The Gadfly On The Wall
Askins Supplied Half of $1.7 Million She Spent: Lt. Governor Jari Askins gave her campaign $880,000. Good for her. She said she saved her money to help fund her race and did so.
But Not E.Z.: E. Z. Million raised a whopping $525 in his Independent race for lieutenant governor. He spent $125. Now that's conservative!
FEMA: The Federal Emergency Management Agency clearly has fallen apart since being placed in the Department of Homeland Security. Oklahoman Joe Allbaugh was the last FEMA director to have authority to act with immediacy and it shows. Allbaugh, we've been told, warned President Bush that putting FEMA under DOHS would clog the pipeline and told him (Bush) he had picked the wrong man (Michael Chertoff) to head DOHS; appears he was right on both counts.
McMahan's Donors: Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan, as reported ad naseum here last year, raised most of his campaign money from office employees and those he regulates. The total is almost half a million dollars. Employees must believe they have the best boss money can buy.
Lobbyist Bill Case: We react with no surprise that former State Rep. Bill Case, defeated in his bid to unseat incumbent Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland last year, is now a registered lobbyist for Bobby Stem and their client American Reserve Life Insurance Company, controlled by the Phillips family interests. Those interests tried to help Case defeat Holland and failed.
83%!: If Governor Brad Henry's approval rating gets any higher, angels will start singing in the Blue Room when he enters. (I hear them tuning up.)
Anti-war Protestors: Disrespectful war protestors in Washington last weekend, Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon among them, defaced the U. S. Capitol by spray-painting anti-war slogans on some steps. Did you ever want to just slap the hell out of someone?
Worst Commercial: Okie Insight has a long-running poll about the worst 2006 political commercial. That God-awful Larry Gatlin spot for Insurance Commissioner candidate Bill Case leads the pack last time I looked.
Barack's Barrage: How long can the national media keep up the Barack Obama barrage? Hillary Clinton's got to be doing a slow burn over all the attention the Illinois senator has received, and at how glowing the comments have been. For a former state legislator with only two years in the Senate, Obama is a pure media creation. His record on substantive issues is thin and his tenure at the national level is short. Even more important than how long the barrage continues is how well Obama will perform in the presidential frying pan that is our primary process.
Newt: Former U. S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to lead our GOP presidential preference poll handily. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee battling for second place, way behind Gingrich. Nationally, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain appear to be the leaders in most polls.
A Shadow Of His Former Self? Unless my eyes deceive me, former State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Parmley has lost weight...a lot of it. I spotted this photo of Jay (in white, at rear) with other Democrats in Washington and even though he's partially hidden, it appears he's considerably slimmer than when last seen. Jay now works for the DNC in Mississippi.
The Unit: Network television programs hold little allure for me. I watch just one network program regularly and that is "The Unit" on CBS, Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. I am substantially invested in the character (Sergeant Jonas Blane) played by actor Dennis Haysbert, brother-in-law of the president of Langston University, Dr. JoAnn Haysbert.
Haysbert is among the finest practicing actors. "The Unit" is an action-drama television series that rings with authenticity; it focuses on a small top-secret special forces team and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends (the supporting ensemble cast is first-rate as well). It premiered in the spring of 2006 as a mid-season replacement. The second season debuted last fall. Based on show producer Eric Haney's book, Inside Delta Force, the show was created for television by David Mamet; executive producers are Mamet and Shawn Ryan.
But Not E.Z.: E. Z. Million raised a whopping $525 in his Independent race for lieutenant governor. He spent $125. Now that's conservative!
FEMA: The Federal Emergency Management Agency clearly has fallen apart since being placed in the Department of Homeland Security. Oklahoman Joe Allbaugh was the last FEMA director to have authority to act with immediacy and it shows. Allbaugh, we've been told, warned President Bush that putting FEMA under DOHS would clog the pipeline and told him (Bush) he had picked the wrong man (Michael Chertoff) to head DOHS; appears he was right on both counts.
McMahan's Donors: Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan, as reported ad naseum here last year, raised most of his campaign money from office employees and those he regulates. The total is almost half a million dollars. Employees must believe they have the best boss money can buy.
Lobbyist Bill Case: We react with no surprise that former State Rep. Bill Case, defeated in his bid to unseat incumbent Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland last year, is now a registered lobbyist for Bobby Stem and their client American Reserve Life Insurance Company, controlled by the Phillips family interests. Those interests tried to help Case defeat Holland and failed.
83%!: If Governor Brad Henry's approval rating gets any higher, angels will start singing in the Blue Room when he enters. (I hear them tuning up.)
Anti-war Protestors: Disrespectful war protestors in Washington last weekend, Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon among them, defaced the U. S. Capitol by spray-painting anti-war slogans on some steps. Did you ever want to just slap the hell out of someone?
Worst Commercial: Okie Insight has a long-running poll about the worst 2006 political commercial. That God-awful Larry Gatlin spot for Insurance Commissioner candidate Bill Case leads the pack last time I looked.
Barack's Barrage: How long can the national media keep up the Barack Obama barrage? Hillary Clinton's got to be doing a slow burn over all the attention the Illinois senator has received, and at how glowing the comments have been. For a former state legislator with only two years in the Senate, Obama is a pure media creation. His record on substantive issues is thin and his tenure at the national level is short. Even more important than how long the barrage continues is how well Obama will perform in the presidential frying pan that is our primary process.
Newt: Former U. S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to lead our GOP presidential preference poll handily. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee battling for second place, way behind Gingrich. Nationally, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain appear to be the leaders in most polls.
A Shadow Of His Former Self? Unless my eyes deceive me, former State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Parmley has lost weight...a lot of it. I spotted this photo of Jay (in white, at rear) with other Democrats in Washington and even though he's partially hidden, it appears he's considerably slimmer than when last seen. Jay now works for the DNC in Mississippi.The Unit: Network television programs hold little allure for me. I watch just one network program regularly and that is "The Unit" on CBS, Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. I am substantially invested in the character (Sergeant Jonas Blane) played by actor Dennis Haysbert, brother-in-law of the president of Langston University, Dr. JoAnn Haysbert.
Haysbert is among the finest practicing actors. "The Unit" is an action-drama television series that rings with authenticity; it focuses on a small top-secret special forces team and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends (the supporting ensemble cast is first-rate as well). It premiered in the spring of 2006 as a mid-season replacement. The second season debuted last fall. Based on show producer Eric Haney's book, Inside Delta Force, the show was created for television by David Mamet; executive producers are Mamet and Shawn Ryan.
Labels: Gadfly's Columns
posted by Mike McCarville @ 9:24 AM
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