Internal affairs?

Internal affairs? Onetime cops allege they were ousted and harassed because they knew of Mayor Kilpatrick's "philandering"by Curt Guyette5/26/2004 Before the Free Press printed the contents of tawdry text messages between Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, and before the recent civil trial where the two officials denied under oath that they were romantically involved, there was this Metro Times story that first brought the allegations of infidelity to light. From the outset, Kilpatrick’s response has been to steadfastly deny any illicit behavior and attack his accusers as liars seeking a big payoff in court. And that gets to the core of what has always made this an important story — not allegations of philandering, but rather the actions of a mayor willing to ruin the careers of two police officers in order to protect his public image. — Curt Guyette, 1/25/08 Allegations that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has engaged in extramarital affairs reverberated through Detroit late last week. Once the story broke Friday afternoon, print, radio and television news outlets rushed to provide broad coverage of sworn statements contained in court documents. The mayor offered a wholesale denial of the allegations at a news conference later that same day, saying the accusations are coming from people with an ulterior motive: money. Gary A. Brown, former head of the Detroit Police Department's internal affairs unit, and Officer Harold C. Nelthrope are seeking a combined $14 million in a Whistleblower Protection Act civil lawsuit filed last year against the mayor, the city and others. Many of the allegations, first reported by Metro Times on its Web site, were contained in confidential mediation summaries that document the basis for Nelthrope's and Brown's cases. Those summaries were recently presented to a three-lawyer mediation panel, which proposed a settlement figure. In a May 20 memo to the Mayor's Office and the city's Law Department, Councilwoman Sharon McPhail wrote: "Word has reached me that these cases have been to mediation and that the mediation amounts proposed by the panel for these two cases totals over 2 million dollars." McPhail wouldn't comment on her memo or any other aspect of the case, though her memo states that any settlement should, by law, get council consideration. Each side has until June 1 to accept or reject the proposed settlement. If either side balks, the civil case will proceed to trial. Kilpatrick administration officials did not return calls seeking comment on Monday. Metro Times' requests for a copy of the city's mediation summary were ignored. Mike Stefani, attorney for Brown and Nelthrope, would not comment on the amount of the settlement proposal, but said he expects this case to go to trial. While the alleged sexual escapades have been a focus of media attention, if the city ends up paying out millions of dollars, it will be because of allegations that officers were retaliated against for simply doing their jobs rather than the mayor's alleged "philandering." "When he [the mayor] lets a private matter affect how the city is run, then that personal matter becomes a public matter," says Stefani. Beatty at the crux Key to the case is mayoral chief of staff Christine Beatty, one of at least four women the plaintiffs accuse the mayor of having trysts with. Beatty did not return calls seeking comment. As with the mayor, the accusations leveled against Beatty are newsworthy because of actions she and others in the administration allegedly took to conceal the purported infidelity. Among other things, the plaintiffs' mediation summaries accuse Beatty of lying about the sequence of events that led to Brown's removal as head of the internal affairs unit. Attorney Stefani tells Metro Times that the Michigan State Police asked the Attorney General's Office for an arrest warrant charging Beatty with perjury and obstruction of justice, but that the attorney general declined. Asked specifically about Stefani's assertion, Matt Davis, spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, would only say that there was "no basis to make any charges" at the conclusion of a state investigation into allegations of abuses by Kilpatrick's security unit. Nelthrope contacted internal affairs in April 2003 with allegations that some members of the mayor's Executive Protection Unit were fraudulently padding time sheets, drinking while on duty and covering up accidents involving department vehicles. Nelthrope also reported rumors of a party involving strippers at the mayoral residence, the city-owned Manoogian Mansion. Investigations by the attorney general and State Police found no evidence the party had occurred. However, prior to the launch of those investigations, the administration released a confidential report identifying Nelthrope as the source of the allegations. And Brown, a 26-year veteran, was removed as the head of internal affairs. Two other high-ranking members of the unit were transferred out. In addition, two other officers have since filed lawsuits also claiming retaliation. Officer Walt Harris, who served as a bodyguard to former Mayor Dennis Archer during his administration, alleges that he became the target of a smear campaign after he cooperated with state investigators last year. Harris resigned from the department and moved to Indiana. Last month, Lt. Alvin Bowman filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that he was transferred out of the homicide division for investigating the killing of Tamara Greene, a 27-year-old stripper who claimed to have performed at the Manoogian Mansion party that the attorney general called an "urban myth." Kilpatrick came into office riding campaign promises to clean up a troubled Police Department being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department. Now, claim some, attempts at reform have been dealt a severe blow. "This has definitely had a chilling effect," says Officer Reggie Crawford, a 27-year veteran. The Kilpatrick administration, says Crawford, "has an agenda to discourage officers from reporting improprieties" on the part of the mayor and those close to him. "Some of us will continue to step up and step forward," says Crawford, who helped establish a reward fund in an attempt to find Greene's killer. "But it makes it difficult going to work every day." There are other repercussions as well. "Officially, I'm waiting to see what turns up in the court process," says City Council President Maryann Mahaffey. "I'm not assuming anyone's guilty. But this is a terrible cloud hanging over our heads when there are such needs out there." The controversy is boiling over as the city attempts to deal with a pending budget deficit of more than $300 million, and Mahaffey is concerned about the time and energy the Kilpatrick administration must spend defending itself in court. "We don't need to have everything tied up in this," says Mahaffey. "We have services to deliver." The allegations The Whistleblower Protection Act civil suit brought by Nelthrope and Brown hinges on allegations that members of Kilpatrick's security unit abetted a "playboy lifestyle" that included extramarital trysts. The two officers claim their careers were ruined when it appeared they might reveal the mayor's behavior, according to the mediation summaries. The suit names Kilpatrick, former Police Chief Jerry Oliver, media consultant Bob Berg and the city of Detroit as defendants. At a hastily called news conference outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center late Friday afternoon, Kilpatrick issued a sweeping denial, calling all the allegations contained in the mediation summaries "lies." "These individuals want money," said Kilpatrick. "They will say anything to get money." Kilpatrick pointed out that the Michigan Attorney General and State Police had already investigated the allegations and found them to be false. However, attorney Stefani tells Metro Times that investigators from the state — who were probing rumors of the party at the mansion and allegations against members of the mayor's security detail — were told of the affairs and explicitly said they had no interest in investigating them. City attorneys had tried to keep the allegations from becoming public by obtaining a court order that sealed sworn depositions in the case. They had also tried to keep Kilpatrick and his wife, Carlita, from being deposed. On Friday, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Michael Callahan ruled that the Kilpatricks must provide deposition testimony to Stefani before the end of June. City attorneys have appealed that decision in the hope they can still prevent the mayor and his wife from having to testify under oath. Callahan, responding to a motion filed by the Detroit Free Press, also ruled Friday that depositions previously sealed by Judge Kaye Tertzag were to be unsealed. Much of the testimony describing Kilpatrick's alleged illicit trysts is provided by Harris, who claims he suffered retaliation for providing information to investigators from the Attorney General's Office and Michigan State Police who were probing Nelthrope's allegations. While the AG announced that there was no evidence to indicate that the Manoogian party ever had occurred, he did find overtime pay abuse on the part of Kilpatrick's security unit, which, at the time, was dominated by Kilpatrick's longtime friend, Officer Loronzo "Greg" Jones. According to the mediation summary, neither Jones nor Martin suffered repercussions for "defrauding the overtime system and failing to report accidents." Although both initially transferred from the EPU to other assignments, "there was no Detroit Police Department follow-up investigation" to departmentally discipline them, according to court documents. "For the department not to pursue discipline charges against these two men sends a clear message to the entire Department that the Mayor's friends are above the law," asserts Stefani in one mediation summary, which notes that Martin is back working on Kilpatrick's security detail. In the plaintiffs' pleading submitted to the mediation panel, it is alleged that the overtime abuse was allowed to occur because Jones and others on the security squad "facilitated the Mayor's playboy lifestyle." According to the documents, Harris offered the following testimony during his deposition regarding Beatty and the mayor: "He [the mayor] would give us the order to go over to Chris', Chris' house, and we'd go. By this time we know where she lives. We've been over there many times in the evenings. And we would get there, let the Mayor out, he goes up. He's, 'I'll be back out' and we get back in the car. And we're sitting there and I'm asking Sergeant [Michael] Moore and I said what if her husband comes home, you know, what do we do, do we run out and knock on the door, do we blow the horn, do we stop him from going up the drive at his own house … maybe, he, you know, knows about this and maybe he doubles back home." Asked during his deposition if he remembered having such a conversation outside Beatty's house, Moore, who is not a party to the lawsuit, testified: "I can't recall specifically what our conversation was. It was more or less concerning that we did not want to be sitting there when her husband came home." Harris testified to another incident involving Beatty, this one occurring while she and the mayor were out of town on city business. Harris described members of Kilpatrick's security detail accompanying the mayor to his hotel room: "[H]e gets to his room and he jams his key into the door. He say, 'Y'all good, go ahead.' We was like 'Mr. Mayor, you know, what's going on? We've got to check your room.' … He's like, 'I'm okay.' He's guarding the door again. 'You guys go ahead.' And he opens the door and lo and behold there's Christine Beatty there and he goes in and he slams the door closed and we [Harris and fellow bodyguard] both look at each other and laugh. Christine Beatty's in there and we start laughing. He didn't want us to know Christine Beatty was inside." According to the mediation documents, Beatty testified that, while she did accompany the mayor on out-of-town trips as his chief of staff, "her duties did not require her to spend any time with the Mayor in hotel rooms alone together." Harris testified about trysts the mayor allegedly had with other women, including one that Harris says occurred while he was on duty at the Manoogian Mansion. The mediation summary offers this account: "[A]t approximately 1:00 a.m., the Mayor came down the stairs from his bedroom and told Officer Harris to come with him. Harris hurried to grab his radio and other equipment and when he got out to the garage, the Mayor had already started the car and told Harris to drive. The Mayor directed Harris to drive down Jefferson to a condominium complex called The Lofts." The summary states that Harris and the mayor sat outside waiting for someone to open the electronic gate to the parking lot. A woman soon appeared wearing a full-length mink coat; as she fumbled with her card key to open the gate the wind blew her coat open and "it was apparent she was naked underneath," the document states. Harris testified: "So I said, 'Mr. Mayor, what apartment are you going in? I need to know where you're going.' He said, 'Don't worry about it.' The female was standing there waiting on him. He said 'I'll be out in forty five (sic) minutes.' So the Mayor walked up to her, hugged her, put his arm around her and they walked up the walkway and went towards The Lofts, the apartments there. And I got out and tried to look and see exactly where they were going, because I wanted to know where he was — you know, in the event something happened I need to know where he's at … so I just sat in the vehicle waiting on him. And maybe an hour…maybe an hour and five minutes, the Mayor came out. He just came out, he jumped in the car and said let's go, and we drove back to the Manoogian." Harris and his family have since moved away from the metro Detroit area. Described in the documents as a former NFL player who is 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, Harris was asked during his deposition the reason for his move. "I'm not concerned for myself," he testified, "but I am concerned about my family, about my wife, and my children, and that's why I moved them out of the city, out of the state, and I moved myself. … Let me say I am concerned. However, if — how can I put this? I'll say they're going to have to come to my environment. … Now, you come down to my environment and I'm going to defend myself to my very last breath, and my family." Nelthrope testified that he and another officer witnessed an encounter between the mayor and a woman he referred to as his "Jamaican friend" in the back room of a barbershop on Leslie Street in Detroit. "The Mayor and the young woman went into the barber shop where the barber was giving a haircut to the Mayor's friend and Chief Administrative Officer, Derrick Miller," according to the mediation summary. "The mayor and the young woman went straight to the back room of the barber shop and closed the door. By this time it was approximately 11:00 p.m. Nelthrope and the other officer remained in the main portion of the barber shop looking through the shop's window at the street. "As Nelthrope and the other officer were looking out of the barber shop window, they saw the Mayor's wife drive by the front of the barber shop. Nelthrope and the other officer were surprised and wondered if the Mayor's wife had seen the Mayor enter the barber shop with the young Jamaican woman. "The officers were nervous. They discussed whether to knock on the back room door and tell the Mayor his wife had just driven by. They decided against disturbing the Mayor and remained at the front window keeping an eye out for the mayor's wife." Timeline When recruited to serve on Kilpatrick's Executive Protection Unit (EPU) in January 2002, Harold C. Nelthrope had been a Detroit police officer for nearly 17 years. Stefani describes him in the mediation summary as a "Hard-working, dependable and honest police officer. He is the kind of steady-eddy public servant on which the citizens of the City of Detroit depend for police service." He joined a security unit "nominally" headed by Deputy Chief Ron Fleming, but in fact run by "the Mayor's high school football friend, Police Officer Loronzo Jones," the mediation summary alleges. The "de facto" second-in-command was Jones' friend, Officer Michael Martin, the summary claims. "These two police officers, though outranked by Deputy Chief Ron Fleming, an EPU lieutenant, and by several EPU sergeants, were given virtually carte blanche by the Mayor to run the affairs of the EPU because of Jones' friendship with the Mayor," the summary alleges. "With no supervisory rank, no supervisory training and no supervisory experience, Jones and Martin ran the EPU in a haphazard fashion which other more experienced EPU officers realized made the Unit highly unprofessional and at times jeopardized the safety of the first family." It is also alleged that, "in addition to being high school friends, Jones and Martin earned the Mayor's confidence in other ways. The Mayor apparently made a regular practice of being unfaithful to his wife with his Chief of Staff Christine Beatty and other women. While Jones and Martin facilitated the Mayor's playboy lifestyle … other members of the EPU who took their oath 'to protect and to serve' seriously were uncomfortable being made to facilitating (sic) the Mayor's cheating on the first lady." Nelthrope was one of those. Harris testified to being told by Martin that concerns over the possibility that Nelthrope might reveal the mayor's philandering resulted in Nelthrope's assignment to keep watch at the Manoogian Mansion so he "wouldn't go out with the Mayor anymore," according to the mediation summary. In February 2003, Nelthrope was transferred out of EPU completely and assigned to the 7th Precinct. "Police Officer Loronzo Jones testified that he was told prior to Nelthrope being transferred out of the EPU that Nelthrope was in fact reporting to the 'feds' on the Manoogian party and other wrongdoings on the EPU," according to the mediation summary. Jones wasn't the only one privy to that information. "Police Officer Michael Martin … testified that at least three different people told him that Nelthrope was reporting unreported car accidents and other allegations about the EPU to the FBI," according to the mediation summary. "…Martin telephoned Nelthrope at home to ask him about the matter but Nelthrope denied that it was him…" On April 26, 2003, Nelthrope met with two investigators from internal affairs and provided information concerning EPU and the alleged Manoogian Mansion party. Among other things, he alleged that officers Jones and Martin were involved in separate traffic accidents while driving city-owned vehicles, and that the accidents were covered up. Nelthrope also alleged that Jones and Martin were fraudulently collecting 50 to 60 hours of overtime per two-week pay period. Perhaps the most explosive allegation, however, involved Nelthrope's reporting of a rumor that in 2002, while the Manoogian Mansion was being renovated for the new first family, there was a party there that featured strippers, and that the mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, unexpectedly showed up at the mansion and attacked one of the dancers, sending her to the hospital to be treated for injuries. Nelthrope claimed no firsthand knowledge of the party, but said he heard about it the day after it occurred. Brown, as head of the Police Department's internal affairs unit, on April 30, prepared a report detailing Nelthrope's allegations. Included in that report is a claim by Nelthrope that he had provided the same information to the FBI. Brown reported that the FBI's Detroit office was contacted by internal affairs and was told Nelthrope had not been in contact. Before Brown delivered that report, then-Police Chief Jerry Oliver was contacted by Beatty, the mayor's chief of staff, who had questions about the Nelthrope investigation, according to the mediation summary. Oliver testified that he asked Brown on May 5 to prepare a bullet-point summary of what he had learned. Brown did so, but did not include information regarding allegations of the Manoogian party. "I did not mention the Manoogian Party allegation in the bullet point for Ms. Beatty because it was my understanding that Ms. Beatty had assumed responsibility for the EPU and was interested in investigations about them so that she could better oversee that unit. The allegations about the Manoogian did not involve the EPU and primarily involved alleged offense by non police employees of the City that is, the Mayor and Mrs. Kilpatrick," Brown explained in a sworn affidavit. Oliver testified about a meeting he had with Beatty at Cobo Hall on May 6, when he gave Beatty the two-page memo that listed allegations of overtime abuse, accident cover-ups and drinking on the job by Jones and Martin. When asked by Beatty about the Manoogian investigation, Oliver said there was no "official" investigation into those rumors, according to the mediation summary. During his deposition, Oliver was asked if Beatty showed interest in the allegations of Jones and Martin being involved in unreported car accidents. "She did not raise that issue with me," Oliver testified. "… she simply asked me about our investigation about the Manoogian party and the rumors that were floating around, and there were many." Oliver's testimony contradicts assertions made by Beatty that she had no knowledge of such rumors at that point. During her deposition, Beatty denied having any knowledge "that a member of the EPU had gone to the Internal Affairs to report wrongdoing on the Mayor's staff," according to the mediation summary. She also maintained that she had no idea that Brown was investigating the Manoogian party. Likewise, she denied asking Oliver to provide her with a report regarding the status of any investigations into EPU activity. In their mediation summary, the plaintiffs argue that, given that Jones and Martin knew Nelthrope was talking to investigators, and the close ties the two cops had with the administration, "it is inconceivable that Jones and Martin did not tell Beatty and the Mayor of Nelthrope's allegations long before Beatty met with Oliver on May 6th." "Beatty is not being truthful," asserts the mediation summary. On May 9, following Beatty's recommendation, Brown was terminated from his position. Two days prior to that, in a highly unusual move, Beatty had ordered a staff member to copy files in computers used by Brown and two other members of the internal affairs unit, and then to block the officers' access to those computers, according to the mediation summary. Why did Beatty urge Kilpatrick to terminate Brown? Beatty testified that, one day after receiving the two-page memo from Oliver, which came as a surprise "out of the blue" without having been requested, she coincidentally received an anonymous memo contradicting information in the report. The confidential memo, which she said was one paragraph long, contained no specific details, but did allege that Brown was conducting an "unauthorized" investigation. The nature of that investigation was not disclosed. Beatty claims she shredded the anonymous message (without showing it to Kilpatrick) after reading it. According to the mediation summary, Beatty testified that "she had no idea who had authored the anonymous letter and did nothing to determine whether it was credible." Nonetheless, "based on the anonymous letter, she determined that Brown should be terminated." Also, "Beatty testified that she came to this conclusion without examining Brown's personnel file or reviewing his record of twenty-six years or discussing the allegations with the Chief." (The Kilpatrick administration claims Brown was never fired, merely removed from his deputy chief position and returned to the rank of lieutenant, and that he could have continued serving on the force had he chosen to do so. Brown says he was fired.) When giving his deposition on Sept. 29, 2003, Oliver, who was then still chief, contended that the Kilpatrick administration never offered an explanation justifying Brown's removal. During his deposition, however, Oliver testified that, after seeing Brown's original five-page memo that discussed all of Nelthrope's allegations, he concluded that Brown was removed because of concerns that he was looking into the Manoogian party rumors. Oliver reportedly voiced his concerns to other members of internal affairs immediately following Brown's removal. One internal affairs officer, Commander Donald Parshall, testified: "The Chief was saying … you guys are investigating the Mayor of Detroit, and something to that effect 'that's the dumbest shit I ever heard of.' And I remember that, because I hadn't heard the Chief use profanity before." Asked during his deposition whether Oliver thought Brown's termination was related to the Nelthrope investigation, Officer Steve Dolunt testified: "He [Oliver] didn't say that. I don't think he said that specifically. We were told that we weren't to investigate the Mayor and that an amoeba had more sense than to investigate the Mayor and that apparently we had less sense than an amoeba and it went downhill from there. Oh. We were told not to investigate it anymore." The mediation summary alleges that Brown's removal set back the city's efforts to reform the Police Department. "At the time of Brown's appointment [to head Internal Affairs], the city was negotiating with the United States Department of Justice concerning the changes that would be required in the Detroit Police Department to meet the terms of an anticipated consent decree," the summary explains. "One of the problems the Department of Justice had and still has with the Detroit Police Department is that complaints concerning officers were sometimes not properly investigated and sometimes swept under the rug." The Justice Department wanted policies put in place that would ensure "full, thorough and complete investigations." With an exemplary record and a reputation for integrity, asserts the summary, Brown was put in charge of internal affairs to help ensure that that goal was achieved. Just prior to being dismissed, Brown was given a bonus for his job performance, according to the summary. Brown's dismissal and the transfer of his top executives out of internal affairs "effectively put an end to the reform promised by Kilpatrick in his election campaign," the summary alleges. "These very competent police executives have been replaced by people who were chosen not so much on their abilities to get the job done, but primarily on their loyalty to Christine Beatty and the Mayor." One week after Brown's removal, Bob Berg, a consultant who advised Kilpatrick's mayoral campaign and then contracted with the new administration to provide media services, leaked the bullet-point memo to the press, even though it was stamped confidential and identified Nelthrope as the source of the allegations it contained. Berg was given the memo by Beatty, according to the mediation summary. Its release was discussed in a meeting attended by Beatty, Berg, Jamaine Dickens (then spokesman for the mayor), Derrick Miller (the administration's chief executive officer) and possibly Chief Corporation Counsel Ruth Carter, according to the summary. On May 14, Nelthrope arrived home to find reporters on his sidewalk holding the confidential internal affairs memo. 'Clear my name' "Nelthrope had not seen the memo before and was horrified to see his name in it," according to the mediation summary. "Nelthrope knew how volatile and dangerous Jones and Martin were. He knew that both men had extensive disciplinary records. He knew that Martin had been involved in several off-duty shootings and had been convicted criminally for one of them. Nelthrope knew that Martin had friends who were narcotics dealers and that both Martin and Jones knew many street people who would be only too happy to ingratiate themselves with Martin or Jones by seeing to it that Nelthrope or a member of his family paid a price for disrupting Martin and Jones' prestigious, cushy, high-paying jobs with the EPU." Nelthrope contends that stress created by the disclosure made it impossible to work. He is currently out on what Stefani described as a "job-related disability." Nelthrope feared retaliation because his name was revealed. "It effectively painted a target on his back for any thug friend of Martin's, Jones' or the Mayor's or for others who might view his reporting as snitching," the mediation summary states. If it goes to a jury, the whistleblower lawsuit brought by Brown and Nelthrope will succeed or fail based on the jury's evaluation of the foundation upon which their case has been built. The crux of their case is summed up in the mediation summary: "The Mayor and Beatty were concerned that information about the Mayor's philandering would come to light as the result of Nelthrope's allegations, especially if Brown's investigation of those allegations involved, as it most certainly would, interviews of other former EPU members." In a recent interview with Metro Times, Brown said he's pursuing this case for two reasons. One is to recover financially from the blow of losing his job as a deputy chief. The other motivation is to restore the reputation built up over the course of 25 years with the department. "I'm not out to get the mayor," he says. "I'm out to clear my name." "My reputation," he adds, "is all I have." Brown, who says he was "devastated" by his firing, also hopes the suit will prompt further investigation into the Kilpatrick administration. "There has been a clear pattern of retaliation against people doing something this administration doesn't want done," Brown says. To counteract the chilling effect this has had on others who have information regarding the Kilpatrick administration but are afraid to come forward, Brown says the federal government has to become involved. "There needs to be a federal grand jury," he says. "That's where this case will unravel." Curt Guyette is Metro Times news editor. Contact him at 313-202-8004 or cguyette@metrotimes.com.

Rudy hints Fla. loss would end his run

Giuliani hints Fla. loss would end run BY DAVID SALTONSTALL DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Tuesday, January 29th 2008, 4:00 AM Nesius/Reuters Rudy Giuliani and wife, Judith, arrive for Republican presidential rally in Clearwater Monday. FORT LAUDERDALE - Rudy Giuliani, with his political life hanging in the balance here, hinted broadly Monday that he could end his presidential bid as soon as Wednesday. Asked by reporters on his campaign jet to reflect on the uphill road ahead if he loses Tuesday's Florida Republican primary, Giuliani said, "When it's Wednesday morning, we will make a decision. The reality is that voting hasn't even started yet. I believe we are going to win." But the former mayor also made clear the primary would mark a critical crossroads for his flagging campaign here, which has seen his poll numbers sink from first place to a distant third. He now trails John McCain and Mitt Romney, who were busy trying to paint each other with the scarlet L - for liberal. Giuliani, while sounding upbeat, declined to offer a simple yes when asked if he would be attending a major GOP debate tomorrow in California. "We fully intend to participate in the debate," he said as aides hustled him away. Giuliani's hedged answer underscores the difficulty he'll have if he loses Florida, where he's devoted all his resources. A loss here could set him up for a Super Tuesday shellacking on Feb. 5, when 20-plus states vote. One is New York, where anything but a decisive win could be a lasting embarrassment. The mayor's own rhetoric in recent days has suggested that he considers second place to be a worthless prize in Florida, where the winner will collect all 57 delegates and a hefty dose of momentum going into Feb. 5. "I think the winner in Florida will win the nomination, and we're going to win in Florida," he told reporters. Giuliani staggered through a listless, final day of campaigning by hopscotching across the state in a private jet and greeting small groups of supporters on airport tarmacs. Reporters covering his campaign returned to their plane seats after one leg to find a going-away present of sorts: a signed baseball from Giuliani (worth $11.99 on eBay). In Fort Myers, there were no more than 75 supporters waiting for Giuliani, whose speech sounded more like an appreciation than a call to arms. "We are really thankful for all of the work you've done," a subdued Giuliani told the crowd before turning to his wife, Judith, and thanking her for "all of her help and her assistance and her partnership." With so little good news to tout, the Giuliani campaign was left trying to spin his lack of any major newspaper endorsements - here or in any other state - into a political virtue. "Rudy Giuliani is not endorsed by The Tampa Tribune. Not endorsed by The Orlando Sentinel. Not endorsed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In fact, he's not endorsed by any of the liberal newspapers," a new campaign Web ad noted, although many might dispute that characterization of three essentially mainstream newspapers. The voiceover ended, "Rudy Giuliani. Tested. Ready. Now."

Waters endorses Hillary Clinton

Liberal California Dem endorses Clinton 01/29/2008 @ 2:45 pmFiled by Nick Juliano Hillary Clinton received the endorsement of Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who could provide crucial support when Democrats there vote in next week's Super Tuesday slate of primaries and caucuses. Waters praised the New York senator and former First Lady as "no nonsense, articulate and experienced policymaker" who will be ready from her first day in office to make "dreams a reality." Clinton and Waters spoke to reporters on a conference call Tuesday, 24 hours after Barack Obama scored a publicity coup when he was endorsed by Ted Kennedy, the "liberal lion" of the Senate and one of the most influential Democrats on the national stage. Clinton said the Waters endorsement was especially cherished because of her "connection to her constituents." Waters' Los Angeles-area district is a bastion of Democratic support in California populated primarily by black and Hispanic voters. Waters, who is in her ninth term in the House, is one of its most liberal members, a member of the Progressive Caucus and co-sponsor of a resolution aimed at impeaching Vice President Dick Cheney. She also is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and her backing comes as Clinton's campaign faces charges that it has inappropriately inserted race into the primary contests. Waters predicted Clinton would win California, which holds its primary Feb. 5 along with more than 20 other states. Clinton also said she was "proud" to receive the endorsement of three children of Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of Ted Kennedy and former President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Clinton was "the strongest candidate" for America and the Democratic party. "Democrats believe that America should not be torturing people, eavesdropping on our citizens or imprisoning them without habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. We should not be an imperial power. We need healthcare for all and a clean, safe environment," they wrote. "The loftiest poetry will not solve these issues. We need a president willing to engage in a fistfight to safeguard and restore our national virtues." Regardless of who is endorsing whom, though, Clinton said the election ultimately came down to a choice between individuals. "I trust the voters to sort this out for themselves," she declared. MCL comment: According to some liberals Maxine Waters just commited treason for not backing Obama.

Sen.Kennedy backing Obama

Sen. Kennedy backing Obama for president 10 minutes ago Two generations of Kennedy politicians — Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — are endorsing fellow Democrat Barack Obama for president. Obama's campaign said the lawmakers planned to attend midday event at American University along with his niece, Caroline Kennedy, who announced her support for Obama over the weekend. Robin Costello, a spokeswoman for Patrick Kennedy, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the senator and congressman probably will campaign around the country for Obama, although no concrete plans are set yet. In a television interview Sunday, Obama would not answer questions about an endorsement from the elder Kennedy. "Any of the Democratic candidates would love to have Ted Kennedy's support. And we have certainly actively sought it," the Illinois senator said. Edward Kennedy's endorsement was highly sought after by all the Democratic candidates. Besides his status as a liberal icon and member of the Kennedy dynasty, Kennedy boasts a broad national fundraising and political network as well. "It's going to be difficult choosing," Kennedy said in October. "I've got a lot of friends who want to be president." Caroline Kennedy wrote in Sunday's New York Times that Obama could inspire Americans in the same way that her father, President John F. Kennedy, did. Another of Sen. Kennedy's nieces, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, issued a statement Sunday in support of Clinton. Also Monday, Obama picked up the endorsement of author Toni Morrison, who once labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president." Morrison said she has has admired Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for years because of her knowledge MCL comment: I have a funny feeling about this, in a prefect world I would feel 100% confident in Obama winning but from what I seen and what I know how the media treats Democrats makes me wonder. Anytime a Dem's record is being question or under attack the media usually plays the game well it's what he said vs what they said. Now anytime Bill Clinton is critical of Sen. Obama the media get Obama supporter to bitch and moan or try to disregard the comment not even talking about the merits. On top of media support for fighting off Bill Clinton, the right wing media likes him, noted they hated Al Gore, Howard Dean and lame as John Kerry was they went after him. Now they like a Democrat adds more to my doubts.

Beatty to resign

Christine Beatty will resign Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News DETROIT -- Christine Beatty announced this morning that she will resign her position as Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's Chief of Staff. Beatty made the announcement through her attorney Elliot Hall, first reported by WXYZ-TV (Channel 7). Hall stated the resignation may not go into effect for a couple of weeks. Hall also said that Beatty would not be making any further statement about her resignation. When asked if Beatty had officially resigned, mayoral spokesman James Canning said that "no letter has been submitted." Beatty, Kilpatrick's chief of staff and an old friend from high school, has been the center of a sexual scandal involving her and the mayor. Both Kilpatrick and Beatty swore under oath in an earlier trial that they have never been involved in an affair. However, scores of text messages between Beatty and Kilpatrick -- dating back to 2002 -- seem to contradict their denials. Mayoral spokesman James Canning was terse and tight lipped when he appeared at Detroit City Hall this morning, deflecting questions from reporters who wanted to know if Kilpatrick would appear at work today. "The mayor doesn't have a public schedule today," said Canning, who has been officially running the city during Kilpatrick's absence. Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams would not respond to the same question. Sharon McPhail, Kilpatrick's general counsel, confirmed that she hadn't had a chance to read the text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty, but said she thought the mayor would survive the ongoing scandal and "won't face any criminal charges." "I'd be awfully surprised if there are any criminal charges from what I'm hearing," McPhail said. "When the facts are known, this is going to be a blip on the screen of all the wonderful things that he's done for the city." McPhail said she had spoken with the mayor several days after news of the affair broke. "He was all about business," said McPhail, who said Kilpatrick urged her to "just get the job done." McPhail said Kilpatrick indicated he had talked with his staff and was "very regretful" about the current situation.

John Gibson wins A-hole of the week award: Making jokes after Ledger's death

Gibson, acknowledging he mocked Ledger's death, said: "There's no point in passing up a good joke" Summary: John Gibson responded to criticism of his comments the previous day mocking the death of actor Heath Ledger, and said "Did I mock him?" After Gibson's producer pointed out that Gibson had in fact mocked Ledger's death, Gibson replied, laughing, "Oh, that. Well," later adding, "There's no point in passing up a good joke." On the January 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated Fox News Radio show, John Gibson responded to a post on the blog Think Progress about his comments the previous day mocking the death of actor Heath Ledger, and said, "Did I mock him?" After Gibson's producer, known on-air as "Angry Rich," pointed out that Gibson had in fact mocked Ledger's death, Gibson replied, laughing, "Oh, that. Well," later adding, "There's no point in passing up a good joke." When Angry Rich noted that a commenter on Think Progress asserted that "Gibson will be whining tomorrow that his words were taken out of context," Gibson replied: "No. I meant them, whatever they were. I don't remember what they were, but whatever they were, I meant them." Still later in the broadcast, Gibson returned to the controversy and said: "ThinkProgress.org, the George Soros organization, is attacking me for calling Heath Ledger a weirdo in discussing his death yesterday. At first, I thought, oh, they're lying, I couldn't have said that. And then I listened to the tape, and I realized I did say that." During the January 23 broadcast, Gibson baselessly asserted that Ledger was "snorting heroin," telling his listeners: "Here I am, in trouble for mocking the death of Heath Ledger, snorting heroin, as he was, along with the Xanax and the Ambien." A caller later said to Gibson, "I'm just curious where you actually got your information on any white powder and-or the fact that it was heroin, 'cause there's nothing out there yet that states that." Gibson replied, "Well, yeah, there is, you just gotta read a little more." He then cited "CBS News in New York" and claimed that "the Daily Mail in London, which keeps up on these things, says that a source told them that he had a heroin problem." Later in the broadcast, while discussing Ledger's death with guest Michael Hungen of the gossip website TMZ.com, Gibson stated that "there have been reports from other media outlets that there was some sort of powdery residue on that $20 bill." When Hungen noted that a New York Police Department report indicated that no illegal drugs were found in Ledger's apartment, Gibson persisted, asking : "Why would anybody be rolling up $20 bills if not to snort powdered drugs?" During the closing segment of the broadcast, however, Gibson announced, "That rolled up $20 dollar bill in Heath Ledger's house, clean. No drug residue. Just want to be on the record here, all the facts, keeping you quite up to date on this burgeoning controversy surrounding yours truly." Gibson never apologized for or retracted his previous assertion. As CNN.com reported on January 24, "Tests on a $20 bill found at the Lower Manhattan apartment where 'Brokeback Mountain' actor Heath Ledger died yielded no drug residue, New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said." The CNN.com report further noted that there were no illegal drugs found in Ledger's apartment. In referring to "this burgeoning controversy surrounding yours truly," Gibson was acknowledging the response to comments he made, first noted by Think Progress, on the January 22 broadcast of his radio show. On that broadcast, Gibson began a segment of his show by airing a series of quotes from the film Brokeback Mountain, in which Ledger starred, while funeral music played in the background. In the audio clip, Jack Twist, played by actor Jake Gyllenhaal, says to his lover, Ennis Del Mar, played by Ledger, "I wish I knew how to quit you." Gibson then broke in and said: "Well, he found out how to quit you," and went on to announce, "Actor Heath Ledger found dead today in his New York City apartment." Gibson later said: "You're 28 years old, and you're thinking about death? Give me a break." He later added: "Maybe he [Ledger] was a weirdo." Gibson then aired another clip from the film, in which Ledger's character says: "We're dead." Gibson, adopting a cowboy accent, repeated: "We're dead." Gibson then asserted: "Nah, it's a terrible thing. ... [I]t is terrible. I don't know why a 28-year-old guy is thinking about death. He should be thinking about all the great things that he's going to do in the 50, 60 years he's got left." Later in the broadcast, Gibson again discussed Ledger's death, saying: "You know, there is new news coming out right now that apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal, and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, 'cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant -- good looking, wears a suit well -- but should just leave the stage." From the January 22 broadcast of Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show: [begin audio clip -- from Brokeback Mountain] JACK TWIST (by Jake Gyllenhaal): Well, since we're going to be working together, I reckon it's time we start drinking together. ALMA BEERS DEL MAR (by Michelle Williams): If you don't go out there and finish her. ENNIS DEL MAR (by Heath Ledger): You don't know nothing about her. JOE AGUIRRE (by Randy Quaid): You boys sure found a way to make the time pass up there. DEL MAR: We was fishing buddies. TWIST: I wish I knew how to quit you. [end audio clip] GIBSON: Well, he found out how to quit you. Christine, don't be upset. Hi everybody, it's John Gibson. CHRISTINE: I am very upset. [begin audio clip] DEL MAR: Woo wie! TWIST: Yeah! [end audio clip] GIBSON: Actor Heath Ledger found dead today in his New York City apartment, face down in the bedroom, surrounded by prescription drugs. A confidant telling TMZ -- and TMZ is right about everything about 90 percent of the time -- that he had a serious drug abuse problem. So it appears to be an accidental overdose, could be a suicide. Listen, November '07, he was talking about -- and this is a 28-year-old guy -- saying, "Well, you know, it's a whole -- give me a whole different thought about death." What? You're 28 years old, and you're thinking about death? Give me a break. CHRISTINE: Maybe he was a deep thinker. GIBSON: Maybe he was a weirdo. ANGRY RICH: I'm thinking about it right now. GIBSON: OK, anyway, Heath Ledger died, and I'm sure people will be upset. All you Brokeback Mountain fans, you want to give Christine a call, she'll be happy to talk to you. DEL MAR [audio clip from film]: We're dead. GIBSON: "We're dead." DEL MAR [audio clip from film]: We're dead. GIBSON: Nah, it's a terrible thing. I mean, you know, it's -- it is terrible. I don't know why a 28-year-old guy is thinking about death. He should be thinking about all the great things that he's going to do in the 50, 60 years he's got left. The conservative civil war rages on today. [...] GIBSON: Let's talk about what happened today with yo' money. There was a not-so-black Tuesday, as the U.S. stock market, Wall Street, closed down a bit, sort of in the correction zone, after yesterday's absolute bloodbath around the world. My guest is Tom Sullivan, host of The Tom Sullivan Show here on the Fox News Talk Network, and who also anchors the Fox Business Network each day between 10 a.m. and noon. Tom, so -- SULLIVAN: I thought I was coming in to talk about "Keith Bledger." GIBSON: Yeah, well -- SULLIVAN: I'm a "Keith Bledger expert." GIBSON: Well -- SULLIVAN: Did I get that -- GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market. SULLIVAN: Yeah, possibly, and today, he looked at the window -- GIBSON: And said, "Oh my god." SULLIVAN: His name's not "Keith Bledger." Is that right? GIBSON: No. I mean, he was depressed about yesterday's downturn in the world stock market. [laughter] [...] GIBSON: Bob in Ohio. Bob. BOB: Hey, John. John, how you doing buddy? I hope your old cough gets a little bit better. GIBSON: Thank you very much. I am going to keep it from you, because my colleagues here say it's so disgusting. BOB: Well, you know, I work in a hospital; we can give you something for that. Listen, John, the -- GIBSON: I don't want a Heath Ledger situation going on here. BOB: Yeah, well, I don't think you're going to sleep yet -- GIBSON: OK. BOB: -- but we'll work on that. But anyway, John, this three-quarter drop is nice. [...] GIBSON: Well, it is John Gibson. You know, there is new news coming out right now that apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal, and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, 'cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant -- good looking, wears a suit well -- but should just leave the stage. From the January 23 broadcast of Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show: GIBSON: There is a war on Gibson, and even though Gibson's always right, there is a war. [...] GIBSON: Just to give you a heads-up about it, I did this -- an hour yesterday on Heath Ledger on my TV show 'cause he, like, was still warm. I got an email, Angry Rich, just moments ago from somebody who said that I was just a horrible, low-life, awful person for mocking the death. [unintelligible] News! ANGRY RICH: John, the start of yesterday's show is now prominently featured on Think Progress, the George Soros operation. Yes. It says, "John Gibson mocks 'weirdo' Heath Ledger's death." GIBSON: Did I mock him? ANGRY RICH: He found out how to "quit you," quote-unquote. GIBSON: Oh that [laughter]. Well -- ANGRY RICH: A little satire. GIBSON: Yeah, it was little Brokeback Mountain joke. ANGRY RICH: You feel bad about it. C'mon. GIBSON: No. I mean, I feel bad about his death, but that's -- ANGRY RICH: It's horrible. AUDIO CLIP (from Brokeback Mountain): I wish I knew how to quit you. GIBSON: There's no point in passing up a good joke. I mean, how many months did we live off that line, Brokeback Mountain? AUDIO CLIP (from Brokeback Mountain): I wish I knew how to quit you. ANGRY RICH: Several. GIBSON: I mean, it went on for months and months and months. I'm not giving that up. ANGRY RICH: The comments are unfortunate. GIBSON: Oh are they? Are they going after me over it? ANGRY RICH: Oh, yeah. GIBSON: OK. Well it's the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but -- ANGRY RICH: You're a closet homosexual. That's the first -- GIBSON: I am? ANGRY RICH: Apparently. GIBSON: Well, I'm still breathing. There's a difference right there. ANGRY RICH: I guess. GIBSON: Christine, it took you so long to get that? I mean, I was, like, counting the seconds there. ANGRY RICH: "Gibson will be whining tomorrow that his words were taken out of context." GIBSON: No. I meant them, whatever they were. I don't remember what they were, but whatever they were, I meant them. More on that a little bit later. [...] GIBSON: Jerry, Missouri. What, Jerry? JERRY: Well, I'm sorry to hear that you have a head cold. You know, when I tuned in just a few minutes ago on XM and I heard you talking, you know, I thought it was Hillary giving one of her Southern speeches. GIBSON: Y'all fixing to drive on down the road there, Jerry? And sidle up to a plate of beans and a few [unintelligible]? SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY) [audio clip]: I don't feel no ways tired. I've come too far from where I started from. GIBSON: You are cruel, cruel, Jerry. Here I am, in trouble for mocking the death of Heath Ledger, snorting heroin, as he was, along with the Xanax and the Ambien, and you mock me. [...] GIBSON: Well, it is John Gibson. Be sure to stay tuned for the next hour, 'cause we're going to go into this thing of me getting attacked. I'm just reading this -- just by way of piquing your interest. It says here on the Think Progress deal that I called Heath Ledger a weirdo. Hm. I don't -- I don't remember saying that. I might have. I suppose he was a little weird to keep to himself. Although, I keep to myself. ANGRY RICH: So do I. GIBSON: I suppose he was a little weird to be so in love with his drugs that it caused his -- the mother of his child to kick him out of his house. Still wondering about that rolled-up $20 bill with the white powdery substance on it, but you know. I guess it's sort of normal and probably what Think Progress thinks is normal, is if you're somewhere between 20 and 35, you probably do heroin once in a while. You know, just sniff a little for the heck of it. I might think that's weird. Eric in Los Angeles. CALLER: Hey, John. GIBSON: How are 'ya? CALLER: Pretty good. Hey, I'm just curious where you actually got your information on any white powder and-or the fact that it was heroin, 'cause there's nothing out there yet that states that. GIBSON: Well, yeah, there is, you just gotta read a little more. CALLER: OK, where is it? GIBSON: Well, CBS News in New York reported cops -- CALLER: There's no toxicology reports that have come back from that yet. GIBSON: We're not talking about toxicology reports, Eric. Wait, look, the Daily Mail in London, which keeps up on these things, says that a source told them that he'd had a heroin problem. And that -- listen -- and that he had been in rehab recently. In addition, two stations here reporting that there had was a mysterious, or traces of a mysterious powder that they're testing. Let's hope it's not true, let's hope that he needed to take his Ambien by rolling up a $20 bill and snorting it. CALLER: You know, I just think it shows really bad taste on your part, you know, which, you know, he wasn't even, he wasn't even, he was still warm when you started, you know, ripping on him yesterday. GIBSON: No, he wasn't still warm but his body was still there. I'm not ripping on him. I mean, look, here's an interesting thing. Did you notice over the weekend that the AP had prepared a obituary on Britney Spears? And that right now in London the newspapers are making the obituaries of Amy Winehouse? And, you know, nobody knew about Heath Ledger. He was smart enough to keep his life private. He wasn't out in the clubs, stagging around, falling over. I mean, I feel bad for him. He shouldn't have been doing this stuff. Somebody should have warned him. A whole bunch of Ambien, a whole bunch of Xanax, and a whole bunch of whatever it was, and if he was involved in snorting heroin, it was going to depress his central nervous system and he was going to stop breathing. Now, you tell me, why is it millionaire 28-year-olds don't know that? And you tell me, why is it one of the great singers right now -- Amy Winehouse, she is a great singer -- she's lighting up a crack pipe on the air, on video, right in front of people -- [...] GIBSON: It is John Gibson. I am -- I'm under constant attack these days, because -- partially because of the sound of my voice, has really crapped out because of a cold. ThinkProgress.org, the George Soros organization, is attacking me for calling Heath Ledger a weirdo in discussing his death yesterday. At first, I thought, oh they're lying, I couldn't have said that. And then I listened to the tape, and I realized I did say that. And here's the context. There was a interview that Heath Ledger did where a reporter asked him, just recently, about his daughter -- he's got a 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, that he apparently loved very much -- and which he said this: [begin audio clip] LEDGER: [inaudible] changed my life. Well, I don't know. I mean, God, where do you start? I mean -- UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did it change the way you work, you think? LEDGER: No, I guess you're forced into kind of respecting yourself more. You learn more about yourself through your child, I guess. And I think you also look at death differently. Like -- it's like a Catch-22. Like, I feel good about dying now, because I feel like I'm alive in her, you know, but at the same time, you don't want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life. It's kind of like -- [end audio clip] GIBSON: Now, I reacted to the fact that he said, you know, having a child changed my attitude about death. And I thought, changed your attitude about death? I'm sure it changed your attitude about life, but who at his age and his success and all of that is thinking about death? And I said: [begin audio clip] GIBSON: Listen, November '07, he was talking about, and this is a 28-year-old guy, saying, "Well, you know, it's given me a whole different thought about death." What? You're 28 years old, and you're thinking about death? Give me a break. CHRISTINE: Maybe he was a deep thinker. GIBSON: Maybe he was a weirdo. [end audio clip] GIBSON: [clears throat] Christine? CHRISTINE: Yeah? GIBSON: Well, upon reflection, should I be attacked for that remark? CHRISTINE: You called him a weirdo. GIBSON: Well, I think it is weird that this guy -- look, evidently, and I don't know whether it's because he has to think about death playing things like the Joker. And apparently, this new movie in which he plays the Joker, he's just fabulous. LEDGER (audio clip as the Joker from The Dark Knight): You can change things. Forever. There's no going back. See, to them, you're just a freak. Like me. GIBSON: Like me. Like me! And I must tell you, the fact that I said what I said yesterday on this radio program, was not the strangest bit of reporting that went on on Heath Ledger's death yesterday. This was on MSNBC: COURTNEY HAZLETT [MSNBC gossip reporter, audio clip]: Chris, I have to say, in a lot of ways, this reminds me we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this almost with Owen Wilson and -- GIBSON: Wow! HAZLETT [audio clip]: -- thankfully, that turned out a lot differently. But it's hard to look at this -- GIBSON: Whoa. HAZLETT [audio clip]: -- and not feel reminded -- GIBSON: Whoa. HAZLETT [audio clip]: -- of that from earlier. GIBSON: Whoa. OK. Now, why is Truth -- ThinkProgress.org not attacking the MSNBC lady for saying, well, Owen Wilson's suicide, that was a dress rehearsal for what we saw with Heath. ANGRY RICH: Bathtub Boy [Keith Olbermann] uses their site for his show every night. GIBSON: Oh, right. He draws his script from that site. ANGRY RICH: Right. GIBSON: And from Media Matters, the other George Soros-funded operation. ANGRY RICH: That's right. GIBSON: Well, all right, then if you weren't going to attack MSNBC, you could attack Larry King. [begin audio clip] KING: His parents were divorced, Pat. Are they living? GIBSON [talking over audio clip]: Are they living? PAT O'BRIEN (host of The Insider): I don't know the answer to that, Larry. I'm just going to have to tell you I don't know the answer to that. KING: Ben, do you know? BEN WIDDICOMBE (New York Daily News columnist): Honestly, I don't know. I do know that his family has released a statement insisting that he has not committed suicide, that that is not in his nature. The exact family members that issued that statement, I am not clear on. KING: Do you know, A.J.? A.J. HAMMER (host of Showbiz Tonight): I don't have that exact information, Larry. KING: Do you know, Howard? HOWARD BRAGMAN (publicist): I don't know. I think his parents are living, though. KING: Does he have brothers and sisters? BRAGMAN: I think he had a sister who helped get him into acting when his parents got divorced when he was about 10 years old. Supposedly his sister tried to put him into acting so he could really have a cathartic moment. KING: Was his fiancée an actress? BRAGMAN: Oh, yes. She was also in Brokeback Mountain. That's where they met, on the set. Michelle -- KING: Oh, she played his wife. BRAGMAN: Exactly. KING: Thank you all very much. [end audio clip] GIBSON: Talk about a moron. Larry, ask me, is his -- are his parents living? Yeah, Larry, in fact, they spoke. KIM LEGDER (father) [audio clip]: We, Heath's family, confirm the very tragic, untimely, and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother, and doting father of Matilda. He was found peacefully asleep in his New York apartment by his housekeeper at 3:30 U.S. time. GIBSON: Larry, that's his father. He's very much living. Who does produce Larry King's show now? ANGRY RICH: That tape was out there well before that show aired. GIBSON: I could see him asking one person. You know, but by then, the producer's supposed to open the mic, you know, the [inaudible], talk in his ear and say, "Larry, don't go there." He asks five more people. All right, let me go now to Michael Hungen of TMZ.com. He's been doing a lot of work on this. So Michael, I've gotten a lot -- attacked on this radio program over the last 24 hours, for suggesting there might have been some other drug than a legal prescription drug involved in Heath Ledger's death. Now, there was a rolled-up $20 bill found in his apartment. It was confirmed by New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. And there have been reports from other media outlets that there was some sort of powdery residue on that $20 bill. Know anything about that? HUNGEN: Yeah, John, they just -- actually, this news just broke, literally. They are saying the $20 was clean. So, no, you know, no illegal substance, I guess, coming out of that. CBS is reporting today that there were packets of drugs found in the apartment, which, I'm assuming now that that can't be true, if, you know, this -- obviously there was nothing on the $20 bill. So that's the latest coming out of the NYPD. GIBSON: Why would anybody be rolling up $20 bills if not to snort powdered drugs? HUNGEN: Your guess is a good as mine. Maybe he was looking to get some money rolls? I'm not really sure. They're saying, though, that it's clean. I don't know if they're going to keep testing or look at other things and also, you know, confirm what CBS reported, but I'm assuming that that also is not true. GIBSON: Michael, the other thing is that that's not the only report on which we based this notion. There was a Daily Mail, which is a newspaper in Britain, talking about a source of theirs, a friend of Ledger's said he did have a heroin problem at one point and had gone into rehab. Do we know anything beyond the state of rumor about drug use involving drugs that are not legal? HUNGEN: Yeah, I mean, we talked to sources close to him yesterday who confirm with us that he was struggling for a long time with a drug abuse problem, and he -- they told us he did not go to rehab. They also told us that he had been clean for a year, you know, and it could have been part of the reason that he and Michelle Williams got separated last year, you know, that she was his fiancé. But what we were told from his sources close to him that he had been clean for a long time. Now, again, we won't know until the toxicology reports come back if that's completely true anymore. But that'll going to be an interesting turn to this whole story. GIBSON: Well, the whole deal with Michelle Williams, that's his actress girlfriend, mother of his child, young Matilda, was that they were very happily ensconced, they bought a townhouse in Brooklyn in one of those neighborhoods that's, you know, being gentrified, and suddenly there's problems and he's out of the house, and the story so far has been that she could not take his continued dalliances with drugs. [...] GIBSON: News bulletin as we go off the air. That rolled up $20 bill in Heath Ledger's house, clean. No drug residue. Just want to be on the record here, all the facts, keeping you quite up to date on this burgeoning controversy surrounding yours truly. Tune in tomorrow, I may have more voice and I may be in more trouble if things go right. — A.C.S., A.J.W., & T.Z.

Media does Matter: USA Today calls McCain a maverick as things show otherwise

USA Today repeatedly called McCain a "maverick" on immigration, taxes despite his shifts Summary: A USA Today article described John McCain as "a maverick senator from the West" who has taken "maverick stands, including votes against Bush's tax cuts in 2001" and "his sponsorship last year of an immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in this country," while a USA Today editorial asserted that "McCain's chief sin, apparently, is that he has broken ranks on issues that include campaign finance, President Bush's tax cuts, illegal immigration and global warming." Neither the article nor the editorial mentioned that McCain has since shifted positions on the Bush tax cuts and immigration. In a January 24 USA Today article on the leading Republican presidential candidates, Washington bureau chief Susan Page wrote that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is "a maverick senator from the West" whose "willingness to stake out maverick views also makes him popular with the independents who typically decide politically divided states." Page later asserted that McCain's "maverick stands, including votes against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and support of campaign-finance limits, have cost the Arizona senator within the GOP. So has his sponsorship last year of an immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in this country." Additionally, a January 24 USA Today editorial asserted that "McCain's chief sin, apparently, is that he has broken ranks on issues that include campaign finance, President Bush's tax cuts, illegal immigration and global warming." However, neither Page's article nor the USA Today editorial mentioned that McCain has since shifted positions on the Bush tax cuts and immigration: McCain now favors making the Bush tax cuts permanent, and he now supports improving border security before addressing the issue of immigrants' legal status. When Congress first considered the tax cuts in 2001, McCain said in a May 26, 2001, floor statement that he opposed the bill because "so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief." And in 2003, McCain voted against legislation to accelerate the tax reductions enacted in the 2001 bill and to cut taxes on dividends and capital gains. Yet in 2006, McCain voted for the bill extending the 2003 tax cuts. When asked during the April 2, 2006, broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press why he changed his mind on Bush's tax cuts, McCain replied: "I do not believe in tax increases. ... The tax cuts are now there, and voting to revoke them would have been to -- not to extend them would have meant a tax increase." Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform -- who the USA Today editorial quoted criticizing McCain -- reportedly said at the time: "It's a big flip-flop, but I'm happy that he's flopped." A press release on McCain's campaign website states, "John McCain will make the Bush income and investment tax cuts permanent, keeping income tax rates at their current level." On immigration, while McCain originally called for a policy that both strengthened border security and established a guest-worker program or a path to citizenship, he now supports improving border security before addressing the issue of immigrants' legal status. Indeed, a November 3, 2007, Associated Press article about McCain's "approach" to immigration quoted McCain as saying he "understand[s] why you would call it a, quote, shift": John McCain spent months earlier this year arguing that the United States must combine border security efforts with a temporary worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. Now, the Republican presidential candidate emphasizes securing the borders first. The rest, he says, is still needed but will have to come later. "I understand why you would call it a, quote, shift," McCain told reporters Saturday after voters questioned him on his position during back-to-back appearances in this early voting state. "I say it is a lesson learned about what the American people's priorities are. And their priority is to secure the borders." The shift in approach is likely to draw criticism from McCain's GOP opponents. Immigration has been a flash point in the race, with rivals Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson all seizing on it. McCain, who has led on the issue in the Senate with Democrat Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, got a wake-up call of sorts in June when Congress again failed to enact a broad immigration proposal that he championed and that split the country. The measure also exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party, and McCain's high-profile support for it hurt him politically. During debate on the issue as spring turned into summer, the Arizona senator saw his poll numbers in some early primary states slip and his fundraising wane. Early in the year, McCain told Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina voters the country must take a comprehensive approach strengthening the borders as well as creating a temporary worker program and providing millions of illegal immigrants the opportunity to earn citizenship if they meet certain criteria. Over the past few months, he has stressed border security first and said border-state governors should certify their borders are secure before making other needed immigration changes. McCain said he listened to what the public was saying when the legislation failed -- and responded accordingly. "I said, OK. We'll secure the borders, but after we secure the borders, we'll have a temporary worker program, we'll have to address the 12 million people here illegally, and I think the best way is the proposal that we had," McCain said. "It's not a switch in position. I support the same solution. But we've got to secure the borders first," he added. From the January 24 USA Today article: What do Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have in common? Not all that much. The first three have won a major state contest in the race for the Republican presidential nomination this year, and Giuliani hopes to join their ranks with a victory in Florida next week. Beyond that, there are significant differences in their résumés and political appeal - and that signals a crossroads ahead for the GOP. Huckabee is a personable former Southern Baptist preacher with a conservative Christian flock, McCain a maverick senator from the West with military credentials, Mitt Romney a can-do Northeastern businessman and Giuliani a tough-talking New Yorker who has been a prosecutor and mayor. [...] McCain's military background and staunch support of the war in Iraq has earned him formidable support among voters focused on national security. His willingness to stake out maverick views also makes him popular with the independents who typically decide politically divided states. His favorable rating among independents in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll this month was 59%, better than any of his Republican rivals and 9 percentage points higher than Clinton. If McCain were the nominee, Rothenberg says his appeal to independents might give the GOP a shot at winning California - the nation's biggest electoral-vote prize and a state Democrats have carried since 1992. A McCain coalition would include conservatives and suburban independents, and his work on immigration could help him among Hispanics, the nation's fastest-growing minority group. But those same maverick stands, including votes against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and support of campaign-finance limits, have cost the Arizona senator within the GOP. So has his sponsorship last year of an immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in this country. In New Hampshire, McCain's clear victory was because of independents; he and Romney split Republicans. "There are such bitter feelings about him because of a whole number of issues - I can't tell you the number of people who have said to me, 'If he's the nominee, I'll walk,' " Weyrich says. Count Weyrich among them: If McCain is nominated, he says, he'd probably support a third-party candidate. From the January 24 USA Today editorial: With Fred Thompson out, Sen. John McCain might well be the most consistent conservative left among the major presidential contenders. Unlike former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani or former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, McCain has never taken liberal positions on abortion or gay rights. And unlike former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, he is no economic populist. Yet, of all the GOP candidates, McCain comes in for the most visceral criticism from fellow Republicans. Among his many critics are former House majority leader Tom DeLay, who says McCain "has done more to hurt the Republican Party than any elected official I know of," and radio host Rush Limbaugh, who says a McCain or Huckabee nomination would destroy the party. McCain has been called a turncoat, a traitor and - by party operative Grover Norquist - "the nut-job from Arizona." McCain's chief sin, apparently, is that he has broken ranks on issues that include campaign finance, President Bush's tax cuts, illegal immigration and global warming. With the possible exception of immigration, these are not deal-breakers with rank-and-file conservative voters. Yet they are treason to an old guard of loyalty enforcers whose power appears to be ebbing. Their criticisms strongly suggest that as the party goes through what looks to be a moment of transition, it might benefit from some new blood among its operatives and ideologues. McCain may or may not be the right choice for Republicans this year. But the attacks on him are hardly an appeal to core conservative values. They are rather a defense of professional partisanship, and the interests of people whose influence is predicated on it. DeLay and Norquist were key players in a machine that helped bring about the biggest expansion in government since the New Deal, made self-preservation the overarching ideology of GOP lawmakers and helped take the party to new lows of corruption. As for those in the business of conservative talk and opinion, they have thrived for years on their ability to neatly divide the world into good and evil. A McCain presidency would certainly muddy their picture. But that is happening anyway as the result of growing fissures within the party. McCain fits well into a party shaped in recent years by Ronald Reagan. He espouses a strong defense, limited government and conservative social values. And, like Reagan, he is willing to work with Democrats on matters that don't undermine these core principles. The more salient question is where McCain's harshest critics fit.

Union calls for Kwame to step down

Union calls for Detroit mayor to resign Municipal Workers Union Calls for Detroit Mayor to Resign After Text Messages Reveal Affair COREY WILLIAMSAP News Jan 25, 2008 10:08 EST A union on Friday called for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to resign amid reports that he exchanged steamy text messages referring to sexual trysts between him and a top aide. John Riehl, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 207, said the union wants the mayor to step down right away. It has 900 members and represents workers in the city's water and public lighting departments. "He's compromised the public trust," Riehl said. "Nobody can believe a single thing he says from now on." The scandal also could result in perjury charges. The county prosecutor scheduled a press conference Friday regarding Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Kilpatrick and Beatty testified last summer in a police whistle-blower lawsuit and denied any sexual or romantic ties in 2002 and 2003. But the Detroit Free Press examined about 14,000 text messages on Beatty's city-issued pager from those years that tell a different story. They reveal the two carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their numerous trysts. "I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002. "I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!" On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote Beatty: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love." Kilpatrick is married with three children. Beatty was married at the time and has two children. A call seeking comment from Beatty was made Thursday evening, but her voicemail was full. The Free Press did not explain exactly how it obtained the messages. The newspaper said it cross-referenced the messages with the mayor's private calendar and credit card records to verify events in some of the notes. A county jury awarded $6.5 million to the two officers in the lawsuit against the city and Kilpatrick. The jury said Kilpatrick and the city unlawfully dismissed two officers, who claimed they suffered after investigating allegations of wrongdoing within Kilpatrick's security unit. The events happened in Kilpatrick's first four-year term. He was elected to a second term in November 2005. On Thursday, mayoral spokesman James Canning said in a statement that Kilpatrick and his family were returning from Florida "and plan to continue their private time for the next several days."

A political Dream Team: Clinton-Obama ticket?

Campaign cochair says Clinton-Obama ticket is possibility January 25, 2008 By CHRIS CHRISTOFF FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU EAST LANSING – A Clinton-Obama presidential ticket for Democrats? It’s possible, said Joel Ferguson, a cochair for Hillary Clinton’s Michigan campaign. Ferguson said Clinton’s Democratic rival Barack Obama has appeal among young voters – especially young African Americans – that would make him a potent vote-getter as a vice presidential running mate. “There’s a shot at that happening,” he said after taping public television’s weekly show, “Off the Record.” Ferguson, a Michigan State University trustee and wealthy developer, said if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, she will ultimately have the black vote behind her in the November election. But that may not be true among young, first-time voters, he said. If polling shows Obama continues to build support among young voters who otherwise would not vote in November, he could be an attractive running mate. “There’s an excitement there,” said Ferguson, who orchestrated Jesse Jackson’s victory in Michigan’s 1988 Democratic presidential primary. Ferguson said Obama has managed to distance himself from Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton – a 2004 presidential candidate and controversial black figure – while gaining their quiet support. “As along as he keeps Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in the closet, white folk don’t think he’s black,” Ferguson said of Obama. “He’s managed to be Tiger Woods and Oprah,” a reference to the golf superstar and Oprah Winfrey, both African Americans with popular appeal that transcends race. Ferguson also defended former President Bill Clinton’s active role in his wife’s campaign. Some Democrats have criticized the ex-president for attacking Obama on the campaign trail, but Ferguson said Clinton has raised legitimate questions about Obama’s record as an Illinois legislator and U.S. senator.“No one has said he (Clinton) hasn’t told the truth,” Ferguson said.

Worthy to investigate mayor, Beatty

Worthy to investigate mayor, Beatty She promises independent, fair probe into perjury allegations January 25, 2008 FREE PRESS STAFF Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said her office will handle the investigation into possible perjury by Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty. “We will not be rushed by anyone or anything,” Worthy said. Beatty and Kilpatrick testified during a police whistle-blower lawsuit trial that they did not have a romantic relationship but text messages between the two obtained by the Detroit Free Press suggest otherwise.Kilpatrick and Beatty also both testified that they did not fire Gary Brown but text messages obtained indicate that they discussed their decision to fire Brown. The case has settled for $8.4 million and total costs for the case totaled out at more than $9 million.The Kilpatrick-Beatty relationship and the ouster of deputy police chief Brown were central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope, a former mayoral police bodyguard.The two accused Kilpatrick of retaliating against them because of their roles in an internal affairs investigation involving allegations of overtime fraud by members of the mayor's security team -- a probe that could have potentially exposed the affair.

Fred Thompson drops out

Fred Thompson quits presidential race January 22, 2008 By DAVID ESPO ASSOCIATED PRESS NAPLES, Fla. — Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states. “Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort,” Thompson said in a statement. AdvertisementThompson’s fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win. In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination. The actor-politician best known as the gruff district attorney on NBC’s “Law & Order” placed third in Iowa and South Carolina, two states seemingly in line with his right-leaning pitch and laid-back style, and fared even worse in the four other states that have held contests thus far. Money already tight, he ran out of it altogether as the losses piled up. Thompson departs the most wide open Republican race in half a century; three candidates each having won in the six states that have voted. In Florida, McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are battling for the lead ahead of its Jan. 29 primary, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee evaluates his next steps amid money troubles of his own.

More bad news for Rudy, firefighters: Rudy ran on 9.11

Note: if you want to watch the video go to the link. Firefighter: Giuliani 'ran like a coward on 9/11' David Edwards and Adam DosterPublished: Tuesday January 22, 2008 del.icio.us Families of firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center rallied in Orlando Tuesday in anticipation of the state's upcoming Republican primary. Unfortunately for Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, the firefighters are not in his corner. "We want America to know that [the Giuliani campaign] is lying to America and to the American pubic," said Jim Riches, a deputy chief in the New York Fire Department, "telling all of Florida that the New York City Fire Department backs him, when that's another lie." Firefighters and their families vowed to dog the former New York mayor at all of his Florida campaign stops because the state figures prominently in Giuliani's big-state primary strategy. The protesters think that Giuliani was aware that firefighters who responded to the World Trade Center attack were carrying defective radios and did not hear the order to evacuate. "He didn't prepare us before, during, or after," says Riches. Giuliani has campaigned strongly on his leadership during the attacks on New York, claiming he is the best suited to prevent an "Islamic terrorist war against us." But the firefighters were quick to question that courage. "Yeah, the decision he made was, which direction he was going to run," says Riches. "And he ran north, and that's all he did." The Giuliani campaign labeled the display a misleading, partisan attack. The former mayor is also emphasizing his ability to deal with the economy, distancing himself from the 9/11 pitch. This video is from CNN.com, broadcast January 22, 2008.

Ron Paul attends anti abortion rally

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul joined a Tuesday Washington, DC protest of the Supreme Court decision that paved the way for legal abortions in the United States. The anti-war and pro-liberty candidate showed that pro-life positions were also a central part of his political agenda in an address before the 2008 "March For Life." "The Constitution protects all life," Paul declared at the rally, as shown in a video posted at the website YouTube. "Unless we resolve this tremendous moral dilemma, just think, today, a baby, one minute before life, deserves protection, and one minute after life, we still pretend it's called murder." As thousands marched in Washington, the candidate also picked up an endorsement from Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe from the Roe v. Wade decision. "I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade," McCorvey said in a statement. "He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it." The endorsement picked up mix reactions from Paul's supporters, many of whom have been drawn to the candidate because of his positions against the Iraq War and in favor of civil liberties. "What's so great about this endorsement? She a ** up person," wrote a commenter at the Ron Paul Forums. But other Paul supporters embraced the endorsement head on. "Let's hope this brings us lots of votes from the pro-life movement!" wrote another participant on the same website. A partial video of Paul's campaign appearance is included below. MLC comment: I wonder how will Paul supporters spin this, I got into it with a Paul supporter telling him other than being anti war why would I support him? He's anti civil rights and he's anti women rights so why in the hell would i vote for him? And the dude couldn't give me a logical reason why after that.

Study says Bush lied hundreds of times, I'm shocked

Study: Bush, Other Officials Issued Hundreds of False Statements Before Iraq Invasion DOUGLASS K. DANIELAP News Jan 22, 2008 23:13 EST A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a threat. "The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said. The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both. "It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003." Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan. Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida. The center said the study was based on a database created with public statements over the two years beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, and information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles, speeches and interviews. "The cumulative effect of these false statements — amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts — was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war," the study concluded. "Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations — have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq," it said. ___ On the Net: Center For Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx Fund For Independence in Journalism: http://www.tfij.org/

Mich. may benefit from urgent need to fend off a recession in U.S.

Mich. may benefit from urgent need to fend off a recession in U.S. January 22, 2008 By TODD SPANGLER FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF WASHINGTON – With the White House and Congress primed to prop up a sagging national economy, Michiganders struggling with joblessness, plant closures and falling home values could be on the receiving end of targeted relief measures lawmakers began bandying about today. During an eventful day that saw a key interest rate trimmed by three-quarters of a percentage point and President George W. Bush summon Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to huddle on the economy, the head of the Congressional Budget Office told a Senate committee Tuesday that tax rebates may move too slowly to be effective. AdvertisementInstead, measures including an extension of unemployment benefits and increased availability of food stamps may provide more immediate relief for the economy, CBO Director Peter Orszag told the Senate Finance Committee. Those are also moves that could specifically aid Michigan – and other states where the still-threatening recession has apparently already taken hold. Aiding those states, where people lack money and are ready to spend, not save, could have the deepest impact on the economy. “He was really targeting states that have economic problems like Michigan and individuals who have lost their jobs,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who serves on the committee. Stabenow and some other members of Michigan’s delegation want Congress to consider a host of alternatives and state officials are pushing their own agenda, with the nation’s governors expected to reach some sort of consensus as well. For Michigan, the key ingredients are expanded unemployment benefits, not to mention additional help paying Medicaid costs – two items that could be of particular help in a state with high joblessness like Michigan, where the 7.6% unemployment rate in December led the nation. There is no doubt that, in an election year, the nation’s financial woes are going to get plenty of attention and that competition between relief measures will be fierce. Already, there has been talk of limiting tax rebates to individuals and families who pay taxes – not earners making so little they avoid federal taxes. On the other hand, experts say those lower income earners are more likely to spend and therefore push the economy. “The more you target lower income families, the bigger the bang you get for your buck,” said Orszag, whose agency provides nonpartisan analysis to Congress. Michigan’s economic troubles, to be sure, are not the driving concern behind the sudden moves by the Bush administration and Congress to address the economy. A national economy that appears to be on the brink of recession – fueled in part by a national housing crisis felt for years now in Michigan – has resulted in worries of a global slowdown and battling programs for spurring U.S. markets. One measure mentioned on several fronts has been tax rebate checks – one report suggests Bush could propose as much as $800 for an individual and $1,600 for a family. And, on Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, suggested rebates of $400 per person, including children – a proposal which would help families. In a presidential election year, those could prove tempting choices. But Orszag said that while such a program would most likely help the economy, the reality is that it would take months to issue those checks, with the first not going out until May. That could help create spending in the second half of the year – not the first, when it’s needed. And if the economy has found its footing by then, the checks could serve to push prices higher as the market is flush with cash, he said. More effective measures would come “the sooner, the better,” said Orszag, “and the more that can be delivered during the first half of 2008, the better.” In Michigan, money to extend unemployment benefits would help people whose benefits have already run out or soon will. Typically an out-of-work individual can’t collect benefits more than 26 weeks a year. About 383,000 people were unemployed in Michigan in December. Stabenow also said there might be other ways of putting money in people’s pockets more directly, perhaps by having the government pick up payroll taxes such as Social Security withholding. Rep. Candice Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, said she believes tax rebates aimed at lower- and middle-income wage earners will spark the economy and is also in favor of extending unemployment benefits and other moves. She’d also like to see more money freed up for bridges and roads. She knows it’s not being done specifically for Michigan and “we have to take what we can get.” “But what we can get is pretty good,” she said. Miller added that she’s been pushing for years to get unemployment benefits extended for people in need, and she’d get the response from other members of her party on Capitol Hill, “For who?” “You’d try to explain to them how bad it was in Michigan,” she said.

Rushbo not liking the GOP choices for president

Do Limbaugh's followers share his despair for the GOP? Muriel KanePublished: Tuesday January 22, 2008

Conservative talk radio pundit Rush Limbaugh has been finding it easier to identify candidates he dislikes in the Republican presidential primaries than anyone he might support. Some analysts even believe that Mike Huckabee's disappointing third-place finish in the Michigan primary was a result of Limbaugh's constant claims that Huckabee is not a true conservative and that his nomination could destroy the Republican Party. Now Limbaugh has gone a step further, telling his listeners that he's not too fond of McCain either and that "I can see possibly not supporting a Republican nominee" because "you don't have a genuine down-the-list conservative." A political blog at the Los Angeles Times found reason for merriment in Limbaugh's admission. Blogger Andrew Malcolm wrote, "Across the country, people were dropping their coffee cups, choking on sandwiches, fainting and driving off the road. The king of conservative talk-radio not supporting the Republican nominee? ... 'And I never thought that I would say that in my life. This stuff is very tough.' No kidding. Who'd a thought? It's tough enough just listening to him go through this, let alone live it like he is." However, Limbaugh's actual followers seemed far less fazed by his confession than liberals might have imagined. One conservative blogger wrote approvingly of Limbaugh's position, saying, "It’s heartening to know that such a prominent conservative is willing to stand on principle and not act as a cheerleader for whoever the eventual GOP nominee is. A pro-Romney blogger agreed with Limbaugh that both McCain and Huckabee "are trying to redefine Republican and Conservatism" and was delighted by Limbaugh's statement that "it's easier for me to support a Romney than a McCain, for example. Because I believe his conversion is genuine." Even a blogger who took issue with Limbaugh's position did so in temperate terms, merely complaining that "One doesn’t have to pretend Romney or McCain or whomever is the second coming of Ronald Reagan to decide you’d rather have him running the executive branch than Hillary Clinton." Limbaugh himself was not enthusiastic about any of the Republican candidates, even Romney, concluding that "it's going to come down to which guy do we dislike the least."

Across Michigan, light turnout and some upset voters

Across Michigan, light turnout and some upset voters January 15, 2008 By JOHN WISELY and KATHLEEN GRAY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS Around metro Detroit and across the state, turnout has been so low for the presidential primary that some clerks predict the majority of votes will come from absentee ballots. Clerks say snowy weather and a non-race on the Democratic side have kept numbers down. AdvertisementIn Detroit, about 20,000 people had voted at polling places around the city by mid-afternoon. An additional 23,000 absentee ballots were cast by Election Day, said city Elections Director Daniel Baxter. That represents less than 10% of the voters in the city, he said. “With the snow and in January, it’s still really dark out at 7 a.m., so maybe we’ll get 15 to 20%.” Voters weren’t complaining about not being able to write in their favorite Democratic candidate because two of the front-runners — Barack Obama and John Edwards — withdrew their names from the ballot. But several were upset about having to ask for a political party-specific ballot, which would identify if they had voted Republican or Democratic. “Some voters thought that was unconstitutional,” Baxter said. “And they ended up voting under protest.” In Troy, where about 54,000 residents are registered to vote, morning turnout was light. City Clerk Tonni Bartholomew estimated about 3,400 voters went to the polls by noon. Another 5,100 people vote absentee, she said. “I expected turnout to be higher,” Bartholomew said. “But the phone has been ringing a lot so maybe we get a dinner rush.” By 2 p.m., 6,702 Livonia residents had cast ballots, about 9.3% of the city’s 72,000 registered voters, according to the city clerk’s office. Officials expect final turnout to be above 15% of registered voters. Outstate precincts reported similar low turnouts. “It’s probably going to be something like a school board election,” said Inez Brown, clerk in heavily Democratic Flint. Brown said the equipment in Flint’s 61 precincts has worked properly and voters seem to understand that the not all the candidates are on the Democratic ballot. “So far everything has gone pretty smoothly,” Brown said. In heavily Republican Ottawa county in western Michigan, heavy snow fell throughout the morning, said Anna Perales, acting deputy city clerk in Holland. “We had a blizzardy morning,” Perales said. “It was very slow at the polls. The majority is going to be by absentee vote.”

LIEberman asks MI Dems and Independents

Lieberman Asks Dems and Independents To Vote McCain January 15, 2008 3:15 PMLauren Effron--> ABC News' Bret Hovell Reports: Sen. Joseph Lieberman called on Michigan's Independents and Democrats on Tuesday to come out and vote for Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary, saying he is convinced that McCain will "become our next great American president." "I urge them to come out today and stand for a man who is a great American patriot," Lieberman said at a joint town hall meeting with McCain in Ann Arbor, Mich. "There's no competitive Democratic primary," Lieberman added. "I know there's some other moderate and conservative Democrats like myself." Lieberman, an Independent Democratic senator from Connecticut, crossed party lines to endorsed McCain, R-Ariz., for president last month. He has appeared on the trail with McCain, and occasionally spoken in his place. Michigan's primary - underway Tuesday - is open, meaning it allows voters to pick which ballot – Republican or Democrat – they wish to use. The frontrunners for the Democratic primary are not competing here in the Great Lakes state. Lieberman and McCain share an ideological kinship on the issue of the Iraq war, and have traveled to Iraq together on congressional delegation trips. McCain's rival for the Republican nomination, former Governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass., suggested Tuesday that if McCain wins in Michigan, it will be because of the crossover votes from non-Republicans. "Many people predicted that in New Hampshire we wouldn't get the majority of the Republican vote. We did," McCain responded to reporters. If [Independents and Democrats] all turn out for us, then I think that's a signal that we can do well in the general election." McCain was also asked if Lieberman might be a potential running mate for him if he were to win the nomination. "I think it would be very presumptuous of me having won one primary to be discussing running mates," McCain said. "Now I'll admit to a massive ego, but not quite that massive."

Clinton’s Message, and Moment, Won the Day

Clinton’s Message, and Moment, Won the Day By PATRICK HEALY At first, the moment seemed like a disaster: The televised images of the teary-eyed exchange Hillary Rodham Clinton had with a New Hampshire voter about the rigors of the campaign caused her advisers to express fears that it would badly undercut her message of strength and experience. Some advisers were so concerned that they did not e-mail video of the Monday incident to Clinton supporters, as they usually do when Senator Clinton makes positive news. “We have absolutely no idea how her getting this emotional will play with voters,” one adviser said. It turned out to play phenomenally well, one of several turning points during Mrs. Clinton’s five-day sprint in New Hampshire after the Iowa caucuses that transformed the dynamic of her race against Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Women, in particular, responded: Several said they chose to vote for Mrs. Clinton at the last moment because she had shown a human side of herself that they had never seen. “At first, I thought it was bad that she cried, but then I thought she is a woman, give her a chance,” said Diane Fischel, a tailor and a grandmother, who cited the emotional display for deciding to vote for Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primary instead of for Senator John McCain on the Republican side. Based on interviews with a dozen New Hampshire voters, a review of surveys of voters leaving the polls, and revelations from Clinton advisers about their own surveys there, it is clear that Mrs. Clinton’s remarkable turnaround after her loss to Mr. Obama in Iowa occurred because of several key moments — some planned, some not. She also won support by sharpening her message of experience into concrete terms, casting herself as a doer competing against Mr. Obama’s image as an eloquent talker. Among the pivots from Iowa, where Mrs. Clinton came in third, was her decision to take question after question from voters at her New Hampshire events, a break from her past appearances. Several female voters interviewed this week said it showed grit. In Iowa, she devoted far more time to acting like a celebrity on the rope lines, shaking hands and taking pictures with voters, because some of her advisers believed that Iowans wanted those up-close encounters. Former President Bill Clinton also campaigned steadily for her in New Hampshire and fine-tuned his stump speech from Iowa to focus on her accomplishments. Mr. Clinton also made a rare, angry attack on Mr. Obama at a campaign stop on Monday; aides say the attack was not planned. According to a survey of voters leaving the polls Tuesday, Mr. Clinton was viewed favorably by 83 percent of Democrats, while 49 percent had a very favorable opinion of him. Of the latter group, Mrs. Clinton got a majority of their votes. It also appeared, based on that exit poll, by Edison/Mitofsky for the television networks and The Associated Press, that Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the most experienced Democrat in the field — contributed to her victory. She was backed by 71 percent of Democratic voters in New Hampshire for whom experience was the most important quality; these voters made up 19 percent of those surveyed. And Mrs. Clinton’s performance in a televised debate on Saturday drew some very positive reviews from voters — especially her reply to the question of why many voters did not find her likable. “Well, that hurts my feelings,” she said, “but I’ll try to go on. I don’t think I’m that bad.” Mr. Obama, who had been trading attacks with Mrs. Clinton in the debate, followed her comment by saying, “You’re likable enough, Hillary” — a remark that some voters said was less than gracious. Michelle Evans, a New Hampshire Democrat and stay-at-home mother, said Mrs. Clinton handled the likability question well. “I believe in her,” Ms. Evans said. “I think she is a likable candidate.” Ms. Evans’s friend, Kerri Christopher, a Democrat who works in marketing and has three young children, added that Mrs. Clinton “exhibits lots of compassion that Obama didn’t.” In an interview on NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Clinton cited the Saturday debate as the turning point for her candidacy in New Hampshire. “It was the first time that the leading candidates actually were asked some very pointed questions about what we stand for, what we’ve done to help other people, what our accomplishments are and what we want to do for the future,” she said. Mr. Obama, who narrowly lost to Mrs. Clinton, also showed strength among the 54 percent of Democratic primary voters who believed that the ability to bring about change was the most important quality. He drew support from 55 percent of them, compared with 28 percent for Mrs. Clinton. “I want something new and fresh, I want someone we can believe in like we believed in Kennedy,” said Estelle Glover, 57, an office manager whose son just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. “He didn’t let us down, and I don’t think Obama is going to let us down.” Mrs. Clinton’s advisers are now asking themselves how much of her strategy and message over the next four weeks should center on her personality and emotions, and how much on her ideas and track record. Advisers say that new television advertising and fund-raising solicitations will try to underscore her warmer side, as shown in one e-mail message to donors on Wednesday. “In the days ahead, you and I have to keep speaking from the heart,” Mrs. Clinton wrote in the pitch — a sentence rendered in bold in the e-mail message. Still, advisers said that Mrs. Clinton would not be comfortable emoting on cue on the campaign trail. “She can’t just keep crying,” one campaign adviser said. (Mrs. Clinton’s eyes welled up with tears, but she did not cry, at the New Hampshire event on Monday; her aides said it was because of a combination of frustration, fatigue, and emotion.) At the same time, the public reaction to that emotional moment has served as a sharp reminder to Mrs. Clinton and her advisers that voters respond to a candidate’s human touch. Mr. Obama is Example A: His eloquence, his easy manner with voters, and his ready sense of humor — he still sounds fresh when he makes his canned joke in his stump speech about being a distant cousin to Dick Cheney, after weeks of delivering it. On the eve of the New Hampshire primary and throughout Tuesday, strategists for Mr. Obama said they did not sense that voters — particularly women — in New Hampshire were taking a second look at the race. In their strategy room on Tuesday evening, they were thunderstruck. Their confidence had been mistakenly buoyed by not only the polls, but also the enormous crowds that met Mr. Obama at most stops. At the beginning of each campaign appearance, Mr. Obama would ask voters how many remained undecided. Often, one-third or one-half of those in his audience would raise their hands, a sign that advisers later conceded should have been regarded as ominous. And in hindsight, several associates said that Mr. Obama’s “you’re likable enough” at the Saturday debate only added to the perception that Mrs. Clinton was being double-teamed by Mr. Obama and another Democrat who was sharply criticizing her, John Edwards. Mr. Obama’s aides said they believe the criticism from the former president in the final days of the race also helped increase voter suspicions about his candidacy. Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Clinton campaign, said on Wednesday that New Hampshire voters responded to Mrs. Clinton because they were able to see so many sides of her personality. “Our back was against the wall, but people got to see the real Hillary Clinton,” he said. “People saw the contrast of the records in the debate. The humanizing moment she had was a big deal. People know that she’ll deliver for them.”

Kerry endorses Obama

Former Dem nominee Kerry endorses Obama By NEDRA PICKLER and ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press Writers 23 minutes ago John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, gave Barack Obama a timely endorsement Thursday, snubbing Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as his own vice presidential running mate. Kerry came to South Carolina to embrace Obama, two weeks before the state's primary and with Obama needing a boost after Clinton's emotional victory over him in New Hampshire. Quoting a black American hero in endorsing the man who hopes to be the first black president, Kerry told a cheering crowd, "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right." Now is the time, Kerry said, to declare "that Barack Obama can be, will be and should be the next president of the United States." The Massachusetts senator said there were other candidates he had worked with and respected but Obama was best able to bring Americans together. "Who better than Barack Obama to turn a new page in American politics so that Democrat, independent and Republican alike can look to leadership that unites to find the common ground?" Kerry said. "That's what this is about." Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the third contender in the Democratic presidential race, was Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004. Despite their political alliance, the two men were not close personally and differed behind the scenes on campaign strategy in a race that President Bush won. Edwards responded to word of the endorsement with a diplomatic statement: "Our country and our party are stronger because of John's service, and I respect his decision. When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues." Edwards defeated Kerry in the 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary. Kerry had considered running again but decided a year ago he would not. Kerry dismissed Obama critics who say the Illinois senator lacks the experience to be president. And he took a swipe at Clinton, saying, "Some have suggested in this campaign that Barack is guilty of raising 'false hopes.' ... My friends, the only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better tomorrow." In a debate in New Hampshire, the New York senator said in comparing her ability and Obama's to fulfill pledges to bring about change: "I think it is clear that what we need is somebody who can deliver change. And we don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered. The best way to know what change I will produce is to look at the changes that I've already made." Returning to the subject, Obama said when he took the microphone from Kerry: "In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Obama supporters were hoping the timing of Kerry's endorsement could give him a lift as he seeks to put his New Hampshire primary loss behind him. Obama also picked up the endorsement of South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson. Obama praised Kerry's Vietnam War service, calling him a patriot and a man of conviction. Kerry was Obama's political benefactor once before, selecting the relatively unknown Illinois senatorial candidate to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. It was Obama's first turn in the national spotlight and helped launch him on a remarkable ascent that has made him one of two leading contenders for the party's presidential nomination only four years later. Kerry had withheld his endorsement, hoping to have an impact on the race and avoid the fate of fellow Democrat Al Gore, the 2000 nominee who endorsed Howard Dean in 2004 shortly before the former Vermont governor's campaign imploded. Gore has made no endorsement so far this year. While Kerry has been close to Clinton's husband, the former president, he was incensed in 2006 when she chided him after Kerry suggested that people who don't go to school "get stuck in Iraq." Aides said Kerry meant to jab at Bush and say "get us stuck in Iraq," and that he didn't appreciate Clinton piling onto the criticism he was already getting for the remark. Kerry's own hopes to run for president this year fizzled with that botched comment. For many Democrats, his words revived bitter memories of his missteps in 2004. troop withdrawal deadlines. In another area, he has backed environmental causes, writing a book with his wife on the issue. Kerry should be able to provide some organizational and fundraising muscle to Obama. Since losing the 2004 race, Kerry has kept a national network of supporters intact. He has an e-mail network of 3 million supporters, according to aides. He also has traveled extensively raising millions of dollars for Democratic candidates nationwide. The Republican National Committee(who cares what the Republican have to says?) was dismissive about Thursday's endorsement, branding Kerry and Obama "liberal soul mates."

Chris Matthews: Democratic establishment will 'kill the fire of insurgency'

Chris Matthews: Democratic establishment will 'kill the fire of insurgency' David Edwards and Muriel KanePublished: Tuesday January 8, 2008 del.icio.us Chris Matthews appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe on the morning of the New Hampshire primary to describe how he expects the Democratic Party establishment to destroy Barack Obama's candidacy and ensure the nomination for Hillary Clinton. "There's a battle in the Democratic Party between the idealists and the interest groups," Matthews began. "And in the beginning of every Democratic campaign for president, there's an idealist who comes forward ... and they do very well in the first offing. ... And then the interest groups get all called in, the meal tickets, all the people that get something out of the party are bussed in, trucked in from out of town ... and they blow away the idealist." "It has been done so many times," he continued. "Kill the fire of insurgency. And when that's killed, then you go back to the same old interest group politics." "Once in a while, someone comes along and shakes things up," Matthews acknowledged. "It's a phenomenal thing. And it's going on now. It'll go on through tonight. But at some time, it's going to be really challenged by the forces of the establishment, by the status quo, by the interest groups and the big-money contributors, and they're going to try to put this fire out." "They will find some way to counter this power. You watch it. It's scorched earth, but the establishment in American politics almost always wins. ... All the people around the Clintons ... are getting together to try to figure out how to stop this. These are pros, who win year after year. "They are under threat right now, because if Obama wins, they lose," Matthews went on, turning aside Scarborough's suggestions that this year the dynamics might be different. "If you think it's going to happen, then you are definitely a dreamer. Maybe I am too. But I've seen this dream die so many times." "They'll play on every heartstring. They'll make Hillary a more sympathetic figure," Matthews predicted, saying that between now and Super Tuesday on February 5, the newspapers will fall over themselves to give us "the new Hillary, the softer Hillary, the humble Hillary." "The fawning journalism is yet to come," concluded Matthews. "It's absolutely predictable. ... Oh, it's coming!" This video is from MSNBC's Morning Joe, broadcast January 8, 2008. (Go to the link for video) Note: sorry I've been lacking in recent updates due to finals and holiday rush too me away from blogging.