Big buzz
Earlier this month, much was made of President Bush's reversal on a campaign promise to cut CO2 emissions for coal-fired power plants. At least some of the media attention focused on how Bush had undermined his EPA secretary, Christine Todd Whitman, who just days before had reassured global leaders that Bush would stand by his pledge. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Whitman lobbied Bush to stick by his campaign pledge, and that he ignored her.
That story was denied by Whitman, says Reuters, which reported: "The top U.S. official on the environment rejected charges on Tuesday that President George W. Bush had undermined her by spurning her advice on global climate change."
Posters on Lucianne.com echoed Vice President Dick Cheney's remarks that Whitman was a "good soldier" for being loyal to Bush in what was an embarrassing situation for her. "Hey guys ... relax. The lovely Ms. Whitman isn't there to look good, she's there to do her job," one poster wrote. "And if the commander in chief says jump, the order of the day is to ask, 'How high?'"
Another Lucianne.com poster challenged the basic premise of the article. "Bush didn't break his pledge on this issue. He has four years to do what he said. This is a legitimate delay till they get a comprehensive energy policy established to replace the B.S. policy of the former administration."
The Table Talkers have already started a popular thread titled "The Christine Todd Whitman Countdown: When Will She Bail?"
"Let's dedicate this thread to the disgraced former Governor of New Jersey. Christy, we hardly knew ye," the intro to the thread reads. Not surprisingly, T.T. denizens were unmoved by the latest round of White House spin. "It appears that Christine Todd Whitman was embarrassed even more than we realize," writes one. "The Washington Post breaks a story today revealing a memo Whitman wrote the Monkey encouraging him to back CO2 emissions. He ignored her. Then, of course, [he] sold her out and made her look like a fool to the international community. If she had any sense of honor and dignity, she would leave."
Weblines
WorldNet Daily: "Jesse Jackson's Son in Father's Missteps"
American Prospect Online: "Andrew Sullivan Thinks the Cultural Wars Are Ancient History. Yeah, Right."
Suck: "Ten Reasons Not to Go to the Movies"
SmirkingChimp.com: "Watch out, or Bush will take us back to the 1950s."
Drudge Report: "Tim Russert to CBS: I'd 'Rather' Not"
BuzzFlash.com: "As Economy Loses Ground, So Does Bush"
Anger management
What a difference a year makes. Just one short political season after Democrats enjoyed easy votes in favor of campaign finance reform without consequence, now they seem to be finding ways to sabotage the McCain-Feingold finance reform measure.
The issue has indeed created some strange political alliances. The folks at Free Republic seem decidedly split on the issue.
In response to a post that a soft-money ban may pass constitutional muster, one Freeper replies: "What part of 'Congress shall make no law' do you not understand, buttmunch? The only misinformed person here is you -- engaging in Clintonian parsing of the concept of freedom of expression. When the NY Times gives me free the number of column inches that Safire gets, I'll agree that money does not equal speech. Until that time, money does equal speech."
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