Politicians Category
Politicans and world leaders making news and in the news, and spouting hot air
Eliot Spitzer The Secret Libertarian
On Eliot Spitzer, via Tim:
Once again, we see that a vehement moralizer is secretly a libertarian, at least in regards to his own rights.
It’s always other people’s freedom that needs to be curtailed.
Posted: 12th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Lindsay Hoyle On The Danger Of Tea Lights
LINDSAY Hoyle, Labour MP for Chorley has an early day motion on tea lights, and their dangers:
That this House notes with concern the number of fires caused by tea lights; recognises that these small lights can easily cause fires due to the flame being exposed; and calls on the Government to work with manufacturers to ensure that the lights are designed with sturdy mounts and fireproof casing in addition to warnings labels on the dangers of naked flames.
Spotter: Dizzy
Posted: 12th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (6)
Dinner With Matti Vanhanen, Tony Blair And Eliot Spitzer
DINNER With Matti Vanhanen, Tony Blair And Eliot Spitzer.
Matti Vanhanen, Finland’s prime miniter, is partial to:
Matti Vanhanen, 52, prime minister since 2003, has been enjoying a wave of support since the disclosure that he likes to take a sauna before sex and enjoys his favourite meal of beef and baked potatoes afterwards.
Eliot Spitzer prefers donuts:
The rendezvous that established Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s involvement with high-priced prostitutes occurred last month in one of Washington’s grandest hotels, but the criminal investigation that discovered the tryst began last year in a nondescript office building opposite a Dunkin’ Donuts on Long Island, according to law enforcement officials.
Tony Blair likes:
Bananas, Beck’s lager and pistachio nuts – maid who served Blair at Labour conference
Fresh fettucini garnished with an exotic sauce of olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and capers – NSPCC Islington Cook Book
Fish and chips – Sedgefield Labour Party election leaflet
Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla eats out:
“It’s alright to use it as a food seasoning,” VP Jusuf Kalla was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post daily.
W. T. Mayhall, Jr., John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows don’t lke watching fat people eat.
Sambhu Mandi, a minister in West bengal, sees food everywhere:
“If there is food scarcity … they will also survive on snakes, rats, toads”
Kevin Rudd and Gordon Brown are so full of themselves they can eat themselves all up.
Hot potatoes…
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Politicians | Comment
Hillary Clinton’s Dark And Stormy Night
WRITES Orlando Patteson in “The Red Phone in Black and White”, a response in the New York Times to Hillary Clinton’s 3am advert:
I have spent my life studying the pictures and symbols of racism and slavery, and when I saw the Clinton ad’s central image — innocent sleeping children and a mother in the middle of the night at risk of mortal danger — it brought to my mind scenes from the past. I couldn’t help but think of D. W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation,” the racist movie epic that helped revive the Ku Klux Klan, with its portrayal of black men lurking in the bushes around white society. The danger implicit in the phone ad — as I see it — is that the person answering the phone might be a black man, someone who could not be trusted to protect us from this threat.
Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively – Voltaire
Finally, Hillary Clinton appears, wearing a business suit at 3 a.m., answering the phone. The message: our loved ones are in grave danger and only Mrs. Clinton can save them. An Obama presidency would be dangerous — and not just because of his lack of experience. In my reading, the ad, in the insidious language of symbolism, says that Mr. Obama is himself the danger, the outsider within.
Hillary Clinton is wearing a business suit at 3am because it is what she relaxes in. She may wear it in the manner of the old shrink-to-fit Levi jeans adverts, entering a hot bath and turning the waters an icy cold with her touch.
When there is so much overt racism, why go looking for it in hiden places?
Hillary Clinton’s 3am Girl Supports Obama
Hillary Clinton And Obama Not Ready For 3am Call, Unity Candidate McCain And Ken Starr
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
Those Eliot Spitzer Jokes
THOSE Eliot Spitzer jokes:
Letterman’s “Top 10 Spitzer Excuses.”
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Don Suber: Poohbahs Of Pork
POOHBAHS of pork: “Obama and Hillary join McCain in battling earmarks. I credit Glenn Reynolds and the rest of the bloggers” – Don Suber:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday joined Republican presidential candidate John McCain and a small band of GOP senators in making a run this week against the billions of dollars in home-state pet projects Congress funds each year.
Obama, locked in a head-to-head battle with Clinton for the Democratic nomination, was the first to declare through a spokesman Monday that he would support a one-year moratorium on so-called earmarks when it comes up for a vote later this week. Clinton followed shortly afterward through a spokesman.
The poobahs of pork in both parties as well as their Senate leaders suddenly found themselves on the spot after stalwartly defending lawmakers’ practice of steering federal dollars to their home states.
Poohbahs of pork.
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Eliot Spitzer: The Face That Launched A Thousand Quips
ELIOT Spitzer is the New York governor in the mire.
His is a story told in headlines: “Prostitute Admits Link to Eliot Spitzer; Resigns From Escort Service in Disgrace”; and “New York Governor Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring.”
THE CARPET BAGGER: Eliot’s Mess — Spitzer scandal details emerge
EDITOR & PUBLISHER: The Emperor’s No Clothes: More Papers Jump on Spitzer Scandal
ROGER KIMBALL: “My own feeling is that there are so many reasons to dislike Eliot Spitzer that I would hate the issue of hypocrisy to obscure his many other, more heinous faults. In fact, I am not entirely sure Mr. Spitzer rises to the level of the genuine hypocrite.”
THE EXAMINER: “There is no honorable alternative to Spitzer’s resignation”
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Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
Ken Livingstone Is ‘Wrong’ Once Every 58 Seconds, Boris Johnson Less
SAYS Trixy: “Andrew Gilligan pointed out in the Evening Standard yesterday that Ken Livingstone cannot seem to open his mouth without lying about something:
Both the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, and his main rival, Boris Johnson, recently made separate appearances on the BBC’s Vanessa Feltz show.
Each answered questions from callers and from Ms Feltz for the same length of time. Allowing for the questions, news and travel bulletins and station promos, Mr Livingstone spoke for approximately 35 minutes. In that time, he said 36 things that were untrue or misleading, an average of one every 58 seconds.
What has really annoyed me is that if the evening standard can work out that they are saying untrue things, then why did Vanessa Feltz let them go unchallenged for 30 minutes?
Over the same length of time Mr Johnson said 11 things that were untrue or misleading, an average of one every three minutes 10 seconds.”
Who is the bigger liar?
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
Neal Lawson On Mistakes: A New Labour Parody
NEAL Lawson: “A wealth of mistakes.”
John Hutton’s planned speech celebrating Britain’s highest earners flies in the face of what Labour should stand for. But there’s still time…
I was going to cut and paste the entire piece and file it under Beyond Parody. But I then wondered if it might be a parody…
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Eliot Spitzer Prostitute Resigns
ELIOT Spitzer is in the mire. Says The Agitator (Source): I nominate the following for tomorrow’s NY Post headline: “Prostitute Admits Link to Eliot Spitzer; Resigns From Escort Service in Disgrace.”
Posted: 11th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
Carmen Peláez On Che Guevara, Barack Obama
CHE Guevara makes an appearnce with Barack Obama and Ron Paul.
Says Cuban writer Carmen Peláez in Castro-loving leftists:
“When I started writing the play, I thought people just didn’t know what was happening in Cuba,” she said after the show closed its monthlong New York run last week. “But the longer I live here, the more I realized, they don’t care …
“They would rather keep their little pop revolution instead of saying it is a dictatorship,” Ms. Peláez said. “I had somebody come to me after a show and say, ‘Don’t ruin Cuba for me!’ Well, why not? They’re holding on to a fantasy.”
Better than holding on to a dream…
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Eliot Spitzer Revealed In Prostitute Scandal
REPORTS the NY Times: “Governor Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.”
“New York Governor Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring.”
Mr. Spitzer is a first-term Democrat who “pledged to bring ethics reform and end the often seamy ways of Albany”. That reads like the back of an official biography on the man. But Mr Spitzer may not be so dull.
Mr Spitzer may be guilty of no wrongdoing. But for this brush with scandal he appears all the more human, part of the jumble of complexities that make us up.
The NY Times reports: “The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.”
The Emperors Club. People will get upset and purse their lips and clack their tongues in disgust. No apostrophe. For shame!
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Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (5)
Hillary Clinton Is Yoko Ono
A FEW words on Hillary Clinton: “Saying that Hillary has Executive Branch experience is like saying Yoko Ono was a Beatle,” – Kos commenter, via Andrew Sullivan.
But what about Hillary bringing peace to Northern Ireland?
But what about Hillary curing Rwanda?
And if Hillary is Yoko Ono, is Bill – gulp! – John Lennon?
Is this the Bill Clinton Death Cult? Hillary has a Death Cult. And Barack Obama has a huge and vibrant Death Cult.
All American politicans need a death cult…
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (6)
The ID Cards Debated
THE ID Cards Debated:
THE HERALD: “Will the PM listen to the Home Office or to the experts?
The Scottish Government must be heartily commended for its decision to resist the imposition of compulsory national ID cards on Scottish airport workers and students. In doing so, it serves well the clearly and repeatedly expressed will of the Scottish Parliament. Compulsory ID cards and the associated database are not welcome here.
THE TIMES: “High-flown nonsense over terror – US has a right to airline information.”
When was the last time you let a bunch of potential terrorists into your house? Indeed, when was the last time you let any group of strangers walk around your house without asking them what they wanted or where they were from?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)
Ken Livingstone’s Reduced Bus Company
KEN Livingstone says a vote for him to be London Mayor is a vote for reduced bus fares.
Boris Johnson says a vote for him is a vote for reduced buses.
The man on the Clapham Omnibus says: “Why not let the market fix the price?”
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Photojournalism, Politicians | Comment
A Greener Budget To Appease Russia
“CLIMATE change may spark conflict with Russia, EU told,” announces the Guardian.
This front-page story appears alongside the report: “Darling plans Labour’s greenest budget yet.”
Can the two tales be linked? Is this green budget delivered with a nod to Russia?
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment (1)
Gordon Brown’s New Still Tax
“FAMILIES’ £800 BILL JUST TO STAND STILL.”
The Mail’s front-page headline is grist to the mill of they who warned us against Gordon Brown’s love of stealth taxes.
The Queen’s guard at Buckingham Palace stand still. Are they exempt? Or is it one Still Tax for all?
And how still is still? Is the Government engaged in a giant game of Dead Lions, walking among us looking for signs of life to tax?
If you remain still, you must pay. If you remain too still you are most likely dead, which leads us to think that this new Still Tax is a likely replacement to Inheritance Tax. In which case, is the £800 a one-off payment, or is the Still Tax calculated each year, meaning that the longer you are dead the more you pay?
Reading on, the Mail says the Still Tax is brought on by the high cost of heating, petrol and mortgages. You might be better off dead.
But, then, they get you there as well…
Posted: 10th, March 2008 | In: Money, Politicians, Tabloids | Comment
Bjork Ruines China For Artists
BJORJK makes her childish point about Tibet and leaves the mess behind:
HANGHAI (Reuters) – China will tighten its controls over foreign singers and other performers after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted “Tibet! Tibet!” at a Shanghai concert last weekend, the Ministry of Culture said on Friday.
Posted: 9th, March 2008 | In: Celebrities, Politicians | Comment (1)
Oklahoma Gays Are Cancerous, Islamic Terrorists
OKLAHOMA Gays Are Cancerous, Islamic Terrorists. So says Sally Kern, an Oklahoma State Representative. Gays are also responsible for global warming:
The only two things from Oklahoma are steers and queers, and I don’t see any horns on you boy – (Officer and a Gentleman, An – 1982)
Posted: 9th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
Hillary Clinton Would Have Saved Rwanda
HILLARY Clinton cured Northern Ireland. Or not. Hillary Clinton saved thousands in Northern Ireland:
Bill Clinton claims that Hillary Clinton urged him to intervene militarily in Rwanda:
And then, using a more somber tone, he explained that she had wanted the United States to intervene in Rwanda in 1994, when hundreds of thousands of people died in a genocide that lasted just a few months.Clinton has often said that not acting in Rwanda was one of his biggest regrets. It’s a decision, he said, for which he continues to try to make amends. Had he listened to his wife, Clinton said, things might have been different.
“I believe if I had moved we might have saved at least a third of those lives,” he said. “I think she clearly would have done that.””
When Hillary Clinton was asked whether this was true, she said “It is.”
I have no idea whether or not this is true. But I do know a couple of related things. First, if Hillary Clinton did press for military intervention in Rwanda, her advocacy left no trace in the world.
They say Hillary Clinton prevented war with Venus. They say Hillary Clinton brought down the Berlin Wall. They say Hillary Clinton can see around corners…
Posted: 9th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Does John McCain Have Cancer?
DOES John McCain have cancer?
Says the New York Times in “On the Campaign Trail, Few Mentions of McCain’s Bout With Melanoma”:
In 1999, during Mr. McCain’s first race for president, he gave the public an extraordinary look at his medical history — 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records that were amassed as part of a United States Navy project to gauge the health of former prisoners of war.
Only:
But this time around, Mr. McCain has yet to make his full medical records or his physicians available to reporters. At least three times since March 2007, campaign officials have told The New York Times that they would provide the detailed information about his current state of health, but they have not done so. The campaign now says it expects to release the information in April.
Has the New York Times at least three times requested a look at Mr McCain’s medical notes? Has it given up asking and resorted to just giving it a good guess?
Does McCain have cancer? He had an melanoma surgery – “The final pathology analysis showed no evidence of spread of the melanoma, his staff said at the time.”
So McCain does not have cancer. Says the NY Times: “So Mr. McCain’s prognosis for the recurrence of melanoma can be gauged only by talking to experts not connected with his case. Those experts say his prospects appear favorable.”
Has the NY Times turned into the National Enquirer? Is at aiming that high? The Enquirer thrives on the opinion of professionals offering expert opinion on a celebrity they are not treating or representing.
The campaign also said Mr. McCain regularly took Vytorin to lower his cholesterol, a baby aspirin to help prevent heart attacks, a multivitamin and, occasionally, Claritin or Flonase for allergies.
And? And nothing. That’s it. Not only is politics showbusiness for ugly people but they have to get by on fewer drugs than the average celebrity has for elevenses.
“It was not out of line,” said one of the experts, Dr. Richard L. Shapiro, a melanoma surgeon at New York University… “With melanoma, a patient is never completely clear,” says Dr. Shapiro.
That opening question needs to be rephrased: Does John McCain have cancer, and if not, why not?
Posted: 9th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
Hillary Clinton’s 3am Girl Supports Obama
THE girl in Hillary Clinton’s 3 a.m. advert is an Obama supporter.
The first girl in the ad is young Casey Knowles. It’s stock footage from eight years ago when she worked as a TV extra – footage owned now by Getty Images and used by the Clinton campaign.
But they couldn’t have picked a more unwilling star.
“It’s really sort of ironic that my image would be used to advocate for Hillary when I myself do not,” said Casey.
She may only be 17, but Casey has some very strong political opinions. She turns 18 – legal voting age – in April, in plenty of time before the general election.
“It’s perfect timing because I have a candidate that I really identify with,” she said.
“I’ve been campaigning for Barack Obama for a few months now,” she said. “I was actually a precinct captain at the caucuses a few months ago. I attended his rally a few months ago and I’m a very, very avid supporter.”
Says Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe: “We think that the young actress in that stock footage who’s now supporting us has got sound judgment as to who the strongest commander in chief would be.”
As Jamie Wearing asks: “Now with the clocks moving ahead tonight, does this mean a fully made-up Hillary will be getting calls at 4 a.m.?”
Posted: 9th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)
Vince Cable Walks Into A LibDem Pub Without Nick Clegg’s Cojones
VINCE Cable, the Lib Dem treasury spokesman, says High Street banks “had become the financial equivalent of a Wetherspoons pub – but with even less of a sense of social responsibility”.
Vince Cable says: “Just as binge drinking has become one of Britain’s main recreational activities, binge lending has now become a mainstay of the economy.”
Drinking can make you impotent. No, not important. He-he. No, drinking can can make LibDembs and their leader Nick Clegg “become separated from their cojones“.
No, not cronies. (Wipes tear from eye). Cojones.
And – he-he- the Liberal Democrats have promised to increase taxes on strong booze in a bid to tackle binge drinking.
Bean counters. All – ho-ho-ho – Mr Bean counters…
Posted: 8th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
Samantha Power, The Scotsman, Oh-Bummer And McCain
CLIVE DAVIS on Samantha Power: “It’s ironic that an academic who made her name by writing about genocide can’t tell the difference between Hillary and a real monster. Andrew Sullivan thinks Samantha Power was just speaking the truth. Really? Alex Massie insists the Scotsman was right to publish.”
When Power was discussing Hillary Clinton with the Scotsman and said “she is a monster… she is stooping to anything”, she added a hasty “that’s off the record”.
Says Kevin Connolly:
But there are one or two interesting questions in the whole issue too.
First, and most obvious, is the issue of whether that unguarded remark gives us a clue as to the view of Mrs Clinton held inside the Obama camp, and perhaps even by the Illinois senator himself.
The second is the extent to which the strong language is an indication that the Democrats are going to find it impossible to keep up the generally mannerly tone of their race as it goes right down to the wire.
“Obama aide quits over Scotsman interview,” says the Scotsman on its front page.”
The piece features Power’s less-than-convincing apology:
“With deep regret, I am resigning from my role as an adviser to the Obama campaign. I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor and purpose of the Obama campaign. And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months.”
Indeed. It makes you wonder – is she secretly working for John McCain? (Samantha Power is blonde.)
Posted: 8th, March 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Politicians | Comment
Jacqui Smith’s Abrogated Student Radicalism Shows No ID
JACQUI Smith on ID cards:
Even the most hard-bitten student activist would recognise its not an abrogation of his radicalism to get an ID card if it helps him to provide an assurance of his identity to those who provide services to him.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (quoted in Computer Weekly). Via.
Posted: 8th, March 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
