Sen. Larry Craig misunderstood!

He thought public men's rooms were sanctuary spaces!

More later. :-)

Every Dog Has It's Day.

I hope Vick has to serve his sentence in dog years.

Nunn sense!

Intrigue and odd twist

In a recent post, the ProConPundit spoke of the necessity of the Democratic nominee to choose a conservative, Southern Democrat IF ONE STILL EXISTS. One still does exist–Sam Nunn. For the record, the ProConPundit did not forget about Sam Nunn–I just got tired of wishing he’d get into the race. I wanted Nunn to run in 1988. Think he might have done better than Dukakis? I wanted him to run in 1992. Think he would have been more focused than Clinton? I wanted him to run in 2000 and 2004...Gore and Kerry–enough said.

Georgian Sam Nunn was a U.S. Senator from 1972 to 1996. He had a credible reputation for being bi-partisan and crafted legislation with such luminary Republicans as Barry Goldwater (AZ) and Richard Lugar (IN). Nunn served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served on the Intelligence and Small Business Committees.

His major legislative achievements included the Department of Defense Reorganization Act and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which deactivated more than 5,900 Soviet nuclear warheads. Sam Nunn was rumored to be a top choice of Clinton to be Secretary of Defense or State. Clinton instead chose the innocuous Les Aspin and later the anemic William Cohen to be Defense Secretary and Warren Christopher as Secretary of State. Clinton would have had a more successful presidency had he selected and listen to Nunn.

Nunn was considered a moderately-conservative Democrat. He was not afraid to break with his party when he disagreed with them. He opposed Clinton’s Budget in 1993, opposed Clinton’s support of gays in the military and sought to amend the constitution to require a balanced budget. He thought death penalty appeals should be limited was pro-choice, pro-gun, pro-environment, pro-affirmative action and pro-prayer in the public school. These are all positions he held as of when he left office a decade ago. The ProConPundit is not sure where he stands on them today.

For the record, the ProConPundit is in favor of a balanced budget, favors enforcing gun laws already on the books and screening of gun purchasers, is pro-life, favors a moment of silence in public schools for people to pray if they like, supports gay equality and domestic partnerships but not gay marriage and thinks affirmative action is not an effective tool today.

Sam Nunn is way more conservative than the base of the Democratic party but is in the mainstream of most Americans. Two weeks ago, he confirmed that he had met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to discuss "the current political climate." Nunn would not rule out running for President next year and would only rule out being someone’s running mate. He said, "The only thing I would consider would be running for the big office." On Sunday, he said he would not make a decision on an independent run until after the GOP & Dems have nominees.

The ProConPundit would love to see Nunn as a candidate and thinks he would be a superb and most capable president. He is two years younger than John McCain. He doesn’t fit the stereotype of an independent candidate. Third party candidates such as Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, and Ralph Nader all had a salient issue they were associated with and had big followings. I can’t see Nunn in that team picture. Although he had a reputation for being very bi-partisan and is agitated by the incredible lack of same in congress today, he also impresses me as a pretty loyal party guy. Its hard to picture him leaving the fold.

As much as he says he would never want to be a VP, so do most people who end up on tickets. His name being out there might inspire the Democratic party nominee to select him. Imagine if the Democratic party were to nominate someone with pitiful experience such as Barrack Obama or John Edwards–Nunn would be the perfect choice. As much as I can’t picture him teaming up with the GOP, if he's thinking of an independent run, anything is possible. If Giuliani or Romney got nominated, Nunn would be a running mate choice that would invite unity, bring someone with Southern conservative, foreign policy and defense department experience on board. Even if it is only flirtation, Nunn brings some intrigue and enthusiasm to the party.

Bottom line: As Dan Rather would say (someone the ProConPundit rarely quotes): "Don't bet the trailer money" on a Nunn run.

"My Country, Mexico"

Disgraceful Methodist Church harbors criminal

Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant, who first came to the US illegally in 1997 and, on numerous occasions, was arrested, deported to Mexico and returned again illegally to the U.S., was arrested Sunday afternoon at Our Lady, Queen of Angels Church in Los Angeles.

Arellano was provided sanctuary at Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago a year ago until she left there last weekend. Recognizing the possibility of arrest and deportation, Arellano said, in Spanish, ''From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want,. 'I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay and fight.'' Yes, that’s right after ten years in the US, Mexico is her country.

Here is the ProConPundit’s position, concisely:
1. Arellano has illegally come into this country several times, has been deported before, and continues to return. She had a child in this country without citizenship or a husband.
2. It is an absolute travesty that Arellano was provided sanctuary f or a year at Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago. I am curious as to how the Methodist Sunday school teachers taught the children about right and wrong and the value in telling the truth while this criminal had residence in the church.
3. Her deportation sends a great message that breaking the law is wrong and will not be tolerated.
4. Newspapers throughout this country have done polling on Arellano’s deportation and no less than 85% of anyone who responded believed her arrest and deportation was wholly appropriate.
5. The presidential candidates need to get in touch with the reality of where the American people stand on this issue and, by huge majorities, they do not favor amnesty.
6. Arellano fancies herself as illegal immigration’s answer to Rosa Parks. When Rosa Parks insisted on moving to the front of the bus, everyone was shocked and racists were appalled...but decent people everywhere knew she was right. Arellano is wrong. Her argument is with what she herself describes as "My country, Mexico."

7. If you have a lock on your front door, your position is clear: you favor border security and are against illegal intrusion.

Karl Rove Taking on Final Project of Bush Administration:

Electing a Successor

Make no mistake. Karl Rove may be leaving the White House but he is not leaving the Bush Administration. He was not forced out. It has nothing to do with subpoenas or spending more time with his family or because the work of the Bush Administration is over.

Karl Rove is leaving the White House to put his undivided efforts in service of the last crucial project of the Bush Administration–electing Bush’s successor. Officially or unofficially, Karl Rove will be working to elect a successor that is acceptable to President Bush by virtue of continuing his vision. The ProConPundit is not sure who that is. McCain, Thompson or Huckabee are my best guesses.

If you think George W. Bush is not concerned about who his successor will be, think again. If you think George W. Bush will leave The White House with his head hung in shame and return to Texas like LBJ ready to do nothing but drink and let his hair grow, think again. Incidentally, the ProConPundit intends no disregard to LBJ. Bush, while not having a ready made successor in his VP, thank God, is critically concerned about who will replace him. He has had a rocky history with McCain yet McCain is the best shot to lead in a way that will reflect well on Bush. Some of Bush’s family members having been flirting with the Romney and Thompson campaigns. Above anything else, Bush does not want Hillary Clinton in the White House. What’s more? President George H. W. Bush, or as I like to say, the real Bush, does not want Hillary Clinton elected. If Hillary is elected, the Clinton spin will be that they twice delivered the country from the Bushes.

Romney buys victory in Iowa.
Huckabee earns it.

The ProConPundit believes that the Iowa GOP Straw vote is useless and pivotal at the same time. Its an unofficial "election" where voters pay $ 35 to vote and have to go to great effort to vote. 14,000 voted, McCain and Giuliani skipped the poll, while Romney worked Iowa hard to the tune of 5 million dollars. Romney spent 2.5 million dollars in campaign ads and another 2.5 million in campaign materials. He garnered 4516 votes.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee spent pennies in comparison and eked out 2587 votes. The useless part of the straw vote is that two of the top contenders took a pass and Romney bought votes. It is pivotal for Huckabee in that he earned his votes by doing retail politics and, by coming in second, even in such a small and insignificant race, it gives him some hope of moving to the top tier. The ProConPundit has come to like Huckabee in recent months as he has become better know. I am still not comfortable with a Baptist minister in the White House and I may never be ready for another governor from Arkansas! But Huckabee is working hard to go places. Should McCain, who is still the best qualified contender, fall off the chart, the ProConPundit will be shopping for a new contender and I can’t see it being Rudy or Romney. If you want to learn more about Huckabee, check this out: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=About.Home

In fairness, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) came in a few hundred votes behind Huckabee. I don’t think it says as much for Brownback as he is from nearby Kansas and should have done well in Iowa. The sooner Brownback and other "not-a-chance" wannabees exit the stage, the more attention can be given to serious contenders. Brownback is a VERY angry guy and we Americans DO NOT elect angry people to the White House. Except for Nixon...and well, Carter. Almost never!

P.S. Mike Huckabee’s star is rising and this will be his time to see if he can make it to the big leagues. If he can’t, he will likely carve out a pivotal spot for himself as the running mate to the nominee. Why? Arkansas only has six electoral votes and is a reliably red state. However, if Hillary Clinton runs, Bill will work Arkansas and try to carry it. In a close election, moving Arkansas to a Democratic win could win Hillary the election. Having Huckabee as the running mate may insure that it stay red.

"We Can’t Make John Black"
We’re too busy trying to make him sincere!

Elizabeth Edwards recently caught some flack for saying, "The Web can be liberating. It's about bypassing the sieve of the mainstream media," says Elizabeth Edwards, wife and confidant of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards. "The idea that you have people standing between you and the voter is diminished, and the capacity to speak directly empowers candidates to trust their own voices." With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hogging media coverage, campaigns can push their messages without paying for ads. "In some ways, it's the way we have to go," Edwards says. "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fund-raising dollars. Now it's nice to get on the news, but not the be all and end all."

Elizabeth has been called a racist and sexist when she is simply correct. Clinton and Obama as the first serious woman/black to seek nomination are newsworthy. That is a challenge for the rest of the Democrats vying for air. The only race/gender issue that matters is that if Hillary was a man she would be just another senator and if Obama was white he would not be running for president.

The ProConPundit happens to like Elizabeth Edwards a lot. She is to be admired for using her limited time pursuing the dream of a lifetime for she and John. If she were running she might just put Hillary and Johnny to shame. Elizabeth has her work cut out for her. She says she can’t make John black. Perhaps. It might be easier to make Edwards black than it would to make him sincere--or electable.

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My thanks to those who have enterred comments on the blog. While we have not exceeded our space for responses, we are off to a good start. Many of you e-mail me directly with your pros and cons for which I am grateful.

This 2008 election is most unique in that neither a president nor vice-president is seeking to be elected. Things seem wild and up for grabs which is great if it yields a good result. My hope would be for two excellent nominees so that we could choose from an outstanding Democrat & Republican. I also think President George W. Bush has done a great service to the country in choosing Dick Cheney as his vice-president in this respect. Whatever you think of Cheney, I find it beneficial to have a VP who has no presidential aspirations of his own. The opportunity for a clean slate as we will have next year is healthy. Lets use it wisely. 1976 was the last presidential election that neither a Bush or Clinton was on the ballot. Lets elect a Democrat or Republican next year, lets stick with a boomer, or go younger or older. But please, lets turn the page and wish a fond farewell to the Bushes and the Clintons.

Real City Reality Check for Winners and Wannabees

It is not for gusting winds that Chicago enjoys its identity as the Windy City, but for long-winded and boastful politicians. Seven Democratic candidates for president kept the epithet in tact last night as they debated before 15,000 Chicagoans with union cards at Solder Field. As if the hot air of the politicians were not enough, all of this took place amid sweltering heat and oppressive humidity.

The ProConPundit, much to the criticism of blog readers and advisors, has taken a couple of months off the monotonous drip by drip of the 2008 campaign. The Chicago event last night jump started my interest in this pre-mature political season. The debate was moderated by MSNBC’s sanctimonious, Keith Olbermann. The ProConPundit is no fan of Olbermann. His "Special Comments" on his cable show Countdown are billed as though they are something noteworthy when they are, in fact, tirades that seldom allow facts to be obstacles to his propaganda. The ProConPundit also resents his nightly on-air sign off, "Good night and good luck." That line was the nightly sign-off of CBS icon, Edward R. Murrow, who was the predecessor of Walter Cronkite, well before, incidentally, the time of the ProConPundit. To borrow Murrow’s line EVERY night is Olbermann’s signal that he has really nothing to say.

Olbermann learned last night that you may be able to tell town hall folk in New Haven or polite people in at USC Columbia to please withhold their applause or jeers–but not in Chicago. In a town where our architecture and our pizza matches our personalities: delicious, friendly, bold and rough edged, 15,000 union card holders would not be told when they could express themselves. It was a great debate. And the pols, none of them really Chicagoans, were not very long winded.

Hillary began her remarks with a touching word about how her late father, a die-hard Bears man would have been thrilled to have his daughter on the 10 yard line at Soldier Field. It was a nice touch. Obama, in trying to compete with Hillary for hometown status welcomed everyone to Chicago. That was gracious except that he was addressing 15,000 Chicagoans.

The problem with the Democratic field are the candidacies of Barack Obama and John Edwards. With each additional word that comes out of their mouths they show themselves to be increasingly silly and not competent to be president at this perilous time in our history. The trouble with them is that neither has a chance of beating Hillary Clinton yet they are taking up space and depriving top tier status to others who are, in fact, competent, and would stand a better chance of taking out Hillary.

Like them or not, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, and I like Biden and dislike Dodd, are competent, serious and ready to lead this nation. They don’t pop off with sound bites and simplistic solutions to complex problems as do Obama and Edwards. Biden, Dodd, and Clinton all rightly chided Obama for his dangerous and imbecilic blather about bombing Pakistan. Yes, he wants to bomb Pakistan, right after he has quiche with Castro, Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Meanwhile, he has both the audacity to hope and not answer a direct question honestly. He was asked whether he, if president, would welcome Barry Bonds to the White House. Can you say duck?

Barack Obama really seems to be clueless as to how much of a pawn he is of the Clinton machine. He is holding the space they want him to hold: keeping anyone else from taking a swipe at her. When the others have been picked away, they will squash him like a bug. Obama, incidentally, not a bad guy but the only serious election he has ever won was against Alan Keyes. He is in way over his head. Meanwhile, his wife, Michelle keeps doing interviews talking about what kind of First Lady she would be. Keep your day job, ma’am.

Those of you who know the ProConPundit know how much it pains me to say this because I really don’t like her and I really, really don’t want her to be the president. However, Hillary Clinton is running a brilliant campaign. When she stands up there with six men, excluding Obama and Edwards all serious, knowledgeable, and capable, she hold her own and rises above them. Obama will have future runs, this is not his time. Edwards is all hair. Dodds and Biden are blatantly campaigning to be Hillary’s running mate or Secretary of State, often agreeing with her during debates. Richardson and Kuchinich are serious and knowledgeable but going no where.

Put out of your head the notion of a Clinton-Obama ticket. Like her husband, her running mate will not be out of friendship or dues paying or who they most trust. It will, like everything else the Clinton’s do, be a totally self-serving political equation. She has no need of Obama on the ticket. She does not need any more minority than she already has in being a women and heavily favored by the black community. Sorry Biden and Dodd, you can’t delivery anything the Clinton’s don’t already have. Watch for Richardson to be her running mate–he brings regional and Latino appeal. If there is such a thing as a white, male, Southern, Democrat, I’d watch for that.

All of this said, at this time four years ago Howard Dean looked unbeatable and the presumed DOA John Kerry rose out of the ashes. So anything is possible. It is looking increasingly like a Democratic victory next year. However, at this time in 1991, President George H. W. Bush seemed so unbeatable that better known Democratic candidates like Gephardt and Gore decided to take a pass and let lesser known Paul Tsongas and Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown and even lesser known Bill Clinton make fools of themselves. So the games are really just beginning. But Republicans, come on, you’re going to need to find a winner if you want to lead the way.

Sideshows: Gonzales-gate and Scotter-gate
Two issues that the ProConPundit believes are really detracting congressional and executive attention away from more important issues are Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the whole Valerie Wilson Plame/Scooter Libby ordeal. A recent Chicago Tribune editorial states well the folly of the Democrats to use the time and energy of their decisive victory last fall poorly. The ProConPundit believes that the political firings of politically appointed judges is a non story. Change the way judges are selected and I am with you. But when political hacks get dumped, move on.
As for Valerie Plame and Scooter Libby, here’s the deal. Valerie’s top secret CIA appointment was driving a desk at CIA offices. Her husband, the venerable ambassador, is a self declared drunken womanizer. Why should we care about this?

I think its peculiar for Libby to be charged and convicted when the underlying crime was never prosecuted. However, he did lie under oath. You may recall that no one was ever charged with the underlying crime of Watergate. No burglars ever went to jail. That didn’t save Dean, Colson, Haldeman, & Erlichman. To my dear, kindred, conservative friends: we either think perjury is a bad thing or we don’t. If we do, than anyone who is convicted of it should pay the price. If we don’t, then we shouldn’t have wanted Clinton put out of office. If we don’t think perjury is wrong, its okay with me. Let me know how you explain that to your children and grandchildren!

These side shows are distractions from Iraq, crumbling infrastructure and healthcare.

The Gonzales soap opera
Chicago Ttribune Editorial

August 1, 2007

The mystery that has captivated official Washington this summer -- well, OK, the Democrats in Congress -- is a tale of intrigue and conflict at the highest levels of government. What happened, the Dems want to know, when Alberto Gonzales paid a nighttime visit in 2004 to the hospital bedside of a groggy then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft?Gonzales, who was then White House counsel, apparently tried to persuade Ashcroft, under sedation and recovering from surgery, to reapprove a terrorist surveillance program run by the National Security Agency that was about to expire. Or so says a former top Justice official. Ashcroft wouldn't do the reauthorizing. All the while, other Justice officials reportedly were considering whether to resign over their legal objections to the program.Ever since word of the bedside visit surfaced in congressional testimony, Democrats have been baying like obsessed soap opera fans who missed an episode: They want to know what happened in that room, detail by detail.

They want to know, they say, because they suspect Gonzales may not have been completely truthful in his testimony about the program this year. But we suspect there are other reasons: They'd like to expose discord over the program within the Justice Department to bolster their skepticism over changes the president is urging in the surveillance law. And they'd like to further discredit Gonzales and force him to resign as attorney general.Last week, the saga of the bedside visit took a surprise twist. FBI Director Robert Mueller seemed to contradict Gonzales' testimony that the visit wasn't about the NSA surveillance program in question. Democrats went ballistic, suggesting Gonzales had deliberately misled Congress. Or did he? As The New York Times reported Sunday, it may be that Gonzales was telling the truth, that the visit concerned a different national security program.Now Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and three other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are asking the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to probe whether Gonzales lied to Congress about the NSA program. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has said he also supports that move.And a group of Democratic House members is calling for an investigation and talking about the impeachment of Gonzales.Congress has every right to demand answers, to subpoena witnesses, as it has. It has plenty of power to probe the 2004 hospital bedside meeting, the firing of U.S. attorneys and anything else it pleases. And to tell the public what it learns.What Congress doesn't need -- what the country doesn't need -- is another special counsel with a blank checkbook and an open-ended agenda. Those who doubt that should revisit the legal bloodletting of the 1980s and 1990s, when special prosecutors ran amok, racking up huge bills and consuming lawmakers' time.That's why Congress allowed the federal law that authorized independent counsel investigations to lapse in 1999. Both Republicans and Democrats were frustrated with the cost, length and lack of accountability of investigations. How quickly lawmakers forget.The law expired, but the authority remained with the attorney general to appoint a special counsel when it is warranted.This case does not meet that test.We say this not to protect Gonzales. This page argued in April that Gonzales should resign for his incompetent administration of the office, particularly his handling of the firing of the federal prosecutors last year.But a special counsel? Impeachment? Do Democrats really think the larger public is up in arms because Gonzales may have gotten lawyerly cute in answering their questions? Get real.The Bush administration allowed politics to trump public interest at the Justice Department. Democrats are in danger of making the same mistake on Capitol Hill.