Fresh Pickings from the vine

[Master Capper]

Cheney's Suite Demands
The Smoking Gun has obtained a copy of the document provided to hotels where Vice President Dick Cheney stays listing how his room needs to be prepared.

"Cheney does like his suite at a comfy 68 degrees. And, of course, all the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel (what, you thought he was a Lifetime devotee?). Decaf coffee should be ready upon his arrival along with four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite. And when Cheney is traveling with his wife Lynne, the second family's suite needs an additional two bottles of sparkling water."

Carter, Baker Propose Election Reforms
Former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III called for U.S. election reforms "that include uniform photo identification cards and a paper trail on electronic voting machines," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

"The IDs make sense, both men said, as long as state officials make aggressive efforts to find would-be voters who lack photo IDs and provide them cards for free."


Bonus Quote of the Day
"The centuries of special protection for the privacy of the home are over."

--Supreme Court Justice David Souter, writing for the majority in Georgia v. Randolph, on what would happen if the dissenting views of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were enacted.


Harris Pledges to Sell All Her Assets
Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) now says that "she intends to sell all her personal assets" to fund her U.S. Senate race, the Tampa Tribune reports. "Since making a pledge last week to put $10 million of her money into the race, Harris has made the phrase 'putting everything on the line' a new campaign theme."


Quote of the Day
"The Republican Party that I knew, that I grew up in, a moderate party, a party that believed in fiscal discipline, a party that believed in small government, a party that had genuine conservative values. This is not a conservative leadership. This is radical leadership. I called them neo-Jacobins. They are radical. They're not conservative. They've stolen my party and I would like my party back."

-- Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Hat tip: Steve Clemons.


Clinton, Giuliani Lead in 2008 Poll
Looking ahead to 2008: Rudy Giuliani (R), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) "continue to be the most popular candidates in their respective party primaries," according to the latest Fox News poll.

Among Democrats, Clinton continues to be the clear choice as their party's presidential nominee with the support of 43% of registered Democrats -- "outdistancing by about 30 points potential competitors such as former Vice President Al Gore (12%), former Sen. John Edwards (11%) and Sen. John Kerry (10%).

Among Republicans, Giuliani remains the front-runner and edges out McCain by 7 points (29% to 22%). Other possible GOP contenders receive support in the single digits; former Rep. Newt Gingrich comes in at 8% and Sen. Bill Frist is backed by 5%.


While the average rate of U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq has fallen this month, the rate at which they are being wounded has dramatically increased. ?n the 39 days from Feb. 11 through March 21, 616 U.S. soldiers were injured in Iraq, an average of 15.8 per day. This was more than twice as bad as the Feb. 4-10 period when 47 U.S. soldiers were injured at an average rate of just under seven per day.?



Opposition to gay marriage is declining. 28 percent now strongly disapprove of gay marriage, down from 42 percent in early 2004. Six in 10 now favor allowing gays to serve openly in the military.



In Afghanistan, a man named Abdul Rahman has been put on trial for converting to Christianity. For his crime, he could be put to death. The incident, which has caused an international uproar, has its roots in the Afghan constitution.

Shortly after its passage, however, President Bush praised the Afghan constitution as protecting freedom of religion. President Bush, 1/23/04:

We?re making good progress, we really are, in parts of the world. Afghanistan has now got a constitution which talks about freedom of religion and talks about women?s rights.

But President Bush was warned by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom ? an independent government entity ? that the Afghan constitution failed to protect freedom of religion. In November 2003 press release called ?Constitution Threatens to Institutionalize ?Taliban-lite?? the USCIRF expressed concern that the proposed constitution:


A right-wing confession. ?One doesn?t want to be accused of inhuman callousness; but I am willing to confess, and believe I speak for a lot of [Americans] that the spectacle of Middle Eastern Muslims slaughtering each other is one that I find I can contemplate with calm composure.? ? National Review?s John Derbyshire.


$8.965 Trillion: The nation?s new debt limit after Bush ?on Monday signed into law a $781 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority.



Giving lap dogs a bad name. ?Sen. Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, defending the GOP proposal [on warrantless domestic wiretapping] against critics who say it?s pathetically weak, said he resented being called a ?lap dog of the administration.? That label certainly is unfair. Even lap dogs will bite if they?re kicked often enough?? ? Chicago Truibune Columnist Steve Chapman

 

[Master Capper]

Bush Supporters Prefer Giuliani to McCain
According to the new Diageo/Hotline poll, Republican voters are split in their support of Rudy Giuliani (R) and Sen. John McCain for president in 2008, "with Bush supporters preferring Giuliani and Republicans who disapprove of Bush preferring McCain."

In a head-to-head presidential primary match-up, McCain and Giuliani are statistically tied (42% Giuliani, 40% McCain), but Bush supporters back Giuliani 45% to 38%, while Republicans who disapprove of Bush prefer McCain 51% to 34%.

Key finding: 76% of Republicans have a favorable view of Vice President Dick Cheney, while only 62% of Republicans have a favorable view of McCain.


Quote of the Day
"To me it shows how dangerously incompetent he is."

-- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the AP, on President Bush saying his successor in the White House would decide when U.S. troops leave Iraq.


The Invisible Primary
ABC News released the first "Invisible Primary Rankings" for the 2008 presidential race. "The Invisible Primary refers to the jockeying for supremacy in the contests to be positioned to be the major party presidential nominees between now and start of the actual caucus and primary voting."

Top three Republicans: Sen. John McCain, Sen. George Allen, Gov. Mitt Romney

Top three Democrats: Sen. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Mark Warner


Survey USA has released its latest poll of the nation?s senators, showing an average approval rating of 53% with 36% disapproving.

Among the findings: the nation?s most popular senator is Kent Conrad (D-ND), who has a 50% net approval rating. The least popular senator is Conrad Burns (R-MT), who has a net approval rating of -14%. Only three senators had negative net approval ratings: Burns and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), who are up for re-election in 2006, and Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY).


Arkansas public school science teacher says faculty are forbidden to use the ?e-word? (evolution). More: ?I am instructed NOT to use hard numbers when telling kids how old rocks are. I am supposed to say that these rocks are VERY VERY OLD?but I am NOT to say that these rocks are thought to be about 300 million years old.?


Andrew Natsios finally speaks out. Having left the administration, Natsios now blasts the Iraq contracting process that he helped oversee: ?The contractors they chose weren?t the best people. I heard lots of stories. The staff would come in and say a group of retired officers has set up a business and they got this contract, and they didn?t have any qualifications for it.? And Natsios said nothing until now


Rumsfeld Now:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declined to predict on Thursday when U.S. forces would completely leave Iraq, a decision President Bush has said would be up to a future U.S. president and a future Iraqi government. ?I?ve avoided predicting the timing,? Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld Then:

The Gulf War in the 1990s lasted five days on the ground. I can?t tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn?t going to last any longer than that. [11/14/02]

It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months. [2/7/03]


$226 billion and counting: The cost of the Iraq war, according to a new analysis by the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments

 

[Master Capper]

Clinton's Political Staff Grows
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) "won't say if she's running for the White House -- but she's already drafted a presidential-size army of campaign staffers that dwarfs John McCain's outfit and those of everyone else in the field," according to the New York Post.

"Clinton has assembled a Titanic-size troop of 37 staffers and a legion of pricey consultants on the rolls of her HillPAC political-action committee and her Friends of Hillary re-election campaign -- operatives that come on top of the three dozen aides in her Senate office."

Meanwhile, an interesting New York Times piece on Clinton's Senate re-election campaign notes she's "aiming both to run up a big margin of victory across New York State and to exceed expectations in Republican strongholds

National Themes Tested in CA-50 Special Election
An "unusual" special election on April 11 in California's 50th congressional district "was set in motion by the spectacular downfall of GOP Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham -- the former 'Top Gun' pilot who self-destructed in disgrace, convicted in a bribery and corruption scandal," the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The results "may be a harbinger of the midterm congressional elections this November" with Francine Busby (D) talking about GOP corruption and the Republican candidates "tussling over who's tougher on immigration."

A new Datamar survey shows Busby topping the 18 candidate list, with Republicans splitting the vote among the next four strongest candidates.


Harris Campaign in Free Fall
As Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) "rocky Senate campaign takes an increasingly evangelical Christian bent, her remaining top campaign staffers are preparing to jump ship," the St. Petersburg Times reports.

"Her top campaign advisers, having failed to persuade Harris to drop her struggling campaign against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, are preparing to leave. Those include Ed Rollins, a highly regarded GOP strategist and her top campaign adviser; Adam Goodman, her longtime Tampa-based media consultant; and campaign manager Jamie Miller."

However, in the Orlando Sentinel, Harris insisted Rollins wasn't leaving even as she "slogged through another political morass... The episode illustrated how chaotic Harris' campaign has become and overshadowed the story she had hoped to get out."


If the Midterm Elections Were Today...
Time magazine: "If the elections were held today, top strategists of both parties say privately, the Republicans would probably lose the 15 seats they need to keep control of the House of Representatives and could come within a seat or two of losing the Senate."

"The danger signs for Republicans show up across the electoral map but nowhere more clearly than in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where the hottest Senate race in the country is being fought and where Republican strategists say as many as five g.o.p. congressional seats are in play, out of a total 19."


Proof that Gingrich is Running in 2008?
Out this summer from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: The Creator's Gifts: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, a book that makes the case that the Bill of Rights and Constitution came from God.


DeLay?s license to carry a concealed handgun is revoked. In Texas, ?indicted felons are not allowed to carry concealed handguns.?


81: Number of Iraqis reported killed on Sunday and Monday, ?one of the bloodiest 24-hour periods in weeks.? Thirty of the victims, most of them beheaded, were ?found dumped on a village road? north of Baghdad.



Ohio can no longer charge some unmarried people under the state?s domestic violence law because ?it conflicts with the state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage? passed in 2004, an appeals court has ruled.

The nation?s railways, which ?transport more than 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials every year,? remain dangerously vulnerable to attacks. ?Chemical transport is clearly the greatest vulnerability in the country today and for some reason?the federal government has not acted,? said Richard Falkenrath, President Bush?s former deputy homeland security adviser.


Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney defended his claim that Iraq?s insurgency was in its ?last throes? as ?basically accurate.? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a different set of talking points this morning. Watch it:

RUSSERT: Is the insurgency in its last throes?

RICE: Well, the insurgency politically is certainly in danger because the Sunnis, who stood outside ?

RUSSERT: But in terms of violence, is it in its last throes?

RICE: Well, the insurgency is still able to pull off violence and kill innocent children or kill an innocent school teacher, yes, they?re able to do that, and they might be able to do that for some time.

In February 2005 ? three months before Cheney?s claim ? insurgents were averaging 54 attacks per day. In February 2006, the average was 75 attacks per day.



Rice Falsely Asserts ?Most Iraqis? Want Us To Stay
Condoleezza Rice, today on Meet the Press:

Some Iraqis ? most Iraqis in fact ? are willing, and want, to keep coalition forces there until they can take care of this themselves.

That?s not true. In fact, the Program on International Policy Attitudes conducted a poll of Iraqis in January. Here?s what the poll reported:

Asked what they would like the newly elected Iraqi government to ask the US-led forces to do, 70% of Iraqis favor setting a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces. This number divides evenly between 35% who favor a short time frame of ?within six months? and 35% who favor a gradual reduction over two years. Just 29% say it should ?only reduce US-led forces as the security situation improves in Iraq.?


Not only is the Bush administration out of touch with what the American public wants, it is also out of touch with what Iraqis themselves want.


On ?Imus In the Morning? earlier today, Chris Matthews ripped into Bush?s handling of Iraq (Watch it here):

Everybody was led to believe that we were getting payback, we were avenging what happened on 9/11 and that we are going to get them. ? We pursued the terrorists back to Iraq. And it?s all nonsense. The reason there are terrorists in Iraq today like Zarqawi is we created the opening by blowing the country apart. ?

I mean the denial has been continuous. So you really can?t count on the administration to tell you what is going on. That is just the fact. You?ve got to check it out. By the way, the president said this week that he wants the whole truth about what is going on in Iraq, the whole truth and that the media isn?t telling the whole story. I?ll tell you what we are not telling. We are not showing pictures of the twenty five hundred bodies coming back because they won?t let us show the pictures. They don?t want the whole truth out and that?s the fact.

Given Matthews? stinging salvos against the Bush administration, we were anxious to see how White House Communications Director Nicolle Wallace would respond tonight on Hardball. Here are some highlights of what she said to Matthews:

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

MC
Thought I'd share this one with you from Britt Hume yesterday.
Think you'll like this one

Photographic Evidence?

And a Republican congressional candidate in California, who funds the pro-war group Move America Forward, blames the media for exaggerating the violence in Iraq. To prove it Howard Kaloogian posted a picture of a tranquil street scene on his Web site that he says he snapped on a recent trip to Baghdad. Only problem is the picture was taken in Turkey. Sharp-eyed bloggers spotted the fake, noting that none of the street signs were in Arabic.

Kaloogian has since acknowledged the error and blamed the manager of his Web site for the mistake.

 

[Master Capper]

DTB,

Now thats a classic!!!