And the hits just keep on comin'

Gosh, it almost feels like my birthday, two months early yet!

Christian Coalition spiraling down the financial toilet:

In an era when conservative Christians enjoy access and influence throughout the federal government, the organization that fueled their rise has fallen on hard times.

The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson as the political fundraising and lobbying engine of the Christian right, is more than $2 million in debt, beset by creditors’ lawsuits and struggling to hold on to some of its state chapters.

In March, one of its most effective chapters, the Christian Coalition of Iowa, cut ties with the national organization and reincorporated itself as the Iowa Christian Alliance, saying it “found it impossible to continue to carry a name that in any way associated us with this national organization.”

via Pandagon

I am not a crook

You would think this country might have learned something from the whole Nixon debacle, but no, a majority decided once again to back a bunch of crooks:

Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.

The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 — as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down.

The national Republican Party, which paid millions in legal bills to defend Tobin, says the contacts involved routine election business and that it was "preposterous" to suggest the calls involved phone jamming.

The Justice Department has secured three convictions in the case but hasn't accused any White House or national Republican officials of wrongdoing, nor made any allegations suggesting party officials outside New Hampshire were involved. The phone records of calls to the White House were exhibits in Tobin's trial but prosecutors did not make them part of their case.

Democrats plan to ask a federal judge Tuesday to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the phone jamming in a civil lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

Repeated hang-up calls that jammed telephone lines at a Democratic get-out-the-vote center occurred in a Senate race in which Republican John Sununu defeated Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, 51 percent to 46 percent, on Nov. 5, 2002...

While national Republican officials have said they deplore such operations, the Republican National Committee said it paid for Tobin's defense because he is a longtime supporter and told officials he had committed no crime...

Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same number, which currently rings inside the political affairs office. In 2002, White House political affairs was led by now-RNC chairman Ken Mehlman. The White House declined to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002.

Does this administration know how to do anything but lie, cheat and steal? Oh, wait, there's the ineptitude...oh and the racism...and let's not forget the corruption...*sigh*

Edit: No More Mister Nice Blog adds:

"In 2002, White House political affairs was led by now-RNC chairman Ken Mehlman."

And at the time, Mehlman's boss would have been...?

"And when you're at the White House, who do you report to as political director?"

"Karl Rove."

Yeah -- Mehlman was the head of Political Affairs, but he answered to Rove.

When do we nail the sonofabitch? When does our political class stop being amused at the notion that Rove fights dirty but leaves "no fingerprints"? When does someone actually start looking for some fingerprints?

This was a crime -- not a "dirty trick," a crime. A GOP Congress won't investigate it. When is the press going to develop a pulse and start trying to determine whether Rove belongs in prison?