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____________________________ NEWS & VIEWS + DC CONFIDENTIAL April 1, 2004 ____________________________ APRIL FOOL No more Chuck Muth’s News & Views. No...not really. Just a hiatus. I’m in Las Vegas on my way to a “guys only” weekend on Lake Powell in northern Arizona. It’s an annual event which I haven’t attended since Kristen was born four years ago. But Gia decided to let me go again this year as my birthday present (April 5th - send cash!). The weekend consists of about a dozen guys from all walks of life “camping out” on a beautiful, 54-foot houseboat. No women, no kids, no dogs. On the other hand, there WILL be beer, beans, beef, more beer and politically incorrect jokes. Yes, there will be plenty of Jimmy Buffet and Stevie Ray Vaughn...but there won’t be any TV, radio or newspapers. Or, for that matter, cell phones or Internet access. Ergo...no News & Views for a few days. So y’all will have to hold down the fort for me while I’m gone. In the meantime, to hold you over here’s a special edition of News & Views combined with a little “DC Confidential” (which you can get automatically every Sunday by contributing just $5 or more to Citizen Outreach at www.citizenoutreach.com). I’ll be back, God willing, the first part of next week. And don’t worry. The Captain of the boat has assured me that there will be NO GAY MARRIAGES performed at sea on this trip! :) PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE “If the presidential election were held today, who would you vote for?” John Kerry (D) George W. Bush (R) Gary Nolan (L) Ralph Nader (I) Somebody else Nobody...I'd stay home and not vote While I’m away, cast your online ballot by going to the “Survey Says!” page at www.citizenoutreach.com FOUNDING WISDOM “Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little of no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. . . . Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one…” - Founding Father Thomas Paine in “Common Sense” DESPICABLE DEMAGOGUERY “Horrific and infuriating news from Iraq's Sunni triangle: ‘Suspected insurgents’--how's that for a euphemism--’killed four American civilian contractors in a grenade attack Wednesday in central Iraq,’ CNN reports. . . . It's worth emphasizing that the four victims were civilians working for an American company. Like America's soldiers, these civilians are putting their lives on the line to enhance America's security and help build a better Iraq. John Kerry and other Democrats have been vilifying American contractors in Iraq, especially Halliburton. This seems a fitting time to point out what a despicable bit of demagoguery this is.“ - James Taranto, Best of the Web, 3/31/04 WHY CHARACTER MATTERS “Should Mr. Clinton have been impeached for the Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones scandals? He probably should not have been, but he probably should not have been elected in the first place given the cost to the country of his irresponsibility. . . . (I)t turns out Osama bin Laden and much of his network might have been put out of commission had Mr. Bush’s predecessor not been sufficiently compromised by his own sexual immaturity.” - Columnist Dan Thomasson IT’S THE SPENDING, STUPID “What should be the issue is not how much of our money Congress will allow us to keep, but how much of our money we will allow Congress to spend. Instead of debating curbs on tax cuts, members of Congress should impose spending curbs on themselves. . . . . Congress, in the only bipartisan activity left in Washington, continues to act like Paris Hilton, who spends inherited money she never made.” - Columnist Cal Thomas THE SMELL OF FAILURE “John Kerry’s presidential candidacy has all the makings of a classic flop - in the American side-splitting tradition of Thomas Dewey, Adlai Stevenson, George McGovern, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis. . . . Like Thomas Dewey in 1948, his deepest flaw as a candidate is his sheer unlikeability.” - Columnist Tony Blankley FRANKEN-FLOP’S FOLLY “My first priority is to get sued by a right-wing jerk in order to generate interest in my new show" - Liberal gas-bag Al Franken MUTH’S TRUTHS The folks pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage are beginning to resemble those Japanese World War II soldiers stranded on remote Pacific Islands who continued to defend their positions because they didn’t know the war was over. At least, that’s the impression I got from reading a recent “talking points” memo put out by the Senate Republican Conference (SRC). For those of you who still support the (doomed) Federal Marriage Amendment, you probably don’t want to depress yourself by reading my column this week. For the rest of you, just click on the “Muth’s Truths” tab at www.citizenoutreach.com. And since I’ll be away for a few days, I’ll post this on the Discussion Board so you folks will have something to argue about until I get back. :) DON’T BEAT ‘EM; GORHAM It’s been one bungle after another for New Mexico GOP Chairman Ramsay Gorham. She’s already gone through more executive directors than Liz Taylor had husbands...and the Bush/Cheney folks are said to have absolutely no confidence in her ability to run the party operation during this critical election season. And while Democrat Gov. Bill Richardson is seemingly in the media all the time (prepping for his presidential run in 2008), Gorham is, well...a ghost. And it now seems the Invisible Chair has bumbled herself into yet another mess. The chairwoman is also a state senator...an extremely dumb idea in its own right. And the party rules prohibit the party chair from getting involved in primaries. Well, guess what? Gorham herself now faces a primary. The obvious conflict has thrown the GOP into a quandary. Will the Central Committee enforce the rule? Will Gorham do the right thing and step aside? Or will she give up her elected seat (fat chance)? The Democrats must be hopping for joy. Ah, does anyone remember the good ol’ days when New Mexico ran a tight GOP ship? When it’s chairman was an effective force of political opposition to the Democrats? When Republicans were on the rise, not in retreat? When the GOP stood for truth, justice and the American way? What was that former chairman’s name again? Oh, yeah. A man called Dendahl. John Dendahl. Big Bad John. Wonder if he’d be willing to come out of retirement and clean up Gorham’s mess before it’s too late? BIG TROUBLE FOR TOMMY D Not only does Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) have the race of his political career on his hands against Republican former Rep. John Thune this November, but that race just got a bit more dicey with the announcement that Indian activist Tim Giago will be running as an independent in November, as well. The Indian vote has historically been a lock for Democrats, but more and more Indians are looking at the state of life on the reservation and asking, “Why?” Giago could easily do to Daschle what Perot did to Bush Sr. and Nader did to Gore. Real bummer, huh? WEALTHY FLY IN THE (AN)OINTMENT When multitudes of sitting elected Republicans passed on the opportunity to run for retiring Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s Colorado seat, the “powers-that-be” united in support behind former Rep. Bob Schaffer. But a funny thing happened on the way to Schaffer’s anointment. David Liniger, founder of the Re/Max real estate empire and a very generous GOP contributor over recent years, says he’s being encouraged by Campbell and Gov. Bill Owens to throw his self-financed hat in the ring. Liniger’s money alone would make him a formidable candidate should he make the run. But the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund reports that the hoopla and encouragement by some party elders “has upset many Colorado conservatives who favor rallying around former Rep. Bob Schaffer, who announced his candidacy two weeks ago.” Sounds like someone has ordered the GOP’s well-trained firing squad to circle up once again. BLIND AMBITION Less than two years ago, former judge Denise Majette knocked off incumbent big-mouth Cynthia McKinney for her Georgia congressional seat in the Democrat primary. Now, for some inexplicable reason, Rep. Majette has announced her intent to give up her new seat in order to attempt to trade up to the big time...the U.S. Senate. She’ll be running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Zell Miller (D). McKinney had already announced her intent to challenge Majette in another primary race for the House seat, but no one gave her much of a chance. So it’s hard to attribute fear as being Majette’s motivation. And the fact that no serious Democrat had yet come forward to challenge whichever GOP heavyweight comes out of THEIR primary indicates that whoever the Democrat nominee is will get crushed at the polls in the general. Sounds like a suicide run. If Majette really wants to get out of politics that badly, why not just retire? CREDIBILITY GAP Things are heating up in North Carolina’s GOP primary race for the 5th congressional district where a gaggle of Republicans are angling for the nomination. But a recurring theme seems to be emerging about one of those candidates, Nathan Tabor. Opponents charge that Tabor plays awfully loose with the facts and gives out misleading information. The latest charge comes from state Sen. Virginia Foxx who slams Tabor for claiming she has been endorsed by NOW (National Organization for Women) - despite being pro-life and endorsed by the national pro-life Susan B. Anthony List. Foxx says in a press statement that NOW doesn’t endorse pro-life candidates. The ironic thing is that Tabor is running a campaign based on being the most Christian candidate in the race. Doesn’t the Bible say something about bearing false witness? THE GOLDWATER DOCTRINE “I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' interests, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.” - Barry Goldwater, “The Conscience of a Conservative” ************************* Published by Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher 611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, #439 Washington, DC 20003-4303 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Citizen Outreach is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public policy organization and does not endorse candidates or lobby for specific legislation. The opinions and views expressed in News & Views and DC Confidential reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees.
