Don Manzullo calls this "socialism"

Gosh, this is so unfair

Those mean people who don't see Frederick of Hollywood as the solution to America's problems, president-wise, have come up with an audiotape transcript of Richard Nixon referring to Freddy as "dumb as hell."

The slur dates back to when Nixon was in the White House and Freddy (pictured on the right) was a young lawyer for the Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee.

This is a cheap shot. After all, Nixon was no great judge of character or smarts, was he? And besides, maybe Freddy's not so dumb anymore.

Another thing: Don Manzullo, who's smart enough to try to save America from socialized medicine for kids, thinks Freddy would make a swell president.

UPDATE: Uh-oh! Dan Bartlett, a former top aide to President Bush, says Freddy is the "biggest dud" among the Republican field of White House hopefuls.

Compassionate conservatism

By the way, if you're from the Rockford area, you should know that Don Manzullo voted against the State Children's Health Insurance Program and almost certainly will vote to uphold President Bush's veto.

POSTSCRIPT: Paul Krugman says conservatives generally regard the problems of the downtrodden -- sick kids among the poor, for example -- as funny.

Would Don Manzullo want President Bush to campaign for him here in Rockford?

Some conservative Republicans are less than eager to have President Bush appear with them on the campaign trail, lest his unpopularity rub off on them.

Which raises this question about the Republican from The Rascal's 16th Congressional District of Illinois: Would Don Manzullo want Bush alongside him on the stump?

If not, why not? After all, Manzullo has consistently voted the Bush line from the get-go, especially on matters related to the war in Iraq. If the administration's policies are worthy of unswerving support, why should Manzullo avoid a public embrace of their author?

Just asking. Hell, for all I know, Manzullo might actually welcome Bush. But, of course, Bush would refuse to appear in a truly public forum. His handlers allow only carefully selected audiences of dependable loyalists at his events.

First-class journalism

Is it any wonder that Republican Don Manzullo keeps getting re-elected to Congress from the 16th District of Illinois?

Not when he can play some of the district's news media like freakin' violins.

Witness this piece on the Web site of the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, wherein the following two sentences lead the story:

The U.S. House of Representatives will consider a transportation bill this week that includes $250,000 to extend Algonquin Road west of Route 47. U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Ill., secured the money for the project, which he said would ease traffic congestion in one of the region’s fastest-growing areas.

But, of course, the bill hasn't yet been approved; hence, the money is not yet "secured." And when you do all the math, the money turns out to be only a little more than one-half of one percent of the total cost of the project.

And when you plow through the rest of the political B.S., you learn that the whole thing is in the beginning stages of a preliminary phase and that the project won't be completed for years, if ever.

You see, all a congressperson has to do is order some minion to issue a press release, and the local media -- or most of them, anyway -- will rush it into print or on the air, no matter if it's real news or not.

The so-called reporters on such stories are not much more than stenographers.

How soon they forget

Frank Manzullo, the brother of U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, has a letter to the editor in today's Rockford Register Star in which he sternly disparages politicians who don't march in lockstep with George W. Bush's ill-advised policy in Iraq.

He even implies that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

But Frank seems to have forgotten when brother Don was an antiwar activist who didn't stand behind his president in a time of international conflict and instead called for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the theater of war.

The story of Don's dissent is here. Perhaps it would refresh Frank's memory.

UPDATE: One wonders what Frank Manzullo thinks of all the retired generals, including former field commanders in Iraq, who have spoken out against the war. Are they unpatriotic?

UPDATE II: If he has a taste for satire, Frank might want to ponder this about retired Gen. George Washington.