This is the wink-and-a-nod racist who in 2003 pointedly refused to ask the Council of Conservative Citizens (a proudly white supremacist group that "oppose[s] all efforts to mix the races of mankind") to remove a picture of him posing with them from their website.
This is a man whose entire political existence embodies the influence-peddling pay-to-play revolving-door culture that is the source of so many epic failures in Washington, and of so many crushing defeats of efforts on behalf of regular Americans, as consumers, patients, investors and citizens. In the eternal battle between the Haves and Have-Nots, you can always depend on him to be found standing firmly with the Haves. They're the ones with real money to pay, after all.
Here are some of the causes that have touched the heart of the Honourable Haley Barbour, multimillionaire, enough for him to accept their remuneration for his services: The National Wildlife Fund. The Boys' and Girls' Clubs of America. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The American Lung Association. SaveDarfur.org.
Ha ha! No, just kidding. Not those chumps. He reserved his services for the likes of R.J. Reynolds, Phillip Morris, GlaxoSmithKline, nursing home conglomerates, utilities and Switzerland.
Oh, and there's the usual heavy drinking, casual lying, and nepotism, corruption and kickbacks, too. As you'd expect.
And the phone-jamming link, of course.
And much, much more.
It's always hard to guess who'll be the next nominee of one of the major parties. But here in New Hampshire we've gotten pretty good at knowing which "I'm HUGE in DC" ego sack will get laughed off the stage.
They're always confident that they've got what it takes. And Haley Barbour's sure got what it takes. To be the next Phil Gramm.
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