Posting Towards Gomorrah

[Spanky]

Am I the only one in the dark? Why isn't this a bigger news item (or is it and I am just out of it)?

During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer

By Dana Milbank
Friday, October 20, 2006; A02

LA PLUME, Pa., Oct. 19

So it has come to this: Nineteen days before the midterm elections, President Bush flew here to champion the reelection of a congressman who last year settled a $5.5 million lawsuit alleging that he beat his mistress during a five-year affair.

"I'm pleased to be here with Don Sherwood," a smiling president told the congressman's loyal but dispirited supporters at a luncheon fundraiser Thursday. "He has got a record of accomplishment."

Quite a record. While representing the good people of the 10th District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911; Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub.

At a time when Republicans are struggling to motivate religious conservatives to go to the polls next month, it is not clear what benefit the White House found in sending Bush to stump for Sherwood -- smack dab in the middle of what Bush, in an official proclamation, dubbed "National Character Counts Week."

The president encouraged public officials "to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs" -- but public officials responded with some unusual ceremonies and activities: The House ethics committee is holding hearings on the page sex scandal; the FBI raided buildings as part of a probe involving Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.); and Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), the eighth person convicted in the Abramoff lobbying scandal, is refusing to vacate his seat in Congress.

On the other hand, while other Republicans proclaim their independence from Bush, Sherwood is one of the few still eager to bask in the president's faint glow. (Another was Sen. George Allen of Virginia, who, after a summer of racial and religious gaffes, was happy to welcome Bush in Richmond on Thursday evening.) Bush may be at a lowly 35 percent in the polls here, but Sherwood should be so lucky: Only 1 in 5 residents definitely intends to vote for him next month. By Sherwood standards, Bush is still a rock star.

"My family and I are humbled by having our friends support us, especially when one is the leader of this great country," Sherwood said in introducing Bush.

His wife and adult daughter stood on stage, human shields against scandal. Their discomfort became apparent when Bush, trying to defuse the controversy, praised the letter Carol Sherwood wrote to her husband's constituents this week about the "needlessly cruel" decision by his Democratic opponent to run an ad about the mistress's allegations. "I was deeply moved by her words," he said, while some in the dead-silent audience noticed an agonized look on daughter Maria Sherwood's face.

Bush was careful to avoid the usual lines about family and conservative values; he also skipped the usual first-name-only reference that would indicate that "Don" is a buddy. Onstage, he gave Sherwood the obligatory handshake and photograph but quickly moved to stand with the female Sherwoods.

The president otherwise kept his talk in the comfortable realm of terrorists and taxes. "As this campaign gets closer to the stretch, you will hear a lot of rhetoric and a lot of partisan charges coming from the other side," Bush warned. "Their goal is to distract you."

The nature of the accuser's allegations -- she said Sherwood gave her "facial lacerations, bruises about the head, neck and other portions of her body, head injury, injuries to her teeth, mouth and gums, back and neck strain, injuries to her scalp" -- makes it more than a distraction. Sherwood continues to deny abuse after reaching the secret settlement.

Still, the loyal listeners wanted to believe Bush -- and not the polls that show Sherwood as a goner, down by 15 points. "It all depends on how forgiving the constituents are," said Harry Strausser III, whose name tag bore the red star of the big donors at the $350-a-head lunch. As for Bush's elliptical reference to the scandal, "given the fact that the unfortunate situation occurred, you can't ignore it."

His father, Harry Jr., added, wistfully: "He's done a lot while in Congress. It's an unfortunate situation, the Washington problem with the woman."

There weren't quite enough attendees to fill the 25 tables. Campaign volunteers, working to minimize reporters' contact with the donors, guarded the media in a roped-off pen in the rear of the room, even escorting them to and from the restroom. When the event ended, the Secret Service joined volunteers in attempting, unsuccessfully, to restrain reporters behind ropes until the attendees left.

Such precautions -- Thursday's whole event, in fact -- would have been unnecessary if Sherwood, a car dealer and conservative Republican, had avoided that "Washington problem with the woman," as Strausser tactfully put it. But the rural, reliably GOP voters began to sour on Sherwood with news of the lawsuit; the mood worsened when the Mark Foley page scandal renewed questions of sexual misconduct among lawmakers.

"It's the perfect storm of events," exulted Chris Carney, Sherwood's Democratic opponent. The Penn State professor and naval reservist is enjoying Bush's "last-ditch" effort to rescue the congressman. Working a lunchtime crowd at a diner not far from the Sherwood event, the Democrat didn't have to work hard to win support, even from Republicans.

"I'm leaning towards him," Diane Kosar said after Carney visited her booth. Opposed to abortion and eager for a crackdown on illegal immigrants, she has voted for Sherwood in the past.

But this time, even the president can't save him. "Sherwood's been okay," Kosar said, "but as far as what he did with the young girl, that was a bad thing."

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Spanky
Am I the only one in the dark? Why isn't this a bigger news item (or is it and I am just out of it)?

During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer
."

that is too long to read. Is there a condensed synopsis? Say 25 words or less?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Spanky
Am I the only one in the dark? Why isn't this a bigger news item (or is it and I am just out of it)?

During National Character Counts Week, Bush Stumps for Philanderer

Don Sherwood probably regrets not reserving this url for his campaign:

http://www.sherwoodforcongress.com

Heh.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by sgtclub

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn't plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed regret about the country's first-ever atomic detonation last week, a South Korean news agency reported Friday.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/20/D8KSCOOO0.html

Thought you might enjoy this:

• N. Korea Detonates 40 Years Of GDP
  Remains Of Country's Economy Sent Deep Into Earth's Core
  
  PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA—A press release issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency Monday confirmed that the Oct. 9 underground nuclear test in North Korea's Yanggang province successfully exploded the communist nation's total gross domestic product for the past four decades.
  
  "This is a grand day for the Democratic Peoples Republic Of Korea, whose citizens have sacrificed their wages, their food, and their lives so that our great nation could test a nuclear weapon thousands of feet beneath our own soil," read an excerpt from the statement. "Now the rest of the world must stand up and take notice that the DPRK, too, is capable of decimating years of its wealth at any given moment."

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54113

[Not Bob]

Originally posted by Spanky
The reasons why the Dems are going to screw this election up is that they are just the anti-Republicans. They do not have a policy plan of their own. No contract with America:

Can anyone on this board say what the Dems will do if they take over congress?

What is the Democratic party's plan with Iraq?

What is the Republican Party's plan with Iraq? The President's "no cut and run"? If you watch senators and congressmen in close races, you might think otherwise. Heck, even George Allen -- on the same day that the President stood next to him and pulled in half a million dollars for him -- says that "no cut and run" isn't going to work.

Putting aside the question of whether the Democratic Party has ever been united around anything, this is an off-year election, and the United States is not a parliamentary democracy (which is why those generic congressional polls are worthless). The question should be what do the people of New Jersey think of Bob Menendez's plan for Iraq as opposed to Tom Kean's plan. Or what the people of Virginia think of Jim Webb's plan as opposed to George Allen's.

I think that 1994 was an anomoly, and that the effect of the Contract on voters has been overstated. As for other off-year shifts in power, I don't think that the Democrats were any more unified with a "plan" to fix the economy in 1982, or a "plan" to fix corruption in 1974, than they are with a "plan" to fix Iraq today. Heck, I don't even think that the Republicans were all that unified with any plan in 1946, other than thanking God that FDR had finally died -- you had a party made up of a mixture of rock-ribbed islolationsists, anti-New Dealers, Eastern internationalists, Sunbelt strivers, and Western conservationists.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Not Bob
What is the Republican Party's plan with Iraq? The President's "no cut and run"? If you watch senators and congressmen in close races, you might think otherwise. Heck, even George Allen -- on the same day that the President stood next to him and pulled in half a million dollars for him -- says that "no cut and run" isn't going to work.

Putting aside the question of whether the Democratic Party has ever been united around anything, this is an off-year election, and the United States is not a parliamentary democracy (which is why those generic congressional polls are worthless). The question should be what do the people of New Jersey think of Bob Menendez's plan for Iraq as opposed to Tom Kean's plan. Or what the people of Virginia think of Jim Webb's plan as opposed to George Allen's.

I think that 1994 was an anomoly, and that the effect of the Contract on voters has been overstated. As for other off-year shifts in power, I don't think that the Democrats were any more unified with a "plan" to fix the economy in 1982, or a "plan" to fix corruption in 1974, than they are with a "plan" to fix Iraq today. Heck, I don't even think that the Republicans were all that unified with any plan in 1946, other than thanking God that FDR had finally died -- you had a party made up of a mixture of rock-ribbed islolationsists, anti-New Dealers, Eastern internationalists, Sunbelt strivers, and Western conservationists.

How do feel about Lieberman?

eta: welcome back! I thought you retireed....

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Spanky
Didn't you read George Will's column:

President Bush's tax cuts were supposed to cause a cataract of red ink. In fiscal 2006, however, federal revenue as a share of GDP was 18.4 percent, slightly above the post-1962 average of 18.2. And the federal budget deficit was $247.7 billion, just 1.9 percent of the $13.1 trillion GDP. That is below the average for the 1970s (2.1), 1980s (3.0) and 1990s (2.2).

Not that one. But I've seen this graph, which shows that debt as a percentage of GDP is as high as it was during a post-war payoff.



For your deficit figures to be meaningful, they would have to show that we are paying down the debt as well. We're not. We're increasing it.

Finally, you're also measuring (or Will is) the wrong deficit. The $250B amount doesn't include the social security obligations being incurred. The actual difference between non-SS revenue and expenditures is growing and growing fast.

Do you not see spending as a problem? I can see the argument that historically the numbers are not large. But do you think that historical measures are a good benchmark, and that we shoudl as a result accept bridges to nowhere and runaway entitlement spending?

[Not Bob]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
How do feel about Lieberman?

eta: welcome back! I thought you retireed....

It varies. He reminds me of Paul Tsongas -- a smart guy who is often correct, but who is also often wrong, and who is often a sanctimonious blowhard to boot. However, if I lived in CT, I would have voted for him in the primary, though, and probably would in the general, too.

As for retirement, I do tend to avoid the politics board as a rule, but can't resist the occasional reply to spanky.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Not Bob
It varies. He reminds me of Paul Tsongas -- a smart guy who is often correct, but who is also often wrong, and who is often a sanctimonious blowhard to boot. However, if I lived in CT, I would have voted for him in the primary, though, and probably would in the general, too.

.

Tsongas was a better swimmer, fwiw.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Tsongas was a better swimmer, fwiw.

Mary Jo Kopechne, not so much.

[Not Bob]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Tsongas was a better swimmer, fwiw.

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Mary Jo Kopechne, not so much.

Same as it ever was.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Not Bob
Same as it ever was.

I blame Ty.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Not Bob
Same as it ever was.

Hey! My comment was serious. Tsongas was a Masters swimmer. I was giving the guy props.


Hank may be my BFF, but I don't condone his puerile stunts or other disruptive board behaviour. Hate the sin, love the sinner, as Ty tells me.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I blame Ty.

2.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Spanky
Can anyone on this board say what the Dems will do if they take over congress?

What is the Democratic party's plan with Iraq?

How can you expect us to have one, when the Administration doesn't?

Fair is fair.

S_A_M