Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)
Endorsed John McCain and voted in favor of the Iraq war, but also voted against the 2003 Bush tax cuts and supports gay rights. So if you think about it, she's kind of the maverick that McCain used to be. Either way, she gives the impression of being someone who bothers to think things through before she makes up her mind about something, which is the kind of attitude Washington has been sorely lacking for a while now.
Andrew Sullivan
All you conservatives who claimed you spoke out about your supposed displeasure with the Bush administration way back when? Sullivan actually did, and not as a wild-eyed commie pinko like yours truly but as an intelligent conservative who cares about fiscal sanity and civil liberties. Also a pretty good blogger, not to mention a Pet Shop Boys fan, which is an excellent way to weasel yourself into my good graces no matter what your political beliefs are.
Kent Williams
Kent Williams owns an Italian restaurant in Elizabethton, Tennessee, where I probably ate at least once when I was living down the road in Johnson City as a youngster. A couple of years ago, he ran for state legislature as a Republican -- which pretty much everyone in that part of the state is -- but voted to re-elect the Democratic speaker of the house, who was a shoo-in anyway, trying to build consensus and put himself in a position to get things done for his county. The House minority leader, Jason Mumpower, was cheesed off enough by this that he tried to get someone to run against Williams in the primary last year, but Williams was re-nominated, and re-elected, with ease. When the dust cleared on election night, Republicans had pieced together a 50-49 majority in the state House, their first since Reconstruction. Mumpower, who is thus in line to become the new speaker, has every House Republican swear an oath to only vote for a Republican for speaker.
When the new House convened for the first time in February, the Republican whip nominated Mumpower -- and his Democratic counterpart, now the minority whip, nominated Kent Williams. Forty-nine Republicans voted for Mumpower, forty-nine Democrats voted for Williams . . . and Williams, keeping his promise, voted for a Republican. Himself.
I don't care which party you're punking, Democratic or Republican, that's awesome. The longtime reader and Tennessee native who sent me that story last month summed it up best: "Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Obama combined have never played politics with the skill of a high school diplomaed lasagna cook from the most redneck place on earth."
Lucy Pinder
Sorry, I totally forgot what I was going to write here. Oh, yeah: British Page 3 legend and reality-TV star Pinder says she wants to work with Britain's Conservative Party and that she doesn't want to be lumped in with "bleeding-heart liberals." Aww, we're not all so bad.
T. Kyle King
I'll be honest, when I first started out at UGA and Kyle was a law student regularly writing for The Red & Black's opinion page, he annoyed the crap out of me. But having gotten to know the guy -- both through his blog and in person -- I've become a huge fan. And don't get into a debate with him, be it over football, politics, legal issues, history, or anything else, without actual evidence to back up what you're saying, 'cause that's bringing a knife to a gunfight, kid. Kyle will hit you with a barrage of arguments, statistics, and historical facts and bounce your ass back to grade school. And even when I don't agree with him -- which, unless he's talking about the Bulldogs, is regularly -- it's fun watching him do it to someone else.
Also: Meghan McCain, because I think she's cute, and Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), because dear sweet Lord that woman is entertaining. Palin/Bachmann 2012? I think I'd trade the Lego Taj Mahal for that.
See? Bipartisanship! And now the Ten:
1. Pete Heller, "Big Love" (extended mix)
2. Crowded House, "Walking on the Spot"
3. The Beatmasters, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
4. Billy Idol, "White Wedding"
5. Dr. Dre, "Bitches Ain't Shit"
6. Basement Jaxx, "Where's Your Head At"
7. My Bloody Valentine, "Soon"
8. Mo' Horizons, "Hit the Road Jack (Pe Ña Estrada)"
9. KRS-One, "Sound of Da Police"
10. Pet Shop Boys, "KDX 125"
Now it's time for you to show your own open-mindedness by putting your own Random Tens, along with names of people you like in spite of the fact that you can't stand their politics and/or parties, in the comments.
14 comments:
Being that he's a very close family friend, and that I used to serve him a skim latte every morning when he was just a Chattanooga businessman, I've got a lot of respect for Bob Corker.
His platform from mayor of Chatt-town to the senate certainly changed to make him a good bit more appealing to the non-Chattanooga population, where he has a printine rep, so that was unfortunate. But considering he actually entertains my debates when I've occasionally seen him since he bacame mayor, and that he always used to tip me 80% back in the day, I'll always at least say he's very sharp and one of the nicest guys you'll meet.
Other than that, all of the close friends I often have screaming matches with.
Olympia Snowe doesn't count. She's a Republican, yes, but you said "Five Conservatives." She does not fit the bill.
Ari Fleischer. I bet he's a wildcat in the sack.
1. Fake Blood - BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix 14.03.2009
2. Adam Freeland - Under Control (Alex Metric Remix)
3. R.E.M. - Fretless
4. Does It Offend You Yeah - With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)
5. Neneh Cherry - Move With Me (Dub)
6. Rocket - Autopilot
7. MGMT - Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters
8. The All New Adventures Of Us - Medicine
9. Jeremy Wamrsley - How We Became
10. Cloud Cult - Love You All
Ann Richards, God rest her soul. She was one tough Texan.
Ed Koch. Pure entertainment.
Walter Washington. Another who has passed. He was not quite a success as the mayor of DC, but not for lack of honest effort.
Teresa Heinz Kerry. I met he once in a bar in the Caribbean. One of the most charming people I've had the pleasure of sharing a drink with. I met her husband the next day. He was tool.
Sam Nunn. I always thought he put country before party.
Joe Lieberman. A man of principle and integrity. (He also kinda cancels you Olympia Snow pick)
Joe Lieberman. A man of principle and integrity.
[spit take]
Wait, wait, I got one. Jesse Helms. A man of equality and not being dead.
Doug,
Good points about T. Kyle. He's given me a serious beat-down or two in the last few years.
I guess we can add LDS to BDS to better understand your frame of mind.
Olympia Snowe is a Republican who endorsed the Republican candidate for president.
Joe Lieberman is . . . not a Democrat, and didn't endorse the Democratic candidate for president. So they're not really comparable.
That said, if you want to trade us Snowe for Lieberman, I'll take that deal in a heartbeat.
And I'm sorry, but you're going to have to do better than glibly dismiss any opposition to Lieberman as "derangement syndrome." Lieberman supported an unnecessary war, basically called the people who opposed it traitors, begged for Barack Obama to come endorse him in his brutal primary battle in 2006 (which Obama did) and then turned around and slagged him off as a danger to our national security (and even tried to tie him to Hamas) during the presidential campaign two years later. Given all that, I think even you can understand how those of us who still see fit to call ourselves big-D Democrats would not be in any hurry to praise Lieberman's "principle" or "integrity."
You know who else I like? Taft! Yes, Taft, who was only pretending to be FAT. As with Michael Steele, it was all clever strategery.
If you can put a weasel like Andrew Sullivan on your list, which I gave you a pass on, then I should be able to put the 2000 big-D Democrat's Vice Presidential nominee on mine. Everything you said about Lieberman is why I love him. He hasn't changed a bit from 2000. If he were on the top of the ticket, I probably would have voted for him. Obama IS a danger to our national security and I thank Joe for pointing that out.
...wow...
Ahem. The deadliest attack ever to occur on American soil went down under a Republican president, one who ran on a platform of strong national defense and strong national security.
1. Steve Miller Band, "The Joker"
2. Widespread Panic, "Walkin'"
3. Phish, "Sample in a Jar"
4. Digital Underground, "The Humpty Dance"
5. Prince, "Cream"
6. Janes Addiction, "Been Caught Stealin'"
7. Jay-Z, "I Know"
8. Sly and the Family Stone, "Stand"
9. Basement Jaxx, "Romeo"
10. The Notorious B.I.G., "Hypnotize"
Adding Bill Bradley to my list. Saw him on Bill Maher's show last night. When asked about what he would do if he were president about one of his signature issues, gun control, he said he would do nothing because fixing the economy was the most important thing to be focusing on and everything else needed to wait. He listed 3 things the president should be focusing on and those did not include education, environmental or healthcare reform (another signature issue). I don't really care for his politics in general, but he's smart enough and practical enough to know what's important right now and what isn't.
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