Giuliani and Robertson…what a JOKE!

Here we go again.  Fanatic TV personality Pat Robertson has come out to announce his support for Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.   This blatent attempt to persuade the Christian right is just plain sickening.  Yes, we all know Giuliani is less than perfect (heck, if he is elected, he’ll be the first divorced man in the White House)  I laughed when I read the headline to this story…literally.  Here is the first paragraph from it:

Pat Robertson, the television evangelist and Christian Coalition founder, endorsed Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani for president when the two men appeared together at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday.

Robertson said he decided to endorse Giuliani because he was “a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans.”

If that is the only reason Robertson is supporting Giuliani, then that is enough reason to support about 70% of the candidates.  What sickens me is that Robertson didn’t just come out of the woodwork to support his “pal” Giuliani.  He was sought out, and brought to the front so all the world could see that a, GASP, fundamentalist Christian supports this man.

and heck, if Robertson supports him…he MUST be good right?  HA!

Sadly, all the “Robertsonites” will blindly follow their leader’s word.  I mean, this makes sense after contributing thousands of dollars to his ministry wealth.

As I have said, religion and politics are arguably impossible to separate.  Especially when politicians seek campaign help from attention seeking millionaire “preachers”.

Fox censoring Presidential Poll Results

If you don’t already know, the Iowa Straw Poll, seen as a first test of organizational strength by news media and party insiders, took place yesterday. The results weren’t too surprising, considering that McCain, Fred Thompson, and Giuliani all boycotted the event. What was surprising, however, is that Fox News blatantly cut certain candidates out of the results they reported.

ABC Mis-Reports Debate Results

Interesting bit I came across regarding the republican debate results…

I’m sorry to see that ABC News is continuing to abuse the American electorate by not reporting the results of its own poll about who won the ABC Republican debate yesterday morning.

The results of the poll had Ron Paul leading with 18,284 votes, followed by Mitt Romney with 2881, Rudolf Giuliani with 2462, and Mike Huckabee with 1902 (with two “Nobody – I’m waiting for Thompson or Gingrich, or, I’m voting Democratic” in between).

And yet, in ABC’s 8-minute “Green Room” analysis after the debate, no mention was made of Ron Paul, even though the moderator specifically mentioned Huckabee coming in 4th in the poll.

What, exactly, is ABC’s problem? If they think Ron Paul’s supporters are “gaming” the Internet poll, why don’t they fix it? Or don’t conduct a poll if you lack such confidence in its results that you do not report its results accurately.

Is America ready for a Black Man or White Woman?

 I was listening to one of my favorite radio talk shows this morning and the host posed an interesting question: is America ready for a black man or white woman president? The question was followed by a variety of callers that voiced their opinions, some were valid points, while others were an example of ignorance.

In the end, the overall consensus is “yes”, America is ready. I mean, the very fact that these two individuals alone have raised tens of millions of dollars should be a pretty clear indicator…but I would contend that it is not because we have “progressed” beyond all racial and sexist barriers, but because the desire for a change is so great that anything new and different is simply refreshing.

I could go on and on about why Bush is a horrible president…but people just get tired of the same old banter about the man (a man who I voted for in 2004). Instead let’s just skip that part and understand that Bush is, in a word, a pretty crappy president (the worst?).

America is ready for a refreshing change as it seems quite apparent being a “maverick” in today’s society is a pretty stupid path to choose. Nonetheless, I think the public is fooling themselves if they think the next president will just make everything fine and dandy. Consider that the majority of the country wants to get out of Iraq yet our legislators can’t make it happen (despite democrats having the majority).

In fact, I will argue that it will take at least one term for the next president to begin turning around the American perception in this world, whether he or she is a democrat or republican.

I am looking forward to the next election because it is quite clear that America is ready for a change, be it black, white, yellow, purple, male, female, democrat, republican, or independent.

(picture from cnn.com)

Rudy’s Skeletons Pour out of the Closet

(story taken from here)

This was published on March 20, 1994

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani was among the speakers on Wednesday at a forum about crime in the cities, sponsored by The New York Post. The Mayor discussed how crime and law enforcement had changed in New York over several decades, and how society had changed. Here is an excerpt, as transcribed by The New York Times.

We constantly present the false impression that government can solve problems that government in America was designed not to solve. Families are significantly less important in the development of children today than they were 30 or 40 years ago. Religion has less influence than it did 30 or 40 years ago. Communities don’t mean what they meant 30 or 40 years ago.

As Americans, we’re not sure we share values. We’re sometimes even afraid to use the word values. We talk about teaching ethics in schools — people say, “What ethics? Whose ethics? Maybe we can’t.” And they confuse that with teaching of religion. And we are afraid to reaffirm the basics upon which a lawful and a decent society are based. We’re almost embarrassed by it.

We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

[ Interruption by someone in the audience. ]

You have free speech so I can be heard.

[ Another interruption. ]

At the core the struggle is philosophical. There are many, many things that can be done in law enforcement to protect us better. There are many things that can done to create a government that is more responsive and more helpful. The fact is that we’re fooling people if we suggest to them the solutions to these very, very deep-seated problems are going to be found in government. . . .

The solutions are going to be found when we figure out as a society what our families are going to be like in the next century, and how maybe they are going to be different. They are going to have to be just as solid and just as strong in teaching every single youngster their responsibility for citizenship. We’re going to find the answer when schools once again train citizens. Schools exist in America and have always existed to train responsible citizens of the United States of America.

If they don’t do that, it’s very hard to hold us together as a country, because it’s shared values that hold us together. We’re going to come through this when we realize that it’s all about, ultimately, individual responsibility. That in fact the criminal act is about individual responsibility and the building of the respect for the law and ethics is also a matter of individual responsibility.

Rudy Giuliani’s Presidential Campaign Chairman Indicted on Cocaine Charges

For those of you who missed this… 

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP; CNN) — South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a former real estate developer who became a rising political star after his election last year, was indicted Tuesday on federal cocaine charges.

Ravenel is also the state chairman for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

Ravenel has stepped down from his volunteer responsibilities with the campaign, according to a statement released by Mark Campbell, Giuliani’s political director.

Campbell said the campaign has no information about the accusations pending against Ravenel.

The millionaire is accused of buying less than 500 grams of the drug to share with other people in late 2005, U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd said.

Ravenel, 44, is charged with distribution of cocaine, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The investigation into Ravenel arose from a drug case last year in Charleston, Lloyd said.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said his agents were aware of the allegations before Ravenel was elected in November, but they didn’t have enough information to pursue criminal charges. The case was turned over to the FBI in April.

“The investigation is just beginning,” the federal prosecutor said.

The man accused of selling Ravenel the drug, Michael L. Miller, is in custody on the same charge.

Ravenel will be allowed to turn himself in, authorities said. The treasurer’s office referred all questions to Ravenel’s lawyer Joel Collins, who did not return a message left at his office.

Gov. Mark Sanford suspended Ravenel immediately based on the serious nature of the charge. The governor said he would name an interim treasurer soon.

“These are obviously very serious allegations that we’re constitutionally bound to act upon, and they’ll ultimately be decided by the courts.” Sanford said in a statement.

Ravenel started his political career in 2004, funding his own campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. He finished a close third in the Republican primary.

Ravenel was founder of the Ravenel Development Corp., a commercial real estate development company. His father, Arthur Ravenel Jr., was a powerful politician from Charleston who served eight years in the U.S. House and is a former state representative and state senator.

(Story from CNN.com)