Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Hypocrite sundae with a cherry on top

The hypocrites in the Republican party are working overtime today. Republicans, who like to call themselves "tough on crime," all become civil liberty lovers when a prosecutor is on their case. Take Ann Coulter. And when I say "take her" I mean please, take her. Anybody take her somewhere, drop her off and leave her there. Coulter the boney, hate monger and political vaudeville act is refusing to cooperate in an investigation into whether she committed a felony by voting in the wrong precinct. I seem to remember her and the entire Republican party argue that the warrantless wiretapping of Americans in America to find al Qaeda phone calls was no big deal since, "if you're not making calls to al Qaeda you have nothing to worry about." Hey Ann, if you didn't intentionally vote in the wrong place and didn't commit a felony in Florida punishable up ro five years in prison then you have nothing to worry about so cooperate. That's the argument that would allow you and your house and your car and anything else to be searched whenever the police wanted to since, "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about." Get used to that phrase because if the Republicans keep control of the government that's where we are headed.

A complaint was made against Coulter alleging that she voted in the wrong precinct during a Feb. 7 Palm Beach town council election. Since then, the Elections Supervisor has made repeated attempts to resolve the matter with Coulter and her attorney but has been rebuffed. An initial letter was sent to Coulter requesting that she clarify her address for the voting records ``or face the possibility of her voter registration being rescinded.'' Three more letters were sent to Coulter and her attorney over the next several months, but she has yet to respond with the information requested. Knowingly voting in a wrong precinct is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. I guess all that Republican talk about submitting to the authority of government for the good of society only goes so far.

Then there is Republican Majority leader John Boehner who just blamed the military for the mess in Iraq. On CNN Boehner had the following exchange with Wolf Blitzer:

Boehner: ...[L]et's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

Blitzer: But he's in charge of the military.

Boehner: But the fact is the generals on the ground are in charge and he works closely with them and the president.

Republican Majority leader blaming the troops and not a peep from the "oh my lord did you hear what John Kerry said" crowd. That's because hypocrisy has no internal logic. Sort of like our local congressman Republican Mark Kirk (IL-10), who is going to lose next tuesday, arguing the Democratic challenger, Dan Seals doesn't live in the congressional district when Kirk didn't live in the district before he got elected in 2000. The "party of personal responsibility" blaming the generals for Iraq. Marvelous.

And for the cherry on top? President Bush said Wednesday he wants Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney to remain with him until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-vilified members of his administration. "Both those men are doing fantastic jobs and I strongly support them," Bush said in an interview with The Associated Press and others. A "fantastic job?" I don't even think they would say that about themselves. My favorite quotable blogger Andrew Sullivan put it this way in a blog post entitled, "Unhinged":

"George W. Bush just gave the most powerful reason for voting Democratic next Tuesday. He has reiterated unconditional support for the two architects of the chaos in Iraq, Cheney and Rumsfeld. He intends to keep Rumsfeld in his job until 2008! Why not a medal of freedom while he's at it?

Let me put this kindly: anyone who believes that Donald Rumsfeld has done a "fantastic job" in Iraq is out of his mind. The fact that such a person is president of the United States is beyond disturbing. But then this is the man who told Michael Brown he was doing a "heckuva job." And, yes, our Iraq policy begins to look uncannily like the Katrina response.

The president, in other words, has just proved that he is utterly unhinged from reality, in a state of denial truly dangerous for the world. He needs an intervention. Think of this election as an intervention against a government in complete denial and capable of driving the West off a cliff. You can't merely abstain now. Bush just raised the stakes. And he must be stopped."

That's a big cherry on top.

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