The Truth About Junior

by: huntsu

Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 08:42:35 PM EST

But the truth is Tom Kean Jr. is full of shit.

This is a guy I actually used to like.  Personally.  We weren't friends who spent the holidays together or anything, but we definitely were glad to see each other at various political and social events.  All in all, he was someone who I might have considered voting for if the Democrat was a complete putz.

At the time I did not realize Tom Kean Jr. was the complete putz.  If I see him at an event now I will probably be polite but look for a quick escape.  Anyone else to talk to other than Junior.

Where Is The Outrage, Junior?

by: huntsu

Mon Oct 23, 2006 at 01:04:17 PM EDT

A real estate agent rented Menendez's childhood home to a non-profit community group from Hudson County at slightly below average market rate.  Menendez later assisted the non-profit in obtaining federal funds to open up a health center for poor and uninsured Hudson County residents.  The community group continued to rent the property from Menendez, and stayed in the property even after Menendez sold it.

Really.  That's the whole story.  There's really nothing else to it.

Yet Junior is running ads on TV and radio claiming that this is proof Menendez is corrupt, and Junior is outraged!  Outraged, I say!

Yet he is strangely silent about this deal where President Bush's brother and parents are profiting off of No Child Left Behind.

"A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.

"With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally.

"At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers." (LA Times)

Start being outraged by this, Junior, and we'll maybe buy your outrage that Bob Menendez is helping the poor get health care.

DNC Going Into Debt for Menendez?

by: huntsu

Tue Oct 17, 2006 at 08:27:26 PM EDT

And New Jersey is one of the places they're going to put the money, according to Hotline on Call, but the reason is that Menendez's weak showing to-date has meant money spent here instead of elsewhere.

While the DNC doesn't have $10M to just toss around to another campaign committee, the DNC apparently has decided to go into debt to come up with the extra cash DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer has been pleading for from DNC Chair Howard Dean. The actual amount of the loan the DNC is taking out is not known as the committee holds out hope they can raise nearly everything they need before the election. But a line of credit has been opened.

The money is not designated for specific Senate races, however, sources tell us that two races in particular were used as leverage in negotiations between the DSCC and the DNC. Those two races: New Jersey and Virginia. Apparently the extra DNC money will help soften the financial blow the DSCC was taking by incurring the extra cost of saving Sen. Bob Menendez from the challenge of Republican Tom Kean Jr. as well also trying to target Virginia. New Jersey and Virginia sport three of the most expensive media markets in the country (NYC, Philly and DC).

While this kind of stinks for us here in New Jersey, the story is illustrative of why the 50 state strategy is a good one for the Democrats over time.

Kean Jr. "Pleased" Torture of American Citizens is Legal

by: huntsu

Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 08:53:50 AM EDT

Check out this quote from Kean Jr. about the torture bill that passed the Congress.

"I would have voted with Senators Graham, Warner and McCain who believe enemy combatants have appropriate due process under this legislation.  I am pleased the Senate passed the bill.  The version passed by the Senate respects the guidelines of the Geneva Convention, and will help us to defeat terrorism in a manner that protects our soldiers and other heroes while respecting American values and principles."

The first thing to note is that Kean Jr. is pleased that the President of the United States will be authorized to, with the stroke of a secret pen, arrest, detain and torture any American citizen without judicial review.  Frankly, that's just sick. 

The second is that Kean Jr. decides to claim he would have voted with the three "mavericks" who negotiated this odious bill and not the two idiots who represent New Jersey in the Senate, Menendez and Lautenberg.

Even on a situation where we are destroying centuries of civil rights by allowing the government to arrest people without review, this asshat is playing politics.

No One Fired In Astroturf-gate?

by: huntsu

Tue Sep 26, 2006 at 03:04:33 PM EDT

Not so!  Apparently in NH-2 the policy director for Rep. Charlie Bass (R) decided to do a little astroturfing of his own on liberal blogs, and he too got caught.

A lead staffer in U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass' office resigned Tuesday after admitting to posting fake messages on political blogs.

Tad Furtado, the No. 2 staffer in Bass' Washington office, resigned after it was revealed that he posed as a Democrat on liberal blogs. Bass said that Furtado posed as a supporter of Bass opponent Paul Hodes but then discussed how difficult it would be to beat Bass.

It's a movement!  The Republican Staffer Lying On The Internet movement!  Not, surely, as good as the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacree movement, but a pretty good one none-the-less.

The difference between the Bass campaign's response and the Kean Jr. campaign's response is the most telling, however.  Kean Jr. stood up on TV and defended press secretary Jill Hazelbaker, and did nothing to determine whether she or anyone else in his campaign was playing dirty pool with the Internet.

Bass fired his policy director, someone described as "one of his most trusted staffers":

"Tad Furtado posted to political Web sites from my office without my knowledge or authorization," Bass said in a written statement. "I have referred this matter to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for their review."

Staff members in Bass' Concord office said they were shocked to hear Furtado was responsible for the postings. He was described as a rising young star and one of the congressman's most trusted staffers.

The fact is that someone on Kean Jr.'s staff -- or to be generous someone with access to the Kean Jr. computers in his office -- engaged in sock puppetry and lied on a public forum to support his campaign.  That's wrong.  Charlie Bass knows what to do, but Tom Kean Jr. is strangely confused about the right course of action.

When will Kean Jr. stand up and be the "reformer" he likes to play on TV?  When will he decide that political dirty tricks are wrong and to root out the wrongdoers in his campaign?

I'm not holding my breath.