• Election 2008,  Politics,  President 2008

    President 2008 Watch: Kay Baily Hutchison for President?

    October 29, 2005 /

    Robert Novak has HUTCHISON IN ’08.

    Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has approached Republican fund-raisers in her home state of Texas to test the waters for a possible 2008 presidential nomination, but party sources believe she is mainly interested in a vice presidential nomination.

    Supporters describe Hutchison as saying that if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Democratic nominee, the Republicans must consider putting a woman on their ticket. Hutchison, who has held statewide elective office for 15 years, would head the list for the GOP.

    National ambitions may have factored into Hutchison’s decision against challenging Gov. Rick Perry in a bloody Republican primary for governor next year. Hutchison chose instead to seek re-election to the Senate.


    Giuliani and Hutchison vs. Hillary and Richardson.

    Sounds like a probable race…….. but McCain and Allen may have something to say about it.

    Stay tuned…….

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  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Bear Flag League,  California,  Election 2006,  Politics,  Proposition 74,  Proposition 75,  Proposition 76,  Proposition 77,  Special Election 2005

    California Special Election Watch: “Anyone writing Arnold’s political obituary is making a mistake” – Gray Davis

    October 29, 2005 /

    The Los Angeles Daily News has Davis: Arnold won’t lose power after election.

    Even if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s measures lose in the Nov. 8 special election, he will remain a powerhouse in California, his ousted predecessor said Friday.

    Former Gov. Gray Davis, now a private attorney and a policy fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, predicted a “split” on Schwarzenegger’s four initiatives on the ballot.

    Gray Davis was an indecisive political leader who bowed down to the Union bosses who eventually destroyed his career. He has always had a keen sense of the California political winds.

    However, he was stalemated by his own UNION allies, made poor political as well as governance decisions and lost it all.

    Popular support has been lacking for the four Schwarzenegger-backed measures that would increase his power over the budget, change the state redistricting process, limit union political contributions and make it harder for teachers to get tenure.

    But Davis dismissed Democrats and others who say a major loss next month could cripple Schwarzenegger’s chances in his campaign to retain the governor’s seat in 2006.

    “Anyone writing Arnold’s political obituary is making a mistake,” said Davis, a Democrat himself. “Even if all his initiatives are voted down, he still will be a formidable force in 2006.”

    Gray Davis has it RIGHT and supports Flap in saying that Schwarzenegger has already won the special election.

    Davis said he thinks voters are more forgiving when it comes to losing ballot measures.

    “People don’t resent you putting an initiative on the ballot, because its fate is in their hands. What they get upset about is when they have no recourse,” he said. “This election is just not going to determine the governor’s fate in 2006.”

    Agreed and what about draining your union friend’s (?) coffers going into 2006 and possibly bankrupting the California Teachers Association?

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    Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page

  • Politics,  Supreme Court

    SCOTUS WATCH: LUTTIG vs. ALITO?

    October 29, 2005 /

    Reuters has Luttig, Alito contenders as Bush mulls court pick.

    President George W. Bush on Saturday was narrowing his choices of Supreme Court nominees to replace Harriet Miers as Republicans said the short list consisted of highly credentialed, solidly conservative judges.

    Among the candidates most talked about were appeals court judges Michael Luttig and Samuel Alito. Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Camp David retreat, was expected to unveil his choice within days.

    A source close to the selection process who spoke on condition of anonymity said avoiding a battle with Democrats, who have warned Bush about picking a right-wing activist, would not be the president’s top priority.

    “What we know from the Miers nomination is that people on all sides of the political spectrum wanted the highest quality, and that’s what the president will deliver,” the source said.

    “I think it will be extremely difficult for Senate Democrats to oppose someone who is extraordinarily well qualified and who shares the president’s judicial philosophy,” the source added.

    Previously on Flapsblog, SCOTUS Watch: A NEW Short List.

    Samuel Alito, a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge from Philadelphia.

    J. Michael Luttig of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, considered one of the most conservative judges on the federal bench.

    Luttig, 51, a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, worked as a clerk for Scalia when Scalia was an appeals court judge.

    He helped in the effort to get Thomas and Supreme Court Justice David Souter — both nominated to the high court by Bush’s father — confirmed by the Senate. Luttig also has worked in the Justice Department and private practice.

    Alito, 55, is sometimes given the nickname “Scalito” — a comparison to Scalia, who shares his Italian heritage as well as his reputation for conservatism and a strong intellect. He is a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

    Both men are fine judges on the federal court of appeals.

    President Bush could not go wrong with either of them.

    In addition to Luttig and Alito, Bush is also said to be looking at appeals court judges Michael McConnell, Edith Jones and Alice Batchelder.

    Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown are also possibilities, although the two judges — who were named to the appellate court by Bush — were initially blocked by Senate Democrats before making it through on a compromise deal.

    Flap handicaps the following choices in order of probability:

    1. Samuel Alito

    2. J. Michael Luttig

    3. Priscilla Owen

    4. Janice Rogers Brown

    5. Michael McConnell

    6. Edith Jones

    All six of these judges would make excellent nominees for the Supreme Court.

  • CIA Leak Case,  Politics

    CIA Leak Case Watch: Lack-Of-Memory Defense for Libby?

    October 29, 2005 /

    Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby walks from the White House on crutches, Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, to the Eisenhower Executive Building on the White House compound. Libby was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that could cast a harsh light on President Bush’s push to war.

    The ASSociated Press has Libby Lawyer Outlines Defense in Leak Case.

    The lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide is outlining a possible criminal defense that is a time-honored tradition in Washington scandals: A busy official immersed in important duties cannot reasonably be expected to remember details of long-ago conversations.

    Friday’s indictment of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby alleges that as Cheney’s chief of staff he lied to
    FBI agents and a federal grand jury. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a nominee of
    President Bush in 2001.

    Libby, who resigned as soon as the indictment was handed up, was operating amid “the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government,” according to a statement released by his attorney, Joseph Tate.

    This case is a disgrace to the federal justice system – just like the Martha Stewart case. 22 Months and over $70 million for these crap charges and no charge in ANY underying crime of leaking Valerie Plame’s CIA cover.

    Ambassador Joseph Wilson and CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson hawking Wilson’s book

    Flap recommends that Scooter Libby take this case to trial and beat Fitzpatrick and the rest of the over-prosecutorial gang at the Department of Justice.

    “We are quite distressed the special counsel (Patrick Fitzgerald) has not sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby’s recollection and those of others and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements,” Tate continued.

    “As lawyers, we recognize that a person’s recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred.”

    The lack-of-memory defense has worked with varying degrees of success in controversies from
    Iran-Contra to Whitewater.

    Only one person went to prison in the Iran-Contra affair, although several people pleaded guilty to making false statements. President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were cleared in the Whitewater investigation of fraudulent land deals in Arkansas, a subject well-suited to a lack-of-memory defense. The land deals took place a decade before they came under criminal investigation.

    Tate referred to another possible line of defense, saying that “for five years, through difficult times, Mr. Libby has done his best to serve our country.” That argument worked in the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1992, though not in court.

    Bush pardoned those in government who had been implicated in the Iran-Contra criminal investigation. Among others, the pardons went to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, whose trial was scuttled

    Flap handicaps that there will be no plea bargain and no conviction here after a showcase trial.

    Unfortunately, Libby’s career in government has been tainted and dishonored but he will not be labelled a criminal or a liar like Fitzpatrick and others on the LEFT so eagerly wish to portray him.

    After all, why would Libby release N.Y. Times reporter Judith Miller while in jail for contempt (for not releasing Libby’s name as a source) from her journalistic promise (not to release the nameof her sources) to later have her testimony before the grand jury hang him with a perjury charge? This makes NO sense at all.

    And neither does the government’s prosecution…….

    Stay tuned……..