411 Politics Roundtable: Naughty & Nice Newsmakers Of 2005

Posted by Jason Easley on 12.21.2005

Join the writers of 411 politics as they discuss controversial newsmakers of 2005.

Welcome to the first ever 411politics roundtable. In the spirit of Christmas our little group of political pundits will don their Santa hats to determine who out of ten 2005 newsmakers has been naughty or nice this year. Today is part one of the discussion. Part 2 will be up tomorrow.

First on our list is President George W. Bush.

Steven Bellah: ---Duh.

The latest cover of Time magazine has a photo that explains my opinion of George very nicely: He's literally inside a bubble with the caption "The Isolated President--Can he change?" When you are surrounded by a bunch of "yes" men and women and refuse to admit that your mistakes, well, you can't be anything but naughty. He just gave speeches taking responsibility for the Iraqi invasion---but also reminds us that it was the right thing to do. Um, that's not really saying anything new, George.

Listen, the majority of American's are not happy with the current direction of the country. So CHANGE it. To me, Bush is a lot like Vince McMahon--doing what HE thinks is correct, regardless of what everyone else thinks. Vince's TV ratings and George's approval ratings are down, yet we still see the same crap from them day after day.

It's going to be a long 2006, for both America.......and WWE fans. :) (Easley says: Way to suck up to the wrestling fans Bellah, but we all know they can't read anything unless it contains the words recap or spoiler.)

Matthew D.S.: As the sole Canadian on this prestigious panel of intellects I shall do my best to represent the true north, strong, and free, so thus I don my toque, open my Molson Canadian (and chug a copious amount back) and expose yet again my thoughts to the world…"Dirty Politics" style, of course.

Naughty. Oh so naughty he's going to get coal in his stocking, but actually, he'll be pleased given his penchant for fossil fuels, then he'll ask Rummy to bomb the North Pole pre-emptively. Perhaps he could build another pipe line through the Arctic Wildlife Reserve through Canada's north, because we all know that Santa Claus lives in Canada and will wisely vote Liberal (why else would he be wearing all that red?).

In all seriousness what a disastrous year for Dubya and his administration; the "second term blahs" are blowing full force right now and his approval ratings, the be-all and end-all of Presidential politics, are near record lows. The year 2005 very well might go down as his "annus horribilis" to steal a line from Her Majesty, what with the record breaking hurricane season, never ending turmoil in Iraq, and corruption scandals brewing; sounds like the Canadian Parliament, actually. Dubya has floundered in his attempts to control these upheavals, and he'd better hope Santa brings him a better year in 2006.

Brian McLain: Naughty, by far naughty. Why? No I do not believe Mr. Bush is an evil man, nor do I believe he has acted with malice towards the country or the Constitution. My gripe lies with the man's absolute ignorance on how a Republic might work. It's a system of give and take, a system of influence, and a system of people working together to create a potential action in politics. What has occurred with this administration is a total disregard for the limitations brought by the shared institutions of the United States government in the name of getting things done. Andrew Jackson attempted this sort of push to be the "representative of the people", but the fact is the Presidency is NOT a representative office. That job is left to Congress, period. King George is acting in a unilateral fashion, on many key issues, all the while throwing up fake agenda bits as decoys to draw away from his true agenda.

"Fix" social security? Never an important issue to the administration. A lot of smoke, mirrors, secrecy, and conspiracy surround good ol' Dubya, and he is doing what he believes best for the American people. Good intentions, bad form, bad leadership. The man is a tyrant in all respects of the word. If I were to, in fact, have one piece of advice for Bush, it would be simply the judicial branch is NOT for pushing agendas, the legislative branch is NOT a formality, and opponents of your policy are not obstacles to common sense. (Mod. Note: Brian no longer writes here but he asked me to let him participate, so consider him columnist emeritus.)

Mark Radulich: Nice. I'm not laying the hurricanes or the aftermath's that followed at his doorstep. George Bush didn't cause the hurricanes or global warming and of course none of this had squat to do with the Kyoto Treaty. The merits of that treaty are debatable as well with respect to global warming. I'm also not going to fault the guy for whom he nominates to the Supreme Court. He won the election. Period. There's nothing else to talk about. It really irks me when folks on the other side of the political aisle get upset with their opponents for having the nerve to promote their agenda.

Harriet Miers was a mistake obviously but that wasn't done out of malice, it was done out of cronyism and GW is not the only politician stricken with that disease. The man tried his best to "fix" Social Security and that was a complete bust. Again, he wasn't being evil or malicious; he was doing what most other Republicans in his position would have tried. And in the end he failed anyway. George W. Bush was nice this year because he didn't do anything beyond what's expected of a man in his position. (Easley says: Mark needs his meds.)

Brandon Crow: NAUGHTY. Is there even a question or debate about this pick? The man has lied to us, stuck with the lie and now is cherry-picking random, context-free lines from some centrist Democratic Senators to back up his shifty views on Iraq. He's also failed utterly to respond to Katrina. By the way, has anyone out there heard anything from the "much-lauded and much-publicized" investigation that Bush was supposed to lead himself? I think he's out golfing...uh, I mean, searching with OJ. And finally, in a moment that defines him as much more than NAUGHTY; he refused to fire Karl Rove and in fact, moved to goal post just so he can keep protecting Rove over the leaking of a CIA agent's name. How much more despicable can a supposedly "moral" president get?

I'd say Santa should definitely give Bush and his entire administration fat lumps of coal, but these sons of bitches would just pool their coal and turn it into oil and make mad profits off of it.

Toby Green: All right, I get to play Santa Claus. This is great, this is better than Billy Bob in Bad Santa. All I know is that I get to be the midget; maybe we should all take characters from that movie!

Well from all accounts Bush has been naughty, but isn't that the typical liberal thing to say! But I think that George Bush has proven that John Kerry was the better choice in this last year. Bush's reelection "mandate" has disappeared, he started the year strong but his social security reform absolutely stalled. His ability to control his party has been strained badly; he also saw his approval ratings drop to disaster lows.

On the good side, ol' Turd Blossom Karl Rove has managed to stay out of indictment. He has managed to out maneuver Democrats in the last two months by having Republicans in the House force a sham vote, than launch a major political campaign about not surrendering even though he will start pullouts from Iraq in 06.

The major thing that he will have to answer for though is making torture a debatable word in the American language. That will reserve him a special place in hell. What a dickhead. (Easley says: preach on brother Green.)

Final Verdict: Naughty in a landslide

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

Bellah: Naughty. The only image I have of Ray Nagin is some interview he gave after Katrina, blaming everything on the fact that most of the stranded residents were African-American. You know, you can't stop a major hurricane, but you can take steps to help your residents out. Kathleen Blanco was a deer in headlights, and Ray Nagin was pointing fingers at everyone but himself. Both of them were perfect definitions of incompetence.

Matthew D.S. : Nice. Although he and Governor Kathleen Blanco traded barbs as to who was to blame for the catastrophic failure that was better Hurricane Katrina prevention/post-Katrina action, Nagin appeared to be out there and supporting the people of New Orleans. Hands-on mayors always have my support.

McLain: Naughty. Why didn't the federal government act faster? Better question, why didn't a city under sea level, BY A FREAKIN OCEAN, not have a better infrastructure and plan of action for its citizens. People seem to forget that local governments are the most important form of government this country has to offer, and it is not a throw back to the federal government. Local governments are separate entities in which communities have the most potential to get things done, and that was not done here.

Mayor Nagin may be the mayor of a city, but that is an executive position
nonetheless. The responsibilities that each and every executive office carries, from president, to governor, to mayor are the same. The man has no business being an executive office holder.

Radulich: Naughty. Don't get me wrong. I'm not laying the hurricane at his feet either. The whole federal and state system blew it. That's as plain as I can say it. Between graft and shortsightedness all around, nobody did what was needed to save NOLA and it's not all Nagin's fault. However, I've deemed him naughty for putting the blame for the destruction of New Orleans on racism. Sorry, you can't cry racism in the face of apparent incompetence. That's malicious. That is not taking responsibility for your actions. I could have lived with him just blaming FEMA or the entire federal government to protect his political hide. That would be normal. But blaming racism is in the realm paranoid delusions and it's just plain wrong. Ray Nagin is naughty for laying out cheap shots and promoting negative race relations.

Crow: Can't really say much. Don't know enough to make a call. (Easley says: pick one, get off the fence wuss.)

Green:Mayor Ray Nagin was an outspoken mayor. Am I a supporter of his? Well no, but I also don't think that he was as evil as he was made out to be. I think that to be honest, New Orleans was a shit hole, one with incredible history before hand, but a shit hole nonetheless when he came to power. There was an incredible amount of corruption in the police force and all around Louisiana.

So it is tough to mark Ray Nagin as naughty especially while his town is being raped by the reconstruction efforts of Halliburton and the Bush cronies. I will give him a "nice" but not by much.


Final Verdict: 3 naughty 2 nice and 1 wuss. So, the good mayor gets a naughty.

Cindy Sheehan

Bellah: Naughty. I cannot stand this woman, because she exhibits everything I can't stand about people who are against the war in Iraq. Hey, I'm right there with her. I don't think we should be there. I don't think we should have gone over there in the first place. I can't stand the fact that 2,000 of our bravest have died over there. But you know what? There's a way to protest in a intelligent way, and Cindy Sheehan does exactly the opposite.

Look, she got her chance to speak with Bush after her son died. She then decided that she needed to speak to him again. That struck me as arrogant. Most people never get the chance to even SEE the president in person, let alone talk to him. But she knew Bush wouldn't speak to her, and she knew it would further her cause. But she lied and lived by his ranch for weeks on end, preaching some false mission about convincing him to stop the war. She came off looking like a nut job who abandoned her life and family. She looked like a crazy woman who couldn't cope with the death of her son.

Now, there are people who love her--who talk about her courage and determination and how she speaks for everyone who is against the war. Why? Because she shit in a port-a-potty and didn't shower for a week? What did she do that no other American could? She dropped everything for, ---what? I said at the time when they were down in Crawford--what happens when Bush leaves? It would be just like that scene in Forrest Gump when he decides to stop running all over America--"Now what are we supposed to do?"

Calling Bush a murderer is too much. I can't stand him either, but he IS the president, and I have respect for the office. Cindy Sheehan obviously does not.

Matthew D.S.: Nice(ish). I disagree vehemently with the reasons for going to war against Iraq and the handling of the war after victory over Hussein's thugs has been nothing but disastrous. Sheehan lost her son, and every loss of life, be it American soldier or Iraqi citizen, is a tragedy, and since then she has been active to bring American troops home. I agree with her aims: the United States needs to get out of Iraq as soon as possible. Who defines "possible" however is the stickling point, and as is why Sheehan gets a "nice-ish" declaration from me. (Easley says: There is no "ish" about it. You damn Canadians always try to avoid strong positions.)

To abandon Iraq now would to leave it in the hands of untrained Iraqi soldiers and police who are targets of terrorist murderers at nearly a daily level. The Americans and their allies need to stabilize this fledgling democracy as much as they possibly can, but if the day ever comes when the Iraqi people and/or Iraqi government ask the Americans to leave, they damn well better, and that as they say, will be that.

McLain: Naughty. It's a sad day when somebody with a genuine message gets folded into a special interest group. It would be different if Sheehan and her supporters stayed the grassroots sincere protest it actually was, but then the vultures swept in. Immediately, you noticed her attitude give way from a leader to a panderer, and her words were no longer her own.

Radulich: Naughty. As far as I'm concerned she besmirched her sons name for the cause of leftist, anti-war politics. She lied to get on TV and promote herself. Her efforts had no effect on the war other than hurting the morale of some of our troops and their family that believe in what they are trying to do. If she had been honest about her intentions, being an anti-war activist instead of saying she just wanted to "talk" to the President, I would have deemed her nice. But she didn't. Instead she sacrificed any integrity she had.

Crow: NICE. I don't care what anyone says about her or her demonstrations. Her cause is noble beyond belief from its origin to its pinnacle, and even till today, where she is still picketing and camping out. And by the way, there are no more cameras on her, yet the vigil and the cause remains, so much for that line of criticism and smear tactics from the right. Conservatives just hate her because she brought unwanted attention to the casualties in Iraq, made the president look bad and uncaring, and lastly, she stood her ground firmly so they can't trashily label her as a flip-flopper.

Green: I love Cindy Sheehan. Absolutely love her, because she has more balls than most people in America regardless if you believe her or not. It takes an incredible amount of courage to protest this president and I respect her all the more. I wish she was a congresswoman than maybe; just maybe the Democrats would have a little bit of spine. Nice.

Final Verdict: A tie 3 naughty and 3 nice. As the moderator, I get to break all ties. I vote nice. You have to separate the woman from the movement. Cindy Sheehan gets a nice.

The US Congress

Bellah: Naughty. The Terri Schiavo thing alienated everyone, on both sides of the fence. I started here at 411 right after that happened, and never got to talk about it. It was obvious that Republicans thought that taking on this issue would win a shit load of votes from the Christian Right. Instead, they received a backlash that I don't think many of us have recovered from yet.

It was a sad situation, but it wasn't something our nation's highest ranking congressmen should have been considering. It's funny how many issues take years, or NEVER get addressed, but when this woman was close to dying suddenly the Congress (and our president) were burning midnight oil to save her. I wish they would do that for the economy. And gun control. And health care. And social security. And education. And terrorism And....well--you get the idea.

Matthew D.S.: I'm Canadian; can't I discuss the 38th Canadian Parliament instead? I abstain on this simply because I do not have nearly enough knowledge of domestic American affairs at the Congressional level to pass judgment. But, let's just say "naughty" for the hell of it just because Congress is Congress. (Easley says: See that is more like it!!)

McLain: Naughty. It is the job of the congress to call out the president's administration if they start usurping left and right. The funny thing is it was the 106th and 107th congress who gave the president his ability to usurp. Congress has been acting like the administration's bitch and leading the way to charge all who disagree with him as anti-American. While there have been challenges to the administration's policies, for the most part the Congress.

Radulich: Naughty. I'm still annoyed by what happened with Terry Schiavo. Congress hasn't yet passed Social Security or tax reform. They haven't done enough to promote cars that use alternative fuels nor have they been able to string together a cogent energy policy. There's a whole host of issues that have not been dealt with this passed year but when the evangelicals demanded that several courts should be ignored and a law should be passed to save Schiavo's life, suddenly a law could get passed in a day. That's still ridiculous, even after all this time. Whatever else they might have accomplished this year, I have not forgiven them for this travesty.

Crow: NAUGHTY. If Bush is naughty, so must the Congress be. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's one thing for a dumb-ass, undeserving president to do stupid, wildly selfish and immoral things. But it's a whole other thing for people who are supposed to hold this man to account to lie down and die. Republicans in this Congress got drunk with power and rode Bush's coattails to money and power. The Democrats just disappeared. Either way, both are lame and both are failures.

Green: Umm, yeah, the worst congress ever? Maybe that's too harsh but I tell you what when you look back and see only the defense contractor slush fund known as the billions of dollars given to Iraq reconstruction which of course very little went to improving the soldiers who are nothing more than cannon fodder......

In addition there was a horrible bankruptcy bill which was a complete sell out to the corporations of big business. So in other words, the rich just got a whole lot richer and everyone else got F-U-Censored by the FCC. Naughty. Big time.

Final Verdict: A clean 6-0 sweep. Our panel, much like the American people, hates Congress

British PM Tony Blair

Bellah: Nice. He seems to mean well, and regardless of how much we hate Bush and the war, he has been our one major friend throughout the whole thing.

Matthew D.S.: Nice. The First Lord of the Treasury is always such a nice guy, he just gets muddled up far too often in things, like this Iraq War quagmire. He suffered his first defeat in Parliament just a few weeks back though and the remainder of his term in office is going to be checked by the aspirations of Chancellor of the Exchequer (a fancy way of saying "Minister of Finance") and Prime Minister-in waiting Gordon Brown. Tony always seems to mean well (for the most) so I hope it's a Merry Christmas for him and his new little child. Besides, 10 Downing Street always comes off more civilized than 1600 Pennsylvania any day of the week.

McLain: Naughty. This Tory is really getting stale fast, and Britain has very little patience for anybody that allows their glorious empire to be drawn into a war that the majority of the population didn't agree with, all to retain relations with the U.S., even though there was no lack of communication between the two countries and there would have been no strain caused by Britain saying "No".

Radulich: Nice I suppose. I can't recall him doing anything abnormal this year.

Crow: NAUGHTY. Tony Blair of all people, I never expected to play lap dog to Bush. But for whatever reasons, he did. So he's naughty.

Green: Pointless to debate about this guy. He is Bush's bitch pure and simple. Bark dog, Bark. He is on Santa's list as Nice only because Santa doesn't punish people for being spineless.

Final Verdict: Blair makes our nice list. It seems that Tony hasn't used up all that good will generated during the Clinton years.


Come back tomorrow to see what the panel thinks of China, the oil industry and the American people, and others in part 2 of 411politics Naughty or Nice.