Scott Ott is always a great read. His satire always matches my own thoughts on a wide range of topics. Such is the case today with his post Obama Blames Katrina Survivors for Shattered Faith

Related, a caption contest at the Jawa Report.

Janus, the Roman God of doors, is often depicted with two heads looking in opposite directions. That may be a great new name for The Breck Girl, The Silk Pony, John Edwards. He expects people to believe this bit of double talk.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who has called homeownership “the foundation of the American dream,” said Friday he will divest his holdings in funds linked to lenders that have foreclosed on Hurricane Katrina victims.

“I will not have my family’s money involved in these firms that are foreclosing on people in New Orleans,” he told the Associated Press.

[...]

“My reaction is I’m going to help these people,” Edwards said in a telephone interview. “I just learned about this. I don’t know the details, I will find out and I will find a way to help them.”

I understand that many people, including politicians, have investments in funds with wide reaching portfolios over which they exert no control. If that were the case here I wouldn’t even be writing this post.

However, believing that he “just learned about this” severly strains credibility.

Edwards worked part-time for Fortress Investment Group, getting paid $479,512. He and his wife also had $2.7 million to $8.5 million invested in a Fortress subsidiaries, according to ranges listed in his personal financial report. And Fortress executives have donated generously to his presidential campaign — company employees have donated more than $150,000 toward his candidacy during the first six months of the year.

And it’s not just New Orleans, as Captain Ed notes:

Edwards has conducted a “poverty tour” as part of his campaign this year, emphasizing his Two Americas theme. One of the stops was in Cleveland, where he walked a neighborhood particularly affected by foreclosures. He told reporters, “This is not complicated, this is wrong,” as he walked the streets, but the WSJ did some checking afterwards– and four of the foreclosures came from Fortress Investment lenders.

Apparently it’s more complicated than Edwards knows.

Remember this the next time Edwards attacks “shameful lending practices”. His own firm, the one who used his consulting to operate and acquire companies like Nationstar, conducts those same practices. Will Edwards return the $150,000 in contributions to Fortress managers who run these lenders? Will he return to that Cleveland neighborhood and apologize for his hypocritical posturing on their streets?

And will Edwards finally get seen for what he is — an ambulance chaser, a poseur, and a fraud?

His two Americas theme begins to make sense when you look at his Janus styled approach to issues. What’s worse than, “an ambulance chaser, a poseur, and a fraud”? A two faced Janus of an ambulance chaser, a poseur, and a fraud. Or perhaps the “J” can be dropped as well.

… with this:

Illegal immigrants helping to rebuild this shattered city are working in hazardous conditions without protective gear and earning far less than their legal counterparts, a study says.

That’s how the article starts. It just gets worse from there.

Nearly one-third of the illegal immigrants interviewed by researchers reported working with harmful substances and in dangerous conditions, while 19 percent said they were not given any protective equipment, according to the study by professors at Tulane University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Illegal immigrants also were paid significantly less — if at all [If at all??? Jim] — earning on average $10 per hour, compared with $16.50 for documented workers, the study said.

But the worst, at least to me, is this:

“What is fundamentally unfair is these are workers who have responded to a national priority to rebuild this city and yet whose rights are being violated,” said Laurel Fletcher, director of Berkeley’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and one of the study’s co-authors.

No. No. No. It is not those who have come to New Orleans illegally, and those who are employing them in violation of the law who are having their rights violated, it is the American people, and the people of New Orleans. I don’t mean to imply that I think these people should be abused, exposed to hazards, or harmed. I simply mean that they should not be here at all!

The article asserts that these illegal aliens are, “now the backbone of the reconstruction”.

That’s just so wrong.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let us know at what level you would like to participate.

Nancy Astor: “If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee.”
Sir Winston Churchill: “And if I were your husband, I would drink it.”

Celebrating His 1 Year Blogiversary Today —

Don Surber

— Add your blog to the Blogiversary Database.

Liberty and Justice (Michaelgalien) Jean Rohe: The Aftermath — “Well, I think, Jean, that you showed exactly what close-minded people are capable of. Instead of thinking about the opportunity this would really give you, you decided to attack a Senator who is willing to listen to communists like yourself. McCain is not a man who fears to debate with people from the other side. McCain is not a man who insults his opponents, in the hope of gaining electoral support.”

Ankle Biting Pundits (Bulldogpundit) Politics: Social Security Accounts For Illegals — “I would like someone to tell me how this is going to work in the real world. If someone was working illegally, how are they going to have records that they are entitled to the Social Security payments? Gee, you think this might lead to document fraud? And you can just imagine all the lawyers out there waiting to sue for benefits based on past work.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) It’s Nagin In New Orleans — “Ray Nagin managed to win re-election as mayor of New Orleans despite his record of incompetent decisions in the immediate run-up and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina after one of the most polite campaigns the city has ever seen. Nagin, who described himself as “humbled” often in his campaigning, will lead the city in its rebuilding efforts after the worst American natural disaster in decades:”