Ah those Republican gays

Please sir, may I have a little more porridge? From AP:

David Keeton, a small-business owner in Dallas, and his partner, Rob Schlein, said they supported Giuliani because of his record as New York mayor and his response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"I'm an American first, then a Republican second, and gay falls in third or fourth," said Keeton, who wore a Ronald Reagan pin on his lapel.

Ok, that was pathetic enough. But you want really pathetic, read this:

Both said they recently met former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at a fundraiser and had their picture taken with him. They were offended when Romney told the crowd that he opposed gay marriage and civil unions.

"We're part of the Republican Party, but he just alienated people who had paid $1,500 for a table," Keeton said.

You paid $1500 to help Mitt Romney's presidential bid and you're surprised that he's anti-gay, like this was some big secret? Not to mention, I though being gay was, you know, like third or fourth for you, so what's the problem if Romney hates you? Read the rest of this post...

Joe and I just ran into former GOP congressman John Kasich (R-OH) on the street

You know, I've never loved living in Washington, DC. I joke about living here in exile from Chicago (or NY or Paris or so many other cities I'd rather be living in). But sometimes it's pretty cool living in the nation's capital. Tonight was one of those nights. Joe and I were walking home from the local diner when we walked by a friend of Joe's, and his friend, John Kasich. Joe stopped his friend to say hello, without even realizing Kasich was there, and while Joe and his buddy caught up Kasich and I got into a half-hour conversation. Absolutely fascinating. I told him I was not going to blog about the substance of our conversation because I don't want people to worry that every time they speak with me casually, on the street or at a party or at dinner, I'm going to pull an "I gotcha!" on them and publish our entire conversation. I'll just say that he's interesting - likes to think about things, large things, "meta issues" as we perhaps too often call them now (though so does Gingrich - have only met Gingrich once, in the green room at FOX, he congratulated me on doing a good job on O'Reilly). And while Kasich is (was?) known to have been quite the conservative, he didn't strike me as particularly unreasonable. And before anyone tells me I got snookered, I've lived in DC since 1985 and have met my share of "important" people. You can tell when there's potential for common ground with someone. (For example, 4 years ago I got the sense from American Family Association lawyer Joe Murray that there was a decent guy lurking inside that religious right exterior - and I was right.) I just never thought I'd get that sense from John Kasich. Anyway, very interesting evening. Read the rest of this post...

Take my reader survey, please

We've got our annual reader survey up and running - please take a moment (ok, more like several minutes), to take it. It's long, a bit too long (I didn't write it), but only the first couple of pages are really important - if you get bored, you can skip the rest. These surveys are very helpful for us to get a handle on who our readers are (age, gender, education background, etc.), and also to tell advertisers, folks on the Hill, the media, etc. just who you guys are (you'd be surprised how often the political folks ask us who our readers are). So, if the spirit moves you, please take the survey - I'll publish the results once I have them.

Click here to take the survey. Read the rest of this post...

Rahm responds to new GOP timetable for Iraq victory

As you'll recall, we wrote earlier about how the Republican leader of the US House has now established a timetable for victory in Iraq. He said this morning on FOX News that Bush has until the fall to show progress, and if he hasn't then Republicans will start to walk. That's a timetable. Cong. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) responds:

Emanuel Statement in Response to New Boehner Timetable for Iraq

This morning in an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Congressman John Boehner announced his plan for a new timetable for Iraq, saying that support for the war from Congressional Republicans will waver if President Bush's escalation policy has not succeeded by the fall.

Statement of House Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel in response to Congressman John Boehner's newly announced timetable on Iraq and President Bush's escalation of troops into Iraq:

"It's clear Congressman Boehner's new timetable for Iraq has less to do with the troops coming home, and has everything to do with his fear that House Republicans will be sent home."

Read the rest of this post...

Deadly weekend in Iraq for 12 more U.S. soldiers and many Iraqis

Twelve more Americans died in Iraq this weekend. "At least 44" Iraqis were killed today. Brutal:

Roadside bombings proved deadly for U.S. forces on Sunday. One in Diyala province killed six Task Force Lightning soldiers and a journalist accompanying them. Three soldiers were killed in separate roadside bombings _ two others on Sunday and one on Friday, the military said.

Two Marines were killed Saturday in combat in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said, and a soldier died Sunday in a non-combat related incident.

The deaths raised to at least 3,373 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

This is what we get from a war policy based on George Bush's stubbornness. Read the rest of this post...

Sarkozy defeats Royal

George has a new friend. Sarko with 53% of the vote. How many other world leaders actually seek out Bush these days? Read the rest of this post...

French voters turning out in record numbers

Another impressive turnout today so far, with 75% showing so far and a bit more time left before the sun goes down and the polls are closed.. Are we in for a shock or will it be a blowout? Will it be five more years of a distant relationship or will Bush's buddy take office? Thoughts to consider from the Pont des Arts. Read the rest of this post...

GOP leader says Republicans might dump Bush by the fall if we haven't won or something

It's not clear what sign Republicans will need need, but the fact that their leader in the House is voicing these concerns is bad news for Bush. Come this fall, he's going to have an impossible time holding the Republicans together. Americans are going to be increasingly ticked off at their members of Congress is those members keep supporting this growing failed war. Read the rest of this post...

John is on CNN's Reliable Sources

John will be a guest on Reliable Sources this morning. Should be in the segment around 10:30 a.m. On at 10:15 a.m. He'll be talking about the news of the week including the GOP debate.

I'll try to grab some video now that I've become so high-tech.

UPDATE with video:

Interesting how the conservative commentator said that during the recent GOP debate, Chris Matthews' questions about abortion were "excessive" and the Terri Schiavo question was "silly." No surprise they wouldn't want to talk about those issues in full, public view:

Click To Play

Read the rest of this post...

Romney really, really wants Pat Robertson to like him. Romney will say anything to make that happen.

Mitt Romney is really sucking up to the hard core of the right wing. He wants Pat Robertson to like him -- really like him. And, with Romney, we've seen that he'll say anything to get people to like him, even if it means completely flip-flopping his views:

It was Romney's second appearance at Regent University in the past four months. His visits underscore the competition for support from top Christian conservative leaders such as Robertson, whose television programs have millions of viewers. Romney, along with several other GOP hopefuls, attended a convention of religious broadcasters in February. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani will appear at Regent next month.

Some conservative Christians have questioned the intensity of Romney's opposition to abortion because, when he was running for governor, he said he would not seek additional restrictions. And some conservative evangelicals also wonder about his Mormonism. On the Web site of the Christian Broadcasting Network, another Robertson entity, a page called "How Do I Recognize a Cult?" says that "when it comes to spiritual matters, the Mormons are far from the truth."

In private meetings with conservative leaders and members of Congress, Romney has asserted that his experiences in dealing with stem cell research as governor hardened his antiabortion views, and he tried to explain misconceptions about his faith.

Mitt can change his positions on issues, but that whole "cult" thing with Mormonism is a big issue for the religious right. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Iraq is the dominant theme across all the major shows this week -- with some Presidential politics to mix it up. Tancredo, Boehner and Gingrich are the GOP brain trust today. That says a lot about the state of their party.

George Tenet's book is so last week. And, he has no cred. But, then on the issue of the Iraq war, neither does Russert. They were both so intent on being "in" with the Bush clique, neither one questioned the rush to war. As CIA Director, Tenet's behavior was more egregious, but, Russert had a pretty big soapbox. And, Russert was a pawn, too, as Bill Moyers exposed in "Buying the War."

Here's the line up with a quick synopsis from the Boston Globe:

This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Topic: Iraq war funding debate. Guests: former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Democratic presidential candidate; Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, GOP preisential (sic) candidate....

Fox News Sunday. Topics: politics, Iraq war, the religious power player. Guests: Senator Christopher Dodd , Democratic presidential candidate; Representative John Boehner , House minority leader; the Rev. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission....

Meet the Press with Tim Russert. Topics: CIA and Iraq war. Guest : George Tenet, former CIA director....

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer. Topic: War and politics. Guests: Representative Charles Rangel of New York; Newt Gingrich, former House speaker....

Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. Topics: troop funding debate, Iraq, Iran, Middle East conference. Guests: Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana, Foreign Relations Committee, and Chuck Schumer of New York, Judiciary Committee. 11 a.m. [EST] (CNN)

If you can bear watching, provide commentary. Or just comment on anything. Read the rest of this post...

The polls are open in France

The day of reflection is over and people are out voting. The first round had an incredible 85% turnout but I doubt that the second round will see anything as high since the extremist Le Pen is out of contention. What will be of interest to see later tonight when the votes are tallied will be the number of "white" ballots (blank) and the number of abstentions. Le Pen urged his supporters to abstain and many voters, especially the moderate Bayrou supporters, continue to be unenthusiastic about either Royal or Sarkozy.

With Friday polls pointing heavily towards a Sarkozy victory, there is already talk about the direction the Socialist Party in France will take. As many have asked before when suggesting Segolene Royal was France's answer to Blair, can Blairism exist without a Thatcher? More later tonight after the votes are tallied but Chirac-TV (online and on cable, if you have it) should have plenty of reports throughout the day. Read the rest of this post...

20 million chickens on hold while FDA studies melamine

A bit late but it's at least on the right track. The problems with animal feed also raise the issue yet again of what factory farms are feeding chickens, cows and pigs. With traditional feed such as corn increasing in price - thanks to the biofuel craze not to mention the desire for higher profit margins - many factory farms have increasingly moved from what has constituted animal feed for centuries over to ground up animal leftovers, feathers, feces and now melamine. The results have been predictable ranging from mad cow to our pets suffering organ failure and death. Add to that the problems associated with animal doping that has transferred to humans, you have to wonder if factory farmers have ever heard "you are what you eat."

It's time to take a step back and look at the big picture with our food sources and insist on change. Modern technology can offer plenty of positives but good old fashioned common sense should also be considered and included in the process. Read the rest of this post...