Wednesday’s Mini-Report

November 1, 2006

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* In case his earlier apologies weren’t quite clear enough, John Kerry has apologized again for flubbing one word in a joke a couple of days ago.

* Alas, Donald Rumsfeld is apparently staying on through 2008, at least as far as the president is concerned.

* I haven’t read the ruling yet, but news reports are suggesting that an appellate court in Maryland has ruled that the state’s rape law doesn’t apply if sex has already begun. In other words, if these media accounts are accurate, the court found that a woman can forfeit her right to stop intercourse, which strikes me as the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.

* A law-abiding law student and Marine vet had to be tackled at a George Allen event because he was wearing a backpack? The odd things you’ll learn watching CNN….

* Yet another setback for the GOP outreach-to-African-Americans strategy. This time, it’s in South Florida, where a Republican state lawmaker was forced to resign from the Legislature after a racist tirade he left on a colleagues’ answering machine. The lawmaker said he was drunk. (If it didn’t work for Mel Gibson….)

* Up until 2000, most Secretaries of State (at the state level, not the chief U.S. diplomat) were largely anonymous. But after Katherine Harris in Florida and Ken Blackwell in Ohio, it’s now considered a key governmental post. For example, check out this great ad from the Secretary of State race in Minnesota.

* Barack Obama already has a killer answer when asked the “experience” question.

* I don’t want to belabor the Kerry non-story, but Charles P. Pierce offered a great proposal today: “If we’re going to play by Mark Halperin’s rules of mindless balance, then every news item about John Kerry’s hamfisted way with humor should be followed by a sentence something like this: ‘This is not the first time an important politician has been caught in what observers say is an act of disrespect for our troops.’ Which would then be followed by a description (in print) or the actual footage (on TV) of this.”

* Mark Foley’s 30-day stint in rehab ended yesterday, but he’s not going anywhere. (thanks to B.P. for the tip)

* The competition is fierce, but Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) appears to be making a late run for the award for Most Corrupt House Member (of those who haven’t already resigned in disgrace).

* I don’t know who VoteVets.org hired to do their advertising, but they’re doing a great job.

* Wearing a “peace” button on your lapel is illegal in a polling place? Apparently. (via reader S.W.)

* Florida is already having problems with their electronic voting machines. Worse, the problems are benefiting Republicans. Be afraid. (via reader R.M.)

* And, finally, our old friend Tom DeLay told Fox News last night, “I haven’t had no ethical problems.” He didn’t appear to be kidding.

If none of these particular items are of interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

I guess the appellate court in Maryland has just renamed a woman’s vagina as pandora’s box. Once it’s opened …

  • * A law-abiding law student and Marine vet had to be tackled at a George Allen event because he was wearing a backpack? The odd things you’ll learn watching CNN….

    Good thing he didn’t have brown skin, he’d have been shot to death.

  • In case his earlier apologies weren’t quite clear enough, John Kerry has apologized again for flubbing one word in a joke a couple of days ago.

    they never learn…very depressing.

  • * Wearing a “peace” button on your lapel is illegal in a polling place? Apparently. (via reader S.W.)

    WTF? That’s like one step away from saying you can’t go to vote wearing anything bought at American Apparel.

  • The Secretary of State position in the state of Illinois has always been a key position, as 2 of the last 3 governors (1 corrupt, 1 greatly liked) started in that position. At least our current SoS is a Dem. and likely to stay that way.

    Also, I wanted to say that the Obama response is great. As for experience, to turn a GOP line back around on them…Why is it that Republican’ts are always focused on the past??

    Judgement and Vision. Things we definitely need in the White House.

  • Florida is already having problems with their electronic voting machines. Worse, the problems are benefiting Republicans. Be afraid. (via reader R.M.)

    Oh good! Maybe we will have Katherine Harris to kick around some more.

  • A 63-year-old woman was forcibly ejected from a polling booth in El Paso today because of a “Grandmothers for Peace” badge she has been wearing for 10 years? Would a “Babies for War” badge have got her through?

  • How long before Kerry appears in Boston Common clothed in sackcloth and raining ashes on his head? Yesterday I thought he was finally learning to push back. Today, as demanded by Bush, Snow, McCain and Limbaugh, he’s issuing a new and more abject apology every hour. I voted for the guy, but damn, he’s a wuss.

  • That is a great commercial by VoteVets. They could have even added Bush’s comment that he doesn’t care about Osama, but maybe that’s for a different commercial….

  • “..the court found that a woman can forfeit her right to stop intercourse,”

    Not really. She can tell her partner to stop, and they will either comply or not. It’s just that she won’t be able to invoke the power of the state to enforce it.

    The government should intervene when there is clear evidence of forcible rape. Otherwise this is one of those times it should stay out of the bedroom.

  • And, finally, our old friend Tom DeLay told Fox News last night, “I haven’t had no ethical problems.” He didn’t appear to be kidding. — CB

    Well, when I was learning English, we were told that two negatives negted one another and made one positive (not so in Polish, where a second negative *strengthens* the first). IOW, what he said was: “I have had ethical problems”. Since that’s no more than the truth, keeping a straight face was entirely appropriate.

  • How ironic that the key word preventing the completely fake John Kerry story from dominating the news cycle is “us.”

    Had Kerry included “us” in his comment, none of this absurdity would have come to pass.

    Had he not omitted that word, he’d have said “”You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t, you get us get stuck in Iraq.”

    The joke on Bush would’ve been clear.

    But, that single dropping of “us” allowed the Right Wing Noise Machine and the complicit Freak Show press to go into overdrive.

    When I was very briefly (a week and a half, maybe) the Grand Leader of All Things Internet Strategy for Zephyr Teachout’s bid for the Vermont seat in Congress — since this potential run was in the news, I hope she doesn’t mind me talking about it — I advocated for using “for U.S. House” instead of “for Congress” as her tagline.

    I liked the “U.S. = us” reference — as opposed to the somewhat randy “congress.”

    And, of course, Bernie Sanders’ campaign has since made a nice use of the “for US” underlined in “for US Senate” in his campaign materials.

    But, Kerry, by accident, skipped the “us” in his attempt at mocking Bush and all hell broke loose.

    How absurd. And how sad. Because, all of “us” are in this together.

    Except those who shamelessly bend the truth for political gain… And those, in the press, who enable them to do so.

  • Speaking of… I would like to see Sen. Leahy get in the news this week, demanding an apology from VP Dick Cheney, for saying “Go f*ck yourself” to Leahy on the floor of the US Senate.

    Anybody want to float this idea by Sen. Leahy? He’s had a lot of experience on the TV shows.

  • “..the court found that a woman can forfeit her right to stop intercourse,”

    Not really. She can tell her partner to stop, and they will either comply or not. It’s just that she won’t be able to invoke the power of the state to enforce it.

    The government should intervene when there is clear evidence of forcible rape. Otherwise this is one of those times it should stay out of the bedroom.

    Comment by NeilS — 11/1/2006 @ 8:16 pm

    Leave it to you to laud the court’s decision as a clear victory for the right to rape.

  • I case anyone missed the significance of today’s announcement by Bush that he was standing by Cheney and Rumsfeld allow me to explain. BushCo. in a dominance display has just force Kerry to apologize for a minor mistake and then crawl under a rock. He then turns and announces that he won’t bend to demands to sack Rumsfeld and for good measure gratuitously stands behind Cheney as well. Thus he has demonstrated that he is the alpha male.

    Let us hope that all but the the stupid 30% who dress in brown shirts will see this for what it is. Also, let us hope that it motivates our team to get to the polls and give Bush an accountability moment.

  • “..the court found that a woman can forfeit her right to stop intercourse,”

    Not really. She can tell her partner to stop, and they will either comply or not. It’s just that she won’t be able to invoke the power of the state to enforce it.

    The government should intervene when there is clear evidence of forcible rape. Otherwise this is one of those times it should stay out of the bedroom.

    So, if someone is spoon-feeding you and you give your implicit consent to them doing so by opening your mouth and take a bite, then they decide, for some reason, to shove the spoon down your throat, that person isn’t violating you? If the woman does not consent at any given point to the act being performed, then it is by definition “forcible”.

    Just to clarify, though, from what I’ve read by some who appear to have more understanding of the legal matters involved, the court ruling had more to do with the legal definition of “rape” in Maryland, and does not preclude the option of prosecuting someone who continues when consent is withdrawn after penetration, but under a charge of assault rather than rape.

  • The government should intervene when there is clear evidence of forcible rape.

    Hoo doogies, break out the roofies and hit the bars boys, we’s gonna have ourselves a good ol’ time. Don’t fergit yer rubbers, don’t wanna leave no evidence. Hell, if we play our cards right we can even snuff a few bitches longs we don’t leave no marks on ’em!

    Otherwise this is one of those times it should stay out of the bedroom.

    Actually, this took place in the back of a car (read the decision, maybe?) and since you didn’t get the memo: Rape ain’t a “bedroom issue.” Jackass.

    However, let me break it down for you in terms that you might understand: Say I ask you “Can I borrow some money?” (Request) You say “Yes, I can lend you a buck.” (Consent) Then, the moment after you place the the money in my hand you notice that you’ve given me a 20 by mistake.

    By your “logic” the 20 bucks is mine, sucker and I can ignore your request that I return your money. So can the cops. I doubt you’d like that. I doubt you’d say well there’s no clear evidence of force and walk away.

    Finally here’s a thought problem for you:

    Most states (unless it’s a federal law) allow people 48 hours to terminate contracts after they’ve signed (with some exceptions) should the states abolish those rules? In other words, is consent a fixed thing (yes is yes forever, no is no forever) or does it extend over some period of time?

    And do you throw tantrums when people change their minds?

  • #19 – good points about Alpha Male. Two more points, regarding how this may affect the election:

    – Kerry is not on the ballot.

    – I like this interpretation at FireDogLake:

    Meanwhile, Tony Snow was just on The Factor saying that John Kerry’s apology was “sufficient.”

    Translation: We polled the tits off this pig and we were getting hammered. We wanted people to hear “Democrats hate our troops” and all they were hearing was “Iraq is a fucking mess.”

    http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/11/01/ned-lamont-kicks-gop-bullies-in-the-nads/

  • PS – If Bush wants to be Alpha Male just for then sake of it, the he can damn well get saddled with everything that’s gone wrong on his watch. I think “The Pack” is perking up to that conclusion.

  • If there is any good to come from the Kerry dust up perhaps it will be the end of “Higher Broaderism” i.e. the irrational belief that if only Democrats were nice to Republicans then we could begin to accomplish something positive. Until radical Republicans are driven off the national stage their can be no bipartisanship.

  • One more observation — not just about Kerry, but about everything in the past week or two…

    This election is now officially nationalized.

  • Thanks, tAiO. — TuiMel, @22

    Ditto, TAIO (@21; I tend to think of it as Tah-yoh; it’s “musical” that way ).

    Having had things “explained” to me once by a lawyer boyfriend (you’d slept with me voluntarily in the past; what’s different now? You have no leg to stand on), I’m all for cutting the goolies off *any* rapist — marital, boyfriend, “partial” (as in the MD ruling), you-name-it; much as I like Oscar Wilde in general, I’ve never been able to thole his “relax and enjoy it” line…

    And the “I’m too far along to stop now” line has been around since well before Queen Victoria and it has *never* resonated well with women. Boo on the MD court, and a pile of horse-apples on NeilS who thinks that *one* consenting adult is enough to make a decision for two, as long as the decider is male.

  • I believe what Kerry says about this, yet oddly not 100% on the gut level, which is a bad sign, since I’m an unabashed liberal.

    So everyone makes bloopers (good description, Howard Dean!) but I think that Kerry has done a poor job of handling it and that is a sign of what’s wrong with Kerry, who I understand is considering another run. Obviously he needed to come out more quickly with an apology, knowing what Fox would do. When he finally did come out with this apology, he still didn’t really do it right, as he needed to weave inextricably into it some similar comment by Bush, or his own status as a veteran and supporter of veterans, or some anger at the idea that he might diss the military that proceeds to attack how the Repubs have undermined the military. He did none of those things.

    I think there’s a fair chance he’ll lose us some seats, as simply the remembrance of Kerry and his apparent elitism is resurrected for those considering switching their vote for this election.

    If they didn’t have such control over the media, we could afford these kinds of slips. But they do. And we can’t.

  • Plain and simple Kerry needed to apoligize immediatly after he was informed that he had missed the punchline of his joke and then move to repeat the joke as it was meant to be said. Unfortunately he chose to fight back on the wrong issue at a crucial time in this election. I only hope that this doesn’t sway the undecided voters out there that would normally break for the challenger and that would be democrats. The only advantage going for democrats now is Buch Co is campaigning up until election day and we know that he can’t speak and is prone to gaffs.

  • According to the NYT, “Mr. Bush, in an interview with wire service reporters on Wednesday, said he intended to keep Mr. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon and Mr. Cheney in the vice presidency until he leaves office in 2009.”

    If this is an accurate report of what the president said, it’s a bit odd. The SoD serves at the pleasure of the President, but the VP, as far as I know, is elected — Bush doesn’t have the power to keep Cheney in office or fire him. Am I missing something?

  • #31 – Too early in the morning for crazy camp videos, jurassicpork…

    But here’s a happy thought; how cool is it that Cheney and Rummy are staying on? Our chances of a Democratic White House in 2008 just had a 10% uptick….

  • “Bush doesn’t have the power to keep Cheney in office or fire him. Am I missing something?” – beep52

    Oh, just the fact that Boy George II could, at any time, eliminate the Office of the Vice President and reduce Cheney’s days to sitting in the Senate where everybody hates him, waiting for a 50-50 vote (which would never happen) for the opportunity to exercise his one constitutional power.

    Cheney does not hold the office of Vice President at the pleasure of the President, but all the executive powers he exercises are totally resindable.

  • By and large the people here are civil in their responses. But not always.

    Re: rape

    Orange: “Most states (unless it’s a federal law) allow people 48 hours to terminate contracts after they’ve signed..”

    Are you suggesting that a person can have consensual sex and then decide 48 hours later that it was rape and thereby send someone to jail?

    What many of you are saying is that in the middle of consensual sex a person, (male or female, please stop assuming that it is always the man imposing his will on a woman) can tell his or her partner to stop, and if they don’t you can bring a felony rape charge and have your partner sent to jail for years.

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