It becomes painfully obvious that John Harris has no confidence in the intelligence of the Post’s readers to know (and you realize it very quickly if you didn’t) that unlike too many “journalists”, Froomkin is not and has not been a White House mouthpiece.

It is interesting to note that since “journalists” are faced with a backlash of angry readers over being spoon-fed White House pablum, that the title of his column should now become their straw man. Perhaps since John Harris is so happy with Chris Cillizza, perhaps that indicates that Daniel Froomkin is obviously too liberal for Mr. Harris’ tastes. Perhaps “journalists” need to clean their own houses to regain credibility rather than turning on their own.

read this.

December 13, 2005

In “Bush says war killed 30,000 Iraqis” by Nedra Pickler present President Bush as a character in a Japanese movie called Rashomon: Bush want to be seen in a positive light while everyone else sees differently. Desperate to reverse his sinking approval rating, Bush attempts an unscripted presentation Kabuki-style, trying to come “clean” about the true estimation of Iraqi casualties. That the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia Bush dropped the minimum body count of 30,000, hoping that public will be content with. Unfortunately, no one brought up The Lancet, a prestigious British medical journal, who estimated that about 100,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed in Iraq since it was invaded by a United States-led coalition in March 2003. It’s no surprise that Bush’s figures are way off since he had appointed Karen Hughes, undersecretary of state, to dispel anti-American sentiment around the world; she’s good company with Condi Rice. His Iraqi government progress has also come into question; the Pentagon’s paid journalists and news reports. For his last Kabuki pass, Bush stated that if he knew what he knows now he would have still made the same decision to invade Iraq. Where’s the trapdoor lever when you need one.

Hee. Good one.

Bush supporter?

Poll: Santorum’s support of Bush hurts re-election prospects

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum’s support of President Bush hurts his chances for re-election next year, Pennsylvania voters said by a 2-1 margin in a poll released Tuesday.

More than one-third of all Republicans surveyed in the Quinnipiac University poll also said Santorum’s re-election prospects aren’t helped by his support of the president.

The poll showed Democratic state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. leading the two-term Republican incumbent by 50 percent to 38 percent in the 2006 Senate race, compared to a 52-to-34 percent lead in Quinnipiac’s October poll. Voters also said they disapprove of Bush’s job performance, 59 percent to 38 percent.

“President Bush is clearly hurting Santorum in Pennsylvania, and he’s still further behind than an incumbent should be entering the campaign year,” said Clay Richards, assistant director of the Hamden, Conn., university’s polling institute. “Santorum’s best hope is for a third-party abortion-rights candidate to emerge and pull Democratic votes from Casey.”

The survey of 1,447 Pennsylvania voters was released one day after Santorum, the Senate’s No. 3 Republican, attended a speech by Bush in Philadelphia that was part of the president’s public relations campaign to promote Iraq war policies.

Santorum bypassed Bush’s last stop in Pennsylvania, at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County on Nov. 11, citing a prior commitment in Philadelphia.

Santorum’s approval rating rose, with 48 percent approving and 38 percent disapproving, up from 43 percent approving and 41 disapproving in October, the poll found.

Santorum was viewed favorably by 35 percent of the electorate, and Casey was viewed favorably by 40 percent, the poll found. But 34 percent said they did not yet know enough about Casey, the poll found.

Casey was viewed unfavorably by 6 percent of those surveyed compared to 28 percent who viewed Santorum unfavorably.

Casey is widely considered the Democratic front-runner in the race. The respondents were not asked about any other Democratic Senate primary candidates.

The telephone poll, conducted from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6, carries a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The poll also shows Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell maintaining a lead in hypothetical matchups against each of four Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for governor next year.

Rendell’s lead is 29 percentage points over Jim Panyard, a former director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association; 25 percentage points over state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin; 13 percentage points over former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann; and 12 percentage points over former Lt. Gov. William Scranton III.

Rendell’s approval rating also improved to 51 percent from 46 percent in the university’s October poll.

Comment by I-RIGHT-I — December 13, 2005

LOL! That’s funny! Endemic. An interestingly ironic choice of expression. It says alot about where your sick mind is. I think it’s endemic of living in the barnyard with your animal lovers.

Main Entry: 1en·dem·ic
Pronunciation: en-’de-mik, in-
Function: adjective
Etymology: French endémique, from endémie endemic disease, from Greek endEmia action of dwelling, from endEmos endemic, from en in + dEmos people, populace — more at DEMAGOGUE
1 a : belonging or native to a particular people or country b : characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment
2 : restricted or peculiar to a locality or region
synonym see NATIVE

Main Entry: 1na·tive
Pronunciation: ‘nA-tiv
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English natif, from Middle French, from Latin nativus, from natus, past participle of nasci to be born — more at NATION
1 : INBORN, INNATE
2 : belonging to a particular place by birth
3 archaic : closely related
4 : belonging to or associated with one by birth
5 : NATURAL, NORMAL
6 a : grown, produced, or originating in a particular place or in the vicinity : LOCAL b : living or growing naturally in a particular region : INDIGENOUS
7 : SIMPLE, UNAFFECTED
8 a : constituting the original substance or source b : found in nature especially in an unadulterated form
9 chiefly Australian : having a usually superficial resemblance to a specified English plant or animal
- na·tive·ly adverb
- na·tive·ness noun
synonyms NATIVE, INDIGENOUS, ENDEMIC, ABORIGINAL mean belonging to a locality. NATIVE implies birth or origin in a place or region and may suggest compatibility with it . INDIGENOUS applies to species or races and adds to NATIVE the implication of not having been introduced from elsewhere . ENDEMIC implies being peculiar to a region . ABORIGINAL implies having no known race preceding in occupancy of the region .

You are fvcked and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it, except for blow up some more federal buildings. Good luck with that, winger!

DANIEL UPSET THE RULERS of the kingdom and now Froomkin finds himself among the lions. Or the hyenas. Or the high and mighty political writers at the Washington Post. The writers may be high and might be mighty sorry

Comment by I-RIGHT-I — December 13, 2005 @ 9:21 pm

Oh, if only the supreme court picked the nominees. That’s the only plaxce your radical wingnuts will be in government for the next 20 years. Have you thought about moving to another country, since this one is far too liberal for you? Perhaps Germany in 1938 would suit you.

Comment by nofreedom!

Meyers never got far enough in the nomination process to even be considered in the Senate. You like “advise and consent” only when it suits you. Sit back and shut up, we’ll tell you when it’s your turn to pick Supreme Court Judges….yeah…make yourself real comfortable for the next twenty years or so….loser.