So much to talk about, so little time.
First up, Kathleen Parker, a columnist on the Heritage Foundation's website, initially advocated that the 9 Democratic candidates "be lined up and shot." More sensible heads must have prevailed, because the article was quickly revised to read that they "be lined up and slapped." [link] Alas for the Heritage Foundation, the web sees all, and someone caught a screen shot of the original language. [link].
But here's the icing on the embarrasing scandal: the changed language is supposed to be a quote ("Here's a note I got recently from a friend and former Delta Force member, who has been observing American politics from the trenches").
The friend and former Delta Force member either did or didn't say that the candidates should be lined up and shot, so the change in the text strikes me as curious. To me, the quick change suggests that Parker fabricated the whole "note" to make a point that she was too embarrased to own herself. [It's not the first time that conservatives have tried to couch radical sentiment in faux-populism. As I commented a while back, in 2000, there was a "mob" that stormed an election office in Florida to demand that a recall be halted. The "mob" turned out to be primarily Republican staffers.]
Next up, the Republican Party's reign of terror begins. This refers, of course, to the Reign of Terror in 18th century France, in which the radicals who had led the French Revolution turned on their fellow revolutionaries for lacking "ideological purity" in service to the Revolution. People were guilty of this "offense" were summarily executed.
Now comes a story out of Washington about a senior majority staffer (and lifelong Republican) on the House Armed Services Committee, who formerly served in the Armed Forces in Europe as an aide to Gen. Wesley Clark, formerly the supreme allied commander of NATO forces in Europe. Apparently, when Gen. Clark was recently in Washington to meet with Democrats on Capitol Hill, this staffer greeted General Clark warmly, as befits a man greeting a former boss and personal acquaintance. All sources agree that the staffer merely greeted Clark, and did not attend the meeting that Clark had with the Democrats. Nevertheless, the warm greeting was noticed by Republican operatives, who promptly arranged to have the staffer fired from the Armed Services committee staff. They later said that the staffer had never been "fired", but the aide resigned in disgust, and as a postscript, pledged to do whatever it takes to get Gen. Clark elected. [link (scroll down to the bottom)]
Isn't this the tone in Washington that then-Governor Bush campaigned that he would "change" if he were elected? Instead, Tom DeLay and other Republican partisans have implemented a rule that they won't take meetings from lobbying firms that employ former Democratic staffers, effectively barring Democrats from being hired as lobbyists...And now this.
First up, Kathleen Parker, a columnist on the Heritage Foundation's website, initially advocated that the 9 Democratic candidates "be lined up and shot." More sensible heads must have prevailed, because the article was quickly revised to read that they "be lined up and slapped." [link] Alas for the Heritage Foundation, the web sees all, and someone caught a screen shot of the original language. [link].
But here's the icing on the embarrasing scandal: the changed language is supposed to be a quote ("Here's a note I got recently from a friend and former Delta Force member, who has been observing American politics from the trenches").
The friend and former Delta Force member either did or didn't say that the candidates should be lined up and shot, so the change in the text strikes me as curious. To me, the quick change suggests that Parker fabricated the whole "note" to make a point that she was too embarrased to own herself. [It's not the first time that conservatives have tried to couch radical sentiment in faux-populism. As I commented a while back, in 2000, there was a "mob" that stormed an election office in Florida to demand that a recall be halted. The "mob" turned out to be primarily Republican staffers.]
Next up, the Republican Party's reign of terror begins. This refers, of course, to the Reign of Terror in 18th century France, in which the radicals who had led the French Revolution turned on their fellow revolutionaries for lacking "ideological purity" in service to the Revolution. People were guilty of this "offense" were summarily executed.
Now comes a story out of Washington about a senior majority staffer (and lifelong Republican) on the House Armed Services Committee, who formerly served in the Armed Forces in Europe as an aide to Gen. Wesley Clark, formerly the supreme allied commander of NATO forces in Europe. Apparently, when Gen. Clark was recently in Washington to meet with Democrats on Capitol Hill, this staffer greeted General Clark warmly, as befits a man greeting a former boss and personal acquaintance. All sources agree that the staffer merely greeted Clark, and did not attend the meeting that Clark had with the Democrats. Nevertheless, the warm greeting was noticed by Republican operatives, who promptly arranged to have the staffer fired from the Armed Services committee staff. They later said that the staffer had never been "fired", but the aide resigned in disgust, and as a postscript, pledged to do whatever it takes to get Gen. Clark elected. [link (scroll down to the bottom)]
Isn't this the tone in Washington that then-Governor Bush campaigned that he would "change" if he were elected? Instead, Tom DeLay and other Republican partisans have implemented a rule that they won't take meetings from lobbying firms that employ former Democratic staffers, effectively barring Democrats from being hired as lobbyists...And now this.
posted by Daniel at 4:06 PM
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