Daily Howler - May 16, 2005

SPINNING THE LINCOLN! The press ignores Bush’s overnight guests. We recall a different era

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2005

HAMMER TIME: How thoroughly does the pseudo-con world play those “red state” voters for fools? Watching yesterday’s Meet the Press, our analysts chuckled when Tim Russert played tape from Thursday’s DeLay testimonial dinner. The tape began with Cleta Mitchell, who emceed the event:

MITCHELL (videotape): Ladies and gentlemen, join in and let's sing, "We've Got A Hammer!”

(Singing): Now, we've got a ham-mer,
And we've got a ham-mer,
And he hammers in the evening,
All over this la-and....

Yes, Tom DeLay’s nickname is “The Hammer.” Everybody calls him “The Hammer,” including his most ardent supporters. But so what? When she wrote her kooky best-seller, Slander, Ann Coulter seemed to be looking for ways to laugh at the rubes even as she stirred their passions.