Is John McCain the last sane man in the Republican party?
You can make a good case for the fact that he is.
Start with this thought: Mike Huckabee is the clear choice of a large vocal and powerful wing of the Republican party. It is 2007, and Mike Huckabee does not believe in evolution. He has said: “If you want to believe you came from apes, fine. I don’t believe me and my family came from apes.”
And this is the man many Republicans believe would be the best to lead them into the future. A future perhaps lit only by fire, as Huckabee and his party have little use for science that challenges the precepts of their religion.
Mike Huckabee has won primaries in 8 states, including Iowa, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana. A case can be made that if you remove the cross-over independent votes that McCain attracted, Huckabee is the choice of a plurality if not majority of Republicans.
This is the Party of Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.
Ahh…Ronald Wilson Reagan. Every Republican wants to claim his mantle. Every Republican wants to claim they are his rightful heir.
Just how would Reagan fair today, as Governor of California, running for President?
Well, for the right wing fiscal conservatives, he would have to explain why in his first year of Governor of California, he pushed through the largest tax increase in the history of California. Granted, Reagan (being Reagan) returned those tax increases with rebates in the following years once he balanced the budget. But the fact remains Reagan as Governor, like George HW Bush, as President, raised taxes when he needed to.
For the social conservatives, Reagan would have the tough time of explaining why he signed the most liberal abortion rights bill in the nation when he was Governor of California. Always a personal opponent of abortion, Reagan never did one thing politically to restrict a woman’s right to abortion.
Mike Huckabee would wipe the floor with candidate governor Reagan today.
The point is that the Republican party used to be populated by experienced and thoughtful politicians who were not held hostage by the radical religious right. These politicians made decisions based on reason, experience, and with input from the other party.
Not any more.
John McCain, as a senator who has crossed the aisle numerous times to work with his democratic colleagues on election finance reform, immigration, not to mention his opposition to Bush’s tax cuts, is cut from the same cloth of men like Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, and Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower. And in this day in age, that is just not acceptable to a party that has the overwhelming desire to turn this nation into a Christian nation; a nation that forsakes science and reason in favor of a marriage of church and state run by pastors cum politicians.
This republican party now looks to be led by a man who does not believe in evolution. This is madness that we as a nation would even consider for one moment to give this kook (albeit a kindly kook) one vote or one chance to do anything more important than drive a bus. And yet, Mike Huckabee wins votes, wins primaries, and is the clear choice of a millions of republicans to be president of the United States of America.
This is just madness.
And that’s why John McCain may well be the last sane person in the Republican party.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG
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50 comments:
You give McCain way too much credit.
Fake Rush (el rusbo) Limbaugh says; John McCain will be a great wartime president. I feel no republican candidate can better sustain the war for long periods while passing on to future generations the cost thereby insulating current administrations from criticism. Furthermore, increased collateral damage from protacted hostilities is a pittance when compared with increased dow jones, nasdaq and wall street profits. And of course the short term real estate market downturn which has caused many of us to take a hit on our third and fourth home investments another 4 years of war in Iraq and the opportunity to spread the conflict to Iran can only increase our overall net worth. As for the collateral damage, well as Eli Wallach said in the Magnificent 7 said, if they were not meant to be sheared god would not have made them sheep.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Ben Kuehne .....
The more I read of this case the more nauseous I get over what the government is trying to do to Ben.
If you have not yet read the Indictment, please take the time to do so.
As criminal defense lawyers, we always like to use the term "there but for the grace of God go I".
Any of us are fair game when it comes to the government of the United States of America.
The Department of Justice is being run by a bunch of lunatics, as far as I am concerned, and the last seven years of the Bush administration has been a total nightmare.
The nightmare began in 2001with the appointment of John Ashcroft as the first AG in the Bush cabinet. It continued with the appointment of Alberto Gonzales in 2005. And last, but certainly not least, it continues with the 2007 appointment of Michael Mukasey.
In the Indictment, on page 12-14, there is a Forfeiture count. And the government wants Ben to forfeit not the estimated $275,000 fee that he was paid for his work for Roy Black and the other attorneys. No; they want Ben to forfeit over $5 million dollars.
"2. Pursuant to Title 18, USC 982, each defendant who is convicted of one or more of the offenses set forth on Counts One through Five shall forfeit to the US the following property:
(b) a sum of money equal to approximately $5,239,653.67 representing the total amount of money involved in each offense or involved in the conspiracy .....
Again, read the Indictment. Ben deserves our total support and we, as the criminal defense bar, should do everything we can to stand up and be counted in Ben's time of need. Any one of us who has been involved in a drug trafficking case could be sitting where Ben sits today. And Ben wasn't even defending the accused trafficker.
Bernard Ebbers, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Do the names ring a bell? There are so many others.
Ebbers of WORLD COM fame is now serving 25 years and his contribution to society was losing investors over $11 billion dollars.
Lay and Skilling of ENRON fame are also convicted felons. (I know, Lay's conviction was technically null and void upon his death before the appeal ran its course). Lay died before he could be sentenced but in three years he made $217 million selling shares of Enron. Skilling got 24 years in prison. He was paid a mere $132 million in salary in 2001.
What do they all have in common? None of their very highly compensated criminal defense lawyers was ever questioned about the fees they were paid by the defendants and where the money came from. Where do you think it came from - their ill-gained profits from their criminal activity for which they were so rightly indicted.
Talk about double standards!
We are Liberty's Last Champion and now is our time to be heard. Don't let this opportunity pass by. Don't stand idly by silent for fear of what the government might do or say. Don't let them trample on our rights as defenders for the accused and our right to be paid a fee to represent the accused.
Stand up, be counted, support Ben. This should be our finest hour.
CAPTAIN OUT ........
Hey captain, aren't you plagiarizing the comments of th e onion peeler who already espoused the equal protection argument.
"We are Liberty's Last Champion" writes the captain, lamenting the fate of the Criminal Defense Bar. Oh, please get over yourself. If there but for the grace of God go you (ie, vouching for millions of drug-tainted dollars for your friend while making a bunch of money for yourself), you deserve to be a target of the government. I don't know if Kuehne is guilty or not, and neither do you because the evidence hasn't been presented in court. Consequently, the hysterics over his indictment are a bit over the top.
This may be the dumbest political analysis I've ever read, bar none.
How did Ben Kuehne find the time, given his recent, travails, to pen it?
Jack Thompson
The lawyers who defended enron, defended enron. Ben was defending Roy Black's fee not Ochoa. Get it?
Captain you practice law? Don't you know that congress enacted a law that supports the USAO position. If you do not like the law lobby congress to either revoke the law or make it more standard across the board.
BK knew the law existed that is why the opinion was sought. No ignorance of the law defense.
If you want to smoke weed move to Amsterdam. Don't like the laws as written? Please move to another country or follow them. Break the law and face the music no matter how dumb the law is or how much I agree with you. The law is the law.
The job of any prosecutor is not to make law it is to enforce the law. Same with the police and FBI. You are barking up the wrong tree.
May I suggest every one write a open letter of support to the District Judge on the case (Broward Sheriff Jenne had dozens of high profile letters sent on his behalf that helped him). Write to congress, seek a early pardon from President Bush (whats good for libby is good for BK), wait for Jan 9 2009, and seek pardon from President Obama, write to the USAO in D.C. pointing out the non-sense.
In short ranting on this blog will not solve the real issues faced by BK.
"I dont believe me and my family came from apes".
Apparently evolution has not happened yet in the Huckabee family"
And you, Rump, like our last president believe that it's okay to use power to abuse of a 21 year old intern by getting a blow job in the oval office. It figures you have a problem with people that don't beleive in evolution since, like the evolutionists, you and slick Willy think it's okay treat treat women the way cavemen did--hit 'em over the head and drag them into the oval office and...well you know the rest.
I didn't vote for Bill Clinton. In 1992 I voted for my 2nd favorite president of my lifetime. George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1996 I voted for Dole. In retrospect Clinton did a great job managing the economy. But he desicrated the oval office. A place so deserving of respect that Ronald Wilson Reagan never took off his suit jacket when working in the office. I like oral sex as much as the next guy. I don't approve of marital infidelity and not at work, not on taxpayers time, and not under a desk in a historical setting. Clinton deserved censor not impeachment.
As much as I'd like him to shut up too, I think you mean censure.
Okay, I'll bite. Who is your favorite, Rump...wait...let me guess...everyone else is tied for first. And, your wrong, again--Clinton deserved a conviction. His sliminess(?) is finally becoming apparent to even his long time supporters.
"This is just madness"???
No Rumpole.
THIS....IS.....SPARTA!!!!!!
I agree with today's post to an extent but not totally. It is true that the so-called religious right has captured the Republican party and it should not be that way. However, there is nothing wrong with being a good Christian and everthing wrong with not being one. To the extent that your post criticizes Christians, I disapprove. The problem is that the so-called religious right has become too intolerant. The bible explains that man should take the thorn out of his own eye before commenting on the thorns in other people's eyes. Certain zealots have misconstrued their role in God's world. I am against gay marriage and still considering my position on abortion. Just as we should not hold a candidate's followers against the candidate, we should also not vote for a candidate based on his follower's beliefs. If any true Christian does a serious review of Obama's background, he will see that Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, a cult by all accounts. The muslim name doesn't help. Obama, just as Romney, would not only be the first black President (a good thing) but also the first non-Christian President (a terrible thing). I am not saying that religion and politics should mix, it's just that the Presidency should remain a very traditional American office. For example, would anybody like to see a single male who has never been married as the U.S. President? I wouldn't because that detracts from the traditional office which has always been a reflection of our values. I am a registered Democrat. My vote is for Hillary over McCain but McCain over Obama.
I took down the article on the Cheaters cheating, and the comment calling me a confused liberal. You cannot put the entire contents of an article in the comments section. Use your legal writing skills and summarize it and post the link.
As to Mr. Thompson, please do not confuse your ability to post a comment with my concerns about you or your case. I am not concerned about it in the least, nor do I think about it beyond deleting the 20 emails a day I get from you. However, feel free to post your thoughts on relevant REGJB matters to your hearts content. Just not your pleadings.
I invite the captain to re-do his excellent comment as a front page post tomorrow.
HR.
10:00 AM. My favorite President during my life time is Ronald Wilson Reagan.
My favorite Presidents are Abe Lincon and Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan, Bush I, John Adams the father, and Rutherford B Hayes.
I admit to underestimating William Jefferson Clinton.
Little trivia: I will reveal my identity if you can tell me Harry Truman's middle name (not his initial)
Geez, it's so hard to figure out which comments are written by prosecutors, isnt it?
Rump, nice work on the post. Can you say New York Times commentary?
He doesn't have a middle name. It is just "S" it doesn't stand for anything!!!
E. Garcia
8:48 is typical of the Ann Coulter right; they cannot comment on the substance of the statement; their retort is always Bill Clinton! I guess a balanced budget and a thriving economy are not virtues of a presidency.
Harry Truman's middle name is "S," just the letter, it doesn't stand for anything.
The S was not an initial for anything. Truman's middle name was simply S. Since it did not symbolize something it is not an intial. Let's have it . . .
in addition, S was not an intial because it was not the first letter of a word - no word was associated with it.
rumpole, my favorite food is caviar, my favorite drink is dom, my favorite car is a rolls, do u care? know you know how we feel about your favorites.
BIZZARO JACK? The person I feel the most sympathy for lately, is not so much BK who has plenty of ammo on his side, but rather a fine, respected, and gentlemanly lawyer in Coral Gables named John M. Thomson, but known as "Jack." Perhaps we are in the "Bizzaro" world and his opposite is "Jack" ThomPson with a "P" for whatever nasty "P" word you choose... Fake Anonymous
Harry Truman's middle name was "S". Please don't reveal your identity, though, Rump. It's more fun to keep guessing.
Come on Rump, everyone knows that Truman did not have a middle name.
Cap Out ...
Harry Truman had no middle name. The initial S was added at the suggestion of a political consultant. My little quiz was, (for you star trek fans) like the
Kobayashi Maru test. Unwinnable.
11:20 AM . I read the NY Times every day. I did not copy this from any commentary whatsoever. I wrote it last night because nothing was on TV beyond star idol or whatever the name of that dumb show is. Please list a date from the Op Ed piece you are referring to. No writer likes to be accused of plagerism. If you were going to do that, and if you were a careful reader, you would have said that I lifted the phrase " a world lit only by fire" from the title of a book by William Manchester, who is one of my favoritie writers. But that is a title of a book about the dark ages, and I merely used the title to make my point on where we would end up as a nation if we keep electing leaders who delight in ignoring science in the name of being pious.
This blog needs to get back to its roots: THE Q; SHUMIE; THE FAKES; MAKING FUN OF SCOTT SAUL; JOEL DENARO BEING COOL; JUDGE ADIREN BEING INCOMPETENT; JUDGE BLAKE BEING NICE TO EVERYONE; CAPTAIN PRO SE; SEXY SUSANNA FROM THE HERALD;
As most of you already know:
GOVERNOR CRIST APPOINTS LISA WALSH TO THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT
– Governor Charlie Crist today announced the appointment of Lisa Walsh, of Miami Beach, as a Miami-Dade County judge within the 11th Judicial Circuit.
“Lisa’s common-sense and pragmatic approach to the law will serve her well as a judge,” Governor Crist said. “I believe her understanding of the trial and appellate process will be an asset to the 11th Judicial Circuit, in addition to her commitment to treat witnesses and attorneys with great respect.” Walsh, 41, is currently the owner of her own firm and has served as Special Master for the City of Miami Beach since 2006. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Miami School of Law.Walsh will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Mercedes Armas Bach, whose resignation was effective February 1, 2008.
Cap Out ...
In an 11:16 post, Rumpole wrote "Little trivia: I will reveal my identity if you can tell me Harry Truman's middle name (not his initial)"
In 1962, Mr. Truman himself told newpapermen "that the 'S' did not stand for any name but was a compromise between the names of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young." This information comes from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and can be accessed at http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm
A few sites on the internet assert that his middle name was actually "Sergei," but that seems doubtful in light of the info from the Truman Library.
I couldn't care less if you reveal your identity or not. You provide an interesting forum, and I hope you keep doing it for a long time.
Lets not get crazy over this. Read my post at 12:08. As the witness said in My Cousin Vinny "It's a trick question. It has no answer."
After all this I wouldn't so cavalierly risk my identity.
Harry S. Truman: "S." was a compromise between Shipp and Solomon, middle and first names, respectively, of his two grandfathers. It stands for that compromise...with no one name associated with it.
Fake Anonymous
Jack, you can always run for Judge. A certain Judge is up for re-election.
$5,000.00 filing fee and you will be on the ballot.
Captain, are you saying the government ran a sting operation which financed a drug dealer's criminal defense for the purpose of snaring the lawyer who vetted the fee?
Rumpy, I think you're talking about the McCain 2000 model -- the one who condemned Bush for kicking off his campaign at Bob Jones University:
“We are the party of Ronald Reagan, not Pat Robertson. We are the party of Theodore Roosevelt, not the party of special interests. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, not Bob Jones.”
The McCain 2008 model pandered to these same voters by speaking at Liberty University. He also no longer thinks Falwell is a "agent of intolerance."
McCain 08 just yesterday voted against restraining the CIA from employing torturous interrogation techniques, something McCain used to condemn.
Heck, McCain 08 would not even vote for the immigration reform package that an earlier iteration of McCain proposed on the Senate floor.
These trends are not encouraging.
The S stood for SHUMIE.
And since SHUMIE is Rumpole, that is the trick part of the question. The answer reveals Rumpole's identity. Right Rump/Shumie?
rumpole your blog days are numbered.
You are correct. Also, my blog posts are numbered. For instance, this is post number 852.
In a sense, aren't all our days numbered? Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
And all that jazz.
Rump
Truman DidNot have a middle name
D. Sisselman
John McCain may be the last sane man in the Republican Party, but, if he wants to be the 15th Ulster-descended President of the United States, he better get out of his coma and act like he has enough energy to be President. For someone with his reputed temper, personality, and Scots-Irish background, his speeches sound like someone slipped six Seconals in his diet coke. When you contrast his soporific "performances" against those of Obama and Hillary, you can only conclude that the Republicans don't have a whole lot to offer the electorate this cycle--McCain makes Bob Dole look like Martin Luther King. Maybe Mike Huckleberry--McCain's future sidekick--can channel his anti-evolution idol William Jennings Bryan, "The Boy Orator of the Platte," and come up with a "Cross of Gold" speech at the Republican convention that might motivate Mr. "Two Steps Away from Death" to start acting like a Presidential candidate.
By the way, 10:22 a.m., I don't know what demonination you identify with or if you are even a Christian, but to call the United Church of Christ "a cult by all accounts" demonstrates collosal ignorance. The U.C.C. is a confederation of four of the oldest Protestant demoninations in the U.S.--including the Congregationalists, originally the Puritans, who were amongst the original settlers of North America. You can include James Garfield, Calvin Coolidge, and L.B.J. as members of the "cult."
Fake Rev. Ian Paisly
To 1:49
What judge are you referring to? There's about 50 judges up.
The current state of the Republican party is the inevitable, logical and avoidable actions of Ronald Reagan in legitimizing the extreme right wing
in this country. You must not be from the South. Reagan started the pandering to the extremists and bigots and, of course, being bigots and extremists they will never be satisfied until they have complete control. That, fortunately, will not be forthcoming. But it will be the undoing of the Republican party's power. Give 'em enough rope. Sorry, my friend, by Reagan was an evil old man who hopefully is roasting next to his friend Falwell.
Liberty's Last Champion? Lady Liberty died long ago. You live in a police state. Give it up.
Dear Thursday, February 14, 2008 8:17:00 AM,
I life under the thumb of an oppressive central government, and if I don’t comply with their fascist drug laws they will declare me to be an enemy combatant and confine me in a gulag indefinitely. Do you really think I’m going to stick my head up and “lobby.”
Get real, your government is illegitimate and any lawyer who prosecutes a drug offense is a dirtbag.
Rump, far be it from me to accuse you of plagiarism. When I posted "Rump, nice work on the post. Can you say New York Times commentary?" I meant that you DESERVED to have that printed in the NY Times. I loved the post and thought it was insightful and clever. Keep up the good work.
"Madness" is limiting the CIA to interrogation techniques listed in the Army Field Manual. Democrats want to show our enemies how to prepare for and withstand interrogation so they don't have to divulge their secrets.
"Madness" is letting FISA legislation lapse today when there is bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate and House. The Democrat leadership won't let it come to a vote because the trial lawyers suing the telecoms are big contributors to the Democrat party. Money trumps national security.
"Madness" is voting for Democrats.
Actually, "madness" would probably be considering acts of torture as fine and dandy as one of the above posters leads us to believe.
There's no worship like Bush worship.
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