The clown show

The Wall Street Journal today reports on who they're calling "Republicans' new best friend," boxing promoter Don King (unfortunately subscription required, and worse, mine was cancelled due to some snafu).

[King] is proving to be one of Mr. Bush's biggest supporters. He has donated more than $40,000 to the Republican National Committee. But more important, he is lending his name and sales acumen to the president's cause.

Calling himself a "Republocrat," the man with the antigravity hair is traveling the country with Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican Party, as part of an "Economic Empowerment" tour to drum up support among African-American voters. Mr. King's distinctive preacher-like voice even makes an appearance on a "Kerry vs. Kerry" fight on the Republican Party Web site, where visitors can watch the Massachusetts senator battle himself as he flip-flops through various issues.

Let's ignore, for a moment, the reporters' -- Greg Hitt and David Luhnow -- hackorama in advancing the flip-flop nonsense unquestionably. What makes my sides really hurt is the idea that this clown show -- King and chinless Ed can possibly think that they will drum up support among African-Americans. But the Journal has its finger on the pulse of that "community," so it must be true.

Funny thing, though, as recently as 2000, King gave $250,000 to the Democratic Party in its fight for control of the House. So what gives?

...Mr. King calls Mr. Bush "the man with the plan" and praises the president's decisiveness and rhetoric of inclusiveness. He says he is convinced that Mr. Bush is committed to reaching out to minorities.

'Cause of the "rhetoric."

Is it simply a coincidence, then, that Mr. King's full-throated support for the Republican Party coincides with increased efforts by the Republican-dominated Congress to regulate boxing? This past March, the U.S. Senate, ending years of deadlock, gave unanimous approval to a measure designed to close regulatory gaps in the sport -- gaps, critics say, that have helped promoters like the 70-year-old Mr. King profit handsomely.

[...]

"I think that these people that are using him cannot know anything about his record," says Mr. [John] McCain [one of the authors of the Senate bill], referring to the Republican Party. He says he is concerned that his own party's chiefs would lean so heavily on the promoter, who once served four years behind bars for beating to death a man who owed him money.

Oh, and he's been investigated for ties to organized crime. John, John. They know. They know.

It's a clown show. And some of the clowns are convicted felons.

Then there is that other master clown, Dennis Hastert.

Dennis Hastert... yesterday opened a second front. On "Fox News Sunday," the Illinois Republican insinuated that billionaire financier George Soros, who's funding an independent media campaign to dislodge President Bush, is getting his big bucks from shady sources. "You know, I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where - if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from," Hastert mused. An astonished Chris Wallace asked: "Excuse me?" The Speaker went on: "Well, that's what he's been for a number years - George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there." Wallace: "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?" Hastert: "I'm saying I don't know where groups - could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know."

Can you say, "Defamation of Character?"* These guys and their shrill lies intended only to damage the reputation of those who disagree with them. It is necessary to get them out of power as quickly as possible. Don't get me started on this serial liar. America's mayor my ass. New Yorkers were tired of his schtick before 9-11, and they got freshly tired of it pretty soon after that day.

Oh, over there, there's another one.

Former President Bush said Mr. Kerry "served honorably," but added of the veterans attacking him, "I don't know enough about them to say they're all liars."

Mr. Bush said that President Bush had been "victimized" by independent political groups - like the Swift boat veterans - running attack advertisements against him. He cited the liberal group MoveOn.Org and also mentioned "this sloppy Michael Moore," the filmmaker.

"For months before the president started campaigning, he was attacked by all kinds of people," his father said.

The former president said that in his last campaign, in 1992, he was "very careful" not to attack his opponent, Bill Clinton, for avoiding service in Vietnam.

But at his own nominating convention that year, he drew a comparison between his service as a naval aviator in World War II and the record of Mr. Clinton, then governor of Arkansas. "Well, what about the leader of the Arkansas National Guard, the man who hopes to be commander in chief?" Mr. Bush asked in his speech accepting the nomination. "Well, while I bit the bullet, he bit his nails."

This, from the man who got his son a cushy assignment in the Texas Air National Guard. This, from the man who was not "the Father" that same son consulted before going to war in Iraq.

* Soros has seen a lot worse than Hastert, having lived through fascism and communism. I'm not sure he's a guy Hastert really wants to mess with.