Florida Gov. Crist shifts support on gay rights issues. I sometimes wonder if any politician believes in anything other than their own will to power, and organizing effective electoral coalitions to that end.
More. Republican John Dennis isn’t going to beat Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, but his ad is fun.
25 Comments for “Opportunism and/or Politics as Usual?”
posted by Bobby on
He’s an opportunistic close-case bastard. In fact, I wish he didn’t support gay rights, people like him don’t do us any favors.
posted by Jorge on
I thought we wanted HARRY REID to support us. Where is Senator Reid? This is meaningless. What has governor Christ done? Yes, that’s exactly the question to ask.
The ad’s a little long, but I liked it, too.
posted by Throbert McGee on
One of my straight FB friends astutely noted about John Dennis’s Wizard of Oz spot — “Hmm, a California GOP ad with a giant floating head… why does that ring a bell?”
(Referring, of course, to Carly Fiorina’s “Boxer Blimp” ad from earlier this year.)
posted by Arthur on
Republicans in Florida must kowtow to the Christianists. The northern half of the state is really Dixie. Crist has moved to the half-assed position of the Democrats and the majority of public. He may have been there all along, now as an independent he can represent the rest of the state. Anyone who has lobbied for gay rights will tell you the phrase most repeated to them in private is, “You know I am with you on this, but my constituents…”
posted by Bobby on
Arthur, Crist hasn’t had a change of heart, don’t you see this “independent” schtick is all a game to him? He’s doing this because Marco Rubio was more peopular than him. Besides, Crist betrayed the GOP base by siding with the evil teacher’s union. I’m telling you, if Crist is supporting gay rights he must be really desperate for votes.
posted by james on
well this wraps up the election for rubio…. rubio wins florida. no need for an election. this state is like texas… very very very right wing/ white / and full of bible thumpers and militia. meek will not win due to the color of his skin.
posted by Bobby on
“meek will not win due to the color of his skin.”
—No, Meek will not win because he’s a radical progressive with ties to the evil unions, supports gun control, believes in wealth redistribution, and has policies that aren’t appealing outside the liberal enclaves of Miami/Fort Lauderdale.
As for Rubio, he happens to be brown, not just hispanic, yet I don’t see you saying that Rubio can’t win because of the color of his skin.
posted by Jorge on
—No, Meek will not win because he’s a radical progressive with ties to the evil unions, supports gun control, believes in wealth redistribution, and has policies that aren’t appealing outside the liberal enclaves of Miami/Fort Lauderdale.
Care to explain how Obama won the state in in 2008, then?
posted by Debrah on
How the Tea Party Organizes Without Leaders from Jonathan Rauch at National Journal.
posted by Debrah on
This one is a must-read.
Rethinking George Bush? at NRO.
posted by Debrah on
Hey Bobby–
I thought you might get a kick out of this feed.
GIS!
posted by james on
actually bobby… marco rubio is whiter than me and im a white boy from alabama with not much of a florida tan. so you need to understand that as far as redneck trash is concerned if your black you are out. rubio has a nice blond white wife so the rednecks in this state dont see him as brown. he is not mexican therefore not brown. face it you support a party of christianist who are hell bent on everyone conforming to there religious values. lets face it if you ran a snail against meek, meek would lose because we are ruled in this state by KKK reject wanna be rednecks who believe anyone not of the white race is inferior. over and over again i hear other whites around me who think im of this school of thought blatently and proudly state “they aint voting for no n*gg*r. live in your fantasy and keep your sheet clean for your rallies… no go have fun playing in traffic.
posted by BobN on
How the Tea Party Organizes Without Leaders
The article is about organizational techniques in the internet age. Only a fool — and I don’t take you for a fool, Debrah — would buy the idea that what is described is “leaderless”.
As in all things, the truth would be found by following the money. Sadly, like Fox News which breathlessly asks where the mosque money is coming from — all the while knowing it comes from one of Fox’s major shareholders — there’s little in the press about the money.
posted by Bobby on
“marco rubio is whiter than me and im a white boy from alabama”
—Rubio isn’t white, he’s a brown hispanic, I know white hispanics, and if he’s whiter than you then you probably have olive skin like Snookie.
“with not much of a florida tan. so you need to understand that as far as redneck trash is concerned if your black you are out. rubio has a nice blond white wife so the rednecks in this state dont see him as brown. he is not mexican therefore not brown. face it you support a party of christianist”
—-If that was true then Rubio would be seen as a race traitor for marrying a white woman. Unfortunately for you, very few people in Florida belong to the Klan and they care more about IDEOLOGY than the race of their politicians. And by the way, Mexicans are often seen as brown. While white Mexicans do exist, they’re not usually the ones crossing the border and working in the fields.
“because we are ruled in this state by KKK reject wanna be rednecks who believe anyone not of the white race is inferior. over and over again i hear other whites around me who think im of this school of thought blatently and proudly state “they aint voting for no n*gg*r. live in your fantasy and keep your sheet clean for your rallies… no go have fun playing in traffic.”
—When you are libs gonna stop playing the race card? Florida went for Obama, we even had a guy display a confederate bumper sticker next to an Obama sign. America gave an inexperience politician with no track record of accomplishments the White House. America bought into the hope and change lie, and what do they see now? A radical who surrounds himself with Marxists and fellow travelers.
The good thing is that now America has learned, they have learned that just because a guy gives good speeches doesn’t mean he deserves to be president. Obama is no JFK, JFK had some good ideas and compared to Obama, he was a conservative, at the very least, JFK HATED communism and wasn’t afraid to denounce it. Obama on the other hand appointed Van Jones.
Crist is a liar and has no integrity, his current pro-gay positions are the result of campaign managers telling him what to do.
posted by Debrah on
“The article is about organizational techniques in the internet age. Only a fool …..”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Actually, BobN, I’m dispassionate about the Tea Party.
I don’t follow them closely, but they seem to be gaining ground and power which is foreboding for upcoming elections.
The “movement” represents the frustration of so many voters, obviously.
I can’t tell you how many people were mesmerized by Rauch’s column.
It’s been referenced all over the internet.
posted by Debrah on
By the way, is Charlie Crist gay or not?
He was referenced in the HBO documentary “Outrage” as being closeted.
Why doesn’t he just say yes or no?
posted by BobN on
I can’t tell you how many people were mesmerized by Rauch’s column.
A lot of people have a lot to gain by his credulity and that of his readers.
posted by Jorge on
Sadly, like Fox News which breathlessly asks where the mosque money is coming from — all the while knowing it comes from one of Fox’s major shareholders — there’s little in the press about the money.
Don’t you find it disturbing that imam Faisal what’s his name will not affirmatively state he will not accept funding from organizations linked to or sympathetic to known terrorist organizations?
Don’t you think his associations are disturbing? A co-founder of his organization has written that 9/11 is an inside job (although I’m not sure what that has to do with proving the imam is a sickly holy warrior sympathizer).
Don’t you think if our politicians are expected to be transparent about their income, then someone who wants to lead a mosque in the shadow of where the deadliest Islamic terror attack on US soil took place should be similarly transparent?
Don’t you think if we exposed George Soros, we can do the same to any major tea party financer?
Don’t you think the failed Times Square Bomber Faisal what’s his name is stunningly good looking?
posted by dc on
This entire mosque business is so blatantly racist. You sound like heterosexuals who think gays should be scrutinized as potential pedophiles because of the Catholic priest scandal. Oh ya, that, the CATHOLIC child molestation scandal, that took place in CATHOLIC CHURCHES. Why do we have schools in catholic churches if so many catholic priests are proven to be pedophiles? Isn’t that crazy? In this country there are schools with children in the same place where pedophiles are known and proven to congregate (no pun intended). And by the way, the percentage of CATHOLIC priests who have inflicted violence on children is far greater than the percentage of American Muslims involved in terrorism. The fact that conservatives are not up in arms about the reality that schools exist at catholic churches is proof of the superficiality and racism of their animosity towards American Muslims. American Muslims are the new gays.
Furthermore, the “mosque at ground zero” crap shows how narcissistic white heterosexual America is. More Muslims than white heterosexual Americans have died, suffered, been tortured, have had their homes destroyed, and have been brutally killed since September 11. All white America saw was a building fall down on TV. Get over it.
posted by Bobby on
” This entire mosque business is so blatantly racist.”
—-Islam is not a race, it’s a RELIGION, so I don’t see how it could be racist.
“You sound like heterosexuals who think gays should be scrutinized as potential pedophiles because of the Catholic priest scandal.”
—Yet the liberal media often implies that all Catholic priests are pedophiles.
“Furthermore, the “mosque at ground zero” crap shows how narcissistic white heterosexual America is.”
—Another progressive lie, there are people of all colors, races and religions that oppose the mosque at ground zero. Of course, you’re the real racist because you imply only white people feel that way.
“More Muslims than white heterosexual Americans have died, suffered, been tortured, have had their homes destroyed, and have been brutally killed since September 11.”
—So what? Millions of German nazis died in WW2, do I feel sorry for them? No, they started the war. Did Saddam Hussein pay $20,000 to the families of every suicide bomber? Yes. Did the Taliban refused to release Osama Bin Ladden? Yes. So what did you expect America to do, to forgive them?
Please, the Muslims can’t even forgive the facebook woman from “Draw Mohammed Day,” they issued a fatwa against her and now she has to go into hiding.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/draw-mohammed-day-cartoonist-changes-name-goes-into-hiding-after-fatwa/
posted by Jorge on
This entire mosque business is so blatantly racist.
That must make all those Muslims who think it’s a bad idea uncle Toms, huh?
You sound like heterosexuals who think gays should be scrutinized as potential pedophiles because of the Catholic priest scandal.
Then you need to get a hearing aid.
Oh ya, that, the CATHOLIC child molestation scandal, that took place in CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
At least in the Catholic religion, when a man rapes someone, it’s the rapist who is punished and shunned.
Why do we have schools in catholic churches if so many catholic priests are proven to be pedophiles?
Please cite accurate figures of the percentage of Catholic priests who are pedophiles vs. the percentage of Americans of the Muslim faith who want all Israelis to die. I actually do not know whether I will win or lose on this one, but I know that it is demonstrably provable!
The fact that conservatives are not up in arms about the reality that schools exist at catholic churches is proof of the superficiality and racism of their animosity towards American Muslims.
Hold it.
You believe that the evidence suggests that conservatives should be more hostile toward Catholics than they should be toward Muslims.
Having failed to provide any credible evidence to substantiate this belief, your argument does not stand.
All white America saw was a building fall down on TV. Get over it.
Look who’s the racist now. I don’t know if you noticed, but Americans come in all colors, and Americans of all colors are opposed to the Ground Zero mosque.
posted by BobN on
Don’t you think his associations are disturbing?
The only “disturbing” thing about the whole kit and caboodle is the duplicity of Fox News in reporting the story.
Mind you, I’m not thrilled at the idea of any Saudi owning a significant share of any American news outlet, let alone the propaganda machine that is FauxNews.
posted by Debrah on
“A lot of people have a lot to gain by his credulity and that of his readers.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BobN–
I’m not a Tea Party expert, but for a long time the Democrats tried to paint them as insular arch conservatives.
For a long time I kind of looked at them that way as well; however, a closer view shows that most are middle-class educated voters who’ve become disgruntled with lawmakers, in general.
I think the best they can do is steer clear of the more strident social issues.
Lastly, people like the doughnut in Delaware, Christine O’Donnell, will reduce their potency.
Several years ago when Bill Maher had his show on late-night ABC she used to show up on his panel and she was always such an idiot.
Krauthammer has a good column today in the Washington Post / NRO regarding the Tea Party.
By the way, where’s Jimmy ?
posted by Bobby on
Here’s an interesting ad from Charlie Crist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3WcH76m_RU
posted by Jorge on
The only “disturbing” thing about the whole kit and caboodle is the duplicity of Fox News in reporting the story.
Mind you, I’m not thrilled at the idea of any Saudi owning a significant share of any American news outlet, let alone the propaganda machine that is FauxNews.
Hmm.
As in all things, the truth would be found by following the money. Sadly, like Fox News which breathlessly asks where the mosque money is coming from — all the while knowing it comes from one of Fox’s major shareholders — there’s little in the press about the money.
http://salem-news.com/articles/august262010/fox-mosque-funding-gd.php
“The Kingdom Foundation, funder of the Ground Zero Mosque is run by Alwaleed bin Talal, the largest shareholder in Fox News.”
[Ugh, ridiculous. The largest shareholder would have to be the owner and founder! Either Rupert Murdock or Roger Ailes.]
http://www.iberianet.com/articles/2010/09/11/forum/doc4c825d89935eb901439843.txt
“The Kingdom Foundation, funder of the Ground Zero Mosque is run by Alwaleed bin Talal, largest shareholder in Fox News.”
[Again? This almost word for word the same article. These guys make Media Matters look coherent. In fact, let’s see what they say. It’ll probably make sense then.]
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201008200055
“According to a report by Yahoo! News’ John Cook, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal — the second-largest shareholder of Fox News’ parent company News Corp. — has deep funding ties to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the “principal planner” of the Islamic community center in lower Manhattan.”
There we go. NOW it makes sense. He’s really the number 2 shareholder.
Now before I’m ready to rebut you, BobN, I need to know who the largest shareholder of News Corp is, and what percent of it is owned by the two biggest shareholders. Media Matters gives a helpful link.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100820/bs_yblog_upshot/news-corps-number-two-shareholder-funded-terror-mosque-planner
“Al-Waleed owns a 7 percent, $2.3 billion stake in News Corporation.”
[pfffffffffff]
Wikipedia states that the Murdock family owned about 29% of the company in 2005, but that Murdock has bought back shares since. Rupert Murdock is the CEO. That appears to be the best I can do.
Okay. Most of your facts check out. Now, could you please explain how exactly do you know Mr. Al-Waleed is funding the mosque again? Especially since they have all of $9,000 raised as of last month?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-20/ground-zero-mosque-where-the-funding-is-coming-from/
Man, those Saudi moneybags are such tightwads!
You have forgotten that the money to build the mosque is not there right now, and that Mr. Al-Waleed will not be the sole source of funding. Thus, there is no deception by Fox News and it remains legitimate to ask where is the funding coming from.