TPM Reader FZ:
Maybe people didn’t pay much attention to President Bush’s presser today, but he did say this regarding the incursion of Iraq by Turkey:
“The Turks need to move quickly, achieve their objective, and get out.”
Quite an astonishing statement, as we head into the sixth year of our own objective.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has always been one of my favorite buffoons in Congress. No one trick pony, he’s been putting in long moron hours for years up on the Hill and on the chat shows. But it was a particular tour de force even for Jack when he showed up last night on MSNBC to bash Barack Obama for not wearing a flag lapel … without remembering to wear one himself …
I have very little feel for Canadian domestic politics. So I’m going to frame this post more as a suggestion to read more and a question for those who know the subject matter better.
But the bare outlines are these. Back in 2005, while the former Liberal government was tottering on the brink of collapse after many years in power, representatives of the opposition Conservatives went to an independent MP whose vote could topple the government and offered him a bribe for his vote.
The nature and context of the alleged bribe are particularly ghastly. The late Chuck Cadman was then in the final stages of terminal cancer. And in exchange for his vote, Conservative Party reps offered to purchase a $1 million life insurance policy for Cadman “and a few other things” in order to provide for his wife.
Cadman refused, voted to keep the government in power rather than cause a new election, and died a short time later.
The charges come from a new book about Cadman’s life, and they are backed up strongly by his widow who is now a candidate for Parliament running as a Conservative (though one wonders for how long).
The kicker, though, is in an interview contained in the book: Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in essence admits that it’s true and that he knew about it at the time.
Here’s the CTV description …
Zytaruk interviewed Harper in Surrey, B.C, in September 2005, shortly after the MP’s death. Zytaruk asked if Harper knew anything about allegations that Tory officials had offered Cadman a $1 million insurance policy to help his wife.
“I don’t know the details. I know there were discussions,” Harper replied.
Harper also said the discussions included talk of money.
“The offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election,” he told the author.
Harper also said he did not believe that Cadman would be swayed to change his vote.
“I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind,” he said.
Sort of an admission wrapped in a denial if you ask me, as least as this report frames it. And now it seems the interview with Harper was recorded and is still in existence.
So for all you Canadians who’ve been entertained over the years by our scandalous politics, please give us the low-down. What’s the score?
Spirited? Dispirited? Am I a Liberal? A Conservative?
John McCain has a couple bumpy moments on the trail …
Take a look at the latest TV spot from the Clinton campaign.
Late Update: The Obama camp was ready with a withering reply.
Later Update: Hey, it’s a positive ad! Mark Penn claims.
We spent quite a bit of time yesterday on that story by Canada’s CTV on the Obama camp giving a wink and a nod to the Canadian ambassador about Obama’s heavy anti-NAFTA rhetoric. Basically, the alleged backchannel communication was: Don’t worry, he’s not as bad as he sounds.
The Obama campaign initially, in an on-camera interview by a spokesperson, didn’t deny the report. Later it made an artful and very general “the story is inaccurate” denial, the precise inaccuracy not being identified. That was followed by about as categorical a denial as you can have, from the Canadian embassy in Washington.
Now CTV has followed up, not only standing by its story, but naming the Obama adviser who allegedly talked with Canadian representatives. He is reported by CTV to be Obama senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. According to CTV, the conversation took place not with the D.C. embassy but with the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago. Goolsbee is on the faculty at the University of Chicago School of Business.
Goolsbee “refused to say whether he had such a conversation with the Canadian government office in Chicago,” when contacted yesterday by CTV.
Late Update: Another round of denials from the Obama camp, more strenuous this time, including a denial from Goolsbee himself.
MJ Rosenberg gives more background on the vicious campaign — already underway for many months — to smear and discredit Barack Obama among American Jews.
A sampling of the agencies currently crippled by impasses between the White House and Senate over nominations:
Federal Elections Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Council of Economic Advisers
National Labor Relations Board
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Just a coincidence that these are mostly regulatory agencies?
Special assistant to the President plagiarizes in his newspaper column.