TPM Muckraker cites the Jack Abramoff interview issue of Vanity Fair to conclude that Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman “got his hands dirty.”
“[...] according to documents obtained by Vanity Fair, Mehlman exchanged email with Abramoff, did him political favors (such as blocking Clinton-administration alumnus Allen Stayman from keeping a State Department job)…” [original emphasis]
This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read “Thank God for IEDs” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.”I was with the Phelps family. They’ve launched a disturbing campaign to tarnish the funerals of fallen soldiers.
This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.
He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.
Jack Abramoff will be sentenced on March 29 after a federal judge refused to extend the sentencing for 90 days.
A federal judge on Monday refused to delay sentencing 90 days for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff despite statements from government lawyers that sending Abramoff to prison could jeopardize his cooperation in ongoing criminal probes.U.S. District Judge Paul Huck set sentencing for Abramoff and co-defendant Adam Kidan for March 29 but said he would probably not require an immediate surrender, allowing the men to remain free and available to assist investigators.
Abbe Lowell, Abramoff’s Washington D.C.-based defense lawyer, warned Huck that he might be obligated at a sentencing hearing to reveal details of the government’s pending investigations into the Capitol Hill lawmakers who did business with Abramoff.
“We will name names. We will provide the public with evidence of what is going on out there,” Lowell said. “It seems to me that is not in the interest of law enforcement.”
Huck defended his decision to proceed with sentencing, remarking that Abramoff and Kidan’s cooperation with federal investigators could go on for years.
“I’m not persuaded we should treat Mr. Kidan and Mr. Abramoff any differently than anyone else,” Huck said.
Bill O’Reilly is Mr. Black People. Earlier this week, O’Reilly engaged in a debate with a caller over President Bush and his efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. The caller was disgusted that very few of the jobs in the reconstruction effort are going to locals. O’Reilly tried to defend the President and, well, you decide how well he did.
February 27 broadcast of The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:
CALLER: Okay, Bill. I’m going to expand on [rapper/producer] Kanye West’s statement and say that George Bush doesn’t care about American people. After Katrina, he passed a law making it so his no-bid contracting buddies could bring in a bunch of illegal immigrants, instead of putting Americans to work, plus it took them five days to get down there. Straight after [former President] Lyndon Johnson, who showed up the same day as the flood and put Americans to work.Now, you look at this thing with the — Dubai. He’s out here waving a veto pen. Didn’t even let the governors know. Didn’t let other potential American bidders know. Didn’t let hardly anybody know about this — this deal.
BILL O’REILLY: Well, he says he didn’t know.
E.D. HILL (co-host): Well, wait –
CALLER: That even makes it worse, Bill. How can the administration –
E.D. HILL: American companies –
CALLER: — approve this thing without him even knowing about it?
BILL O’REILLY: Well look, [caller], here’s the deal. On the rebuilding of New Orleans, you’ve got to use contractors that can do the job. So, you can’t be — you know, if you’ve got contractors who specialize in infrastructure rebuilding, you’ve got to bring them in. And the homies, you know, who you don’t know — I mean, they’re just not going to get the job.
Where to begin…
November 22, 2008
