Justin's Thursday Political News 10.11.07

Posted by Justin Baragona on 10.11.2007

Mike Huckabee compares the other Republican candidates to suicide victims, Congress is close to passing a resolution about genocide (but not in regards to Darfur), and a New Jersey mayor resigns after he was MIA for two weeks.

Welcome to yet another edition of Justin's Thursday Political News. Autumn is finally arriving in St. Louis after weeks of summer-like weather. The St. Louis Rams are quite possibly the worst team in the entire NFL and this past Sunday I was unable to even watch them on TV as they were unable to sell the game out, so the NFL blackout rules meant that the game couldn't be shown locally. Being that this was a return for former 2-time MVP and Super Bowl winner Kurt Warner, it looks pretty damn likely that the rest of the home games this season will be blacked out in St. Louis as this was probably the hapless Rams best shot at a sellout. Oh well, enough about football, time to jump into the news.


Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made the following comment in an interview with MSNBC about his fellow candidates and their fundraising:


"If I were some of these guys, I'd have to be sitting in a warm tub of water with razor blades."



It looks like the point Huckabee was trying to make with his joke above was that the other candidates in the race should worry because their fundraising doesn't actually meet up with the support they are getting from voters. (I think he was pointing out Mitt Romney in particular here.) Huckabee has barely raised any money yet has been able to stick around in the race, polling around 4th to 5th among Republican candidates. He is polling 3rd in Iowa right now and he feels confident that he can win the state. Huckabee believes that his far-right stance on social issues, particularly gay marriage and abortion, can help push him to the top with GOP voters. "I don't just speak to the base. I come from it. It's easier for me to talk about those issues because I only have to talk about one side of them," Huckabee said, making a veiled reference towards Romney and Rudy Giuliani, the current frontrunner on the Republican side.

Huckabee's suicide joke did bring about some controversy. The National Hopeline Network, which runs the 1-200-SUICIDE hotline, made the following statement: "When a leading presidential candidate uses suicide and specifically means to do it as a joke, it is grossly irresponsible and is a disgrace. It also must be met with an immediate rebuke from the mental health community. This is no joking matter. Lives are at stake." Personally, I don't think all that much should be made of Huckabee's comments accept that he was trying to play himself off as a David getting ready to slay Goliath. He's trying to show his supporters unwavering confidence and that he is in this race for the long haul. I don't think anyone should take any real offense to anything he said regarding suicide. It doesn't appear to be in bad taste and I really doubt he was looking to offend anyone.



Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made the following statement on Wednesday regarding a resolution that may be passed by the House officially recognizing that Armenians killed in World War I by Turkey was genocide:



"We recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern and their disdain for what happened many years ago. But the passage of this resolution at this time would, indeed, be very problematic for everything that we're trying to do in the Middle East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with our efforts."



I can't believe I'm going to agree with the White House on this one, but here I go. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the measure, which is to officially label the killing of the Armenians during the fist World War as genocide, by a 27-21 vote on Wednesday. Since it passed the committee vote, the resolution will now go before the entire House for a vote, where it has a strong likelihood of passing, despite the opposition of the White House. Of course, the President has absolutely no capital with the Democratic-led Congress, so his word basically means dick to them, especially since he has finally pulled out his veto pen after he had a rubber stamp Congress for the first 6 years of his Presidency. Therefore, the Democrats are not going to listen to one word he says, regardless if he has an actual valid point.

Herein lays the problem: The White House actually has a valid point in this situation. Turkey is one of our strongest allies in the Middle East. They are a secular, Westernized country that is a member of NATO. They are also a huge fly-through point for the U.S. for the troops in Iraq and other bases in the Middle East. The last thing we need to do now is strain a relationship with what is at this moment one of our view allies in that region of the world over a historical point. Was what happened to the Armenians by the Turks genocide? From what history tells and shows us, yes. Should the history books reflect that? Yes, they should. Do we as a country really need to make a point to let the Turks know that they did some very bad things during a World War 90 years later? Not really. I don't see what we hope to gain from this, except opening up a sore spot between Turks and Armenians and souring our relationship with the Turkish people, and quite possible, the Turkish government. I really hope the House Democrats rethink this motion and quietly kill it.


The attorney of Atlantic City, New Jersey mayor Bob Levy made the following statement when announcing that Levy had resigned from his position:



"He does so with great regret and with apologies to his supporters, to the people of Atlantic City, and to his family and friends."



Democrat Mayor Bob Levy of Atlantic City, New Jersey resigned on Wednesday after not showing up for work for two weeks after an investigation was brought up by the Department of Veterans Affairs into whether Levy had received inappropriate disability benefits. It appears that this all stems from Levy stating that he served in the Green Berets during his stint in Vietnam and that he received medals and citations that he has been unable to show proof of. It was only recently did he actually state that he in fact never served time with the Green Berets. He has also been unable to show proof that he received two of the combat awards that he has said he earned from his time there.

The last time Levy was seen was September 26th, when he signed some ordinances for the city in the Mayor's office at City Hall. His office released a statement two days later saying that he would be out indefinitely on medical leave. His attorney, Edwin Jacobs, later said that he delivered letters to the city's business administrator and city clerk on September 28th that the mayor would be out on medical leave and would need six weeks. The now ex-mayor is reportedly stating that he has addictive and mental disorders that are the root cause of his health problems and the reasoning behind his lies and problems with the VA. I'm sure he is going to have to payback the VA plenty of money, and it is unclear if he will face any criminal charges at this time. This is a weird, strange story that may be revealed to be even stranger in the coming days.



Well, that will do it for me this week. I will be back next week with more news in the realm of politics. Have a marvelous weekend!