West Virginia Blue
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(Promoted for the Congressional crowd returning today. - promoted by Carnacki)
Did Shelley Moore Capito give her own party a major diss or what?
In this recent Washington Post article she says Democrats are more appealing to people like her than Republicans are:
In West Virginia, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, the only Republican in the state's congressional delegation, said it was simple: As national Democrats focused on a cosmopolitan constituency, her party made clear that it understood West Virginia's culture.
The Democrats "do appeal more to an upper-middle-class, higher-educated, faster-moving kind of voter," she said.
Let's see... is Rep. Shelley Moore Capito "upper-middle-class"? Yes, her congressional salary alone makes her at least upper-middle. Is she "higher-educated"? Yes, again. She's got not only one, but two degrees, including that Master's Degree from Duke University in career counseling. How about a "faster-moving kind of voter"? I really don't know what that means, but she seems to:
There you have it--check, check, and check--according to Republican Shelley Moore Capito, Democrats appeal more to Shelley Moore Capito.
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Finally, if I had ever thought about voting for Capito before, I'd be really insulted by her statement.
Not only is Republican Shelley Moore Capito saying her own party doesn't appeal to people like her, she's painting those who do vote Republican in a rather negative light.
According to Shelley, if you haven't done well enough economically during the Bush years, or haven't had the benefit of a college education, or you are the kind of voter the Republican party have written off as "slow-moving", she somehow still thinks she can count on your vote.
It's as if she thinks her voters are both ignorant and fools. She's taking your support for granted because she doesn't think you'll notice the many failures of the Bush administration. Just 'cause you don't have a fancy degree doesn't mean you're not smart enough to know you're being sold a bill of goods!
If the Republican party isn't enough appealing to Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito any more, why should it be right for anyone else?
U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and David Leach, farm manager at the Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research and Education Center, point Monday to where the new four-lane W.Va. 9 will come through part of the center's property. (Dave McMillion/Bureau Reporter)
Quick aside... why isn't the third person in the photo named? Oh... because they're another local reporter. They're supposed to report the news, not make it... remember?
Point #1: The power of incumbency to manage the press
Whatever newspaper editor approved this powder puff story deserves to be mocked for professional incompetence.
Is there any news being made? No. Not even a pretense of news. No money being doled out. No federal official visiting to tout a failed administrative policy. Not even a flimsy excuse for news.
Is there some compelling human interest angle? No. No interesting background story. Capito visits a fruit research station. That's the beginning and end of the story.
Is there some vital public interest served? None. There's no tie-in to a "remind readers to wash their fruit" initiative or anything else that might serve the public interest. Just: Capito visits fruit research station.
Does the institution in question--Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research and Education Center--deserve press coverage? Absolutely. So write a story about the research station and don't dilute the impact with a Congresswoman in the way.
Point #2: Republican Rep. Capito is out of touch with her district
Capito, R-W.Va., said she wanted to tour the facility after passing it regularly along W.Va. 9 and being curious about its operations.
Conservative Republican Capito (WV-02), 8 years after starting to travel in the Eastern Panhandle regularly, decides to find out more about this facility. If they were a corporation or catered to the wealthy, do you think it would have taken this long?
Instead...
The facility helps growers understand practices such as how to use pesticides to control pests in the most "highly technological way," officials at the center said.
But an increasing number of growers also are interested in how to grow fruit organically, said Alan Biggs, professor of plant pathology at the facility.
Members of the West Virginia State Horticultural Society approached center officials about organic growing concepts, Biggs said. The Horticultural Society represents about 60 growers, most of whom are in the Eastern Panhandle region, Biggs said.
Research center officials are working on the effort and hope the center can eliminate pitfalls growers might face with organic operations. This will allow center officials to "take the technology right to the grower," Biggs said.
Although the number of orchards has dropped significantly in the Eastern Panhandle over the years, it seems to have stabilized, Biggs said.
Biggs said the decline of orchards has stabilized as growers turn to niche operations like organic products and other fruit crops.
And there are new growers buying land in areas like Hampshire County and specializing in fresh food sales, Biggs said.
The fruit research station, which is affiliated with West Virginia University, has been in operation since 1930 and has an annual budget of roughly $350,000 to $450,000, Biggs said.
Wow. Right here in our district, a research station that helps keep jobs in our district. Sounds like something our Representative in Congress should be very interested in. Too bad she's eight years too late.
Of course, the press who covered the event didn't find the time to ask her why she didn't visit the research station long ago... maybe then we have a real story.
Yes, I know Mike Huckabee will not be the next President of the United States. He won't even be the Republican nominee. (Saint McCain is on his way of riding the winner-take-all Republican primary system to that dubious honor on Tuesday.)
Still, there will be many people who view Mike Huckabee more favorably after this run for President. tristero at Hullabaloo reminds Nick Kristof there are many reasons why Mike Huckabee is unfit for public office.
Huckabee ignored court testimony in favor of right wing operatives and worked to release a serial rapist. Upon his Huckabee-engineered release, the rapist graduated to murder, possibly twice, before he was caught. Because of this incident, I have spoken with blistering contempt about Huckabee's character.
Huckabee blamed everyone but himself for the release of this rapist/murderer, especially Bill Clinton and lied repeatedly about substantiated facts. Because of his failure to tell the truth about his mistakes, I have denounced Huckabee's integrity numerous times.
During Huckabee's reign as governor, Arkansas' public schools regressed to a pre-modern attitude towards science, especially biology. This neglect was willful, and done with Huckabee's knowledge and consent. Because of his ignorance, I have denounced Huckabee's actions at every opportunity.
It's become clear in the last few years that right wingers are psychologically unfit to lead the nation. Vast numbers of them are "conservative" not due to philosophy but to cover up for serious personal issues with sexuality, masculinity, oedipal complexes and worse. In fact, it's so pervasive that one must now assume that conservative political leaders are driven by a complicated desire to compensate for psychological problems rather than the usual political mix of ambition, ego and drive to power. There are just too many examples of disturbed, neurotic, secretive GOP hypocrites out there. It's a feature not a bug.
It's not too hard to figure out why the Republican party is so unpopular nationally these days. After years of having complete control of our Federal government, the chickens are coming home to roost.
Ineffective, morally bankrupt Republican ideals have been implemented in unfettered form by the government led by President "unitary executive" George Bush and Vice President "independent branch of government" Dick Cheney. Despite the gains made by Democrats in 2006, the Congress controlled for years by Rubberstamp Republicans like Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) still retains a working majority of conservative votes on many important issues.
Whether it be the lack of immediate (and long-term) response to Hurricane Katrina, a trillion dollars spent fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country or a disdain for the welfare of all but the very wealthiest the many sins of this Republican party are becoming so apparent even the most ardent supporters cannot longer deny them.
The events of this week is one more chicken coming home to roost. Yet another bubble has burst. The final Republican myth is shattered: the robust economy myth.
The conservative Republican ideologues have received everything they wanted. Our economy has been grossly mismanaged by the Bush administration and a rubber-stamp Republican Congress. Jerome a Paris has an important diary pointing out hard truths you won't hear in traditional media. This is not just the failure of a few hedge funds, a short-term crisis of market liquidity or a bump in the financial road. It's a total failure of conservative economic policies.
Our own Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) is a typical Republican pushing vacuous conservative ideals for our economy... eliminate government oversight of businesses, starve the government by lowering corporate taxes, and push over-simplistic morally bankrupt trickle-down economics (emphasis mine):
Small Business:
Small businesses play a huge role in our country's economy because they create two-thirds to three-quarters of all new jobs. I believe we must continue to work to alleviate unnecessary burdens on small businesses so they can expand and create new and better jobs.
Cutting Taxes and Creating Jobs:
I want every West Virginian who is looking for a job to find one. In order to achieve that goal we need to ensure our economy is growing. That is why I have voted for economic stimulus packages in Congress that cut taxes for everyone who pays them. I believe that when the government puts tax dollars back in the pockets of the taxpayers, those taxpayers will spend those dollars and stimulate our economy in order to provide for long-term economic growth in the future. I also support abolishing the Death Tax in order to ensure family businesses can be kept within the family and not sold off in order to pay an unfair tax.
It's time we remember some important economic lessons about what really matters. [Put aside for the moment the bait-and-switch tactics of Capito's statements: the Bush-Capito economic policies favor big business over small business; the Bush-Crapito estate tax repeal is a hand-out for Paris Hilton, not for small family business owners.] As Jerome a Paris points out...
This is what needs to be blamed, again:
- the ideology of greed (this is the core of the conservative talking point: the idea that being selfish is somehow good for others as it creates more wealth, and thus that unregulated markets are good for society);
[snip]
- the cheer-leading by politicians of finance as the new engine of growth and wealth creation (industry, balanced budgets, communities are so yesterday and downright communist and evil);
- the unraveling of existing regulations (like Glass-Steagall) in the name of market efficiency, and the corresponding death of those old engineering concepts, resiliency, safety margins, redundancies, and of old old ethical ideas: reputation, community, duty to future generations.
What lessons can we learn from this failure? It's no coincidence that the Clinton-Gore administration was economically robust for all income levels. Let's return to the core progressive values for a sound society and a sound economy.
Wealth is not defined by how the richest fare, and should not be counted via how much they accumulate, but only by how the poorest amongst us are doing.
Society is not doing well when the rich get richer, but when communities care for their members, leave no one behind, and do not focus exclusively on how much money one has to rank and judge members. Richer does not mean better. Together is better.
Things built to last are the most valuable, even if they create no profit today. Infrastructure, education, careful nurturing of rare resources are investments that pay for all in the long run and can be handed over to future generations. Many government tasks are investments, not costs.
We need to work hard in 2008 to elect more Democrats to run this country--Democrats who believe in the positive power of government by and for the people. We can do better. The future of our country depends on it.
I'm proud to support the Democratic Party--here with over a year to go before the next election I'm already excited about how strong the ticket is already looking from top to bottom. I already see Democratic Party candidates--President, Senate, House, Governor, other state and local offices--to get excited about.
On the other hand, it must be a real downer to be a Republican these days. The Carpetbagger Report asks a burning question, who’s the scariest of the bunch? (click through for some great Romney, um, critiques). There's some tough choices here:
* Rudy Giuliani — Matt Taibbi recently made the case that the former NYC mayor is actually “worse than Bush.” Giuliani is autocratic, thin-skinned, and self-absorbed. He’s inexperienced, ignorant about policy specifics, and his only selling point (performance on 9/11) doesn’t stand up well to scrutiny. His campaign is built around demagoguery — driven solely by fear.
* John McCain — A shadow of his former self, the senator appears to be a man who’ll do anything to win. McCain is combative and intolerant of dissent. He defends the indefensible and lashes out angrily at anyone who dares to disagree with him. He’s become dishonest, condescending, and egotistical, while pandering shamelessly to some of the worst elements in Republican politics.
* Mitt Romney — The man appears to have no real convictions at all. On most of the major political issues of the day, Romney believed the exact opposite fairly recently, and has struggled to explain his metamorphosis from moderate governor to far-right candidate.
* Fred Thompson — The actor/lobbyist/senator doesn’t seem to have any real rationale for seeking the presidency, other than the belief he might win. Thompson is at least as phony as Romney — the red truck story should be humiliating to him — and developed a Bush-like reputation for being lazy and incurious. He considers moving to northern Virginia “getting out of Washington” and his most valuable skill seems to be his ability to pretend to be someone else.
When describing his concerns about Romney, Josh Marshall said he’s “never seen a presidential cycle when the Republican field looks more feeble, dispirited and generally languid than this year.” I’m inclined to agree (though the ‘96 GOP field was a real doozy).
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