The Celebrity Couple Otherwise Known As McFreed

Tender Vitters

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:20:18 -0700

Sean reports...

An interesting article from Louisiana's The Independent Weekly about the double standard concerning prostitutes and politicians that you all might find interesting concerning U.S. Senator David Vitter and his troubles with the DC Madam case...

By Scott Jordan
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
I had just taken the burgers off the grill and my family was sitting down to dinner when the phone rang. I told my wife that unless it was an emergency, tell whoever it was that we’d call them back. She answered the phone and told me, “It’s David Vitter.” It was one of U.S. Sen. Vitter’s “telephone town hall conferences.” These outreach efforts have become increasingly popular with legislators in recent years; according to a recent Politico story, Washington, D.C.-based company TeleTownHall pioneered the technology in 2005 and has since facilitated more than 1,000 of the phone meetings. For a recent telephone-town-hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, Politico noted that more than 37,000 local phone numbers and households were dialed to invite participation. (Several hundred people often wind up listening in and/or participating.) So it isn’t hard to see how Vitter unwittingly called the home of a newspaper editor. Since 2006, Vitter’s regularly held these phone question-and-answer sessions with voters. “He also tries to focus the call around a particular subject but will answer questions that someone may have on other topics as he would in his formal town hall meetings,” Vitter’s Communications Director Joel DiGrado recently told the Bossier Press-Tribune. I figured my burger could wait and I’d see if I could participate in this telephone town hall conference, which focused on immigration issues. The way it works is you press the number zero on your phone if you want to ask a question, and you’re placed in a waiting line. About 20 minutes went by as I listened to Vitter field questions from other callers, and then a woman got on the line with me. She asked if I had a question for Sen. Vitter. Yes, I did, I replied. She asked what it was about, and I told her H2B workers. Another 15 minutes or so went by when an automated message told me I was next in line to speak. As Vitter finished answering a question, he said, “Now we go to the Jordan household in Carencro.” I asked him if he supported the legislation that Congressman Charles Boustany is working on to raise the cap on temporary H2B workers to help local businesses like seafood processors who are experiencing a labor shortage. Vitter noted that he is in favor of using legal H2B workers and pointed out that Boustany isn’t trying to raise the cap but working to restore H2B numbers to last year’s levels. Then I asked a second question. “New York Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer just resigned today after it was revealed that he had an affair with a prostitute,” I said. “I also just read an editorial in the Ouchita Citizen today that noted if Spitzer resigns, you should resign also over your past transgression. How do you respond to people who say that there’s a double standard at work here?” (Somewhere toward the end of asking the question, an automated message informed me that I was now in “listen-only mode.”) “I made a very serious mistake a long time ago, and I have to live with that every day,” Vitter replied. He sounded genuine and contrite. “That’s not a flippant statement. I need to spend my whole life making up for that.” Then his tone turned a bit defiant. “Anybody who looks at the two cases will see that there is an enormous difference between the two of them,” he said. “The people that are trying to draw comparisons to the two cases are people who’ve never agreed with me on important issues like immigration and other things.” He then moved on to the next caller. The second half of Vitter’s answer shows that his hypocrisy still knows no bounds. It was bad enough that he painted himself as a family-values crusader before his phone number showed up multiple times in the phone records of Washington, D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey — all during the time period when he was serving as a state representative. Since that link to prostitutes became public, Vitter made an apologetic statement last June with his wife by his side but has refused to answer any questions about the scandal. And how Vitter spent taxpayers’ time and money is a question that Louisiana citizens deserve answered. His continued stonewalling and diminished clout in Congress continues to be an embarrassment to his constituents and the state Republican Party — not to mention a thorn in the side of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal. When word of Spitzer’s prostitute tryst became public, the Republican Governor’s Association — of which Jindal is an executive committee member — immediately called for Spitzer’s resignation. But Jindal apparently thinks that Vitter’s involvement with a prostitution ring is different — so much so that our governor recently co-hosted a fund raiser for Vitter that took in more than $400,000. With Jindal’s promising and largely successful start to his tenure and his repeated pledge to improve Louisiana’s image, his continued embrace of Vitter leaves an unflattering impression of a politician that puts party loyalty above one of his most important campaign pledges. Ouchita Citizen Publisher Sam Hanna Jr. isn’t the only one asking Vitter to resign. In the last week alone, conservative columnists Chistopher Tidmore of Louisiana Weekly and Ringside Politics commentator Jeff Crouere, along with longtime New Orleans political commentator and Gambit Weekly publisher and editor Clancy Dubos, have all publicly called for Vitter to step aside for the good of Louisiana. I agree with them — but given Vitter’s pattern of stubborn denial, I won’t hold my breath. The moral of this story? If a politician calls your house, don’t hang up — because the conversation can be very enlightening.

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Baraka Obama: A More Perfect Union Speech

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:19:00 -0700

The McFreeds, in the interest of equal time, post this speech from March 18, 2008 for your review...

This does not mean we are giving up on our support on Hillary Clinton, it means only that this speech is major enough to make available to our readers.

Barack Obama: A More Perfect Union

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Florigan!: The Lawsuit

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:30:34 -0700

Sean reports...

Well as the Democratic Party continues to shoot itself in the foot over stupid decisions and rules, I found this story that makes a lot of sense to me but in the end may mean nothing. To me the Democrats have a point on being a private entity but when they are utilizing resources from the state doesn't taht factor into having to abide by legal statute? Enjoy!

Attorney: DNC violating Constitution

Posted: 04:45 PM ET

ATLANTA (CNN) — The Democratic National Committee is violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing only four states to hold caucuses or primaries before the first Tuesday in February, a Florida attorney argued Monday before a federal appeals court.

Attorney Michael Steinberg filed suit in August on behalf of Democratic Party activist Vincent Dimaio after the DNC said it would not seat Florida delegates at the national convention because the state party defied party rules and scheduled its primary for January 29.

A federal judge in Florida dismissed the lawsuit in October, but Dimaio appealed.

"You can't treat the citizens of some states differently than other states," Steinberg told reporters after the hearing. "What I tried to assert is that the DNC has the right to make rules … but the rules have to be the same for all the states."

According to party rules, only Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire can schedule their primaries or caucuses prior to the first Tuesday in February. Steinberg argued that the 14th Amendment, which bars states from denying individuals equal protection under the law, should prohibit the DNC from creating rules that make the votes of the citizens of those four states "paramount to the rights of the voters in Florida."

Joe Sandler, attorney for the DNC, told the three-judge panel that the committee is a private entity and "is actually exercising its own constitutional right by not seating delegates."

"The point we were trying to make in court today is that it's up to the parties themselves to determine the best means of selecting delegates to the convention, and it's not really a matter for a court to resolve," he told reporters later.

Dimaio, who referred to himself as the "little guy" who speaks for Floridians, told reporters that it is unfair for only four states to be allowed to hold primaries or caucuses in January.

"If you go before February 5, you're basically screwed because you get no delegates," he said. "We've lost 210 delegates. We're the fourth largest state in the nation and we have zero delegates."

"I'm not asking for a penny, I'm not asking for a dime in this action," Dimaio said. "I'm just asking for my vote to count."

The appellate court is not expected to deliver a decision until next month. Steinberg, who is handling the case pro bono, said that if the ruling goes against Dimaio, he will appeal to the Supreme Court.

– CNN Correspondent Rusty Dornin

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A true leader leaves the race...

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:41:04 -0800

Sean says sadly...

John and Elizabeth Edwards with their children

It was only 5 days ago that I announced that I would be voting for John Edwards in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Sadly, John Edwards announced his withdrawl from the race today, January 30, 2008. He returned to where it all started, New Orleans, in order to honor his commitment to a new war on poverty. All the comments I have heard both from friends and commentators alike is that he was a principled, decent guy who had great ideas. I guess respect of the mind is a great way to be remembered as you leave. What I find sad is that a man who was a leader on issues in this campaign was beaten by celebrity and oration rather than true facts and strong solutions. A bitter comment, of course; but a bitter reality of how our system works. Americans ask for change but in the end we vote for who is familiar and who is the better show horse even if that horse can't run. With that here is a clip of John Edwards saying thank you to his supporters as he departs the race, not the political scene we hope.

John Edwards says Goodbye and Thank You

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Nevada Democratic Debate Part II

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:09:54 -0800

Sean says...

As I posted before here, Stefan and I are trying to figure out who to support on the Democratic side and so we have been watching the debates when we can. Hence, we watched the Democratic debate in Nevada this week. I could post the whole debate here to be a little more inclusive, but I will be "bad" and do some editing on my own. I thought this was a great debate in terms of telling what the candidates are about. I am reposting about it to link the parts of the debate I felt moved me toward Clinton and Edwards and further away from Obama. I will say I will support the Democratic nominee regardless, unless an viable independent alternative is made available. Stefan, I believe, will as well.

This is the part of the debate that I think really swayed my thinking. Unfortunately, you can't forward to the specific parts easily so start the first video at the 3 minute mark and let run. Start the second video from beginning. The points bridge across the end of Part 3 and the beignning of Part 4 of the segments. (Further segments are also available on YouTube.) These parts deal with how these three would run the country. Perspective and method are big failings of our current commander-in-chief and I think we need to ask these questions about how he or she will approach the position and judge for ourselves, like in an interview, who is the best candidate to hire.

Part 3 Nevada Caucus Democratic Presidential Candidates' Debate 1-15-08

Part 4 Nevada Caucus Democratic Presidential Candidates' Debate 1-15-08

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Vox Hunt: Hope for the Future

nobody@vox.com(Sean & Stefan) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:40:49 -0700

Show us a politician who gives you hope.

Robert Kennedy

"Some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

Robert Kennedy might be a man behind us in history and subject to revisionist discussion of his flawed personal life and political ethics prior to 1963, but he is a man who's words have always inspired me when it comes to injecting hope into politics and life. His use of the quote above (originally penned by George Benard Shaw) throughout his run for the presidency in 1968 and the cadence in which he spoke it, has always made me hope about America and even the world.

I am older and less naive now, but there are many days that I hope people will open their eyes and say 'Why not?' But it seems that it is more important lately for politicians and ourselves to answer the safer questions and not the hard ones that end with 'Why not?' I know I have retreated to the safety zone too many times in life or cowarded behind a rationalization that was purely flawed in its masking of the truth.

So I retain my hope with the echo if Kennedy's borrowed words in my head and anxiously await when I can be brave enough to tackle his eternal "Why not?". I know fulfillment awaits me ahead when I actually do.

A few more words from RFK:

“Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. 'Give me a place to stand,' said Archimedes, 'and I will move the world.' These men moved the world, and so can we all.”

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