This is not good. Apparently, Chellie Pingree, the President of Common Cause, is being investigated for campaign finance shenanigans. I have to agree with the FEC attorney on this one – even on the off-chance that Pingree didn’t try to circumvent the law, why on earth was the president of CC soliciting soft money anyway? It sounds like the organization is backing Pingree, when the best thing would be to let her dangle. If you’re trying to eliminate soft money from politics, it’s probably best to choose a leader who hasn’t begged for it in the past.
Month: June 2003
Don’t Call it a Cover-Up.
Typical. While the term “WMD” gets more and more broadly defined by Dubya, Fleischer et al, the GOP issues a lockdown on joint and open hearings into the Bushies’ use of CIA intelligence, since “criticism of the intelligence agencies has been divisive and could hurt national security.” Um…wouldn’t misuse of intelligence agency information to start a war compromise national security too?
Rogue Exterminator.
Interesting…Tom De Lay has refused Dubya’s call to pass the child tax credit. “Ain’t going to happen,” replied the Exterminator. “The last time I checked, he doesn’t have a vote.” While De Lay’s recalcitrance probably helps Dubya/Rove achieve “triangulation,” I wonder if the White House will make De Lay pay…perhaps by allowing Dems to look into his abuse of Homeland Security mentioned the other day.
The Smoking Gun.
Speaking of the Exterminator, his successor as Majority Whip – Roy Blunt – has recently illustrated De Lay-levels of corruption with his attempt to protect Phillip Morris from terrorism in the Homeland Security Act. “Blunt’s attempt became known only to a small circle of House and White House officials. They kept it quiet, preferring no publicity on a matter involving favors for the nation’s biggest tobacco company and possible claims of conflicts of interest.” Strange how the GOP always seems to promote its sketchiest members to the whip.
Preemptive Looting.
Thanks to some clever and courageous antiquarians on staff (and no thanks to the Pentagon), it turns out the Baghdad museum was not as irretrievably looted as earlier feared (although keep an eye out on Ebay for the Warka face and vase.) That’s great news for ancient historians and archivists the world over. (By way of A Small Victory.)
Junior Jedis and Morose Marsupials.
Two fun links stolen from Quiddity today: Star Wars celebrity yearbooks and Skippy the Goth Kangaroo. “What’s that, Skip? Lord Oberon, Darkness of the Night, has fallen down the well?“
Know thy enemy.
The Boston Globe sheds a little light into the dark corridors of oppo research. Of course we already know Dubya was a alcoholic cokehead who went AWOL for a year to escape a drug test and had so little sense that he’d drive around drunk…and we still elected him for four years. So skeletons in the closet just ain’t what they used to be.
Small Man in a Big State.
Word on the street is Jeff Van Gundy has decided on the Rockets over the Wizards. To my mind, Houston just became a dangerous team to meet in the first round. Rudy T may be the nicest guy in the world, but Houston’s offense this past year was embarrassingly bad…basically Steve Francis, Moochie Norris, or Cuttino Mobley would speed to the hole and try to score 1-on-5 while Yao stood around looking confused. With a disciplined O and Van Gundy’s trademark tenacious D, the Rockets could turn a few heads next year.
Elves and Agents.
Still no word on when the trailer arrives (I had assumed New Line would’ve used it to prop up Dumb and Dumberer‘s opening weekend, and the next high-profile studio project isn’t until Freddy Vs. Jason on August 15), but some minor RotK news has leaked out recently involving Agent Smith at the Pelennor Fields. Very minor spoilers for non-trilogy readers. Update: Speaking of agents, Dark Horizons is reporting that the Wachowskis will write a V for Vendetta screenplay. Interesting…although I think I’d rather see their King Conan project with John Milius go through first.
When you give a banquet, invite the poor (Luke 14:13)
“I have to ask though, why do Republicans hate the word of God?,” queries Mega of Triptych Cryptic as he points the way to some biblical passages apparently not included in Dubya’s daily bible study. Not on this list but equally valid in appraising the Bushies’ selective Christianity: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25) Now there’s one you don’t hear very often from the likes of The 700 Club.