The Justice Dept (obviously at the behest of the President) will not bring charges against the CIA for torture. Federal prosecutor John Durham has been investigating the disgusting treatment of 101 detainees that were in U.S. custody. Thankfully for the government and all those who wish to continue the imperialist empire no one will be held accountable. The lamentable Eric Holder said that
based on the fully developed factual record concerning the two deaths, the department has declined prosecution because the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.
Even more disturbing was the CIA Director David Petraeus’s message to CIA employees
as intelligence officers, our inclination, of course, is to look ahead to the challenges of the future rather than backwards at those of the past. Nonetheless, it was very important that we supported fully the Justice Department in its efforts
I would like to thank everyone who played a role doing so.
Former CIA Director Micheal Hayden gave a similar response, saying he was
heartened that the investigation is complete, and I’m heartened by the results. I had great confidence in Mr. Durham. I just regret that many CIA officers had to go through yet another review of these activities.
The influential Drudge Report had an article the other day claiming that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on the top of the short list for Vice President. What are we to make of this? Conservative bloggers have been in an uproar over this idea. Erick Erickson wrote in Redstate:
I don’t know who is hitting the crack rock tonight in the rumor mill, but bull shiitake mushrooms.
Condelizza Rice is pro-abortion. She worked for George Bush for eight years.
Rice’s legacy as a war criminal in the Bush administration will be hard to shake off. A lot of political capital will be spent defending Bush and abortion if Secretary Rice is picked. Conservative activists might be naive though in thinking that Romney wouldn’t pick Rice as a running mate. Presidential elections are less about ideals, and more about winning. Candidates will do what they need to do to win. In theory, the Republican nominee is supposed to unite all Republicans, not just ultraconservative activists.
Establishment Republicans on the other hand seem to like the notion of Rice on the ticket. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan gushed at the idea:
Consider: A public figure of obvious and nameable accomplishment whose attainments can’t be taken away from her. Washington experience-she wouldn’t be learning on the job. Never run for office but no political novice. An academic, but not ethereal or abstract. A woman in a year when Republicans aren’t supposed to choose a woman because of what is now called the 2008 experience-so the choice would have a certain boldness. A black woman in a campaign that always threatens to take on a painful racial overlay. A foreign-policy professional acquainted with everyone who’s reigned or been rising the past 20 years. I should add here the look on the faces of the people who were applauding. They looked surprised by their own passion
Matt Drudge’s close personal relationship with Mitt Romney suggests that he would not print something false that could hurt his candidate. So if this is true, why would Romney pick Sec. Rice? The simple answer is that Rice is a black woman. Romney is struggling with both of these electoral blocks. But if he thinks that picking a black woman will help, he is even more stupid and condescending than John McCain was. Warmonger McCain though that picking a woman would help steal Clinton votes away from Obama. Obviously this failed miserably. If Romney thinks that women and blacks will vote for him because of his running mate he does not deserve to win.
My feeling on this is mixed. Picking a former Bush official is a pretty stupid tactic. Her involvement in the illegal Iraq war will take the focus off of economy. In fact her involvement in numerous foreign policy blunders will shift the conversation away from the economy. On the other hand Romney has not shied away from surrounding himself with former Bush administration officials. His entire foreign policy team is composed of Buh era war criminals. So picking Rice may not be a big leap for him. And again, why would Drudge print something that would hurt Romney? Team Romney said that they will announce their pick or Vice President in the coming weeks. So we will just have to wait and see.
This years NAACP convention has received a great deal more attention this year. Presidetial candidate Gov. Mitt Romney’s speech before the civil rights organization was not received well. Aside from telling the audience that he would be better for black Americans than our black president, Romney also got booed after saying he would repeal the Affordable Care Act. The governor really missed an opportunity here to broaden his base.
Romney is already struggling to shake off the image that his candidacy is built on rich white men. Support among women is low for the Republican; with minority support even more embarrassing. If Romney wants to win he needs to appeal to a larger audience. His speech has only sowed more discord amongst black voters. The Governor could have at least tried to pander to his audience. He might still have been booed, but at least he could have said he tried. Now he is stuck looking like a rich out of touch white guy. The speech seemed designed more for his white base than for his black audience. Governor Romney wanted to assure the conservative white electorate that he still has their interests at heart. He is terrified of upsetting his base. So terrified he is willing to go before the most prominent civil rights group in America and berate the first black president. It is fair to say that the strategy being used by Team Romney is one based solely on the white vote. It will now be that much harder for Romney to demonstrate he will be a President for all Americans.
Perhaps more interesting was the Presidents absence from the convention. Administration officials claimed that a scheduling problem prevented the President from addressing the NAACP. This is quite a weak reason for not attending the convention. How could President Obama, in an election year, not have marked this day on the calendar? Obama has been criticized by many as taking the black vote for granted. Missing the NAACP reinforces this notion. Perhaps it was a smart political move though. Using Vice President Biden allows for the president to send a message he may not politically get away with. True to form, Biden gave a vociferous speech on the dangers of electing Romney. Listening to him you might think that Romney is the second coming of the Klan. Biden took particular care to mention that a vote for Romney would result in policies that would restrict the voting rights of Black Americans. If the President had made a speech like Biden’s he would undoubtedly be attacked for playing the race card.
While his speech was received with great fanfare, the presidents absence is still a negative. There’s no doubt that President Obama will win the lions share of the black vote; if not the whole vote entirely. The issue is whether the black vote will be as large as it was in 2008. The alienation that many Black Americans feel towards the President is real. So real that it could effect the election. No politician should ever take a voting block for granted. Black Americans are in much more dire economic shape than whites. While they won’t vote for Romney, they may not vote for Obama in the same numbers they did in 2008. The President has made overtures to the Hispanic vote with his executive order of the dream act; his decision to not uphold DOMA has helped him among the gay community. Where is his political gesture to the black vote? Most black voters, if not all, will vote for
Obama. But if black voters stay home it could be the nail in the coffin for President Obama’s reelection.
In less than an hour the first votes will begin coming in from the the New Hampshire Primary. Former Governor Mitt Romney at last check is still the front runner polling at about 37%. His nearest competitors Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman are polling at 17% and 14% respectively. Romney will win the New Hampshire primary, baring some sort of act of God. The amount that Romney wins by will be a strong indicator for how well his campaign truly is. If he were to win again with only 25% of vote, like in Iowa, than the win is really a lose. Romney winning by 30%, his second place finish in 2008, would also be pretty bad for the governor. Everyone from David Axelrod to Newt Gingrich would be able to spin that as proof that Romney really doesn’t have broad support in the country. Romney has got to win with about 37-40% to really be able to call it a win.
The other candidate that has been receiving a lot of attention, mostly from the media, is former ambassador and Governor Jon Huntsman. Huntsman has been making a mad dash to try and solidify votes in the granite state and pull off a big win. This seems increasingly unlikely. Huntsman has certainly seen a bump in his numbers the past couple of days, but he is still behind Ron Paul in a state that he has practically lived in. Even if he were to beat Paul he has no infrastructure in any other state to speak of. Huntsman’s strategy is either win or bust. New Hampshire has been a state that has turned in serious upsets, so it would not be unprecedented if Huntsman were to do well.
The biggest loser in New Hampshire is going to be Rick Santorum. Aside from Huntsman Santorum has spent the most time in the state. Yet, he seems destined to do pretty terrible. This will take away from this new status as the real alternative to Mitt Romney. The senator like Perry and Gingrich will be looking to South Carolina as their saving grace.
When all the votes are counted who will drop out of the GOP nominating process?
After watching Rick Perry on Fox News just few minutes ago he seems ready to end it in the next few days. He has spent millions in Iowa and will finish in fifth place with around 10% of the vote. Having seen his campaign implode shortly after his first debate, it seems increasingly unlikely that Perry will be able to continue on. The Governors prospects of doing well in New Hampshire are extremely low, and his chances in South Carolina are just as bad if Santorum wins in Iowa.
Michelle Bachmann is headed towards an even worse finish in Iowa. As of right now she has not won even a single county in Iowa, and is polling at around 5%. She faces a similar problem that Perry does; a terrible campaign in Iowa, with no momentum going into the upcoming primaries. Bachmann does not have the financial resources that the governor does, and with no prospects of raising any capital in the near future, she will have no chance of accomplishing anything in the upcoming primaries.
If these two candidates do drop out this will be good news for Jon Huntsman. Huntsman will than be able to position himself as an alternative to the right wing conservative section of the GOP. He will have more air time in New Hampshire, where he has been feverishly campaigning all year, which will help him to stand out more.
Rick Santorum’s visits to all 99 of Iowa’s counties may have really payed of. So far 23 counties have gone to the former Pennsylvania Senator. Just as important though are Mitt Romeny’s number right now in Iowa. With 12 counties going to Romney, he commands the narrow lead over Santorum.
Porkins Policy Review 