left a long comment replying to this article and the kid deleted it because he couldn't handle the truthiness.

Change The Pentagon Doesn't Believe In




From Mother Jones: As the Obama transition continues, there's much speculation as to whom the president-elect will ask to head the Pentagon and whether he might invite Robert Gates to stay on. Less attention, however, has been paid to a critical, but related, issue: Will Gates or his successor be able to make good on Obama's promise to cut "tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending" from the military budget? On the campaign trail, Obama frequently cautioned that changing the federal government will not be easy. Perhaps nowhere will this be truer than in the Pentagon's ossified bureaucracy. Reforming it may be the toughest job in Washington. In pursuing this mission, Obama and his man (or woman) at the Pentagon will face opposition from entrenched interests in the uniformed military and private industry, as well as on Capitol Hill.

( Read more... )

Sarah Palin's rather perky interview in front of a turkey slaughter (posted on ontd_political HERE) reminded me of this seasonal, politico-historical & timeless Turkey Day classic penned by the legendary iconoclast & beat generation author William S. Burroughs:

THANKSGIVING PRAYER
by William S. Burroughs

Thanks for the wild turkey and
the passenger pigeons, destined
to be shit out through wholesome
American guts.

Thanks for a continent to despoil
and poison.

Thanks for Indians to provide a
modicum of challenge and
danger.

Thanks for vast herds of bison to
kill and skin leaving the
carcasses to rot.

Thanks for bounties on wolves
and coyotes.

Thanks for the American dream,
To vulgarize and to falsify until
the bare lies shine through.

Thanks for the KKK.

For nigger-killin' lawmen,
feelin' their notches.

For decent church-goin' women,
with their mean, pinched, bitter,
evil faces.

Thanks for "Kill a Queer for
Christ" stickers.

Thanks for laboratory AIDS.

Thanks for Prohibition and the
war against drugs.

Thanks for a country where
nobody's allowed to mind the
own business.

Thanks for a nation of finks.

Yes, thanks for all the
memories-- all right let's see
your arms!

You always were a headache and
you always were a bore.

Thanks for the last and greatest
betrayal of the last and greatest
of human dreams.

--William S. Burroughs

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

***EDIT: Found embeddable video:

http://www.factcheck.org/just-the-facts/thankful_for_your_questions.html

We are officially in the off-season and, as always, we're thankful for your questions, which help us nurse our election hang-over.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/peach_state_piffle.html

The Georgia Senate run-off is filled with misleading claims from both sides.

Well this is terribly disappointing! After a veritable two weeks of post-election speculation about our future Secretary of the Treasury, with an endless parade of sexist buffoons and kindly forest-giants to choose from, Barack Obama goes for some dude named Tim Geithner who appears to be of normal stature and possessed of no serious personality defects. YAWN.

Let’s review:

1. President of the New York Fed.
   
2. Youngish.
   
3. Not bad-looking.
   
4. Has worked for the Treasury for a million years, since 1988, under five different Secretaries.
   

JESUS CHRIST HE IS GIVING US NOTHING TO WORK WITH HERE. We’ll just have to hope Obama goes with the half-Mexican womanizer for Commerce, as threatened.

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HALE YEAH. That's all I have to say about Geithner :) Looks like the Obama administration is going to be filled with young-ish and highly intelligent people, who are very experienced but not so much that they are stuck in their ways. Good times ahead.

With just 60 days left in his tenure, you might think that W.'s lame duck administration was sitting around relieved that another guy was taking over, counting the minutes until the flight leaves for Crawford.

Not quite.

Based on the flurry of quiet directives coming from the White House as the end of the term nears, it looks like the Bush Goose (or is it turducken?) isn't quite cooked yet.

In what has become a kind of presidential right-of-passage, the president (or really, the federal agencies that answer to him) has been pushing through a series of last-minute regulations that have the force of law. Everything from pollution controls to family-leave standards can be set by these rules.

And you thought your high school government teacher said that Congress made all the laws.

These de-facto laws are called "midnight rules" or "midnight regulations" because they happen at the end -- or midnight period -- of an administration. If the rules are published in the Federal Register by Friday, Nov. 21, they'll be very hard for President-elect Obama to reverse when he gets into office.

And that's the point. Sure, the administration had eight years to get a lot of this stuff accomplished. But according senior research fellow at George Mason University Veronique de Rugy, most midnight regulations "cater to special interests," and "that is why they are hurried into effect without the usual checks and balances."

George Bush isn't the first president to push through rules before the next guy can get in. Jimmy Carter gets that award. In fact, the New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert says Cater's whirlwind of last-minute activity before Ronald Reagan took office is when the practice got named. "They became known as 'midnight regulations,' after the 'midnight judges' appointed by John Adams in the final hours of his Presidency."

George Bush doesn't get the award for the most rules shoved through after the two-minute warning, either. That goes to Bill Clinton who, according to de Rugy, set the record for number of pages published in the Federal Register at "more than 26,000."

So, what rules are the White House and all its federal agencies trying to get through this season?

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new rules, "open the way for commercial development of oil shale on federal land, allow truckers to drive for longer periods, and add certain restrictions on employee time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act."

Those run the gamut, but the ones getting the most ink are environmentally focused. The Los Angeles Times says environmentalists are angry by a host of loosened safeguards:


In recent days, the Bush administration announced new rules to speed oil shale development across 2 million rocky acres in the West. It scheduled an auction for drilling rights alongside three national parks. It has also set in motion processes to finalize major changes in endangered species protection, allow more mining waste to flow into rivers and streams, and exempt factory farms from air pollution reporting.

The Chicago Tribune did a special report saying the administration undercut a clean-air rule aimed at curbing childhood lead poisoning:


...the EPA had planned to require lead monitors next to any factory emitting at least a half-ton of lead a year. But after the White House intervened, the agency raised the threshold to a ton of lead or more, according to e-mails and other documents exchanged between the EPA and the Office of Management and Budget.

In an Oct. 31 press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto was asked about environmental groups saying the White House was easing limits on pollution. First Fratto responded that the White House is "constrained" about discussing regulations under review, but then said, "I would be highly doubtful that there's any specific increase in environmental-related regulations."

Navigating the rule-making process can be laborious for the non-wonk type, but the non-profit, investigative journalism group ProPublica has tried to make it easy for people who want to investigate for themselves. ProPublica has a master list of Bush's midnight regulations here and they have posted a guide on "How to Ferret Out Midnight Regs Yourself." If you've got the time and inclination, a lot of this process is public record and online.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20081121/pl_ynews/ynews_pl158

who didn't expect this assery...

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Savannah State University remains on lockdown after a shooting at the University Commons. Savannah-Chatham police are on campus supporting Savannah State police as they continue to look for the suspect, Devon McIntosh.

The reported shooting happened sometime around noon and the campus was quickly put on lockdown.

According to campus officials, two students who knew each other, got into an altercation in the University Commons. One student pulled out a gun and shot the other one in the arm and abdomen. The wounded student was taken to the hospital and is in emergency surgery right now.

The campus is still on lockdown because police are still looking for the shooting suspect. He has an apartment on campus which police have searched and located a weapon.

Students on campus told WTOC they learned about the reported shooting through the campus alert system. Students can sign up for the alerts. The school put out text messages to students and sent voice mail messages to their dorm room phones.

The messages told students there was a report of a shooting in the Commons housing. They were urged to stay where they were on campus:

"SHOOTING CAMPUS SHOOTING REPORTED. CAMPUS IS ON LOCKDOWN. Keep doors closed and locked till further notice. Thanks for your cooperation."

One student WTOC spoke with was one of several hundred in SSU's student center. She told us, "Many students felt more secure with the campus on lockdown. We'd rather it be that way than people not caring about student safety."

She learned about the lockdown through other students on campus who had signed up for the school's alert system.

"I saw a lot of students walking around campus at first," she said. "Many were going back to their rooms."

The student told WTOC they have not heard when the lockdown would be lifted.

Police are looking for the suspect Devon McIntosh. It is not known if he is still on campus. Police say he has a scar on his arm and hand and a tattoo of "Defamilia" on his chest and another tattoo on his arm.

Police say they are also looking for a 1995 Lexus ES tan in color with Georgia plate number: AVB 6316

WTOC has a crew on the scene and we'll have the latest information as it becomes available.

http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9393399

"Yes We Can!" Students Rename School for Obama
November 21, 2008 1:41 PM

ABC News' Matt Jaffe Reports:

A New York elementary school has been re-named in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. Ludlum Elementary School in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District was re-named at a board meeting Thursday, at the request of numerous school students.

( Barack Obama Elementary )

source

My junior high was named after the first mayor of NYC

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday sent a message to Democrats that Republicans are not prepared to bend to a stronger majority.

In letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), McConnell urged Reid to adopt a more conciliatory tone and warned him that Republicans will unite against Democrats if he does not. The letter was signed by all 40 GOP senators and two Republican incumbents who are awaiting the results of elections in Georgia and Minnesota.

“As a caucus, Republicans will insist on our basic right to participate in the legislative process,” McConnell wrote to Reid. “The Republican Conference intends to protect the Senate’s history of full and open consideration of major legislation, which includes a fair amendment process and the opportunity for debate.”

Reid responded by saying that he supports working across party lines but blasting Republicans for obstructing the work of the current Congress.

“I have always said that Democrats and Republicans need to work together to pass legislation that helps people in their daily lives. After Republicans in the last Congress opted for a strategy of blocking progress, the American people clearly rejected those partisan tactics,” Reid stated. “They have given us another opportunity to work together in the 111th Congress as the people of this country expect, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come up with solutions that will get our country back on track.”

The minority leader also held an unusually long news conference Friday to reiterate points made in his letter. He said Republicans are not sorry to see President Bush leave office, given his unpopularity, and praised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for running a “fabulous” campaign “under very, very difficult circumstances.”

McConnell pressed Democrats to address the future of Social Security and urged Republicans to defeat ‘card-check’ legislation that would allow workers to bypass secret-ballot elections when organizing unions.

“What I’m saying to the new president and the new administration: ‘Do big things, and do them in the center, and you’ll be surprised at how much support you might have,’ " he said at the news conference.

Otherwise, McConnell warned, his party would stand together and block a far-left agenda.

“You're likely to have very significant unity among Republicans," he said.

In regard to this week’s failure to pass an auto bailout package, McConnell said he supported a plan by Sens. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) that would lift restrictions on $25 billion in loans that has already been granted by Congress to help the industry make more fuel-efficient cars. The White House has also pushed that idea as the only possibility to pass through the Senate.

“It strikes me that the Bond-Voinovich proposal, which is basically rewriting the terms of money we’ve already appropriated, would be a way to get a law,” he said.

McConnell bristled when a reporter suggested his reelection race in Kentucky against Democrat Bruce Lunsford was “close,” but said he had no ill will toward Reid or Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), who poured millions into the race to defeat McConnell.

“Let me hasten to remind you, my election was not close,” McConnell said. “I won by over 100,000 votes, I carried 87 out of 120 counties, and it was the third-largest margin I’ve ever gotten. It was contested, but it was not close.”

McConnell took nine days to return a congratulatory phone call from Reid after the election, but the Republican leader returned a flurry of other calls earlier. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said McConnell called President-elect Barack Obama the day after the election — Obama returned the call a day later — but took another week before calling Reid back on Nov. 13. Stewart said he did not know the reason for the delay, but did say McConnell had a long list of callbacks to make.

McConnell on Friday said he was not disheartened by the widespread GOP losses on Nov. 4 because the party has a strong stock of governors and up-and-coming Senate leaders.

“We are beginning a slow and deliberative process of finding our way back,” he said. “Both parties have done this periodically. My reaction to the election was not one of despair, but one of understanding that we have to retool and come back.”
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Did Talk Radio Kill Conservatism?

Nate Silver [NS]: Do you stand by all the statements in the survey as being unambiguously true?

John Ziegler [JZ]: I stand one hundred percent by the notion that there is absolutely zero ambiguity as to what the right answer is to any of the questions.

( And then a bit later... )

SAUCE

Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates

A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.

"We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia. We will fight them (the pirates)," Musa told AP Television News.

In the past two weeks, Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have seized eight vessels including the huge Saudi supertanker. Several hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates dock the hijacked ships near the eastern and southern Somali coast and negotiate for ransom.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Friday that the Saudi government was not negotiating with pirates and would not do so, but that what the ship's owners did was up to them.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. When an umbrella Islamic group, which included the al-Shabab, controlled most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006, there were few reports of piracy.

The U.S., however, considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization and accuses the group of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who allegedly blew up the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing more than 230 people.

Now the umbrella Islamic group is split. But in recent weeks Islamists have again seized control of most of southern Somalia with al-Shabab holding the largest territory.
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FRANKEN CAMP: COLEMAN'S LEAD NOW DOWN TO 100 VOTES AS RESULTS CONTINUE TO TRICKLE IN

Aides to Al Franken's campaign said on Friday that the deficit they face against Norm Coleman in their Senate recount is now less than 100 votes.

"It is fair to say that Norm Coleman's lead is now in the double digits," said Marc Elias, a lawyer for the campaign. He added, more optimistically that, "there are more Democratic areas with votes left to be counted than Republican."

The Franken math is not official. They are basing their findings both on the 51.1 percent of the state-wide recount that they have completed, but which is not reported by the Secretary of State, as well as a portion of the 800-or-so contested ballots that they believe will be easily resolved.

The dwindling margin separating the two camps, however, is making for high political drama. If Franken's numbers are to be believed, the Democratic challenger has more than halved his deficit with just over half the recount completed. The election, in short, could be decided by a single digit difference, though there is no telling if the margin will continue to close at the same pace.

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like the article says, this margin doesn't count the number of contested votes. both campaigns are contesting votes in an effort to make the margin look smaller than it is, then again with the way they skew...who knows? im still a bit in awe, almost ominously, as to how a 1000 lead coleman has can shrink that much. as much as i dont want to believe this is stealing an election, i-- idk...

Reports are that President-Elect Obama has decided to nominate New York Fed President Timothy Geithner to be his Secretary of the Treasury. There are conflicting reports that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will accept the Secretary of State post. The President-Elect also seems to be considering an assortment of activists for other key posts, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and the Department of Labor. Many of the people reportedly under consideration have been highly critical of Republican policies and strong advocates for increased budgets and more powerful regulatory roles for federal agencies.

Obviously, one of the incoming administration's first priorities has to be getting a handle on the economic crisis. But as the Wall Street Journal columnist Gerald Seib writes, the economic crisis could amount to a huge opportunity for the President-Elect to push major parts of his agenda. For my part, I am hopeful that in addition to universal health care, the President-Elect moves swiftly on card check for union membership and a major overhaul of federal regulatory agencies. I also think the EPA should be scrapped and its functions transferred to a new Cabinet-level Department of the Environment. This would send a strong signal that the U.S. government is serious about being a world leader on addressing climate change.

How the Obama Administration seems to be shaping up so far:

White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel
White House Senior Adviser: David Axelrod
White House Senior Adviser: Pete Rouse
White House Senior Adviser: Valerie Jarrett
White House Counsel: Greg Craig
White House Political Director: Patrick Gaspard
Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs: Phil Schiliro

Secretary of State: Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates
(The President-Elect is reportedly leaning toward keeping Secretary Gates for the time being before replacing him with someone like Richard Danzig or Chuck Hagel)

Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner

Attorney-General: Eric Holder

Secretary of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano
(Currently the governor of Arizona, Ms. Napolitano first gained national prominence as a lawyer for Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in the early 1990's. She has also served as a United States Attorney and Attorney-General of the state of Arizona. In addition to her strong law-enforcement background, she is known for supporting harsh penalties against businesses who employ illegal workers while vetoing measures that are tough on immigrants themselves--in my opinion, a pragmatic approach to the immigration issue.)

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle
(Former U.S. Senate majority leader)

Secretary of Commerce: Bill Richardson
(Currently governor of New Mexico. Formerly served as US Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy. A former Democratic candidate for President.)

Federal Aviation Administration: Duane Woerth
(Not confirmed, but he has been in discussions with Congressional leaders. He is former head of the airline pilots' union)

Environmental Protection Agency: Mary Nichols
Again, not confirmed, but there's been a lot of speculation. She is the head of California's Air Resources Board and has been aggressive in pushing state limits on CO2 emissions--for which she has been in constant conflict with the EPA.)

Geithner likely to be Treasury Secretary



NBC News has learned that the president-elect is preparing to roll out his economic team on Monday -- and will personally announce the team and answer questions -- part of an effort to reassure markets.

Barring last minute changes, the nominee for Treasury Secretary will be NY Fed President Tim Geithner -- a career Treasury official under both Bob Rubin and Larry Summers -- who actually had worked at the Treasury in three administrations under five Secretaries -- going back to 1988.

Geithner has been a key player in the current economic crisis -- helping Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his team manage the wall street bailout.

Former Treasury Secretary Summers -- also considered for the post -- might still play a major future role in the Obama administration, according to sources. Summers came under fire from women's groups because of controversial comments he made about gender issues while President of Harvard, but sources say the decision to choose Geithner had more to do with Obama's interest in "change" and getting someone new on the team.

Also expected Monday -- an announcement that former U.N. Ambassador and Energy Secretary in the Clinton administration, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, will be Commerce Secretary.

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EXCLUSIVE: Obama to delay repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'
Advisers see consensus building before lifting ban on gays

President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.

Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise. However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said.

"I think 2009 is about foundation building and reaching consensus," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The group supports military personnel targeted under the ban.

( Read more... )

Source: Washington Times

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. Mr. Obama’s office told reporters Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but Clinton associates only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided.

( MOAR )

source

plz to be letting it be true this time, yis?

Miguel Caballero, “a Colombian tailor who has made a fortune from selling bullet-proof fashion to presidents, oligarchs, celebrities,” is marketing a new line of stylish bullet-proof jackets. The jackets are apparently inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney’s now-famous shooting accident:

“This is a new market for us. Dick Cheney has helped raise awareness of accidents,” said Carolina Fernandez, a marketing director.

The Guardian’s Rory Carroll tested out the new product, bravely allowing himself to get shot by a .38 pistol at point-blank range while wearing the jacket. Surviving to write about the incident, Carroll reports, “It felt like a light tap.” Watch it here.

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