First Door on the Left

Say it isn’t so, David…

Huckabee to Appear on Letterman

David Letterman

WASHINGTON (AP) – Most presidential candidates make last-minute appeals to voters in states on the eve of voting. Republican Mike Huckabee appears on late-night television.

The former Arkansas governor is scheduled to appear on CBS’s “Late Show” with David Letterman on Monday, a day before the New Hampshire primary.

Huckabee took the same route Wednesday, trading jokes with Jay Leno on NBC’s “Tonight Show” before winning the Iowa caucuses the next day.

Huckabee had to cross a picket line to appear on Leno’s show, despite saying he supported the writers. He had said he believed the writers had agreed to allow late-night shows on the air. But only Letterman and fellow CBS host Craig Ferguson struck deals allowing writers to return to work.

So Pastor Mike’s fifteen minutes of fame will last another day.

Mike and Janet Huckabee

And, Dave, lose the beard. M’kay?

Tags: 2008, David Letterman, Mike Huckabee, presidential campaign, Republicans

It’s our first ‘Friday night cartoons’ of the new year. Welcome! The pickings were a bit slim this week. We think it may have been the extra long holiday weekend. Or everyone was stuck in a snowdrift in Iowa somewhere. Anyway, you know what to do…

As always, our thanks to the talented cartoonists who help us smile through the pain.

Have a Happy New Year, won’t you?

Tags: cartoons, Friday Night Cartoons

From this morning’s washingtonpost.com:

(Click to enlarge)

Barack Obama looks refreshed and ready to get to work; Mike Huckabee looks like he’s been through the ringer and came out wrong end first.

You really couldn’t ask for a better representation of the state of the Democratic and Republican parties in these early days of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Tags: 2008, Barack Obama, Democrats, Mike Huckabee, presidential campaign, Republicans

I’m still kind of on the fence and will definitely fully support whoever is the eventual Democratic nominee, but I gotta say… He almost has me convinced. This is a good speech. (Sounds a bit like Howard Dean did four years ago, before he sold out to the Democratic establishment.)

I hope you’ll listen if you haven’t yet. It’s worth the fourteen minutes.

Dare we hope to have a literate president again?

Update: In the interest of being fair and balanced, here’s Huck:

A general election campaign with Obama vs. Huckabee would be interesting, though, I believe, terribly unfair to Mr. Huckabee.

Tags: 2008, Barack Obama, Democrats, presidential campaign

All of the major news outlets have declared Mike Huckabee the winner of tonight’s caucuses in Iowa. Here’s FOX:

Huckabee Declared Winner of Iowa Republican Presidential Caucuses

Mike Huckabee was declared the winner of the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses Thursday night, less than an hour after voting began.

With 25 percent reporting, Huckabee had 35 percent, Mitt Romney had 24 percent and Fred Thompson had 14 percent. John McCain had 12 percent, according to the reporting.

ABC News included this little anecdote in their report:

As the returns began to trickle in, a spontaneous prayer circle broke out at the Des Moines Embassy Suites where Huckabee supporters are congregating. The group prayed for Huckabee’s victory as well as some of his more conservative views — including an end to abortion and homosexuality.

The Associated Press is reporting that Barack Obama has won the Democratic caucuses. He garnered 36% of the vote, with 30% each for Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. (ABC, CNN and NBC concur.)

Update from the Iowa Democratic Party: Barack Obama 37.53%; John Edwards 29.87%; Hillary Clinton 29.39%; Bill Richardson 2.11%. Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd each had less than 1%.

The results, it seems, were pretty much as predicted.

Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama

The citizens of tiny Iowa have had their moment in the sun. Now it’s on to even tinier New Hampshire for next Tuesday’s primary:

Poll: Neck-and-neck in New Hampshire

With six days to go until the New Hampshire primary, there are ties in poll results for the top candidates in both parties.

With roughly a quarter of those polled in both parties saying they won’t make up their mind until the election, both the Democratic and Republican presidential nomination races are up for grabs.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose campaign was languishing six months ago, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are now tied for first place, with each grabbing the support of 29 percent of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters, the CNN/WMUR poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire found.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is at 12 percent with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 10 percent. The remaining Republican White House hopefuls for the 2008 campaign are in single digits…

The Democratic race in New Hampshire has tightened up, too. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York has a 4-point lead over Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 34 percent to 30 percent, among likely Democratic primary voters. But if you take into account the survey’s sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, it’s a statistical dead heat.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is at 17 percent in the poll, with the remaining Democratic presidential candidates in single digits.

Tags: 2008, Democrats, presidential campaign, Republicans

The right wing blogosphere is buzzing about this and wondering why nobody on the left has anything to say about it. They have already decided it was an “honor killing” and that the entire Muslim world must be condemned for it.

Lewisville High mourns deaths of two sisters

Amina and Sarah Said

Lewisville High School students returned from winter break on Thursday to mourn the deaths of two classmates whose bodies were found in a taxi cab on New Year’s Day.

The bodies of Amina Yaser Said, 18, and Sarah Yaser Said, 17, were found in their father’s taxi cab in Irving on Tuesday evening. Both teens had died from multiple gunshot wounds. A capital murder arrest warrant has been issued for their father Yaser Abdel Said, 50, who remained at large.

Their deaths have shocked students and staff.

“That wasn’t a car accident, this was a violent crime,” that claimed the girls’ lives, said Dean Tackett, a spokesman for the Lewisville ISD. “It’s almost too much to handle.”

Yaser Abdel Said

Amina, a senior, and Sarah, a junior, were both smart and well-liked, he said. The sisters were enrolled in Advanced Placement classes, involved with student government and played tennis and soccer, according to interviews with a school official and classmates…

Police provided no clues about the motive for the killings. “There are several things we’re looking into,” said Irving police Officer David Tull. He said there have been some “domestic issues” with the family, but he did not elaborate.

Police did say they are looking into the possibility that the father was upset with his daughters’ dating activities.

There… I said something. Happy?

A tragic story, to say the least. It may be a bit early, however, to be passing judgment. I especially do not believe that the extremist right wing of the Republican party has room to be passing judgment on anybody.

See also: “Friends: Murdered Teens Were Afraid Of Their Dad.”

And, as long as we are on the subject of hate crimes, “Racial hatred comes calling at family’s new home.”

Tags: Muslim, Religion, Republicans, right wing

It should not be news to anybody that those in the rabid right wing of the Republican party hate and despise both Bill and Hillary Clinton. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that this rumor would surface (again) on the morning of the Iowa caucuses, in which Hillary is a candidate…

Supreme Court Justice Bill Clinton?

Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It is a title that would be sure to bring either fear or cheer to many Americans, depending on your political leanings: Supreme Court Justice Bill Clinton.

That provocative possibility has long been whispered in legal and political circles ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton became a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. Now a respected conservative law professor has openly predicted a future President Clinton would name her husband to the high court if a vacancy occurred.

Pepperdine Law School’s Douglas Kmiec said, “The former president would be intrigued by court service and many would cheer him on.”

The same article states the reasons, put forth by a “conservative” lawyer, that the former President would not be interested in the position…

But a conservative lawyer who argues regularly before the high court noted Chief Justice John Roberts is fully entrenched in his position, and that might be the only high court spot Clinton would want. He also might not enjoy the relative self-imposed anonymity the justices rely on to do their jobs free of political and public pressures.

“Court arguments are not televised, and most justices shy away from publicity as a matter of respect for the court’s integrity,” said this lawyer. “Could Justice Clinton follow their example?”

Bill Clinton enjoys being in the public eye too much. He likes being the center of attention. He could never adapt to the life of a Supreme Court Justice.

At the end of the article, we are given the reason for its existence…

The more immediate effect of such talk might be more practical: it could help motivate conservative voters in an election year to ensure no Clinton ever reaches the White House or the Supreme Court anytime soon.

The next occupant of the White House will likely determine the shape of the Supreme Court for decades to come. The right wing Republicans are going to pull out all stops in order to ensure that that occupant is not a Democrat, particularly since the odds are better than even that there will be a Democratic majority in the Senate (where Supreme Court Justices are confirmed).

A Democratic President and a Democratic Senate (and, most likely, also a Democratic House of Representatives) would make life a living hell for the right wingers. It would sure give their bloggers a lot to bitch write about, though (to say nothing of the likes of Limbaugh, O’Reilly, FOX News, et al.)

Tags: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Supreme Court

Televangelist and Rudy Giuliani supporter Pat Robertson has released his predictions (given to him by God) for 2008…

Evangelist mum on who’ll win 2008 race

Rudy Giuliani and Pat Robertson

NORFOLK, Va. — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Wednesday that 2008 will be a year of violence worldwide and a recession in the United States, followed by a major stock-market crash by 2010.

Praying about events in the coming year and sharing what he believes God has told him is an annual tradition for Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

“The Lord was saying that there’s going to be violence and chaos in the world,” Robertson said on his “700 Club” news-and-talk show.

“We’ve just begun to see what’s going to happen, and the nations are going to be convulsed with violence,” he said, citing as an example unrest in Pakistan after the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Evangelism will increase because more people are going to be seeking God as the chaos develops, he said.

“We will see the presence of angels and we will see an intensification of miracles around the world, which I think is going to be a wonderful thing,” he said.

He also predicted that there will be a recession, oil will reach $150 a barrel and the U.S. dollar will continue to fall. He added that there will be a major stock-market crash in 2009 or 2010.

Robertson’s past predictions have included presidential politics; in 2004 he said God told him President Bush would be re-elected in a blowout. He declined Wednesday to say who will win the 2008 race.

“I’ll just keep that to myself and look with horror at what may be happening,” he said with a laugh.

Quite the optimist, isn’t he? It’s easy to see how he and Rudy (see previous post) can be so close.

Remember, this is the same genius who agreed with Jerry Falwell when he said that “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians” were responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Our Republicans are just a barrel of laughs, aren’t they?

Tags: Pat Robertson, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani

Scared yet? Watch this latest TV ad from Rudy Giuliani and you will be…

Like his mentor George W. Bush, he really has nothing else. Suddenly and miraculously they both became experts on terrorism on September 12, 2001.

Bush and Giuliani want you to be afraid. It’s their lifeblood. In order for either of them to reach the pinnacle of power for which they strive, you must live in absolute fear every moment of every day.

I don’t know about you, but I refuse to live my life that way.

Tags: fear, George W. Bush, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, terrorism

If Mike Huckabee appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as scheduled, he will have to cross a union picket line. His excuse? He was “confused.” (That appears to be a common malady among Republicans these days.)

Huckabee Could Cross Writers for Leno

Striking writers

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Republican Mike Huckabee, a presidential candidate sounding a populist theme in Iowa, likely will be forced to cross a writers’ picket line if he appears Wednesday on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.

Earlier Wednesday, Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late night shows back on the air.

“My understanding is that there was a special arrangement made for the late-night shows, and the writers have made this agreement to let the late night shows to come back on, so I don’t anticipate that it’s crossing a picket line,” Huckabee told reporters traveling with him Wednesday from Fort Dodge to Mason City.

In fact, that is true only of David Letterman, who has a separate agreement with writers for his “Late Show.”

Told he was mistaken and that writers had cleared only Letterman’s show, Huckabee protested: “But my understanding is there’s a sort of dispensation given to the late-night shows, is that right?”

Told again that he was wrong, Huckabee murmured, “Hmmm,” and, “Oh,” before answering another question.

A spokesperson for Leno, said Huckabee’s plans haven’t changed.

“Huckabee is still booked for tonight,” said Tracy St. Pierre.

This is a man who wants to be President of the United States of America. Surely somebody on his staff could have spent a few minutes to do a little research on his behalf. Had they done so, their candidate would have been aware that only Letterman’s company had reached an interim agreement with the writers. He would also have not appeared to be such a klutz (for at least the second time this week).

Letterman’s guests will be Hillary Clinton (who taped her appearance from Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Robin Williams.

If Pastor Mike does indeed appear on the Leno show tonight [Ed.: He did.], it will prove once and for all that he really is nothing more than another lying, bloodsucking Republican…

Huckabee said he stood with the writers.

“I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely,” he said. “They’re dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts.”

“I don’t think anybody supports the producers on this one,” he added. “Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers.”

Update:

USA TODAY TV editor Bruce Schwartz tells us that Clinton’s cameo on Letterman is quite brief — a pre-recorded joke about Dave having been off the air for 8 weeks because of the writers’ strike, ending with Clinton saying that “tonight, he’s back. Oh, well, all good things come to an end.”

Update #2:

Mike Huckabee and Jay Leno, January 2, 2008

Hypocrite.

Tags: David Letterman, Hillary Clinton, Jay Leno, Mike Huckabee, WGA strike