It's been a while since we've dedicated space to David Vitter's various nefarious activities. In fact, one could spend an entire blog dedicated to the cynical wing-nut bait Vitter deploys on a daily basis. But to what end? He's not going anywhere soon, and someday he might just be Governor. Shudder.
For a while, it seemed as now-MA-Senate-Candidate, and consumer heroine, Elizabeth Warren would head up the agency that was created in her work's imagine. Alas, the Obama admin pulled that appointment when it was clear Senate Republicans would never allow it to occur (since the Koch Brothers didn't approve).
In her place, Obama forwarded Richard Cordray, former Ohio Attorney General as the prospective head of CFPB. Again, Republicans made sounds like they would refuse, if only to continue to strangle the agency. It seems as though our old friend David Vitter has helped lead these efforts:
Protests against Wall Street continue to grow, yet today Sen. David Vitter and Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee refused to hear the growing chorus and voted in lock step to block the nomination of Richard Corday, the person nominated to watch over Wall Street as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and fully implement protections under the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 that would prevent military families and seniors from falling victim to the same reckless, casino-style behavior of Wall Street and abusive financial products and services that precipitated the financial crisis.
Vitter isn't just opposing Cordray. He's opposing ANY nominee that might regulate his casino-minded friends on Wall Street:
To date, Senator Vitter has accepted a staggering $2.8 million in contributions from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The 10 Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee, including Vitter – all stood in the way of the Cordray nomination – have taken a total of nearly $32 million from Wall Street interests.
On Thursday of this past week – The Young Democrats of Louisiana issued the following Press Release after the resignation of NY Congressman Weiner.Their Statement:
Young Democrats of Louisiana to Senator Vitter: It’s Time to Resign
Baton Rouge, LA- In light of Rep. Anthony Weiner’s decision to resign from the House of Representatives, the Young Democrats of Louisiana call for Senator David Vitter to resign his position as the junior senator from Louisiana.
YDL President Brett Jackson released the following statement:
“It is time that Sen. Vitter holds himself to the same standard that Rep. Anthony Weiner, Rep. Chris Lee and Sen. John Ensign have. Unlike his colleagues, David Vitter remains in office even after having committed and confessed to multiple crimes and misdemeanors. Louisiana deserves honest leadership. It is time that we shed the image of corruption and criminals in office that plagues this great state.”
Nearly two years ago, Sen. Vitter held a press conference in which he admitted to having hired a prostitute through the DC Madame, Deborah Jean Palfrey. Since then, the senator who ran on a platform of family values and moral principles has refused to resign, even in the face of his party’s current calls for the resignation of Anthony Weiner.
“Admitting to these offences is not enough. He must restore honor and dignity to the office by resigning,” said President Jackson.
Perhaps most interesting is that Young Democrats may have started something here because last night Rachel Maddow in her “Debunktion Junction”reported that even Bill O’Reilly is now calling on Vitter to resign.Check out that coverage here.
On February 25th, I wrote about Zack Kopplin, a 17-year-old senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, who is leading the charge to repeal the Orwellian-named Louisiana Science Education Act (or the LSEA).
In the most basic terms, the LSEA is simply a back-door attempt at allowing public schools the opportunity to supplement or replace science-based biology education, particularly as it relates to evolutionary biology, with religiously-based creationism stories. As compelling and fascinating as creationism stories or the notion of intelligent design may be to millions of Americans of faith, they cannot and should not be considered substitutions or alternative "theories" for actual science.
More importantly, evolutionary biology is one of the backbones of modern medicine and scientific inquiry. In a state that already suffers from a struggling public education system, now, more than ever, it is critical Louisiana dedicates herself to ensuring the integrity of our educational standards, and in a state so reliant on the economic engine of health care, it is particularly important our young students receive a rigorous and thorough education in science, an education that values, recognizes, and earnestly respects the distinct differences between articles of religious faith and theories and laws that are testable and verifiable through the employment of the scientific method. Attempts to circumvent science education in order to provide a venue for advancing religious beliefs, particularly when undertaken in public schools, likely violate the Establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Louisiana Family Forum:
At the center of this controversy is the Louisiana Family Forum, originally founded by the radical provocateur and former Louisiana State Representative Tony Perkins, whose Family Research Council was recently condemned as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Perkins, the Oklahoma-born graduate of the late Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, is bizarrely obsessed with gay men and gay pedophilia. Quoting from the SPLC:
David Vitter, with all the smugness of a boarding school class president, strangely suggests that President Obama read Adam Smith's "A Wealth of Nations." You know, so Obama can get a feeling for Western Democracy, the Capitalism, etc. You see, Vitter is trying to make a point about the Deep Water Drilling moratorium, and about energy economics.
Of course, the Teabaggers love this stuff. "Duh, if only our leaders READ the CONSTITUTION and Ayn Rand they wouldn't be enacting all of these ILLEGAL LAWS and leading us to SURFDOM."
The need to disassemble the bizarre constructs of modern conservative rhetoric and thought is great, but I digress.
The otherLamar does our work for us, and we salute him:
For just one second, can we be intellectually honest? Vitter’s rant is total nonsense.
I get it: He’s mad that, in the aftermath of the largest oil disaster in our nation’s history, the President temporarily halted deepwater drilling. The industry employs a lot of people in Louisiana, and to people like Mr. Vitter, the temporary moratorium only exacerbated the ongoing catastrophe. Unfortunately for Mr. Vitter, that’s just not true; it’s not borne out by the facts. The disaster was a result of BP’s actions, not because of a temporary moratorium on drilling during the response and clean-up.
[snip]
Regardless, I earnestly hope Senator Vitter recognizes that, when all is said and done, he does not represent the oil and gas industry. He wasn’t re-elected because of his antipathy toward the President, though some may assert otherwise. He was elected to serve and represent the people of Louisiana. We don’t need any more oil and gas lobbyists; we already have plenty of them. Let the oil and gas industry pay for their own spokespeople. We can’t afford yet another political ideologue. We’re a small state with big problems, and we already have too many leaders who prefer the limelight. If Mr. Vitter wants to lead, then he needs to begin acting like a leader– not just for the hyper-partisans, but for the people of Louisiana. We gave him six more years to prove himself and make his case.
"Last year, I tried to prevent this from happening with my amendment to require a citizenship question on the census and to prevent the counting of illegal immigrants for the purpose of apportionment,” Vitter said in a statement.“Now, Louisiana stands to lose clout in Congress, while states that welcome illegal immigrants stand to unfairly benefit from artificially inflated population totals," he added.
Vitter has had some other problems avoiding being a racist in the past, attacking undocumented immigrants and using them over and over as an electoral punchingbag.
(Here is a letter to the Editor/OpEd by Michael McHale, 1st Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. It ran in this past Saturday's issue of the Shreveport Times and is reposted here at his request.)
It’s as predictable as a hot day in August. Just as soon as news breaks of some scandal involving a politician’s private life, some political pundit somewhere will ask one of the most enduring questions in American politics: If an elected official is caught doing some kind of sexual shenanigans, but it’s not related to official duties, should we care?
Some folks say that whatever an elected official does in private is their business, as long as they do their job. Others will tell you that politicians are role models and we shouldn’t vote for someone of questionable character.
To tell you the truth, the answer to that question mostly depends on whether or not you already like the particular politician in question. But the U.S. Senate election here in Louisiana has made this question a little sticky for some.
Back when he was on a crusade to protect the sanctity of marriage and all that, David Vitter called on President Bill Clinton to resign. When the skeletons came flying out of former Rep. Bob Livingston’s closet, Vitter called on him to resign too. After he did, Vitter promptly took Livingston’s seat in Congress.
Today the Senate is set to hear the Military Spending Bill for the next year and attached to this bill is the amendment that will over-turn the years old, broken policy that is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,…However it seems clear that our very own U.S. Senator David Vitter will be joining with John McCain to Filibuster this repeal.
Let’s make this very clear – over 80% of Americans believe it is time to end this.Regular rank and file Military men and women believe by overwhelming margins that it is time to overturn this wrongheaded law… and just since President Obama has been sworn in as President over 400 men and women have been kicked out of the military only because of the Sexual Orientation and many of those cases they didn’t tell ANYONE – they were caught up in a witch hunt.
“If David Vitter had been a military officer when he admitted breaking the law by soliciting prostitutes, he would have faced a dishonorable discharge or severe punishment. Vitter clearly does not display the type of honorable behavior required to wear our nation’s uniform. If David Vitter is not reputable enough to serve in the military, he should not be able to determine who can and cannot serve. He should recuse himself from voting on a policy that bans law-abiding openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.”
National Stonewall Democrats today also sent out a blast email urging its members and allies to CALL THE SENATE SWITCHBOARD and request to speak with Senator McCain’s office to demand that he stop this Filibuster – After all it was McCain who said that when Military Leaders call for the Law’s Repeal only then would he support it.Well Senator McCain, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, countless Generals and the Commander and Chief have all called for the repeal and support fully what this bill is aimed to do.So what Gives?
Please Join Louisiana Stonewall Democrats and National Stonewall Democrats (of which I Co-Chair the PAC Board of Directors) and call the Senate Switchboard 202-224-2235 and Demand David Vitter remove himself from the Filibuster and then call back and do the same for McCain!
The Vote is scheduled for 1:30pm (central) today in the Senate.
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
New York City, New York
PANDERING AND HYPOCRISY
OVER A MOSQUE
The political pyromaniacs are on the loose in the nation's capitol, with both parties pandering to their respective bases. Neither democrats nor republicans could be accused of being "bathed in courage" on a litany of important national issues. Political demography is the sound bite of the day as shrill election rhetoric continues to mount.
Being a republican candidate this election season certainly is exhausting. These defenders of our American way of life are consumed by enemies galore, around the clock. As if Gays, socialists, Muslims, Arabs, and illegal immigrants were not enough, now they have to attend to the fear mongering over the Ground Zero mosque.
Except the proposed mosque and community center is not at ground Zero - it's several blocks away and a few hundred feet from an existing mosque. Yes, there will be a place of worship, but also a swimming pool, basketball court, bookstore, fitness center, performing arts center, and a food court. Heaven help us, now our way of life is to be threatened by lamb kabobs and hummus!
There was no real concern expressed over the proposed Islamic cultural center when it was first proposed back in December of 2009. The New York Times published a story at that time quoting the project's developer. "We want to push back against the extremists," said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Jewish leaders and a number of city officials, including the mayor's office, said they supported the idea, as did the mother of a man killed on 9/11. An FBI spokesman said the Imam, (the leader of the mosque), worked for the bureau for years.
Shortly after the Times story ran, conservative media personality Laura Ingraham interviewed Abdul Rauf's wife, Daisy Khan, while guest-hosting "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox. In hindsight, the segment is remarkable for its cordiality. "I can't find many people who really have a problem with it," Ingraham says of the mosque project, adding at the end of the interview, "I like what you're trying to do." This is the same Laura Ingraham who presently has a book listed as number two on the New York Times best sellers list called, "The Obama Diaries," a blistering attack on the current administration.
Muslims have been praying inside the Pentagon since Sept. 11, but those opposing the Ground Zero mosque have been strangely silent. That's right. Muslims have infiltrated the Pentagon for their nefarious, prayerful purposes - daring to practice their religion inside the building where 184 people died on Sept. 11, 2001. They haven't even had the sensitivity to move two blocks, let alone a mile, away from that sacred site.
As reported in the Washington Times, "Navy imam Chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam lifted his voice to God as he called to prayer more than 100 Department of Defense employees at a celebration of Ramadan at the Pentagon. God is most great, sang the lieutenant commander and Islamic leader, in Arabic, as iftar - the end of the daily fast - began. Uniformed military personnel, civilians and family members faced Mecca and knelt on adorned prayer rugs chanting their prayers in quiet invocation to Allah.
"In a ceremony following 9/11, Army Chaplain Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad, the first Muslim chaplain to serve in the military, read a verse from the Koran at the memorial service at the Pentagon on a Thursday, exactly one month after the attack. Muhammad, who became a chaplain eight years ago and works at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, ministered to rescuers in front of the smoldering Pentagon after the attack."
So Muslims can pray at the Pentagon, but not several blocks away from Ground Zero? Maybe it's because most Americans, including virtually all of our politicians, see the Islamic world as a single confusing and troubling monolith. In the Christian world, we have no problem making distinctions. Just because someone is an Irish catholic living in New Orleans doesn't mean he's sympathetic to Irish Republican Army terrorists. Southern Baptists do not condone the murderers of abortion doctors.
But in America, we remain blind to the divisions and distinctions within Islam. There are 1.57 billion adherents to the Muslim faith around the globe, making up 23% of the world population. In the U.S., there are estimates of some 5 million Muslims. Yet American education rarely mentions this vast unknown population that many say is the fastest growing religion in the world as well as in the U.S. Without any basic knowledge, how can we determine friend or foe?
As far as the Ground Zero mosque, our politicians are falling all over themselves postulating that there should be no Muslim presence anywhere near this hallowed ground. In Louisiana's hotly contested U.S. Senate race, Incumbent David Vitter is demanding that the President reverse his support for building the mosque, while his opponent, Democrat Charlie Melancon, says that such a building "near Ground Zero isn't appropriate." Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich one ups both of them by declaring that building the mosque would be like putting a Nazi sign by a holocaust museum.
On one hand, there is a good audience for pandering as some two thirds of Americans are against the mosque. But we all have to deal with trifles like the 1st and 14th amendments. Legally, there is little wiggle room for the opposition. But does building such a center make good sense? Probably not. There is a difference between what any organization legally could do as compared to what they should do.
On the other, far from engendering good will and better understanding, Abdul Rauf and his fellow mosque supporters have started a firestorm that has rekindled animosity and distrust. While there may not be a logical foundation for such vehemence -- justified or not, it exists. To be tolerated, both sides, including mosque supporters must be sensitive to the wounds of 9/11 that have yet to heal.
In the current election season, one would think that the campaigns would focus on the economy, healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and who is best qualified to lead us. Instead, those who hope to lead are spending too much time exploiting the anger, self-righteous indignation and arrogance concerning the mosque placement at the expense of other very pressing issues.
British economist Josiah Stamp wrote: "It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."
Too many elected officials are dodging the major issues facing this country today. Unfortunately, it is the rest of us who will suffer the consequences.
Peace and Justice.
Jim Brown
Jim Brown's syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all is past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim's nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. The show is televised at http://www.justin.tv/jimbrownusa.
New Orleans political commentator Clancy Dubos from Gambit Weekly joined Rachel Maddow to discuss Senator Vitter and how his moral and ethical problems will affect the campaign.
This week saw the official start of the U.S. Senate election – forget about the primary – Senator David Vitter and Congressman Melancon are racing directly to November.
Here are the two Ads – follow the jump for commentary.
The Republican Party of Louisiana seems to be having some major issues.
In recent weeks I have been talking with my Republican Friends, many of which are leaders in the Republican Party and all of them have been throwing up their hands in disbelief at the seeming lack of direction and lack of credibility the state party has been displaying.
About a year ago is when this started happening.Take for example the attack launched by Party Boss Roger Villere against then Speaker Pro-Tem Representative Karen Carter Peterson.Villere launched a huge attack with a blanket FOIA request for all public documents from Carter-Peterson.This attack which was little more than a stunt but which cost the tax-payers of this state in the form of payroll likely thousands of dollars all to try to score political points.This stunt lead to the open rebuke and requests for his resignation by many Republican Representatives.Villere refused to resign and nothing was discovered from this stunt.It should be noted that this stunt was fueled by Peterson daring to criticize Governor Jindal’s administrations attempts at killing legislation that would make the records of his office open to public inspection.Yes, the very same topic that he and other Republicans were constantly attacking Governor Blanco over – seems now that Bobby is in the Governor’s Mansion transparency is irrelevant.
Today Congressman and Democratic Challenger to Senator Vitter, Charlie Melancon called on the Senate to finish their work before they leave town.
At issue is the bill that passed in the House but is left inside a huge stack of bills in the Senate.This bill would effectively end the moratorium for those rigs who are meeting or exceeding their responsibilities to operate safely and would provide over $1.2 Billion in penalties against BP that would be directed to Costal Restoration projects.It appears that these bills are caught up in politics and not what is best for Louisiana.
US Senator David Vitter is scheduled to appear on Fox News Sunday tomorrow morning which has all of us at The Daily Kingfish wondering – Will they have the journalistic integrity to ask Senator Vitter the questions that everyone is wanting to know the answer to?Or will Chris Wallace and Fox News give Vitter a soft landing spot that they always seem to do with Republicans?
Yesterday saw the close of the qualifying period for a slew of races.These races include the replacement of Mitch Landrieu as our Lt. Governor and all of the Federal races – each congressional district as well as the Vitter Senate seat.(This column is about the Federal Races, the State races will follow.)
There has been so much action it is almost enough to make this political junkies head spin right off my neck, but let’s take a look at the more notable races.
USSenate
David Vitter has had his share of problems and now it seems as if he has more than his far share of challengers.First – let’s look at the Republican Primary – yes, - exciting – there will be one!
Two Republican Challengers will be facing off with the embattled senator and they are former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor and little known Nick Accardo of Franklin.Traylor is definitely the surprise here in this race and could really give Vitter a run for his money.Lacking no far right bonafides, Traylor enters the race as a “country lawyer” with strong support from north Louisiana and in the business community.Traylor is arguably most famous for writing the opinion of Louisiana’s highest court that retained Louisiana’s Anti Sodomy Laws that are still on the books here in our state (albeit completely unenforceable after Lawrence v. Texas).For more on this check out what they are saying on TPM.
Talking Points Memo has obtained directories clearly showing that Brent Furer was assigned to women’s issues and go on to say that while “Lying is a strong word to be used in politics.And it’s usually best to be avoided.”Vitter’s first run in with reporters yesterday in Baton Rouge the Senator unequivocally stated that Furer was not assigned to Women’s issues instead, he claimed that it has always been the case that a staffer in Lafayette and his deputy COS have always handled these issues. TPM clearly shows that has not been the case and points back to the ABC reports from the previous few days that show that as recently as two months ago, Furer was actively working on this issue and met with different Women's Advocacy and Anti-Domestic Violence groups.
Furer you will recall from previous news accounts was arrested and charged with several crimes surrounding an incident where his ex girlfriend claims she was held at knifepoint for over 90 minutes, cut, threatened that she was going to be killed and when she tried to call 911 on her cell phone Furer smashed the phone.
As is so often the case with politicians when they get caught up in the scandal… they lies they produce often only add fuel to the flames.In this case, because Vitter so skillfully evades reporters, this makes it only worse.
In related issues – yesterday as a post script, I posted the Lafayette KATC coverage of this matter.The troubling point is to see the comments from folks who saw the report.They made claims of bias on the part of the reporter and that they would stop watching the channel due to this “clear bias.”Have we really come to this?News, real news, that gets reported on that we don’t like or that doesn’t fit neatly into our own views then it is BIASED?I like most like to listen and engage with like minded folks, but I also want news – even when it hurts or challenges my beliefs or desires.
Vitter said the issue has been "misrepresented" and "misreported," and he called it old news.
"Well, the event was two years ago. The discipline he got in the office was two years ago," Vitter told reporters.
The senator's remarks came on the heels of an announcement from the National Organization for Women over the weekend calling on the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to censure Sen. David Vitter for tolerating the behavior of a top aide who allegedly threatened to kill a female friend and held her at knife-point during a 90-minute ordeal.
David Vitter continues to support the Republican lead Filibuster on the extension of Unemployment INSURANCE Benefits to those who need it the most.Republicans have stood out and finally found their inner “fiscal conservatives” and the way they intend to show it?By punishing those who have been trying to find work and have been unsuccessful.
There is no argument in Economy – one of the most stimulating things you can do is to fund Unemployment Benefits.You see that money almost immediately goes back into the economy to pay Rent, Mortgage, buy groceries and pay insurance and other debts.Vitter and his Republican friends also count “Unemployment Insurance” as an Entitlement Program – something they hate.The fact is that Unemployment INSURANCE is paid into by workers and employers alike and is there, much like your car insurance, to cover you when you need it most.Most employees never need to seek unemployment, but when you do… you really need it.This extension would allow a few extra months for folks to continue to receive those benefits while they continue to seek employment.
Republican’s who just now becoming “born again” on their “fiscal conservative” side is really troubling when you can see that for the previous 8 years, while they had complete control, they spent like drunken sailors.
It's been a while since we've dedicated space to David Vitter's various nefarious activities. In fact, one could spend an entire blog dedicated to the cynical wing-nut bait Vitter deploys on a daily basis. But to what end? He's not going anywhere soon, and someday he might just be Governor. Shudder. 
David Vitter, with all the smugness of a boarding school class president, 
It’s as predictable as a hot day in August. Just as soon as news breaks of some scandal involving a politician’s private life, some political pundit somewhere will ask one of the most enduring questions in American politics: If an elected official is caught doing some kind of sexual shenanigans, but it’s not related to official duties, should we care?
Today Congressman and Democratic Challenger to Senator Vitter, Charlie Melancon called on the Senate to finish their work before they leave town. 
US Senator David Vitter is scheduled to appear on Fox News Sunday tomorrow morning which has all of us at The Daily Kingfish wondering – Will they have the journalistic integrity to ask Senator Vitter the questions that everyone is wanting to know the answer to?
Talking Points Memo has 
David Vitter continues to 
