Senator Cochran (R-MS) on John McCain

According to the AP, my homestate senator, Thad Cochran, recalls an incident in 1987 where he, Bob Dole, and John McCain were on a diplomatic mission with representatives of Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.  From what Cochran says, John McCain grabbed one of Ortega’s associates by the shirt and lifted him out of his chair in a fit of anger.  Thankfully, no violence ensued.  Cochran stated that he was scared for their safety since the Nicaraguan officials were carrying weapons and the Congressional delegation was not.

Considering how foreign “you’re either with us or against us” policy has been over the past 7.5 years, it frightens me that we could see another 4 years of this cowboy “diplomacy” from the United States.

I wonder how much traction the Cochran story will make around the news wires.  If McCain is having his own Republican colleagues question his judgement in foreign affairs as a candidate for president, just imagine what will happen if, God forbid, McCain gets into office.  I’d hate for McCain to go China and grab the Prime Minister by his suit jacket.

Senator Wicker (R-MS) shy to debate Governor Musgrove (D-MS)

Over the past couple of days, interim US Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) has declied opportunities to debate his challenger, former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D-MS) for the election to the remainder of former Senator Trent Lott’s term.

Just this past weekend, Wicker’s campaign announced that the senator would not be participating in a debate at the Neshoba County Fair in July.  For those unfamiliar with the Fair, it has been THE most important forum for policital dialogue in Mississippi since 1889.  Ronald Reagan even announced his 1980 campaign for the presidency at the Neshoba County Fair.  We were hoping that there would be a debate between Wicker and Musgrove, but Wicker’s campaign stated that the senator had to be in Washington for votes on July 31.  True, the Senate is scheduled to be in session that day; however, we have no clue if votes are scheduled for that day.  Wicker did state; however, that he would be able to attend the Fair on July 30.  

And just today, the Clarion-Ledger reported that Musgrove has challenged Wicker to a series of town hall debates throughout Mississippi.  These informal discussions – totaling eight in all with two being held in each Congressional district – would be a great way for the issues to be discussed in an open forum.  Wicker has not yet accepted the challenge.  Wicker’s staff says that they want to accomodate the senator’s schedule but looks forward to the debates.

It is very surprising to me how a Republican in Mississippi is afraid to debate a Democrat.  How Wicker can be in Mississippi on Wednesday, July 30, and then be in Washington early the next day without facing a debate on the issues is truly remarkable – if not cowardly.  If Wicker wants to get his name out to the voters who have no idea who he is and make his case, he is certainly doing an awful job.

New Mississippi Senate Poll

From our friends at Daily Kos:

MS-Sen: Within striking range

by kos

Thu May 22, 2008 at 05:00:01 PM PDT

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 5/19-21. Likely voters. MoE 4% (12/10-12 results)

Wicker (R) 46 (47)

Musgrove (D) 42 (39)

Update: I didn’t realize that James had it up already.  My bad.

Just How Racist is Pat Buchanan?

I was mortified when I read this:

—–

March 21, 2008

A Brief For Whitey

By Patrick Buchanan

How would he pull it off? I wondered.

How would Barack explain to his press groupies why he sat silent in a pew for 20 years as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered racist rants against white America for our maligning of Fidel and Gadhafi, and inventing AIDS to infect and kill black people?

How would he justify not walking out as Wright spewed his venom about “the U.S. of K.K.K. America,” and howled, “God damn America!”

My hunch was right. Barack would turn the tables.

Yes, Barack agreed, Wright’s statements were “controversial,” and “divisive,” and “racially charged,” reflecting a “distorted view of America.”

But we must understand the man in full and the black experience out of which the Rev. Wright came: 350 years of slavery and segregation.

Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country.

The “white community,” said Barack, must start “acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination — and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past — are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds … .”

And what deeds must we perform to heal ourselves and our country?

The “white community” must invest more money in black schools and communities, enforce civil rights laws, ensure fairness in the criminal justice system and provide this generation of blacks with “ladders of opportunity” that were “unavailable” to Barack’s and the Rev. Wright’s generations.

What is wrong with Barack’s prognosis and Barack’s cure?

Only this. It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, “everybody but the rioters themselves.”

Was “white racism” really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said — that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.

This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.

We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new “ladders of opportunity” for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for “deserving” white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America’s fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?

Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?

As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?

Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.  

Mississippi Senate Poll

I just ran across this from the Rothenberg Political Report, and it’s great news!

Former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) leads appointed-Sen. Roger Wicker (R) 48%-40% in the Mississippi Senate race, according to a new poll released by the Democrat’s campaign and the DSCC. Musgrove benefits from higher name identification, and the race will close, but the initial numbers are good for the Democrat.

Musgrove had a total name identification of 95% — 57% favorable/30% unfavorable — in the survey of 600 likely voters, conducted May 15-18 by Hamilton Campaigns. Wicker’s name I.D. was only 70% (42% favorable/14% unfavorable).

In the 1st Congressional District, which Wicker represented and Democrats recently picked up in the special election, Wicker leads Musgrove 48%-43%.

Like the 1st District race, party labels will not appear on the ballot beside Wicker and Musgrove’s name, because the November race is technically a special election to fill Republican Trent Lott’s seat. That factor could help Musgrove win voters who are also planning to vote for Republican Sen. John McCain, who is winning the state 50%-41%, according to the poll. President Bush won Mississippi 59%-39% in 2004.

Even though he has the lead today, the race is still a difficult one for Musgrove, since the state leans Republican in federal races. But it can no longer be considered Safe for the Republicans. We’re moving the race to Clear Advantage for the Incumbent Party.

McGovern for Obama

Word on the street is that former senator and 1972 Democratic Presidential Nominee George McGovern has switched his endorsement from Clinton to Obama.  He’s even asking – nay, urging – her to drop out.

Methinks that we’ll see a lot more of this happening.

Another House Retiree?

(Diary edited by management over copyright concerns — James L.)

I just ran across this article and thought to myself that we could have another Republican retiree soon.

—–

Rep. Fossella Arrested on Charges of Driving While Intoxicated

By Daniela Deane

Washington Post Staff Writer

May 1, 2008; 1:56 PM

Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) was arrested overnight in Alexandria and charged with driving while intoxicated, court records showed today.

Fossella is scheduled to appear in Alexandria General District Court on May 12 for an advisement hearing, the records said.

No other details were immediately available.

Virginia House of Delegates

The Washington Post is reporting that last night, former state House Delegate Al Pollard (D) won the special election to replace former Delagate and now-US Rep. Rob Whitman (R).  Pollard received nearly 58% of the votes.

With Pollard’s election to the seat he held from 2000-2005, the House composition is now 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Republican-leanding independents.  

Looks like Virginia is getting a little bit more blue with each passing election!

Mississippi Senate-B

Great news, folks!

Former US Representative Ronnie Shows (D) has dropped out of the special election against Senator Roger Wicker (R).  This leaves former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) as the only Democrat left in the race.  This will allow Musgrove to have a greater chance of raising more money in a state where it’s already difficult for Democrats to raise much.  

Polls already have this race to be very close, and I imagine it’s going to be a nail biter all the way to November.  Still, with Shows out of the race, Musgrove has a much better shot at this seat.