Truly Out With The Old

Here's your random political thought of the day. Assuming Uncle Dick decides to go home to Wyoming in 2008 to work on his shooting accuracy, the 2008 presidential election will be the first contest since 1952 where neither candidate for president will also be the incumbent president or vice-president. Yes, you have to go all the way back to Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson to find one where no candidate took to the campaign trail on Air Force One or Two.

I think this bodes well for our nation. Few disagree with the thought that America longs for poltical change. This will be especially true if Democrats take Congress and we experience all those fun roadbumps of a divided government.

I don't know who will be on the ballot come November 2008. Hillary? McCain? Gore? Giuliani? Edwards? Romney? Obama? Biden? Not the most exciting bunch, at least for me right now. But 2008 has all the makings of a watershed election and it should be fun.

It's 4 weeks to Election Day and I'm already looking ahead to the following election! :-)

Smile, You've Been Fooled Yet Again!

This article is for those conservative or moderate readers who still plan to vote Republican in the forthcoming election. You've likely lost a lot of faith in the GOP White House after years of big government spending and foreign policy blunders. You've likely never had much faith in the GOP Senate packed with RINOs like Specter, Chaffee, Frist, and Snowe. However, your last bastion of faith in Republican leadership was probably the House of Represenatives -- the very body where Newt Gingrich's 1994 Republican Reveoltution was born.

Naturally, the news of the Mark Foley scandal bothers you. But you may feel that he's only 1 rotten apple in an otherwise decent bunch. Perhaps you can get beyond the recent disturbing news in order to focus on actual issues, like illegal immigration and homeland security, for example. And you see the House as the only place where conservatives voices have a chance to be heard. Afterall, it was the House leadership that finally took a stand (even against the will of President Bush) and last week won passage of a law that would construct a 700 mile security fence along our Mexican border. Chalk one up for the good guys, right? Something to take to the voters in November, right?

WRONG!!!

Don't believe the campaign soundbytes this fall, people. The article exposing this lie in today's Washington Post astounded me. Even I didn't think the Republican Congress was this shallow. Congress merely passed a bill that gave Homeland Security $1.2 billion (about the same amount we spend weekly in Iraq) to develop various security measures of its own choosing after consulting with world-renowned security experts like local Native American tribal chiefs.

And here's the real punchline: Bush's Homeland Security Department and its Secretary Michael Chertoff have already stated their opposition to the construction of any physical wall along the border with the money.

Read it and weep.

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2006 -- Shortly before recessing late Friday, the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border. The funds may also be spent on roads, technology and "tactical infrastructure" to support the Department of Homeland Security's preferred option of a "virtual fence."

What's more, in a late-night concession to win over wavering Republicans, GOP congressional leaders pledged in writing that Native American tribes, members of Congress, governors and local leaders would get a say in "the exact placement" of any structure.

The office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison yesterday released a letter from House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist promising to ensure that Secretary Chertoff has discretion over whether to build a fence or choose other options.

Blast From The Past

Today's Pearl of Wisdom:

"The notion that it will take several hundred thousand troops to provide security in a post-Saddam Iraq is wildly off the mark."

--Paul Wolfowitz in testimony before Congress, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, February 2003

Foley's Republican Folly

I continue to feel vindicated about going independent after seeing more of the folly from the Republican party I left. You see, we live in the heart of the Mark Foley mess. Since 1994 he has been the representative to Congress for our hometown of Charlotte County, Florida. Foley is a disgrace to his office and our state after the news of his chasing after vulnerable and underage male Congressional interns. Actually, it wouldn't matter if he went after little girls or little boys. But what does matter is when you hide your sexual identity and/or lie about it, I believe you increase the chances of behaving like a predator when given power as Mark Foley did.

Credibility matters. I'm much more comfortable with the idea of electing Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) as an openly-gay male in the Democratic party that states its support for gay rights than with the idea of a wolf in sheep's clothing like Mark Foley who gladly accepted the votes and money of evangelical Christians opposed to gay rights for the past 12 years.

As for a possible cover-up, I think there is a strong chance Foley was protected by GOP leadership. And I hope the media stays after this story. I don't know why Dennis Hastert would help Foley stay out of trouble because the 16th district should be a "safe" Republican seat. But how could members of Congress close to Mark Foley not have known about all this? And shame on them for then allowing Foley to chair a House committee desgined to protect exploited children.

BTW, here's a quick check of my own 2006 Outbox. I knew this much and I'm a nobody. I wonder what and when others "in the know" knew?

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 14:37:01 -0700 (PDT)

BDJ: "However, I feel I'm a different type of conservative. Afterall, I'm the one planning to vote Democrat in November in both of my congressional elections for the first time in my life. For me, that means voting against Katherine Harris and Mark Foley. Can you really blame me? Harris is unelectable and probably unqualified. The latter is a very moderate Republican from the Palm Beach area who is a strong supporter of gay rights."

Sat, 2 Sep 2006 00:46:03 -0700 (PDT)

BDJ: "I have decided I cannot vote for Mark Foley. I'm serious about this, but it appears he is actually a Log Cabin Republican. He was "outed" last year by a gay magazine and called a press conference to denounce the story (not deny the story) and say that sexual preferences have no bearing on one's politics. Then this past year he was a leading GOP opponent of the same sex marriage ban ammendment. Hmmm. Guess what? He's also a life-long bachelor in his mid 50s and from posh and artsy Palm Beach."