<p>My Mass. congressional delegation hammered the poor woman. I believe it was my Rep. who pointed out to her that she had used the taxpayer money and the Federal government to attempt to impact the results of an election – something that goes at the very heart of the voting rights act – and that she had specifically used the GSA to target members of Congress responsible for the oversight of GSA. </p>
<p>She never got it.</p>
<p>Not that it really matters in the big picture, but I think it is quite likely this woman will be charged with a violation of the Hatch Act prohibiting the use of federal agencies for partisan political activities.</p>
<p>“I agree. That’s why Bush’s approval ratings are around 35% this week, with approval of his handling of the war around 26%. It took a while, but people do indeed realize what is going on.”</p>
<p>On both sides. What is the Congressional approval rating? Lower. The democrats in Congress aren’t making any friends either. Let’s just be honest about that.</p>
<p>No, not period. US Attorneys are appointed by a politician, but once in office are expected to do their job in a fair and impartial manner.</p>
<p>Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise–that once in office, US Attorneys are expected to obstruct justice in order to advance the interests of the politician who appointed them–has very little understanding of the American way of life. Or I suspect, much love for it.</p>
<p>BTW, for those of you who think the outing of Valerie Plame was just an inadvertent little mistake, I would invite you to take a look at the one-page chart prepared by the House Oversight Committee which portrays the sources of information about Plame to White House officials and the flow of information about Plame to the media. This was an orchestrated, intentional outing:</p>
<p>ZM, Congressional ratings are still up over where they had been under the GOP. If they’re drifting lower now, it’s because of frustrated expectations about how much change a Democratic Congress would be able to accomplish in the face of the obstructor-in-chief. I never had high expectations about what they could accomplish; my high expectations were about the kinds of things they could star short circuiting and the ability after six years of a free ride to finally give the Bush so-called administration some oversight worthy of the name.</p>
<p>If you’re playing with poll numbers, you might want to check out the relative numbers of Bush vs. Pelosi. </p>
<p>And, these two questions from this week’s Pew Research Poll are quite telling. I suspect that Republican congressional members are going to get an earful over their Easter break district visits. These numbers are staggering:</p>
<p>**“Do you think Democratic leaders in Congress are going too far or not far enough in challenging George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq, or are they handling this about right?”</p>
<p>23% Going Too Far
40% Not Far Enough
30% About Right
7% Unsure **</p>
<p>Think about that. 70% of adults polled believe that the Democratic congressional efforts to challenge Bush’s Iraq policy are either “about right” or “not going far enough”. About the only issue that would get more than 70% agreement would be something like asking if apple pie tastes good.</p>
<p>**“And thinking about a specific proposal: The Congress is now debating future funding for the war in Iraq. Would you like to see your congressional representative vote FOR or AGAINST a bill that calls for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq to be completed by August of 2008?” Asked 3/22-25/07 only. N=1,245. MoE ? 3.5.</p>
<p>“While we’re being honest, let’s tell the whole truth. That the approval rating has gone UP since the Democrats took control of Congress.”</p>
<p>Irrelevant to my point. RCP has it at 30.5. My point was and remains this (don’t spin it, don’t expand it, don’t make it something else): the American public is not happy with either the executive or legislative branch of government right now. I am unhappy with both, as well. I take issue with throwing around Bush’s poll numbers while conveniently ignoring the fact the the Congress’ poll numbers are as low as or lower. This is from the realm of Two Things Can Be True At The Same Time.</p>
<p>Where are polling numbers suggesting that people are unhappy with the Democrats? May very well be true (I am not so enamored of them myself), but let’s see some numbers.</p>
<p>Exactly, AllMusic, the poster is conflating the part with the whole. Congress as a whole has a historically low approval rating. It doesn’t necessarily mean that people disapprove of the majority party.</p>
<p>“Where are polling numbers suggesting that people are unhappy with the Democrats? May very well be true (I am not so enamored of them myself), but let’s see some numbers.”</p>
<p>They don’t exist (though they should! ;))</p>
<p>You know, this whole business didn’t have to be such a big deal. The President could have fired whom he wanted, said “tough” to complaints, and that would essentially be the end of it. When you fire someone for “poor performance”, you shouldn’t be surprised when they stand up and attempt to clear their names. (Future employers would want to know, and since these are all Republicans, being fired by a Republican Commander-in-Chief on the basis of poor performance takes some explaining.)</p>
<p>But instead they lied to cover up, and then are working overtime to cover up the lie.</p>
<p>Where is John Mitchell now that we need him?</p>
<p>“Exactly, AllMusic, the poster is conflating the part with the whole. Congress as a whole has a historically low approval rating. It doesn’t necessarily mean that people disapprove of the majority party.”</p>
<p>Go back and read my posts. That’s not exactly what I said. But I’m done. This is why I stay out of so many of these threads. People I genuinely like and respect are jut waaaay too partisan, even for me, and that’s saying a lot. I don’t want to battle and parse with all of you, especially since I’m going to have an actual college question today. Make nice everyone!</p>
<p>I liked GW’s joke at the correspondent’s dinner that “some say she’s bossy, she’s opinionated, she’s not to be crossed. Hey, I get along with my mother.”</p>
<p>Yes, I did. I thought her rhetoric was charged with layers of meaning and an example of how including women in politics changes the nature of the discussion. By saying “take a deep breath”, Pelosi was instantly characterizing the President as throwing temper tantrum and in need of the calm yet firm influence of a mommy. </p>
<p>^^Sorry, but–yuk. I just don’t get guys who like Pelosi and Hillary and want them to scold them and tell them what to do and how to think (like Mommy).</p>