Tim Griffin, a Karl Rove trainee and mud slinger for Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, has been paid more than $36,000 by Gresham Barrett for Governor, according to SC State Ethics Commission filings made by the campaign. Here’s a list of the payments:
Griffin Public Affairs LLC, 07/01/2009, Political Consulting, $9,375.00
Griffin Public Affairs LLC, 07/07/2009, Political Consulting, $23,871.00
Griffin Public Affairs LLC, 08/06/2009, Political Consulting, $3,537.50
Tim Griffin is a Republican opposition research specialist who gained notoriety for the famous Bush smears in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns. Griffin also played a key role in Bush’s Attorneygate scandal, in which Karl Rove colluded with Bush to fire several U.S. Attorneys for failing to pursue politically-motivated prosecutions of Democratic political leaders. The scandal and investigation remain ongoing.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod has issued a blunt response to the terror-pandering of U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett (R - Project Runway):
Dear Congressman Barrett,
I received your email of November 3, 2009 requesting that I sign a message to President Obama demanding that the United States not transfer terrorist suspects to South Carolina or American soil for military trial.
With all due respect, I’d request that you take your letter and shove it.
In times of war, our duty as Americans is to pull together and do our part to secure victory.
No one wants suspected terrorists on our soil while they await their richly-deserved punishment. But when the President asks us to do our part in the international war on terrorism, the only appropriate response from this or any state’s Governor is “Yes Sir, Mr. President.”
Frankly, I am surprised that you would choose to play politics rather than support our war effort. After all, you were in the South Carolina Legislature when President Bush sent infamous terrorist suspect Jose Padilla (a.k.a Abdullah al-Muhajir) to the Naval Brig in North Charleston -- and I don’t recall you objecting then.
Winning the War on Terrorism is one of this country’s most daunting tasks. I will do everything I can to help my country and support our military.
That, my friends, is telling it like it is. Only one problem with asking Gresham to shove it - he's already got his pretty head wedged in there, so there may not be any room left.
U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, a candidate for the Republican nomination for S.C. governor, issued a news release asking Gov. Mark Sanford "to fight the Obama administration's decision to transfer up to 10 suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to Charleston."
"Earlier today, I learned that President Obama intends to transfer terrorists from the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Naval Brig in Charleston. This decision is deeply disturbing and jeopardizes the safety and security of countless families in South Carolina and across the country."
Well, excuse the heck out us for wanting to follow the law of the land: The Constitution. Holding people against their will without formal charges, etc. must be what Barrett wants to continue. And, using our taxpayer dollars to take care of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay by providing such lavish health care and treatment is more important than taking care of the millions and millions of U.S. law-abiding citizens who simply cannot afford the coverage.
Barrett, you jeopardized the safety and security of countless families nationwide, let alone South Carolina, with your refusal to support true health care reform.
Having a naval brig in our state means you accept what the government gives you. You sure do enjoy the benefits of the brig. But, when its actually put to use, Republicans throw their hands up - using scare tactics to fear people into falling for their rhetoric.
Let's not forget that former president George W. Bush and his puppet master Dick Cheney orchestrated this mess. It's now President Obama's to clean up. He wants to do the right thing. The Republicans can't stand doing the right thing. The moral thing. The very thing they say they stand for.
Tell you what, Barrett. Seeing that you want to be governor of South Carolina, let's talk about something that really matters to the people of the state - your voting record on the Hill.
You've failed the middle class since 2003 with your voting record on important bills crucial to the middle class.
H.R. 976 Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 TOPICS: Health Care, Medicaid, Sales taxes, SCHIP ----------------- NAY
Explain that vote to the families in South Carolina. That's just one of many.
As first reported here yesterday, Gresham Barrett met with Columbia City Council yesterday in a stunning display of hypocrisy and pure hooey - most of it on his part, but let's don't forget the city officials who gave kissed his..um, ring...and gave him a forum.
Reversing himself is nothing new for Gorgeous Gresham. After all, he was against a bank bailout before he was for it. But in positioning himself to succeed another handsome Congressman with no actual accomplishments to speak of, Barrett has been executing some Olympic-caliber backflips.
State Senator Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) announced Thursday he plans to run for the Third Congressional District Seat being vacated by Congressman Gresham Barrett, who is running for Governor.
In a letter announcing his congressional bid, Massey told supporters he plans to "shake up Congress with small town common-sense" and run on his own version of a 'change' platform:
"We've heard a lot about 'change' over the past year or so. I agree that we need to change Washington; I'm just not buying the 'change' they're peddling. We have to stop the culture of corruption that is dominating Washington politics and stripping success from America's working families. We have to stand up to the White House, Congressional leaders, and whomever else is pushing this foolishness and declare firmly 'enough is enough.' We even need to stand up to other Republicans at times because let's face it folks, Republicans deserve a good part of the blame for the pork barrel spending that has run rampant in Congress over recent years.
"Big government liberal policies will not move our nation forward. They will only put us in more debt while killing job creation and true economic growth. We live in a new age of technological advances and endless opportunities where the sky really is the limit. But success won't happen by growing government. Success will come when we empower America's working families and businesses."
No word yet as to whether any brave Dem will step forward to take on Massey in one of America's reddest congressional districts. In 2008, Rep. Barrett won re-election by a nearly 2:1 margin over Democratic challenger Jane Dyer.
The GOPhers have formed, as Keith Olberman described it last night, a circular firing squad to argue over who most wants to ruin Barack Obama. The catalyst is the original Fat Bastard, Rush Limbaugh. All the little wingnuts are rushing - heh - out to denounce and/or (and yes, there are some "ors" in there) pay fealty to the Big Fat Idiot.
So here's a little exercise I picked up from Kos. Let's ask our own GOPhers where they stand on the whole damning the president to failure thingie.
Let's call our Congresscritters today and find out if they agree with this statement from Limbaugh:
"The dirty little secret ... is that every Republican in this country wants Obama to fail, but none of them have the guts to say so; I am willing to say it."
So call your Republican congressman or Senator and ask them if Rush Limbaugh was wrong. It's a yes or no question; certainly they should have, in Rush's endearing words, "the guts to say so."
Let us know in the comments whether your guy has the guts to say it, and I also hope you'll do the same over at Kos.
Is your congressman a Bush lackey? Does he say he supports bi-partisan solutions while quietly backing most of his party’s agenda? Does he even show up to vote?
The pre-eminent authority on all things congressional, CQ Politics, has just created a cool new flash media program that allows you to track the party unity, presidential support, and voting participation statistics for each federal legislator.
So what says the CQ gizmo on our own esteemed S.C. delegation?
Biggest Bush fans: Reps. Gresham Barrett, Joe Wilson, and Bob Inglis love them some Dubya. The three men voted with the President 83%, 82%, and 79% of the time, respectively, during the last year. Ditto for Sen. Jim DeMint who was South Carolina's top Bush loyalist at 84%. Fellow Republican Rep. Henry Brown showed a bit more independence, only siding with 69% of Bush’s legislation in ’08.
Party Animals: All of our congress critters marched lock-step with their parties’ platforms this year. Democratic Reps. Jim Clyburn and John Spratt voted true Blue 99% and 98% of the time, respectively. Likewise, Reps. Wilson and Inglis sided with Team Red on 98% of all bills. But the big winner in this category is Sen. DeMint, who voted with the Grand Old Party a whopping 100% of the time.
Attendance Records: Our delegation may not be a bi-partisan bunch, but at least they show up to vote. Six of our S.C. congressional members voted on at least 97% of all legislation. The outlier: Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was off galavanting with pal John McCain most of the year. However, between campaign stops, Graham still managed to make 86% of this year's votes.
We've long recognized that Jim Demint is a blowhard, but now we have actual scientific proof! Thanks to Capitol Words, we can see that Demint is the wordiest member of South Carolina's congressional delegation.
Capitol Words is a project of the Sunlight Foundation. For every day Congress is in session, Capitol Words visualizes the most frequently used words in the Congressional Record, giving you an at-a-glance view of which issues lawmakers address on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Capitol Words lets you see what are the most popular words spoken by lawmakers on the House and Senate floor.
Over the previous 12 months, Junior Mint has 2885 words in the Congressional Record. Our most reticent member is Bob Inglis, clocking in at 474. The complete hot air rankings word totals and favorite words of South Carolina congress critters after the jump.
Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans has released its scorecards for members of Congress to see who really supports our troops and who is, as my longtime friend and idol T. Baker says, just whistlin' Dixie out their a-holes.
The IAVA Action Fund is the foremost nonprofit, non-partisan advocate for our nation's returning warriors and their families. The 2008 Veteran Report Card, based on the key veterans' legislation that came to a vote during the 110th Congress, grades every Senator and Representative on their level of support for our troops.
In addition to the post below taking a close look at Gresham Barrett's voting record, Jane Dyer is also out this morning with bio spot that contrasts her record of accomplishment as a pilot and mother with the consistent votes against everyday South Carolinians by Barrett.
A former Navy JAG lawyer, Graham swears that he opposes torture. But what can explain his amendment that purports to ban the practice--and then pointedly refuses to define it, while allowing evidence obtained by it into military courts? Graham once carried the moral position on this issue; his capitulation is deeply disappointing. But no one can dispute his intellectual heft or his hard work for his state.
Esquire endorses: Graham
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Congressional District 1
Henry Brown (R)
Linda Ketner (D)
Speaking of hypocrisy, Brown's never met a spending bill he liked--unless it benefited his district; in that case, let the money flow.
Esquire endorses: Ketner
District 2
Joe Wilson (R)
Rob Miller (D)
Ill-mannered, impolitic, immovable. If these traits were in the service of principle, Wilson would be worth the trouble. They're not. And he has spent the last six years justifying his support of the Iraq war on the basis that Congress has no business insisting on oversight. His opponent, an Iraq veteran, argues otherwise.
Esquire endorses: Miller
District 3
Gresham Barrett (R)
Jane Dyer (D)
The Barrett record: No to revitalizing crumbling public housing. Yes to sexual discrimination. No to grants to minority colleges. Yes to gutting endangered-species protection.
Esquire endorses: Dyer
District 4
Bob Inglis (R)
Paul Corden (D)
We named Inglis one of our Nine Pillars of Congress in 2006. We would again. His staunch antispending principles endure; his turn against the neocons on the war and his humble acknowledgment of his errors in denying global warming add reason and flexibility to his list of virtues.
Esquire endorses: Inglis
District 5
Albert Spencer (R)
John Spratt (D)
Well-respected all around, Spratt is one of the quiet masters of his craft--not politics per se, but what politicians do: spend tax dollars. His grasp of budgetary rules and patterns is second to none.
Esquire endorses: Spratt
District 6
Nancy Harrelson (R)
James Clyburn (D)
Long a central figure in South Carolina politics, Clyburn is now majority whip. He has excelled in his primary duty: to bring the diverse and easily divided Democratic body into alignment on major issues.
Esquire endorses: Clyburn
