HOUSE VOTES TO CODDLE TERRORISTS: “Defying a White House veto threat, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to outlaw harsh interrogation methods, such as simulated drowning, that the CIA has used against suspected terrorists.” - Reuters, 12/13/07
“Suppose the CIA briefed Congress that there was credible information of a planned terrorist attack to kill every member of Congress with one blow (ala Tom Clancy) - and that the CIA had captured an operative who knew all the details including when - but that the operative would not talk without waterboarding. How many ‘anti-torture’ members would vote to allow the CIA to proceed with whatever measures were necessary to extract the information required to save their own fannies?”
- News & Views reader Gary Marbut
“Chuck, I wonder if (anti-waterboarding) Sen. Olympia Snowe had to choose between being subjected to 35 seconds of waterboarding or death by slowly having her throat cut through, what her opinion of waterboarding would be. With her attitude, she and a lot of other people in America may, make that will, find out. I say waterboarding will be picked 100% of the time.”
- News & Views reader Byron Smith
GIVE CHOICE A CHANCE I
“The answer to the problem in education in America is simple: We need more choice and more competition. Entrance by a good student into a college today, they have a number of choices and people are seeking them to be part of those educational institutions. We don’t have a choice in competition. We need it in K through 12. We need more charter schools. We need vouchers where it’s approved by the local state and school boards. We need to have, clearly, home-schooling if people want that.”
- John McCain in yesterday’s GOP presidential debate
GIVE CHOICE A CHANCE II
“Parents should choose the school that their child goes to, the same way people choose higher education. . . . Higher education is based on choice. It’s based on a large consumer market. It’s based on competition. It’s the area of K through 12 where we have this government command sort of approach. And if we — if we give the choice to parents, where they can choose a private school, a parochial school, a public school, a charter school, home schooling.”
- Rudy Giuliani in yesterday’s GOP presidential debate
GIVE CHOICE A CHANCE III
“The biggest obstacle (to education improvement), in my opinion, is the National Education Association, the NEA. I read time and time again — every time someone wants to inject a little choice into the equation for the benefit of the kids, inject a little freedom, inject a little competition because we’re not exactly doing that well because of the things that you pointed out earlier, the NEA is there to oppose it, and bring in millions and millions of dollars to go on television and work and scare people and misrepresent the situation on the ground.”
- Fred Thompson in yesterday’s GOP presidential debate
GIVE CHOICE A CHANCE IV
“I agree with Senator Thompson on that. Boy, they’ve been the biggest obstacle to change in education and choice.”
- Mitt Romney in yesterday’s GOP presidential debate
WHERE MIKE STANDS
“Three months ago, Mike Huckabee told a reporter he opposes school vouchers; today he says he supports vouchers, Well, which one is it? It sounds like Mike Huckabee wants to have it both ways on school choice. His position changes depending on the audience he speaks to—one position for the National Education Association and the opposite position for Iowa Caucus voters. The American people have a right to know exactly where Mike Huckabee stands on this issue.”
- Club for Growth President Pat Toomey, 12/13/07
FRED APOLOGIZES TO MIKE
“In light of Mike Huckabee’s heartfelt apology to Mitt Romney for making reference to Romney’s religion in the New York Times Magazine, we at the Thompson Campaign would like to offer Huckabee our own heartfelt apologies for some references we’ve made about his record as Governor of Arkansas.
“We apologize for pointing out that as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee offered in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. That’s something he’d probably just as soon no one talk about.
“We apologize for pointing out that in 2002 Huckabee wrote Pres. Bush a letter asking him to lift the Cuban embargo. It’s easy to see how Huckabee might have missed the finer points of a 40-year embargo. While he obviously knew enough about the embargo to ask that it be lifted, Huckabee clearly didn’t know enough to ask that it not be lifted. So for that, we’re sorry.
“We apologize for referencing that 47% tax increase Huckabee imposed on Arkansas taxpayers when he was governor. That must be really awkward for him, now that he’s running in a GOP primary election. We notice he never points it out to voters.
“We apologize for telling reporters that a BA in Biblical Studies from Ouachita Baptist University doesn’t, in fact, make Huckabee more qualified to fight the war on terror than say…Fred Thompson.”
- Karen Hanretty, Deputy Communications Director for Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign
J.D. CLEARED
“You may have missed the news that the Justice Department has decided not to conduct a formal investigation of former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. …Hayworth said Thursday that the Justice Department has told his lawyers they’ve decided against a formal investigation into his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
“Political stories have a short half life, so it’s easy to forget the feeding frenzy that the national and local media conducted on Hayworth. . . . The coverage cost Hayworth his congressional seat, his reputation and a small fortune. It was media fodder for over two years.
“One of the (Arizona) Republic reporters who covered (Hayworth’s opponent Harry) Mitchell is now Mitchell’s congressional spokesman. Now the Justice Department has decided not to even formally investigate the charges. And what does the Republic print? A few words on the back page just below the international weather maps. One more reason why the public despises the media.”
- Espresso Pundit, 12/11/07
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Let’s be Frank; this earmark just ain’t Wright.”
- Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) on a $200,000 earmark to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida for construction of a library to house the historic documents of Frank Lloyd Wright
Posted on December 13th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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