Blunt's New Job

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Romney's Going Home

Because the writers have been on strike reality shows have taken over network television. Two of this season's most popular are collectively known as the the Presidential primary races. The other day Republican Idol candidate Mitt Romney was sent home. Most reality shows pay tribute to performers sent packing. Tonight MoRocca180 looks back at the journey of the beloved Mittens. This season no one has paid a higher price for his chance to win the big prize.

Funny after the break.

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Headzup: The Ever Flexible Mitt Romney Talks Superbowl

Mitt Romney has suffered this election because he is the kind of salesman who seems willing to tell anybody anything he thinks they want to hear. He gladly abandoned both his moderate views and his moderate Republican supporters and loudly became a super duper conservative. Despite spending millions on his sales campaign he has never won the trust of conservatives who have concluded that he might not really believe conservative dogma.

If any well funded front runner ever deserved to lose the Presidency it is Mitt Romney. Tonight Headzup examines Mitt Romney through the lens of the Super Bowl.

Headzup after the break.

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At the end of the day

Bush's 2008 SOTU -- Full text and his last! Woo hoo! The number of specific words referenced: 23 for "terror", "terrorist", or "terrorists", 11 for "al Qaida", 2 for "Taliban", 16 for "tax", "taxes", or "taxpayers", 9 for "economy" or "economics", and 6 for the "surge". Peruse a series of fact checks on Bush's final SOTU at TP.

FISA Showdown -- In case you missed it, check Pale Rider and Glenn Greenwald and "What's Next" from Paul Kiel. Statement from Hillary at FDL. Previous remarks from John Edwards.

Oh, you liberal! -- Demonstrating how Repubs and our SCLM have denigrated a great political word that makes me proud, the Reuters headline sums it up: "McCain, Romney lob 'liberal' smear in Florida push." Funny thing... what insult sticks to McCain is nonsensical. He's got a secret plan to get OBL? Oh?

More on the Mitt vs. McCain cage match on the eve of the Florida primary.

On the road to the WH, it's all about the delegates: "The possibility of a long-term slog is real for Democrats, given that Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama appear evenly matched... It is less certain on the Republican side, pending the outcome of the party’s primary [in Florida] on Tuesday."

Torture -- TPM headline: "Negroponte Confirms U.S. Use of Waterboarding."

Intelligence failure -- Via Laura Rozen, Milt Bearden of the Washington Independent wrote: "American intelligence has a serious problem. But it is not that the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine services, Jose Rodriquez, allegedly destroyed, in 2005, the videotapes of the enhanced interrogations of terrorist detainees. No, the real problem is that institutional oversight of the intelligence community has failed. It is dysfunctional, perhaps irreparably so. There is no adult supervision of American intelligence or how the White House chooses to use it. " Read the whole thing.

Fix the Bankruptcy Bill! -- Emptywheel reported "good news" that senators plan to fix the "bad bill." But the "bad news is that we're not going to do anything about it until 2009."

Death In Iraq -- Five U.S. soldiers killed in Mosul when a military convoy was "hit by a roadside bomb.... ...It was a particularly bloody day for the U.S. military in a city that has become a gathering point for the Sunni insurgency, and where Iraq's prime minister vowed to have the 'final' battle with the group al-Qaeda in Iraq." Troop deaths for January -- 36 -- up from December's 23 killed.

Pakistani Taliban -- They have "extended their reach across all seven of Pakistan's frontier tribal regions and have infiltrated Peshawar, the provincial capital, heightening U.S. concerns that an insurrection may be broadening in the nuclear-armed nation." Uh oh. McClatchy

Help Blue Girl get a new computer -- Please. And thank you!

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John Edwards campaigned in Dublin, GA. "Georgia Senate minority leader Robert Brown of Macon introduced Edwards at the farmer's market where an estimated crowd of at least 400 had gathered... 'Senator Edwards is the best candidate. He can win in November,' Brown said before rally. 'He's also very much in tune with what's going in in places like rural Georgia.'"

Also in GA, Obama visited a church in Macon where he spoke about his faith: "Poverty has no place in a world of plenty, and hate has no place in a world of believers."

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) plans to endorse Obama on Monday, according to the NYT. Steve Benen added more insights.

FISA tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. -- In an interview with McClatchy's Matt Stearn, "Clinton said she would break from the campaign trail to return to Washington Monday" in planning "to vote to block a bill to extend the expansion of electronic eavesdropping powers because it provides immunity for phone companies..." Per a FDL update, Obama will be there, too. Yee haw!

Mitt's up! -- Romney rose in FL polls via Chris Bowers: "Zogby now shows a 30%-30% tie, while yesterday McCain lead 31%-28%. Insider Advantage shows Romney ahead 26%-24%, whereas yesterday it was a 23% to 23% tie. Rasmussen shows Romney extending his lead to 33%--27%, whereas three days earlier Romney only led 27%-23%. In fact, the last four polls conducting Florida tracking show the state moving from McCain 25.5%--23.5% Romney, to Romney 29.3%--27.8% McCain." Looks like a Repub slugfest to the finish.

McCain's running mate -- Lemme imitate SNL's church lady: "Could it be... Condi?" Thus sayeth the Prince of Darkness, "...talk to ordinary people about [Condi] and they say, boy, that's terrific. The politicians don’t like it.” Video at TP.

Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday questioned Huckabee about evidence of Saddam's WMDs. The Huckster replied, "I don’t have any evidence.... ...My point was that, no, we didn’t find them. Did they get into Syria? Did they get into some remote area of Jordan? Did they go some other place? We don’t know. They may not have existed. But simply saying — we didn’t find them so therefore they didn’t exist — is a bit of an overreach." Shorter Huckster: "Eeeb, eeeb, eeeb, eeeb!"

Krugman series, Part I: "Why has the Bush economy been so lousy?" See also bmaz's recent post, "Our Collapsing Economy - How We Got Here."

U.S. military death toll reached 3,934. "The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST."

Iraqi troops arrived in Mosul, "site of recent deadly insurgent attacks, in an effort to suppress militant groups." Iraq's Defense Ministry spokesman Askari said, "They are Iraqi army forces and include troops, mechanized troops and air force. The plan will be similar to the ones implemented in Baghdad and Diyala [province]." LATimes

So now Bush shifts the military's focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan. " 'The sense I get is that at least in military terms they are getting a response from Washington which they weren't getting all along,' said Schaffer, a career foreign service officer who was deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia in the administration of former President Bush."

"The Week Ahead" at SCOTUSblog -- "No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court this week." Reply briefs due Friday by 2 p.m. on Dada v. Mukasey.

On personal note -- It's fundraising time and for a good cause. Blue Girl needs a computer. So if you can throw some bucks her way -- the goal is $750 -- she can get back online sooner than later. Purdy please?

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Obama wins SC primary in a landslide -- CNN: Obama 55%, Clinton 27%, Edwards 18%. Gender and age breakouts at the link.

Congratulations were personally extended to Obama from Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Edwards on campaigning spouses -- "I believe that spouses have the right to speak their minds. In his case, [Bill] happens to be an ex-president. But my wife Elizabeth speaks her mind. And I think they're entitled to do that. It's a democracy. That's the way it works. People can agree or disagree with what they say, but they're not required to go home and sit around and be quiet. That's just the way I view it." The Trail

Track Democratic delegates by candidate here.

Gadfly calls attention to an argument that "the current Bush-Cheney regime has been a co-presidency." Thus, "respected historian Wills argues against a Clinton co-presidency. A definite liberal, Wills isn’t arguing against Hillary Clinton’s policies, just the co-presidency idea. Given the fact that Democratic big brass such as Sen. Ted Kennedy are trying at this very moment to get Bill to pipe down, with limited results, it’s a legitimate concern." Personally, I would be worried if Bill Clinton were batshit crazy like Dick Cheney. And American voters will have the last word.

Dick Sargent wrote about an NBC interview with Obama in which Barack "denied he'd personally accused the Clintons of racism." Obama reiterated, "I don't view [the Clintons] as having gone after me on the basis of race." Yesterday, Steve Hildebrand, a senior adviser for Obama, said, "[The Clintons] look at everything through racial lines, gender lines, geographic lines... ...They are playing the same old-style games." Crikey.

Rudy has a new secret weapon -- Bwahahahahahaha!

Meow! Pffft! Pffft! -- "Sen. John McCain of Arizona accused former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney of having once supported a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, sparking an angry demand for an apology from Romney, who called the statement dishonest.' " And it got uglier. Campaigning in Florida, McCain: "If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher." Mitt shot back attacking "McCain's economic policy experience" and released an ad on Friday that "uses clips of political pundits on network news shows to argue that the Republican Party's distrust of McCain runs long and deep." Other video samples of McCain vs. Romney ads posted yesterday.

If you're into placing a bet on Election 2008, take heed via Kevin Drum.

Doubts still linger over Florida's voting machines. If it's as bad as the Diebold touch screens in Georgia... Uh oh. And in Ohio, "The ACLU of Ohio has sued the Secretary of State and Cuyahoga County to block the switch to a new voting system in time for the March 4 presidential primary."

For a real Democrat from Orlando, FL -- Alan Grayson! Alan Grayson! Alan Grayson! Additional commentary and an incredible CBS video on whistle-blower Grayson's fight against war-profiteering at Down With Tyranny!

Krugman posted distribution tables from the economic stimulus program of "who gets what from tax plans." He also noted, "it’s only thanks to the Democrats that people likely to spend their rebate are getting anything at all.... this plan will produce some stimulus, while the Bush plan would have done virtually nothing." Data source: Tax Policy Center

Reaching for his FISA-colored crayon -- President Bush threatened to veto “a 30-day extension of an expiring eavesdropping law and instead wants an expanded version to be passed by Friday.” In response, Harry Reid (D-CA) said: "There will be no terrorism intelligence collection gap... But if there is any problem, the blame will clearly and unequivocally fall where it belongs: on President Bush and his allies in Congress." The WH gave the House Intel Committee "access to necessary documents on Thursday – eight months after they were requested," according to chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). Shorter version: SSDD at the Bush regime.

Pakistan says no -- "Mr. Musharraf rebuffed proposals to expand any American combat presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert C.I.A. missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces." Furthermore, Musharraf expressed "that any unilateral action by the United States would be regarded as an invasion." Sunday NYT

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SC Democratic debate liveblogging by Josh Marshall with a video clip, too.

Who won the debate? "John Edwards seemed to stay above the fray and that may inure to his benefit." The Trail

Obama in SC, Hillary goes elsewhere: "South Carolina has become a must-win state for Obama since Clinton prevailed in New Hampshire and Nevada. He was expected to campaign here all week." AP

Wingnut Repub Rep. John Shadegg (AZ-03) has been accused of "using his political-action committee to skirt laws that limit the amount of money donors can give a candidate." Plus, Shadegg ignored the serious drinking water "problems of his constituents in Paradise Valley." He was too busy campaigning for John McCain in NH and SC.

Avedon spoke well of Obama's MLK speech and then noted, "That might go some way to making up for that nasty little business of letting a virulently anti-gay creep speak up against gays when campaigning on behalf of Obama... maybe." Pam Spaulding offers more insights.

GA campaign organizer Johnson leaves Fred for Mitt saying, “[C]learly Fred Thompson is not going to be the nominee.”

Also in GA, "Gov. Sonny Perdue has made a major list of mentionables in the underground Republican contest for vice president." AJC Political Insider

McCain leaps ahead of Rudy by 12% in... drum roll, please... New York! Stick a fork in Rudy...

Someone, please, make him stop -- Ralph Nader eyes another run at the WH in 2008.

MLK unremembered: McCain voted against making MLK a national holiday in 1983. He's "spending today at the inauguration of Alabama Governor Bob Riley who is a member of an organization that has been criticized for excluding African Americans."

Rick Perlstein -- "Conservatives still don't get Martin Luther King."

Cheney's emails -- "Waxman’s report said 'Vice President Cheney’s office showed no electronic messages on 16 occasions from September 2003 to May 2005.' Among the sixteen days for which email are missing from Vice President Cheney’s office 'is Sept. 30, 2003, the same day the day the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced they were investigating who outed former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.' " TP

Pentagon ponders Gen. David Petraeus for top NATO command. NYT

Inside Iraq -- Photos from the Army of Dude.

Bad news for the R-Noise Machine -- A new Pew study shows that "the number of people getting election news online has more than doubled since Bush first stole his way into the White House." Details at Down With Tyranny!

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Merry Christmas, South Carolina, from ‘Mitt’

In the latest in a long tradition of South Carolina mudslinging, voters there got a Christmas card purporting to be from Mitt Romney. The catch? It claims to be from the Boston (Mormon) Temple and it’s filled with comments from The Book of Mormon and Mormon leads not the Christian Bible.

“We have now clearly shown that God the Father had a plurality of wives, one or more being in eternity by whom He begat our spirits as well as the spirit of Jesus His first born, and another being upon the earth by whom he begat the tabernacle of Jesus, as his only begotten in this world,” reads one passage from Orson Pratt, cited on the card as an “original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.”

Obviously, it’s a fraud, but, to use the Latin, “cui bono,” who did it?

My No. 1 guess — Rudy Giu-lie-ani, or an official or unaffiliated surrogate.

McCain, for all his faults, just doesn’t seem the type to stoop that low, even through surrogates. Besides, he’s surging. Ron Paul’s libertarian faith-based campaign believes wishful thinking, or the power of the will, can win elections. Fred Thompson’s probably too stupid.

So, that leaves Rudy, right? He’s slipping in the polls, and he certainly does have the personality to pull something like that.

But, so does somebody else: Mitt Romney

Remember, Mitt’s own staff was a suspect in the anti-Romney Iowa robocalling this fall, still unresolved as to who did it. And, besides the personality (though less of a hatchet man than Rudy), the poll slippage and everything else describes Mitt as well as Rudy.

Interesting… your vote?

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Tit Meet Tat -- Dueling Attack Ads

First, Mitt Romney.



Now John McCain.

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Was Mitt Romney Just Caught Lying?

Steve Benen is reporting this morning that Martin Luther King and George Romney didn't march together all those years ago. Apparently the two nice little old ladies the Romney campaign brought forward weren't really remembering what happened. George Romney, who no doubt was a strong proponent of civil rights, did participate in a civil rights march in Grosse Point on Saturday, June 29, 1963 but Martin Luther King wasn't there. He was talking to the AFL-CIO.

According to the Boston Phoenix

Two women contacted the Mitt Romney campaign this week, offering their memories of seeing Romney’s father march with Martin Luther King Jr., in Grosse Point Michigan in 1963. Campaign officials were well aware that the women were mistaken. Yet, they directed those women to tell their stories to a Politico reporter. The motives and memories of the two women are unknown and irrelevant; the motives of the campaign, however, were obvious — to spread information they knew to be untrue, for the good of the candidate.

Emphasis added.

This story gets stranger and stranger, but if the Boston Phoenix is right Mitt Romney might just have kissed his campaign goodbye.

UPDATE: The more I think about this the more I worry about the story. Why in the name of God would the Romney campaign advance the two women if they didn't think they were telling the truth? There is simply no upside for Romney. I have no idea what the Boston Phoenix's motivation might be. Do you? Somebody is being zoomed, the question is who is zooming who. I would like to see some real reporting on this story. Maybe we have to wait tell Wednesday to check with real historians.

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Presidential Primary Predictions

OK, slow news weekend, holiday coming up and all that, so since I'm finished my Christmas preparations, I'm going to get a jump on the presidential primary predications coming January 1 (since the Iowa caucus is Jan. 3) and make my own semi-baseless predictions:

Republicans:

Huckabee is peaking perfectly but broke. He'll win Iowa, drop to third in New Hampshire then disappear for lack of money.

McCain will turn up a surprising second in Iowa, rake in the dough from grateful Wall Street types terrified of Huckabee and win the nomination.

Romney and Giuliani will tie for third in Iowa, with Mitt coming a not-close-enough second in New Hampshire and disappearing in South Carolina. Giuliani will have a foam-at-the-mouth public freakout over losing to hick Huckabee, tank in New Hampshire, and spend the rest of 2008 tearing down McCain and whining about how he should be the nominee.

Democrats:

Edwards will win in Iowa, possibly drop to a close second in New Hampshire, rebound in South Carolina and win the nomination.

Obama will come in second in Iowa, a close first or second to Edwards in New Hampshire, a further-back second to Edwards in South Carolina, and end up the vice-presidential nominee.

Hillary will come in a close third to Edwards and Obama in Iowa, but tank in New Hampshire as her supporters reel from the shock and her money dries up.If Dodd's on the ballot in South Carolina, he might beat her.

A couple of notes on methodology, or rather the lack of any:

I've been predicting Iowa and New Hampshire would kill Hillary's campaign since last spring, about the same time I predicted Edwards/Obama would be the nominees. At the time I thought the desperate repug wingnut freakazoids would nominate Brownback. Although it seems that Huckabee has stepped into that darling-of-the-jayzus-humpers position, believers don't really choose the republican nominee; Wall Street does.

Yes, my prediction for Edwards has a little wishful thinking in it, as I'm a strong Edwards supporter, but I also think McCain is the strongest possible republican nominee and therefore hoped his summer-fall swoon would be permanent. No such luck. As Rudy, Mitt and Fred reveal their fatal flaws to the faithful, and as Huck's skeletons begin to spill out of the closet, politically rational republicans (the ones with the money and power) are realizing McCain is their only hope.

It's 12 days to the Iowa caucuses; 19 to the New Hampshire primary. At the speed this race is changing, that's plenty of time for Tom Tancredo and Joe Biden to leap out front.

But what's the fun in waiting until it's all over?

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

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Witnesses and Newspaper Reports Support Story That George Romney Actually Marched With Martin Luther King

Here is a bizarre story. Recently Mitt Romney said that he saw his father march with Martin Luther King. The statement was challenged. Romney responded that he meant "saw" and "marched with" in the figurative sense that George was well known as being pro-civil rights. In the process he came off looking like a pathetic parser of words.

This morning it is being reported in the Politico that independent witnesses and contemporary newspaper articles verify that Mitt Romney's father George, who was the civil rights supporting Republican governor of Michigan at the time, actually did march with Martin Luther King in Detroit in 1963.

From the Politico

witness, Ashby Richardson, 64, of Massachusetts gave (an) account.

“I’m just appalled that the news picks this stuff up and say it didn’t happen,” Richardson, now a data-collection consultant, said by phone. “The press is being disingenuous in terms of reporting what actually happened. I remember it vividly. I was only 15 or 20 feet from where both of them were.”

Shirley Basore, another eyewitness to George Romney and Martin Luther King marching hand in hand, was mad at the cable news coverage.

“This very arrogant guy on TV questioned Mitt Romney, and I marched with them,” Basore said. “I hope that the campaign demands an apology. I want him to publicly apologize to me. That was a personal insult, and an insult to Mitt Romney.”

My guess is that Mitt, who was relatively young at the time, had often heard the family story that dad marched with Martin Luther King. When somebody challenged the account he couldn't personally separate the oft repeated family story from his own 44 year old memory. He was afraid he might be wrong, so he waffled. In the process he made himself look bad. I feel a little sorry for Mitt Romney. He was right, but when confronted with a poorly reported story asserting he was wrong he didn't have the courage of his convictions. Don't we need a president who is a little more self assured?

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Campaign Video of the Day -- December 19, 2007

Out of all the videos distributed the last few days there can be only one that captures the potential ugliness of the season--Mike Huckabee's "What Really Matters."

During the last few weeks Mitt Romney has said, retracted, and winked that there isn't a Muslim in America qualified to be in his cabinet. I guess only good Christians, Mormons or Jews need apply.

Of course, there is a completely untrue, but persistent rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Hillary Clinton supporter Bob Kerrey, a man I used to respect, has recently tried to damn Obama with faint praise by mentioning that he attended elementary school in a Muslim country--which Kerrey wrongly called a Madrassa. Kerrey and Clinton should be ashamed.

Mike Huckabee, the "author" of today's video, recently, if indirectly, attacked Mitt Romney's Mormonism slyly alluding to a poorly understood feature Mormon doctrine. His attack was an efficient, if indirect, back stab that left lots of room for plausible denial.

Yesterday the Catholic League president slammed Huckabee for this 'subliminal' cross ad. Apparently the cross ad has reminded Catholic League's Bill Donahue of something from his childhood because he suddenly fears the re-introduction of overt religious tests in American politics. As Catholics old enough to remember John Kennedy know it wasn't long ago when good Protestant Americans wouldn't vote for a "papist." The marriage between Catholics and evangelicals over pro-life issues is a shotgun marriage at best.

Outside the pro-life debate modern Americans are not used to such a frothy mixing of politics with the old time religion. We better get used to it. The kind of America Huck seems to want is a "Christian" America. Historically, "Christian" America wasn't big enough for cultist Mormons. I live in Western Missouri. Our history is filled with ugly incidents involving riots and massacres. After Missouri's "Christian" governor issued a shoot on sight order, the good Christians ran the Mormans out of Missouri. As every Morman knows that ultimately led to the founding of Utah.

Some of Huckabee's fellow "Christians" deeply believe Catholics are also members of a dirty anti-Christian "cult." Donahue and American Catholics rightly fear that "Christian" belief might lead to a renewal of the ancient religious war that nearly destroyed Europe, and continued to rage in Northern Ireland until a few short years ago. If history is a guide I would guess Jews, who are definitely not Christian, are going to be next. Of course, the tolerant Episcopalians count gays in their number, so to some I am sure they aren't qualified to hold office. Pretty soon "Christian" America won't be big enough for Pentecostals or Lutherans.

Merry Christmas and welcome to what might be the end of America as the land of religious tolerance and freedom. Once religious tests are introduced into the public square the world quickly becomes a very dangerous place. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.



If you encounter a video worthy of sharing please email the link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject: Campaign Video of the Day.

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Huckabee's Appeal Broader Than Mere Evangelical Hot Buttons

This is just a little note for you to consider. Yesterday Kevin Drum posted Huck and the Moneycons examining the fear and loathing the Republican "establishment" has for Mike Huckabee. I think he is on to why the Republican "establishment" doesn't like Huck--clearly he is not part of the ruling elite. He truly represents the NASCAR dads and church going moms out in Red State America. As a Democratic activist friend of mine said the other day, when you look at Huckabee he is really a pro-life theocratic Democrat. He is very likely to use the levers of power to help people outside of the upper one percent achieve their goals. In many ways he is a Republican version of Bill Clinton and for that reason must be opposed at all costs by the elites who are actively trying to strip America of her greatness and future in support of their "new world order."

I don't support Huckabee. His actions in the Dumond case alone disqualify him, but the Republican establishment has every reason to be scared silly of Huckabee. Steve Benen calls it the Huckabee Panic. He probably represents the future of their party, a future where they are not going to be welcome.

What both Drum and Benen both overlook is just why Huckabee's support has grown so quickly. They are quick to ascribe it to his appeal to the evangelical base. Those dumb hicks are voting for one of their own. I think both Drum and Benen, both proud members of the Democratic establishment, are just as biased as the Republican establishment guys. If Huckabee's appeal to the evangelical hot buttons was his only appeal he would have lost the argument to one of the better funded but more establishment evangelical candidates. The junior Senator from Kansas comes to mind.

Huckabee's appeal is broader than the standard evangelical hot buttons. He is attractive to Republicans living outside the beltway elite because they are just as shocked as the rest of us at the utter incompetence of the Bush administration. People who go to church on Sunday aren't stupid. They realize that the Republican establishment has presided over the decline of the American middle class. They are middle class and are wondering just what those establishment candidates offer them. The truth is Romney, Giuliani, McCain et al offer nothing of substance to people who are worried about mortgage payments, college tuition, whether they are going to have a job next year and all the rest of the things that concern Democratic members of the middle class. They might not be sure what Huckabee offers, but they know he was a governor and that he was not afraid to raise taxes to improve Arkansas schools and provide child health care.

The other day Huckabee called the Bush foreign policy arrogant and representative of a bunker mentality. Today Romney attacked him for his comments. I have a hunch Huckabee isn't going to be hurt in either Iowa or South Carolina for telling the obvious truth. Those Iowa farmers and NASCAR dads aren't nearly as dumb as the establishment types think.

I've got to go now. My son is playing the trumpet at his Baptist church and Grandma and I want to hear him play.

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When Republicans fight: don’t you love it?

So Mitt Romney is blowing a gasket because Mike Huckabee asks: “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
Of course, it’s a lie. Jesus and Joseph Smith are brothers, according to Mormons. (C’mon, we all know that.) And Jesus had multiple Mormon wives — Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus. (C’mon, we all knew that, too.)

Given the, not rough edges, but more willing rough elbows of the Huckabee campaign, a claim this blunt doesn’t surprise me at all. Huck’s shown he’s willing to get the brass knuckles out. (Sidebar: doesn’t this say something about Arkansas politics and politicians?)

And, sure, Huck is speaking in “code words” to evangelicals. But, Mitt, did you audience-test your “JFK speech” in advance of giving it? I can’t believe you really thought that it would tamp down rank-and-file conservative evangelical skeptics, let alone outright critics, to give such a speech without actually talking about Mormonism. OK, so you didn’t see the Huckabee Surge™. But, if this was supposed to be a pre-emptive speech, you should have anticipated something like this.

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Huck The Knife

Rarely in American politics has there been a politician better at putting a shiv in his opponent's back, making sure there is never a trace of red. Huck the Knife keeps his jackknife out of sight.

According to the AP Mike Huckabee

an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anybody who knows anything about the Latter Day Saints will tell you that the Mormon doctrine concerning Jesus is far more nuanced and mainline than Huckabee's implied slur. Again from the AP

A spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Huckabee's question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.

"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all," said the spokeswoman, Kim Farah. "That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."

Huckabee, an ordained minister with a degree in theology, is more than aware that he is slandering Romney and several million other Mormans, but he will get away with it because (1) the people he is targeting don't know any better, and (2) he is still in the middle of his honeymoon with the press so most reporters won't bother to find out what Mormans really think. By the time anybody notices, Romney will be history.

At least Romney had the decency to buy ad time for his negative attack on Huckabee.



I don't know what it is about Hope, Arkansas, but those folks sure know how to produce smooth political operators.

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Mitt Has Founders Spinning in Their Graves

In response to Mitt Romney's evisceration of the U.S. Constitution' religious protections today, I would like to post in full a long comment posted in Salon last night.

As Gadfly noted today Mitt tried to square the circle of unconstitutional Xianist wingnuttery by saying, in part:

'Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'

Wrong, wrong, so very, very wrong and lethally dangerous.

In Salon, vasmurti commented on an article about Romney's religion problem thusly:

Romney's religious identity should be completely irrelevant
In the secular, political arena, one's religious identity should be completely irrelevant.

In 1787 when the framers excluded all mention of God from the Constitution, they were widely denounced as immoral and the document was denounced as godless, which is precisely what it is.

(More after the jump.)

Opponents of the Constitution challenged ratifying conventions in nearly every state, calling attention to Article VI, Section 3:
“No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

An anti-federalist in North Carolina wrote: “The exclusion of religious tests is by many thought dangerous and impolitic. Pagans, Deists and Mohammedans might obtain office among us.”

Amos Singletary of Massachussetts, one of the most outspoken critics of the Constitution, said that he “hoped to see Christians (in power), yet by the Constitution, a papist or an infidel was as eligible as they.”

Luther Martin, a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 wrote that “there were some members so unfashionable as to think that a belief in the existence of a Deity, and of a state of future rewards and punishments would be some security for the good conduct of our rulers, and that in a Christian country, it would be at least decent to hold out some distinction between the professors of Christianity and downright infidelity or paganism.”

Martin’s report shows that a “Christian nation” faction had its say during the convention, and that its views were consciously rejected.

The United States Constitution is a completely secular political document. It begins “We the people,” and contains no mention of “God,” “Jesus,” or “Christianity.” Its only references to religion are exclusionary, such as the “no religious test” clause (Article VI), and “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (First Amendment)

The presidential oath of office, the only oath detailed in the Constitution, does not contain the phrase “so help me God” or any requirement to swear on a Bible (Article II, Section 1). The words “under God” did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, when Congress, under McCarthyism, inserted them.

Similarly, “In God we Trust” was absent from paper currency before 1956, though it did appear on some coins since 1864. The original U.S. motto, written by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, is “E Pluribus Unum” (“Of Many, One”) celebrating plurality and diversity.

In 1797, America made a treaty with Tripoli, declaring that “the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” This reassurance to Islam was written under Washington’s presidency and approved by the Senate under John Adams.

We are not governed by the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose was to “dissolve the political bonds,” not to set up a religious nation. Its authority was based upon the idea that “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” which is contrary to the biblical concept of rule by divine authority.

The Declaration deals with laws, taxation, representation, war, immigration, etc., and doesn’t discuss religion at all. The references to “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” and “Divine Providence” in the Declaration do not endorse Christianity. Its author, Thomas Jefferson, was a Deist, opposed to Christianity and the supernatural.

It was Thomas Jefferson who established the separation of church and state. Jefferson helped create the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786, incurring the wrath of Christians by his fervent defense of toleration of atheists:

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are only injurious to others. But it does no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

In his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, Jefferson wrote:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

Later in his life, James Madison similarly came out against state-paid chaplains, writing, “The establishment of the chaplainship to Congress is a palpable violation of equal rights, as well as of Constitutional principles.” He also concluded that his calling for days of prayer and fasting during his presidency had been unconstitutional.
In an 1819 letter to Robert Walsh, Madison wrote, “the number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.”

In an undated essay called the “Detached Memoranda,” written in the early 1800s, Madison wrote, “Strongly guarded...is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States.”

In 1833 Madison responded to a letter sent to him by Jasper Adams. Adams had written a pamphlet titled “The Relations of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States,” which tried to prove that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Madison wrote back:

“In the papal system, government and religion are in a manner consolidated, and that is found to be the worst of government.”
In the early part of the 19th century, a general understanding existed that the government should not promote religion, or favor one religion over another:

“It is not the legitimate province of the Legislature to determine what religion is true, or what is false,” stated a government official.
“Among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for violation of what Government denominated the law of God. To prevent a similar train of evils in this country, the Constitution has wisely withheld from our Government the power of defining the divine law.”
-- vasumurti
[Read vasumurti's other letters]
Permalink Wednesday, December 5, 2007 10:05 PM

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

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Mitt Romney likes Muslim prayer

Just not in his Cabinet, I guess. And, Mormonism? He treads even lighter than I expected. Among the highlights from his “JFK speech.”

And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love … the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims.

Followed by the prerequisite bashing of a secularist straw man:

We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

Then, the Religious Right pandering:

Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'

In other words, “I’ll appoint judges who keep the church-state ‘wall’ pretty low.”

Then, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution get fused:

It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.

We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.

The Constitution nowhere grounds any of our rights as being endowed by a Creator. Nice sleight of hand. (Of course, liberals can conflate the two documents, too.)

Then, the anti-terrorist pandering:

Infinitely worse is the other extreme, the creed of conversion by conquest: violent Jihad, murder as martyrdom... killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference. These radical Islamists do their preaching not by reason or example, but in the coercion of minds and the shedding of blood. We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny, and the boundless suffering these states and groups could inflict if given the chance.

Final note: “Mormon/Mormonism” only mentioned once, in passing, in comparison to JFK’s Catholicism. As I said, even lighter than I expected.

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Romney: Heavy on religious liberty, light on Mormonism

It looks like that will be the thrust of Mitt Romney’s ”JFK speech,”, to be given at the George Bush Library in College Station, Texas

“'This speech is an opportunity for Governor Romney to share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor's own faith would inform his Presidency if he were elected,” said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden in a statement.

“Governor Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation,” Madden said in his statement.

Notice how Madden carefully phrased his statement.

He’s going to talk first about religious liberty and tolerance, then how his own beliefs will inform his presidency.

The second graf has him saying faith is an important issue to many Americans. But not, his faith.

Now, that may be parsing a lot out of one word, but somehow I really doubt Mitt Romney is going to explain Mormonism.

Ancient gold tablets, magic spectacles, Jesus making a junket to America? Not likely to be heard.

Conversion pressures on American Indians in the West? Blacks as “second class Mormons” until the 1970s? Not likely to be discussed.

Nor are we going to hear about celestial marriages, baptisms for the dead, secret temple ceremonies, or those temple undergarments. (BG, you already know what they look like. Go look at the Truman pic in the Truman Library, where he’s got the Masonic apron; that’s where the Mormons stole the idea, along with many other things they stole from the Masons.)

Not that most of this stuff is really, that much sillier than the beliefs of other organized religions, at least in their more literalist leanings.

But for the Christian fundies Romney is courting, their beliefs are improbable precisely to show the power of God. Mormonism’s tenets? That’s just human lunacy.

It’s all whose ox is beng gored.

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Campaign Video of the Day -- October 20, 2007

Today's campaign video of the day features Hillary Clinton's latest ad called Trapdoor. It is worthy of comment because it is the kind of ad you would find in the general election. Increasingly Hillary is ignoring her primary competition and campaigning directly against an unknown Republican challenger.



Trapdoor's counterpoint can be found in today's runner up from the Romney campaign. Called Can't Beat Hillary By Being Hillary
it recognizes that the Republican task this election is to beat Hillary, not some undetermined Democrat. If you watch it you will discover that, unlike the other Republican candidates, Romney is articulating a Republican message that goes beyond supporting the war in Iraq. Romney's overt reference to Hillary in an official campaign video seems to be signaling that as far as he is concerned the Democratic primaries are over before the first vote, and that Hillary is the front runner in an election to be held in a little more than 12 months.

Because the two videos taken together make such a powerful statement about the current state of the campaign, I have posted the runner up after the flip. Ok, I probably should have named Romney's video Campaign Video of the Day, but this is still a "lefty" blog.

If you encounter a campaign video in need of broader coverage, please send a link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject: Campaign Video of the Day.

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