Big Trouble for Mitt Romney

This is not good news for Team Romney.

Quinnipiac:

President Barack Obama is over the magic 50 percent mark and tops Gov. Mitt Romney among likely voters by 9 to 12 percentage points in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University/ CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll released today.

Voters in each state see President Obama as better than Gov. Romney to handle the economy, health care, Medicare, national security, an international crisis and immigration. Romney ties or inches ahead of the president on handling the budget deficit.

Matching Obama against Romney in each of these key states - no one has won the White House since 1960 without taking at least two of them...

In this race, Mitt Romney needs -- absolutely needs -- Ohio and Florida to win. MSNBC's First Read notes that Romney begins a bus tour today that "has to do more than stop the bleeding for Romney in Ohio; it has to be the beginning of a turnaround for him in this state. Losing Ohio isn’t checkmate, but it’s close." Losing Florida and Ohio? That is checkmate -- and Mitt can't tour both states at once. So he seems to be piling all his chips on Ohio.

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Obama and Immigration: Why the Right Thing to do Was Also the Smart Thing

President Obama's announcement that he will end deportation of undocumented people who came here as children was seen as a gamble. After all, it may get Latino voters more enthusiastic, but what about those who are freaked out about illegal immigration? The president was obviously throwing those votes away. For example, an analysis by the Associated Press:

There's not much President Barack Obama can do to boost the economy in the next five months, and that alone might cost him the November election. But on a range of social issues, Obama is bypassing Congress and aggressively using his executive powers to make it easier for gays to marry, women to obtain birth control, and, now, young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.

It's a political gamble that might fire up conservatives, many of whom remain cool to Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Democrats think it's more likely to inspire enthusiasm among groups that were crucial to Obama's 2008 victory — young voters, women and Hispanics.

There is, of course, a glaring flaw in this thinking. Conservatives are already fired up by nearly four years of rightwing BS from Fox News and talk radio. When 51% of Republican voters are birthers and believe that Obama's a Socialist, Communist, Muslim terrorist, and atheist at once, it's a pretty clear indication that they don't like the man very much. Conservatives have worked hard to keep the outrage meter pegged on the right, so anything Obama does comes without consequence on that front.

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"I'm Not Racist, But ___"

One thing I think we can learn from the Trayvon Martin shooting and its aftermath is that there are one helluva lot of rightwing racists in America. As revelations go, it's not much of one. All you have to do is tune in Rush Limbaugh to have that one confirmed.

But another thing we can learn about rightwing racists is that they don't seem to understand what racism actually is. And we get no better demonstration of this fact than this story from The Grio:

A letter, sent via the City of Sanford's official letter, and addressed to the city manager, decries the treatment afforded the currently suspended police chief, Bill Lee. It faults the now familiar villains, according to Lee's defenders: Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the country's African-American attorney general, Eric Holder.

"Dear City Manager Bonaparte," it begins. "The racist travesty that took place in Sanford should not be laid to rest and the city should not move on until there is a thorough condemnation of the Rabid Racist Ni**ers and their organizations, along with the irresponsible media, that formed a treasoneous [sic], anti-American, vigelante [sic] feeding frenzy race riot. Ni**ers like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder, and that dancing baboon of the New Black Pu***es should be in jail, preferably shot."

Mr. Bonaparte is black. And letters sent to city officials via the Sanford website are public record.

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ALEC: Lobbyists Who Aren't Lobbyists?

Among the most crazy claims I've seen lately is the claim that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) doesn't engage in lobbying. The whole point of the group is to get legislation passed -- legislation with such specific wording that at least one Florida bill still included ALEC language when it was introduced. They're responsible for state-level War on Women laws, anti-voter laws, anti-labor laws, and liberal gun laws like Florida's disastrous "Stand Your Ground" law. You can't introduce all this legislation and get it passed, then still pretend you're not lobbying.

Yet that's exactly what ALEC is trying to do.

Associated Press:

Open government advocates accused a conservative legislative group Monday of falsely claiming tax-exempt status while doing widespread lobbying.

Advocacy group Common Cause said Monday it had filed an IRS complaint accusing ALEC of masquerading as a public charity. ALEC is formed as a nonprofit that brings together lawmakers and private sector organizations to develop legislation and policy.

ALEC says its work is not lobbying.

Common Cause disagrees. "It tells the IRS in its tax returns that it does no lobbying, yet it exists to pass profit-driven legislation in statehouses all over the country that benefits its corporate members," said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, in a statement. "ALEC is not entitled to abuse its charitable tax status to lobby for private corporate interests, and stick the bill to the American taxpayer."

Common Cause wants an IRS audit of ALEC's work, penalties and the payment of back taxes.

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ALEC, Guns, Prisons, and the Lucrative Business of Fear

The Trayvon Martin case has brought a secretive group to national attention. "The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has traditionally been anonymous, working behind the scenes to advance a far-right agenda far from the public spotlight -- which was always the intended plan," writes Steve Benen. "Shadowy obscurity allowed ALEC to be more effective and made it easier for lawmakers to follow the group's lead without controversy."

ALEC is behind many bad ideas at the state level; ultrasound laws, attacks on Planned Parenthood funding, attacks on unions, the Republican War on Voting, and -- of course -- insanely liberal gun laws like "Stand Your Ground." The sum total of ALEC-inspired gun laws has turned states like Florida into wild west-style war zones, where one in every fifteen adults has a concealed carry permit. Needless to say, this doesn't make for the safe society that conservatives tell us it does. If you doubt that, consider how safe a gun saturated community kept Trayvon Martin.

But the purpose of all these gun laws isn't to keep anyone safe, no matter what you're told. The purpose is to create fear. Liberal gun laws are great PR for fearmongers. They pretend to decide to "finally get serious" about a problem you had no idea existed. And the reason you were ignorant of the problem is because it doesn't exist. As they do with voter ID laws and voter fraud, political hacks use a few isolated incidents to create the impression of a massive problem about to overrun the United States. First the argument is that the only way to protect yourself is to get a gun, then it's that liberals are too strict about how you use that gun. Finally, it reaches the absurd level of "Stand Your Ground," which -- when all is said and done -- allows you to shoot anyone you're afraid of.

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Super PACs and the Power of Negative Thinking

It's a glimpse into most of our futures. There's a big old crapstorm rolling through America and the front has only passed on for a handful of states. Stick the kids in the basement, stock up on food, and board up your TV, radio, and mailbox. It's going to be bad.

Washington Post:

Negative ads were so prevalent in the final week before the Florida primary that they accounted for 92 percent of all campaign commercials that ran.

And the most heavily broadcast commercial this past weekend was not one featuring Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich but Tom Brokaw, the former NBC News anchor whose image the Romney campaign co-opted for an ad that used a 25-second clip from an old newscast on Mr. Gingrich’s political troubles.

These figures, compiled by the Kantar Media Campaign Media Analysis Group, attest to the bitter turn the race took after the South Carolina primary when Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and the “super PACs” working to elect them unleashed a barrage of attacks.

Before we go any further, I want to say I'm not against negative ads. In fact, I'm for them. Pro-candidate ads are generally useless information about how the candidate will "fight to protect" things that offend no focus group. We learn, for example, that candidate X is for a good education for our children, a strong economy, and getting Washington back to work -- as if there's any candidate out there who's against all that. In short, positive ads tell us nothing. They're useless information. In them, candidates boldly stake a claim to those things guaranteed to appeal to everyone.

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How Many Rounds Can the GOP Primary Fight Last?

The big day in Florida is tomorrow and polling is all over the place. While pretty much all of it shows Mitt Romney winning, the question is by how much -- and in that, polls are in wild disagreement. Of three of the most recent polls, two show the race tightening drastically, while one shows Mittens maintaining a big lead. Already, Gingrich is lowering expectations, talking about a strong showing, rather than a win.

There's a reason why polling results are all over the place in Florida -- it's a blood-soaked battlefield. "Estimates vary on exactly how much more Romney has spent in Florida, but the enormous gap is hard to miss," writes Steve Benen. "TPM's figures say pro-Romney spending outpaced pro-Gingrich spending, $15.3 million to $3.4 million. NBC News totals put it closer to $16.9 million to $4 million. As of Friday, the New York Times pointed to a $15 million to $2.5 million gap."

So Mitt has the financial advantage and that's pretty much the only thing that turned it back around for him. But deep pockets can only take you so far. "In a general election against a well-financed incumbent president," Benen says, "this financial edge will largely disappear."

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Big Labor for Newt

In Florida at least, the strategy of labor is clear -- nominate Newt Gingrich. Labor giant AFSCME has made what Greg Sargent calls a "major ad buy in the state," drawing parallels between a past Bain Medicare scandal and a crime committed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott's former company.

The ad doesn't specifically endorse Gingrich, but at this point it looks like a two man race -- if Mitt loses voters, the lion's share run to Newt.

And it's not like Romney needs much of a push to send him over the edge. "Before South Carolina, Mitt Romney was some 20 points ahead in Florida," notes Josh Marshall. "Two new polls have come out in the last twelve hours. Both have Gingrich up by 9 points." Newt's post Carolina bounce is stratospheric. And Rick Scott isn't very popular in his own state. In all, only 38% approve of the job he's doing as governor and even one in five Republicans disapprove. Even among Scott supporters, accusations of Medicare fraud aren't likely to be a plus for a candidate. You have to believe they support Scott despite it, not because of it. It's something they're willing to overlook.

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GOP's Economic Sabotage Backfiring

I want you to try -- really try -- to see the following statement as rational or logical; "A payroll tax cut extension is too important for stimulating the economy to be allowed to expire after just two months. Therefore, we need to pass a year-long extension or nothing."

OK, if you got that to make any damned sense, let me know how you did it. Because I can't get it to work at all. If an extension of the payroll tax cut is so important that it absolutely must last for a year, in what insane universe does it make sense that no extension at all is preferable to a mere two months? Further, what's preventing you from coming back in two months and demanding an extension for the remaining ten? I take this argument and I turn it over and bend it and twist it and smack it with a hammer and I just can't get it to fit within any system of logic or rationality that I know of.

As a result, I'm forced to conclude that it's stupid. Those are the rules, I don't make them up. An argument that makes no damned sense at all is just a stupid argument.

And this stupid argument is the basis for the latest roadblock thrown up by House Republicans; It's a super-important, must-pass tax cut that they love so damned much that they're willing to kill it unless it's born perfect.

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If the Muslim Had Stabbed the Christian, Then It'd be Big, National News

Sometimes, you come across a story and wonder why it hasn't become national news. For me, this is one of those times.

Tampa Tribune:

A St. Petersburg man faces a hate crime accusation after deputies say he stabbed a man because he is Muslim.

Bradley Kent Strott, 52, and Samad Ebadi were at Marsha's Wayside Inn bar, at 4021 54th Ave. N. in St. Petersburg, about 7:30 p.m. Friday, talking about religion, according to a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

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The Right's Stealth Campaign

The final USA Today/Gallup poll is out today and Barack Obama holds a national lead of 11 points. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll puts it closer, with an 8-point lead for the Democrat, 51% to 43%. Gallup also gives it to Obama by a pretty wide margin, 55% to 44%. We can pretty safely say that the consensus is that Obama's walking away with this thing tomorrow. In fact, networks will probably call it for Obama before the Mountain Time zone polls close. But, just between you and me, you can write McCain off if he loses Virginia. If that happens, the race is over early for most of the nation -- 8 p.m. Eastern at the latest. And it's looking like that's the way it's going to go.

For Republicans and rightwingers in general, looking for good news will mean looking elsewhere -- the national race is all but officially over. Where might they find these little rays of sunshine? In statewide victories for Republican Jesus. Down ticket races seem to be trending Democrat, so they're prepared for big congressional losses as well as the big one in the electoral college. They can't lose every race, but the wins will be nearly meaningless, given the lopsided nature of the next Congress.

No, the wins for the right will come in ballot initiatives. The stealth campaign for control of the nation comes in the form of control of the states through direct democracy. If they can't rule by elected office, they can rule by referendum. The highest profile referendum is Proposition 8 in California, which would amend the state's Constitution to ban same sex marriage. The good news there is that the proposition looks to be headed for a loss. The bad news is that it exists at all and that the loss looks to be a narrow one.

Los Angeles Times:

The Field Poll of 966 likely voters, conducted between Oct. 18 and 28, shows 49% opposed to the measure, 44% in favor and 7% undecided. The race is narrowing. A September Field poll showed the measure trailing by 14 points, 52% to 38%.

The new poll also found that "significant proportions" of voters on both sides are conflicted about the issue.

Women are more likely to oppose Proposition 8 than men, the poll reports; 51% of women and 47% of men surveyed oppose the measure. It also found that respondents who said they personally knew a gay person were more likely to be opposed than respondents who said they did not.

The problem here is that this ballot initiative, like similar discriminatory referenda, isn't only designed to change California's Constitution -- it's also an organizational tool. All those petitions become mailing lists, all those volunteer canvassers and phone bankers don't go away after they lose. They'll be told they'll keep up the fight and that Jesus will eventually prevail in California's battle with the Homosexual Menace. If they win -- which is still a very real possibility -- then they'll use that energy to move forward with other "pro-family" issues.





But the fact is that a loss is almost better than a win -- at least in terms of organizing. When the battle's over, people on the winning side tend to go home. When the culture war continues, the culture warriors fight on. This is where the Republican base will rebuild -- not around failed candidates, but around wedge issue ballot measures.

Arizona and Florida will both be voting on referenda similar to California's Prop. 8. In Florida, it seems close. Although polling shows the voters approving the ban 56% to 37%, Florida requires a super-majority of voters -- 60% -- to pass such a measure. This one's a nailbiter, but leaning the right way. Organizing after losing this one will be a pretty simple matter, since they can use that majority to claim "mainstream" status and because Florida conservatives tend to be pretty insane anyway (see Katherine Harris).

To give you an idea of how powerful these referenda become as organizing tools, we can look at Arizona. In 2006, Arizona became the first state to defeat an anti-marriage equality measure. The groups opposing marriage kept working, turned their petitions into mailing lists, and now a second attempt looks likely to pass -- 49% to 42%.

In Arkansas, voters will be asked to bar gays from adoption or foster parenthood. Thankfully, this looks like a big loser -- 55% oppose the measure, while 38% support it.

Don't get the idea that the right's stealth campaign is all about hating on the gays. It's just mostly that way. In South Dakota, it's about hating on the women. An initiative there asks voters to make abortion illegal in almost every circumstance. A similar ban lost last time around, but these people aren't taking no for an answer. Where the original ban had almost no exceptions, the current measure would include "limited exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the pregnant woman." That brought it much closer to winning. In fact, it's a tie -- 44% to 44%.

The S. Dakota measure is certainly unconstitutional and is meant only to challenge Roe v. Wade. There's absolutely no guarantee that it'll ever make it all the way to the Supreme Court, but it's all about the PR anyway. They're building the groundwork for a propaganda campaign to energize the crazies.

Want a reason to vote? There you go. And it's important to remember that these don't represent the right going away next year -- so neither should you. That's the danger of a successful presidential campaign, people go away. In a democracy, the fight is never over, by design. Wins must be defended.

No matter what's on your ballot, vote. But remember, democracy doesn't end on November 5. The religious right isn't going away on that day, so neither should you. We've got to win the big one and keep fighting the other ones. Democracy means that the fight never, ever ends.

-Wisco

The Fight After the Fight

I've decided to spend the remaining days until the election coming up with reasons to vote. But the best laid plans yada-yada-yada... I started out writing this as another post about why you should vote, but after editing, it turned out to be more about after the election. Still, you go vote. We've got to win the big one before we take on the following little battles. So vote to take the grand prize and here's a little preview of what'll happen afterward.

The right isn't going away after Tuesday. They're going to work to rebuild their movement and to tear down Barack Obama. A lot of people think that Obama's ad last night was overkill -- after all, he's far enough ahead in the polls that he can just run out the clock and do fine. But a big part of Obama's continued campaigning isn't about November 4, but November 5 and beyond.

The good news is that the most recent example we have of the right's attempts to discredit a president didn't work at all. Bill Clinton was supposedly everything from a serial killer to a cocaine smuggler. In the end, the right managed only to inoculate the public against BS and instill skepticism in the electorate. When Clinton was finally impeached for a crime with all the seriousness of an unpaid traffic ticket, his approval rating actually increased. Most disapproved of the impeachment effort.

So that's the good news; Republicans suck at this stuff. The bad news is that it's 100% guaranteed that they'll make the effort anyway. William Ayers isn't going away either. Nor is Rev. Wright. The Republican party will go into full damage control mode -- which usually means that, rather than build themselves up again, they'll try to damage Obama to an equal extent and level the playing field that way.





Will John McCain go away? Probably. Losing candidates tend not to stick around in the limelight. Maybe he'll retire or maybe he'll be like John Kerry -- he'll go back to work and leave all the headlines behind. Either way, we're probably done with John McCain.

But not Sarah Palin. She'll get a PR rep and a makeover. She's ambitious and she's had a taste of the big time. She's not going anywhere. And the base -- both leaders and the flock -- don't want her to.

New York Times:

“She’s dynamite,” said Morton C. Blackwell, who was President Ronald Reagan’s liaison to the conservative movement. Mr. Blackwell described vying to get close to Ms. Palin at a fund-raiser in Virginia, lamenting that he could get only within four feet.

“I made a major effort to position myself at this reception,” he said, adding that he is eager to sit down with her after the election to discuss the future. Asked if the weeks of unflattering revelations and damaging interviews had tarnished her among conservatives, he replied, “Not a bit.”

Brent Bozell, a so-called "conservative media critic," says it's a "top order of business" to figure out how to use Palin to rebuild. "Conservatives have been looking for leadership, and she has proven that she can electrify the grass roots like few people have in the last 20 years," he told the NYT. "No matter what she decides to do, there will be a small mother lode of financial support behind her." As I said, Bozell bills himself as a media watchdog, but he's actually a one man PR firm and attacks the media for not buying into Republican spin. If he has his eyes on Palin, it means he has a post-election BS campaign in mind. That's what he does for a living.

And those "grassroots" who wil be "electrified?" Here's what they look like:

FiveThirtyEight.com:

After [a Florida McCain] rally, we witnessed a near-street riot involving the exiting McCain crowd and two Cuban-American Obama supporters. Tony Garcia, 63, and Raul Sorando, 31, were suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. There is a moment in a crowd when something goes from mere yelling to a feeling of danger, and that's what we witnessed. As photographers and police raced to the scene, the crowd elevated from stable to fast-moving scrum, and the two men were surrounded on all sides as we raced to the circle.

The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.

"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."

Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy."

A man Garcia described as "a big stocky man wearing a tweed jacket" threatened him, telling him "I'm gonna beat you up the next time I see you." For daring to support Obama. These people don't oppose, these people hate. They seem incapable of anything other than extremism -- blind support for their candidate of choice, mindless anger toward those who support anyone else. Attacking Garcia and Sorando wouldn't have accomplished anything, it wouldn't have made McCain any more likely to win Florida -- in fact, it probably would've made it less likely. But it would've felt good to these nuts who are motivated solely by passion. The right -- who are constantly complaining about "feel good" politics -- are all about doing what feels good. If what feels good works, all the better. But if what works doesn't feel good, they ain't gonna do it. And, if what feels good doesn't work, they'll try to convince you that it does.

But when did McCain rallies turn this ugly? After McCain chose Sarah Palin, of course. Anti-evolution, anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-sex ed, Sarah Palin is their kind of folks. People who define themselves by what they oppose like the governor who does the same. Racist, ignorant, and pigheaded, they'll follow anyone who says the magic words earnestly enough. If she's an intellectual piece of fluff, so what? So are they.

But if these people think they can bully the rest of us into believing what they do -- and they do, that's what right wing media is all about -- then they've got another thing coming. Tony Garcia has a message for the big moron who threatened him at the rally.

"You tell that guy he can find Tony Garcia down at the West Dade library every day from 7 to 7 helping people early vote. I'll be there from 1 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday," he told FiveThirtyEight.com. "You tell him if he wants to kick my ass that's where he can find me. Come beat me up."

The bad news is that the right is ready to pull the sore loser gambit and try to destroy the next president. The good news is that they're cowards and we're ready for them. You want to try to kick our asses?

Here we are, punks.

-Wisco

Bigger than Gonzogate

Gonzogate just got quite a bit worse for the Justice Department and the Bush administration. After Monica Goodling's testimony that she illegally screened applicants for ideological purity, hiring -- as well as firing -- becomes an issue.

Washington Post:

Justice Department investigators have widened an internal probe of the firings of U.S. attorneys to include a broader examination of hiring practices at the department, including the troubled Civil Rights Division and programs for beginning lawyers, officials said Wednesday.

"We have expanded the scope of our investigation to include allegations regarding improper political or other considerations in hiring decisions within the Department of Justice," Inspector General Glenn Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, wrote in letters to the House and Senate Judiciary committees.

The widening inquiry is likely to pose an additional challenge for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is already facing lawmakers' calls for his resignation and a potential no-confidence vote by the Senate. While the U.S. attorney dismissals have prompted wide political criticism, improper hiring practices could be deemed a violation of the law.

Here's hoping the investigation gets around to what Justice picks have done to get on the short list. Specifically, Timothy Griffin, Karl Rove's former assistant, currently serving as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Griffin was installed under an obscure and overlooked provision of the USA PATRIOT Act. The provision allowed Justice to make permanent interim appointments without Senate approval. Previously, interim hires had a 120 term limit. After that, they needed approval. The provision created an end run around the Senate and the administration could literally install anyone as a permanent replacement.

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty testified that the previous Attorney for the district, Bud Cummins, had been fired (for cooked up reasons) to make way for Griffin's permanent appointment. Clearly, this was one case where the firing wasn't nearly as important as the hiring. And it's what Griffin did before he was appointed that shows why he was a Bush kinda guy.

Greg Palast, BBC investigative reporter:

...Griffin, according to BBC Television, was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election.

Key voters on Griffin's hit list: Black soldiers and homeless men and women. Nice guy, eh? Naughty or nice, however, is not the issue. Targeting voters where race is a factor is a felony crime under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Investigate that. It turns out that Griffin 'cleansed' the Florida voter list by creating what's called a 'caging list.' A caging list is a direct mail term for cleaning up mailing lists by removing invalid addresses. This was their term for it, not the media's. Who used to be a direct mail guy before he got into the Bush administration?

Why, that would be Karl Rove. Kind of makes it sound like Karl's idea, doesn't it?

The scheme worked this way; the Republican National Committee sent first class letters, marked "Do not forward," to new voters in minority precincts. If these letters were returned, the names and addresses would be added to a list of voters names that would be challenged. "If these voters were not currently at their home voting address, they were tagged as 'suspect' and their registration wiped out or their ballot challenged and not counted," Palast writes. "Of course, these 'cages' captured thousands of students, the homeless and those in the military though they are legitimate voters."

Just to make sure, the caging list included Jacksonville Naval Air Station, homeless shelters, and Edward Waters College -- "a school for African-Americans." If you wanted to make a list of people who where likely to have changed their addresses in the past year, this would be the way to go about it. No longer stationed at Jackson Naval? Your ballot goes into the 'suspect' bin. Moved in with your college sweetheart? Same. Got a job and got off the streets? Same.

And, if you wanted to make sure that the list would be made up mostly of black Democrats, this is also the way you'd go about it.

How did Palast and the BBC find out about all of this? Because Griffin's a freakin' moron. "Instead of sending the emails -- potential evidence of a crime -- to email addresses ending with the domain name '@GeorgeWBush.com' he sent them to '@GeorgeWBush.ORG.' A website run by prankster John Wooden who owns 'GeorgeWBush.org.' When Wooden got the treasure trove of Rove-ian ravings, he sent them to us," Palast tells us. To give you an idea just how wrong Griffin got the address, Wooden is associated with Landover Baptist -- he's not a friend of the Bush administration.

And, like all Bushies, Griffin expects you to be a freakin' moron, too. Confronted with the lists by the BBC, he claimed they weren't a hit list of black Democrats at all -- they were a list of GOP donors. Apparently, we're supposed to believe that there are people out there who are so dedicated to the Republican party that they give them all their money and live in homeless shelters. In fact, we're supposed to believe there are one helluva lot of these voters in Florida.

This was the kind of guy the Bush administration wanted in the Justice Department, investigating and prosecuting civil rights cases. As is too often the case, the exact wrong man for the job was the perfect Bushie. Fox, meet henhouse.

With the probe widening, Griffin decided yesterday to get while the getting's good. He handed in his resignation effective June 1. He's obviously hoping he can dodge the scandal -- here's hoping he's wrong.

So what are Griffin's plans for the future?

TPMMuckraker.com:

The Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.) that Timothy Griffin, the former aide to Karl Rove who became one of the most controversial figures in the U.S. attorney firing scandal, is in talks with Fred Thompson's presidential campaign:

"Backers look for Fred Thompson to use a June 2 speech to Virginia Republicans to step closer toward the race. Thompson allies have had discussions with Tim Griffin, the Arkansas U.S. attorney and Rove protege, about taking a top job with the campaign."

Boy, I didn't know that Fred Thompson was such a freakin' idiot. This is jumping feet first into the attorney scandal. Nothing like becoming embroiled in a Washington scandal right off the bat to kill your chances.

Yesterday, I said I didn't think Thompson would run. It's actually already looking like I was wrong. But given his proposal of marriage to Gonzogate, I'm pretty damned sure he won't win.

People are too damned sick of corrupt Republicans.

--Wisco

Technorati tags: politics; Justice Department; Alberto Gonzales; Karl Rove; elections; Timothy Griffin; Florida; Arkansas; scandal; crime; Like Republican corruption? Then vote for Fred Thompson in 2008