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Thursday, November 12, 2009
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Among indications that support in his home state of Idaho is evaporating, several GOP lawmakers yesterday called on Sen. Larry Craig to resign his Senate seat. In addition, the Washington Post reports Republican leaders "stripped him of his committee assignments." Senate GOP leaders "said that Craig 'agreed to comply' with their request." The Post adds that the "intensity of the Republican leaders' assault on one of their own was stunning. ... Several ethics lawyers and experts could not provide an example in the past two decades of one senator calling for the ethics committee to investigate a colleague." White House spokesman Scott Stanzel "expressed disappointment 'in the matter' and said he hopes the ethics committee will do its work swiftly, 'as that would be in the best interests of the Senate and the people of Idaho.'"
McClatchy says "Craig's hold on his job grew increasingly tenuous Wednesday," with his "clout and political support" diminishing "by the hour." The New York Times reports Craig's career "appeared to be collapsing." The statement on committee assignments was signed by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, Trent Lott, Jon Kyl, "and other prominent Republicans." Lott, asked on Fox News if Craig should resign from the Senate, said, "I'm not ready to call for that. ... The Republican leadership in the Senate has requested that the matter be sent to the ethics committee to investigate the details."
All three network newscasts ran lengthy reports on the Craig scandal. On ABC World News, George Stephanopoulos said, "No one I spoke with today thinks that Sen. Craig can survive this. The top Republican leadership has decided he just has to go. They don't want another scandal on their hands." ABC World News also showed Sen. John McCain saying, "He pled guilty. And he had the opportunity to plead innocent. So, I think he should resign." Sen. Norm Coleman said, "The conduct that's been alleged is really, it's disgusting. If I was making a decision, I'd resign." Craig also faced "excoriating words" from Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who said, "I think when you see public figures who have spoken in one way and maybe acted in a different way, frankly, Americans will forgive us for being sinners. They won't forgive us for being hypocrites." NBC Nightly News reported, "Republican leaders are being told that the only way to staunch the political damage done to the party is to get rid of Craig and do it fast."
The McCain and Coleman statements got a lot of media attention yesterday, with stories in The Politico, Chicago Tribune and The Hill focusing their stories on the senators. Meanwhile, GOP Rep. Peter Hoekstra said on Fox News, "I think we just need to make a clear statement to the American people that the kind of behavior that Sen. Craig is not alleged to have engaged in, but the activity that he pled guilty to, is unacceptable for a leader in the United States Congress and for a leadership position in the Republican Party. ... I really do believe that it's necessary for Sen. Craig to step aside and to resign from the US Senate." But Sen. Christopher Dodd said on CNN's The Situation Room, "I'd like to see all the information come out before deciding you're going to absolutely believe one side of this. I'm a Democrat. He's a very conservative Republican. We don't agree on much, but give him a little space here to defend himself, is my reaction to it."
On the CBS Evening News, chief political correspondent Jeff Greenfield said, "Last fall, voters were inundated with stories about Republican misconduct. ... Now, with next year's elections looming, Republicans are already dealing with a host of problems: an unpopular president, a Democratic opposition that is raising more money, and charges of sexual and financial misconduct confronting Republican office holders from Louisiana Sen. David Vitter to Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. The last thing Republicans need is a scandal that strikes at the heart of their claim to represent traditional family values." Indeed, the Washington Times reports that Melanie Sloan of the "liberal watchdog group" Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington "called Senate Republican leaders hypocritical for asking Mr. Craig to step down from his committee responsibilities but not seeking the same punishment" for Stevens and Vitter.
The Los Angeles Times reports that in Craig's home state, "Family-values organizations, powerful in Idaho, want his head. Politicians, most of them Republicans like Craig, want more facts. Gays, a seemingly small group here, are embarrassed and yet strangely appeased by the spotlight on a politician who consistently has voted against gay-rights legislation." USA Today notes Log Cabin Republicans president Patrick Sammon "joined the criticism of Craig, arguing that the senator had set back the cause of gay rights."
The New York Times reports the White House "is growing more confident that it can beat back efforts by Congressional Democrats to shift course in Iraq, a significant turnabout from two months ago, when a string of Republican defections had administration officials worried that President Bush's troop buildup was in serious danger on Capitol Hill." While "current and former administration officials say they realize that the September battle over the troop buildup will be difficult," they now believe President Bush's "hand is stronger" than it was earlier in the summer. A "senior administration official" said there was "a sense the dynamic has changed."
Iraqis Haven't Met 13 Of 18 Benchmarks An AP story appearing in the New York Times and other newspapers says the Government Accountability Office has "determined that the Iraqi government has failed to meet the vast majority of political and military goals laid out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq war strategy." The GAO "will report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure the surge of US troops to Iraq are unfulfilled ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline for Bush to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy, according to three officials familiar with the matter."
Gates Denies War Funding Request Report Following a report in the Washington Post Wednesday that President Bush reportedly plans to ask Congress for an additional $50 billion for the war in Iraq, Fox News Special Report reported that a Pentagon spokesman says Defense Secretary Robert Gates "saw the published report this morning and said, 'This is news to me.' The White House says the Bush administration will be 'evaluating what adjustments need to be made after Iraq field commander David Petraeus reports to Congress next month.'"
The two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the visit of the President and First Lady to the Gulf Coast, dominated the major networks' evening news broadcasts last night, receiving more than 26 minutes of total airtime. Both the TV stories and this morning's print coverage paint a negative picture of the post-Katrina recovery process, and cast the President's remarks in a negative light -- overly optimistic amid the frustration and anger of many residents. ABC World News called it "the kind of day that left many residents here feeling uneasy. And there was very little the President or anyone else could say to make people here feel much better. In what the White House points out as his 15th visit to the Gulf region, President Bush told residents in New Orleans that he sees improvements, that more families have returned and more homes have been rebuilt." The CBS Evening News said "despite so many promises to rebuild, much of New Orleans remains in ruins." CBS added that President Bush "says the city is coming back to life," and though Mayor Ray Nagin "made a point of not sharing the stage with the President...he did share some of his sentiment." Nagin was shown saying, "This city will recover fully and it will come back."
The New York Times reports on its front page that New Orleans "remembered Hurricane Katrina's second anniversary Wednesday with sadness, hurt and flashes of anger over a recovery that has returned it to only a portion of its former self." President Bush "stopped in, dining at a famous Creole restaurant and visiting a restored school in the Lower Ninth Ward. But his brief visit appeared to mean little to citizens still focused on day-to-day struggles and mourning the storm's continuing losses." Similarly, the Washington Post says on its front page that Bush "appeared on the defensive as he was forced to contend with cynicism in the region about his administration and with a barrage of criticism from Democrats that the administration had not done enough to help speed the area's recovery from the storm's destruction."
The Los Angeles Times reports Bush "marked the storm's anniversary today with an optimistic message: 'New Orleans, better days are ahead.'" He "spent much of the day here and touring the Mississippi Gulf Coast, bringing no new assistance but a reiteration of support that echoed the message of his 14 previous visits to the region." McClatchy also has Bush's "better days are ahead" remark, saying Bush came "promising that his administration is still engaged in recovery efforts."
After quoting Bush saying, "I come telling the folks in this part of the world that we still understand there's problems, and we're still engaged," USA Today says "some local leaders cast doubt on Bush's words. City and state officials have complained that federal funds are not reaching municipal projects fast enough and that the White House is not doing enough to rebuild the region."
One of the more positive stories is in the Washington Times, which says the "flow of federal dollars to the Gulf Coast two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region already exceeds what the U.S. spent on the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. President Bush and Congress have committed more than $127 billion in resources and tax relief for the region -- significantly more than inflation-adjusted $107.6 billion directed to 16 countries in Europe between 1947 and 1951." But while regional residents "have generally expressed gratitude for the outpouring of help from across the nation," they "remain frustrated by the delays in rebuilding their communities."
The Bush visit was mentioned on local newscasts across the US throughout the day. In the impacted region itself, many stations ran extended news coverage of anniversary events. WWL-TV New Orleans reported, "President Bush says he sees progress in New Orleans, and that it will better tomorrow than it is today. ... Bush did not take reporters' questions." WVLA-TV Baton Rouge reported, "President Bush's remarks were upbeat, but he did acknowledge that problems still remain." WLOX-TV Biloxi reported the President "said America will not forget Mississippi as it continues its struggle to recover."
Bush Draws Criticism The President drew criticism from several quarters. Historian Douglas Brinkley, author of a book on Katrina, said on MSNBC's Hardball, "I'm told at the school, all the students wanted to heckle the President and had a lot of questions for him, but they kind of muzzled the students. The anger in New Orleans towards President Bush is palpable. Look how difficult it was for the President. He had to sneak in and sneak out of Louisiana. ... Everywhere he goes, nobody wants to be seen in a photo opportunity with him."
Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on NPR's Tell Me More, "I think the federal government's response to Katrina has been a national embarrassment. ... I think it's a failure of presidential leadership. I think the President did not take control of the situation, demand action at the highest level, eliminate some of the bureaucracies and red tape that stand between the citizens of New Orleans and the help that they need."
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The AP reports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "will give to charity the $23,000 in donations she has received from" fundraiser Norman Hsu, "who is wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge." In addition, Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken, Reps. Michael Honda and Doris Matsui of California and Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania "said they would divest their campaigns of Hsu's donations."
The Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that Clinton "and other prominent Democrats scrambled to unload thousands of dollars of contributions from one of the party's leading fund-raisers, amid questions about his fund-raising techniques and news that a warrant for his arrest has been languishing in California since the early 1990s."
The New York Times reports the "travails of Mr. Hsu have proved an embarrassment for the Clinton campaign, which has strived to project an image of rectitude in its fund-raising and to dispel any lingering shadows of past episodes of tainted contributions. Already, Mrs. Clinton's opponents were busy trying to rekindle remembrances of the 1996 Democratic fund-raising scandals, in which Asian moneymen were accused of funneling suspect donations into Democratic coffers as President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were running for re-election."
The New York Times reports on a negative Internet video that blames the closure of a pickle factory in La Junta, Colorado on Michelle Obama, wife of Sen. Barack Obama and a board member of the company. The video "is one of several posted on a Web site, ObamaTruth.org, and circulated on YouTube, where they have received a combined 50,000 viewings. There is nothing on ObamaTruth.org that identifies anyone involved in it. But the site is registered to a veteran political operative from Chicago," Joe Novak, "who works for J. Patrick Rooney, an Indiana insurance magnate known for bankrolling racially charged advertisements attacking Democrats."
The AP reports former President Jimmy Carter "welcomed Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards to Georgia on Wednesday, embracing the fellow Southerner as a kindred spirit on poverty and the environment." Carter "stopped short of endorsing the former senator from North Carolina but called him 'a candidate whom I really admire.'"
Edwards Opposes Chertoff For Attorney General John Edwards said on NPR's Tell Me More that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "should have been gone a while back. I've been calling for his resignation for months now. ... As to Michael Chertoff, I don't think we should replace the man who gave us Guantanamo with the man who gave us Katrina."
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The New York Times reports a "Democratic-leaning voter turnout group agreed to pay a $775,000 penalty for violating federal rules during the 2004 election." It was "the third-largest fine in" the Federal Election Commission's "33-year history but less than 1 percent of the roughly $137 million raised by the group, America Coming Together."
The Hill reports ACT, "which received a significant amount of its funding from billionaire George Soros, paid for much of the Democrats' voter registration and voter mobilization activities in battleground states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida during the 2004 race, while another 527 group, the Media Fund, paid for much of the party's political advertising."
The Washington Times reports that after Rep. Steve King "endorsed a national retail sales tax to replace the federal income tax during his first run for Congress, his own campaign coordinator told him his candidacy was finished." Now, "three elections later, the Iowa Republican still stands in the vanguard of the FairTax, a tax revolution that has taken hold of the 2008 Republican presidential debate and turned from outcast to kingmaker." Of the major candidates "on the Republican side six, including all-but-announced candidate Fred Thompson, have said they are either active supporters or would at least be willing to sign a FairTax bill if it reached their desks as president."
The AP reports Wyoming Republicans "have jumped to the head of the pack in the nominating process, moving their delegate-selection conventions" -- where 12 delegates will be at stake -- "to Jan. 5 before even Iowa or New Hampshire vote." While the move "puts Wyoming first in the accelerated primary process, it is not expected to stay there as states continue to jockey for position."
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The Politico reports Sen. Tim Johnson "told ABC News he plans to run for reelection next year after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage last December that has kept him out of the Senate all year." But Johnson's spokeswoman "counseled the network and other local news outlets afterward that the senator has not made an official decision yet about his reelection plans."
ABC World News reported, "Outgoing White House aide Karl Rove is getting a sendoff from some practical jokers. Rove parked his Jaguar in a prime West Wing spot before flying off to Texas with the President. And as you can see, pranksters seized the opportunity. Decking it out with post-it notes, a Barack Obama bumper sticker and stuffed eagles and shrink wrapping it in plastic. Rove had a good laugh over the whole thing."
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Jay Leno: "Oh, today, President Bush is in New Orleans for the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. When he arrived in New Orleans, he told the Mayor, 'I got here as quick as I could.'"
Jay Leno: "Speaking at a forum organized by Lance Armstrong on cancer research, Hillary Clinton told Chris Matthews if she is elected president, she will declare war on cancer, and then she will support the war on cancer for two years, and then she will be against it for a year, and then she will back out of it altogether."
David Letterman: Top Ten Signs Your Neighbor Is Hiding Osama Bin Laden:
"10. He's turned a backyard jungle gym into a Taliban training camp.
9. You call over there and someone answers, 'Death to America -- I mean hello.'"
8. There's a large 'no infidels' sign on the front porch.
7. In latest video, behind Osama is you mowing the lawn.
6. Neighborhood suddenly reeks of figs and sheep.
5. Just had delivered issue of People's '25 Sexiest Mullahs'.
4. Got invited to summer block party this year's theme: 'Sun, Fun and Jihad'.
3. Mailbox now reads 'Rutherford/Bin Laden'.
2. Car in the driveway has a hilarious 'Martyrdom or Bust' bumper sticker.
1. Last Sunday, Kim Jong-Il dropped by for brunch."
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