January 11, 2006

1/11: Princeton Of Darkness

Bloggers from the left and right are in DC to blog the SCOTUS confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito and the goings-on around them, so the too-rare creature of original reporting to weblogs is getting a substantial boost. In particular, they're putting officials on the record much the same way TV or radio does. Bloggers may be fairly accused of printing what they're told verbatim, but even friendlies are being put on the spot about subjects they might not want to broach. One could say they have the personality of TV, in the medium of print.

Despite all the activity and the close readings of Alito's remarks, Senate Dems haven't landed major blows. Some Dem-leaning bloggers want Dems to push hard -- many of them believe Alito lied at least once in the hearings -- but others are resigning themselves to his confirmation. Meanwhile, some Dem senators are getting caught in their own statements. And of course, bloggers have more than just the written word available to help make their points. In particular, there's an MP3 going around that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) would really rather not be out there.

Meanwhile, the House GOP's leadership elections and the Jack Abramoff scandal continue to merge. GOPers are talking lobbying reform and want to elect a leader with less troubling ties than ex-House Maj. Leader Tom DeLay had, but each day new revelations about both of the frontrunner's are causing more jitters. GOP-leaning bloggers are more willing to draft back-benchers, and so far their instincts track closely with what many conservatives want.

But there's plenty more in this edition -- embattled LA Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) could be facing a recall movement; one of the NSA's assumed whistleblowers/leakers steps forward, and a blog-savvy Dem activist wants you to help him dig up Hill GOPers' cell phone records.

If nothing else, '06 is getting off to a busy start indeed.

THE ALITO NOMINATION: Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs?

>> Among the live-bloggers: Desert Rat Democrat; Bush v. Choice; Parableman; SCOTUSblog; Wonkette. Live-blogging in progress this a.m.: SCOTUSblog; Captain's Quarters; Parableman.

>> Liberals aren't buying Alito's contention that he doesn't recall why he joined the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) in the early 70s -- MyDD's Chris Bowers and official DNC blogger Tim Tagaris went asking Dems and anti-Alito leaders whether they thought Alito was lying. PFAW's Ralph Neas called the statement "not credible," while Alliance for Justice's Nan Aron said it was "hard to know what to believe." Tagaris got Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on video, saying in part: "I couldn't understand his answer. That they removed ROTC was the reason he belonged to this organization? I mean, it totally did not follow." AMERICAblog is in the "lying" camp: "Funny, had I joined an organization whose primary reason for coming into being was to demand that women and minorities not be allowed on my college campus, I think I'd remember that."

>> Among conservatives, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) is criticized, even ridiculed, for an apparent flip-flop -- In the hearings on 1/10, Biden disparaged Princeton, his and Alito's shared alma mater, saying: "I didn't even like Princeton" and: "But all kidding aside, I wasn't a big Princeton fan." At Radioblogger, Hugh Hewitt radio producer Duane Patterson posts MP3s and transcripts of Biden's comments as well as earlier comments praising the school. He intercuts them to create the "Princeton Waffle" MP3 file, juxtaposing the 2 statements. At his own blog, Hewitt focuses on a 2/23/04 Biden speech at Princeton, recounting how he hoped his son would attend there: "I had been pushing Princeton, and this magnificently attractive, intellectually and physically beautiful young girl, was a sophomore, was showing us around, and I figured, man we got a lock now. My son is gonna really be interested" in attending the school. Hewitt asks: "Can you imagine if any Republican senator was caught on tape saying what Joe Biden said at Princeton?" On 1/9 Hewitt got liberal Duke law prof Erwin Chemerinsky to concede that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) had incorrectly described Alito's record. Now Chemerinsky apparently volunteers to Hewitt: "I think Joe Biden's comments two years ago were offensive and inappropriate."

>> On the left, there's no consensus about how to derail the nod. But some already feel it's a lost cause -- In a one-off for Crooks and Liars, atty Glenn Greenwald presses Dems to oppose Alito vigorously: "All circumstances have come together to make this the perfect opportunity to fight. The President is weak and unpopular. His party is engulfed by scandal. ... And those are exactly the issues at stake in this hearing. Democrats should be frothing at the mouth to engage this fight. It couldn't have been scripted better." More: "There is certainly more to be gained by a principled fight than there is to be gained by meekly and impotently accepting defeat without a fight, and thereby looking yet again like the nice, good losers." But with Alito "fudging furiously" on Roe v. Wade, Kevin Drum wonders if the public will be ready to take up "pitchforks." At his own Unclaimed Territory, Greenwald is not concerned: "Most remember another President who claimed these law-breaking powers, and the last image of him is waving good bye in disgrace as he flew away from the White House." Jonathan Zasloff suggests something along the lines of "we need to stop Alito's imperial presidency." Matt Yglesias' frustrations are similar to Drum's. He notes the "low salience" of Alito to most Americans, and advises Dems on what to do: "The same thing they should have done on John Roberts -- explain why putting him on the Court will be bad for the country, vote 'no,' let the GOP majority confirm him, move on to other issues, and try to win the next two elections." Liberal Blogenlust compares Alito to Biff Tannen and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) to George McFly from "Back to the Future." This McFly quote sums up his take on the Dems' interrogative skills: "I'm afraid I'm just no good at... confrontations." Header: "Don't be so gullible, McFlys." The Carpetbagger Report hasn't thrown in the towel: "The problem is how to fight a nominee -- possibly with a filibuster -- who's steering clear of Bork-like lunacy. ... Alito deserves to be defeated; I'm open to suggestions as to how to make that happen." Saving the space for the letters between the "y" and "K" of the blog's title, Daily Kos advises "BorkAlito."

>> Liberals' frustration extends to the media -- Needlenose is not impressed with accounts of the hearings from the New York Times or Washington Post, implying that both amount to little more than a "standing ovation" for Alito. Duncan "Atrios" Black: "Watching the bobblehead coverage of the Alito hearings - and, frankly, just about everything else they cover -- one comes away think that to them it just doesn't really matter. Court decisions don't matter. Policy doesn't matter. None of this stuff matters. It's just a game played between rival high school football teams and they're just happy to go to the homecoming dance."

>> As they are often wont to do, the right is quite enjoying the left's frustration -- Professor Bainbridge parodies the Dem assessment of Alito: "After catching up on the first day of the Alito hearings, one conclusion seems inescapable; namely, that Alito is more machine now than man; twisted and evil. He yearns to take liberals, women, minorities, gays, small children, and puppies to the Dune Sea, and cast them into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlaac, in whose belly they will find a new definition of pain and suffering as they are slowly digested over a thousand years. (Or maybe it's the slavering maw of Cthulhu the Great. I zoned out for awhile during Durbin's opening remarks.) Maxed Out Mama reproduces arguments from Democratic Underground's filibuster debate thread. Her take: "You know how a toddler will get incredibly ornery when he or she is tired? Well, DU seems to need a collective nap."

>> The RNC's blogger forum continues, and on 1/10 Ed Morrissey met with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and others, including 3 ex-Alito clerks. He writes: "[Craig] Gottlieb, a Democrat, thinks that the attacks have been effectively defused. When asked if the attacks were fair, Gottlieb says, 'Probably not, no.'" The Political Teen blogs Sen. John Cornyn's (R-TX) appearance at the blog row event. Blogs for Bush posts a photo from inside the hearing room. Power Line's Scott Johnson is on the scene as well. Townhall.com's Tim Chapman hears the Dems may try a Hail Mary of some kind: "I Just spoke to a Senior GOP staffer involved in the confirmation process. According to the staffer, Republicans are confident at this point and comfortable with the process so far, but believe that Democrats still "have something up their sleeves." When pressed as to what that might be, the staffer could not be specific."

>> Alito's current stance on Roe v. Wade is murky, and pro-choice bloggers are anything but reassured -- Armando connects the dots on Alito's answers re: Roe v. Wade: "Alito acknowledged that the 1985 memo where he stated that he supported the goal of overturning Roe v. Wade expressed his personal views at the time. He did not clarify whether he still believes it but implicitly seemed to accept that ... This makes it clear, Alito would vote to overturn Roe UNLESS the doctrine of stare decisis compelled otherwise. As for stare decisis, Alito stated repeatedly that it 'is not an inexorable command.' It seems clear that Alito will likely vote to overturn Roe if he is confirmed to the Supreme Court." Jill at Feministe puzzles over some of Alito's answers on this subject, but is sure of this much: "Alito seems to be searching for a way to get rid of Roe without shaking its popular predecessors. That is not a good sign."

ABRAMOFF: Not As Much Fun As Plamegate ... But Getting There

Swing State Project posts an image of a billboard targeting "soon-to-be-indicted" Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), sponsored by liberal CAF and appearing in Ney's own CD. The board includes a picture of Ney and features the text: "Rep. Bob Ney: Under Investigation for Taking Bribes." Brad Friedman, who has been closely following Diebold's recent troubles, finds an Abramoff connection, and highlights Ney's "connection to electoral fraud."

TNR's Jason Zengerle catches ex-RNC chair Ed Gillespie telling Washington Post's Cillizza, "I have not been in meetings with Jack Abramoff so I can't tell you anything about him from a personal perspective" -- where in late '03 being anything but "reluctant to vouch" for Abramoff in on CNBC's late "Capital Report." Gillespie said then, more than once: "I know Jack Abramoff."

Josh Marshall points out that Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), tapped by Speaker Denny Hastert to be the GOP conf. point man on lobbying reform, has been a defender of the "DeLay Rule" -- passed in 11.04 to allow DeLay to remain in leadership even after indictment. He comments: "So now Dreier is the guy to crack down on law-breaking. But a year ago his agenda was cracking down on prosecutors."

You've really got to see the fake movie poster for "Kickback Mountain."

HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP: A Dark Horse Or A Shadegg Dog Joke?

At The Corner, National Review editor Rich Lowry has been passing along tidbits from GOP contacts. He wrote last p.m., a Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) "supporter was arguing to me a little earlier that" acting House Maj. Leader Roy Blunt is running a 'push campaign' based on intimidating members with the notion that he is going to win, so they better get on board now. 'This is a page right out of DeLay, Inc.,' he added for good measure." Later, he followed up with: "A Blunt supporter fires back at that Boehner ally from a little earlier: "The disdainful reference to 'DeLay, Inc.' shows that the Boehner camp isn't willing to let go of old grudges even at this critical moment ... it doesn't help Republicans to compare us to the mafia." Not long after, he added: "My understanding from a House aide is that a reason that Blunt might not have gotten the surge he was expecting is that the Blunt people thought they would be able to vacuum up conservative would-be Pence supporters. But Shadegg's talk of perhaps running apparently has frozen those votes in place for the moment."

RedState's Blanton wants House GOPers to throw House GOP conf. chair Deborah Pryce out of her leadership spot, and hopes Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) will challenge her: "Deborah Pryce has done little with her position. While it was nice for the GOP to have played to quotas, it would have been better for everyone if they had played to competence."

Fired Up! America's Roy Temple points out that Blunt and DeLay "jointly sponsored multiple events" at the '00 GOP convo. Money from those funders ended up benefiting Blunt's son, now-MO Gov. Matt Blunt (R). He compares an '05 AP story where a Blunt aide said they intended to raise money for candidates; a Blunt spokesperson denies this in an AP report this a.m.

Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt points out damning excerpts from a Washington Post story outlining Boehner's close connections to K Street lobbyists.

LOUISIANA RECALL: Kat Fight

LA GOPer Kat Landry, who AP reports "said she has never worked on political campaigns," has filed a petition to recall LA Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D). The name of her org. is RECALL, an acronym for "Responsible & Effective Citizen Action for Leadership in Louisiana." To do so is much harder than in CA; Landry has 180 days to obtain 900K sigs.

The Blue State Conservatives: "If you know of any displaced Louisiana residents living in your area please inform them that this is going on so they can have a say in the process even if they aren't living at home." Drudge Report imitator The Dead Pelican promoted the petition before it was filed. Nixon's Ghost makes the case for removing Blanco. Louisiana Libertarian is enthusiastic about the prospect. LA-based conservative Jeff Blanco (no relation) thinks Dems should sign on: "If one were a Democrat, I don't see how one can't support this recall. She's been so inept that she's bound to lose Democrat seats and lose the Governorship for Democrats."

In the opposition camp, The Scarlet Left posts a satirical e-mail apparently sent to Landry: "A friend told me about your website and your campaign, and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. There has been much talk in the wake of Katrina by politicians and pundits that we should not seek political gain from this disaster, but they are dead wrong. I'm glad that you single-handedly took the initiative to organize this because we should, in fact, seek political gain from the disaster."

EAVESDROPPING I: Russ To Judgment

On "World News Tonight" 1/10, ABC News' Rossspoke with "longtime" NSA insider Russell Tice, who admits being a source for the New York Times' reporting on the agency's spy program. Media Blog's Stephen Spruiell notes his previous post on Tice's being dismissed from the NSA "when a psychiatric evaluation found him to be mentally unbalanced." He asked then: "[D]idn't the Times readers deserve to know that its information came from a potentially unbalanced ex-employee with an ax to grind?" This sentiment is shared by many on the right commenting on the matter. The Strata-Sphere: "Tice wants attention so he can sue for screwing up his career at the NSA. I doubt Tice is the only source or a key source." Macsmind: "This dupe hasn't a clue about what he is talking about."

Other Reax: The RCP Blog: "The whole tone of the ABC report is this guy Tice is the good guy, the 'whistleblower' courageously stepping forward to take on the unlawful NSA and Bush White House who are egregiously violating Americans' civil liberties. What if ABC and Brian Ross are wrong and it is not Bush and the NSA who are breaking the law, but rather Mr. Tice?" Blogging Out Loud: "I guess if you’re so inclined, you can just call Russell Tice a traitor. ... I tend to think it takes some major cojones to do what he did, so I’ll salute him instead of vilifying him, thanks." Connect Left calls Tice "an American Hero." Penndit: "Looks like Arlen Specter has another witness he should call."

Captain's Quarters, blogging from DC this week: "Senator Frist confirms for me that no one who got briefed on the NSA intercept has, to his knowledge demanded an end to this program. He confirmed that he was one of the leaders briefed on the program over the years. When I asked him if the program had stopped attacks on this country, he immediately and unequivocally said, 'Yes.'"

EAVESDROPPING II: What Goes Around ...

Democrats.com's Bob Fertik -- an activist not affil. with the DNC -- is encouraging enterprising muckrakers to dig up cell phone call lists for prominent GOPers. As noted in this space on 1/9, such records can easily be obtained for ~$100 online. Writes Fertik: "The trick, of course, is to find the phone numbers we want. Obviously the phone numbers for Bush, Cheney, and other top White House officials are carefully protected. But lots of the people we're interested in are outside the White House, and they are all busy people who run around with cell phones. ... Whose records would we like to see? Just think of all of the major Republican scandals, and identify the main players." Michelle Malkin reacts: "Where's the ACLU to condemn this? Chuck Schumer? The NYTimes editorial board?"

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: Check Out The Big Brain On Sebastian!

Writing at TAPPED, Ezra Klein is flabbergasted at a "truly bizarre statement" from the latest column by Washington Post's Mallaby. The offending line: "Of course, attacking Bushonomics is too easy, like shooting a lame duck. So I want to focus instead on Democrats' response to the Bush chest-thumping." Klein responds, "if his policies are, indeed, so awful that their manifold flaws are self-evident, it's incumbent on pundits to publicly eviscerate them until they cease being self-actualizing, not to stroll off and find more worthy targets for their giant, giant brains. Sometimes, it truly seems that the class of folks paid to comment on DC's doings haven't yet adjusted to the fact that this is a one-party town."

MISCELLANY: What Does She Win, A Gold Star?

• Little Green Footballs announces the winner of the "Fiskie," its "2005 Idiotarian of the Year Award": anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, topping Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez and the New York Times with 21,381 votes counted. Past winners include ex-Pres. Carter and filmmaker Michael Moore.
• UCLA law prof Eugene Volokh revisits the matter of the anti-annoyance bill recently signed into law. His Volokh Conspiracy co-blogger Orin Kerr had previously discounted concerns about the provision -- as we noted on 1/10 -- but Volokh is more alarmed: "This potentially criminalizes any anonymous speech on a Web site that's intended to annoy at least some readers, even if it's also intended to inform other readers." One concern is that "the change extends traditional telephone harassment law from a basically one-to-one medium (phone calls) to include a one-to-many medium (Web sites). ... But one-to-many speech that is intended to annoy one or a few readers, but intended and likely to enlighten or persuade many other readers, is potentially much more valuable."
• Matt Stoller of MyDD reviews "Crashing the Party," the forthcoming book on the future of the Dems from Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas and MyDD founder Jerome Armstrong: "I've been trying to figure out how to review this book for a few weeks now, because while I really liked it, it wasn't an academicky book with a thesis and a set of data designed to prove that thesis. ... It's an attempt to outline this problem, and sketch some solutions to it. There hasn't been a real conversation within the party about the how to organize ourselves in my political lifetime."
• Carrying the PorkBusters torch, Glenn Reynolds posts a lengthy e-mail from Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) office making an argument against cong. pork.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Charitable Dilemma

At The Plank, Michael Crowley notes the sentiment among some, including a Corner reader, that one possible explanation for some of the ethical scandals happening today is the salary of Members of Congress and senior staff. Doubling Congressional salaries would have a minimal impact on the overall fed budget, so why not do it? "I've had similar thoughts of late but decided the notion of getting such a thing passed in today's political climate was so laughable that I wouldn't even bother writing something." The obstacle to this happening: "Only everyone from Bill O'Reilly to Al Franken, Jon Stewart to Rush Limbaugh, not to mention every yahoo populist talk radio host and blogger in America. Oh, well."

LEST WE FORGET: Whatever You Have To Tell Yourself

Gapingvoid identifies the "Top 10 Blogger Lies." If that seems a bit thin, perhaps we can make up for it with the top ten-plus important facts about Chuck Norris.

Posted by at January 11, 2006 12:57 PM