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The Specter Lesson: Moderate Republicans Like Christine Todd Whitman Must Lead GOP
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2009 Comment (18)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
It was January of 1995, and I was pregnant with our oldest daughter, working as a speechwriter at the Republican National Committee. My assignment was to help New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman write the first State of the Union response ever delivered outside of Washington, D.C.—she was going to speak from the state capitol in Trenton. More importantly, it was the first time in American history that a woman would deliver the response. Here's what she said to the nation in the wake of Republicans taking control of the House for the first time in 40 years:
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In First 100 Days, Obama Moves Too Fast, Spends Too Much
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (5)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Too much, too fast. That's my take on President Obama's first hundred days in office, and it's pretty much the opinion of everyone I've talked to lately. People agree and disagree with the merits of his proposals, and that's fine. But almost to a person, I'm hearing that the speed at which Obama is moving—and spending trillions—is concerning to people.
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Christopher Buckley Adopts George and Barbara Bush--Genius!
Tweet Share on Facebook April 28, 2009 CommentBy Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As time goes on, George and Barbara Bush are becoming more and more beloved. One of my favorite writers and a fellow Bush #41 speechwriter, Christopher Buckley, proves it by adopting them as his parents (unofficially). The rest of us are jealous that we didn't think of it first.
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Vengeful Torture Crusade of Leahy and Levin Will Come to No Good
Tweet Share on Facebook April 27, 2009 Comment (14)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
On Meet the Press this Sunday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration is weighing whether to release additional CIA memos from the Bush era on "enhanced interrogation." Similarly, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Defense Department will soon be releasing an additional 21 photos showing instances of alleged prisoner abuse at U.S. military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
What possible good can come from this?
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Bill Maher's Angry Rant Is Wrong About Republicans and Mainstream America
Tweet Share on Facebook April 24, 2009 Comment (184)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Bill Maher, following behind Janeane Garofalo and Robert Shrum earlier this week, continues the left's angry diatribe against the tea party protests in today's L.A. Times. His column is one big, ugly, name-calling screed, moving past the tax day protests to call all Republicans "a socially awkward group of mostly white people who speak a language only they understand. Like Trekkies, but paranoid." Here's the most offensive part:
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Democrats' Torture Hypocrisy on Bush Memos Won't Go Unnoted
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2009 Comment (18)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
When you look at all the information that's come out about "enhanced interrogation" over the last week or so, a couple of things strike you. First, that there was a lot of time and energy spent by a lot of professionals—from Justice lawyers to CIA officials to State Department leadership to military doctors—on this issue. This was not a seat-of-the-pants operation by a bunch of freelancers. Years of memos and meetings took place on waterboarding, and there's quite a paper trail. Second, it's clear from that paper trail that honest men and women can disagree. There's just a lot of gray and I think the Bush administration was honestly trying to figure out where the line should be. Rich Lowry put it well: "As a realist, I think those kind of tough calls in murky areas are inevitable in foreign affairs, and especially in a shadowy war against lawless extremists. Sometimes there are no good or easy answers."
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Torture Scandal-Plagued CIA Needs Another George Bush
Tweet Share on Facebook April 22, 2009 Comment (7)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
A look back at—until now—the darkest hours at the CIA, from the only CIA director in American history to also serve as U.S. president. The situation was very similar to today's headlines: Congress held hearings into alleged illegal actions by career CIA agents, and the new head of the CIA, who was a former congressman himself, faced a broken and demoralized agency and public outrage.
Here's President Bush #41 on the 1975 congressional hearings known as the Church Committee hearings, when the CIA was under fire for alleged assassination attempts against Fidel Castro:
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Democrats Hysterical Over Tea Party Republicans
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2009 Comment (93)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Why is the left so angry? It's a question posed by columnist Byron York today, and he's got a great point. With control of House, Senate, and White House, you'd think they'd be sitting on top of the world. Instead, they lash out in anger. York writes:
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Lil Wayne and Other Pop Stars Make Being a "Tween" Mother Tough in an iTunes Age
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2009 Comment (16)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
Parents have a long and proud tradition of forbidding their children to listen to certain songs. Back in the early 1980s, I remember my dad outlawing from our teenage household Rod Stewart's "Do You Think I'm Sexy" and "Hot Legs," which now seem almost quaint and naive.
These days, parents still outlaw certain songs—that Lil Wayne song about wanting a girl to lick his lollipop seemed particularly targeted at clueless kids who have no idea that it's about oral sex—but we're also having to take issue with certain artists as well.
The middle school crowd knows exactly who T.I. is (he's facing jail time for weapons charges—but don't worry, Mom, he's a good guy anyway), as well as Eminem, Snoop Dog, Soulja Boy. We had a big family talk this weekend about our sixth grader wanting to buy "Sugar" by Flo Rida for her ringtone, which she had no idea was suggestive. Believe me, that song's not really about sugar. Among the sixth-grade girls, everyone knows Chris Brown is a bad guy now, so that one was easy. But what about Rihanna? Doesn't her immediate return to him send just as strong a message to young girls about abuse? So I added Rihanna to the "do not buy" list, too.
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What the Tea Party Protests, Domino's, and Facebook Have in Common
Tweet Share on Facebook April 17, 2009 Comment (4)By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
This was a big week for social-networking tools such as Twitter, text messaging, E-mails, and Facebook. In fact, Facebook celebrated its 200 millionth user—keep in mind that's the equivalent of two thirds of the entire population of our country—by partnering with 16 advocacy groups to launch Facebook for Good, so that users can give "virtual gifts" to each other to benefit charity. Using that same social networking technology, thousands of Americans organized at the grassroots level to throw hundreds of Tea Party protests in all 50 states on Wednesday, April 15. Take a minute to look at the taxdayteaparty.com website to get an idea of how wildly popular the whole thing was.
