Hillary is In

Yesterday, one of the swearing in parties I attended was Hillary Clinton's. At that party, I pointed out Terry McAuliffe to one of my house guests from Michigan. Soon after, he stepped out of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to smoke a cigarette.

While engaged in his cancer-causing activity, he witnessed McAuliffe exit the building. While getting in a car, he commented to someone that they would "be seeing a lot more of him from now on."

From the next best thing to the horse's mouth. Hillary is running for President.

Update:
This assertion has now been confirmed by a source independent of sidewalk smokers, someone who actually works in the political arena and has first hand knowledge that Senator Clinton WILL indeed be running for President.

This is Pathetic!

Update:

It has been brought to my attention by The Raw Story that this may have been a fake email. Their efforts to identify the original source of the email, Dawn Grishim, has turned up nothing. Hastert's office has denied issuing any release implicating Jerry Weller or Phil English.

My apologies for not making more of an effort to authenticate this. The source from which I received it is very reliable, but has also been duped by some disingenuous trickster.

I thank The Raw Story for calling this to my attention.
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I will attempt to be rational here. But, I'm mad.

Speaker Hastert, in a final act as a constitutionally elected LEADER of the United States House of Representatives has established a "tip line" for House Pages. As I said in a much earlier post, the Ethics Committee under Republican Rule is (WAS) pathetic. Like I said earlier, the ethics committee report was largely a joke. Here is Hastert's statement.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Speaker Hastert Announces Page Program Tip Line Number

(Washington, D.C.) House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert today announced the official Page tip line number. Following is his statement:

“As the Speaker I take full responsibility for everything in the building. The buck stops here. The safety and security of the students in the Page program is imperative.

“That is why I directed the Clerk of the House to establish a hotline for reporting any information concerning Pages or the Page program. As of this morning, the Clerk of the House has activated the tip-line. It is for anyone with information regarding the Foley, English and Weller matters. This number can also be used to report any other concerns regarding the Page program.

“The Page program tip line is 866-348-0481.”

This is evidence that the Republicans sat on information that would have been further detrimental to them in the 2006 Election. There were rumors in October that Weller and English were involved in inappropriate relationships with Pages. This is the FIRST acknowledgement of their possible involvement in the larger Page scandal.

How odd that they would wait to issue this information? The only reason I can imagine is that they want the Main Stream Media to cover this rather than the Democratic takeover of Congress.

PATHETIC!

Cybersex Scandal: Pre-Foley

No breaking news here. Most of the Beltway Folks have read about this already. But for those of you outside of Washington, this is not only interesting, but it has HUGE implications for the online world.

The quick and dirty of it is that this fella, Robert Steinbuch, was engaged in a relationship with a fellow Capitol Hill Staffer. In fact, they both worked for outgoing OH Senator Mike DeWine. Unbeknownst to him, his girlfriend, Jessica Cutler, was keeping an online journal of their relationship. And a few others!

Ms. Cutler called him the "current favorite" and said he resembled George Clooney, liked spanking and disliked condoms.

I'll save the rest of the details for the actual article. The boring part is that they are going to court, after years of discovery. This will get really dirty and personal. I feel bad for both of them.

Can Bush Really Write an Op-Ed?

Maybe. But it probably takes him a long time. Perhaps that's why he refuses to be "rushed" into a decision on Iraq! Then again, maybe he's just incapable of living up to his self proclaimed title of "Decider."

Anyway, John Aravosis has an amusing post over at America Blog that is worth checking out. He does a great job breaking down the Bush op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Those of us who enjoy seeing past the old, overused rhetoric will enjoy it!

Bush's Photo Op Snubbed by Ford Family

The children of late President Gerald Ford spent every hour of public viewing in the United States Capitol to greet tens of thousands of everyday Americans who came to pay tribute to their father. When President George W. Bush showed up, the Ford children were nowhere to be seen.

According to a Capitol Hill source, Bush is the only person to have the Rotunda cleared for his visit, bringing a screeching halt to the public's visit to the casket. Other former Presidents and political VIP's went to the front of the line, but nonetheless greeted fellow mourners while paying their condolences. Further, Bush reportedly spent only seven seconds at the casket and promptly left the building.

While the nation, including Democrats and Republicans alike, joins together in honoring the service and life of a former President, Dubya doesn't seem to get it. Instead, he seems to just be going through the motions.

In his New Year's message to America, wherein he offered scant comments on the passing of Ford, he launched into a defense of his failed Iraq Policy.

"Defeating terrorists and extremists is the challenge of our time, and we will answer history's call with confidence and fight for liberty without wavering," he said.

Perhaps that he is so politically tone deaf is the reason the Ford children decided not to welcome the President during his visit to the casket. I don't blame them one bit.

The McCain Doctrine

Newly minted Presidential candidate John Edwards today showed his political prowess and willingness to play hardball. In an interview on ABC's This Week, Edwards took on Republican frontrunner John McCain:

"I actually, myself, believe that this idea of surging troops, escalating the war -- what Senator McCain has been talking about -- what I would call now the McCain doctrine ... (is) dead wrong," said Edwards.

Some of the criticism that progressives have had with an Edwards candidacy is that he is "too soft." This direct challenge to McCain should help quell some of those concerns. That it is also couched in terms of ending the war in Iraq should also further his credibility with progressives.

This tactic should also show that Edwards is in this to win it. I'll be looking forward to how this will play out. So far, there's no comment from McCain.