Posted on 12/08/2004 4:46:49 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
Two items this morning.
Many years ago, when the Ayatollah Khomenei was first coming to power, a senior partner in the law firm where I worked figured out early that the guy was bad news. He had a running joke with his wife. He would take the cover of Time Magazine with Khomenei's picture and hide it in various places she would find it. Open the cereal cabinet in the kitchen: there he was. Pull back the bedcovers: the Ayaltollah gracing your pillow.
I'm starting to feel the same way about 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser. The ubiquitous and vaguely ominous Breitweiser pops up everywhere. So naturally there she was this morning being interviewed by Matt Lauer the morning after the House adopted the intel reform bill.
There was a dynamic going on that I found intriguing. You just know that this woman wants to rip into W and Republicans in general. The anger seethes oh-so-close to the surface. But she has to be cagey. So even when Lauer fed her a softball, suggesting W hadn't acted forcefully or early enough to get the bill through, she offered some guarded praise for him and the bill.
However, she was clearly keeping her powder dry, implicitly threatening future criticism if her kind of person isn't chosen to be the new intel chief, etc.
And if I hear her say "I voted for Pres. Bush in 2000" one more time, I'm going to scream. The clear implication: I have nothing against him, and it's more in sorrow than in anger that I've concluded he's been a failure. People will recall that she is now in fact nothing more than a partisan Democrat who featured prominently in Kerry's campaign. This is a woman who is positioning herself for a run for public office. I also notice that she seems to have undergone something of a Hollywood makeover. She is definitely planning to go big time.
Yes, we should all be sympathetic to her and her loss. But my sense is that this was an angry woman even before 9/11. Keep a close eye on Kristen.
Then it was on to what amounted to a campaign infomercial for NY AG Eliot Spitzer, who yesterday announced that he's running for Governor.
Could you imagine Today ever offering up big air time for an interview with a Republican AG who announced he was running for a statewide office somewhere? Me neither.
But there was Eliot, being interviewed by Campbell Brown (daughter of a Louisiana politician convicted of corruption). Flashing huge smiles and winks, Campbell's biggest problem seemed to be to keep herself from leaping into Eliot's lap. Ugh. How's this for a 'tough' first question:
"You've established a reputation as someone who has fought for the little guy against the forces of big corporations and Wall Street. Do you like that image?
Gag me with a stock option.
Today Show ping.
Today Show ping.
UGH. Thank you for the report. You are probably right about Kristen. A New Jersey senate seat wowuld probably be her choice.
Bingo. With Corzine running for NJ Governor, how long will it be till Kristen announces for his seat?
Kristen? Isnt she one of the 911 Millionaires?
Why, yes she is! And what better way to use OUR money than to fund a political race?
Not long at all. BTW, you deserve a medal for sitting through this for us. "Gag me with a stock option". LOL.
I REALLY don't want her in the Senate. I hope we can run someone against her that can win. The idea that she would have a perpetual national forum (especially on Chris Matthews show) is nauseating.
We praise you for your courage to stomach the Today Show..personally, I can't look or hear from Campbell Brown anytime of the day.
In a blue state like NJ, a Dem with her kind of name recognition and sympathy factor will be hard to beat.
governs...thank you for your usual great job!
I've started my "Spitzer" word folder and the following was the first entry. I figure this guy will end up running with Hillary for VP one of these days; he certainly has done a number on Marsh & McClennan.
NYT: A Question of Whether Spitzer Lost a Vision of Reform
New York Times ^ | December 6, 2004 | MICHAEL SLACKMAN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1295311/posts
Posted on 12/06/2004 6:56:40 AM CST by OESY
Standing outside the Capitol in Albany one summer afternoon in 1998, Eliot Spitzer released a statement that said if he became attorney general, he would use the considerable power, influence and bully pulpit of the office to "take on all the problems that have led to governmental stagnation and corruption in New York."
During his nearly six years in office, Mr. Spitzer has indeed claimed the mantle of reform. But he has done it by focusing on the financial and insurance industries - not state government.
Thanks, Smiley. In a world of Dem media shills, Campbell really does distinguish herself for sycophancy.
I just don't see how you make it through one of these shows. Thanks for the update.
Thankfully, that would be constitutionally impossible, since they are from the same state [unless Hillary moves home to Illinois ;-)]. But I predict Eliot is positioning himself for his own run for the White House some day. He was careful to sound moderate this morning, talking about how he never saw himself as the sheriff of Wall Street and always imagining as a young man that he's wind up in business or a big law firm.
Thanks JK. It's my, twisted, pleasure.
I lost most of my sympathy for her and the other professional widows when they mounted a political hate campaign against the Bush administration instead of focusing on the real culprits that brought about the deaths of their husbands and 3000 others........Clinton, who allowed numerous terrorist attacks to go unpunished, refused a hand-over offer of OBL, and the terrorists themselves who cold-bloodedly flew those planes loaded w/innocent passengers (including small children) into the Towers and murdered so many others.
Well put. Yes, Kristen definitely does stretch the limits of sympathy.
It's been interesting to observe her transformation: from authentic, angry 9/11 widow into political "play-uh."
"Thankfully, that would be constitutionally impossible, since they are from the same state [unless Hillary moves home to Illinois ;-)]. "
I didn't know that! Gee, the older I get, the less I know! Thanks for yet another learning experience.
Boyoboy...you must've had to double the Maalox this morning, or you have the intestinal fortitude of a crocodile.
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