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Nicole Wallace wants us to think that the party of no has not been using scorched earth policy and trying to undermine the President at every turn-- even though she worked for the likes of George Bush and the John McCain campaign which brought us that totally non-scorched earth wonder Sarah Palin. You know... the one who said that Barack Obama was "palling around with terrorists".

How could anyone ever get the idea that the Republicans wanted to resort to a "scorched earth" policy after watching that campaign in action?

Of course, that would be asking too much of Anderson Cooper to possibly bring that up to Ms. Wallace, wouldn't it?

And she thinks Bill Frist and Jeb Bush are people "who could end up on the landscape in a presidential landscape down the road".

Really? Jeb-- who's last name is mud since his brother messed up his chances of ever running-- and the cat killer Bill Frist? Bring 'em on Nicole. Bring your good buddy Palin on with them while you're at it if that's the GOP's hope for the next presidential election. I welcome any one of them as the GOP's next nominee.

COOPER: Nicolle, have -- critics of the Republicans say, basically, look, they have a scorched-earth policy going on right now, that they are opposing anything that President Obama supports.

Is that fair?

WALLACE: That's not fair. And it's not true.

I mean, Jeb Bush has been very complimentary of Obama's Education Department secretary so far. Today, he said he was encouraged. Bill Frist was on, you know, as a very credible voice, as a doctor, talking about the need for health care reform. John McCain is -- is a statesman's statesman. And he is providing a lot of leadership and I think productive and constructive ideas...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: But you're kind of clutching at straws. I mean, Jeb Bush and Bill Frist?

(LAUGHTER)

WALLACE: These aren't straws. These are certainly people that...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Bill Frist is like, you know...

(LAUGHTER)

WALLACE: But these are people who could end up on the landscape in a presidential landscape down the road.

So, I think when you -- you look at Washington, sure, you look at House members. But when you look at the American public at large, you know, not all of what happens in Washington breaks through.

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This USAToday piece leaves out an important piece of the puzzle here. The company who sold the pumps was closely tied to the Bush family, at one time even employing Jeb Bush:

WASHINGTON — Huge flood-control pumps installed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina don't protect the city adequately and the Army Corps of Engineers could have saved $430 million in replacement costs by buying proven equipment, a federal investigation finds.

The investigation by the federal Office of Special Counsel finds there was "little logical justification" for the corps' decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the "untested" hydraulic pumps, which are meant to empty millions of gallons of water from the below-sea-level city during storm-related floods.

Nope, no "logical" justification. Just political! From March 2007:

Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., asked the Government Accountability Office on Thursday to investigate the Corps and the contract it entered into with Moving Water Industries Corp.

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps.

But wait, it gets even worse:

In 2002, the U.S. Justice Department amended its suit against Eller, alleging that he twice flew suitcases of cash to offshore tax havens to hide his assets, the St. Petersburg Times reported. The DOJ also claimed that MWI improperly used more than a third of a $74.3-million U.S. loan to pay a Nigerian agent for the company. In turn, that agent and other company officials paid Nigerian government officials involved in buying MWI's pumps, the lawsuit alleges. MWI denies the charges.

According to the paper:

Between 1985 and 1993, the government says, Eller flew on his company plane to the Bahamas and to Grand Cayman, once with a "large suitcase filled with currency" and once with a "large duffel bag or suitcase filled with currency." At both places, a chauffeured limousine whisked him and the money away. Eller told his pilot he was "moving his assets out of the United States," the lawsuit contends, calling it an effort to shield the money from creditors.

Eller's lawyer, William Scherer, said the flights never occurred and neither Eller nor MWI has accounts in either country.

The lawsuit by the George W. Bush Justice Department suggests no wrongdoing by Jeb Bush, who from 1988 to 1994 worked with Eller marketing MWI pumps to foreign countries, including Nigeria.

Indeed, the amended complaint omits allegations of influence-peddling by MWI -- including Eller's bringing Jeb Bush into the pump business -- leveled in the whistle-blower's recently unsealed lawsuit. That lawsuit prompted the federal investigation.

This begs a couple of questions: Why was a company under DOJ investigation for such serious charges given a major federal contract for New Orleans reconstruction in the first place? And why is the DOJ suit against MWI still unresolved after so many years?

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From The Cafferty File:

Add Mike Huckabee to the growing list of Republicans publicly taking one another down as they fight for the soul of the party. The former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate is blasting some GOP leaders.

Huckabee writes on Fox News’ web site:

“It’s hard to keep from laughing out loud when people living in the bubble of the Beltway suddenly wake up one day and think they ought to have a listening tour; even funnier when their first earful expedition takes them all the way to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.”

Huckabee is referring to the National Council for a New America, formed by folks like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, and John McCain. Their first meeting was held at a Northern Virginia restaurant.

Huckabee also suggests the party is at risk of becoming as “irrelevant as the Whigs” if it moderates its policies. That sounds a lot like what Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh have been saying. These right-wingers are not helping the Republican Party to portray itself as more moderate and inclusive.

Huckabee’s a lot more likable than Limbaugh or Cheney, but the message is just as shrill; and at the end of the day… it seems like Republicans are self-destructing without any help from the Democrats.

Meanwhile speaking of the former vice president, his daughter is picking up right where he left off. Liz Cheney suggests President Obama appears to be siding with terrorists for agreeing to release photos showing alleged abuse at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration.

President Obama has now ordered government lawyers to object to the release of these photos because he says it could endanger our troops.

Here’s my question to you: How damaging is it for the Republicans to continue to criticize each other publicly?

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Meet the new face of the Republican Party as embodied by Marco Rubio (37), previously the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Rubio announced a few days ago his candidacy for U.S. Senate in 2010.

Now, normally a relatively unknown and young politician has no chance against a popular and nationally known political figure, as Rubio will have to contend with Florida governor Charlie Crist. Crist will have an enormous financial edge and all the institutional support he could ever want (the NRSC has already endorsed Crist, who announced earlier today).

And yet it is Crist's supposed moderate views, and especially his support of Obama's stimulus program earlier this year which just might make him a target of ultra conservative republicans in Florida, of whom Rubio would also be a member. Crist's move was seen as pure apostasy, and he was called out on it by Limbaugh, Hannity and others. The fact that Marco Rubio is also young, good-looking and telegenic, well-spoken and fluently bilingual in both english and spanish won't hurt his cause either. Coupled with the fact that his being a hard-core wingnut is not seen simply as an added bonus, it's now a necessity of the republican party.

Of course, this may mean the GOP's Civil War is about to break out in Florida. Pass the popcorn.

Liberty Street: Pandering to the 'ignunt.'  Oklahomans will find it more difficult to make fun of Texas now that their own lawmakers have revived the kind of specious state sovreignty claims that led to the Civil War. I'm not sure which "state right' these fools are currently defending, but back then, it was the right to buy and sell other humans.

Mother Jones: Cheney Coverup?

Eye On Miami: Lehman Brothers and Jeb Bush...why don't we know the facts? (h/t swimgirl)

Scared Monkeys: One in five owe more on mortgage than their home is worth.  The Top 25 Subprime Lenders and their Wall St. Backers...and take a look at Portfolio's slideshow of the worst CEOs of all time

Words of Power: Hunger for Justice: A tale of Two Brave Women

George (Unemployed ) Bush on Twitter

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From The Cafferty File:

Jeb Bush says it’s time for Republicans to leave the Reagan era behind them and look forward. The former Florida Governor insists the party’s ideas need to be “forward-looking and relevant” instead of dwelling on the nostalgia of the good old days. He’s also acknowledging how well President Obama’s message of hope and change resonated with the voters during the election.

Jeb Bush — who’s part of the Republicans’ new effort to reconnect with voters — is right about all this stuff, but here’s the problem: He’s the brother of the man who could very well be more responsible than anyone else for the downfall of the Republican Party.

Jeb Bush’s name has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2012; but it seems hard to imagine that the American people would go for that… again.

Meanwhile Former Georgia Congressman — and former Republican turned Libertarian — Bob Barr says it’s hard to “overestimate the damage” that’s been inflicted on the GOP. He says the party lacks “any coherent philosophy, vision or leadership.”

And Meghan McCain, daughter of John McCain, continues to speak out about this stuff too; she says the party needs to become more inclusive if it wants to rebuild and attract younger voters. As things stand now, Meghan McCain says Republicans tend to look down on moderates such as her, saying: “Get rid of the dirty moderates.”

So, as the Republican Party continues to search for its voice and a leader…

Here’s my question to you: Is Jeb Bush the right person for Republicans to listen to at this time?

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From CNN's American Morning:

ROBERTS: Republican leaders have launched a new effort hoping to take back some of the support that they lost in the last election. GOP numbers are dwindling on Capitol Hill, and former Florida governor and brother to the former president, Jeb Bush, says he doesn't like what he's seeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: From the conservative side, it's time for us to listen first, to learn a little bit, to upgrade our message a little bit, to not be nostalgic about the past. But what I've seen in the last few years is really troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: For more now, we're joined by House Republican Whip Eric Cantor. He is also a member of the National Council for a New America. That group there that's hoping to remake the Republican Party.

Congressman, it's great to see you this morning.

Let's just take a look at how Republican fortunes have changed since 1995 when the Contract with America swept you to power. In 1995, you had 230 seats in the House, now you've got 178. You had 52 Senate seats, now 40. That's a pretty serious erosion. What happened?

CANTOR: Well, John, clearly, we've had some setback, no question about it. Could we have done better in many areas? Absolutely. That's why we've launched the National Council for a New America.

And as Governor Bush just said, it is very important at this point that we go back out across the country, bring in as many people as possible to begin a conversation about the direction of this country.

And the National Council for New America is meant to be a forum for folks to gather to come, to discuss the issues confronting them in their community and frankly to rally around the principles that we know have made this country great which are liberty, opportunity and devotion to the individual and free market.

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From the GOP's National Council for a New America town hall meeting with Jeb Bush, Eric Cantor and Mitt Romney. The questioner has obviously been listening to too much Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. He managed to cram in almost every right wing anti-Obama talking point that's out there in a matter of just a minute or so. He also apparently thinks that listening to right wing radio is a substitute for...going to school.

Q: I have another question on education and kind of to disagree with what you said Gov. Bush. I really think the past is important and I think we do emphasize science and math over liberal arts like history and I'm looking at Barack Obama who is basically the hippie flower child of Saul Alinsky who's a long dead hippie. And I guess like, yes math and science are important but what does it matter if you have highly productive people who, because they have no grasp of what's happened in the past, they're willing to let people who are going to create a marginal tax rate of 60 or 70%, I mean they're, is it surprising that Barack Obama was elected and he goes around apologizing in every country he goes to, when people are spoon fed years in high school and college of anti-American history? I mean quite honestly I think people learn more from listening to Rush Limbaugh's show than they do in high school and college. And do you have a response?

Bush: Well the context that I was talking about the past was really candidates running for office that have a kind of a nostalgic view of the world. That's a perilous thing and I think to President Obama, candidate Obama's credit he waged a 2008 campaign that was relevant for people's aspirations whether you agree with him or not. It was not a look back. It was a look forward and so our ideas need to be forward looking and relevant. I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia for the good old days in the messaging and, you know, it's great, it doesn't draw people towards your cause.

[....]

I do agree with you that just as it's important to have a civil debate, a dialog about issues, it's okay to talk about history as well and in fact if you haven't read the book about the times that are going on now the best book to read about what's happening now is probably The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes which describes how the government tried to deal with the Depression. And to get to this point of tinkering and challenging and changing and creating so much uncertainty that it created a void that only government could fill and the private sector froze in place and it prolonged the Depression. And I think there is a lesson in history in that regard.

I love how these history revisionists always want to have a "civil" debate about topics where they're just dead wrong.

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April 30, 2009 CNN

With the departure of Arlen Specter and its party identification flat-lining at 20%, the GOP is launching a national rebranding effort. As part of its National Council for a New America, the Party of No will host public forums around the country for its rag-tag band of tea-bagging faithful and anyone who else wants to attend. As it turns out, this is the Republicans' second attempt at reinvention in 12 months.

A year ago, former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis warned that "the Republican brand is in the trash can," adding, "if we were dog food, they would take us off the shelf." In response, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) led a marketing facelift which produced the memorable mantra, "The Change You Deserve." Sadly, that overhaul was soon aborted when Boehner's prescription turned out to be the slogan for the anti-depressant drug, Effexor.

Now with the beaten and battered Republican Party rapidly contracting into a southern, white rump, Boehner is back to take another crack at it. Spurred by Minority Whip Eric Cantor, a panel of the party's leading lights led by John McCain and Jeb Bush will convene this weekend in northern Virginia to perform the political equivalent of CPR. As CNN noted, the group will also include governors Jindal, Barbour and Romney, though not RNC chairman Michael Steele.

It will report to GOP congressional leaders, and among those signing the announcement that will be made public Thursday are:

*House GOP Leader John Boehner
*House GOP Whip Eric Cantor
*House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence
*Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell
*The No. 2 Senate Republican, Jon Kyl
*And the Senate GOP Conference Chairman, Lamar Alexander

"However, this is not a Republican-only forum," reads the letter announcing the new effort, a copy of which was obtained by CNN from Republican sources involved in the effort. "While we will be guided by our principles of freedom and security, we will seek to include more than just our ideas.

The announcement letter also notes that the Republican effort at reanimation will "include a wide open policy debate that every American can feel free to participate in." So be sure to contribute your ideas for the GOP's extremist makeover.

(As an aside, here are the results of the 2006 "What Does GOP Stand For?" contest.)

Not another Bush.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will not run for the open Senate seat of Sen. Mel Martinez, he announced in a statement released moments ago.

"After thoughtful consideration, I have decided not to run for the United States Senate in 2010," said Bush. "While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office."

Bush's decision robs Republicans of a top-tier recruit who would have immediately been favored to hold Martinez's seat. Without Bush in the race, Republicans are almost certain to play host to a crowded and competitive primary.

The announcement comes after 48 hours of rampant rumors among the Florida political community that Bush had decided not to make the race.

Finally a decision we can all back from the Bush family tree.

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Former president George H.W. Bush told Fox's Chris Wallace that he has high hopes for Jeb Bush's political future.

WALLACE: Let me ask you about, speaking of other sons, the president has been quite open in saying that he would like to see his brother Jeb run for the Senate from Florida. What do you think of that idea?

BUSH: I think if Jeb wants to run for the Senate from Florida he ought to do it. He'd be an outstanding Florida. He's a guy who really has a feel for people, the issues in Florida and nationally and his political days ought not to be over says his old father. If he decides they should be over, that's fine, too. He needs to make a living, support his wife and family but he's a good man, chris.

WALLACE: In terms of public service and ability to help the country, you'd like to see him run.

BUSH: I'd like to see him run. I'd like to see him be president some day.

President Bush, responding in Columbus, Ohio, to questions Kerry has raised about his motivation in going to war against Iraq. Bush said his decision to strike there was a profoundly difficult and personal one. "Committing troops into harm's way is the most difficult decision a president can make," Bush told an audience of nearly 1,000. "That decision must always be last resort. That decision must be done when our vital interests are at stake, but after we've tried everything else. There must be a compelling national need to put our troops into harm's way. I felt that."
That "compelling national need" to go to war is a neoconservative view on foreign policy. A Washington-based organization known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), funded by three foundations closely tied to Persian Gulf oil and weapons and defense industries, drafted the war plan for U.S. global domination through military power.  PNAC FULL DOCUMENT

In a report just before the 2000 election The PNAC spells out their plan.

On page 51: The process of transformation, the plan said, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor.

The PNAC is part of the New Citizenship Project, whose chairman is also William Kristol, and is described as a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush, and Paul Wolfowitz signed a Statement of Principles of the PNAC on June 3, 1997, along with many of the other current members of Bush's war cabinet. Wolfowitz was one of the directors of PNAC until he joined the Bush administration.