Dr. Mrs. F and I agree that this from XKCD is spooky accurate.
Discuss.
by Tim F| 17 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Dr. Mrs. F and I agree that this from XKCD is spooky accurate.
Discuss.
by John Cole| 17 Comments
This post is in: Politics
Specter, on the floor of the Senate today:
In a floor speech today, Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee, suggested that Eric Holder, Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, might follow in the footsteps of … Alberto Gonzales!
Gonzales was confirmed with a Senate vote of 60-36, with no Republicans voting against. I guess this means Holder’s confirmation is a lock.
Does This Mean Holder Has Specter’s Vote?Post + Comments (17)
by John Cole| 59 Comments
This post is in: Clown Shoes
They are just warming up, but watch out leftards, behold the power of the premier website for conservative thought:
Now, I agree that Duncan’s quote wasn’t the most profound or the most coherent; however, Crowley might want to make sure he at least gets the url of the website he’s incorporating into his slam against Duncan, you know, correct.
Obama’s site – the site of the fictional “office of the president-elect” the delusionally grand Barack Obama made up from thin air – is Change.gov, not Change.org, which is a hippie social networking site dedicated to Changing The World in 140 Characters or Less. Nice try, though.
Viva La Twitter Revolución!
Harnessing the Power of the Red State Strike FarcePost + Comments (59)
by John Cole| 36 Comments
This post is in: Excellent Links
I know I have failed miserably at reviewing the Limits of Power, so here is a peace offering:
It is an hour long, but most likely worth it (I am only 15 minutes into the discussions).
by John Cole| 98 Comments
This post is in: Politics, Democratic Stupidity
Just disgusted. James Joyner (proud new papa!) makes a great point about my post last night regarding DiFi’s reaction to the Panetta pick:
I couldn’t disagree more. One of the chief issues that frustrated conservatives such as John and myself had during the first six years of the Bush administration was a Republican Congress that saw itself as a rubber stamp for a president of their party.
All too true. What I dislike about the Feinstein reaction is that she did, in fact, go along with the rubber-stamping of all the Bush appointees, and she wasn’t even in the Republican party. Now, for whatever reason, she appears to be eagerly hamstringing the appointee before a hearing is even scheduled. The result, of course, is to do political damage to the incoming administration and his pick before he has ever had a chance to be questioned.
That makes no sense. If she is not impressed by Panetta after the Senate hearing, don’t vote to confirm. By all means, ask him tough questions- that would be a welcome change to the charade of the past eight years. What this looks like to me, however, is merely someone getting a little pissy because she was not consulted ahead of time. This DiFi outburst isn’t the result of a Senator seeking good governance, but someone lording over their little fiefdom, and I see no reason to cheer that kind of silliness.
by John Cole| 69 Comments
This post is in: Politics
Another Obama pick:
Brad Kiley has been named as the director of the Office of Management and Administration by President-elect Barack Obama. Kiley, who is openly gay, is currently the director of operations for the Obama-Biden Transition Project and was a former vice president at the Center for American Progress.
Though Director of the Office of Management and Administration is clearly not as important as a couple minute speaking role at the inauguration, maybe this is a sign that Obama does not hate gays after all. Who would have thunk it?
In all seriousness, I wish Democrats, progressives, and gay rights activists would do what every every kid is taught at their first soccer practice- don’t watch their feet, follow the ball.
by John Cole| 70 Comments
This post is in: Democratic Stupidity
I honestly have no idea why the Republicans would want to be the majority party, when they get everything they want as the minority party, and are not responsible for the fallout (“Don’t blame us, the Democrats run things!”):
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yielded to Republican threats and agreed on Monday not to immediately seat fellow Democrat Al Franken, whose razor-close victory in Minnesota faces legal challenges.
Senate Republicans had planned to disrupt the opening of the new Congress on Tuesday by blocking Franken’s swearing-in.
And in another ugly fight, Senate Democrats vowed to block, at least for now, the seating of fellow party member Roland Burris whose appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich carries a whiff of political scandal.
The 57-year old Franken, who gained fame as a writer and performer on the satiric Saturday Night Live television show, on Monday officially was declared the victor by a 225-vote margin by Minnesota state officials from nearly 2.9 million votes cast.
But lawyers for incumbent Republican Norm Coleman complained the recount was conducted unfairly and promised a court challenge that could take weeks to resolve.
“Shortly after Election Day, Coleman criticized Mr. Franken for wanting a recount and wasting taxpayer money. Now that it is clear he lost, Coleman should follow his own advice and not subject the people of Minnesota to a costly legal battle,” Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid of Nevada, said in a statement.
“However, there will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken tomorrow,” Manley said.
Also, I am not sure how much of this is sensationalist press write-ups, as we learned yesterday after I inaccurately flamed Gov. Pawlenty, Franken is not officially the Senator until Pawlenty signs off on the election results, which will happen in seven days assuming there are no legal challenges. That being said, I have no idea why he is not seating Franken, as he is clearly more likely to be the next Senator than Coleman, who needs his challenges to be accepted and then to have the recount of discarded absentee ballots go his way, a very tough road. Why Reid simply does not seat Franken, and then if it turns out Coleman beats the odds and comes back, seat Coleman, is beyond me.
This really is baffling to me. I understand that Obama needs to attempt to govern in a bipartisan manner, but after the last few years of GOP congressional shenanigans, you would think that the House and Senate Democrats would have a firm policy of telling the Republicans to shut up when they start their whining. By now you would think Reid and company would realize the GOP has no intent of acting in good faith, and have only one goal- getting back in the majority. Everything I did as a Democrat in Congress would keep that in mind.
Additionally, there is political gain to be had by allowing the Republicans to stage hissy fits. Let them bring in the cameras and stomp their feet, when to the majority of the nation it looks like Franken is the winner. While the Republicans are on the Capitol Steps with their “Free Mumia Norm” signs, hold a public forum on the stimulus package. The perception from the country will be that when everything is going to shit domestically, the Republican party is… acting like spoiled children. Again. How do you think the guy who just lost his job or his health care or had his house foreclosed is going to react to news reports of Republicans protesting the seating of the winner of an election?