Radical Right -- Bush Bear Hugs The Far Right

February 8, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster

RADICAL RIGHT

Bush Bear Hugs The Far Right

Before today, President Bush had kept his distance from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), sending only "videotaped greetings" to address the premiere gathering of the conservative movement. But in a raucous speech this morning, Bush made his first "personal appearance at CPAC since he became president." He touted his "philosophy" and urging the assembled activists to "fight for victory" in 2008, because, he claimed, "prosperity and peace are in the balance." Vice President Dick Cheney addressed the conference yesterday as well, telling the audience that he "damn right" would "support" the "decisions" of the Bush administration again. The appearances by both Bush and Cheney mark "the first time in 35 years that both the president and vice president have addressed the conference in person in the same year." By showing up in person this year, Bush joined a schedule of ideological fellow travelers that ranges from former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. In years past, CPAC has been a forum for the hard-line right wing to show its true colors. The year 2008 appears to be no different.

FAR-RIGHT FORUM: With panel sessions like "Hugo Chavez Democrats: Silencing the Right," "Why Blacks Think Conservative, But Vote Liberal," and "How the Liberals Are Criminalizing Free Enterprise," CPAC 2008 continues the organization's long tradition of displaying the farthest reaches of conservatism. The line up of ideologues speaking at CPAC is a who's who of the far right. For instance, speaking today is Dinesh D'Souza, whose recent book, The Enemy At Home, blames 9/11 on "the cultural left" in "Congress, the media, Hollywood, the nonprofit sector and the universities." Also addressing the crowd is David Horowitz, the father of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, who will be taking part in the "Silencing the Right" discussion. In Horowitz's mind, passionate disagreement with right-wing ideas is tantamount to "silencing the right" with a "figurative" noose being hung over the heads of conservatives. Speaking tomorrow is controversial gun rights advocate John Lott, who famously invented an online fan to defend his disputed research.

COULTER CLASH: In years past, the most controversial attendee at CPAC has been conservative columnist Ann Coulter. In 2006, she made headlines when she derogatorily referred to Muslims as "ragheads," saying that "our motto should be post-9/11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences.'" In 2007, she said she couldn't "really talk about" then-Democratic presidential candidate and former senator John Edwards because "you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.'" Nominally, "CPAC's organizers decided to cut her from the list of speakers" this year, but Coulter will still speak at the conference in an unofficial capacity. Calling it "unfortunate" that she wasn't invited, the Young America's Foundation (YAF), along with Human Events, Townhall.com, Citizens United, and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, arranged to hold a "Q & A session" with Coulter that "is not part of the general sessions." According to YAF, attendees of the session "must be registered for CPAC." CPAC's organizers have said they're open to officially inviting her in 2009.

CANDID CONSERVATIVES: As Coulter's past CPAC speeches have demonstrated, the annual conference is an opportunity for conservatives to let their guard down and express their true beliefs, no matter how divorced from reality they may be. In 2005, Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) introduced Cheney by declaring that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq. "We continue to discover biological and chemical weapons and facilities to make them inside Iraq," said Cox. According to Salon's Michelle Goldberg, "no one gasped" at Cox's "startling revelation" because the fiction was an already-accepted truism for the CPAC attendees. In 2003, one official vendor at the conference sold "No Muslims = No Terrorists" bumper stickers, though he was forced to put them away while Cheney was speaking. In his speech, President Bush claimed today that Cheney is "the best Vice President in history." His remarks were greeted with chants of "four more years!"

EDUCATION -- HOUSE PASSES MEASURE TO INCREASE STUDENT AID: Yesterday, the House passed a bill to increase aid to needy college students by billions of dollars. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which passed by a vote of 354 to 58, contains $20 billion in new federal financial aid, "the largest boost since the G.I. Bill of 1944." Among its provisions, the bill will increase the maximum level for Pell Grants and allow students to receive them throughout the year, require colleges to disclose their relationships with lenders, and take steps to lower the costs of textbooks. The bill would also "require colleges to report on how much of their endowment they are spending to keep costs down." The measure passed with broad bipartisan support, despite opposition from the Bush administration on many of its provisions. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called for quick reconciliation with the previously approved Senate bill, saying, "[I]t's critical that we move swiftly to complete work on this vital legislation so students and parents can have access to a college application and aid process that is simpler, more transparent and has greater integrity."

ENVIRONMENT -- CDC BLOCKED RELEASE OF 'ALARMING' ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT: The Center for Public Integrity reported yesterday that for more than seven months, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) "blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states" because of "alarming information" about "elevated infant mortality and cancer rates." The report finds that "more than nine million" Americans in the Great Lakes states "may face elevated health risks from being exposed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants." In 2001, the International Joint Commission that advises the United States and Canada on water quality requested the report, but just days before the report was to be released in July 2007, the CDC "withdrew it, saying that it needed further review." David Carpenter a member of the International Joint Commission's science advisory board said, "I don't know of any improvements that could be made." Scientists and members of Congress have criticized the CDC for withholding the report.

VETERANS -- STUDIES SAY NEW WAR VETS FACING JOB WOES: A recent Department of Veterans Affairs study found that "[s]trained by war, recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years," the AP reports. The report said that these issues are "due partly to employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills" but also "continuing problems with the Bush administration's efforts to help 4.4 million troops who have been discharged from active duty since 1990." Publicity surrounding returning soldiers' post-traumatic stress disorder has been a double-edged sword. While the publicity has generated positive attention and more federal funding, "stories that perpetuate the 'Wacko Vet' myth -- ha[ve] also made some employers more cautious to hire a veteran." Moreover, a separate Labor Department study found that "formal job complaints by reservists remained high, citing concerns about denied jobs or benefits after they tried to return to their old jobs after extended tours in Iraq."

The American public "can barely stand the thought of President Bush" anymore. His approval rating is now at just 30 percent, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll, "including an all-time low in his support by Republicans." Congress's approval also dropped to 22 percent.

Military authorities at Guantanamo Bay have lost a year's worth of records detailing the confinement of Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver. Hamdan's lawyers say the records would "support their argument that prolonged isolation and harassment at the Guantanamo prison have mentally impaired him."

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said in a statement yesterday that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement head Julie Myers "deserved to be confirmed," but added that he is "concerned about the Department's response to the incident" after the release of controversial photos of Myers.

Yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused to answer the question of whether or not he had been instructed by the President not to enforce the subpoenas of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten.

While John McCain is superior to Bush on climate change, he is still not the type of leader the world requires. "He is a conservative who happens to be on the only intellectually defensible side of the climate change debate," writes Joe Romm, "but he is still a conservative, and the vast majority of the solutions to global warming are progressive in nature -- they require strong government action, including major federal efforts to spur clean technology."

Legislation to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "is headed toward Senate passage early next week" after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "pushed back key votes." The telecom immunity measure would also "likely be put off until next week."

And finally: "The State Department is defeating terrorism one 'strong, engaging' online video at a time." The State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy is "looking for an extra $36 million in 2009," in order to boost its Video Production Team" and create "strong, engaging web-based video that communicates key U.S. values and counters terrorist ideologies." Want an example of the office's work? Watch its "video report" on Obama Girl and the "Hillary 1984" ad here.

"Congress on Wednesday sent to President Bush two bills that would make permanent a program to protect consumers from unwanted phone calls from telemarketers. Its hallmark is the national 'do not call' list."

MAINE: Legislator from Portland "wants Maine to become the first state to ban most uses of ordinary incandescent light bulbs."

NEVADA: Creators of the credit crisis go to Vegas to "ride out -- or better yet, to profit from -- the mortgage mess their industry helped to create."

HEALTH CARE: "Merck & Co. Inc. agreed yesterday to pay $671 million to settle allegations that it overcharged the Medicaid program and gave doctors junkets, dinners and other inducements to promote three of its drugs."

THINK PROGRESS: Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX): "Man is not causing climate change."

THE CRYPT: Attorney General Michael Mukasey says he won't pursue an inquiry into the Bush administration's use of waterboarding.

TPM MUCKRAKER: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) claims that 99 percent of Americans would support waterboarding.

"This is the first time we've covered her for a long time. Clearly, people are just fascinated."
-- CNN's Anderson Cooper, 2/6/08, on Britney Spears

VERSUS

"The segment's called What Were They Thinking, and tonight it's about Britney Spears. You can imagine it deals with something outlandish that she did."
-- Cooper, 2/1/08

Think Progress

Bush Bear Hugs The Far Right

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