Archive for April, 2006

Katherine Harris Is Not A Cheap Date

Congresswoman Harris was wined and dined–but mostly wined–by convicted defense contractor Mitchell Wade (aka Duke Cunningham’s sugar daddy) to the tune of $2,800. How do you rack up a $2,800 restaurant tab, you ask? By downing a couple bottles of Wade’s favorite $1,000 Bordeaux.

Here’s how the Harris campaign responded to this story, per the Orlando Sentinel:

“In her interview Wednesday, Harris acknowledged for the first time that Wade had paid for the dinner at Citronelle, reversing a statement from her congressional spokeswoman earlier this year.

But in the interview, Harris also said her campaign had, at some point, “reimbursed” the restaurant.

When asked how she could have reimbursed a business that was owed no money — Wade paid the bill that evening — she abruptly ended the interview and walked off.

Her spokesman called back an hour later and asked a reporter not to publish anything Harris had said Wednesday night about the dinner.

On Thursday, Harris’ campaign released a two-paragraph statement that differed from her explanation a day earlier. It stated that Harris thought her “campaign would be reimbursing” her share of the meal but later found out that hadn’t happened.

To resolve any questions, the statement said, “I have donated to a local Florida charity $100 which will more than adequately compensate for the cost of my beverage and appetizer.”

Well, that takes care of it then. No harm, no foul. Everyone, vote for Katherine and keep the gravy train rolling in DC.

A post by Peter Slutsky

Quote Of The Day

I am absolutely certain there’s a hunger in this country. A hunger to be inspired again.

Former U.S. Senator John Edwards
(D-NC)

I hear you on the hunger thing…Colonel Sanders, a true American inspiration.

KFC

A post by Matthew Slutsky

Greta, errr, Lise Van Susteren Withdraws

Lise Van Susteren, the sister of Fox TV’s Greta Van Susteren, has withdrawn from her race for U.S. Senate in Maryland. Van Susteren was facing an uphill challenge against Democratic front runners Kweisi Mfume and Rep. Ben Cardin.

From her goodbye email:

Your belief in me makes it all the more difficult to announce that I am withdrawing from the race for the U.S. Senate.

I am proud of what our campaign accomplished. Together we poured energy into traveling the state and talking about issues that affect the lives of real people every day. Our message was well received. And while we raised half a million dollars, it wasn’t enough to assure that we would reach the numbers of voters that we would need to win in September.

Even though I am no longer running for the U.S. Senate, I intend to stay active. I will continue to work to fix the underlying causes of our health care crisis, to protest against the pollution that destroys our health, to advocate for an intelligent energy policy, and to push for diplomacy ahead of military intervention. I remain particularly outraged at the ongoing harm that blocking embryonic stem cell research has caused to so many suffering people.

Goodbye, sweet Lise.

A post by Peter Slutsky

Looks Like Snow!

Tony Snow

New York Times:

On another front, Republicans said that Tony Snow, a commentator for Fox News and a former speechwriter for Mr. Bush’s father, was in negotiations for the job of White House press secretary. Mr. Snow would replace Scott McClellan, who announced Wednesday that he was resigning.

Looks like Harriet Miers is out too!

A post by Peter Slutsky

Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Dick

I don’t even know what to say…but i’ll try…

It’s going to be a LONG two years…better grab a good book…

Goodnight Moon

Dick Cheney needs a nap:

Cheney Naps

A post by Peter Slutsky

The Battle For New Orleans

Tomorrow, New Orleanians spread out all over the country will vote for a new mayor to lead a city that was battered and beat up last summer by Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst storms to hit America in the past century.

The race is heated and while the candidates are talking about issues surrounding the massive rebuilding effort that is underway in NOLA; issues of race, poverty and displacement are also on the minds of voters. They want to rebuild, but first, many want to come home.

For my money (and according to most polls), it looks like there are three main contenders at this point. The top two vote getters will face off in a runoff election on May 20th.

Take a look at the top tier candidates and check back with DoubleSpeak for in depth election analysis and coverage this weekend and in the lead-up to the May 20th runoff.

Mayor Ray Nagin (D):

Ray Nagin

Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (D):

Mitch

Ron Forman (D):

Ron Forman

Check out the rest of the candidates running for Mayor of New Orleans

A post by Matthew Slutsky

Not Everyone Is Good At Everything

I am not very good at math. George W. Bush is not very good at being the President. The major difference between us is that I’ve accepted my dismal numerical computation skills and Bush has not yet come to terms with the fact that he is the worst President ever.

Luckily, respected historians are beginning to give their assessments of how the W. Bush Presidency will be remembered. You should read this new Rolling Stone article which highlights historian Sean Wilentz’s opinion of how Bush will go down in the history books.

Is Bush’s term almost over? I am getting pretty tired of this incompetence…

Bush at 33%

approval says a FOX News Poll. Republican support dropped below 70% for the first time ever.

A post by Joshua Skaroff

Taiwan’s On Second

Things aren’t getting any better for the incompetent and weak Bush Administration after this morning’s China “gaffe.” That is if you consider abolishing freedom of speech only a gaffe. This time, it was only the name of the country they got wrong.

As Bush and Hu stood at attention outside the White House, an announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of the Republic of China, followed by the national anthem of the United States of America.”

“Republic of China” is the formal name of the island 100 miles off the Chinese mainland. China is known formally as the People’s Republic of China.

They really just can’t do anything right.

A post by Peter Slutsky

Hu’s On First?

Bush and Hu

BREAKING NEWS: (From Drudge)

Heckler disrupts Chinese President Hu’s speech on south lawn at White House: ‘President Bush, stop him from killing’… one cameraman put a hand on her shoulder as she shouted… seemed to be trying to quiet her down… ‘Stop persecuting the Falun Gong,’ she yelled… She also shouted in Chinese, ‘President Hu, your days are numbered’… woman is taken away by uniformed secret service officers… right after Bush urged Hu to allow Chinese to ’speak freely’…

On China TV: As Hu Jintao was speaking, as yells of protesters became audible, the screen went black. Feed then came back and once again went black when woman was once again audible. During CNN International’s post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, screen went black again… feed returned when topic was no longer being discussed…

Protester