Rudy Giuliani has already created an image for himself that even the casual observer could probably identify. He reminds us daily that he was, in fact, the Mayor of New York City during the September 11th terrorist attacks, (a point which I will do my best to remind you of, in case you don't already it have stuck in your head like the lyrics to a bad song). He speaks ad nauseam about his tough stance on terrorism, and his apparent affection for constitution-bending Jack Bauer-style interrogation techniques. Speaking about the torture technique known as waterboarding, Giuliani said:

Well, I'm not sure it is either. It depends on how it's done. It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it. I think the way it's been defined in the media, it shouldn't be done. The way in which they have described it, particularly in the liberal media. So I would say, if that's the description of it, then I can agree, that it shouldn't be done. But I have to see what the real description of it is.

Giuliani, (the Mayor of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks) is right: The "liberal media" must be making it look much worse than it is. When I think about having someone "simulate" the experience of drowning, it sounds like a blast to me. Don't they offer that at Club Med these days right after snorkeling?

The presidential hopeful (and, did I mention, the Mayor of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks) has developed a bit of an odd talent. Odd talents, like a knack for solving Rubik's Cubes or juggling chainsaws, may have a way of attracting voters on the campaign trail. Other odd talents, such as being able to skew statistics to suit a political message, seem to do anything but win the affection of the public. As it turns out, Giuliani has quite the habit of skewing statistics in just such a way.

When discussing the issue of abortion, Giuliani loves to talk about his success in lowering the number of abortions during his tenure as Mayor of New York City, (during which time he dealt with the 9/11 terrorist attacks). His campaign has said on numerous occasions that "Adoptions went up 65 to 70 percent; abortions went down 16 percent." As FactCheck.org points out, while those numbers aren't exactly a flat out lie, they also aren't the most honest statistics. FactCheck points out that:

Adoptions had already increased by 257 percent in the seven years prior to creation of ACS, the agency Giuliani credits with increasing adoptions...[and] adoptions declined in five of the mayor's last six years.

Perhaps more blatantly misleading is how Giuliani, (who bravely walked the streets of New York City with the Firefighters while they saved lives in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center by Islamic extremists), uses deceptive numbers regarding healthcare. His campaign recently released a radio ad in which he denounces "socialized medicine" by explaining that he would likely have died of his prostate cancer, had he lived in a country like England that has a form of "socialized medicine." The campaign proclaims that only 44 percent of men survive similar cases of cancer, but here in the US, the chances are 82 percent. FactCheck discovered that those numbers aren't just misleading, they are just flat out lies:

We tracked down the source of that number, which turns out to be the result of bad math by a Giuliani campaign adviser, who admits to us that his figure isn't "technically" a survival rate at all. Furthermore, the co-author of the study on which Giuliani's man based his calculations tells us his work is being misused, and that the 44 percent figure is both wrong and "misleading." A spokesperson for the lead author also calls the figures "incorrect survival statistics."

In the campaign's defense, the stats were apparently taken from an opinion piece from a conservative think tank. That seems like a good place to get statistics for a political ad.

Jonathan Garro is editor of SkipperStyle, a political blog.

Frankly, I don't trust Alaska. Any state that makes Juneau its capitol when the only city I can name is Anchorage clearly needs to fire whoever is behind the scenes making those types of decisions. That would be like not making New York City the capitol of New York. (Wait, its not?)

Perhaps the worst parts about the state are its' politicians. Ted Stevens, the 2005 SkipperStyle Crooked Award winner for the worst Republican, reigns in the "Last Frontier" state.

After reading today's New York Times, I have a new reason to dislike Alaskan politicians, and his name is Don Young.

Remember that "Bridge to Nowhere" that cost us 200 million last year? He helped that bill through congress along with Stevens. In the spirit of frivilent infrastructure spending, he has decided to continue his quest to waste money on a new road in Florida. What's the deal with Alaskan politicians and their roads? Are you guys all tired of having to use dog-sleds or something?

The Republican congressman whose district does include Coconut Road says he did not seek the money. County authorities have twice voted not to use it, until Mr. Young and the district congressman wrote letters warning that a refusal could jeopardize future federal money for the county.

The Coconut Road money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.

The ironic part of the story is that this is all happening at a time when Rep. Young's colleague, Sen. Stevens, is being tied to corruption investigations. Stevens is currently being connected to an investigation that has uncovered that more than "$400,000 worth of bribes were given to state lawmakers in exchange for favorable energy legislation."

According to TPMmuckraker.com, Don Young apparently had an eloquent response to a Times reporter who asked him about the story:

When a Times reporter approached Young near the House floor about the Coconut Road story the congressman gave the journalist an obscene gesture, apparently declining to comment.

Why is it that when confronted about their greed and corruption, our politicians resort to these sorts of actions? In response to a comment about Halliburton's contracts, our Vice President politely asked a Senator to "fuck" himself. Maybe the party that champions itself as being the moral leaders of our country need to re-evaluate that role.

Or maybe that just shows us something about the people they represent.

Jonathan is editor of SkipperStyle.

In days where the federal government spends trillions of dollars, where it costs 6,300 dollars a second to conduct a war, and where it costs hundreds of millions just to run for president, we can become jaded about just what ten billion dollars looks like. I often imagine what I would do if I had ten billion dollars. I haven't decided on anything yet, but let's just say the idea of having a lifetime supply of tacos isn't out of the question. Near the bottom of that very long list in my mind is conducting any kind of abstinence campaign in Africa in an attempt to curb AIDS, (that campaign is number 42,123 on my list, just ahead of buying a lifetime supply of spagettiO's).

Ignored internationally recognized air pollution regulation laid out in the Kyoto protocol
Proposed weak fuel economy standards for gas guzzlers
Employed a former oil lobbyist as an energy consultant
Silenced scientists discussing connections between our changing weather and carbon emissions
Pushed for oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness
Created a new air pollution policy which would exempt over 50,000 industrial sources from regulation
Handed out huge tax breaks to an industry which is turning record profits
Ignored need to increase diesel standards

I know this, though, you can't sue your way to clean air and clean water. We can't have the lawyers try to sue our way. We've got to have a leader lead our way by using technologies that work, by saying to industry if you're polluting, we're not going to accept it anymore. But let's work together to achieve a standard.

Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), said the leadership team would act "decisively" if a member were found to have violated the law or House rules.

...Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said Republicans are in the minority because they have operated under just that kind of policy for the past several years. The group filed a complaint about Miller's land deals with the IRS last August. "Until you can understand that your members have to do better than just avoid indictment, then you're going to stay in the minority for many years to come," Sloan said. "We're gratified that there is an investigation. Miller has been clearly engaged in illegal activity and hopefully this will put an end to it."