WP: Whitman Warns Against Catering to Right

[Pirate Smile]

WASHINGTON - Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush environmental official, says in an upcoming book that Republican moderates must speak up or the party could move so far to the right that it will lose its influence and strength.

Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush from 2001 until May 2003, also says in the book that she was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants and power plant emissions and in the debate over global warming. Her tenure was marked by complaints from conservatives that she was too moderate.

The main focus of Whitman's book "It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America," is on her desire for moderate Republicans to regain control of the party. The more conservative wing of the party has claimed much credit for Bush's re-election.

"A clear and present danger Republicans face today is that the party will now move so far to the right that it ends up alienating centrist voters and marginalizing itself," Whitman writes in the book, obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The book is to be released by The Penguin Press in late January.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9033-2004Dec17.html

No real surprise here but why did she keep so damn quiet for so long?

[johntao]

1. If the Repubs go further right,

it could alienate the center. Isn't that exactly what will propell the Democrats to regain power? I'm hoping the Conservatives overreach so that the center will realize just how fanatical and out of the mainstream they are.

[barb162]

10. They are already further to the right than Adolph Hitler. The center

just shifts "right" along with the far right extreme as Bush sells his war-time presidency and his other lies. I see no hope for the Dems right now. If we couldn't make it on the economy, the job loss, the disastrous Bush first 4 years, etc., I don't see what we have to sell that the "new center" wants. I wish you were right.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

16. The Republican Party will "Hitler" everything and that will finnally....

bring their downfall for the next few generations.

[wankawanka]

38. what does it mean to hitler somthing

[Supersedeas]

42. or it could steamroll into a popular fullblown fascist theocratic party

[Spinzonner]

2. Omerta ?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Because...

Christy has always been for Christy. Now that she has been marginalized at the repuke convention, she undoubtedly went home to Oldwick, after stopping her limo at The Old Tewksbury Inn for Happy Hour Martoonies, and decided, drunkenly, to speak out and, oh yeah, make some cake.

Worst governor we ever had. Just a train wreck. No spine, and she prototyped crony capitalism we see so much of today in the federal government. Left NJ a fiscal wreck, too.

[Gloria]

8. Yeah, wasn't that move to privatize car inspections a winner???

Then she monkeyed with civil service seniority, screwed around with the pension system so that the bond rating went down....

Yeah, she was a real winner. Only good thing was that she was pro-choice and joined in the suits about the crap blowing in from the Midwest....

[JPace]

4. Christine baby.......

now you have gone and done it! They will now whack you over the head with a cross and taunt and belittle you on Fox. If you get tired of watching fascism take over your party you can always come and join ours....

[Pirate Smile]

5. There is no room in the Republican party for moderates. When

will they give up?

[Vogon_Glory]

43. That's Why I Shook The Dust From My Sandals

I realized that the Republican Party had no place for self-respecting moderates back during Daddy Bush's administration. When GHW Bush started parroting that "no new taxes" mantra, I realized that the only place the right wing seizing control of the Republican Party would be as "useful idiots" to support the reactionaries' efforts to repeal the Great Society and the New Deal. I've voted Democratic ever since.

Nowadays, I realize that these very same reactionaries also want to repeal even Republican Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal.

[jfxgillis]

6. Profanity alert:

Who the fuck cares what the fuck she thinks now?

It's a fucking day fucking late and a fucking dollar fucking short.

Did she think letting fucking Tom Delay further consolidate fucking power in the fucking House and letting fucking Bill Frist grab five new fucking seats in the fucking Senate would make the drift to the right fucking LESS?

What kind of fucking idiot is she? Now that the GOP moderates have no fucking influence and no fucking chance of gaining influence, NOW she pipes up?

Fuck her.

[JPace]

9. My what a tantrum! I admire a real fit when its genuine....

you are right, in Europe politicians will resign in protest, now that is an act of patriotism. Too bad our politicians have no balls, no courage...its "yes sir" all the way as they walk off the cliff in perfect step.

[jfxgillis]

14. Thanks!!

My favorite line is "it's a fucking day fucking late and a fucking dollar fucking short," which just sprung out of me like a poem, but I may use it again sometime.

The really really REALLY big pisser is that Whitman and her husband could have and should have put a real sting into O'Neil's lying Swift Boat Vets, and they could even have supported Bush at the same time, but the gutless pigs kept their mouths shut.

I'll NEVER forgive her that. NEVER.

[Rose Siding]

7. That ship sailed

But she knows that- time to sell some books!

[PurityOfEssence]

11. You sucked up to them, and even lauded them after they destroyed you

NOW you have a bit of a problem? That's ridiculous. Break clean, repudiate them and spill your guts and then you'll have a whiff of credibility.

This is the problem with politicians: it's just a tackier version of showbiz, even though it matters much more to humanity than entertainment. The "stars" are much more concerned with being loved than with doing anything based on morality.

They traded on her centrist credentials, and used her at every turn.

She's dirty. She's oh so dirty, and she needs to throw her lot in with the forces of decency.

[w4rma]

12. As long as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh publish all the lies they can

the Repug Party will NEVER moderate. They will go farther and farther and farther into fascism.

As long as the whackos who believe in lying over *everything*, in order to fool their base into staying under their thumb, that are currently in charge of the Repug Party are in charge it will NEVER moderate.

[zulchzulu]

13. Too bad Christie...it's too late...

Screw it. Let the Repugs go way to the right. That's the only way we are going to kick their ass in 2006 and 2008.

Keep Falwell on Hardball or whatever. Get Bauer out there too. Get David Duke a gig on Fox.

They will overrreach...let them do it. Jesus thinks they are jerks.

[JPace]

15. "Screw it. Let the Repugs go way to the right".

Clinton talked about the differences in the two parties and he said that Democrats expect too much of government and republicans don't realize how much their policies "hurt" people.

Well we are on our way to a long 4 year trip of "hurt" for the people. Since we can't stop it we may as well be braced, and wise, and wait for what we all know is coming. We don't know the exact form or the exact debth, but pain for the masses is on its way and the masses are going to rethink how they have been voting.

We can wait....pass the popcorn please!

[Just Me]

17. Well. Hmmm. A humility test woke her up,...that's a start.

She "waited", more or less, before she gained the courage to speak up and speak out. Yes.

But,...I would rather support a person, slow and/or weak in courage/principle/heart as they may be or have been, who is willing to take the risk of opposition,...than beat them down into oblivion.

Personally, I'm glad she found her strength, her bearings and her humanity. I hope she continues to evolve.

[Solly Mack]

18. She watched the match hit the kindling and now wants to cry "Fire"?

Hell, she helped gather the kindling...

fuck her and anymore like her that crawl out of the woodwork now that the damage has been done

[Bleacher Creature]

19. Call call Christie!

She should definitely work to make sure that the GOP doesn't move too far right.

And while she's at it, she should also:

Work to make sure the Red Sox don't win the 2004 World Series.
Help Scott Petersen get acquitted.
Write a television show about people being stranded on a deserted island with a monster.

Way to be on the cutting edge there Christie.

[Kire]

20. I'm almost proud to have voted for her.

this was a good ten years before I became a Dem

have mercy (I said "almost")

[LynnTheDem]

21. One of the "people" who LIED for bush about 911 toxic fallout

bush Administration Pressured EPA to Lie About 9/11 Toxic Fallout

http://www.yuricareport.com/911/KrugmanDustandDeception.htm

EPA Report: White House Lied to New Yorkers About Health Hazards Near Ground Zero

An EPA report reveals that White House staff ordered the EPA to minimize health dangers after 911...

An Environmental Protection Agency report released Friday reveals that the National Security Council pressured EPA officials to downplay the health hazards caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center.

The public was lied to about the extensive presence of asbestos from the two buildings, toxic dioxins floating in the downtown air, and increased amounts of lead found in the atmosphere. The report reveals the trail of public misinformation began in the White House.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/26/145232

One week after the WTC towers fell, Christie Whitman (then Chief of the EPA) declared that the air and water in New York were safe, and residents were urged to return to their homes and jobs in Manhattan.

Two years later, Nikki Tinsley (the EPA's Inspector General) told NBC News that the EPA press release that sent New Yorkers back to those homes and offices "was surely not telling all of the truth."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/5/18/191244/869

[Cooley Hurd]

22. Yep! If she comes clean on that...

...then maybe she'd be worthy of forgiveness. But I doubt she will because, well, she is a Repug...

[LynnTheDem]

23. Whitman blames 911 workers for their own health problems (toxic fallout)

Whitman; just another lying hypocrite republican.

Reassuring NY Residents

EPA’s then-Administrator Christie Whitman said, “Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink.”

On September 16, only several days after the events, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and EPA’s then-administrator Christie Whitman gave residents and office workers the “all clear” sign that the environment was safe.

http://www.neha.org/9-11%20report/index-Reassuri.html

911 Air Outrage

Christie Whitman has three words for many of the Ground Zero rescue workers suffering from "tower lung" and other lingering health problems: We warned you.

Whitman, who headed the federal Environmental Protection Agency on 9/11 and afterward, said yesterday her agency did everything it could to warn rescue teams they needed to worry about their own health and safety while conducting their heroic work.

Firefighter reaction to Whitman's statement was swift and angry.

"She is ultimately responsible," said Steve Cassidy, president of the firefighters union. "When she said that everything was OK, the firefighters believed those statements. For her to say now that we are responsible is outrageous."

The head of the country's largest firefighter union called Whitman's comments "a slap in the face to all firefighters."

The former New Jersey governor said she understands the workers were under great stress and emotional strain, but that the EPA cannot be faulted for failing to warn them of dangerous toxins at Ground Zero.

http://www.ufalocal94.org/news_stories/nypost/nypost_9_14_03.html

[snippy]

24. This may be a small start of a process that the democrats

need to encourage. There are millions of republican voters who are far too moderate for the republican party. Democrats need to encourage a split between the moderate republicans and the Reich wing. If 15 million moderates abandoned the republican party its danger to this country and the world would be dramatically lessened. It would still dominate some state elections but it would be hard, if not impossible, for it to win nationally.

[Lizzie Borden]

25. Yup.Let those far right republicans...

march in lock step right off the edge of their flat earth.

[Just Me]

27. Reasonable, humane Republicans DO exist and deserve our support.

Any Republican that either admonishes the extremism in their own party while encouraging Democrats (and/or others) to avoid going further "right" is a Republican whose hand I will hold in order to get this country back to at least center.

The extremists have pushed the pendulum so far it's broken glass.

[hatrack]

32. And Ditzy Clod Witless is not one of them

She lied - LIED - again and again and again on the issue of air quality at Ground Zero.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of people are going to die in the next few years of mesothelioma, of lung cancer, of asbestosis, of emphysema because her boss deemed it more important to open the stock markets as quickly as possible than to tell the truth about what people were breathing in lower Manhattan.

And as far as the "reasonable, humane Republicans", please name me one - ONE - in a position of national responsibility, or even one who occasionally gets gigs on Sunday talking head shows.

[David Zephyr]

26. Why Didn't She "Speak Up" When She Could Have?

Whitman can not cleanse herself now after the fact.

She personally oversaw the wholesale turnback of decades of hard, hard work by environmentalists.

And she did it for her own sleezy ambitions.

[JI7]

28. yup, i only have respect for people like Paul O'Neill

and Richard Clarke and other whistle blowers like the women from the fbi(or was it cia?) . they spoke up when it mattered. and they got treated like shit for it. the media made THEM out to be the bad guys even though all they did was just tell the truth.

the media was like "how dare they go against the administration".

i hope democrats and others who hate bush don't go out and buy her book. i'm sure many of them are hoping to profit off of the many people who are against bush. but i advise democrats not to buy them. in many ways they are worse than falwell, robertson and other right wingers because they KNOW what is going on is wrong .

[0007]

40. Richard Clark Yes, Paul O'Neill no way deserves respect from anyone

he goes which ever way the wind blows. After writing his book he was ask if he was still mad at junior for being treated like a dog, Paul said, "no, I will vote for him again."

[TahitiNut]

29. The only "opposition" is GOP. It's a one-party-rule ploy.

We're treated to media where the 'opposing' viewpoints are both GOP shills. We're treated to an "Economic Conference" which is Fascist Kabuki - nothing but right-wingers. The left gets no face time except to see how bent over and spread someone (like Lieberman or Miller) will go.

[Just Me]

30. Dupe

[Just Me]

31. Thing is,...the "right-wing" are anti-Americans,...

,...they don't represent anyone but themselves,...and, trust me, "Americans" are starting to get that.

What was once diminished as merely "conspiracy theories" is now being accepted as real-life conspiracies. The "right-wing" faction/Octopus has over-played its bullshit and it will be stopped.

If I don't believe that,...if you don't believe it,...why bother to fight a pre-destined loss?

Pull back and try to take a broader view of what is happening. "The People" are engaging in movements that supersede anything in human history. "The People" are not merely flocks or "sheeple".

This "right-wing" octopus is losing its arms,...as we speak,...and will eventually be nothing more than a bad memory from which we all will learn.

[njdemocrat106]

36. If the right-wing continues playing the Jesus card...

I don't think they'll be losing all their arms anytime soon, sadly. I think Kerry lost West Virginia because of this issue.

[fshrink]

33. This is another lieberman maneuver.

You work for/with the idiot, you're a snake.

[Mike Niendorff]

34. good cop, bad cop.

Bad Cop moves right, Good Cop covers his ass, Dem Cop moves right to "pick up the center", Media Cop moves right to keep up with the action, Joe Citizen moves right because all the Official Voices are now skewed that way, and Left Cop is fired because he's "out of step". Seeing what he's wrought, Bad Cop takes another step to the right.


MDN

[OKNancy]

35. Kick

:kick:

[leesa]

37. Ya hear that Democrats??

[Swamp Rat]

39. I loved it when she got booed on the Daily Show.

[barbaraann]

41. She doesn't want to be evil, just greedy and selfish. The problem is

that you can't be greedy and selfish without being evil.

[goforit]

44. A little late sweetheart!!!!......Now ya gotta pay the piper!!!

Enjoy!!!

A least I can go to bed with a good conscience.