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Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele finally has an exploratory committee website up taking donations and volunteer information. I encourage you all to visit, contribute, and stay informed about this race. This is a grand opportunity for Republicans to pick up a seat in a blue state, let us not let this go to waste.

If Lt. Gov. Steele does indeed declare his candidacy, best believe that I will be trying my best to spend the summer in my old home state of Maryland to get him elected. But for now, donations will have to do.

STEELE FOR SENATE

Get to work folks!

Claudio

The greatest ice cream in the world. Just check out the flavors of new Star Spangled Ice Cream:

Gun Nut
Smaller GovernMINT
I Hate the French Vanilla
Nutty Environmentalist
Iraqi Road
Air Force Plane Vanilla
Navy BattleCHIP
Fightin’ Marine Tough Cookies n’ Cream
G.I. Love Chocolate
Ara-Fat Free
Candy McCain
Cherry Falwell
Choc & Awe
Donald Rum Raisin
Dutch (Reagan) Chocolate
Iraq The Vote
Orange Alert Sherbet
RUSHmallow
School Prayerleens & Crème
Al Gore Fundraiser Coffee
Bill Clinton Im-Peach
Jimmy Carter Peanut Malaise
John Kerry Ketchup Dough

Plus, part of the proceeds go to the troops. Drop that Ben N’ Jerry’s hippie!

Claudio

Slow news day –> Open Thread. What is your dream ticket for the 2008 Presidential Election?

Give me Condi Rice-Jeb Bush ‘08!

Claudio

People like this shouldn’t be allowed to speak on politics:

Belafonte used a Hitler analogy when asked about what impact prominent blacks such as former Secretary of State Powell and current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had on the Bush administration’s relations with minorities.

“Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Color does not necessarily denote quality, content or value,” Belafonte said in an exclusive interview with Cybercast News Service.

“[If] a black is a tyrant, he is first and foremost a tyrant, then he incidentally is black. Bush is a tyrant and if he gathers around him black tyrants, they all have to be treated as they are being treated,” he added.

When asked specifically who was a “black tyrant” in the Bush administration, Belafonte responded to this reporter, “You.” When this reporter noted that he was a Caucasian and attempted to ask another question, Belafonte abruptly ended the interview by saying, “That’s it.”

Stick to making movies chump. (Hat tip: The Corner).

Claudio

I still havent’ seen any anti-Muslim signs.

Dorian Davis is a genius.

Claudio

Well, close enough:

I understand that my views on laws governing abortion set me in the minority in our Commonwealth. I am prolife. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate.

I don’t know what I think about Gov. Romney yet. If the only other Republican potential nominees are Sen. Allen, Sen. Frist, Sen. McCain, Giuliani, Pataki, and Rep. Tancredo, then I might have to give Gov. Romney a much closer look.

Claudio

This was what Democratic Mayor Mike Bloomberg had to say about petty petition challenges back in the day (2004):

It’s become a whole cottage industry of you don’t have to beat the other guy based on positions or your ability to serve; all you’ve got to do is beat him because you got a better lawyer who can get him thrown off the ballot. I think it’s time to end this ‘gotcha’ kind of technique where lawyers comb petitions to find some technical violation. [Emphasis mine.]

Right. Now fast-forward to 2005. Same Mayor Mike, but now with a real Republican potentially challenging him in a primary:

The Bloomberg campaign plans today to try to prevent a Republican primary for mayor by challenging the nominating petitions of Thomas V. Ognibene, the former city councilman who is seeking to run on the Republican line.

Bloomberg campaign aides said they had found problems with Mr. Ognibene’s petitions, including signatures of people ineligible to vote or not enrolled as Republicans, signatures that did not match those on voter registration cards, and incomplete forms. The flaws, they said, will most likely drop the number from the 8,116 signatures submitted to well below the 7,500 needed to qualify for the ballot.

By trying to halt a primary challenge by Mr. Ognibene, a conservative, the Bloomberg campaign is seeking to avoid not only a distracting primary battle, but also a confrontation with elements of the Republican Party who think Mr. Bloomberg is too liberal.

Hmmmm. Dare I say “flip-flop”? Ognibene’s response is priceless:

It seems that the only thing that Bloomberg isn’t willing to spend money on is a fair fight. Why participate in the democratic process when you can simply write a check, and buy it?

Indeed. Oh, and couple that with the fact that Democratic Mike is getting endorsements from NARAL and potentially not supporting President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge John G. Roberts (even Hilary is supporting the man for goodness’ sake!):

Mayor Mike will be endorsed by the New York chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League at a 12:30 press conference at Brooklyn’s Kings County hospital, sources say.

Key question: Will Bloomberg now take a harder stance against Bush administration Supreme Court nominee John Roberts in line with NARAL’s opposition to his nomination? (Yesterday, the mayor punted, saying he’d have to examine Roberts’ record more carefully).

Could I dislike this guy any more than I already do? Is it even possible? We’ll see in the days and weeks to come…but something tells me even now, that it is more than possible, it’s likely.

Claudio

PS - My brother Thomas will return to light-blogging here at The (vast) Right Wing Conspiracy soon. He has been interning at State Senator and Queens County Republican Chairman Serph Maltese’s office (the only county party head to endorse Ognibene) and has been able to meet with the Senator on an almost daily basis. We’ll ask him to share his thoughts and predictions regarding future clashes between Serph and Mike and the future of the Queens GOP.

…and I’m not being sarcastic here (I know, you can never tell with me), but Ann Coulter dislikes John Roberts (for SCOTUS, at least).

Finally, lets ponder the fact that Roberts has gone through 50 years on this planet without ever saying anything controversial. That’s just unnatural. By contrast, I held out for three months, tops, before dropping my first rhetorical bombshell, which I think was about Goldwater.

It’s especially unnatural for someone who is smart, and there’s no question but that Roberts is smart. If a smart and accomplished person goes this long without expressing an opinion, they’d better be pursuing the Miss America title.

Apparently, Roberts decided early on that he wanted to be on the Supreme Court and that the way to do that was not to express a personal opinion on anything to anybody ever. It’s as if he is from some space alien sleeper cell. Maybe the space aliens are trying to help us, but I wish we knew that.

If the Senate were in Democrat hands, Roberts would be perfect. But why on earth would Bush waste a nomination on a person who is a complete blank slate when we have a majority in the Senate! We also have a majority in the House, state legislatures, state governorships, and have won five of the last seven presidential elections – seven of the last ten!

We’re the Harlem Globetrotters now – why do we have to play the Washington Generals every week? Conservatism is sweeping the nation, we have a fully functioning alternative media, we’re ticked off and ready to avenge Robert Bork … and Bush nominates a Rorschach blot.

Ouch. Well, I do believe there is some merit to the relative lack of controversy surrounding Judge Roberts. But that’s just because I’m a drama queen (I think that line is gonna force the good folks over at Daily Kos to launch an “investigation” into whether I might possibly be gay).

Claudio

UPDATE: It would seem as if there are more than a few conservatives that aren’t exactly thrilled about Judge Roberts. For example, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru is not happy. Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes isn’t ecstatic, either.

More rumors, but now I’m pretty sold on them: Edith “Joy” Clement will be President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Hill mentions it, as does Red State, and Bench Memos, and a few other smaller outlets.

I would guess the nomination will not be announced this week, but rather next week. The closer to October 3, 2005 Bush can stretch it, the better for the candidate.

Claudio

UPDATE!!:
Claudio is now never allowed to predict ANYTHING ever again.
–Pat
(j/k)

UPDATE: LOL. Hey, hey, most people argue that even Tradesports.com had it wrong. But yeah, I’ll admit, my SCOTUS-nominee-predicting abilities have fallen off from the the previous high of, well, mispredicting that CJ Rehnquist would resign a week ago.

UPDATE AGAIN: And while I’m on a roll, I am also predicting that either the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins, or Philadelphia Phillies will come in first place in the NL East this year. Oh, and a Democrat will win the presidential election in 2oo8. Let’s hope I stay true to my proven record as a seer here, dear!

Claudio

Claudio

Alright, good news coming from the Ognibene camp. It seems Tom has 7,800 petition signatures, 300 more than the 7,500 needed to secure a place on the ballot in the mayoral primary. Some are arguing that the signatures may not be valid as 1,000 or so of them were inherited from the now-defunct campaign of Steve Shaw (see Slantpoint comments for discussion).

I think Bloomberg’s people may try to challenge, but the petition will stand. Ognibene on the ballot means finally a chance to send a message to Bloomberg and the state GOP.

Claudio