This is the way Jack Abramoff described Ralph Reed in an email to his partner in crime Michael Scanlon. Both Abramoff and Scanlon have plead guilty to corruption charges in the lobbying scandal that is still being played out in Washington, DC. The clip below is from Bill Moyers’ recent “Capitol Crimes” on PBS. The email from Abramoff to Scanlon was first reported in the Washington Post in June of 2005.
As the first director of the Christian Coalition, Reed has been a rising star in the theocon faction of the Republican Party for nearly twenty years. His political career appears to be over due to a loss in the primary to become Georgia’s Lt. Gov., but he is still seen as a spokesperson of the religious right as evidenced by his recent week-long exchange with Jim Wallis at Wallis’ God’s Politics blog.
Here’s hoping the religious right can find spokespersons with a bit more public ethics. They deserve better than Ralph Reed.
Wow. Check out this article in Advertising Age. Bob Dylan’s new album, Modern Times, has topped the charts again. A big reason is the iTunes/iPod commercial he’s in. Looks like Steve Jobs and Apple have the power to influence the music buying public more than I thought.
Today is the last day to register if you want to vote in the election on November 7, 2006. Instructions on how to register can be found at the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.
Today in The Washington Post Alan Cooperman writes that Evangelical Christian support for the GOP has fallen by 21 percentage points. According to a Pew Research Center Poll 57% of white evangelicals plan to vote Republican this year compared to 78% in 2004.
Politically, this is terrible for Republicans. I’m not sure what it means for the Dems or what it says about those (on both the right and left) who claim their politics are god’s politics.
Hopefully, what this does mean is that the politics of fear and division is on the decline. That churches and persons of faith have been the vehicle for this tactic is outrageous.
Bill Moyers is back. (I’m not sure he ever really left.) This month PBS is airing three of his documentaries under the series title, Moyers on America. Tonight’s installment is the first, is called “Capitol Crimes” and focuses on the problem of money and corruption in Congress and how the system can be fixed.
It’s been getting cooler here in the ‘Ville lately. And cooler temps mean two things at our house. Cuddle weather and soup. Don’t worry, this post isn’t about cuddling, it’s about cooking.
We have a fine Italian meatball soup in the fridge, and I’ve been pairing it with sandwiches or bread for a couple days now. Last night I decided to kick it up a notch. I made mayonnaise.
Oh, my. Why don’t I do this a couple times a week? Why do we buy mayonnaise at all? It’s the simplest thing in the world to make and I’m gonna tell you how right now. Get your blender ready. Check. Get an egg, some dijon mustard (any will do), and some lemon juice. Check. Get a cup of olive oil ready. Check. Put the egg and a tablespoon each of the lemon juice and mustard in the blender. Done. Blend for 20 seconds. Remove feed tube. With blender running, slowly pour olive oil in. It’s gonna get nice and thick. Yeah. When done turn off blender. Add salt and pepper to taste, not too much though. Pulse. Grab some bread and slather that nectar of the gods all over it. If you don’t eat it all right then, refrigerate and throw away after 24 hours (it’s the whole raw egg thing).
Now, again, why do I buy mayonnaise at all? This is so much better than Helmann’s, or FMV or whatever else I find at the store down the street. Plus, buy making my own I’m exerting a bit of independence from the dominant food economy that brought us all those spinach problems. And since my eggs come fresh every two weeks I’m supporting a local farmer. I love food justice. It tastes great.
I guess you can tell this detainee bill fiasco is really under my skin. Read Molly Ivins’ column on truthdig for an example of what type of behavior we legalized last week and a few points on how Bill Frist and others “improved” the compromise bill.
Check out this post and transcript from Fox News at The Daily Kos. Highlights include Bill Kristol saying Bush can’t do anything about Iraq until after the election and the anchor laying the deaths in Iraq between now and then at Bush’s feet. (Kristol also says democracy has it’s drawbacks.) Unfortunately, I think the “thing” they want to see happen is for more troops to be sent. Ugh.
I’ve heard this song live at Clifton’s Pizza in Louisville. (Do follow the link and click on the play button.) It’s a scream. I laughed out loud. Today, I listen and I cry. Today, after last week’s passage of the detainee treatment bill this and any future President & Sec. of Defense can declare someone, anyone, an enemy combatant and basically strip them of rights we hold dear.
In the words of a New York Times news analysis: “In effect it allows the president to identify enemies, imprison them indefinitely and interrogate them — albeit with a ban on the harshest treatment — beyond the reach of the full court reviews traditionally afforded criminal defendants and ordinary prisoners.”
From New York to LA, editorial boards are decrying the passage of this bill.
What can we do about it? There are many options, one is to join Amnesty International and sign the pledge to restore America as the world leader in human rights.
This month the 25th Anniversary DVD of Warren Beatty’s movie Reds hits the shelves. It’s the first time the movie has been released on DVD. Beatty (interviewed in the NY Times Magazine today) won a Best Director Oscar and the movie should have won Best Picture (Chariots of Fire won instead).
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. It mixes revolutionary idealism with romance. It made me a life-long fan of Dianne Keaton. Add Jack Niocholson as Eugene O’Neil, and you can’t go wrong.
