Blackmail and Lies from the "Values" Party

Thank you to everyone who left condolences and kind thoughts upon the recent death of my grandmother. The travel was grueling (10 hours in a very cramped car each way), but we were grateful to be able to celebrate her life with family and friends and say our goodbyes.

As they say, life goes on - and so does the game playing we've come to expect from the Republicans. They really crossed over the (ethics) line though with the recent minimum wage/estate tax package. I think Congress should be prohibited from piggybacking issues together like this, and they should be forced to make the information available at least a week before it comes up for a vote. What a bunch of corrupt sneaks - and that goes for the 34 Democrats that went along with them.

Actions like this are turning people against the "values" party, and even causing people to change sides.

Former basketball star Charles Barkley says he's switched political teams from Republican to Democrat and is again talking about running for governor in his home state, possibly in 2010.

"I really believe I was put on Earth to do more than play basketball and stockpile money," said Barkley. [...] "I really want to help people improve their lives, and what's left is for me to decide how best to do that."

As you might recall, Barkley recently gave this reason for switching parties: "I was a Republican until they lost their minds." And that statement was before the GOP's recent minimum wage stunt.

Speaking of stunts, here's a little tidbit from Ol Froth:

Looks like Little Ricky Santorum was caught trying to smear Bob Casey with a false story!

The tactics of the desperate. Lie, smear, and fling mud. Little Ricky can't run on his record, because doing so is the road to defeat.

Here's the story on Little Ricky:

Picture the TV commercial, a deep voice delivering this ominous message, in a slow, deliberate cadence: "Even al-Jazeera endorsed Democrat Bobby Casey Jr. Whose side is he on, anyway?"

It's hard not to think that was partly why Republican blogs and aides to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) sounded giddy last week as they passed around a commentary from a Web site, www.Al-Jazeerah.info.

"Don't ask Santorum to 'apologize,' folks. Vote Democratic," stated the commentary, which denounced the senator's July 20 speech describing the United States as fighting a war on Islamic fascism, not terror.

Santorum referenced it himself Thursday on Fox's O'Reilly Factor.

But there was one little wrinkle.

The Web site was not related to the Arabic TV network based in the Middle East - spelled al-Jazeera, no h.

The goal of al-Jazeerah, according to its Web site, is to "promote cross-cultural understanding between people all over the world." It's based in Dalton, Ga., not Qatar.

"Rick Santorum has reached a new low in gutter politics by trying to ridiculously link Bob Casey to terrorists," Casey spokesman Larry Smar said.

Santorum's spokeswoman, Virginia Davis, said it doesn't make a difference. "We thought we should share these kind of sentiments." [Emphasis added.]

It doesn't make a difference? I don't know about Santorum's values, but I was raised to believe lying is wrong. Maybe Santorum sees it differently because of the company he keeps. Michigan's own Dick DeVos was recently called on the carpet by the Detroit Freep for a commercial that misrepresented the paper and one of their columnists, and yesterday the Lansing State Journal criticized an ad that illustrates DeVos' unwillingness to play straight with voters. They go on to say, "The fact DeVos wasn't clear to begin with is telling."

Pohlitics believes that unwillingness to be straight with voters is cause for concern:

The DeVos family's Amway/Alticor money has bankrolled the extreme right-wing takeover of American politics.

[...] At the same time though, let's not forget how the Republicans in Washington, led by George Bush's army of "values voters", have turned back the clock -- or, should I say, tried and failed (so far) to turn back the clock -- on a whole host of social issues like abortion, stem cell research, gun control, gay marriage, and so on. Dick DeVos was there every step of the way, pumping those soapy Amway dollars into the campaign coffers of the Republican politicians who made it all possible.

[...]Governor Granholm really is our last line of defense against a complete takeover of Michigan's state government by the same conservative movement that has already swept over Washington.

Our country deserves better than people like Santorum and DeVos. We deserve to be governed by people with real values and real concern for people.