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02 Mar 2012 00:07

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Politics: Jeb Bush: Not running for president, but not for lack of fanbois

  • Maybe more supporters than Santorum? Andrew Card, the former chief of staff for George W. Bush, said this earlier this week: “I have the perfect candidate — Jeb Bush. But he’s not running.” Even Democrats believe that Bush could be a threat if he uses his sway with middle-class and Latino voters. Could the former Florida governor with an impressively presidential bloodline be the Republican Party’s ace in the hole? Or will he wait until 2016? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Oct 2011 14:01

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Politics: The good, the bad and the ugly: Clint Eastwood nearly vice-president?

  • So wait, they picked Dan Quayle over this guy? Back in 1988, there was a period where George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign was looking a little rough, so they considered a variety of skippers to help steer his ship in the right direction. Among the picks, according to former Secretary of State James Baker? Clint Eastwood, who was a budding Republican politician at the time — the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. “When we were way behind. Honestly, [Eastwood] was suggested in not an altogether unserious – Well, he was a mayor. He was a Republican mayor,” Baker noted. The idea got shot down pretty quick … paving the way for the guy now known for going after Murphy Brown for being a career woman. On the plus side, we got “Unforgiven” out of the deal, so it wasn’t all bad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Apr 2011 16:39

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Politics: Dilbert’s Scott Adams: Bush, Obama chimp jokes are the same

  • …if I add the context that Googling ‘George Bush monkey’ gives you over 3 million hits, and most of them are jokes where President Bush’s face is transposed on a monkey, you see what’s really going on. Democrats and advocates of civil rights are using the media to further an agenda at the expense of a woman who was probably so non-racist that the photo in question didn’t set off her alarms…
  • “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams • On the topic of Orange County Republican official Marilyn Davenport, who emailed a photo of an Obama “family portrait,” showing two grinning adult chimpanzees with a chimp-ish baby Barack. First of all — the Dilbert guy? What? Why!? But second of all, we agree wholeheartedly with the folks at Mediaite on this one. To compare Bush monkey/chimp jokes to ones directed at Obama is at best silly and at worst willfully evasive and/or ignorant. You don’t have to be a scholarly social critic to understand why a joke aimed at two different people could be construed as racist against one, and at worst stupid or unfunny against the other. To deny this seems like digging your head in the sand about what are and aren’t racial stereotypes in our society. Wanting to excise racism doesn’t necessitate pretending not to recognize it. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 12:41

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Culture: Upcoming HBO slogan: It’s not TV. It’s Dick Cheney!

  • And now, ladies and gentlemen: Dick Cheney will soon be returning to the American limelight in the form of an HBO miniseries. The polarizing (and I think even the most hardened pro-Cheney partisan would admit, oft-glowering) former Veep’s entire career is said to be the focus of the series, from his rise in the Nixon administration, to the House of Representatives, to his roles in both Bush administrations. The series will be based on a Frontline documentary called “The Dark Side,” as well as a book called “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” by Barton Gellman. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jan 2011 11:44

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World: Two presidencies, two tactics: How Obama, Bush handled Egypt

  • 2005 In the wake of protester arrests, and emphasizing free elections, Condoleeza Rice angered Egyptian leaders with this statement: “For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither.”
  • 2009 Obama made his own speech in Cairo, emphasizing “the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed” and “confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice” while noting “there is no straight line to realize that promise.”  Mubarak’s folks were thrilled. source
  • » Ultimately, though: While these American statements resonated with the leadership, they didn’t really resonate with the people of the country, who are working from their own muse. And based on the current deck of cards, the U.S. may have trouble holding any influence at all due to their history with Egypt: “It’s not clear to me that the protesters will take seriously expressions of solidarity from a country that’s been backing autocratic regimes,” said the International Crisis Group’s Robert Malley, who suggests that American leaders will back themselves into a corner if they say anything, whether supportive of Mubarak or the protesters.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2010 21:11

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Politics: Does Obama want to give the wealthy Bush-era tax cuts?

  • NO but that may not matter ’cause he’s dipping in the polls source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2010 16:58

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Politics: Is oil “Obama’s Katrina” or “Bush’s 2nd Katrina”? An interesting take

  • Pretty interesting to look at it this way, right? Time’s Joe Klein was on “The Chris Matthews Show” throwing out this theory. Simply put, A strong deregulatory vibe during the Bush administration may have tied Obama’s hands, making him look weak despite the effort he may in fact be putting in a lot of energy behind the scenes. Still a political problem, though, no matter how you look at it. In other news, BP fully admits that the well could be leaking until AUGUST. That’s right, AUGUST. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Apr 2010 11:36

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U.S.: Is the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court as “liberal” as they say it is?

  • Short answer: kinda. Longer answer: It used to be very liberal. With the controversy around Obama appointee Goodwin Liu taking shape, much of the bad-talking has been around the court he was recommended for. The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court has a rep driven in part by its decision against using the phrase “under god,” and the Supreme Court’s consistent rulings against its decisions. But let’s throw some numbers at you guys and let you decide.
  • 88% the rate the Supreme Court has reversed its recent decisions between 2008 and 2009
  • 12k the number of cases the court heard last year – far higher than any of the other appeals courts
  • 58% of the court’s appointees came from Democratic presidencies, the highest rate of any appeals court
  • » Why does it lean liberal? Simply put, Jimmy Carter was in office during a period when this circuit court was expanded, and it allowed him to throw in 15 liberal-leaning judges. The geographic area is more liberal, too. But this has eased in recent years, due to the fact that those judges got old and Bush appointed seven of the 27 judges currently on the court. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2010 11:03

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U.S.: No, really? Judge says NSA’s warrantless wiretapping is illegal

  • The president, just like any other citizen of the United States, is bound by the law. Obeying Congressional legislation shouldn’t be optional with the president of the U.S.
  • Defense lawyer Jon Eisenberg • Regarding the warrantless wiretapping case, which was decided yesterday. Eisenberg claims the decision, based on a Bush-era policy that the Obama administration has been very careful to scale back, is an “implicit repudiation of the Bush-Cheney theory of executive power.” Gawker put the whole thing best: “Shocker: Illegal Government Spying Is Illegal.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Mar 2010 10:43

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U.S.: This woman’s changing mind collectively annoying educators

Diane Ravitch, a former Bush Sr. staffer who was a massive education reform wonk, no longer supports No Child Left Behind or other things she used to. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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