Christine Todd Whitman is on Today Show speaking out against

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

far right of the Republican Party,and has written a book on it. "It's My Party Too".

She is very upset how her party has been hijacked by religious idealogues, etc.

[NJCher]

1. heard her on the radio yesterday

She left me relatively unmoved.


Cher

[Maat]

59. Well-said, NJCher.

I felt the same way. She seemed afraid to speak her mind fully. And she still supported the party's candidates; she's still part of a party that shows complete disrespect for the law and the welfare of the community as a whole.

[tngledwebb]

2. She might be one of those outside the loop of the axis of evil.

There must be a few.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Too little, too late.

Plus, what is she going to do about it?

[tanyev]

13. Make some money whining

about it in her book and then go live off her money and not worry about it ever again.

[goddess40]

29. If she was serious she would have done this at least 6 months ago

it's too late now, except to make money and distance herself from the fascists. Just like many Hitler supporting Germans did after the fall of the 3rd Reich.

[truebrit71]

40. Exactly!

Whining on the telly isn't going to do much...sort of like taking a piss on a forect fire...

[vi5]

4. Oh, boo f'ng hoo for Christie Todd...

She and Gulliani, and Schwarzenager, and Pataki and all other socially moderate republicans are just as much if not more to blame for what happened to the republican party.

[WCGreen]

6. They let it happen.....

But hey, I'll trade one Zel for a whitman and a Pataki....

They can keep Arnold and Rudy......

[wtmusic]

52. Eh, Zell's a moron and even the wingnuts know it

Lieberman for Rudy?

[rqstnnlitnmnt]

7. i completely agree

enablers of the worst sort

if she had such a problem with * and his cronies maybe she shouldn't have taken that EPA spot, it's not like *'s corporate asshappiness was a big secret.

[spooky3]

9. Yep--and if the moderate Rs would work with the Democrats

they would have the numbers to stop a lot of what the * admin. has done/will do.

[On the Road]

42. How Come Nobody Takes This Line Here?

People, if the country is in as much danger as most of us think, we cannot afford to walk away from THE faction that can swing this thing the other way. Take yes for an answer. If Whitman has woken up, accept her as an ally and try to get more like her.

[pbartch]

54. Yep....all the people NOW AGAINST Bush....shoulda voted for Dems and Kerry

These whiners need to all be duck-taped

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

55. Absolutely!

The ONLY thing that will change the socially regressive/fiscally irresponsible direction of this country is to VOTE THEM OUT. Any moderate Republican who continues to enable this power grab deserves to be swept under the rug.

If you're a moderate/liberal Republican and you're still hoping to share power with the zealots, you are insane...and if you are still voting (R) out of party loyalty, you are criminally insane.

[soleft]

10. The difference is she left the admin and is speaking out

Unlike Giuliani, Schwartz, Pataki, McCain

[vi5]

11. Again, too little too late....

Anybody that new anything about her and anything about bush and his cohorts knew what the score was. They knew she would be neutered and without a shred of a voice amongst that pool of extreme idealogues. They knew she was nothing more than a way for Bush to give a pro-choice, socially liberal woman a position in his administration which wouldn't piss off the conservatives.

Yet know, 4 years later she's pulling the naive, babe in the woods routine.

I'm just tired of people who are supposed to be more sensible ignoring what is right in front of their faces and which people point out beforehand in explicit terms, and then when it turns out we were right and they were wrong, pulling the "Well who could have seen this coming?" routine. The answer: The rest of us saw it coming and we said so in explicit terms.

[Norquist Nemesis]

22. Yes, but she waited

until AFTER the election. She would have more credibility had she put her book out before Nov 2 and not gone on the stump to get Bush in for another for years. (notice I did not say re-elected)

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

24. Agree with you...

See my post below (#16)...that's why I like Paul O'Neil as a true example of what moderate Republicans should be doing BEFORE elections.

[Norquist Nemesis]

33. Yes...and thanks.

You said it well and much more succintly than I did. :)

[sherilocks]

25. She fought for the 2004 election of shrub

Leave? She left, after she had a book to sell.

[Eloriel]

26. She didn't leave until she was forced out

Then and ONLY then did she find a bit of a conscience.

I guess I'm glad she's speaking out, but AFAIC she's just a little late to the saving her Party party, after benefitting handsomely from that very party for quite some time now.

[AlinPA]

21. I agree.

[Roland99]

43. werd

[leesa]

53. Agree. They are always in lockstep and they marched in lockstep with

the neocons as well. They can't be bothered to open their eyes and use the piece of meat between their ears...too focused on $$$$$.

It's their own damn fault.

[LostInAnomie]

5. Sorry Dumbass! Once you've sold your soul you can't have it back!

She helped feed the beast and now it is too big for her to control. She can reap the whirlwind.

[sandnsea]

8. Liberal Republican

Environment, pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-affirmative action; liberal values. Smack it right on them. Take back the word liberal or join the ranks of the CINO's. Let that be their only choice.

[bunkerbuster1]

12. Interesting take from the Moonie Times

http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050124-091843-9868r.htm

As governor, her record is an admirable one, consistent with those values she often cites. As head of the Environmental Protection Agency, she sought to find middle ground between fire-breathing Democrats and anti-regulation business representatives. Instead, she became something of a punching bag.
This is a readable book by an earnest, sometimes courageous and basically reasonable person. One comes away thinking there should be another chance for her in the public realm.

Make of this what you will. When I was a NJ resident I found her to be a decent enough Gov. and while I strongly supported Florio in '93, in '97 I actually felt she deserved to be re-elected.

(Don me now my flame-retardant apparel...)

She and Powell were the the only members of Chimpy's original cabinet for whom I had any real respect. I no longer feel the same about Colin; Christie, OTOH, I'm still willing to listen to.

[Eloriel]

28. You have a much higher tolerance level for

self-serving sell-outs who aid and abet criminal and treasonous activity.

[Kber]

56. I agree that she was a half decent gov

but I am afraid her motivation in to distance herself sufficiently from Bush to be a credible candidate for Corzine's senate seat.

And my concern is that, while as gov she could stay true to her moderate to liberal values, as a national senator she will be subject to much greater pressure to march in lock step.

And the last time she was subject to that kind of pressure as head of the EPA, she caved. (i have friends in the EPA in NYC who resigned in protest over the report issued after 9/11.)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. all talk and NO action

Chrisite is a lame ass blowhard who puts a sane face on that insane party.

[CWebster]

15. She took the NJ surplus--highest in the nation

and plunged NJ into debt. Just like her boy, Bush.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

16. Vote them out...don't write a damn book!!!

As a moderate Republican I feel qualified to speak on this issue. The Rapturist Right takeover over the Republican party is not new and I saw it when Dan Quayle was taking on the TV character Murphy Brown as the new emboldened holier-than-thou politician. Ya, I know Reagan spoke about faith but his wife also consulted astrologers while in the WH so I didn't think they were as religious as the true zealots. As Ron Reagan Jr. said at his father's funeral, "Unlike some, my father didn't wear his religion on his sleeve." As the Republican party started pandering to the zealots and giving them more than just lip-service, the handwriting was on the wall. Now there are actually some of the vocal nutjobs in power positions in the Federal Govt/Congress and they are demanding their pound of flesh.

The ONLY thing that will change the socially regressive/fiscally irresponsible direction of this country is to VOTE THEM OUT. Any moderate Republican who continues to enable this power grab deserves to be swept under the rug.

If you're a moderate/liberal Republican and you're still hoping to share power with the zealots, you are insane...and if you are still voting (R) out of party loyalty, you are criminally insane.

[Eloriel]

31. Wonderful rant!!

And a belated welcome to DU. I LOVE seeing folks from the other side of the aisle make it on over here and participate productively.

:toast:

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

36. Thanks!

:toast: If Christie really wanted to learn something, she should visit DU.

My suspicion: She is just as much a lock-stepper for the party as before and this book is just lip-service to the disgruntled moderate Republicans. Funny how it used to be lip-service for the rapturist right and now it's the other way around. :puke:

[Felix Mala]

17. Read excerpt in Newsweek

and you get a real good idea about all that integrity, resolve and loyalty the Prez supposedly possesses.

[Felix Mala]

18. I'm sorry, the excerpt is in Time, not Newsweek

D'oh!!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

19. She's making the rounds. On the Daily Show tonight. n/t

[yellowcanine]

20. If Christie Todd had an ounce of integrity she would have resigned when

Bush bailed on Kyoto and worked against his election on 2004. I ain't crying any tears for her and I ain't buying her "book" either.

[kskiska]

23. Scathing review in Salon

The moderate who wasn't there

You wouldn't know it from the rather whiny title of her new book -- "It's My Party, Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America" -- but there was a time not so long ago when Christine Todd Whitman was being called the future of the Republican Party.

The GOP, groggy from the loss of the presidency after 12 years of dominance, certainly needed a face-lift. The ravening beast that had always coiled within the dapper bosom of the Reagan presidency had burst forth during the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston. The Reagan-era slogan "It's Morning in America" had given way to "It's Payback Time, Liberal Scum." When she became New Jersey's first woman governor in 1993, Whitman looked like a bellwether back to the sensible middle way -- a moderate Republican who was pro-choice, talked a good game about fiscal discipline, and seemed accepting of gays. Her direct, plain-spoken manner was immensely appealing in person. Pundits talked of "Whitman Republicans" rescuing the GOP from its extreme right contingent; Whitman herself seemed destined for bigger things than the governor's mansion.

(snip)


How, at this late date, shall we identify the elusive, yeti-like creature known as the moderate Republican? Whitman herself invites horselaughs whenever she cites fellow travelers on the great middle way. On the Republican side, she brightly offers Tom Ridge, whose blatant pimping of terror alerts whenever Bush's poll numbers looked too shaky helped turn the Department of Homeland Security into a reliable source of material for Jay Leno and David Letterman. On the Democratic side, even more astonishingly, Whitman tosses her bouquet to Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, whose foam-flecked rant before last year's GOP national convention had even case-hardened culture warriors calling for a tranquilizer rifle and a net.

more…
http://salon.com/books/review/2005/01/27/whitman/index.html

[stevedeshazer]

27. Whitman found out the nature of Bush the hard way

[semillama]

34. That is BY FAR the CREEPIEST Bush photo yet

I don't think you can slam her on the book timing unless you know when she decided to write it, what the publisher decided the book would be released, and how long it took to write, edit, format and prepare for printing.

That said, she's still a republican.

Still, I'll take a pro-choice moderate repub over the ones currently running things ANY DAY. If the republican party was more like Whitman and less like Delay, things wouldn't be as bad right now.

The same goes for the dems: if they were more like Boxer and less like Lieberman...

[in_cog_ni_to]

30. I figured she would come out sooner or later.

Paul O'Neill wrote about her in his book, Chapter 3 tells of how Bush and CHENEY screwed Whitman....with the help of Chuck Hagel, Larry Craig of Idaho, Jessie Helms and Pat Roberts. The chimp and CHENEY REALLY screwed her, especially Cheney...the one who makes the decisions in the WH.

She traveled around the WORLD informing leaders of other countries how the U.S. was going to wholeheartedly support Kyoto because that was what she was lead to believe by the campaign promises and from discussions she had had within the WH with staffers.. She returned from her trip only to be called to a meeting (by her request) with the chimp and told that we would NOT be a part of the Kyoto. He HUMILIATED her. Made her look like a fool. He knew prior to her trip that he wasn't going to support Kyoto (because Cheney told him so) and let her make promises that he knew he was going to break. Bastard. They really butted heads on the environment. THAT is why she left the EPA, not to "spend more time with her family." She cares about the environment...this administration does not. Obviously.

I wonder how long it will be before they start attacking her and her credibility?

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

32. But Paul O'Neill spoke up early...she waited til AFTER Nov 2nd.

Plus, how many times does she need to get kicked in the head before she realizes she's in an abusive relationship?!?!?! Sh*t, I woke up a long time ago about my party (I also posted above in this same thread about VOTE THEM OUT...don't write a damn book) Geez.

[in_cog_ni_to]

35. It's hard to believe she's still a repuke after what she's seen

and after what the repukes did to her. She knows how they operate. Why the hell would she still support them? She needs to fight them from OUR side. The same goes for Paul O'Neill. He knows that the chimp is driving this country into bankruptcy and ruining the environment...he should stand with the Dems against them. For some reason, probably their pocketbooks $$$$$$$$, they won't. Neither one will. Paul O'Neill must have been threatened because he has just disappeared after the release of his book.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

37. I thought that too....

When Paul O'Neill dropped off the radar I suspected he got a phone call that went something like this: "Yes, Paul, you may be an old man, but we will not stop with you. Your children and grandchildren will pay for any further outbursts prior to the election."

I noticed Paul went on The Daily Show AFTER Nov 2nd and seemed more at ease to speak his mind.

I suspect that Christie was actually encouraged to write her book in order to give 'lip-service' to the moderate Republicans...pretend like we actually have a reason to vote Republican in spite of the takeover by the Rapturist Right. Not gonna happen with me...the Democrat's message is much more in sync with my attitudes and I'm not getting fooled by this olive branch.

[in_cog_ni_to]

38. Good for you. I didn't notice your moniker. A Republican?

Sorry about the "repuke" title. That's my favorite name for the neo-con bastards who run our country. They nauseate me. ;) Have your registered as a Democrat yet? Welcome to the party, if you have.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

41. No offense here.

I'm working in stealth mode here in PA. Tragically, Republicans tend to listen to their own and I was much more effective in converting moderate Republicans into Dem votes by being one of them. I believe PA moderate/liberal Republicans helped to keep our state 'blue' in 04...now it's time to move on to Ricky man-on-dog Santorum in 06.

I've always voted across party lines and just use the Republican label as ammunition for converting other Republicans. Or, better yet, for calling my Senators/Representative on issues. You know, the "As one of your Republican constituents I find it very concerning that you blah, blah blah." Since I know that they can check my voter reg in an instant, they will see that I really am a Republican and modify their vote. Evil of me, isn't it. :evilgrin:

[Mountainman]

39. I'm beginning to think that moderate Repubs may work with Dems soon

I keep thinking of the line in "Paton" were he says something like, the war could be over in a couple of months, my God his own people tried to kill him.

In many circumstances like the one we are in there are behind the scenes things taking place to try and thwart the actions of the one in power.

[el_gato]

44. poor wittle baby

she sold her soul

[DemocratSinceBirth]

45. She Was On Hardball...

Why should the Pugs change a thing?


They're winning...

[GoSolar]

46. She is on Air America now.

Hope Franken gives her a hard time.
I have zero respect for her.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

47. Shall I add comments to her new website...hmmmmmm

I heard her say on Today that she had a website too so I just checked it now.

I'm debating whether or not I should give her a piece of my mind as I did in this thread. Shall I tell her that moderate Republicans who think you can negotiate with the Rapturist Right are insane, those who continue voting (R) due to party loyalty are criminally insane. www.mypartytoo.com

[Roland99]

48. She was just on NPR, too, playing down the term "loyalty" and

focusing on her book.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4468239

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

49. Thanks for the link...just listened to it. nt

[NJCher]

50. hmmmm...

if you read her Web site, it looks as if she's serious about moderates taking back the party. She IS doing something--not just writing a book and whining.

Hey, I'll toast to that.

:toast:


Cher

[DaveinMD]

51. its a load of crap

she's just positioning herself to run again in New Jersey. She will run for the open Senate seat and wants to portray a moderate image.

[American Tragedy]

57. Well, better late than not at all, I guess.

[Kahuna]

58. This, from the woman who couldn't wait to help * steal the election..

even though her state voted overwhelmingly for the guy who REALLY won.