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I had to run errands today and I am preparing to leave in the next hour to meet up with other New York City (and environs) based bloggers at Morse's place. Should be a very interesting evening, no? So, to get your information or snark fix, visit the sites on my blog roll to the left (of course).
and New York City residents get fucked: Giuliani's Mistress Used N.Y. Police as Taxi Service. ABCNews.com reports: Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.
Oh dear, it looks like Rudy will have to pay the bills by continuing to lick the asses of middle east emirs with terrorist ties.
Former Rep. Henry Hyde dies at 83. Meanwhile, all around the country Americans reacted to the news by asking "who?"
of Don Siegelman, the former democratic governor of Alabama, but it is filthy: Timeline: The prosecution of Don Siegelman. This story is starting to get legs, and my friend John thinks it could end up with lots of folks going to jail. Hope he's right.
Thanks to John for the link.
Giuliani billed obscure agencies for trips to fuck his then mistress, now wife. Ben Smith of, sigh, Politico.com reports: As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.
The documents, obtained by Politico under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.
At the time, the mayor’s office refused to explain the accounting to city auditors, citing “security.”
* * *
The expenses first surfaced as Giuliani's two terms as mayor of New York drew to a close in 2001, when a city auditor stumbled across something unusual: $34,000 worth of travel expenses buried in the accounts of the New York City Loft Board.
When the city's fiscal monitor asked for an explanation, Giuliani's aides refused, citing "security," said Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for the city comptroller.
But American Express bills and travel documents obtained by Politico suggest another reason City Hall may have considered the documents sensitive: They detail three summers of visits to Southampton, the Long Island town where Nathan had an apartment.
Auditors "were unable to verify that these expenses were for legitimate or necessary purposes," City Comptroller William Thompson wrote of the expenses from fiscal year 2000, which covers parts of 1999 and 2000.
Mel Brooks was right: it is good being king. That said, I must not that it isn't often that I would cite to a story written by Ben Smith for the Politico, but I have to give him credit for requesting and reporting information that should be useful in scuttling Rudy's presidential campaign, so there you go. I used to read Smith's posts when he blogged on New York politics for, I believe, the Daily News' political blog and let's just say I wasn't impressed. Still, a broken clock, etc.
And my friend John forwarded me another interesting Rudy story: Rudy's Ties to a Terror Sheikh. Wayne Barrett, writing for the Village voice, reports about Rudy's cozy relationship with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani, emir of Qatar, and the money Giuliani Partners has made "feast[ing] at the Qatar trough, doing business with the ministry run by the very member of the royal family identified in news and government reports as having concealed [Khalid Sheikh Muhammad]—the terrorist mastermind who wired funds from Qatar to his nephew Ramzi Yousef prior to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and who also sold the idea of a plane attack on the towers to Osama bin Laden."
Money doesn't talk, it screams, no? And besides, 9/11 is so 2001. Except, of course, for Rudy's presidential campaign.
Hillary Clinton and the Politics of Disappointment. PaulLoeb, a diarist at Daily Kos, writes: When Democrats worry about Hillary Clinton's electability, they focus on her reenergizing a depressed Republican base while demoralizing core Democratic activists, particularly those outraged about the war, and consequently losing the election. A November 26 Zogby poll now shows her trailing the major Republican candidates, while Edwards and Obama defeat them. But there's a further danger if Hillary's nominated--that she will win but then split the Democratic Party.
We forget that this happened with her husband Bill, because compared to Bush, he's looking awfully good. Much of Hillary's support may be nostalgia for when America's president seemed to engage reality instead of disdaining it. But remember that over the course of Clinton's presidency, the Democrats lost 6 Senate seats, 46 Congressional seats, and 9 governorships. This political bleeding began when Monica Lewinsky was still an Oregon college senior. Given Hillary's protracted support of the Iraq war, her embrace of neoconservative rhetoric on Iran, and her coziness with powerful corporate interests, she could create a similar backlash once in office, dividing and depressing the Democratic base and reversing the party's newfound momentum.
Click the link to read the whole thing, because there is much more. I will admit that my disgust with Hill is so complete that it is difficult for me to listen to her speak. Is it irrational? Perhaps, but I am tired of DLC democrats who cozy up to corporations. I am uncomfortable with the DC democratic consultant crowd that she has hired. And I am offended by her campaign team's "inevitability meme." More importantly, we need transformational change now, not tomorrow, and Hill isn't going to deliver that. Will she be better than W or any of the republican candidates? Of course. Any of the candidates running for the democratic nomination will be worlds better, but the bar is so damn low--simply better isn't enough. The problems facing this country are too big for incremental changes. We need someone with a progressive vision who is willing to make the kind of decisions that will address the mistakes of the past and anticipate the problems of the future. Whether it is her vote for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment or the speech in which she said she would address health care in her second term, she doesn't get it. We need more, and Hill isn't it.
Hastert retirement begins tonight. The DailyHerald.com reports: U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert will retire effective at 10:59 p.m. tonight so the special election to fulfill the remainder of his term can be held the same day as the Feb. 5 primary, according to a statement from his office.
The only bad thing about all these republicans jumping ship? The democrats will win extra seats by default, and the democratic leadership will credit their spineless, unprincipled "leadership" as the reason for the gains. I will repeat myself: if the democratic leadership actually showed leadership, the democrats would win in a landslide and the GOP would be a minority party for at least a generation or two. But they won't, and the republicans will attempt a comeback before the end of this decade. It's all so dispiriting.
With Irregular Heartbeat. According to MyOwnClone, a diarist at Kos, FOX News is adding that "Cheney's physicians are releasing the news that Cheney's health is going to require "immediate medical attention."
One good thinkg about being an atheist, is that I am not feeling the least bit hypocritical right now. Not at all.
Sen. Trent Lott to resign by end of year. No doubt Trent doesn't like being in the minority, even with a spineless majority leader like Harry Reid at the helm. Still, why would he leave his seat early? He strikes me as someone who gets a woody every time he is groveled over and addressed as senator.
Well, Distributorcap thoughtfully supplies the answer. Namely, the speculation is that Lott wants to get out this year so that he can avoid the stricter two-year waiting period in the new lobbying law that goes into effect at the end of this year.
Politicians are committed to public service, my ass.
