Newt Gingrich & Tom DeLay - Repub Powerballs

The Republican Party lost the November election for various reasons, not the least of which is the fact they are out of touch with the concerns and the needs of the American people. One might think that would be cause for self-examination, confession, and repentance.

Not so.

The Republican Party, living in the past and dreaming of golden years which never were, have become the party of retrenchment.

Deluded fools they be, thinking if only they can capture what they had under leaders like Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, all will be well. That is understandable once we realize that the Republican Party doesn't care about the welfare of the country. It really doesn't.

The Republican Party, like so many organizations, exists to perpetuate itself and its power - now lost.


How might a political party recapture power and regain its majority in the three branches of government? The sane and sensible response would have to do with determining how best to meet the needs and desires of the people the party seeks to serve and then construct a platform to meet those needs and desires.

But the Republican Retrenchment Party is insane. Their goal is power, pure and simple. Thus, the Minority Whip in the House, the nogoodnik, Eric Cantor, releases a filthy, profane diatribe against the working class. Thus Cantor and other Repug nogoodniks (with which the House of Representatives is filled) seeks the advice of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay.

Whatever else one may say about Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, one must say they are two of the biggest scumbags ever to reach high levels of government in the United States. Both are ethically-challenged and both are only about power - obtaining it and holding it, and often abusing it.

Gingrich, however, remains a hero to people like Cantor and other Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Which tells you a lot, none of which you really want to know, because it isn't good for our country.

Gingrich is the asshat who reconstructed the House of Representatives into a massive machine of opposition in the early 90s which had as its only goal the obstruction of President Clinton's programs to better the welfare of the American people.

His only purpose for doing that was to try to bring the Democrats down so the Republicans could take control of Congress! It had nothing to do with serving the people.

This is the man to whom our Republicans are now going to for advice. According to Think Progress, "Cantor said he had studied Mr. Gingrich's years in power and had been in regular touch with him as he sought to help his party find the right tone and message."

"I talk to Newt on a regular basis," said Cantor, "because he was in the position that we are in: in the extreme minority." Well, he got the word, "extreme" right. Right?

Think Progress also notes that "In September, he [Gingrich] 'was whipping against' the first TARP package 'up until the last minute' and was said to have been largely responsible for the GOP voting against it."

Just as an aside, to show what kind of man Gingrich really is: While leading the fight to impeach President Clinton, Gingrich was conducting an illicit affair with a woman who would eventually become his third wife.

Don't you just love Republican "family values"?

But don't forget when Gingrich shut down the government in a fit of pique because Clinton made him sit in the back of the plane!


Here are two links for more dirty details on Gingrich:

http://mythandhope.blogspot.com/2008/06/gingrich-threatens-loss-of-cities.html

http://mythandhope.blogspot.com/2008/05/newt-gingrich-old-man-old-tricks.html


And here are two links for more dirty details on DeLay:

http://mythandhope.blogspot.com/2009/01/tom-welfare-delay-should-be-in-jail.html

http://mythandhope.blogspot.com/2008/06/tom-delay-calls-obama-marxist.html

The Palin fantasy world

Bill McAllister, Palin's communications director claims that the "troopergate" report accusing the governor of abuse of power, "vindicated" Ms. Palin.

At the same time, McAllister and others are questioning "how Mr. Branchflower reached the conclusion that Governor Palin abused her power with respect to Trooper Mike Wooten."

Maybe somebody ought to read the damn report to Mr. McAllister "and others."


But this is the new Republicanism. In the fantasy world inhabited by these creatures of the right:

War is peace.
Death is life.
Dictatorship is democracy.
Law is license.
Defeat is victory.
Lies are truth.
Ceding one's rights is freedom.
God is hate.
Reason is irrational.
Trust is suspicion.
Dead civilians are collateral damage.
Laws are for other folks.
Health is sickness.
Poverty is wealth.
Truth is what George W. Bush and John McSame say it is.
Sarah Palin is qualified.
Tax breaks for the rich help the poor.
The White House is for white people.
Being a POW qualifies one to be president.
A small-town mayor is a major executive.
Obama is an elitist.
Owners of 13 houses are not elitists.
Infidelity is fine if you're a Republican.
Liberalism is bad.
Republican shit is really caviar.

And, oh yeah, guilty is vindication.

Palin guilty of abuse of power

In spite of the fact that McCain campaign staffers issued a 21-page report yesterday -- before the official report was released, and without the facts of the case, and whining that "the inquiry has been muddied by innuendo, rumour and partisan politics," and further determining for the whole world that Sarah Palin was not guilty of any malfeasance in office -- the Alaskan Legislative Council voted unanimously today to release the official report by investigator Steve Branchflower which contradicted the McCain campaign's protestations of innocence.

In fact, Sarah Palin is guilty as charged of abuse of power.

Branchflower's report contained four "findings."

Don Hunter, writing for the Anchorage Daily News, says, "The first [finding] concludes that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that 'each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.'"

In other words, Palin's attempts to get her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten fired, was against the law. It was not only unethical, but illegal.

The second finding found that Monegan's refusal to fire Wooten was a "contributing factor" for his dismissal, although Palin did have the right to let him go.

The third finding says a workers compensation claim filed by Wooten was handled appropriately.

The fourth finding concluded that the attorney general's office failed to provide e-mails relative to the case.


None of this is surprising to those of us who have investigated Palin's background as mayor of Wasilla and her behavior on the campaign trail.

It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign sticks to its story that all of this was politically motivated and Poor Sarah has done nothing wrong: She's merely the target of a bunch of disgruntled political hacks who have it in for her.

But being found guilty of abuse of power, while indicative of the kind of person she is, is really not the main concern. Sarah Palin is about as unqualified to be vice president as a polar bear. She is a religious extremist and theocrat and a member of an ultra-fundamentalist Christian cult; she holds views on many subjects (abortion, sex education, teaching creationism in public schools, separation of church and state, freedom of speech, etc.) which are not shared by the majority of the American people; and her ties to the Alaska Independence Party should immediately disqualify her from holding any public office in the land.

While campaigning on the Republican ticket, her attacks on Senator Obama have been riddled with lies, rife with subtle racism, shot through with attempts to assassinate his character by raising issues long ago laid to rest, and all the while she has failed to provide anything of substance relative to the major issues facing our country.

When required to speak without her "talking points, she dribbles into comic incoherence for which there is only derision heard around the world.

She has pandered to and incited the crazies and the fruitcakes which has resulted in her rallies being filled with strange loonies who "Boo" when she mentions Obama, call out "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!" and otherwise denigrate the senator.

If McCain has any moral integrity left, he will drop her from the ticket immediately and send her back to the mooses.

Palin - Alaska's Queen

Palin is Alaska's Queen. And in Alaska, her subjects bow and scrape and "respect" her. They also ignore the fact that she abuses her office. That's to be expected, I suppose, 'cause she's so "pretty" and so "nice."

Thus, in a very queen-like manner, Governor Palin traveled from her governorship in Juneau to the little, bitty town of Wasilla where she messaged a group of "evangelical students" by telling them they needed to wend their way around the state "to make sure God's will be done here."

It all happened on June 8, at the Wasilla Assembly of God. She addressed the graduates of the "Master's Commission" program.

Queen Palin spoke for about eight minutes, referencing the New Testament epistle of Ephesians.

"What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys as you go out throughout Alaska -- I can do my part in doing things like working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline. Pray about that also. I think God's will has to be done, in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that."

She continued to say she could do things like develop Alaska's natural resources and pave the roads and ensure that the state troopers are well-equipped.

"But," she continued, "really, all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's hearts isn't right with God. And that's going to be your job."


Queen Palin used state funds for this little excursion for God! Sharon Leighow, a Palin spokeswoman, said the state paid for the trip because she was invited to the event as the governor of Alaska, not a private citizen.

Doesn't Ms. Palin have anything else to do except attend a religious commencement and give a mini-sermon to fundamentalist Christian youth, urging them to bring Alaska to Jesus? Should Alaska fund this preaching mission with taxpayer dollars?

What would be said if perchance Ms. Palin was of the Unitarian faith and attended a graduation of Unitarian students and said it didn't really matter what they believed about God, they just needed to get out and work for Alaska?


There's more about Queen Palin. The Washington Post reports that Queen Palin "has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a 'per diem' allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business."

In other words, instead of being present in the state's capitol, Queen Palin was absent more than half the time -- she was AT HOME! And the taxpayers of Alaska were financing this!

Not only so, but she's taken the children "on official out-of-town missions," for which she charged the state travel expenses. "And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife."

Queen Palin received $16,951 for her travel. "The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away.

There's much more involving traveling about the state and country on the taxpayer's dime. All of which cost the state of Alaska thousands of dollars.

Maybe it's all "legal." But it stinks. One should not claim "per diem" when one is living in one's own house. Stay in the governor's mansion! One does not need to drag one's kids all over the country for sled races and snowmobile races and to attend Christian teen centers!

Come to think of it, maybe that's all she really is - a hockey mom! But wasn't it great that she "sold" that jet on eBay?