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Jindal birth certificate watch - day 217

More than seven months have passed since I asked Bobby Jindal to come clean with the American people and show us the real, authentic, notarized, vault copy of his birth certificate. It's a simple request. He has the power to end the rumors and speculation (by other people, not me) that swirl around this issue. Why is avoiding the issue? what does he have to hide? Why is he hiding it and where has he hid it? Since I exposed this sordid mystery, Dom DeLuise, Michael Jackson, Oscar Mayer (yes, that Oscar Mayer), Sybil (the Prime Minister's cat), and the number three guy in the Taliban have all died. How many more bodies must pile up on the Jindal death list before we know the truth?

If you care about truth, justice, and apple pie, send me lots of money so I can continue my hard hitting investigative work and stay one step ahead of the Illuminati assassins who want to make sure that the truth never gets out.

Obama made him do it

For a fat, older guy, Rush Limbaugh certainly shows an amazing amount of flexibility in the way he manages to twist himself into logical contortions in his single minded quest to blame everything on President Obama and the left in general. Yesterday, he managed to blame Mark Sanford's extramarital, extranational affair on Obama. No, really he did.

This is almost like, "I don't give a damn, the country's going to Hell in a handbasket, I just want out of here," He had just tried to fight the stimulus money coming to South Carolina. He didn't want any part of it; he lost the battle. He said, "What the hell. I mean, the federal government's taking over--what the hell, I want to enjoy life."

In case you're tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt, Limbaugh later clarified his position.

A listener apparently sent Limbaugh an email during the program, asking if he was kidding about the White House's economic policies being responsible for Sanford's affair. "No!" he said, adding that the governor may have realized, "The Democrats are destroying the country; we can't do anything to stop it."

It's amazing how the party of personal responsibility always manages to claim it's failings are someone else's fault. Limbaugh gets points for stupid above and beyond the call of duty on this one by blaming Obama's economic policies for an affair that began before he had even been nominated for the office that allows him to set economic policy.

Looks like Rush fell off the wagon again.

Jindal birth certificate watch - day 77

Eleven weeks have passed since I raised the question of Bobby Jindal's citizenship. Jindal admits to having been conceived in a foreign country by foreigners. Why does the MSM refuse to look into this? If Jindal has nothing to hide, why won't he address my perfectly legitimate concerns about his citizenship? His handlers still refuse to give us the state's original copy of his birth certificate to subject to exhaustive font and kerning examination? Their silence has gone beyond damning and is now damned damning. The American people wait, but their patience is not unlimited.

Jindal birth certificate watch - day 5

The mainstream media is either too afraid or too corrupt to touch this story. It's up to the amazing power of citizen journalism to see that this doesn't disappear down the memory hole.

Jindal birth certificate watch - day 3

The Jindal people still haven't addressed my perfectly legitimate concerns about his citizenship. Their silence is damning.

Meaty controversy

Here's an item that turns stereotypes on their heads and should be seen as a profound embarrassment by our food industry and government.

Mexico suspended purchases from 30 U.S. meat plants due to sanitary issues, which sent U.S. cattle and hog prices sharply lower on Friday... Many of the banned plants are owned by the largest U.S. meat companies, including Cargill Inc, Tyson Foods Inc, JBS, Seaboard and Smithfield Foods.

This where thirty years of Republican deregulation and eight years of Bush's dismantling of the inspection agencies have brought us. The country that we often mock as the home of "Monetezuma's revenge" food poisoning now says our meat is too dirty and unsafe to allow into their country. The article goes on to say that the action of the Mexican government more of a protest over new American labeling laws than it is about a genuine concern over food safety, but the fact this excuse is even available to them is a national disgrace.

It is one of my most fervent hopes for the new administration that they will reverse the trend of irresponsible Republican deregulation and make our food, water, workplaces, and transportation safer again. I know many gutless Democrats went along with this, but the ideological drive behind deregulation came from the Republicans. Maybe with the right leadership, the Democrats will protect the interests of all Americans rather than the bank accounts of a privileged few.

McCain / Eagleton

Once upon a time there was a presidential candidate who failed to vet his veep, was terribly embarrassed by it, and had to find a new veep for his ticket. They lost that election in one of the worst defeats in in living memory. Expect to hear the name Thomas Eagleton a lot over the next few days. Eagleton was on the 1972 Democratic ticket with George McGovern for 18 days and campaign paraphernalia with their names are now coveted collectors' items. Let's see if Palin lasts longer. Meanwhile, stock up on those campaign buttons and tee shirts, they might be valuable some day.

Chain gangs for McCain

The John McCain campaign got a great deal when they rented a hall from the city of Homewood, Alabama for a fund raiser. They were charged 80 percent less than Democrats had been for the same space and given free convict labor from the local jail to do the set-up. The deal was probably completely illegal since Homewood Mayor Barry McCulley gave the McCain campaign their discount on his own authority and by bypassing the normal procedures. This could easily be regarded as an in-kind donation to a political candidate.

Let's give McCain himself the benefit of the doubt and assume he knew nothing about this. He needs to step forward and offer to pay the full rental fee right now before it's used against him. Even that might not be enough to avoid a fine from the FEC for accepting an illegal contribution, but it would give him a ethically defensible position before the voters. This should be a gift to the Democrats if they are on the ball. But there's only a 50-50 chance of that--at best.

Punished for their service

If true, this is one of the most disgusting things I've heard in a long time.

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

The Pentagon's shabby treatment of the wounded started soon after the war began when it was reported that injured soldiers were having their pay docked to pay for their hospital meals. Since then it has been one thing after another till this. Each time they say "oops, it was a mistake" and then commit the same type of "mistake" again and again. This kind of systemic callousness is the sort of thing that goes to the top and can only be cured by change at the top.

I hope no one got hurt

The man who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency went out for some R and R yesterday.

Vice President Dick Cheney spent about eight hours hunting Monday at a secluded Hudson Valley gun club where well-heeled enthusiasts shoot ducks and pheasants. It was Cheney's second visit to Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in Dutchess County, about 70 miles north of New York City.

I hope the staff was careful to explain that he was allowed to shoot pheasants-with-an-H and that pheasant is a type of bird.

Even though no one was shot in the face, Cheney was unable to avoid problems.

Although a heavy police presence kept the media and curious local residents at a distance, Cheney's visit did stir up a bit of controversy when a New York Daily News photographer snapped a picture of a small Confederate flag hanging inside a garage on the hunt club property.

I almost feel sorry for Cheney. The poor man just wants to unwind by killing something tame and helpless that has been chased toward his gun and look what happens. His friends rudely put their faces where he is about to shoot or leave their true feelings about race and class out where reporters can report on them. He probably feels, like Andrew Jackson, that his friends aren't worth the powder to blow away, but given his record regarding gunpowder and his friends, that's not a sentiment that he should voice out loud.

The Confederate flag has managed to stir up yet another mini-brouhaha for Cheney. Al Sharpton's eminently bunchable panties are predictably in a bunch over the affair. He's demanding apologies and denouncements. Cheney is ignoring Sharpton. The next step in the dance is that right-wing talking heads, pundits, and bloggers will all rush to the defense of the Confederate flag (and perhaps Cheney), pointing out that the flag isn't just a symbol of racism, treason, and armed rebellion against the legal government of the United States; sometimes it's also a symbol of the owner's pride in his southern (New York) heritage. Besides, whenever liberals complain about the flag, it's only because they are all bi-coastal, big city, atheistic, media elites sneering at the common man. Cheney will decline to comment on the affair and Bush will never hear about it.

Isn't it about time for the War on Christmas^TM to start?

The most corrupt

CREW just released its annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress, this year entitled Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch). The Republicans managed to lock up twenty of the most corrupt spots, leaving only four for the Democrats. The entire congressional delegation of the state of Alaska managed to make the list. True, Alaska only has three members in congress (Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski, and Don Young), but that's still quite an accomplishment for a small state. No one else managed that. Washington is represented by my mother's member of congress, Doc Hastings. Hastings offense, which is connected to the US Attorney firings, is pretty small beans compared to what the Alaskans have been up to. The full report is pretty entertaining reading as we start to think about next year's elections.

Update: The honors keep on rolling in for Alaska. The Hill just named Ted Stevens the king of earmarks in this year's budget process. Stevens managed to add $189 million in project requests to this year's defense appropriation bill.

An update on recent stuff

Last weekend was my birthday, so I took a few days off from the news and went to my Mom's where I ate comfort food for two days (pot roast, chicken and dumplings, pudding cake, blueberry pancakes). I feel much better now. Let's look at the world.

The big news of the last few days has been that Alberto Gonzales decided he wants to spend more time with his family. It's about damn time. I hope the congressional committees don't just let him ride off into the sunset. He has a stunning amount of damage during his time in Washington. We're just starting to get an idea of the magnitude of his destruction. Before we can repair the damage or make him pay for the damage, we need to know what he did. I want the congress to keep him under permanent subpoena until his annoying babyface finally looks his age.

Meanwhile, the professional media are chasing after every rumor regarding his possible successor. Most of us hope that the next Attorney General will be one to repair the damage and restore respect for the constitution, rule of law, and, at least, an appearance of nonpartisan evenhandedness in the judiciary. Then we have a good laugh and wonder what sort of hack Bush really intends to appoint.

Bush generally makes two types of appointments, and neither is good for the country. The first is the total Bush loyalist like Gonzales himself. These folks have never read the constitution or thought it was quaint if they did. Joe Lieberman loves these folks. The other is the thumb in your eye appointment where Bush appoints the single most offensive person possible and dares congress to oppose them. John Ashcroft at the Justice Department was the first in this line and Dr. Eric Keroack, an anti-contraceptive activist to oversee family planning, was one of the latest. Democrats usually back down on these saying one appointment isn't worth the fight. Then Bush sends another, and another, and another...

This time I think Bush will go for the third strategy, which is to send in a faceless placeholder. I think he'll go for someone who can get past a fairly uneventful confirmation and then change nothing for the remaining seventeen months of his term. Of course, he might try to slip a recess appointment by us.

In the state to the right of Washington, the senior senator, Larry Craig (R-ID), was revealed to have pled guilty last month to propositioning men in a public restroom. Craig, naturally says it was all a big misunderstanding. You see, he got dressed in a hurry that morning and when he got to the airport bathroom he noticed that his stockings didn't match, so he called to the guy in the next stall to ask if he could help and said he would pay him for sox. Well, the guy in the other stall was a hard of hearing vice cop and wackiness ensued. The folks at AmericaBlog have the blow by blow (so to speak) coverage of the latest developments on this story.

Somewhere, lost beyond all of this political blather, the humble British hedgehog has become an endangered species: "The new Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has identified 1,149 species and 65 habitats in the UK as being in need of conservation and greater protection." Among the eighteen land mammals mentioned in the plan is the hedgehog. This really is tragic. The hedgehog is one of the staples of British children's literature. Imagine if we woke up one day and found out that wabbits and little black ducks were endangered in America. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society suggests urbanization with tidier parks and gardens is to blame. I hope my British readers will take heed of this and let their gardens go to seed.

Finally, Clever Wife and I got up at three in the morning yesterday to look at the lunar eclipse. The moon was a smoky burgundy color when we got outside. We sat on the front step for a few minutes and talked about what caused it. It was a nice warm night and it was worth losing sleep for.

When we went to go back into the house, our littlest cat, Marlowe, made a break for freedom. I caught him and took him back to the safety of the house and he turned my left hand into hamburger for my troubles. I'm supposed to be painting the house this week and this has made handling tools and typing both a bit painful. I'll manage.

This is just wrong

It's not just Iraq war vets that the administration screws over. They also screw over vets who are the fathers and grandfathers of today's vets.

Korean War veteran Nyles Reed, 75, opened an envelope last week to learn a Purple Heart had been approved for injuries he sustained as a Marine on June 22, 1952.

But there was no medal. Just a certificate and a form stating that the medal was "out of stock."

"I can imagine, of course, with what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, there's a big shortage," Reed said. "At least, I would imagine so."

The form letter from the Navy Personnel Command told Reed he could wait 90 days and resubmit an application, or buy his own medal.

The good news is that with the way the administration is treating wounded Iraq vets, there should be no shortage of them out on the streets, willing to sell their Purple Hearts.

After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon — plus state sales taxes — at a military surplus store.

They have no shame.

Not good enough, Lisa

The Anchorage Daily News reported today that Sen. Lisa Murkowski will sell back the Kenai River lot she purchased from politically connected developer Bob Penney. Murkowski bought the prime recreational lot last December for approximately half of its actual value. Both Murkowski and Penney, a highly successful real estate developer, said they had no idea that the property was worth that much. Who would have dreamed that river front property on the most popular fly fishing river in the the busiest tourist area of the state would increase in value? Certainly not someone whose career was based on buying and selling property and certainly not someone whose career is based on selling the tourist attractiveness of the state to the rest of the country. No wrong doing here kids, so just move along.

As of this week, all three members of Alaska's congressional delegation are the subjects of federal corruption probes, congressional ethics complaints, or both. I hope Murkowski does not get away with killing the investigation by selling the Kenai land back to Penney. If Penney had given her a satchel full of cash, no one would have had a problem calling it a bribe and giving the bribe back would not have made the problem go away. Ever since territorial days, Alaskan politicians have been far too cozy with developers and the resource extraction industry. It's time for Alaskan politics to grow up out of its banana republic ways and take on some genuine accountability.

Yet another Republican sex scandal

Yikes! It's getting so that we need a scorecard to keep track of them all.

A day after four of Sen. John McCain's top political strategists stepped down, the co-chairman of his Florida campaign was arrested Wednesday for allegedly offering an undercover police officer money for a sex act, Titusville police said.

Florida state Rep. Bob Allen faces charges of solicitation for prostitution after he was arrested in a Titusville city park that had been under surveillance, police said.

He allegedly offered an undercover police officer $20 for the unspecified act. His attorney, Philip Lupo of Titusville, said the charge was a second-degree misdemeanor.

Allen told CNN affiliate WFTV the incident was "a very big misunderstanding."

Obviously, McCain is trying to pick up some of that Giuliani mojo that comes from having indiscreet boobs running his Southern state committees. By the way, isn't it about time for Vitter to announce that he's a sex addict and check into rehab?

We should enjoy this while we can. Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt claims to have over twenty investigations of sexual hypocrites in the government and that his list includes both "high-ranking Republican and Democratic members of the Senate and the House." Whatever we may think of Flynt otherwise, he is very careful in making these exposes. When he goes after someone, he has the facts ready and indisputable. I'm sure the Democrats are in line to take a few bullets in this. Still, Flynt's main crusade is against hypocrisy and the party of family values has more to lose in that respect.

The real danger is that too many scandals leads to "they are all the same" cynicism in the public. Ironically, too much scandal among the Republicans tends to drag down the Democrats.

Is there something you'd like to tell us?

Sen. DeMint was quoted in today’s Washington Post regarding Sen. David Vitter’s exposure in the DC Madam scandal:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), approached by a group of reporters outside the lunch, offered an unexpected defense. "All of us have to look at it and say that we could be next," he said in answer to a Vitter question. "We all think that we’re not vulnerable to something like that happening, but the fact is this can be a very lonely and isolating place."

It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Policing other peoples' pants since 1999

This should be fun:

First term Senator David Vitter (R-LA) admitted Monday night that his phone number was on the phone records of the so-called "DC Madam."

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," said Vitter in a statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there-with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

What do we know about Sen. Vitter? In 2004 he campaigned for the Senate as a "family values" candidate. In the run-up to the 2006 election he hectored his colleagues in the Senate to act on a bill. "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one," he said of it. Was it the reconstruction of New Orleans? No. Was it higher standards of security for refineries and oil platforms in his state? No. Was it better screening of containers entering the fifth largest port in the world, which is in his state? Don't be silly. It was getting a constitutional amendment passed to ban gay marriage.

Vitter is the Southern Regional Chair for the Giuliani campaign. Rudy sure can pick 'em--coke heads, racists, and now whore mongers. He also had ties to Jack Abramoff during the Indian casino lobbying scandal.

In his defense, Vitter points out that he was only a House member when he abandoned his marriage vows to blow his pay on high class hookers. That hardly counts at all.

The Princess Bride gambit

Vizzini: He didn't fall! Inconceivable!
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I know that joke is starting to get old, but it is the clearest statement of a recurring theme that has run through this administration from the beginning. Today, the word is “responsibility.”

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales just held a press conference about the exploding scandal of politicized firings of at least eight US Attorneys. Gonzales says he "accepts responsibility," even though it's not his fault, he didn't know anything about it, and that the real person behind it all was his chief of staff who just quit. How many times have members of this administration used the phrase "I accept responsibility" to mean just the opposite? They seem to think of it as a magic "Get out of Jail Free" card that absolves them of any need to face consequences--the very definition of accepting responsibility.

Actually, saying the magic words doesn't work by itself. They must be accompanied by throwing an underling to the wolves. It works best if it's someone who recently left the administration and has had critical words, but anyone will do. It's a lot like the failure of a Soviet five-year plan. Failure was never the fault of the planners at the top; failure was caused by saboteurs below. All that was necessary to accept responsibility, was to locate the disloyal underlings and publicly purge them. Once the leaders had destroyed enough lives below them, they could relax and enjoy the perks of being on top--until someone above them felt the need to accept responsibility.

This little pre-fab drama works remarkably well, but it can't be repeated indefinitely. Sooner or later, the audience grows bored and the wolves get bolder. This drama has blown up remarkably fast and shows no sign of settling down. It might be inconceivable to Bush, Rove, Cheney, and Gonzales, but their little "accepting responsibility" act might not be enough this time.