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October 13, 2006 [LINK / comment]
A deluge of "October surprises"
Corruption? On Capitol Hill??? Yes, I'm afraid it's true. As the Mark Foley mess reminded us last week, one of the main weapons used in electoral politics these days is scandal-mongering. It is obviously no coincidence that most of the revelations of misdeeds by elected officials come in the weeks just before the election. It was reported this week, of all weeks, that Sen. George Allen (R-VA) failed to report stock options on a company he was promoting in his capacity as a public official; see Washington Post. Perhaps in retaliation, or perhaps not, it was learned that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) made highly quesionable profits off a real estate deal; see Washington Post. By genuine coincidence, in contrast, Rep. Robert Ney pleaded guilty today to corruption. See Washington Post. That scandal -- all of the unsavory dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- was over a year old.
Perhaps some day it will sink into certain thick skulls that there really was a good reason to prevent growth of the government bureaucracy and resist the temptation to cure social ills through Federal spending.
Speaking of which, Richard Viguerie, one of the fiercest conservative ideologues of the Reagan Era, is plugging his new book Conservatives Betrayed -- How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause at conservativehq.com. Yet another right-wing Bush-bashing book by a conservative... He recently appeared on C-SPAN. Back in the early 1980s when I was left of center, I viewed Viguerie with particular distaste, likening him to such unsavory right-wing polemicists as R. Emmet Tyrell. It is interesting to get a fresh perspective on someone who has been out of the limelight for many years.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 14 Oct 2006, 12: 04 AM
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Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007: 
Category archives:
(all years)
Baseball
Politics
Latin America
War
Wild Birds
Culture & Travel
Science & Technology
This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 7, 2006 ~ DeLay gives up majority leader post
January 12, 2006 ~ Alito withstands Dems' "torture"
January 16, 2006 ~ Michelle Bachelet wins in Chile
January 19, 2006 ~ Views on Iran's nuclear ambitions
January 24, 2006 ~ Fallout from Canada's election
January 31, 2006 ~ Second (& third) thoughts on Iran
February 1, 2006 ~ The State of the Union, 2006
February 8, 2006 ~ D.C. Council votes "yes," but...
February 18, 2006 ~ Checks and balances in wartime
February 22, 2006 ~
Neocons & Neolibs: chastened alike
February 28, 2006 ~
The Dubai Ports World uproar
March 14, 2006 ~ New D.C. baseball stadium unveiled
March 24, 2006 ~ In the footsteps of France?
April 7, 2006 ~ Immigration compromise fails
May 16, 2006 ~ Bush militarizes Mexican border
June 6, 2006 ~ Alan Garcia triumphs, once again
June 9, 2006 ~
Zarqawi: The death of a terrorist
July 3, 2006 ~
Election in Mexico: too close to call
July 5, 2006 ~ North Korea goes ballistic
July 28, 2006 ~ Garcia prepares to lead Peru, again
August 4, 2006 ~ Israel invades Hezbolland
September 6, 2006 ~ "Crunchy conservatives": for real?
September 25, 2006 ~ Nationalists thwart conservation
October 3, 2006 ~ Nationals: Year in review
October 29, 2006 ~ Virginia's marriage amendment
November 7, 2006 ~ The people render their verdict
November 8, 2006 ~ Republicans lose big time
November 9, 2006 ~ Allen concedes / Election post-mortem
November 13, 2006 ~ Toward consensus on Iraq?
December 1, 2006 ~ Realism and our goals in Iraq
December 6, 2006 ~ Latin America & U.S. trade policy
December 8, 2006 ~ Iraq Study Group reports
December 22, 2006 ~ Yuletide political roundup
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
- War
- Science & Technology
- Politics
- Latin America
- Culture & Travel
- Canaries ("Home birds")
- Baseball (FIRST)
Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)
