Barking Crazy Right Wingers

Iowa Rep. Steve King recently made news insulting blacks and Muslims in one little hate-filled speech.

But this isn't anything new. Steve King, a man who supports no-bid contracts for Halliburton but was one of only 11 Congressmen who voted AGAINST aid to Katrina victims, has a long record of intolerance and advocay of human rights abuse. Here's some footage of Steve King on the floor of Congress advocating...well, human rights abuses (thanks to Kingwatch.org):

According to King we should treat people like livestock. Just how far does he want to take that? How far does his confusion between humans and livestock go?

So these are Republican "values?" I say Feh!

Awhile back I wrote about an anti-Semtitic incident in Indiana where a Republican politician told a group of Jews that they didn't count because they only made up 2% of the Indiana population. I called this the Republican "2% solution." This is how the incident appeared to the Jewish group:

[In Feb. 2006], the Indianapolis JCRC’s Jewish Lobby Day was held. Around 40 Jews from around the State of Indiana came to Indianapolis to lobby our state senators and representatives on a number of issues.

The day ended with a private meeting with Speaker of the House Bosma meeting our group in the beautiful House chambers. We asked questions about full day kindergarten, about the clinics, and a young member of the delegation asked about providing sexuality education in public schools that is more than abstinence based. He responded to everything we asked. Sometimes we liked what he said and sometimes we didn’t. Speaker Bosma wondered why we hadn’t discussed the controversy surrounding the issue of prayer in House chambers. He told us his version of what happened and what he believes, and a passionate exchange took place. The end of this exchange left us, the Jewish delegation, in shock. Speaker Bosma, defending the prayer issue, asked, “How many Jews are there in Indiana? About 2%? There are at least 80% Christians in Indiana."

The Republican Party has already alienated about 2/3 of American voters. Their right wing extremism has turned into a big turnoff for America. But these extremists don't intend to give up. Mike Huckabee it the latest right wing nut case who wants to be the new George Bush.

Huckabee has recently surged in Iowa. I predicted some time ago that Huckabee could be the Dark Horse Republican candidate. He still has a hard fight ahead of him, but as the voters realize that McCain sold out to Bush years ago, Romney is a flip-flopper whose religious beliefs are scarcely less crazy than Scientology, and Giuliani is an unpleasant man who screwed New York firefighters and put a mob-connected dirty cop in charge of the NYPD, Huckabee starts looking good to some voters. I don't really think Iowa voters are suddenly turning into right wing fanatics like Huckabee. I think they are simply so disgusted with the Republican front runners, and Huckabee just happens to be the next in line. I believe once voters realize how crazy Huckabee is they will drop him like a hot potato. The question is will they realize in time?

The National Jewish Democratic Council has a fact sheet on Huckabee that I believe is worth consideration:

Dangerous Dark Horse:
HUCKABEE'S EXTREMISM

Huckabee indicated that he does not believe in evolution during a GOP primary debate. Watch the YouTube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Cc8t3Zd5E

Not too long ago Rudy Giuliani could claim to be a moderate, making many right wing extremists uncomfortable. But now, Rudy is embracing Christian fundamentalists, shedding any pretence of being a moderate.

This comes from the National Jewish Democratic Council:

“I am very encouraged by Pat’s support,” said GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in a statement released by his campaign. “His confidence in me means a lot. His experience and advice will be a great asset to me and my campaign.”

The "Pat" in question is the Rev. Pat Robertson [real name: Marion Gordon Robertson], who endorsed Giuliani's campaign for president today.

Yes, this is the same Pat Robertson who suggested that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution. It is the same Pat Robertson who said: "the feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." It is the same Pat Robertson who called for the assassination of the President of Venezuela. And, alas, it is the same Pat Robertson who said: "just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different."

Rudy Giuliani could very well become the Republican nominee for President. It's imperative that all of us start reminding our friends and neighbors today that a vote for Giuliani is a vote for Pat Robertson and the narrow vision of America he represents. We've already seen how the Bush Administration has paid back the religious right.

Well, I've said it several times before, but Bush and the corrupt, extreme right wingers of today will be the death of the Republican Party. Well, it seems this is coming a step closer as Bush's approval rating drops in ALL states. There is now not one single state in the Union where Bush's approval rating is above 50%. Not...one...single...state.

(click to enlarge)

You can also read more about it on Daily Kos.

Utah, Idaho and Wyoming are still the states that cling the most to liking Bush, but even in those tenatiously Republican states Bush has dropped below 50%...and remember that Republicans are having trouble getting elected EVEN in Idaho and Wyoming.

I believe we NEED two reasonable, competing political parties presenting two REASONABLE visions for America. It is how we have always functioned. So I don't celebrate Bush's destruction of the Republican Party. People like Gingrich, DeLay, Bush and Cheney have made the Republican Party so extremist that the vast majority of mainstream Americans now distrust and dislike the Republican Party, and people are leaving it in droves.

I didn't know this but last week was self-proclaimed "Islamo-facism awareness week," a right wing intolerance fest dreamed up by extremists Ann Coulter and David Horowitz. I only know that these fools were strutting around advocating intolerance because of an email I got from the organization Jews on First.

There is something so disgusting about the right wing fear of just about everything that isn't white, male, Protestant Christian. Ann Coulter is the perfect example of this. When we hear her condemning so-called Islamo-fascism, let's remember that she is the idiot who said right after 9/11 that:

"We should invade their [Muslim's] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

And what did she choose to advocate during her "Islamo-facism awareness week?" Anti-Semitism. Yes, she attacks Jews as part of her paranoia against Islam. Last week she told Donny Deutsch:

"we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians."

Ann Coulter also claimed that Christians want Jews "to be perfected" by converting to Christianity.

When she was challenged about how bat-shit crazy and offensive this was, she "explained:"

"No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament." Coulter later said: "We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian is not offensive at all."

Corruption is one of the issues I focus on the most. On Daily Gotham I focus a lot on problems within the Democratic party in Brooklyn, NY. But nationally I find than generally it is Republican corruption that is most prevalent and damaging to America.

Right now, I want to focus on a particularly vile, corrupt Republican Congressman, Tom Feeney (FL-24). This is a man closely connected with the Abramoff scandal that Republicans want you to forget but you and I know is still playing out. But Feeney is also majorly involved in voter fraud. In fact, Feeney should be the poster boy for the most un-American attack on democracy America has seen in recent years.

Feeney is a sitting Congressman, but let's start out by realizing that Tom Feeney has already been fined by the House ethics committee for his Abramoff connections. He has already been found to be corrupt by the House Ethics Committee, yet is still a "respected" member of the Republican Party and has not resigned from Congress.

But there is probably more coming...it seems that the FBI is investigating Tom Feeney further for those Abramoff connections. Gee, and the Republicans wanted us to think the Abramoff scandal had blown over.

But perhaps the worst Feeney has done is active participation in voting fraud. Yes, I say ACTIVE PARTICIPATION in voter fraud. Tom Feeney has been accused of recruiting computer programmers to write software that could alter vote totals on touch-screen voting machines in Florida. From the Seminole Chronicle:

In 2001 I started writing a novel. It was based on a handful of facts but was supposed to be pure fiction. The premise was that the Republican Party had become the arm of fanatic Apocalyptic Christians who wanted to force Armageddeon. My jumping off point was Reagan's Interior Secretary, James Watt's statement that the second coming was at hand so we don't need an environmental policy. My premise was that the selection of George Bush as resident of the White House was intended to put a malleable figure head who could be manipulated into starting the final war over the Holy Land with America as the force of God against Islam. I had reached a point where I was considering what kind of dramatic event I could use for the climax.

The next day was 9/11/2001. I was in Manhattan on 9/11. There was no way I could continue my novel after that day.

But as the years have continued, even though I can't return to the novel (not even sure it was ever worth it!), I realize that my premise was frighteningly close to the truth. And it is increasingly clear that America IS being led by fanatics who believe we are in the midst of a Crusade against Islam.

We are on a collision course to war that will be far, far worse than the Iraq quagmire. We are going headlong into a war that will link up the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this collision course is being driven by BOTH sides.

The President of the United States is playing the same "smoking crater" lie with Iran that he did with Iraq. From Guysen.International.News:

Missed this when it first came out at the beginning of August. But the National Jewish Democratic Council has brought it to my attention. Mitt Romney has criticized Democrats for being unable to "recognize evil." And yet Mitt Romney ALSO is calling for America to look to Hezbollah as a role model.

...in an article titled “Mitt Romney cited Hezbollah's social network as a model for U.S. diplomacy,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported on recent comments by GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Hezbollah’s “kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world …” Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) strongly criticized Mitt Romney for his praise of Hezbollah and released the following statement from Executive Director Ira N. Forman:

“It is the height of irony that, within weeks of saying Democrats are ‘uncomfortable in recognizing evil in the world,’ Governor Romney would make such ill-informed remarks that cite a terrorist organization as a model for U.S. diplomacy. Indeed, Mitt Romney’s naïve comments suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the Middle East and geopolitical realities. Mitt Romney desperately wants to be President of the United States, but this type of comment clearly shows that he is not ready for prime time.

The National Jewish Democratic Council is eyeing Mike Huckabee as quite possibly the most dangerous and fanatical of all the Republican presidential hopefuls, combinging Christian fundamentalism with corruption.

The rise of Huckabee should be a major concern both for Republicans (who now have another very failed candidate as their potential nominee) and for Democrats (who should be concerned whenever an extreme candidate gets a whiff of the Presidency).

...Here are a few concerns about his record:

- In June, Huckabee issued a call to arms to religious conservatives, urging them to vote on the very social issues that are undermining the wall between church and state.

- Also in June 2007, Huckabee said that "most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo ..."

- In May 2007, Huckabee went on record as not believing in evolution.

- In October 2006, Huckabee joked that he lost weight because Democrats put him in a concentration camp.

- In 1998, Huckabee called on the religious right to "take this nation back for Christ."

Race is an issue that makes Americans very uncomfortable. And to be honest, as someone with skin about as pale as it gets, I feel odd bringing it up sometimes.

But I have also found that the discussions that result when I bring it up, sometimes in blog comments, sometimes privately by email, are always excellent and appreciated by people whose skin contain far more melanin than mine.

To paraphrase a well known black blogger from Brooklyn, commenting on one of my diaries, "I may not agree with everything you say, but I really thank you for bringing these issues up."

One thing that has been blatantly obvious to me at least since the Willie Horton ads, and whict will be blatantly obvious on a large scale if Barack Obama wins the primary nomination, is that the Republican Party is willing and eager to use racism as a tool to win elections. Republican racism can be seen in the fact that Republicans have resisted every effort to extend civil rights in America since the 1960's. There are certainly racist Democrats as well, but for the last 40 years every single piece of civil rights legislation was crafted and enacted by Democrats and largely opposed by Republicans.

I think a defining moment in my realization of the racial and class disparities in America was Katrina.

(Image from Dan Harlow.com)

Well, we already know that Rudy Giuliani screwed New York's firefighters and bears some responsibility for the deaths of so many brave firefighters on 9/11 and the poisoning of many others in the weeks afterwards.

We already know that Mitt Romney is a flip flopping opportunist who openly supports torture.

But both Rudy and Mitt are also chickenhawks in the shameful tradition of Bush, Cheney and the vast majority of hawkish Republicans. McCain, though his record on Veterans issues sucks, is certainly exempt from the "chickenhawk" accusation. But Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are cowards who evaded service every way they could, but demand that others serve...and are willing to insult real Veterans in the process.

Chickenhawk: A politician whose hawkishness and willingness to put soldiers' lives on the line is matched only by their desperation to avoid military service themselves.

This was covered in Salon.com last week, but only now getting around to covering it.

(image and quote below from Salon.com)

Consider Giuliani...He never hesitates to suggest that politicians with differing opinions simply lack guts. When he spoke at the 2004 Republican convention, he gleefully insinuated that Democratic nominee John Kerry lacked the fortitude to combat terrorism. Now he denigrates the supposedly spineless Democrats running for president in 2008.

[Editor's Note: While I am on vacation I am reposting some old articles I consider still relavent. For those who care about truth rather than Republican lies, let's look at the real Rudy Giuliani.]

Rudy Giuliani has just shown that he is as much a lying fearmonger as Karl Rove or any other Bush administration toady. From Politico:

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.

But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.

“If any Republican is elected president —- and I think obviously I would be the best at this —- we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it,” Giuliani said.

Ummmm...let's review some history, Rudy. Ronald Reagan and the elected Bush both SUPPORTED the Muslim fanatics that evolved into al-Qaeda. Bill Clinton is the one who first recognized them as a threat and tried to get them. The attack he ordered after the bombing of the USS Coles hit the location where bin Laden had JUST LEFT. The Clinton administration PREVENTED the millenium attacks. Clinton was so focused on getting al-Qaeda that the Republicans called him "obsessed" with al-Qaeda and he TOLD Bush that al-Qaeda would be the number one focus of Bush's administration.

I originally posted this on the Daily Gotham earlier in the week.

Mark Twain said there are lies, damn lies and statistics and his adage applies to unemployment measurement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes six unemployment metrics monthly, each referred to in ascending order of inclusiveness of the unemployed as U-1, U-2, etc.

The measure reported by the media as the unemployment rate that severely undercounts the unemployed is referred to as U-3. The U-3 rate is obtained by dividing the narrowest definition of the unemployed by the work force.
The U-3 definition does not include whom the BLS calls discouraged and marginal workers, those who want a job but have given up the search because market conditions and personal experience indicate the process is futile.

U-6 Unemployment counts the marginal and discouraged plus those seeking full time employment but can only find part time work. The Federal Reserve tracks what it defines as the Augmented Unemployment rate, which I’ve read is equivalent to U-6 less part time workers. I couldn’t find any Augmented Unemployment releases on the Fed site and despite major data inclusion differences, some bloggers have used U-6 and the Fed’s stat interchangeably.

Naive supply side economics fans and the heartless and often evil advocates of cutting the wealthy’s taxes as a means to kill the beast of New Deal and Great Society programs love to brag that the historically low recent unemployment numbers (April’s seasonally adjusted U-3 was 4.5 percent) are evidence that their tax policy scam truly does trickle down to those who are not tax cut direct material beneficiaries. Despite those wishing to give handouts to Gates and Buffett’s (who personally don’t even want the cuts) spin, the economy just isn’t that robust. The seasonably adjusted April U-6 numbers, which are a much more accurate economic suffering barometer than what the media regularly announces, increased to 8.2 percent.

Kentucky just held their primary election for Governor. The results (see here) mean currently indicted Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher will face off against Democrat Steve Beshear in November's general election. Democrat Beshear has been a reformer, pushing for a referendum reforming the Kentucky Judicial System and working as a consumer advocate. By contrast, Ernie Fletcher is currently indicted on charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination. And yet Republicans elected Fletcher in the primary with just over 50% of the vote. Once again, the Republican Party shows itself to be accepting of corruption.

I have written about Fletcher before. Last year he ranked as the 5th least popular governor in the nation (Republican governors of Ohio and Missouri, also heavily involved in corruption, were the two LEAST popular governors in America). Fletcher's administration is suspected of violating the state's merit system laws and using politics as the basis for hiring or firing government employees. In essence, they are going back to the time of the so-called “spoils system” where government firing and hiring was a rewards system for political allies. This was considered unacceptable more than 100 years ago and was ended on the Federal level by the Civil Service Act of 1883 which made it illegal to fill various federal offices by the spoils system. Kentucky also has a “Merit Law” that outlaws the corrupt spoils system. Yet Repub Gov. Fletcher wants to go back to and older time, where corruption was accepted as normal. Nine current or former members of Fletcher's administration have been indicted on a series of misdemeanor charges alleging violations of the Merit System personnel law. And Republicans in Kentucky agree with him about good old fashioned corruption. And almost universally this is seen as guarnateeing a big win for Steve Beshear come November.

One of the most disgusting tactics the Republicans have used is exploiting the 9/11 attacks for their own gains. As my wife (when she was 8 months pregnant) yelled at Republican delegates to the Republican Convention in 2004, "Shame on you for turning our tragedy into a photo op!" The delegates were none too pleased being chased down the street by a very pregnant woman accusing them of exploiting our tragedy. I was in Manhattan when those planes hit... I heard them hit, though it was only later I realized what I had heard. My wife was in the subway right under the WTC when the first plane hit. That first plane also instantly took the life of a co-worker's spouse. So 9/11 is very personal for me, as it is for many Americans. When the Republicans twist it for their personal gain, I resent it.

Well, as I reported yesterday, Rudy Giuliani (the man despised by the firefighters who were the TRUE heroes of 9/11) is the latest Republican to use this disgusting tactic. Not only was Giuliani's claim that only a Republican can prevent a terrorist attack a disgusting exploitation of a national tragedy, but it is demonstrably wrong. Clinton's administration prevented the millenium attacks. He also warned the nation that al-Qaeda was going to attack again. Bush's administration ignored these warnings and the 9/11 attacks happened on HIS watch. Giuliani is wrong. Republicans have failed America and they continue to fail America as we escalate in Iraq while Osama bin Laden, the man who planned the attacks on us, goes free.

Rudy Giuliani has just shown that he is as much a lying fearmonger as Karl Rove or any other Bush administration toady. From Politico:

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.

But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.

“If any Republican is elected president —- and I think obviously I would be the best at this —- we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it,” Giuliani said.

Ummmm...let's review some history, Rudy. Ronald Reagan and the elected Bush both SUPPORTED the Muslim fanatics that evolved into al-Qaeda. Bill Clinton is the one who first recognized them as a threat and tried to get them. The attack he ordered after the bombing of the USS Coles hit the location where bin Laden had JUST LEFT. The Clinton administration PREVENTED the millenium attacks. Clinton was so focused on getting al-Qaeda that the Republicans called him "obsessed" with al-Qaeda and he TOLD Bush that al-Qaeda would be the number one focus of Bush's administration.

Now let's look at Bush's administration: he ignored the warnings, let 9/11 happened, and he has consistently ignored the continuing al-Qaeda threat and instead invaded Iraq, a nation with absolutely NO TIES to al-Qaeda before we invaded. Experts around the world agree that we are LESS SAFE THAN EVER because of Bush's failed foreign policy.

I swear. John McCain once seemed reasonable to me. But he has become the worst, most glibly foolish war monger in the running, it seems. From MoveOn.org (the group that has recently teamed up with VoteVets.org to give our veterans more of a voice):

At a campaign stop on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain was asked what to do about Iran. His response? He sang "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann."

Seriously.

He says it was a joke, but the bottom line is that it is reckless saber-rattling against Iran at a time when tensions are high. Will you help us counter his message on TV?

McCain is laughing at the idea of unilaterally attacking Iran.

McCain is, in effect, laughing at this:

and this: (from the New England Journal of Medicine via The Memory Hole)

Because THAT is what his Iraq Escalation/Iran attack would produce more of. Dead and wounded American soldiers. And for what? NEITHER Iraq under Hussein nor Iraq have had any dealings with al-Qaeda. Why aren't we fighting al-Qaeda. While McCain wants to expand the Iraq quagmire into Iran, al-Qaeda is also expanding, entering Iraq thanks to us, expanding in Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco...and extremists are taking power in Bahrain. And McCain wants to make it all worse.

Americans United for Change has been producing ads targeting some of the key supporters of the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escaltion.

Previous targets included Congressman Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator John Sunnunu (R-NH).

Here is their ad targeting Congressman Jim Walsh (R-NY):

You can help defeat Walsh, Kuhl and other NY State Republican supporters of the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation by donating here.

Americans United for Change has been producing ads targeting some of the key supporters of the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escaltion.

Previous targets included Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator John Sunnunu (R-NH).

Here is their ad targeting Congressman Randy Kuhl (R-NY):

You can help defeat Kuhl and other NY State Republican supporters of the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation by donating here.

This also comes from Daily Kos. We are in the middle of what seems to be a successful campaign to convince advertisers that they should not be advertising with Ann Coulter because of her advocacy of terrorism, incitement to violence, and her use of hate speech. Already more than 11 advertisers, including Verizon, AT&T/Cingular and Netbank, are removing their ads from Ann Coulter's website and this has gotten the attention of CNN which reported on the Daily Kos effort.

Remember, Ann Coulter has publicly advocated bombing the NY Times building, poisoning a Supreme Court justice, beating up American citizens she disagrees with (something that may have inspired an actual attack), and has expressed hatred of 9/11 widows. Some advertisers, once made aware of the kind of things she says, quickly pull their ads.

So we are keeping up the pressure and need your help. The Daily Kos Story has an extensive list of advertisers and I strongly urge you to take a look and contact a few. I will highlight a handful here, but this is only a fraction of the targeted advertisers. Go to the Daily Kos Story for a full list.

USA Today: Marketing/Advertising email contact page is here.

Looks like yet another in a long line of Halliburton Republicans is guilty of crimes. Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, has been found guilty by a jury. From Salon.com:

Eleven jurors -- the 12th was dismissed after being exposed to press reports about the case -- found Libby guilty of 1) obstructing justice by lying to the grand jury about how he learned and whom he told about Plame; 2) making a false statement by lying to the FBI about a conversation he said he had about Plame with NBC's Tim Russert; 3) committing perjury by lying to the grand jury about his conversation with Russert; and 4) committing perjury by lying about his conversation with Cooper and other reporters.

What was left off that list of charges was treason. Libby was part of a conspiracy that revealed the identity of a covert agent who was involved in the War against terrorism. Revealing that identity compromised our defense against terrorism and constitutes treason. That is the real charge that should have been leveled against Libby.

Now, what was Dick Cheney's role in all of this? Was his underling acting alone or under direction? Is Dick as guilty of treason as Libby? I think that deserves some investigation, don't you? Maybe Congress wants to look into it?

Once upon a time, Senator John McCain was viewed as being one of the more independent-minded Senators, perhaps a smarter and more reasonable alternative to the kind of stupidity and corruption of George Bush and most of the Republican Party (Tom DeLay, Randy Cunningham, Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff, Conrad Burns, etc.).

But perhaps we need to consider very closely just what McCain has been doing during Bush's Presidency.

Let's look at how McCain votes.

John McCain is anti-Veteran, ironically, receiving a D rating from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a zero rating from The Retired Enlisted Association and in 2005 and 2006 he received 25% or below from the Disabled American Veterans.

John McCain has been one of the most anti-choice Senators, receiving zero ratings from Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

John McCain has been anti-farmer, receiving 25% or lower from the National Farmers Union.

John McCain has been weak to terrible on protecting the civil rights of Americans, receiving from 0 to 33% from the American Civil Liberties Union.

John McCain consistently receives less than 25% from the NAACP and less than 20% from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

John McCain is consistently anti-labor, receiveing abyssmal to at best mediocre ratings from just about every union.

So, I am wondering if the media that made a big deal out of certain Edwards staff members saying things some Catholics might not like are going to pick up on the Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s chief of staff tirade against Iraq War Vets.

From the Idaho Press Tribune:

Anti-war vets say Craig’s staff rude
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 6:01 AM EST

By Mike Butts - Idaho Press-Tribune

BOISE — Two veterans who belong to an anti-Iraq-war group claim Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s chief of staff treated them inappropriately Tuesday in a meeting to discuss President Bush’s move to expand the number of troops in Iraq...

Army Reserve Capt. Jon Soltz, 29, and former 101st Airborne Division Sgt. Joe Kramer, 31, say Chief of Staff Mike Ware raised his voice or yelled at them and pointed at them during a scheduled meeting in Craig’s office.

The two soldiers and two other Iraq war veterans with the anti-war group VoteVets met with Ware and Craig’s legislative assistant for military affairs. Craig spokesman Dan Whiting said the men agreed to disagree before the soldiers left after about a 30-minute meeting.

But Soltz and Kramer said Ware went too far.

“It’s probably the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever heard from a chief of staff of a U.S. senator,” Soltz said. “I told him it was rather unprofessional to yell at a soldier who fought for our country.”

I recently wrote about the latest example of stupid racist right wing lunacy in the case of Montana state Rep. Ed Butcher. Seems this red-neck, white trash idiot, in a recent legislative committee meeting, derided fellow legislator Democrat and Native American Jonathan Windy Boy (Chippewa Cree) by referring to the veteran lawmaker as “Chief Windy Boy” and inquiring whether he would wield his vice-chairman’s gavel as a “war club.” What is most amazing about this crap is that Butcher, rather than apologizing and saying it was just a bad joke, actually is going out of his way to defend his behavior, blaming the victim in the good old good-old-boy tradition.

This comes from the Indigenous Democratic Network (INDN):

INDN’s List spoke out this week against the racist and hurtful comments made by Rep. Butcher of Montana toward his fellow legislator, and friend of INDN, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy. We want to thank the many of you that heeded our call to write Rep. Butcher and for sharing his response with us.

“You left-wing radicals should get a life with your ‘political (sic) correct nonsense!” opened Butcher in a form email to our concerned INDNs.

While the representative accuses Montana Democrats and INDN’s List of politicizing the issue, the only thing “political” is Butcher’s nasty politics-as- usual response to thoughtful, concerned citizens. We know better. There is no political gain in racism and bigotry, no political gain in perpetrating hateful myths and misguided stereotypes, no political gain in sheer disrespect for the values of average Americans.

Maureen O'Connell's string of dirty tricks in the 7th NY State Senate race shows that despite their rout in November, Republicans still haven't remembered the lesson of their founder:

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

--Abraham Lincoln, the best Republican President