If You Don't Know, Alaska Where Your Ballot Is

I concur with Nate Silver that something is definitely fishy about the Alaska numbers. Nowhere else in the country did the pre-election polls so wildly differ from the post-election reality. Don Young and Ted Stevens, one unspeakably corrupt and the other a convicted felon, both won their elections, apparently, despite being down by double digits in the pre-election polls. I thought there might be a backlash against the "Washington elite libruls" who punished Stevens with a conviction, but that doesn't explain Young. And it certainly doesn't explain this:

Indeed, it seems possible that the number of "questionable" ballots could be quite high. So far, about 220 thousand votes have been processed in Alaska. This compares with 313 thousand votes cast in 2004. After adding back in the roughly 50,000 absentee and early ballots that Roll Call accounts for, that would get us to 270 thousand ballots, or about a 14 percent drop from 2004. It seems unlikely that turnout would drop by 14 percent in Alaska given the presence of both a high-profile senate race and Sarah Palin at the top of the ticket.

More than unlikely. Now, I know the outcome of the Presidential race was apparent by about 4pm local time there, but you would think having a native son (well, daughter) on the ballot would seek to counteract any depressed turnout.

Shannyn Moore has a great write-up on this. And Digby says what we're all thinking:

If this were coming from anywhere but the state that had legislators who proudly belong to something they called the "Corrupt Bastards Club" (with hats!) I would adopt a wait and see attitude. As it is, I have no problem saying that this stinks to high heaven and is probably exactly what it looks like.

Something's very, very wrong.

The Latest On Troopergate et al.

Quite a few developments, actually. Michael Wooten has emerged for an interview with CNN:



Wooten doesn't come off as entirely credible here, and he admits he tasered his own son in a demonstration. I don't know where the sympathies are going to go, but the personality of Wooten vs. Palin is besides the point. The Public Safety Administrator wouldn't fire him, so Palin fired Walt Monegan. And she used her public office to settle private scores. That's the issue.

The Alaska State Legislature has now fast-tracked the investigation, which means the details will be released earlier in October and not by Halloween, as scheduled. However, while they will issue subpoenas in the case, Palin will not be compelled to testify.

The commitee, led by Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat also announced that it would meet on September 12 to issue subpoenas in the case.

But according to the release, Palin herself will not be subpoenaed. The committee still holds out hope that she will talk to indepedendent investigator Steven Branchflower voluntarily.

"We also discussed and agreed amongst ourselves that no subpoena will be issued for the Governor," said Representative Nancy Dahlstrom, R-Eagle River. "She has told the public that she intends to cooperate with the investigation, indeed, she has told the public that she welcomes the investigation and I have every faith that she means it. If necessary we can send Mr. Branchflower to wherever the Governor is, or she can give her statement to him over the telephone, whatever is most convenient for her. We recognize that her schedule is extremely busy, and we want to accommodate that."

I think the majority-Republican committee is being way too nice to Palin here. She has explicitly said that she wouldn't testify in the case. And now they've moved up their deadline, making it easier for her to elude them. Like Palin's media strategy, her strategy will be to deny any request followed by attacking them for bothering to investigate. There won't be a backlash strategy, she won't call the Alaska Legislature "effete" or "East Coast liberals," but she will certainly mourn the "witch hunt" that intrudes on her private life (all the while making sure everyone sees the results of her private life, which she'll use as a human shield).

Meanwhile, on the earmark front, it turns out that the lobbyist for Wasilla, Alaska is the lobbyist that secured the bridge to nowhere, and Palin was certainly happy with his performance while she was mayor. In fact, she's praised the earmarking done by her porkbarrel colleagues in the Congress as recently as this year:

"And our congressional delegation, God bless 'em. They do a great job for us," she said at the forum hosted by the Alaska Professional Design Council. "Representative Don Young, especially God bless him, with transportation -- Alaska did so well under the very basic provisions of the transportation act that he wrote just a couple of years ago. We had a nice bump there. We're very, very fortunate to receive the largesse that Don Young was able to put together for Alaska."

Young barely hung on in his primary race - will Palin endorse him? Will she endorse the indicted Ted Stevens, who she ran a PAC for a few years ago?

Radio silence.

AK-Sen: Toobz Tied (Actually, Not Even, He's Behind)

Ted Stevens is in for the fight of his life in Alaska against Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. A new poll commissioned by Daily Kos shows Begich with a 5-point lead on Stevens, up 48-43.

Begich is a good guy who is on the right side of a lot of issues, including net neutrality, and it's interesting that he rightly understands a neutral Internet as an economic engine.

"Net Neutrality has allowed the Internet to drive economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online. I will protect and preserve net neutrality's level playing field, so that all Alaskans -- and all Americans -- can experience the vast social and economic benefits of an open Internet connection."

"Discriminatory pricing would turn the open internet into a toll road that serves only those companies that can afford the price. Access to the internet is no longer a luxury; it's a lifeline for many Alaskans."

"I will work to see that Congress adopts public policies that will protect net neutrality, preserve an open Internet and spur the growth of Alaska's economy."

In Alaska's House seat, incidentally, Ethan Berkowitz is up by 10 points over Don "Road To Nowhere" Young.

These are a couple of my favorite races this cycle.

Coconut Road

In 2005 Don Young (R-AK) inserted an earmark into a highway bill that added money for a highway interchange on Interstate 75 near Naples, FL. That happens all the time. The problem is that he inserted it after the bill was passed by both houses of Congress, which is, what's the word, completely unconstitutional, that's it.

The Senate moved yesterday toward asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation of a $10 million legislative earmark whose provisions were mysteriously altered after Congress gave final approval to a huge 2005 highway funding bill.

In what may become the first formal request from Congress for a criminal inquiry into one of its own special projects, top Senate Democrats and Republicans have endorsed taking action in connection with the earmark that Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, inserted into the legislation.

"It's very possible people ought to go to jail," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees highway funding.

In facy, Boxer led passage of a resolution calling on the Justice Department to investigate Young.

We've seen some egregious abuses of power over the last 8 years, but this one is pretty beyond the pale. And now there's an effort to seek justice (though I don't know which Justice Department they think will do this investigating... none in the next year, that's for sure).

Young's alibi is good for a laugh.

Young's staff acknowledged yesterday that aides "corrected" the earmark just before it went to the White House for President Bush's signature, specifying that the money would go to a proposed highway interchange project on Interstate 75 near Naples, Fla. Young says the project was entirely worthy of an earmark and he welcomes any inquiry, a spokeswoman said.

"Congressman Young has always supported and welcomed an open earmark process. If Congress decides to take up the matter of this particular project, there will be no objection from Mr. Young," said Meredith Kenny, his spokeswoman. Young also sponsored a $223 million measure to build the fabled "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska, a project that was killed in 2005 after it sparked widespread outrage.

Young's critics suggest that the motive for the I-75 provision was campaign contributions from real estate developers who own 4,000 acres of land near the proposed interchange. In February 2005, developer Daniel Aronoff hosted Young and Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) at a highway safety event at Florida Gulf Coast University, followed by a fundraiser that brought in about $40,000 for Young's campaign [...]

Young's office accepted responsibility yesterday for the change, insisting that campaign contributions were not the motive. Rather, presentations made by Florida Gulf Coast University officials and the developers proved the case for the project, aides said.

That's right, Gulf Coast University gives the best Power Point presentations ever! They can convince even the stingiest of Alaska Republicans to break the law to get the funding!

I don't think earmarks are the sin that so many who want to ignore the military budget believe, but clearly Young needs to go down for this. And given his poll numbers, he will.

UPDATE: I was kind of getting at this, but this investigation is kind of a blind alley:

"Clearly, something went seriously awry before the 2005 highway funding bill was sent to the president. The question now is the best way to find out how and why this occurred. It certainly appears as if Don Young (R-AK) snuck in the earmark in exchange for campaign contributions from Florida developer Daniel Aronoff. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is to be commended for insisting that the Senate address this matter. Nevertheless, in sending the matter over to the Department of Justice, the Senate has ignored the Speech or Debate clause, which prevents law enforcement from introducing legislative material (such as an earmark in a bill) as evidence against a lawmaker. In addition, while the Senate has called for an investigation, the House undoubtedly will do everything possible to stymie such an inquiry. The House takes an expansive view of the breadth of the Speech or Debate clause. Recently, for example, the House counsel's office sought to quash a Justice Department subpoena issued to a former Appropriations committee staff member in connection with the criminal investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis's (R-CA) earmarks. The House likely will assert the same arguments here.

Given this impediment to a criminal probe, Senator Coburn's suggestion that a bicameral committee investigate the matter might have been more likely to reveal the facts, but sadly neither the House nor the Senate have a strong track record of policing and punishing the illegal or unethical conduct of their members. This situation perfectly illustrates why Congress needs an indepent ethics office -- with subpoena power -- to investigate members. The American public needs to have confidence that members of Congress are held accountable for their illegal and unethical conduct. Today's vote is nothing more than Kabuki theater given the likely constitutional impediment to a Justice Department investigation."

The Fetishization of Earmarks

So we hear a ton about earmarks. The President had steam coming out of his ears today, saying he's going to have his budget director look at "erasing wasteful spending" (I guess he found a line-item veto in his stocking this year). And Tom Coburn is rightly raising hell about how Don "Road To Nowhere" Young managed to get an earmark into the 2005 highway bill after it was voted on by both houses of Congress.

An Oklahoma senator who has been a strident critic of the "earmark favor factory" has asked for an investigation into how money was earmarked for a study of a highway interchange next to environmentally sensitive land in Florida.

The $10 million earmark was slipped into the 2005 highway spending bill, a $286.4 billion behemoth overseen by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, then chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has asked for an investigative panel with subpoena power to determine who placed the so-called Coconut Road study into the highway bill [...]

The earmark first drew the attention of Florida road planners when they learned they'd received $10 million for the study even though it wasn't one of their transportation priorities. They'd originally sought an earmark that would direct $10 million for the widening of Interstate 75 in Lee County, Fla.

An enrollment clerk changed language in the earmark after Congress had already voted on it, erasing I-75 and adding the words "Coconut Road" as it was being cleaned up to be sent to President Bush for signing.

And again, I agree with Coburn that we must investigate these extra-Constitutional means to add spending into a bill that nobody ever voted on (even though a later bill would fix the glitch and divert the money away from Coconut Road, a bill which Coburn is holding up until he can get an investigative panel). But I highlighted the amount in the bill: ten million dollars. A lot of money, to be sure, but the federal budget is in the trillions. Canceling one improper ten million-dollar earmark isn't going to get us out of our budget mess.

I'll tell you what would: reducing the obscene defense budget.

Last week, both houses of Congress approved the conference report on the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill, H.R. 1585. The bill includes $506.9 billion for the Department of Defense and the nuclear weapons activities of the Department of Energy. The bill also authorizes $189.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This funding is NOT counted as part of the $506.9 billion.

Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferation has an itemized description of what's in the budget.

The amount of Cold War lard is truly astonishing, especially given the fact that the military itself is hollering from the hilltops that it can't be responsible for all of our national security needs and that today's problems just don't have military (read "Cold War weapons systems") answers.

Keep in mind, today's defense spending is 14% above the height of the Korean War, 33% above the height of the Vietnam War, 25% above the height of the "Reagan Era" buildup and is 76% above the Cold War average.

And none of it would have stopped 19 men with boxcutters from getting on to commercial aircraft, nor will any of it get the Sunnis and Shiites to reconcile in Iraq, nor will it help lift hundreds of millions out of the crushing poverty that enables many of them to turn to radical Islam.

The defense budget is a joke. Somehow we're demagogued into believing that we must give as much money to defense contractors as possible, lest we be seen as soft on national security. That's a front for massive amounts of corporate welfare which would go a long way to balancing our budget, far longer than the spare earmark for a road.

But you'll never hear any of these so-called "pork-busters" talk about that. They'll rage against all kinds of federal spending, some of it very noble, as long as it's inserted into a bill in a particular way. Defense earmarks, which is where these two pieces of spending come together, totaled $12 billion dollars in 2005. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the total defense budget. Outdated weapons systems, useless missile defense programs, and the like are the way to fiscal responsibility, not Coconut Road.

Filibuster Friends May Be Filibustering Their Way Out Of Washington

As despondent as I am over the Democrats' tactics in this Congressional session, it's clear that the Republicans have a stated goal to shut down the government. They're already nearing the record for filibusters in one Congress, and in only half the session. And they continue to believe this obstructionism won't hurt them at the polls. We're going to find out.

There are plenty of top-tier races where Democrats have a clear edge. But take a look at these poll numbers out of Alaska, where the whole delegation is ethically compromised, and there are excellent chances to have a Democrat come out of the Great White North for the first time since Mike Gravel in the 1970s.

If 2008 election for Congress were held today, for whom would you vote for if the choices were between Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat, and Don Young, the Republican?

Young (R) 42
Berkowitz (D) 49

If 2008 election for U.S. Senate were held today, for whom would you vote for if the choices were between Mark Begich, the Democrat, and Ted Stevens, the Republican?

Stevens (R) 41
Begich (D) 47

While it would be of course great to knock out Series of Tubes Stevens and his Hulk tie, the race in Kentucky is actually more important. Mitch McConnell is schooled in the art of the Senate and has consistently outfoxed Harry Reid this year. His knowledge and expertise is a major reason they've been so successful at obstructing legislation. Beating him would not only be a payback for the defeat of former Minority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004, but it would be as meaningful as Jim Webb's victory over presumptive Presidential nominee Macaca Allen was in 2006.

Today, Andrew Horne, an Iraq war vet, took up the challenge.

Andrew Horne, who had to step down as a Senior Advisor to VoteVets.org to run this race, not only has a good shot to beat McConnell, he has a tremendous shot. That’s got us Iraq veterans pumped because not only will we have a voice in the Senate that comes from our own ranks, but we’re also going to take down the guy who is the single most responsible person in Congress for the war in Iraq, as well as the defeat of pro-troop, pro-veteran legislation.

Horne's campaign announcement is here, and he seems to absolutely understand the importance of McConnell in blocking a progressive agenda, and how both veterans and Kentuckians would be better served by his leadership.

"I'm running for U.S. Senate because it's time for a change and because Senator Mitch McConnell is more than part of the problem. He is THE problem. It is time for Kentuckians to take our government and country back. We should not be told to take a backseat to the wealthy and powerful. It's time to tackle the challenges facing our country instead of passing them off to our kids. It's time for leaders who'll take the right stand," Horne says in the video.

"Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader, symbolizes everything wrong with Washington. He bows to big business, practices the worst kind of politics, and doesn't take a stand when faced with tough issues. Simply put: Mitch McConnell carries George Bush's water on Iraq; I carried a rifle in Iraq" he added.

An early poll showed Horne just 11 points off the lead and McConnell well under 50%, and nobody even knows about him yet. I'm going to try and scrutinize these Democratic challengers closely and weed out the Bush Dogs, but so far Horne seems like a good choice.

UPDATE: Horne's campaign website.

Culture of Corruption, 4-Iron Edition

Don Young was getting a little cash in his golf bag.

The Justice Department is investigating whether an Alaska oil contractor used golf tournaments to funnel cash to Rep. Don Young, people close to the corruption investigation said.

The contractor, Rick Smith, told investigators that Young personally received cash at the events. Once an important ally who helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for Young's election committee, Smith has become a key government informant.
As part of his cooperation, Smith allowed FBI agents to record his telephone calls with the Republican congressman in a corruption sting. The former VECO Corp. vice president has pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers to support oil-friendly legislation.

It's one thing to get perks or favors in exchange for favorable legislation. Straight cash is quite another thing.

I love the alibi:

"That tournament had nothing to do with the campaign or anything official. It was just people getting together to play golf," said Young's campaign spokesman, Mike Anderson, who declined to discuss the tournaments or how often Young won. "The congressman finds it inappropriate to discuss anything connected to an ongoing investigation."

The first great thing is the contradiction between not being able to talk about anything related to the investigation and... talking about something related to the investigation. The second is this idea that it's just a bunch of buddies, all of whom have business before the Congressman, just getting together to play a little golf. How many of those businessmen got the yips when it came down to making the final putt? "Looks like you win again, Don. Here's your dough, now don't forget about this bridge to nowhere I wanna build..."

The Young And The Shameless

A couple years ago, Don Young (R - Corruption) snuck an earmark into a highway bill calling for funding a highway interchange in Florida that would benefit a real estate mogul and friend of his. Don Young's from Alaska, did I mention that? But that's not the most shocking part of this escapade:

The 'Coconut Road' earmark wasn't in the bill passed by the House and Senate. I don't mean it wasn't in the original bills before they went to conference (where the separate bills from the House and the Senate are reconciled into a single bill). It wasn't in the final, reconciled piece of legislation passed by both houses of Congress after conference.

But it is there now.

So here's what happened. Apparently Young added the text after Congress had already passed it but before the president signed it. As Laura McGann explains in this post, this must have occurred during the process called "bill enrollment" when revisions of grammar and technical but not substantive changes are permitted to be made.

The president did sign the bill. But the portion apparently added by Young, if I understand anything about our system of government, was never passed by Congress. So it means nothing.

Not only that, the county in Florida which was the beneficiary of the earmark voted to send it back and disassociate themselves from Young's dirty dealing. And his constituents back home are turning on him, protesting him at public events while wearing pig masks. But Young's got a whole new problem.

A Justice Department corruption task force is investigating whether Alaska Congressman Don Young took campaign cash in return for securing $10 million for construction of a proposed Florida highway ramp that would give a windfall to a local real estate developer, a source familiar with the inquiry said Friday.

The controversial funding, which was to pay for a study of the potential highway interchange abutting environmentally sensitive land, was slipped into a massive 2005 Transportation Department bill, congressional aides say.

Investigators’ interest in the Florida earmark stems in part from its timing. In the two weeks before and after the earmark was inserted in the spending bill, Young’s campaign and political action committee collected contributions from the Florida developer, Daniel Aronoff, and Aronoff's lobbyist as well as a number of other Florida business executives. The Florida donations, mainly from real estate interests, totaled more than $40,000.

Young sees himself as someone whose entire goal in Congress is to bring back money to his state and for his contributors. He views government as an ATM machine. And now he's been caught making one too many withdrawals.

Hat Trick In Alaska

Don "Bridge To Nowhere" Young was the "most likely Republican to be under criminal investigation" for a while now, and apparently that has come to pass:

The Wall Street Journal reports that 18-term Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is under criminal investigation for his dealings with Alaska oil services company Veco Corp.

While the investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) ties to Veco, including the remodeling of his Girdwood home, has been widely reported, this is the first time Young has been implicated in the scandal.

If you add in Lisa Murkowski's shady riverfront land deal, then every single member of the Alaska delegation in Congress, Republicans all, are either under suspicion or under formal investigation.

As for Young, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. He's obviously been raiding the federal treasury for decades now, and using the appropriations process to make himself and his business buddies rich. That's what he sees as his role as an Alaska congressman. Truly. Look at this outburst when a fellow Republican offered an amendment to an education bill that would take funds out of a native Hawaii and Alaska bill:



Aside from "you want MY money" and the digs on New Jersey and Young referring to himself as a mink who will bite people, my favorite part is when he calls Alaska a "new state." Um, 1959 was a WHILE ago. Yet Young pulls that out to justify appropriations robbery under the guise of "representing his state." Because that's all a representative is to him. A profit-taker.

UPDATE: And apparently, Stevens and Young will face formidable challenges from the left AND right. Should be a fun 2008 in the tundra.

The Alaskan Corruption Tundra

Alaska is a small state way up in the Northern Tier (lovely place, by the way, you should visit sometime). Somehow, its legislators have grown incredibly powerful, and have used that power to deliver favors far outside their state:

It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors. Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road.

The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers, Fla., that touches five golf clubs on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, is the target of a $10 million earmark that appeared mysteriously in a 2006 transportation bill written by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska.

Mr. Young, who last year steered more than $200 million to a so-called bridge to nowhere reaching 80 people on Gravina Island, Alaska, has no constituents in Florida.

The Republican congressman whose district does include Coconut Road says he did not seek the money. County authorities have twice voted not to use it, until Mr. Young and the district congressman wrote letters warning that a refusal could jeopardize future federal money for the county.

The Coconut Road money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.

Mr. Aronoff owns as much as 4,000 acres along Coconut Road. The $10 million in federal money would pay for the first steps to connect the road to Interstate 75, multiplying the value of Mr. Aronoff’s land.

This is par for the course for Young, a former chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and it's redolent of the "pay to play" nature of the Congressional strategy of the GOP. And another feature of lawmakers like Young is their sunny nobility in the face of such corruption questions:

When he was approached near the House floor by a reporter, Mr. Young responded with an obscene gesture.

One of Young's counterparts in Alaska, Sen. Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens, has been told to hang on to his records because the FBI might want to take a look at them.

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, disclosed in an interview that the FBI asked him to preserve records as part of a widening investigation into Alaskan political corruption that has touched his son and ensnared one of his closest political confidants and financial backers.

Stevens, who is famous for bringing home federal earmarks for Alaska when he was Appropriations Committee chairman, was not previously known to be linked to the Justice Department's probe, which has uncovered evidence that more than $400,000 worth of bribes were given to state lawmakers in exchange for favorable energy legislation.

Investigators have used secret recording equipment, seized documents and cooperating witnesses to secure the indictments of four current and former state lawmakers, including the former state House speaker, shaking the core of Alaska's Republican Party.

Two executives of a prominent energy company have pleaded guilty to bribery and extortion charges and are cooperating with the inquiry, which is being run by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and includes two federal prosecutors and FBI agents based in Anchorage.

"They put me on notice to preserve some records," Stevens said in a brief interview about his legal team's discussions with the FBI. He declined to say what kinds of records were involved but confirmed that he had hired lawyers and that his son, former state Senate president Ben Stevens, "is also under investigation."

When you think of big-city corruption, you think of Chicago, or Tammany Hall-era New York. Typically you don't think about Anchorage. Maybe you should.

More Congressmen Who Aren't Real Conservatives

Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida:

The FBI has asked U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney for information about his dealings with Jack Abramoff as part of its ongoing investigation into the lobbyist convicted of defrauding clients.

FBI agent Kevin Luebke refused to say whether Feeney, a Republican from the Orlando area, is under federal investigation.

Federal agents also have asked the St. Petersburg Times for an email sent to the newspaper by Feeney's office describing a golfing trip the congressman took with Abramoff to Scotland in 2003.

Rep. Don "Bridge To Nowhere" Young of Alaska:

Yet another shoe drops in the Jack Abramoff investigation. A former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Mark Zachares, looks set to plead guilty to corruption charges.

The Justice Department filed a criminal information today on Zachares, laying out the facts to which he'll be pleading guilty. You can read it here. A plea hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow.

According to the document, Zachares and Abramoff had what they called their "two year plan": Zacheres would work for Abramoff on the inside, taking advantage of his congressional position to throw business Abramoff's way, and eventually, when Zachares left Congress, Abramoff would reward him. As the information reads: Abramoff "would 'credit' Zachares with the 'business' Zachares... referred or developed for Abramoff's firm, and would ultimately employ Zachares as a lobbyist credited 'with business,' warranting a high annual salary."

'Course, we already knew Young wasn't a real conservative because last week he hired a lawyer to defend himself from this imminent charges.

Man, with all of these Republicans in office who aren't real conservatives, maybe this isn't a conservative country after all!

Dept. of Not Smart Republican Presidential Candidates

You shall be known by who you hire for your campaign. Case in point number one, from long-shot Duncan Hunter:

In his latest appeal to the Republican base, Duncan Hunter has named Dr. Henry Jordan as his South Carolina campaign co-chair. This Henry Jordan:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (May 16, 1997 12:25 p.m. EDT) -- A state Board of Education member, talking Tuesday about displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools, had a ready suggestion for groups who might object to it.

"Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims," Dr. Henry Jordan said during the board's finance and legislative committee meeting. "And put that in the minutes," he added.

The remarks made Tuesday were expunged from the written minutes, but were recorded on tape. The (Columbia) State obtained the tape under the Freedom of Information Act.

Jordan, a surgeon who failed in a bid to get the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 1994, said Thursday he thought the meeting was over and members were engaged in private conversation.

His apology was "Is this thing on?"

Case in point number two, from Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas:

Exclusive: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee plans to make a splash on Capitol Hill on Friday with the surprising announcement that Rep. Don Young of Alaska has signed on as congressional chairman of his Republican presidential exploratory committee.

In a letter to House Republicans, Young says Huckabee will help produce “a reawakening of the conservative values that make our country a land of opportunity.”

What The Politico doesn't mention, because it would require actual reporting and analysis, is that Don Young is the same guy who called for the summary execution of 250 members of Congress on the House floor, claimed that the quote came from Abraham Lincoln when it didn't, and then refused to correct the record even after acknowledging that the quote was false.

Huckabee's supposed to be the sharp dark-horse candidate, right?

Your Liberal Media

There were 3 stories on the House debate in the LA Times today, two SPECIFICALLY about the debate itself (here and here) and what various Congressmen said. Don Young's bogus Abraham Lincoln pro-hanging quote didn't rate a mention.

Yet Amanda Marcotte said mean angry things on the Internets and that gets splashed across the front page.

The other Times article even had this passage.

During the House debate, 392 of the chamber's 434 current members spoke. Many of the lawmakers sprinkled their speeches with quotations from President Lincoln, Napoleon and other historic figures.

...without saying that the Lincoln quote was bogus and the utterer of that quote called for the hanging of 246 members of Congress.

Pathetic. I'll be sending a letter.

The Answer Is Ignorant

Yesterday I wondered if Don Young was either stupid or ignorant when he read a quote on the House floor attributed to Abraham Lincoln that was completely fabricated. I have my answer.

This morning, Young’s spokeswoman Meredith Kenny told ThinkProgress repeatedly that Young does not plan to take any action to correct the record or clarify his House statement.

Kenny said that Young had learned of the quote from Tuesday’s Washington Times op-ed by Frank Gaffney, and noted that the Times has not yet issued a correction or retraction. Kenny said she “couldn’t confirm or deny” that Young would correct his statement even if the Times published a correction.

Kenny added that Young didn’t literally mean that those supporting the Iraq resolution should be “hanged,” merely that they should not be “undermining the morale of our military.”

Ignorant, and worse yet, willfully ignorant, knowing full well that the quote is fake but choosing not to fix it until the source where he read it does the same.

The postscript, where Young benevolently suggests that he isn't actually calling for the hanging of 250 US Congressmen, is charming. Nice to know that my represenative in Congress will be allowed to live for one more day as long as he watches his step.

Stupid or Ignorant?

This is a question I often have about Republicans. Ignorant I can deal with, ignorant is treatable through knowledge. Stupid, I got nothing.

A case in point: just now on the House floor, Don Young used the same bogus Lincoln quote that was thoroughly debunked on the Internet after showing up on the front page of the Washington Times. Lincoln never called for the hanging of Congressmen, and even the author who attributed the quote to him has admitted that.

And yet, Young still used the quote.

Does he KNOW that it's completely fabricated, but it sounds good in the mouth of someone of Lincoln's stature, or did he see it on the front page of the Moonie Times and assume it was true and never bother to check any further? Which is it? Like I said, I think ignorance is the better option.