Crossposted at Politicook.net
I will admit that I have a love/hate relationship with MSNBC. Olbermann and Maddow are wonderful, Shuster is OK, and even Tweetie has his moments. On the other hand, the vile Scarborough and Buchanan are regulars. But one of the most pathetic and disgusting guests that appears regularly is Brad Blakeman.
He is usually called a "Republican strategist", but that is sort of short shrift in describing him. Please allow me to take a few minutes to give some detail about this pitiful excuse for a human being.
Blakeman, for those of you who do not place a face with the name, is this guy:
Blakeman was born on 01 September 1958 and has a BA in Political Science and a JD in Law. He is a member of Americans for a Republican Majority, a shrill pressure group that has of had some interesting members, including, just name a few, Jack Abramoff, Hayley Barbour, Pat Boone (wtf?!), Dominionist Richard DeVoss of Amway, Hugh Hewitt (as Olbermann says, the man with a name and a half), Ken Lay (dead now, so I guess he does not count), Jeff Skilling (another Enron guy, in the jailhouse now), Ben Stein (who, interestingly, had a very long running column in Penthouse magazine, the bastion of family values), and many others.
He has a long history supporting the Republicans, and not just the current crop. In 2000 he was "lead advance representative" for the Bush-Cheney campaign, whatever that entails. He was a "consultant" to the President and Vice-President from 1980 to 1993 (anyone remember damned old Reagan?).
From 2001 to 2003 he was Deputy Assistant to the President for Appointments and Scheduling (I wonder if he scheduled the visits by Abramoff?), and then palled around with other big ticket Republicans. One of his notable associates is the dreadful Ari Fleischer, the former White House professional liar spokesperson.
His association with Fleischer led to the formation of the nauseating Freedom's Watch, and Blakeman was president of that group until they had some sort of a falling out, forcing his resignation. I would loved to had been a fly on the wall during this episode.
This guy is a poster child for the despicable! Here is a short list of some of his other affiliations:
Friends of George Allen, Mr. Macaca himself
Friends of Giuliani Exploratory Committee (they did not explore very well)
Friends of Senator D'Amato 1998 Committee (yeah, old Al "Bugsy" D'Amato)
Santorum 2006
And finally, John McCain 2008
So there you have him in nutshell, a supporter of vile (and mostly losing) people. Next time you see Blakeman on MSNBC, you have some biographical information to reinforce your contempt for the Republican talking points that spew from his lips like the bile that it is.
Update: Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. I am going to try to find a gem of a coin in pocket change now. Going through coins has a calming, de-stressing effect on me, and I need that since I can not seem to contribute to the family by getting a good job, but that is not the point. Please do not forget Pique the Geek tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern. It will be fun.
Warmest regards,
Doc