The Daily Howler - 09/08/05

THE JOY OF RACE! Pseudo-liberals pleasured themselves with dumb, feel-good tales about race: // link // print // previous // next //

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005

THE SUMMER OF 99: Before the unqualified Michael Brown, we had the unqualified Joseph Allbaugh—Bush’s first director of FEMA (and the inept Brown’s college roommate). In the past week, pundits have been asking how these men were ever chosen to head up FEMA; as they’ve done so, our thoughts have drifted back to the press corps’ first puppy-love for Allbaugh, expressed in the summer of 99. At the time, the mainstream press was punishing Gore because Bill Clinton had gotten ten blow-jobs. (What explains the “harsh coverage and punditry” directed at Gore, Howard Kurtz was asking in the Post.) Meanwhile, career liberals were brilliantly looking away, pretending that this wasn’t occurring. But over at the Washington Post, love was in bloom for the wonderful Allbaugh. Predictably, it was Ceci Connolly whose heart was a-flutter. In a pair of front-page stories about Gore’s alleged crazy spending, she offered this anecdote about the big lug, then the Bush campaign chief:

CONNOLLY (7/17/99): Aside from a candidate himself who is notoriously tight-fisted, Bush campaign officials said the designated "Dr. No" on spending is campaign manager Joe Allbaugh, an imposing man with the build of a football linebacker.

One Republican fund-raiser recalled a recent trip to Austin when he witnessed firsthand the Allbaugh ability to say no. Approached to approve $10,000 in expenses, Allbaugh instead tore up the piece of paper, ignoring the aide's response that it was a project signed off on by Allbaugh himself.

Awww! That was fun! (Needless to say, Connolly had no way to know if this story was true.)