Secrecy and Disclosure: Cheney Offers Romney Free Advice

As vice-president, Dick Cheney's most effective tool was always stealth. Listen the unsolicited advice he has given candidate Mitt Romney about disclosure. Of course, the question is whether Cheney's advice can actually win elections or hide evidence?

I have recently come to the conclusion that the Republican Party is now living in a world where rewards and punishment, shame and honor, have been turned upside down and made completely irrelevant.

The very people that should be hanging their head in utter shame, that should be wear identity-hiding beards and dark glasses or living in total seclusion in a backwoods cabin in Montana are now held up as experts or authorities.

Republican failures are constantly being interviewed and asked their opinions. Why would any intelligent person care?

So when I read about former vice president Dick Cheney giving his “valuable” advice to the presumptive nominee for the Republican party, Mitt Romney, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the conservative media reveres people like Cheney and think, despite the historical record, their opinions are extremely important.

The Patriotism of Mitt Romney

Reflections on The Passing of Gore Vidal

By Nomad

So much of what Mr. Vidal had to say about American politics and its culture were things that many Americans just didn't want to hear. Yet looking back over his record as a prognosticator, he always seemed to be more on the right side, rather than the wrong side of history. 

It is true that his love for stirring up controversy (often for its own sake) made it easier for people to despise him. Yet, few could deny that when it came to exposition, to expressing the liberal ethic, Gore Vidal could rarely be bested.

There was a famous 1968 televised debate between his mirror image on the right, William F. Buckley, Jr. In this debate, the topic turned to the heavy handed police reaction to protesters at Chicago Democratic Convention. Vidal referred to Buckley as a "pro- or crypto- Nazi" and it was at that point that Buckley lost his cool and said, very uncharacteristically,"Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddamn face, and you'll stay plastered." 

The 7 Lessons the GOP has Failed to Learn from the Sarah Palin Blunder

Sarah Palin's vice-presidential candidacy was controversial from the moment it was announced. For an assortment of reasons, many thought she was totally unqualified to be second in command. After a disastrous campaign, in which the McCain and his running-mate seemed to be conducting separate campaigns, many lessons should have been learned. Apparently nobody has learned anything at all.

The way the GOP has handled the Sarah Palin problem - from start to finish- says so much about what is wrong with the party. 

Even now, as the presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, heads toward the convention to be crowned (despite some serious concerns about his suitability) the Republican leadership seems to have learned nothing.

Bad Karma: How Romney's Bain Capital Worked its Magic on Clear Channel Communications

 by Nomad

In an amazing twist, Mitt Romney's former hedge fund management may be the thing that kills off a major supply of hate on the radio.

Splashing Cash

Just saw this good news article about the slow inevitable sinking of Rush Limbaugh and the perfect storm mounting against right-wing hate radio. As you probably have heard, the campaign against Limbaugh has been effective at getting big name corporations from providing advertising revenue for the promoters of controversial radio show host.

According to the article,

(A)nother threat to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, et al, looms on the horizon, and comes from a very different direction: vulture capital.

None other than Mitt Romney's Bain Capital owns Clear Channel, which is the parent of the conservative talkers' syndicator, Premiere Networks. Clear Channel recently downsized, simultaneous with Bain Capital squeezing the company through a forced 2.2 billion dollar dividend. (This is one of the mechanisms by which Mitt Romney and friends have amassed their fortunes -- sucking cash out of troubled corporations, subsequently allowing some of them to go bankrupt.) Clear Channel was already 19.2 billion dollars in debt, and is facing a shareholder lawsuit related to loans between different Clear Channel entities that were used to cover the huge payout. In spite of crushing debt, Clear Channel is "splashing the cash" in "an attempt to rebrand itself as a hip digital music giant."

The move away from controversy cannot be very good news for the likes of Limbaugh. Hip is not really his thing. Not to worry too much; the devil takes care of his own (for the most part) and Rush is no exception.