Ann Coulter is under investigation for voter fraud--again. Pretty amazing stuff, especially since you'd think she would know the laws given she's a lawyer.
The best part of this whole thing is that the person who filed the complaint is a conservative.
Get the details at Huffington Post.
NewMajority.com reports:
Despite the Republican National Committee's promise to donate Sarah Palin's $180,000 campaign wardrobe to charity, word has it the Alaska governor's clothes remain stuffed in trash bags at RNC headquarters, NewMajority has learned.
While Palin followed through on her promise to return her controversial wardrobe after the election, it seems the RNC has not followed through on its promise to give most of the clothes away.
During the 2008 campaign, GOP vice presidential candidate Palin was pummeled with accusations that she had overspent on clothes for herself, and even for her family -- down to baby Trig. Palin asserted at the time that the clothes belonged to the RNC. They were not her property and would be returned at the end of the campaign. A campaign spokeswoman backed up those claims, saying, "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign." It was also understood that those that had not been worn would be returned to the appropriate retailer; those that had been worn would be used for some other purpose, perhaps auctioned off for charity or to retire campaign debt.
Read the full report here.
Kristol's New York Times column this week, "Continuity We Can Believe In," is so astonishingly awful that I don't even have much material to deal with. More importantly, my fear--that his column is coming to an end after his one year contract is up--must be true. How else can I explain exactly how short this column falls?
Billy does make one point clear. For some time, he's dedicated to fear-mongering when it comes it Iran. But first things first.
Billy's disappointed with Obama's dog choice (Labradoodle or Portuguese water dog) announced on This Week.
I think Billy thought he was being clever by "hiding" a dig at Obama and his team. You know, with that whole dog-reflects-owners bit. Anyway, Billy used this no drama comment to talk about all of the lack of change he sees about when it comes to Obama's announcements and signals, thus far.
Because Obama agreed with Cheney's advice not to implement his campaign rhetoric until he’s fully briefed on the details of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policy; because Obama is going to work on important issues like the economy and the crisis in Gaza first; and because he knows that dealing with Hamas is an extremely complex situation--all of this means, in Billy's little mind, that there won't be any change with Obama.
I guess you really can hear what you want.
Then, Billy turns to Iran:
On Iran, Obama did say he’d be taking “a new approach,” that “engagement is the place to start” with “a new emphasis on being willing to talk.” But he also reminded Stephanopoulos that the Iranian regime is exporting terrorism through Hamas and Hezbollah and is “pursuing a nuclear weapon that could potentially trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.” He said his willingness to talk would be combined with “clarity about what our bottom lines are” — one of them presumably being, as he’s said before, no Iranian nuclear weapons. And he demonstrated a sense of urgency — “we anticipate that we’re going to have to move swiftly in that area.”
So: After talks with Iran (if they happen) fail to curb Iran’s nuclear program, but (perhaps) impress other nations with our good faith, we’ll presumably get greater international support for sanctions. That will also (unfortunately) fail to deter Iran. “Engagement is the place to start,” Obama said, but it’s not likely to be the place Obama ends. He’ll end up where Bush is — with the choice of using force or acquiescing to the idea of a nuclear Iran.
So, all of that Billy for the two graphs of what you really meant to say: talks with Iran, if they happen at all, will fail. Then Obama will have to make a decision whether to act militarily or deal with the idea of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon (if that premise is even right).
Really. You needed all that space to say that? Maybe the New York Times should have given you a weekly blog post instead of a column. Billy's columns just become increasingly inexcusable.
Read more Mondays With Billy here.
Read why I'll miss Billy here.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew his commerce secretary nomination from Obama's cabinet due to a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors attained a lucrative state contract.
From AP:
Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case.
A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a New Mexico transportation contract worth more than $1 million. Richardson said in a statement issued by the Obama transition office that the investigation could take weeks or months but expressed confidence it will show he and his administration acted properly.
My earlier idea that Hillary should try to re-negotiate out of Secretary of State and into Secretary of Health and Human Services was circumvented--Tom Daschle has it.
AP reports:
Daschle's selection to head the Health and Human Services Department — confirmed Wednesday but not yet announced — isn't at the same level of Cabinet prestige as the top spots at the State and Justice departments. But the health post could be more important in an Obama administration than in some others, making Daschle a key player in helping steer the president-elect's promised health care reforms.
Apparently the best strategy is to rush it:
The former South Dakota senator said efforts during the Clinton administration, led by Mrs. Clinton, took too long and went into too much detail, giving every interest group an opportunity to find something they didn't like about the plan.
"The next president should act immediately to capitalize on the goodwill that greets any incoming administration. If that means attaching a health care plan to the federal budget, so be it," Daschle wrote in a book he released this year, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health care Crisis." "This issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol."
And how about this ironic complaint:
Republicans sniped at what they saw as an unwelcome trend. Alex Conant, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, "Barack Obama is filling his administration with longtime Washington insiders."
How was it that McCain staffed his top campaign advisers again?
Allen McDuffee is a political reporter, investigative journalist and blogger. From 2011 to 2013 he covered policy, politics, ideas and think tanks for The Washington Post and has also written for The Nation, The American Prospect, Huffington Post and New York Observer, among others. Read more.
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