Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:
Huckabee's Conversion on Illegal Immigration - The Fastest Recovery in Political
HistoryRomney's Faith in America Speech - What does it mean for the Evangelical
VoteThe White House Press Corp's Crazy Aunt in the Attic - Some of Helen Thomas'
Latest EmissionsNewt Gingrich on the CNN-YouTube Debate - Selection Bias at the
NetworkMoral Equivalence Run Amok - on Slate's Political GabfestAdvice to a New
Recruit in Iraq - Write your Momma Every Day
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Huckabee's Conversion on Illegal Immigration - The
Fastest Recovery in Political History I'm no fan of Mike Huckabee. His stand on
taxation and big government drive me up the wall. Take this interchange during the CNN-YouTube debate
on the question of federal support for a trip to Mars.
Play clip.
You've
got to love Tancredo's realistic conservative comeback to Huckabee's call for more
money. Later on Romney said that it reminded him of being Governor of Massachusetts,
where people were constantly coming to him with great ideas that were wastes of
taxpayer money. Another Huckabee flaw is his support for scholarships for illegal
immigrants while governor of Arkansas. He was confronted about this expertly by
George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week last Sunday. Thanks to the Corner for pointing out a post by David
Sanders of the Arkansas News Bureau.
Play clip.
I'm going to read
David Sanders posting here:His logic capsized. Apparently for Huckabee, withholding
college scholarships or in-state tuition from the children of illegal immigrants is
tantamount to the state "punishing" students for the sins of their parents, but
withholding Pell grants or financial aid from the children of illegal immigrants is
tantamount to the federal government simply not "rewarding" these same students for
the sins of their parents?
He is trying to have it both ways.
Stephanopoulos reduced Huckabee, who is often lauded for his rhetorical prowess,
to the role of a verbal contortionist who tried to bend and spin his way out of
unfamiliar territory. But when he forced Huckabee to project onto the presidency the
logic and reasoning that guided him as governor, he exposed an incongruent position
and an inherent weakness on an issue important to Republicans.
So with that
performance behind him, the current Iowa front-runner Huckabee has been backpedaling
fast. Today, four days later, he posted
his Plan for Immigration Enforcement and Border Security. It's a decent
comprehensive plan to address the problem on the federal level, where most agree it
should be dealt with. States and localities have been forced into silly positions by
the millions of people who the federal government has allowed into the country
illegally. The problem is that he came by this plan only after being called on it by
a liberal media person like Stephanopoulos, formerly Clinton's press secretary. Can
you imagine how his position on evolution vs. Intelligent Design will resound among
the Democrats and independents in November, should he win the nomination? It won't be
pretty.
Romney's Faith in America Speech - What does it mean for the
Evangelical Vote
It's no secret that Romney has trouble convincing
evangelical Christians that it would be safe to nominate a member of the LDS church
for President. Many of the Christian conservatives just don't like what the church
stands for, nor their aggressive conversion and missionary efforts. His religion is
also a problem for the Democrats, who don't like anyone who wears their faith so
openly. It makes liberals feel creepy. Here is NPR's Robert
Seigel talking to Romney on religion last week. Thanks to the Corner for the pointer.
Play clip.
This problem of
Romney's membership, and leadership, in the LDS church has been talked about
frequently by the pundits on TV. Today, he gave a speech attempting to address the
issues. His talk was modeled, claims the media, on a talk John F. Kennedy's gave as
the Democratic nominee for President, when he attempted to address concerns with his
Catholic faith. Here's a short clip from that speech
to religious leaders in Houston, Texas on September 12, 1960, less than a month
before the general election.
Play clip.
This speech is widely credited
with enabling non-Catholics to feel safe voting for Kennedy in 1960. Romney felt he
needed the same kind of response, so that religious conservatives in the Republican
party were comfortable with his candidacy. Unlike Catholics in 1960, who represented
somewhere around 25% of the electorate, the 4.9 milion members of the LDS chuch today
are less than 2% of the U.S. population. This makes Romney's hill a bit steeper to
climb than what Kennedy faced. Here is an excerpt from today's speech by Romney at
the campus of Texas A&M University at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in
College Station, Texas. Thanks to C-SPAN for the
audio, and the Corner for the transcript.
Play clip.
Byron York on the Corner on National Review Online had this to say after the speech:I just
spoke with Oran Smith [of the Palmetto Family Council], who watched the speech in
Columbia, South Carolina with a small group of religious conservatives. (He convened
the group at the request of CNN, which watched the speech with them.) Smith told me
that he liked the speech, and thought Romney had helped himself, but that reaction
was mixed within the group.
"I was the most enthusiastic," Smith said, "because
there were several things that resonated with me that only an evangelical would
notice. For instance, he talked about the coldness and deadness of religion in
Europe. That is something that is talked about in evangelical churches almost every
Sunday - somebody will say, 'The mission trip to Wales is starting next week.' Mike
Huckabee might say something like that, but that's not something you would say unless
you had a really good speechwriter or you were very tuned in to evangelicalism."
Who knows if it will stem the rising tide of Huckabee among the
Republicans in Iowa. I can only hope.
The White House Press Corp's Crazy Aunt in
the Attic - Some of Helen Thomas' Latest Emissions Helen Thomas has a front seat
for every White House Press Briefing, and manages to say something stupid,
irritating, and downright wrong in just about every news conference. Here is an
except from several recent episodes of the Helen Show. The first is from November 28,
when she misread a news report that said the following.BAGHDAD, Nov. 27 -- American
troops in Iraq killed at least five people, including a child, when they fired on
vehicles trying to drive through roadblocks in two separate episodes over the past
two days, military officials and witnesses said Tuesday.
Beyond that, at least 30
other people were killed or found dead on Tuesday, including three women and three
policemen in Baquba, who were killed by a suicide bomber disguised as a shepherd.The
headline: 35 Are Killed in Iraq, 5 by U.S. Troops
Here's Helen's spin on the news, begging not for a response so much as the heavens to
open and President Bush to resign and hand the reigns of power over to Helen
herself.Thanks to the Media Blog on National Review online for the pointers to the best bits, and to the White House web site for the audio.
Play clip.
No Helen, it was not 35 killed by Americans, it was 5 killed by Americans, and
30 more murdered by the enemy. Fool. Here's another. It starts with another media
type asking for comment, and Helen comes back with her question.
Play clip.
No Helen, the President does not want Hillary elected. Fool. Finally, here she is
at her most incomprehensible self, asking about troop withdrawals. How Dana Perino
can put up with her on a daily basis is a mystery to me.
Play clip.
Move
on, indeed. Helen is a fool and should pull herself out of the White House Press
Corps. She was interviewed by the Huffington Post the other day. Here's what the good Helen had to say about
mistakes by the press:What would you say to a young reporter who, in their
exuberance, published something that turns out to not be true?
If it isn't too
earth-shaking, then I would assure them, "This is what you did wrong..." and give
them a second chance. But I don't think you get another chance if you make a mistake
involving a big story.
Do you think technology is changing that? That a good
reporter will always find a venue because there are so many media outlets now?
No, but I do think it is kind of sad when everybody who owns a laptop thinks
they're a journalist and doesn't understand the ethics. We do have to have some sense
of what's right and wrong in this job. Of how far we can go. We don't make
accusations without absolute proof. We're not prosecutors. We don't assume.
So
if there's this amateur league of journalists out there, trying to do what you
do...
It's dangerous.
What makes it dangerous? Isn't more information
always better?
Not necessarily. Not if it isn't true. It could be out there
and it could really muck up the whole picture. I'm not trying to suppress
information; I'm just saying you have to be very careful.
My advice is simply
try, as best you can, to only write the truth and try to check everything, and I
think you just hope for the best. And, certainly, if someone gives you a story, I
think you have to look a gift horse in the mouth. You have to find out why they're
peddling it to you.
Always question why anybody does things. That's probably
good advice for anybody.So Helen, if it's such good advice, why don't you take it
yourself?
Newt Gingrich on the CNN-YouTube Debate - Selection Bias at
the Network
C-SPAN had Newt Gingrich on Book TV for one of their three hour interview sessions, talking about his
books, politics, government, and the media. I spent the morning Sunday with the TV on
listening while I did a little kitchen remodel. My wife asked why he doesn't run for
President. I think his history as a target for Democratic anger and bile would make
it tough for him to run. His negatives are just too high at this point. But he is a
great thinker. He was asked his opinion on political debates. That's all Newt needs
to go on a bender with a dozen great ideas in the space of two minutes and ten
seconds.
Play clip.
Clearly if they get 5,000 questions to chose from,
they can pick any political angle they want. And what they wanted was questions that
put all Republicans on the defensive. Their claim that it was to separate the
candidates rings hollow. They picked the silliest nuts they could find to embarrass
the candidates. Moral Equivalence Run Amok - on Slate's Political Gabfest
I listen
to the Slate Magazine Political Gabfest Podcast
every week, even though I disagree with almost everything they say. Last week
they discussed the situation with the arrested English elementary teacher in the
Sudan. This section starts off with David Plotz, who can barely speak out loud in
front of his coworkers, rightly stating that the Sundaese are insane. (My advice to
David: breath. It's called a diaphragm. Use it) But Emily Bazelon thinks that all
fundamentalists are equally crazy, it's just that the Muslim ones have more power.
Sure, Emily. Watch out for those fanatical Lutherans trying to get you to eat their
marshmallow lemon jellow in the shape of the great Satan.
Play clip.
Sure
the Jewish settlers would be the same as the saber wielding maniacs in the Sudan.
She's a nutter. Advice to a New Recruit in Iraq - Write your Momma Every Day
I've
been unable to join most of the Pentagon Blogger's Round
Table conference calls lately, due to business commitments. The Pentagon invites
around 50 bloggers to around 10-15 calls a week with an assortment of soldiers,
officers, State Department Provincial Reconstruction Team members, and others who are
dying to get the true story of Iraq out to the people of America. I was able to join
one back on November 15, with BG Boozer, Deputy Commanding General for Multi-National
Division North, talking about operation Iron Hammer and Its progress. The story was
positive, but guarded. The military is having success reducing the violence and
bringing essential services to the Iraqi people. We are training the Iraqi security
forces to be able to take over when we leave, and the political progress is working
from the ground up, if not the top down. All good stuff. Challenges remain with
insurgents, special groups funded by Iran, and Al Qaeda holdouts. But the enemy is
having fewer and fewer successful operations, and fewer good guys are dying or
getting hurt. I took the call while riding the train from Portland to Seattle, so
pardon the noise. I asked about Iranian weapons. Here's that question:
Play
clip.
The General remarked early on that his son will be in Iraq next month,
and I asked him what advice he gave him. The answer touched me deeply.
Play clip.
What a great piece of advice. I would give my son, if he
were ever to serve in the military exactly the same suggestion. Call your momma every
day.
That's it for now, podcatchers. I'm Charlie Quidnunc reporting from cold and
snowy Helena, MT.
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