Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/14/13

Saudis Defend Sri Lankan Maid's Execution, Hit Back At Criticism

Court Rules Unborn Is 'Child'

EBT Abuse: The Cash-For-Drunkards Program

Next Up: Obama to Seek Immigration Overhaul in Single, Giant Bill

72% of U.S. Casualities in Afghan War Under Obama's Watch

HuffPo Gushes Over Artist’s ‘Lesbian Last Supper’

No Oxygen, Please, For This Show

Andrea Mitchell: Women On Obama's Staff 'Are Not Happy' With His White Male Cabinet Picks

Ex-President George H.W. Bush May Leave Hospital Soon

Liberal Hollywood Denies Link Between Violent Films and School Shooters

The Truth About Children With 'Gay' Parents

Obama Authorized U.S. Participation in Botched French Somalia Mission

Former President Goerge H.W. Bush Calls Keith Olbermann & Rachel Maddow A Couple Of "Sick Puppies"

NewsBusters.org:

Perhaps the 41st president still has it in him - at least when it comes to the left crying foul about the so-called uncivil political discourse on right, but being equally if not worse on the left - particularly on MSNBC, the "Place for Politics."

In an interview on Oct. 16 with CBS Radio, former President George H.W. Bush took a very critical tact with MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, deeming them "a couple of sick puppies." (via MSNBC's Oct. 16 "The Rachel Maddow Show")

"I don't like it," Bush said. "I think the cables have a lot to do with it. I'll take you back to when I was president - we got tons of criticism, but didn't seem day in and day out quite as personal as some of these talk show people."

It's funny to watch how Olbermann starts off with "I think I can speak on your behalf..." Of course he can, while George Soros provides the bank, Krazy Keith is the leader of the nimrods at MSNBC and their barely watched network. Good for the former President to call them out, too bad he didn't mention what a misogynist Keith is too.

When Poppa Bush Spoke To Schoolkids, Democrats Called For Congressional Investigation

The Left is angry, to say the least, about the reaction by some on the Right to Barry's speech to schoolkids today, going so far as to call conservative parents "stupid" and the like (name-calling is what they do when you dare to disagree with The One). But now comes word that when Poppa Bush was in charge and gave an innocent speech to school children on responsibility and the value of education, the other party--that would be Democrats--pitched a fit would belittle anything we're seeing now:

The controversy over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning. Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.

Unlike the Obama speech, in 1991 most of the controversy came after, not before, the president's school appearance. The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit. "The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," the Post reported.

With the Post article in hand, Democrats pounced. "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. "And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'"

Democrats did not stop with words. Rep. William Ford, then chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate the cost and legality of Bush's appearance. On October 17, 1991, Ford summoned then-Education Secretary Lamar Alexander and other top Bush administration officials to testify at a hearing devoted to the speech. "The hearing this morning is to really examine the expenditure of $26,750 of the Department of Education funds to produce and televise an appearance by President Bush at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington, DC," Ford began. "As the chairman of the committee charged with the authorization and implementation of education programs, I am very much interested in the justification, rationale for giving the White House scarce education funds to produce a media event."

Unfortunately for Ford, the General Accounting Office concluded that the Bush administration had not acted improperly. "The speech itself and the use of the department's funds to support it, including the cost of the production contract, appear to be legal," the GAO wrote in a letter to Chairman Ford. "The speech also does not appear to have violated the restrictions on the use of appropriations for publicity and propaganda."

Once again, hypocrisy and the Left are shown to go together like hand fits glove.

Former President George H.W. Bush Stands Up For Sonia Sotomayor

CNN.com:

Former President George H.W. Bush stood up for his former judicial nominee Sonia Sotomayor Friday, telling HLN Anchor Robin Meade that GOP critics who called President Obama's Supreme Court pick a racist were off-base, and unfair.

"I don't know her that well but I think she's had a distinguished record on the bench and she should be entitled to fair hearings. Not – [it's] like the senator John Cornyn said it," he told CNN. "He may vote for it, he may not. But he's been backing away from these…backing off from those radical statements to describe her, to attribute things to her that may or may not be true.

"And she was called by somebody a racist once. That's not right. I mean that's not fair. It doesn't help the process. You're out there name-calling. So let them decide who they want to vote for and get on with it."

High-profile Republican voices like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh had both accused the judge of racism for her past comment that a "wise Latina" might make more informed judicial decisions than a white male. Gingrich later backed away from that assessment.

Cornyn had urged Republicans to avoid labeling Sotomayor a racist, calling that brand of criticism unhelpful to the process.

Good for Daddy Bush. Sonia Sotomayor deserves to be on the Supreme Court.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/5/09

Obama Taps Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine As The New Chairman Of DNC

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Bows Out Of Commerce Secretary Job

Rick Warren Is No Billy Graham

Wisconsin Congregation Breaks With Episcopal Church

Soldier Alleges Military Pattern Of Christian Bias

Voted For Prop 8? You're Fired

Al Franken To Be Declared Senate Victor In Minnesota

Roland Burris Lawyer Prods Senate Dems Leaders

Bush 41: Jeb Should Run For President

Liberal, HuffPo Writer Debunks Al Gore's Global Warming Hysteria

Indiana Court Sides With Internet Pedophiles, Limits Child Sex Stings

Former President Bush Endorses John McCain

I was never really a fan of Bush I (way too out of touch on domestic issues), but as a former President, he deserves respect and his opinion matters:

In announcing his support for McCain, the former president said, “His character was forged in the crucible of war. His commitment to America is beyond any doubt. But most importantly, he has the right values and experience to guide our nation forward at this historic moment... Few men have sacrificed so much in the cause of human freedom."

After his remarks, former President Bush was asked about McCain’s critics within the party who have painted him not conservative enough. Saying Ronald Reagan had been criticized the same way by ultra-conservatives he said, “You know if you’ve been around the track you hear these criticisms and think they grossly unfair."

"He’s got a record that everybody can analyze in the Senate. A sound conservative record and yet he’s not above reaching out to the other side."