[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Here Ya Go: Tearful Confession In Form Of A Statement

From NY Times article, May 9, 2008:

“My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love,” he said in the statement, “and I am truly sorry.”

The five-term congressman identified the woman with whom he had the affair as Laura Fay. She is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel whom he apparently called after he was taken into custody early May 1, saying he was on the way to pick up his sick child. The police said his blood-alcohol level at the time was more than double the legal limit, and he faces a mandatory five days in jail if he is convicted.

P.S. -- This is a twofer: 'Law & Order' and 'Family Values.' And we can throw in 'Sanctity of Marriage,' too.

Vito made the news recently for something other than his drunk driving and marital infidelity. He demanded that HBO apologize for some "anti-Catholic comments" that Bill Maher made on his HBO program, Real Time With Bill Maher. Vito Fossella, Fidei Defensor.

Vito Fossella Is Big News In New York

There's more to the Vito Fossella story than we first knew. He has a lot in common with both John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Like McCain and Giuliani, he's a hypocrite who espoused 'family values' and the 'sanctity of marriage' while committing adultery, and, like Giuliani, he wined and dined his mistress on the government dime.

We now know that Fossella and his mistress, Laura Fay, traveled abroad together at taxpayers' expense when Fay was working as a military liaison to the House arranging and traveling on congressional delegations trips abroad. Apparently Fossella and Fay have been 'making out' on these trips since at least 2003.

Embattled Rep. Fossella Speaks With House Chaplain

After admitting earlier today that he had an extramarital affair and fathered a child out of wedlock, Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.), who was nailed for drunk driving last week, was spotted today huddling with the House chaplain in the back of the chamber during floor debate.

Fossella, who is married and has three children with his wife, could be seen standing on the back rail of the chamber, on the Republican side near the center aisle, in deep conversation with Rev. Daniel Coughlin, the House chaplain. One can only assume what they were discussing...

You can read the rest Here.

P.S. -- Laura Fay has no children from her two previous marriages, both of which ended in divorce involving charges of adultery.

[Ninong]

Vito "I Led Two Lives" Fossella Says He Has No Plans To Resign

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY), who once took the floor of the House to demand the impeachment of the president for lying about an extra-marital affair, is back home with his family in time for Mother's Day. His Staten Island, New York family, not his Alexandria, Virginia family.

Obviously Congressman Fossella is not nearly as clever as his former colleague, then-Congressman David Vitter. Congressman Vitter was careful to use a condom every time and to take the used condom with him when he left so that there would be no DNA evidence left behind.

Vitter must have learned that after reading about the "blue dress" in Ken Starr's report, or maybe he watches CSI? Vitter, by the way, is completely off the hook now that the DC Madam has conveniently committed suicide before she could be called to testify before the Senate Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee has closed the books on the Vitter investigation, saying that the five phone calls were all made during Vitter's time in the House before he became a member of the Senate, therefore it is beyond their jurisdiction. They had hoped to interview the DC Madam to try to determine if Senator Vitter had engaged the services of her escorts while he was a member of the Senate but, alas, that is not possible now.

Fossella made a series of "mistakes" that fateful day leading up to his arrest. He's the one who said he made some "mistakes."

His first mistake was not taking the cab that the bartender called for him. The bartender at the last bar that Fossella and his friend, "Brian," visited that night said that they were both "too drunk to drive" and therefore he called a cab for them. Apparently Fossella decided to drive anyway.

Back when he called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Fossella said it was necessary to "preserve the rule of law." Driving while drunk as a skunk and running a red light, endangering the lives of innocent people, does not violate Rep. Fossella's sense of duty to the "rule of law."

Rule No. 1: If you're going to drink, don't drive.

Rule No. 2: If you drive anyway, don't run a red light.

Rule No. 3: If you drive anyway and run a red light, don't do it on the way to your girlfriend's house.

Rule No. 4: Never have your girlfriend come down to the jail to pick you up in the middle of the night if you are a married congressman.

[Ninong]

Oops! GOP's Convention Manager Is Paid Lobbyist For Burma's Military Junta

The guy the McCain Campaign picked to run the 2008 Republican National Convention just happens to be a strong supporter of the military junta in Burma (Myanmar). He's a strong supporter because they paid him $348,000 to say nice things about them and deny the Bush Administration's claims of abuse.

WALNUTS! should have been a little more careful in choosing a lobbyist with ties to the repressive military regime in Burma to run his convention.

All of Sen. McCain's lobbyist pals are 'good' lobbyists. None of them would even think of representing a repressive military dictatorship. And that's the straight talk on that, my friends.

Leader of GOP convention quits after Myanmar ties reported

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar.

Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement:

"Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign."

Goodyear, chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group, resigned a few hours after Newsweek posted a story posted online that the company was paid $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to represent Myanmar's junta.

"We respect Mr. Goodyear's decision, and look forward to the convention in September," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign.

Cyclone Nargis left more than 60,000 people dead or missing, and the U.N. estimates that at least 1.5 million people have been severely affected. Human rights organizations and dissident groups have bitterly accused the junta of neglecting disaster victims and blocking foreign donations of relief supplies.

Justice Department records covering agents of foreign agents that are required to register with the U.S. government show DCI signed a contract to work to "improve relations between the United States and Myanmar" and to act as the junta's public relations agent in Washington.

Newsweek said the firm drafted news releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing claims by the Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses.

Here.

[Ninong]

McCain Once Said Mean Things About Bush...

...and this is supposed to be news?

Another person (an attorney) has come out with a comment John McCain made back in the days when he was considered a "maverick" within the Republican party. As we all know by now, McCain has abandoned all of his previous "maverick" positions, including his belief that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were "agents of intolerance" and that George W. Bush is as dumb as a stump.

Over the Fourth of July weekend of 1999, I had the good fortune to accompany my then fiancée (and now happily my wife) to the McCain vacation home in Sedona where she was interviewing them for a Home and Garden Television show. The interview itself was entirely apolitical, focusing on fabrics and furnishing in their lovely Oak Creek abode, topics about which I do recall the senator was less than comfortable discussing.

Always the goods hosts, the McCains also invited us to spend the day with them, including for barbeque, a favorite of John's. And as McCain flipped burgers, I could not help but ask his views about then candidate George W. Bush.

"He's as dumb as a stump," McCain offered. We then went on to discuss other matters (including Vietnam) but that quote remains seared in my memory.

So how the McCains actually voted that November is between them and their voting booth. But if John McCain did end up voting for Bush, then by his own admission he voted for a stump.

It's not news that Bush is "as dumb as a stump" and not news that McCain might have agreed with that assessment back in 1999. It's also not news that McCain almost certainly did NOT vote for Bush in 2000. I remember reading years ago that Cindy McCain said she voted for her husband in the 2000 general election -- she wrote in his name.

Of all the positions that McCain has abaondoned in his quest to be like Bush, the one that I think will cause him the most trouble with independents in November is his flip-flop on the three exceptions for abortion. McCain has always said that if he were the nominee of his party, he would change the party's platform position on abortion to allow exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. That was his position back in 2000 and that was his position just a few months ago in 2007. However, certain right-wing fundies in the Republican party have been saying lately that McCain will NOT be making any changes to the GOP's position on abortion after all. McCain has been dodging this question lately.

The GOP's platform says that abortion should be illegal in all cases with absolutely no exceptions under any circumstances. McCain has always said that should he be the nominee of his party, he would change the plank on abortion to include exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's life.

[Ninong]

McCain Is Suddenly An Environmentalist?

John McCain gave a speech on the environment today. It was hilarious. I guess he's trying to distance himself from the Bush administration's horrendous record on the environment, something McCain supported religiously for the past seven and a half years. McCain voted with the Bush administration against all efforts to do anything about the environment or climate change.

Barack Obama was shocked, too. Here is his response:

It is truly breathtaking for John McCain to talk about combating climate change while voting against virtually every recent effort to actually invest in clean energy. You don’t have to look further than the wind turbine plant where Senator McCain is speaking today to assess his commitment to this cause. While Senator McCain talks about the need to invest in alternative energy, he rejected the single biggest investment in renewable energy in history, including incentives that contributed to a nearly 50% increase in wind power generation last year, and he has repeatedly opposed renewable fuel mandates and higher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

In stark contrast, I’ve called for a national standard to ensure that we're using more renewable energy, an expansion of our green energy sector that would create millions of green jobs, and a bipartisan plan to double our fuel efficiency standards. That is why the American people will have a clear choice in November when I am the nominee – between a candidate who opposes real solutions to our energy crisis, and leadership that will solve it once and for all.

[Ninong]

McCain Campaign Keeping Close Eye On Mississippi Tomorrow

Boy, the GOP brought in all the heavy guns today. They even had Deputy Leader Dick himself down here stumping for Republican Greg Davis in support of his effort to defeat Democrat Travis Childers for the open MS-01 seat in Congress. This runoff election was made necessary when Childers failed to win a clear majority in the first special election. Childers received 49% of the vote to Davis' 48%. That was a shocker for the GOP because this has been a safe Republican seat for decades. To add some perspective, in 2004, George Bush won this district 62% to 37%.

The NRCC has been running the same nasty attack ads trying to tie the local Democratic candidate to "Barack Obama and his radical agenda" and "Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values." They even threw in Jeremiah Wright for good measure. Let's see if it works for them this time. It didn't work nine days ago in Louisiana when the Democratic candidate beat the Republican by three percent for a seat that has been in GOP hands since 1974.

I love the idea that they brought Cheney down here. Evidently they think that Cheney's 18% favorability rating doesn't apply to folks in Mississippi. Obviously they think Mississippi is a hotbed of support for Dick Cheney. We'll see.

If they lose this one, that will be three seats (counting Denny Hastert's old seat in Illinois) that the GOP has turned over to the Democrats since the mid-term elections. Newt Gingrich has been telling them that they're in for a big shock come November. He's warning them that they are about to be rolled by the Democrats with Barack at the head of the ticket. The GOP seems to believe that playing the race card (what they refer to as the "Southern Strategy") in the Deep South will win elections. That's why they have been playing the Jeremiah Wright clip over and over again and telling voters down here that the local Democratic candidates will help Barack Obama implement his "radical agenda." They love that word "radical." No doubt they will soon be using old clips of Huey Newton and Angela Davis in their ads.

And, to add to their misery, it looks like drunk Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY) is refusing to resign. Not only will he not resign, he intends to run for reelection in November. He's the dude who was stopped for running a redlight with a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit while on his way to visit his mistress and their three-year-old daughter.

[Ninong]

Why Should Fossella Resign? Vitter didn't.

In fact, his Republican colleagues gave Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) a "loud standing ovation" when he returned to the Senate after confessing to "a very serious sin." The "sin" of committing adultery with multiple partners for $300/hr on numerous occasions.

They can't say they want Fossella to resign because of the drunk driving thing because that has happened to a lot of other members of Congress who are still there. No, it's the embarrassment of the out-of-wedlock child with a mistress thing that has them all hot and bothered. It makes them look like a bunch of hypocrites. And, legally speaking, it's only the drunk driving part that is a criminal offense. There are no laws against fathering children with your mistress, just laws against being married to more than one wife at the same time.

Source: Fossella To Seek Re-Election

Despite calls for him to resign, it seems embattled Congressman Vito Fossella will be fighting to keep his seat on Capitol Hill in November.

A high-ranking Republican source on Staten Island told NY1 Saturday that Fossella plans to run for re-election. It would be his sixth term.

The source also told NY1 that Fossella is surprised some of his GOP colleagues in the borough are being mentioned as potential replacements should he step down.

Calls for Fossella's resignation have been growing ever since his drunk driving arrest and his admission that he fathered a daughter with his mistress in Virginia.

During a nine-minute apology on May 2nd for his arrest, Fossella begged forgiveness.

[Ninong]

All Eyes On Mississippi's First Congressional District

The GOP leadership, including the McCain Campaign strategists, are keeping a close eye on MS-01 tonight. Is it really possible that they could lose a district that George Bush won by a 25-point margin in 2004?

At least a dozen heavy-hitters, including Deputy Leader Dick, were down here yesterday campaigning for the Republican candidate. The race looks to be dead even. This was another Deep South district (like Louisiana-06) where the NRCC ran racist ads with clips of Jeremiah Wright saying "GD America" and photos of a "scary" Barack Obama with the message that the Democratic candidate will "help Barack Obama implement his radical agenda." The Democratic candidate refused to renounce and reject the endorsement of Barack Obama and his radical agenda and Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values. As the official candidate of the Democratic party, he was also endorsed by Hillary Clinton and other party hotshots but the NRCC knows that they will get more mileage out of the scary black guy and the female liberal from San Francisco.

The Democrat has a good chance of winning this election and that would send shock waves through the GOP and the McCain Campaign. If they can't hold onto a seat that George W. Bush won by 25 points in 2004, then there are no safe seats in November. And in this race, both candidates are equally qualified and equally conservative on most issues. So the GOP can't use the excuse that they had a flawed candidate, which is what they said after their loss of Denny Hastert's old seat in Illinois and the LA-06 seat.

[Ninong]

"Change You Deserve"

House Republican leaders unveiled their new slogan yesterday: "Change You Deserve."

As several bloggers have already pointed out, it turns out it's already being used - to market an antidepressant.

"The Change You Deserve" is a trademark used by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to promote its serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor Effexor XR.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

McCain Campaign Keeping Close Eye On Mississippi Tomorrow

Boy, the GOP brought in all the heavy guns today. They even had Deputy Leader Dick himself down here stumping for Republican Greg Davis in support of his effort to defeat Democrat Travis Childers for the open MS-01 seat in Congress.

If they lose this one, that will be three seats (counting Denny Hastert's old seat in Illinois) that the GOP has turned over to the Democrats since the mid-term elections. Newt Gingrich has been telling them that they're in for a big shock come November.

Democrat Wins Mississippi District That Bush Won By 25-points

Democrat Travis Childers defeated Republican Greg Davis in Mississippi's First Congressional District tonight (54% - 46%). This is a seat that has been considered "safe" for the GOP for many years. George W. Bush won this district by 25 points in 2004.

The GOP pulled out all the stops. They had Dick Cheney down here all day yesterday begging people to vote for the Republican. The NRCC pumped more than $1 million into this race and Ari Fleischer's Freedom's Watch group threw in another million. The ads run by the GOP were so outrageous that three of the Freedom's Watch ads had to be withdrawn due to false accusations. They accused the Democratic candidate of supporting something that he has always opposed. The ads that were allowed featured the clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's "GD America" meltdown, followed by clips of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi with the warning that a vote for the Democratic candidate is a vote for Barack Obama and his radical agenda and Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values.

In Louisiana's Sixth District ten days ago and in Mississippi's First District today, the GOP lost elections where they had run ads against Barack Obama more than against the individual candidates. Both of these seats have been "safe" Republican seats for decades. In both races, the Republicans ran ads tying the local Democrats to Barack Obama, warning voters that sending any Democrat to Washington is a vote to help Barack Obama implement his radical agenda. They ran similar ads in North Carolina a few weeks ago against two Democratic gubernatorial candidates there. The Republican party is convinced that the race card is the way to go in the South. Looks like they may have miscalculated just how much people want a change in Washington. They are voting for Democratic candidates because they are Not-Republicans.

P.S. -- Another significant point about MS-01: It's three-fourths white! The GOP figured it would be a slam dunk. LA-06 is only about three-fifths white. They blamed their loss in LA-06 on a flawed Republican candidate and a heavy African-American turnout.

Here's another interesting point: This election today wasn't even close, not nearly as close as the first election a month ago. And since that first election the GOP went from bad to worse as far as blatantly racist ads are concerned. Their ads were so gross I think they resulted in a backlash and a larger turnout than might have been expected otherwise. The Republicans are showing that they are willing to surf the gutters in an attempt to hang on to power.

[Ninong]

You've Got The Magic Touch

Dedicated to Deputy Leader Dick and whoever decided it would be a good idea to send him down to Mississippi to campaign for the Republican candidate in the First District.

Here.



P.S. -- They had Mike Huckabee and Trent Lott and both current Republican senators from Mississippi and Gov. Haley Barbour and a whole slew of other GOP hotshots down here working the crowds for this guy and he still lost by 8 points to a Democrat in a district where Republicans have a huge majority in registrations, where the population is 74% white and where George W. Bush won by 25 points in 2004.

[Ninong]

Democrats Got Lucky Again, No Big Deal!


Barack Obama...

I want to congratulate Congressman-elect Travis Childers on winning this special election. By electing Travis in this traditionally overwhelmingly Republican district, the people of Mississippi voted to end the politics of division and distraction, and bring about real change. This is the third special election in recent months that Democrats have won in traditionally Republican areas -- an unmistakable sign that Americans want to make a clean break from the failed Bush policies of the past - and are not looking for four more years of those failed policies from John McCain. I look forward to working with Travis in the months ahead to fix our economy, and make a difference in the lives of America's hardworking families.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

"Change You Deserve"

House Republican leaders unveiled their new slogan yesterday: "Change You Deserve."

As several bloggers have already pointed out, it turns out it's already being used - to market an antidepressant.

"The Change You Deserve" is a trademark used by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to promote its serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor Effexor XR.

GOP's New Slogan Is A Real Gem

Truth in advertising: The GOP's new slogan "Change You Deserve," is even more appropriate than I thought. I was wondering why they would choose a slogan that is already being used to sell an antidepressant but now I see just how appropriate it really is.

The FDA sent a Warning Letter to Wyeth accusing them of making "unsubstantiated superiority claims" and minimizing "the risks associated with the use of Effexor XR," an antidepressant approved for the treatment "of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults."

The journal ad is misleading because it overstates the efficacy of Effexor XR, makes unsubstantiated superiority claims, in addition to other unsubstantiated claims, and minimizes the risks associated with the use of Effexor XR.

[Ninong]

Too Crazy For FOX, Too Crazy For McCain

Our Lady of the Concentration Camps is all worked up because she has been banned by the McCain Campaign from participating in their weekly blogger conference calls with the candidate.

Gee, I wonder why?

Anyway, the only reason I brought this up at all was so that I could post this again.



P.S. -- We should all send emails to the McCain Campaign demanding that they allow Michelle in on their conference calls.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

GOP's New Slogan Is A Real Gem

Truth in advertising: The GOP's new slogan "Change You Deserve," is even more appropriate than I thought. I was wondering why they would choose a slogan that is already being used to sell an antidepressant but now I see just how appropriate it really is.

The FDA sent a Warning Letter to Wyeth accusing them of making "unsubstantiated superiority claims" and minimizing "the risks associated with the use of Effexor XR," an antidepressant approved for the treatment "of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults."

The journal ad is misleading because it overstates the efficacy of Effexor XR, makes unsubstantiated superiority claims, in addition to other unsubstantiated claims, and minimizes the risks associated with the use of Effexor XR.

Let's Help McCain's Campaign Come Up A With Better Slogan

"Change You Deserve" may be a poor choice, considering it is already being used by an antidepressant that treats "depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults." That hits a little too close to home. Talk about truth in advertising! Wow!

So we need to all put our heads together to come up with a better slogan for McCain's campaign.



How about:

"John McCain: The Big Appeaser"

[Ninong]

How About This One?

Now that McCain has announced that he's suddenly an environmentalist, how about:

"John McCain: He Won't Hesitate To Bomb Global Warming"

[Ninong]

How about this slogan:

John McCain: He's Like Jesus Christ On The Cross!

Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

He was shot down, captured and tortured for our sins. That was the point the Georgia GOP state chairwoman was trying to make. She forgot to mention that like Jesus, McCain has nine homes, a private lake to fish in, a private jet to fly around in and is on his second wife. And, like Jesus, he's known for his colorful language when upset. Yes, I can see where they have a lot in common except for the fact that Jesus was a flaming liberal.

[Ninong]

New McCain Ad:

Washington Double Talk.

[Ninong]

Vets Ad Asking McCain To Support Our Troops

Veterans are asking John McCain why he won't join fellow veterans, Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Jim Webb (D-VA), in support of the new GI bill that would cover more of the education costs of our veterans.

Bush and McCain say that if we make it too enticing for them to go to college, they won't reenlist.

How many homes do you have Senator McCain? "Eight or nine, I'm not sure." "But Barack Obama is an elitist, I know that."


_________________________________________________

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." -- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008.

[Ninong]

McCain Whimped Out On Supporting Our Troops

Sensing defeat, McCain kept his ass in California today and didn't even bother to vote. What a whimp!

Senate Approves Webb-Hagel GI Bill Overwhelmingly 75-22

As Military.com (the site I linked above) pointed out, "We didn't give a fraction in Iraq. We gave 100 percent." McCain supported a less generous GI bill that would have covered only a fraction of the cost of attending a state college instead of 100% like the bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE).

McCain and his little rug-buying buddy, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), were pushing a bill that was not nearly as generous because, according to them, if we made it too easy for veterans to attend college, they might decide to not reenlist. Typical Republican "support" for our troops!

President Bush has threatened to veto this bill. Obviously it passed by a bi-partison veto-proof margin in the Senate but it may not pass by a large enough margin in the House to override the presidential veto, assuming he dares go through with it. We'll see.

This is just another instance of John McCain tying himself so tightly to Bush that he's not even in synch with the rest of his Republican colleagues in the Senate. John McSame for a third Bush term.

This is something all those "hard-working Americans, white Americans" who voted for Hillary and who have threatened to vote for McCain if Obama is the nominee of the Democratic party need to get drilled into their heads. The Republican party is NOT interested in them and never has been. The Republican party is not interested in rewarding our troops who have suffered the hardship of repeated tours in 120 degree heat in Iraq. All they're interested in is making sure that the troops stay in the military and don't decided to get our after just four years because the worst thing the typical Republican politician could imagine would be the possibility of a draft that would expose their own children to the possibility of military service. Think of Mitt Romney's five sons who served their country by driving a campaign bus around Iowa stumping for their dad.


_________________________________________________

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." -- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008.