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Hunstein’s attack ad opens Pandora’s box

By Jim Wooten | Friday, October 27, 2006, 07:53 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Never again let it be said that judicial races are tainted by politics. The standard doesn’t get any lower than that introduced by incumbent Supreme Court Justice Carol Hunstein.

Never again should any segment of the legal community or the media raise a peep about the unseemliness of judicial campaigns. A key member of the group most fearful of full-scale political campaigning in judicial elections has just set the bar. One ad lays bare the sanctimoniousness of sitting judges and the establishment bar that it is inappropriate even to respond to questions about U.S. Supreme Court decisions, lest they contribute to “politicizing” judicial campaigns.

When a campaigning judge wades into the family circle to trash an adversary, as Hunstein does in lashing out at opponent Mike Wiggins in a commercial that started last week, judicial races in Georgia are in the Willie Horton sphere. The Hunstein ad attacks Wiggins on the basis of litigation arising from a family dispute dating back 20 years.

The commercial quotes in part from litigation and an affidavit by his sister, who alleged that he threatened to kill her, an allegation he denied. The ad was based, Wiggins said, on a guardianship motion filed to prevent removal of life support for their elderly mother, who was in a coma.

“It was my duty as her son to preserve her life and her life savings, which she needed to pay for her intensive medical care,” he said. Wiggins was declared her guardian, the sister consented to repay $12,500 to the estate, and he and his sister agreed, and were directed, to initiate no direct contact “in perpetuity.”

Family disputes, as any 62-year-old adult knows full well, are dangerous territory for outsiders. By Hunstein’s age, most adults have lived through and experienced the stress on families, on children and among siblings, that arises from the deaths of grandparents and parents. I have seen close-knit families, who never uttered unkind words about one another, come unglued by the stress of a parent’s declining health and finances.

Children, all convinced that they have a parent’s best interests at heart, reach different conclusions about what’s best. Having just witnessed the six-year mental and physical decline that preceded a mother-in-law’s death, and having witnessed other families trying to reach good-faith end-of-life decisions about what’s best for a mother or father, I am beyond passing judgment on how others handle their personal and family lives, court documents or not.

Most people in public life, like the rest of us who grew up in a era of family and social change where, for example, divorce was common, have angry ex-spouses, children who harmed themselves or others, siblings who felt slighted or mentally abused by one or both parents, or any other family circumstance or dynamic. But decency and propriety should put that area of our lives off-limits, even for public figures. It’s stunningly bad judgment to wander in and gossip it out.

I don’t know Mike Wiggins’ family history or circumstance. I don’t need or want to know it. That Hunstein has put it out on the street in a political campaign is intrusive and should be embarrassing to all who touched this work product, especially in a campaign that she most likely had won. It is truly bizarre.

It’s not that I object to hard-hitting campaign ads in judicial races. The state constitution gives Georgians the right to elect their judges. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that judges and candidates have the right to talk about legal issues and to criticize previous court decisions, so long as they don’t make promises or pledges. They are entirely free to express opinions about an opponent, as Hunstein did in questioning whether Wiggins would “uphold Georgia values.”

My brief, then, is not with the missile she fired, but with her judgment in her choice of material.

As the Wiggins campaign pointed out, before serving in high-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the Department of Homeland Security during the Bush administration, he “has been through at least three detailed FBI background checks” and “held some of the highest security clearances in the federal government,” said spokesman Brad Alexander. “Those background checks concluded there was absolutely zero reason to question Mike’s personal integrity.”

Take this Hunstein commercial and send it to the archives. It is the one that forever changes judicial races in Georgia.

Permalink | Comments (156) | Post your comment | Categories: Column

Comments

By Aquagirl

October 28, 2006 08:06 AM | Link to this

Gee, Jim, thanks for that recap of the “talking points” issued by the Wiggins campaign. While I appreciate your work ethic demanding a topic for Saturday, just re-hashing an aggrieved press release from Wiggins is cutting the corners a bit close.

Is your next column going to be a summary of what Hunsteins’ website says about this whole mess?

By Mid-South Philosopher

October 28, 2006 08:27 AM | Link to this

Good morning, Jim,

The grossly misleading Hunstein political attack ad again Mike Wiggins here in Georgia and the sleazy, sexually insinuative, political slander ad toward Harold Ford in Tennessee by the National Republican Committee are classic examples of the level of the sewer to which our political races have fallen. Being unable to offer positive and engaging explanations of their own merits to hold office and govern over us, these pitiable political hacks are compelled to broadside us with the worst accounts of the deportment of their opponents that may exist in some form or may be manufactured from the morass of dung that suffices for the political mind. Since I pay absolutely no attention to anything a candidate says about her or his opponent, it benefits them nothing with me.

As a general rule in elections, I am a one term supporter; two at the most; a third term only if the opponent is an Islamist Fanatic!

By We're Gonna.....Raise......Your......Taxes!!!!

October 28, 2006 08:28 AM | Link to this

ABC News political director Mark Halperin, for acknowledging the media’s liberal bias. On “The O’Reilly Factor” the other night, Mr. Halperin said, “over the years there are a lot of examples [of the media’s liberal bias], what CBS News did in the 2004 election with the president’s National Guard record, lots of examples. If I were a conservative, I understand why I would feel suspicious that I was not going to get a fair break at the end of an election. We’ve [the mainstream media] got to make sure we do better so conservatives don’t have to be concerned about that. It’s just, it’s not fair.”-WashingtonTimes

Kudos.

{^*^}

These libs will stop at nothing to get power:

If Chebrikov’s account of events is accurate, it’s clear Mr. Kennedy was actively engaging the Russians to influence the 1984 election. He also seems to have genuinely believed that Mr. Reagan’s policies were endangering U.S.-Soviet relations and that the best solution was to get Mr. Reagan out of office. The letter closes with Chebrikov saying that “Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988,” possibly suggesting Mr. Kennedy had other, more selfish motives. As Mr. Kengor concludes, “if the memo is in fact an accurate account of what transpired, it constitutes a remarkable example of the lengths to which some on the political left, including a sitting U.S. senator, were willing to go to stop Ronald Reagan.” We agree. Even in a jaded world, it is breathtaking to discover a U.S. senator — brother of a former president — actively and secretly collaborating with Soviet leaders in an attempt to undermine the president of the United States’ nuclear defense policy during the height of the cold war.-WashingtonTimes

{^*^}

Quagmire in France?:

This might have dropped below the radar, but Al Qaida and its allies are literally battling the Crusaders every day in Europe. And so far, Europe isn’t doing so well. “We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists,” said Michel Thoomis, secretary general of the Action Police trade union. “This is not a question of urban violence any more. It is an intifada, with stones and firebombs.” The French Interior Ministry has acknowledged the Muslim uprising. The ministry said more than 2,500 police officers have been injured in 2006. This amounts to at least 14 officers each day.-WorldTribune

Not even a peep of this in the Atlanta Urinal although they didn’t have any room left from all the election season Republican bashing nonsense.

{^*^}

Who would have thought centuries after the Enlightenment that sophisticated Europeans — in fear of radical Islamists — would be afraid to write a novel, put on an opera, draw a cartoon, film a documentary or have their pope discuss comparative theology?-WashingtonTimes

They’re cutting and running from their freedoms.

{^*^}

One damning result of the Embryonic Stem Cell research that has been done is the fact that when the cells are injected into lab animals many grow brain tumors — some malignant and fatal. Thus far, that is the sole fruit of ESC research — fatal brain tumors. Drug companies aren’t interested in funding that kind of outcome. There’s no money in producing brain tumors.-HumanEvents

{^*^}

Democrat agenda, since they won’t tell us:

The same isn’t true, however, for the “investor” tax cuts of 2003 that coincided with the acceleration of the current expansion. Ms. Pelosi says reversing these tax cuts “at the high end” would be “an earlier resort.” This would raise the top income and dividend tax rate back to 39.6% from 35%, and the capital-gains rate back to 20% from 15%, substantially raising the cost of new investment in the United States. Economist John Rutledge estimates that raising the dividend rate alone would reduce the value of the S&P 500 stocks by between 5% and 8.5%, roughly a $500 to $700 billion decline in the wealth of the 52% of American households that own stock.-OpinionJournal

The Pelosi Democrats favor a “windfall” profits tax on oil companies and a virtual moratorium on drilling for more domestic oil in Alaska and on the outer continental shelf (where the U.S. may have more energy than Saudi Arabia). These policies would make the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil. There would also be an effort to pass new, and higher, fuel-mileage mandates, which would make things tougher on what’s left of Detroit. And lobbying would begin for the U.S. to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and to subsidize, even more than Republicans already have, ethanol and other “alternative” fuels.-OpinionJournal

Can you say bad for America?

Voting November 7th for Republicans, Novemeber 8th for democrats.

{^*^}

Today’s cartoon that doesn’t suck!

Bonus cartoon that doesn’t suck!

Double Bonus cartoon that doesn’t suck!

By sct

October 28, 2006 08:46 AM | Link to this

Congrats Jim! You now have the system you been have advocating. LOL.

When you have a “family values” candidate I think family history is an important part of the discussion. Restaining orders, lawsuits all should be in play.

Afterall, if there is nothing to hide what is the problem? Same with illegal searches and wiretaps, right?

What would a “Family Values” candidate have to hide? Its not like she challenged him to name the 10 commandments.

If anything this whole thing gives Conservatives just what they want. The very popular “They did it first.”

I do believe however that Wiggins does deserve one of them purple band-aids for his campaign wounds.

By Charles

October 28, 2006 08:50 AM | Link to this

Jim, I couldn’t agree with you more. This ad sinks to new lows and was not necessary, as Hunstein was likely to win. This ad cost her my vote. Please, others, join me. If you cannot vote for he opponent, just don’t vote in this race. It is important that we, the voters, ensure she does not win. If Hunstein wins, in the next election, candidates will continue this bottom-of-the-barrel attack style campaigning. If Hunstein resoundingly loses at this point, it will be a clear sign that we, the electorate, will punish the candidate who crosses the line. Who knows, maybe it would lead to candidates who campaign by talking about the issues while respecting that an opponent can still be a decent, honorable person who just has a different opinion.

By TimBuckTooth

October 28, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this

If Justice Hunstein is so loose with the facts, so willing to stetch the truth for political gain, is she qualified to serve on ANY court?

Judges should uphold the truth, the facts, and the rule of law. On these points, Justice Hunstein clearly fails.

Hunstein takes a personal family tragedy and twists the reality and selectively ignores the facts to score political points.

She violates the very canons of judicial ethics that she swears to promote.

I wouldn’t want her on the traffic court, much less the highest court in Georgia.

By Aquagirl

October 28, 2006 10:17 AM | Link to this

Uh, did any of you see Wiggins’ first ads? He selectively ignored facts and twisted reality. What else is new in political ads?

Hunstein noted that, came up with her own ad, and hit him square between his family values-obsessed eyes. Good for her. Now he’s crying like a little bully who finally met someone bigger than him, and got the inevitable smackdown.

If Wiggins wants a full nasty political race, apparently he’s getting one. If that’s too much for him, he can go back to harassing his sister.

By Political Foreskin

October 28, 2006 10:17 AM | Link to this

This sounds like the Terry Shiavo case. Jeb Bush should weigh in.

News Briefs: On Fox News just now, Paul McCartney denied he ever waterboarded his wife.

Cheney claims he was referring to “baptising detainees”, not waterboarding.

Paris Hilton denies she ever waterboarded her dog for housebreaking violations. “Nicoles a different matter”, she pleaded.

The runaway bride now claims she was waterboarded by the mexicans who kidnapped her.

The North Vietnamese deny they ever waterboarded John McCain during his 5 year captivity.

Wallmart announced they will sell the new “Waterboard” game by Galoob, where everyone gets a chance to be the North Korean guards of a wartime prison.

The International Olympic Committee is considering including Waterboarding as an official event for the 2010 olympics. (Cheney may get his gold medal yet).

By Political Foreskin

October 28, 2006 10:19 AM | Link to this

Wiggin’s latest ad accuses Hunstein of waterboarding defendents during trials to glean confessions……

By Pope rednecks - Amerikkka's Al Qaeda I

October 28, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this

Most people in public life, like the rest of us who grew up in a era of family and social change where, for example, divorce was common, have angry ex-spouses, children who harmed themselves or others, siblings who felt slighted or mentally abused by one or both parents, or any other family circumstance or dynamic. But decency and propriety should put that area of our lives off-limits, even for public figures. It’s stunningly bad judgment to wander in and gossip it out.

Not true Jim. When one declares himself or herself a candidate of the GOP, the so-called “family values” party, one should be able to wal the walk, not just talk the talk.

Based upon Wiggins’ legal troubles, he comes from a tribe of idiot rednecks. Like virtually all GOPers, he’s a hypocrite - his family is based on “animal values”, not family values.

By Pope rednecks - Amerikkka's Al Qaeda I

October 28, 2006 10:22 AM | Link to this

@ Charles

Who knows, maybe it would lead to candidates who campaign by talking about the issues while respecting that an opponent can still be a decent, honorable person who just has a different opinion.

That has nothing to do with this case - Wiggins is a dumbarse redneck, a pig.

By Hail Hillary

October 28, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

The G0Pers are the world leaders in smear campaigns, just look at the talk radio right wing bigots, like fat boy rush, and big mouth kimmer. I am amazed that given their history as being the party of child molestors, the G0Pers are opposing gay marriage. I have noted that Markus is a big supporter of the North American Man Boy Love Association, and why not, he is a big mouthed bigot pervert. If Markus would just marry Van, our children would be much safer from pervert child molester of the G0P persuasion.

By Political Foreskin

October 28, 2006 10:52 AM | Link to this

Okay, lets take a look at Wooten’s article.

He opened with sarcasm and irony, which completely baffles the reader. He doesn’t get to the truth till the fourth paragraph, and even then he barely glosses over it.

He sets up the crux of Hunstein’s lack of judgement with three paragraphs of extravagant outrage, which blunts the effectiveness of his revenge. The reader is expected to catch his drift early on, which is a convoluted mixture of bitter acrimony and sardonic derision. The effect of the entire piece is to leave the reader wanting to see the ad and use it as a scale to measure the unsold portion of Wooten’s own political expediency.

Look at the Halloween-appropriate tone. It reads like Edgar Allen Poe: “Never again…..Never again….sanctimonious….fearful….unseemliness……doesn’t get any lower….”

Then, when he finally has the readers attention and could really do some damage to Hunstein, he focuses on the nonsequitur of her age and recites some bromides about the myth of accumulated wisdom and how ubiquitous family skeletons are, (more halloween).

Hunstein emerges unscathed, sir. You’ve personified Wiggins, however, with the specter of Shiavo-mania. All you did was remind Georgians about the theo-political call-to-arms that convened a Republican legislative jugernaut that rose up like an avenging angel to thwart the grim reaper. Americans snapped out of the 911 spell on that occasion, sir.

Are Americans likely to heed “Christian Littles” like Jeb Bush ever again?

Nevermore.

By Eddie

October 28, 2006 11:07 AM | Link to this

If I remember correctly, and I do. It was Wiggins who started the mudslinging when he ran his attack ads. Remember that Hunstein is the incumbent. Wiggins should have known that she would retaliate. Yep Wiggins started it but it sure looks like Hunstein finished it.

By Rev. Moon

October 28, 2006 11:09 AM | Link to this

Hey! “We’re…Gonna…Raise” guy.

Your links to Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Time’s are useless without a login — which of course, only Moonies and other radical ideologists would have. Regardless, your cult leader/convicted tax evader/right-wing propaganda publisher friend’s newspaper does not persuade.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 11:12 AM | Link to this

Finally, some honesty on Letterman last night when Bill O’Reilly admitted Iraq is all about the oil.

Blood for oil is the answer to the why Iraq question.

By Homer Simpson

October 28, 2006 11:18 AM | Link to this

If Cheif Wiggins wants to be judge, it will be over my drunk body.

Burp

By RW-(the original)

October 28, 2006 11:27 AM | Link to this

Jim,

When you say this ad is in the Willie Horton sphere, do you mean that there was something wrong with the Willie Horton ads or are you talking about the reputation of the ad as in “Willie Hortonlike?”

In 1988 violent crime was a big campaign issue with Michael Dukakis saying he would do a much better job than George H W Bush.

Willie Horton was serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for murdering a child and shoving the body into a trash can. Despite this, Dukakis let him out on unsupervised furlough where he beat and tied up a man and then brutally raped his girlfriend in front of him then proceeded to torture them.

In what possible stretch of the imagination was it wrong to show that in an ad? Frankly it sounds like you’ve bought into the left’s characterization and just adopted the lexicon.

The Horton ad was informative and vital to informing the public in reference to one of the big issues of the day.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this

Hey Andy,

What do you think about invading Iraq for record oil profits for the big oil companies?

By Aquagirl

October 28, 2006 11:32 AM | Link to this

A link to a story about the Wiggins ad that started the whole mess.

Or I should say, The ad that Wiggins was too dishonest to actually run with his name. He just got one of those PAC’s (like MoveOn.org, so beloved on this blog)to do his dirty work. Now that’s an honest, values-related thing to do.

http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/newsingleEdit.asp?origin=NewsAlrt&individualSQL=10/26/2006@12154Public

By CJ

October 28, 2006 11:38 AM | Link to this

Wooten: “*I am beyond passing judgment on how others handle their personal and family lives…decency and propriety should put that area of our lives off-limits… *”

I’m with you Jim. If only President Bush, Bill Frist, Dennis Hastert, Tom Delay, Jeb Bush and the rest of our Republican friends had your attitude during the Terri Schiavo unpleasantness. As you said, it was truly bizarre.

On the issue of background checks, I understand that Mike Wiggins passed FBI background checks and held some of the highest security clearances in the federal government. However, for his campaign to say that such background checks concluded that there was absolutely zero reason to question Wiggins’ personal integrity is a stretch. Karl Rove holds one of the highest security clearances available, but most thinking persons (i.e. liberals) would still classify his personal integrity as questionable (a generous assessment). A person can be unethical without being unlawful. I sense that many so-called conservatives don’t understand that.

By kep

October 28, 2006 11:39 AM | Link to this

So Jim, did you find it this objectionable when the republicans put out an ad that equated a disabled Vietnam vet with Osama bin Laden?

Conservatves have started this - now they are getting a taste of their own medicine.

By We're Gonna....Raise....Your....Taxes!!

October 28, 2006 11:43 AM | Link to this

By getalife October 28, 2006 11:31 AM Hey Andy What do you think about invading Iraq for record oil profits for the big oil companies?

Macacalife: As soon as we start taking Iraq’s oil from them then maybe I’ll have an answer for you.

If you’re looking for an honest (hahaha) reason for high oil prices why don’t you look at government regulations and taxes plus the lack of US production to counter the Arab cartel’s control of their supplies?

Polly Whacko Job: You still haven’t contributed to this blog in any “constructive” fashion.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 11:44 AM | Link to this

Hell CJ,

Jim sounds like one of us vicious libs.

No wonder RW is mad at Jim.

By We're Gonna....Raise....Your....Taxes!!

October 28, 2006 11:48 AM | Link to this

I know how Jim desires to keep his blog somewhat clean and constructive, so I promise that I won’t post any of the democrat’s candidate for governor of Virginia, Jim Webb’s, novel excerpt’s, due to the fact that they’re filthy, paedophilia, demeaning to women and minorities and just sick, sick, sick in general.

No matter how much it is killing me not to.

See, I can be cooperative.

By Iran condemns US Gulf exercises

October 28, 2006 12:09 PM | Link to this

Iran has criticised planned US military exercises in the Gulf as provocative. Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as describing the military manoeuvres as dangerous and suspicious.

Reports say the US is to hold naval exercises at the end of October with Bahrain, Kuwait, France and Britain.

Separately, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for Muslim unity to deal with what he called the “dirty aims” of the US and Israel.

The world knows that after Hezbollah’s victory and the obvious and disgraceful failure of Israel in the 33-day war with Hezbollah, the face of the Middle East has completely changed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Speaking at prayers to mark the festival of Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Middle East had turned a page in its history after what he described as the victory of the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah in its recent conflict with Israel.

In particular he called on Palestinian factions and groups to remain united, saying their enemies wanted to sow the seeds of division among them.

BBC Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says the factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas has dismayed Iranian leaders, who fear it could diminish support for the Palestinian struggle.

‘Intercepting missiles’

Reports say the US-led naval exercises based near Bahrain will practise intercepting and searching ships carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles.

The Iranian foreign ministry official said the US-led exercises were not in line with the security and stability of the region. Instead, they are aimed at fomenting crises, he said.

He complained that it was the warmongering of neo-conservatives in America who want to win the mid-term US congressional elections in November.

The manoeuvres come as America is pushing for tough UN sanctions on Iran, prohibiting nuclear cooperation or sales of ballistic missiles.

It is not yet clear whether the UN would authorise the searching of ships heading to Iran.

Could this be the big November suprise the G0Pers are counting on to keep control of the house and senate?

By JK

October 28, 2006 12:11 PM | Link to this

Hey, I just read someing AMAZING! It’s going to end the dirty, underhanded dealings of our government officials, and restore honor and dignity to Congress, and make them accountable to American families once again! It’s called the REPUBLICAN CONTRACT WITH AMERICA, and they’re going to implement it just the MINUTE they regain the majority and get sworn in January!

Read the text of it yourselves: (I am SO psyched! YAY Repubs!)

As Republican Members of the House of Representatives and as citizens seeking to join that body we propose not just to change its policies, but even more important, to restore the bonds of trust between the people and their elected representatives.

That is why, in this era of official evasion and posturing, we offer instead a detailed agenda for national renewal, a written commitment with no fine print.

This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.

Like Lincoln, our first Republican president, we intend to act “with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.” To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.

On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:

FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;

SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;

THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;

FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;

FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;

SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;

SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;

EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

By A. Klein

October 28, 2006 12:12 PM | Link to this

As soon as we start taking Iraq’s oil from them then maybe I’ll have an answer for you.

That’s one of the problems, isn’t it? The oil revenue that was supposed to fund the Iraq war and reconstruction remains a neocon fantasy.

By Iranian Attack Plan

October 28, 2006 12:12 PM | Link to this

USS BOXER, At Sea (NNS) — USS Boxer (LHD 4) Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG) navigated through the Strait of Malacca Oct. 16 while transiting towards the Persian Gulf in support of the global war on terrorism.

Because of the strait’s length, width, and it being one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, the transit north required BOXESG’s expert seamanship on behalf of Boxer’s bridge team.

The imposed maneuvering restrictions require the ships to increase their defensive postures by adding more Sailors to look out for potential threats and hazards.

“In the strait we have a lot of contact between fishermen and merchants going about their daily lives,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tommy Liveoak, Boxer’s weapons officer. “It’s hard to distinguish bad guys from the good guys, so we have to increase our threat posture.”

The passage required the Sailors to remain vigilant and to report all contacts and obstructions.

“We are looking for any hostile boat or surface contacts in the strait,” said Gunner’s Mate Seaman Alfonso Martinez, of Tustin, Calif., who manned a gun mount during the transit.

The Republic of Singapore (RSN) navy provided patrol boats during the 12-hour transit to provide additional assistance.

“Compared to an open ocean transit, it’s a lot more stressful because you have an increased situational awareness around you,” said Boxer Chief Quartermaster (SW/AW) Robert E. Barber, assistant navigator/assistant force navigator U.S. 5th Fleet. “In a situation like this, with all of the merchant vessels and less than a mile visibility, everyone has to work as a team.”

The transit required many Sailors to help during the passage.

“Engineers are a large part of going through the strait,” said Boxer Machinist’s Mate Fireman Tyree Green. “We coordinate with the bridge and engineering control to help ensure we maneuver with no problems and perform to the best of our abilities.”

The coordination of the ships of BOXESG, the RSN and the vigilance of their watch standers contributed to the successful transit through the Strait of Malacca.

BOXESG is now entering the Indian Ocean where it will participate in a joint amphibious exercise with the Indian navy.

Boxer is the flagship for Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG), operating out of San Diego, which is reporting operationally to Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7/Task Force (CTF) 76, the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious task force.

Boxer ESG Transits Strait of Malacca Story Number: NNS061023-18 Release Date: 10/23/2006 2:43:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Brian Gaines, USS Boxer Public Affairs

By War with Iran Soon

October 28, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Coalition naval forces in the Persian Gulf are on watch for possible terror threats to oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Western naval officials said Friday.

A British navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said a threat from al-Qaida last month to target gulf oil terminals had resulted in stepped-up security and vigilance at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal, as well as a refinery in Bahrain.

Oil exports in the region were proceeding as normal, he said.

The British navy, part of the Italian-led Coalition Task Force 152 that patrols international waters off the Ras Tanura terminal, sent an e-mail warning on Friday asking merchant shippers in the region of Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia to be on alert for suspicious vessels or other activity.

Task Force 152 also contains ships from French, U.S., German and other navies.

The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said it was aware of the British warning.

“We support the recommendation that commercial mariners be especially vigilant while transiting the gulf,” Lt. Cmdr. Charles Brown said Friday in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

Brown acknowledged the security measures but referred to them as “routine.”

“Coalition forces are taking prudent, precautionary measures and focusing maritime security operations in the gulf on these possible (al-Qaida) threats,” he said.

“These operations are nothing new. Coalition maritime forces routinely conduct maritime security operations in the gulf,” he added.

‘The Saudis are very protective’ The British official said the coalition ships were confining their patrols to international waters and had not been invited by Saudi Arabia to patrol inside its territorial waters near the terminal.

“The Saudis are very protective of their patch,” the British official in Dubai said, describing the patrols as normal naval operations that had been under way since 2002, albeit on a heightened state for the past month.

Ras Tanura, just north of the Saudi oil capital of Dhahran, is the world’s largest offshore oil loading facility, with a capacity of 6 million barrels per day. Bahrain, an independent island kingdom, lies in the gulf just off the Saudi east coast.

In February, al-Qaida-linked car bombers attacked the Abqaiq oil processing plant near Dammam, Saudi Arabia, killing two guards. The attack did no damage to the facility but sent oil prices briefly spiking up $2 a barrel.

On Friday, light sweet crude for December delivery fell 10 cents to $60.26 a barrel.

By sct

October 28, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this

Don’t forget the classic Chambliss TV ad that morphed Cleland’s face into Saddam Hussein’s. Conservatives consider that art.

To get the full Horton affect Hunstein should have morphed Wiggins face into Mark Foley.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 12:20 PM | Link to this

Yes, the big oil companies are reeking in the profits Andy

Look forward to the Dems investigating Cheney’s secret meetings with big oil.

Maybe they will be under oath this time.

By Massive US Naval Buildup in Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean = November Suprise

October 28, 2006 12:21 PM | Link to this

US naval war games off the Iranian coastline: A provocation which could lead to War? There is a massive concentration of US naval power in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Two US naval strike groups are deployed: USS Enterprise, and USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group. The naval strike groups have been assigned to fighting the “global war on terrorism.”

War Games

Concurrent with ths concentration of US Naval power, the US is also involved in military exercises in the Persian Gulf, which consists in “interdicting ships in the Gulf carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles”

The exercise is taking place as the United States and other major powers are considering sanctions including possible interdiction of ships on North Korea, following a reported nuclear test, and on Iran, which has defied a U.N. Security Council mandate to stop enriching uranium.

The exercise, set for Oct. 31, is the 25th to be organized under the U.S.-led 66-member Proliferation Security Initiative and the first to be based in the Gulf near Bahrain, across from Iran, the officials said.

A senior U.S. official insisted the exercise is not aimed specifically at Iran, although it reinforces a U.S. strategy aimed at strengthening America’s ties with states in the Gulf, where Tehran and Washington are competing for influence”

(Defense News, http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2171176&C=mideast)

Tehran considers the US sponsored war games in the Persian Gulf, off the Iranian coastline as a provocation, which is intended to trigger a potential crisis and a situation of direct confrontation between US and Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf:

“Reports say the US-led naval exercises based near Bahrain will practise intercepting and searching ships carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as describing the military manoeuvres as dangerous and suspicious.

Reports say the US-led naval exercises based near Bahrain will practise intercepting and searching ships carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles.

The Iranian foreign ministry official said the US-led exercises were not in line with the security and stability of the region. Instead, they are aimed at fomenting crises, he said.” (quoted in BBC, 23 October 2006)

USS Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG 5) to arrive in Arabian Sea

The USS Boxer (LHD 4), —which is the flagship for the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG 5)— which left Singapore on October 16, is scheduled to join the two other naval strikes groups. ESG 5 is comprised of USS Boxer, Bunker Hill, USS Dubuque (LPD 8), USS Comstock (LSD 45), USS Benfold (DDG 65), and USS Howard (DDG 83). ESG 5 also includes PHIBRON 5, the 15th MEU, Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WHEC 726).

“We are about to enter a part of the world that can be very dangerous,” said Chief Aviation Ordnanceman (AW/SW) Jacques Beaver, Boxer’s flight deck ordnance chief. “We must be flexible and prepared to defend ourselves from any threats.”

Boxer has been preparing for the weapons upload for two months by completing required maintenance and electronic pre-checks. Checks ensure that the ship’s missile and launching systems are up to standard and safe to load with live ordnance.

“It has taken a lot of hard work for our people to get this done,” said Chief Fire Controlman (SW) William Lewis, combat systems, fire control division’s leading chief petty officer. “You cannot measure the importance of having these defenses guarding the lives of the Sailors and Marines in this strike group.”

BOXESG is comprised of USS Boxer (LHD 4), USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), USS Dubuque (LPD 8), USS Comstock (LSD 45), USS Benfold (DDG 65) and USS Howard (DDG 83). The strike group also includes Amphibious Squadron 5, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WHEC 726) and Canadian Frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341).

BOXESG is currently conducting operations in support of the global war on terrorism while transiting to the Arabian Gulf.” (http://www.c7f.navy.mil/news/2006/october/3.htm)

USS Boxer

Canada is part of the Expeditonary Strike Group (ESG 5)

Canada is formally participating in this military deployment under the disguise of the “war on terrorism”. The Canadian Navy has dispatched Frigate HMCS Ottawa, which is now an integral part of ESG 5, under US Command. It is worth noting that particular emphasis has been given to medical evacuations and combat medical support suggesting that a combat scenario could be envisaged.

Boxer and Ottawa, both operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, know that they can play a vital role to aid humanitarian assistance operations, medical evacuations or combat medical support that would rely heavily on the medical capabilities of the Boxer strike group. Cross training Sailors from ship to ship helps ensure the success of the strike group should BOXESG have to respond to any medical scenario, according to Richardson.

“Training is a necessary part of any evolution,” said Richardson. “Anytime you’re working with another nation, it’s important that we understand their capabilities just as much as they understand ours, so in the event anything occurs we know where our assets are.”

The cross training also fostered cooperation between the two allies which provided Verville and Boxer corpsmen a forum to learn about each other’s navies and each other’s culture.” (Military.com October 2006)

Dangerous Crossroads: Tonkin II?

“An incident” in the Persian Gulf could be used by the US as a pretext for war against Iran.

A war pretext incident, similar to “the Gulf of Tonkin Incident”, which triggered the Vietnam war, could be used by US forces, with a view to justifying retaliatory military action against Iran.

In August 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese forces had attacked US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Tonkin incident, which had been manipulated, contributed to unleashing a full-fledged war against Vietnam:

“A phantom attack on two U.S. destroyers cruising the Gulf of Tonkin was staged by the Pentagon and the C.I.A. The bogus attack occurred early in August, 1964. That evening President Lyndon Johnson went on television giving the grim details of the non-attack. Later, however, it was revealed that navy commander James Stockdale flew cover over the Gulf of Tonkin that night. Stockdale disclosed that U.S. ships were firing at phantom targets—targets that didn’t exist. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident that drew the U.S. into the quagmire of Viet Nam simply didn’t happen. Johnson, as presidents so often do, lied to the American people. The result was the rapid passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was the sole legal basis for the Viet Nam War. As a result of Johnson’s lie, three million Vietnamese people and fifty eight thousand U.S. soldiers died.” (Charles Sullivan, Global Research, January 2006)

By ATICO

October 28, 2006 12:28 PM | Link to this

Jim:

When we get “clean” canidates to run for our Judgeships I will pay closer attention to your comments, but until then you are p** in the wind. Where are the people we need for our Judges, or are their any with s clean backgroud?

By getalife

October 28, 2006 12:29 PM | Link to this

The Contract with America is a joke. They did not even come close to fulfilling that contract and they should be held accountable.

I would not be surprised for an Iranian attack to keep them from getting Iraq’s oil.

It is all about the oil.

By JK

October 28, 2006 12:32 PM | Link to this

By A. Klein October 28, 2006 12:12 PM | Link to this As soon as we start taking Iraq’s oil from them then maybe I’ll have an answer for you. That’s one of the problems, isn’t it? The oil revenue that was supposed to fund the Iraq war and reconstruction remains a neocon fantasy.

Hey, I have a question. WHO EXACTLY is on top of that oil? You know, manning the pumps, guarding it, watching it go into the pipelines? And where EXACTLY do those pipelines go, and who is getting it at the other end, processing it, and selling it, and to whom EXACTLY is that money going?

OH yes, and WHY is it that no one can actually answer that question with any certainty? I mean, is it a secret? Things to ponder. Why don’t ya’ll do that, while I go watch some FOOTBALL! YAYYY!

By RW-(the original)

October 28, 2006 12:38 PM | Link to this

One way to tell that the libs are lying about an ad is when they can’t remember the lie. Look at 11:39 and 12:15.

Since all Chambliss did was point out that union protections for homeland security workers would make us more vulnerable it was a perfectly legitimate ad. By the way, libs since you are always squawking that you want every single measure the 9/11 commission recommended, implemented without question or debate, you’re on Chambliss’ side on the issue the ad spotlighted.

By We're Gonna....Raise....Your....Taxes!!

October 28, 2006 12:39 PM | Link to this

I know you democrats are genuises way smarter than us Conservatives but apparently you haven’t figured out yet how to link to your moonbat hysterical pinko articles from the fever swamps.

Unless, of course, you are just a pig who just likes to clog public places with all of your bullsheet.

Link: [text to be linked]$(http://www.ajc.com) = text to be linked

Remove the dollar sign before you post.

By TimBuckTooth

October 28, 2006 12:50 PM | Link to this

One great hypocrisy in the race for the Supreme Court:

The TV-lawyer-led State Bar and media friends like Jay Bookman sanctimoniously warning against “politicizing” the judiciary. Then they uncork a raw, ugly and untrue ad for Hunstein that shames the entire judicial process.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 01:08 PM | Link to this

“It gives me no great pleasure today to be saying `I told you so,’” said Webb, whose son, Jimmy, is a Marine on active duty in Iraq. “It pains me as an American that our casualties are again escalating while this president and his followers are still incapable of bringing forward an intelligent, commonsense approach to ending our involvement there.”

Webb cited Iraq and other Bush-backed policies among his reasons for leaving the GOP. Now, other Republicans are reaching the same conclusions he did about the war.

By deegee

October 28, 2006 01:27 PM | Link to this

Letterman is a genius. Did he make O’Reilly look like an a*! Finally an honest comment from the neocons. We went to Iraq because we didn’t want the Iranians to overrun Iraq and jeopardize the oil supply and distribution channels. Bill O’Reilly meets Dave Letterman in the no spin zone.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 01:40 PM | Link to this

Who da thunk you would find the truth about Iraq on the Letterman show of all places?

By RW-(the original)

October 28, 2006 01:42 PM | Link to this

deegee,

Whether you like it or not virtually all the stability AND instability in the world is oil related. In that regard O’Reilly was just stating a fact that most people don’t want to admit since they know you will be out chanting “no blood for oil” after you drive 50,000 vehicles to Washington to protest. If you think having Iran control the world’s oil supply is a good thing you’re nuttier than Cindy Sheehan.

Most of what Letterman was yelling at O’Reilly about was pretty funny because if Dave ever watched or had somebody watch he would know that Bill agrees with him on half of it.

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this

Isn’t it good that Americans can recognize truth from fiction? That’s why Republicans win so many elections.

I mean all the accusations Liberals pile on—everything from operating the Navy off Iran to spoiling the records of locals.

Also, I understand tht terrorists appreciate the review of military information from “Iranian Attack Plan & others”. They love it and are glad to be reminded. They plan to use it.

Now, let’s see. Are there any more dubious deliberations to pile on here today by liberals?

By getalife

October 28, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this

Speaking of Cindy RW,

Did you know she is up for the Nobel Peace prize?

Your thoughts?

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 02:06 PM | Link to this

RW,

Please stop laughing.

Cindy was duly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Saturday Night Live. (I’m fooling! Puhleeze!!!)

By Homer Simpson

October 28, 2006 02:10 PM | Link to this

Hey Crusty the clown,

burp

By deegee

October 28, 2006 02:14 PM | Link to this

RW, maybe oil is at the root of stability and instablility in your small world but I would bet that abject poverty, hunger, and hopelessnes is at the root of stability and instablility outside of your limited sphere. Since when is the world’s oil supply concentrated in Iraq? Again, you need to get out a little more. What makes you think that a fundamentalist Shiite government in Iran would have the power and might to control resources in the overwhelmingly Sunni middle east? If you think that Saudi Arabia is shaking in their boots you’re nuttier than Hugo Chavez.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 02:16 PM | Link to this

No Dusty,

She is a finalist nominated to pi-ss off the cons

Are you angry?

By getalife

October 28, 2006 02:27 PM | Link to this

Then again, it could be a dubious deliberation.

Like Lynne Cheney’s “it is distortion”.

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 02:27 PM | Link to this

Getalife, sweetheart,

Angry? That’s the funniest line I’ve read in a long time. You have made my day.

Now, if we can just nominate Bookman for a Pulitzer. How about it, Homer? You sound like one of his readers.

By Dusty v. substance

October 28, 2006 02:36 PM | Link to this

“Now, if we can just nominate Bookman for a Pulitzer. How about it, Homer?”

“Cindy was duly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Saturday Night Live. (I’m fooling! Puhleeze!!!)”

“I understand tht terrorists appreciate the review of military information…They love it and are glad to be reminded. They plan to use it.”

Dusty v. substance…Dusty wins again.

By deegee

October 28, 2006 02:39 PM | Link to this

Dusty, how old are you? Have you finished high school? You write like an 8th grader, from Mississipi.

By Homer Simpson

October 28, 2006 02:48 PM | Link to this

Homer does need a book man only a beer.

burp

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 02:54 PM | Link to this

Oh dear Deegee,

I never confess to the number of my degrees or my age. I do confess that I was lovingly raised in South Carolina and still like mint juleps made with Manichevitz (my own recipe).

When you get over your depression, come on over. I’ll fix you one. Bring Getalife with you. He could use one too.

By deegee

October 28, 2006 03:00 PM | Link to this

Dusty, that’s Manischewitz Wine and I don’t drink with minors. You didn’t catch my spelling error in the last post which leads me to believe you haven’t passed the 4th grade.

By getalife

October 28, 2006 03:03 PM | Link to this

No thanks Dusty,

My drink is Canadian.

My smoke is Cuban.

My depression is the gop.

By Buy Danish

October 28, 2006 03:19 PM | Link to this

Dusty,

Deegee will need plenty of advance notice to get your patented Mint Julep Cure for Hopelessness. She inhabits a vastly different sphere than you and will have to figure out how to get from hers to yours. Perhaps she could rent a rocket.

This will be a particularly difficult task as her sphere is so unstable, what with all the abject poverty and all. She may need to apply for a government grant to finance her difficult but rewarding journey.

On the way she needs to stop off in Colorado to say “hi!” to her mentor, Ward Churchill, and regale him with her tale of how SHE misspelled “Mississippi” and blamed it on YOU.

How long before those mint juleps reach their expiration date?

By deegee

October 28, 2006 03:21 PM | Link to this

Another politician distances himself from W.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15454290/

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 03:22 PM | Link to this

DeeGee,

You are absolutely correct. Never drink with minors. Majors are more fun.

Spelling errors? Now, Miss Manners and my mama said that correcting people in public showed very bad manners, not a Southern custom. So you misspell all you want and I won’t say a word.

I’ll be gone awhile. It is going to take some time explaining to my five children how I am still a “minor”.

By deegee

October 28, 2006 03:28 PM | Link to this

Buy Danish, are you and Dusty speaking some sort of code? I remember doing that when I was in grade school. People thought my friend and I were speaking nonsense but it made sense to us. It was really funny at the time.

By RW-(the original)

October 28, 2006 03:37 PM | Link to this

deegee,

I roamed outside of my “sphere” only to find that you are still full of sh!t. That abject poverty and hopelessness canard is like a lame left over from the 1960’s. Most people that are abjectly poor don’t get to attend the best schools, learn to fly jumbo jets, and spend billions bribing France and Germany.

By Dusty

October 28, 2006 03:43 PM | Link to this

Buy Danish,

I have lost my code ring so you will have to talk to Deegee for me. I will reward you with all my unexpired mint juleps. That’s a reward you will not want to miss.

If you have any trouble with the code ring, just ask Homer. Getalife says he is too busy smoking anti-depression cigars to help. I am off to a wild shopping spree at Kroger with the kiddies. Thanks!!

By Buy Danish

October 28, 2006 03:43 PM | Link to this

Poor, pitiful Deegee,

I was unravelling the code to your DNA. It is genetically predisposed to mental illnesses such as Depression, Bush Derangement Syndrome, Hysteria, an over-inflated ego and other tragic and mostly incurable genetic flaws.

More promising than an embryonic stem cell, Dusty was your only hope.

Tant pis.

By @@

October 28, 2006 03:50 PM | Link to this

No matter where I go, Luckovich or Wooten’s, the debate is always about Iraq.

Saudi Arabia & Israel, allies against Iran?

By GodHatesTrash

October 28, 2006 03:56 PM | Link to this

Poor Mr. Wiggins - he feels that Judge Hunstein’s commercial besmirches his family’s honor.

But here’s the catch -

There is no honor in a redneck trash family like Wiggins’.

By Homer Simpson

October 28, 2006 03:59 PM | Link to this

Don’t forget the Duff’s and the dohnuts Marge.

Mmmm, dohnuts.

drool

By getalife

October 28, 2006 04:01 PM | Link to this

My depression will be gone after the courts are done with this election.

By Homer Simpson

October 28, 2006 04:04 PM | Link to this

Dave watches my show!

hehe

burp

By Buy Danish

October 28, 2006 04:54 PM | Link to this

@@,

This is one time when I wouldn’t mind spammimg. It’s easier than registering for a site I don’t intend to visit often.

By Something Andy will never tell you

October 28, 2006 05:53 PM | Link to this

Erbil, Iraq is that capital of Kurdistan.

Erbil has been free of sectarian strife since the 1990 Persian Gulf War. The smiles are for the first President Bush, the one who liberated them.

By the whole truth

October 29, 2006 09:28 AM | Link to this

By whiner Andy!! - October 28, 2006 11:48 AM - I know how Jim desires to keep his blog somewhat clean and constructive, so I promise that I won’t post any of the democrat’s candidate for governor of Virginia, Jim Webb’s, novel excerpt’s, due to the fact that they’re filthy, paedophilia, blah blah…

Webb’s book is so bad, it’s on the official Marines recommended book list!

6. Fields of Fire - The classic novel of the Vietnam War - James Webb

Any protests against this book make the whiner sound like that dork Needermeyer in “Animal House”… “sooo disgusting!!” And we all know what happened to him!

By Political Foreskin

October 29, 2006 09:44 AM | Link to this

Hunstein’s outing of Wiggin’s family skeleton was politically correct for three reasons: 1) Republicans have many skeletons in their closets. 2) Many Republicans are in the closet. 3) It’s Halloween.

So in conclusion I’ll offer this: It’s PC to out AC/DC GOP VIPs on the QT.

Have a gay halloween, and uncloset as many skeletons as you can find, because the career you ruin may be a gay republican’s (Jolly Roger) and our long national nightmare may soon end.

I make no bones about this fact: If the Republicans with skeletons in their closets cant take a little ribbing then they’re numbskulls.

Gay Republicans: Jolly Rogers. I like that.

By DebbieDoRight

October 29, 2006 09:45 AM | Link to this

Wow it sure was feisty yesterday!! Viva la Blogs!!

The G0Pers are the world leaders in smear campaigns

A+ for accuracy on that one. Remember Dubya vs. Ann Richards?

If Justice Hunstein is so loose with the facts, so willing to stetch the truth for political gain, is she qualified to serve on ANY court?

The same could be said of her challenger, Wiggins. Anyone who threatens to kill their pregnant sister should not hold a position on anyone’s court.

Willie Horton was serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for murdering a child and shoving the body into a trash can. Despite this, Dukakis let him out on unsupervised furlough

Often told Con-Serv-A-Tron lie number 198991: No Governor in modern times supervises the prison system — they have prison administration officials to do this. This is a well known fact. Why do you keep retelling the same lie? Any person who has any common sense, (sans Con-Serv-A-Trons), will know that this is blatant lie.

So Jim, did you find it this objectionable when the republicans put out an ad that equated a disabled Vietnam vet with Osama bin Laden?

Of COURSE he didn’t! He probably applauded it. I am amazed how this man can, laughingly, call himself a journalist. He’s more like the Ann Landers of Journalism.

If I were a Republican candidate for Congress I would immediately change my campaign to reflect the New Jersey decision. I would say, “Connect the dots: If the Democrats win control of the House, Nancy Pelosi will be the Speaker. Nancy Pelosi is from where? San Francisco. San Francisco is known for what? Two things: A song by Tony Bennett and being ground zero for Gay rights. If you want Sister Boom-Boom to be the Clerk of the House, vote for the Democrat.”-TownHall

How very Republicanesque. We have the Iraq War, unemployment, the attack on the voting rights act, a concentrated effort of more government control over individual rights, a mind bogging-record-breaking-biggest-in- history-budget-deficit; but let’s not talk about