A Spork in the Drawer

Almost Getting It Right

The Zombie Lie that Gov. Bob Casey Sr was denied a speaking spot at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because of his anti-choice stance keeps being reported even though it's completely untrue.

In a break from that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in an article about the Governer's son, Sen. Bob Casey Jr, offers something of a corrective:

The previous day, sitting in a Starbucks not far from the convention site, Mr. Casey reflected on his father's less welcome reception and the changes in the party on the issue on which the late governor had so strenuously opposed former President Bill Clinton. The senator acknowledged that the precise details of why the elder Casey was barred from that New York City podium in 1992 are still in some dispute. In his memoirs, the late governor said it was a deliberate insult motivated by his opposition to abortion rights.

Other reports have attributed it to his failure to endorse the Clinton-Gore ticket prior to the convention.

"I think it's best to let the historians debate it and move on and look to the future," his son said.

Tepid (at best) and it doesn't come until the 16th paragraph (talk about burying the lede) but it's something, I suppose.

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Line Of The Night

Sen. Bob Casey: "John McCain says he's a maverick. But he's voted with Bush over 90% of the time. That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick!"

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Australian Beeeeeees!

Trying to stop the invasion from Down Under:

Sen. Bob Casey, a member of the Senate Agriculture committee, has asked the Department of Agriculture to temporarily ban the importation of honeybees from Australia.

The country has been eyed as a potential source of a virus that has been killing billions of bees. Although no definitive link has been found, bee researchers have said they are looking at whether there is a connection to Australian bees.

[...]

The earliest reports of colony collapse disorder date to 2004, but a spokeswoman from the Australian embassy said Australian bees weren't imported into the United States until 2005.

Photo by John Alcock

Australian Dawson's burrowing bees preparing trenches for the coming battle.

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Indefinitely

Aravosis:

A bipartisan group of Senators has prepared legislation that they want to offer in the next few weeks that would keep US troops in Iraq indefinitely. What's worse, they're claiming that the legislation implements the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Studgy Group, when in fact, the legislation codifies George Bush's current failed policies in Iraq.

The misnamed "Iraq Study Group (ISG) Recommendations Implementation Act of 2007," is being offered by Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Robert Casey (D-PA), John Sununu (R-NH) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR). Probably the most offensive thing about the legislation is that it outright calls for the continuation of the status quo policy of keeping US troops in Iraq until the day that Iraq is 100% ready to stand on its own - namely, never. Specifically, the legislation buries a little nugget on page 18 of the bill. In a section entitled "Sense of Congress on Redeployment of United States Forces from Iraq... [Emphasis added.]

This is the price we paid for getting rid of Li'l Ricky.

(Details at the link.)

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The Price We Paid

There can be no doubt that having the Dems in the majority is a good thing - how can you hate subpoenas? - but, unfortunately, it came at the cost of electing Bob Casey:

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter yesterday renewed his call for a significant expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, a bill that fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey will oppose when it comes up for a vote this week.

The split between the state's two senators could kill the bill's chance of becoming law in the near future.

President Bush has promised to block the legislation, just as he did last year, when he issued the only veto of his presidency. The Senate would need at least 67 votes to override a new veto, and Mr. Casey's stance may prevent that. The freshman Democrat, who ran on a pro-life platform in last year's campaign, is against research that extracts stem cells by destroying human embryos.

It's a tough pill to swallow but as I spent all of last year asking my purer brethren and sistren, would you rather be in the minority and have to deal with Li'l Ricky?

BooMan:

Now, there is no way that Rick Santorum would have voted in favor of funding. And there is no way that Santorum would have been one of the most reliable Democratic minority votes in the Senate. This isn't about refighting the interparty war over Bob Casey Jr. But, we need to send a message to Casey that we will primary his ass and load our challenger with boatloads of cash if he casts the deciding vote against funding stem-cell research.

I agree with that.

Casey's contact info:

Washington, D.C. Office
383 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6324
Toll Free: (866) 802-2833
Fax: (202) 228-0604

Harrisburg Office
555 Walnut Street, First Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 231-7540
Toll Free: (866) 461-9159
Fax: (717) 231-7542

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Money

It's a gas:

For the first time in the campaign, Democratic Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr. has more ready cash than Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

According to numbers provided by the campaigns yesterday, state Treasurer Casey has $2.7 million cash on hand and Santorum has $2.4 million.

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, Santorum raised $1.3 million and Casey $1.35 million.

Political analyst Larry Sabato said the numbers show the handwriting is on the wall for Santorum's re-election effort.

"History tells us that when this happens, it means that the challenger has been accepted by the political community as the likely winner," said Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

He added: "Almost never does an incumbent fall behind in fundraising or cash on hand unless he is lagging badly in the polls."

[Via Keystone Politics.]

Maybe Li'l Ricky could raise some bucks by selling the seersucker.

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Ricky Churchill

An evermore flailing Sen Manondog (R-AKC) desperately tries to convince voters he's the second coming of Winston Churchill:

CORNWALL, Pa. -- For the first time in his fight for a third term, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., directly questioned his opponent's ability to make the right decisions on national security at a time when "our enemies are fully committed to our destruction."

[...]

Mr. Santorum's criticism comes after the campaign released a hard-hitting TV ad earlier this week showing Mr. Casey's face next to a mushroom cloud and accusing him of supporting policies that hurt national security.

[...]

In his speech, Mr. Santorum invoked Winston Churchill, described alleged terror plots and said the United States must pay attention to escalating threats from countries such as Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.

"We will have to face this threat because our enemies are fully committed to our destruction," Mr. Santorum said. "They will not stop until they destroy us or we destroy them."

[...]

Mr. Santorum referred to what he said were multiple forces trying to undermine the United States as "the gathering storm" -- a phrase that is also the title of Churchill's memoir about the causes of World War II.

Mr. Santorum quoted the opening passage, in which Churchill, the onetime British leader, said English-speaking peoples "allowed the wicked to rearm."

You don't want to know what Ricky would do with Churchill's famous cigar.

As for Li'l Ricky's latest ad: AIEEEE! Commie Pinko Islamofascists are gonna get us!

The upside-down US flag next to Casey is a nice touch. Very subliminable, as Our Glorious Leader™ might say.

Bob Casey on the web.

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No Big Suprise

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette endorses Bob Casey:

There was a time when conservatives ran against Washington, D.C., but Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, in fighting the challenge by state Treasurer Bob Casey this year, has a problem doing that. He is Washington, D.C.

More precisely, the 12-year incumbent is the sort of calculating politician who has made the 109th Congress the out-of-touch and ethics-challenged institution that has added to the store of public cynicism.

[...]

To be sure, Mr. Santorum has his principles, but usually they take the form of some narrow moralizing that reduce the choices of those in a minority -- gays who want the freedom to marry and so live regular lives, women who are in a jam and feel they must have an abortion.

[...]

Mr. Casey would never have led the charge to privatize Social Security, as Mr. Santorum did. This was not a reform but a sure way to kill the system prematurely. (When seniors figured this out, Mr. Santorum quickly covered his tracks by proposing a bogus bill that he said would guarantee them benefits if it were privatized; it went nowhere.)

Mr. Casey would have voted for raising the federal minimum wage, which has been stuck at $5.15 an hour since 1997 and, being so low, long ago made ridiculous any arguments that job creation would be seriously discouraged. Sen. Santorum has repeatedly voted against raising the minimum wage even as he has voted, along with his colleagues, to raise his own salary.

As for health care, Mr. Casey recognizes that millions of Americans are uninsured and has proposed several remedies. Mr. Santorum fiddles around the fringes, but he and his party won't ever solve the problem. Their priorities are elsewhere.

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