NY Times Op-Ed: Not A Company Man
Susan Cornwell: Few speak out for Palestinians in U.S. Congress
Paul Krugman: Romer and Berstein on Stimulus
Bob Cesca: The Myth of Bush As The Hero of 9/11
John Dean: The Damaged Institution of the Presidency, How the Obama Administration Intends to Restore It, And What We Can Expect from New OLC Head Dawn Johnsen
I would say that this is pretty much a softball interview by Stewart but I love the needling that he gives Perino at every turn.
I know that the "real" final insult of George W. Bush will be the pardon list we'll get on his way out the door, but I couldn't help but lump this into the same category because really, everything he's doing these last few weeks is all just one big slap in the face.
At the United Nations, fourteen nations approved the Security Council resolution urging a[n Israeli/Palestinian] cease-fire, with the United States abstaining. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States abstained, which left it unclear how a cease-fire would be enforced, because it wanted to see whether mediation efforts undertaken by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt would succeed. The United States did not veto the resolution because Washington supports its overall goals, she said.They fucking abstained in voting on a cease-fire?! They wanted to wait on Egypt's mediation efforts? I don't EVER want to hear another conservative dickwad like Rush Limbaugh or crack whore like Ann Coulter EVER malign Obama again for voting "present" while in the Illinois State Senate.
...Kucinich likened the Israeli attacks on Gaza to its war with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006. In both cases, he said, civilian populations were attacked and “countless innocents” were killed or injured.It's really a shame that Dennis Kucinich isn't taken more seriously throughout the country. Instead of asking policy questions of the Congressman, the talking heads would rather find out if he's seen UFOs.
“All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law,” Kucinich said in a statement. “Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable.”
...Kucinich said the perpetrators of attacks against Israel should be brought to justice, but that Israel “cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible.”
...Kucinich said in his statement that he had sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requesting an independent inquiry. He said the attacks on civilians represented collective punishment, which he said was a violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Congratulations to Jamie Cullum on his Golden Globe nomination for his composition on the Gran Torino soundtrack.
I just tuned in to MSNBC and it looks like everyone's waiting on the egde of their seats for President-elect Obama to give "a major speech on the economy." Chris Matthews is wondering why Obama can give a great written speech but isn't as articulate when answering questions in a news conference setting.
Really. Tweety? As compared to whom? Need I say more?
I'll update as I get more.
11:32am - Here's the speech in a nutshell. We know we're going to spend more money and we'll increase the deficit in the short term, but if we don't do anything, we'll continue to lose jobs and precious time.
Obama then laid out the list of programs to rebuild jobs in the private sector.
He also said it's time for Congress to stop dragging their feet. They'll need to work long hours, night and even weekends to get this package done. And there was a reiteration of downplaying adding earmarks to this bill. This bill is not the time for pork.
Video and/or transcript to follow.
11:38am - MSNBC: Obama: Pass stimulus or recession lasts ‘years’
President-elect warns the downturn could become ‘dramatically worse’
11:43am - NY Times: Obama to Warn of Costs of Inaction on the Economy
12:05pm: Video of the speech.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Poor Matt Lauer. He's got to deal with crazy Ann Coulter after she was rescheduled on The Today Show. For the second straight day, the conservative crack ho battles with herself in trying to get a word in egdewise, interrupting herself in an attempt to predict when Lauer would interrupt her.
I think she may have had an issue when younger of constantly being interrupted, or constantly told to shut her cakehole at the dinner table, to the point of refusing to be interrupted and being paranoid about it in adulthood.
Matt Lauer, like most other interviewers trying to tackle the impossible, just gives up on attepting to have a real discourse or debate and just reads the questions from his cards without a care about the answer, hoping Harry Smith would run onto the set and stab him in the temple with the pen he was contemplating using on himself only yesterday.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
It seems that Senator Diane Feinstein (D[INO]-CA) must have been travelling to a different country to get some kind of stem cell procedure done in order to grow the spine she was missing these last few years. Why else would she say something like this about Obama's choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA?
"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time."Really, Senator Feinstein? Then why say this back in 2004 after George W. Bush nominated Porter Goss for the same position?
"I believe the President should have the prerogative to appoint who he wants to be the DCI..."Oh, right. It's because the President was a Republican, wasn't it? And we all know that Democrats in Congress are so used to bending over and taking it in the ass that it was only natural that you say something like that.
Jay McDonough: Both Senators Feinstein and Rockefeller had ranking positions on the Senate Intelligence Committee and were completely ineffectual at stemming the abuses of the Bush Administration and, in fact, in most cases sided with the Administration on key policy issues. It was just a week ago that Vice President Cheney confided they had shared information about the Administration's illegal surveillance programs with key Democrats (this, most certainly, included Sen. Rockefeller) and those Democrats advised Mr. Cheney the programs should continue and the Congress needn't be involved.Well, I'm weally sorry you got your wittle feewings hurt by not being informed initially, but get the fuck over it. Take your hurt feelings, and your Donna Reed motherfuckin' hairdo and your fucking FISA vote and get the fuck outta here. You too Jay Rockefeller, you fat fuck.
Reid stated, "I don't believe in the executive power trumping everything... I believe in our Constitution, three separate but equal branches of government."'Atta boy, Harry. Good thing you followed you own rules for the last two years when you blocked every move Bush made and called him out when overstepping his bounds; stopped him in his tracks when he thought he was above the law with all those signing statements and.... oh, wait. Nevermind. You didn't do any of that did you? You caved, didn't you? And now we can expect six more years of caving to the Republican minority... well, a minority at least until the Democrats blow it again and Republicans regain control of Congress.
"If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him. ... I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him," he said.
Politico: The Majority Leader thinks former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens shouldn't face jail time for his seven-count federal conviction last year, telling our Manu Raju, who was also in the room, "My personal feeling, you guys, I don't know what good that [would do]... He was a real war hero too, you know. He's been punished enough."
Who's Obama going to pick to head the National Weather Service? Al Roker?!
President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.
Jeb Bush has released a statement saying that he will NOT run for the Florida Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Senator Mel Martinez in 2010. Statement to follow.
UPDATE (4:31pm): Jeb Bush: "While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office."
That would be code for, "George has so fucked up the Republican Party and the Bush name, to the point of Viriginia and Indiana going BLUE for fuck's sake, there would be no point for me to make an ass out of myself and become the only Bush to lose an election after my dumbass of a brother sat in the Oval Office for eight years wondering how they constructed curved walls."
All you have to do is watch (I know it's painful but watch). I'm sure Harry Smith was sitting in his chair wondering A) why CBS didn't think about cancelling Coulter's appearance B) why his producers hate him so much and C) how quickly he would die if he stuck his pen through his temple rather than listen to one more word from the conservative crack ho. Just watching Smith squirm in his chair and basically treat Coulter like the nutball she is, albeit with kid gloves, is worth sitting through the video.
The really sad part is that even when given a chance - and Smith lets her rant on and on - Coultergeist still sounds like she's trying to get a word in edgewise when not being interrupted.
Watch CBS Videos Online
Tom Delay was a victim?! Joe McCarthy was a victim?! How crazy can one person be? But of course, this is what Coulter does. She makes the most outrageous statements one can possibly make to cause a stir and sell books. There is no such thing as bad publicity, especially when it comes to Coulter.
First good slam of the New Year by Jon Stewart directed at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Oh, there she is... and she's suing the New York Times for defamation.
A Washington lobbyist on Tuesday sued The New York Times for publishing an article that she says suggests she once had a romantic relationship with 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The lawsuit, filed by lawyers for Vicki Iseman in a Richmond, Virginia, federal court, seeks $27 million in damages.
It claims that Iseman, a lobbyist at the firm Alcalde & Fay, was defamed by the Feb. 21 article and that she suffered damage to her reputation as well as to her emotional and mental health.
I think I've just fallen into Alice's rabbit hole. I'm watching MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and to my astonishment, Pat Buchanan is condemning Israel's airstrikes in Gaza while David Shuster and Harold Ford, Jr. are arguing the Israeli side and blaming Hamas.
I think my head is going to explode.
I hope someone has video soon. If not, I'll attempt to put some up myself.
UPDATE (8:22pm): Here's the video in which Pat Buchanan is awesome... yeah, I know!
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Mitch McConnell is such a fucking pussy. They've just come out of a meeting with Obama after discussing the economic stimulus package that PE Obama is proposing, and this fuck-o just said (paraphrasing),"As far as the spending portion of the economic stimulus package brought forward by President-elect Obama, we need to make sure it's not for mob museums and water slides." Can't these fucking assholes think for themselves just one time instead of looking at their right wing talking point crib notes?! Jesus Fucking Christ!
And now Whiskey Boy Boehner is slurring something about "Democrat colleagues." It's DEMOCRATIC, FUCKWAD. I'm all for trying to work in a bipartisan fashion, but if these motherfuckers don't start showing mutual respect to the other party, I'm gonna take a bat to someone's head.
Ugh, now cross-eyed Ron Christie is going to say something stupid. I can't even watch. Here it comes... earmarks. I'm waiting for him to say mob museums and water slides.
NY Times: Even as Senate leaders continued to challenge his appointment to the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, Roland W. Burris headed to Washington on Monday, setting the stage for a public showdown on Capitol Hill.My question is: Why did Patrick Fitzgerald blow the Blagojevich thing out of the water without being completely prepared? He has now filed a 90 day extension for possible indictment of Blagojevich and nothing will happen before the original January 9th deadline.
In a news conference at Midway airport in Chicago before his scheduled 2:20 p.m. flight to Baltimore, a defiant Mr. Burris told reporters that he was not concerned about the fact that the Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White, has rejected the paperwork that would officially send Mr. Burris to the Senate.
“Why don’t you all understand that what has been done here is legal?” he said. “I am the junior senator from Illinois, and I wish my colleagues in the press would recognize that.”
He later added, “This is all politics and theater, but I am the junior senator according to every law book in the nation.”
Scott Shane has written a very interesting analysis on the timing of Israel's strikes in Gaza that have continued for 10 days despite UN officials urgently calling for a cease-fire.
Many Middle East experts say Israel timed its move against Hamas, which began with airstrikes on Dec. 27, 24 days before Mr. Bush leaves office, with the expectation of such backing in Washington. Israeli officials could not be certain that President-elect Barack Obama, despite past statements of sympathy for Israel’s right of self-defense, would match the Bush administration’s unconditional endorsement.Now, everyone has been making a big deal out of Obama's statement that there is only "one president at a time" as if perhaps he should stage a coup and take office early to deal with the current administration fucking up as many things as possible during its last days in office. Speaking about future plans to deal with the economic crisis during the transitional period is one thing, but speaking on foreign policy affairs and confusing who actually speaks for the US during a critical time is something else. That's why this one statement - the final one in the article - kind of pissed me off.
That's right, Kumar. "When you begin governing." And that happens January 20th, not one day before.Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist at Towson University who studies presidential transitions, said Mr. Obama’s predicament exemplified the treacherous weeks between election and inauguration, and the way inspiring visions inevitably give way before unexpected events.
“On a campaign, you control what you talk about and when you talk about it,” Ms. Kumar said. “When you begin governing, you have to respond to what happens in the world.”
MINNEAPOLIS (REUTERS) -Democrat Al Franken will be declared the winner of the tight U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, emerging from a ballot recount with a slim margin over Republican Norm Coleman, state officials said on Sunday.
But the party of smaller government wants the courts to continue to intervene until something falls in their favor. Remember 2000?
But Coleman, the incumbent, has asked Minnesota's supreme court to require that a few hundred additional absentee ballots be included in the recount -- and he could then ask the court to investigate the contest all over again.Now of course you know that the wingnuts will be calling this a "stolen" election because... well... because every eligible vote was counted! Plus they need a new weekly thing to bitch about. But the fact is that if the Minnesota Supreme Court becomes involved and overturns the hand recount required by the state in an election this close, it will be the exact opposite. Franken will be the one who'll have gotten robbed. It makes you wonder what these last four years would have been like had John Kerry stuck to his "every vote must be counted" rhetoric and become President in 2004.
...Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, [who's job it was to oversee the recount process] said unless the supreme court acts on Coleman's request and orders more ballots to be counted, he will reconvene the state's Canvassing Board on Monday to certify Franken as the winner of the November 4 contest.
Even so, Coleman's campaign said it will likely challenge the result, which would require the state supreme court's chief justice to appoint three judges to investigate its claims.
"And if you're interested in the quality of education and you're paying attention to what you hear in Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you mentor a child how to read?"
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.My guess is that this is much ado about nothing. I can't believe that Bill Richardson was involved in a possible play for pay scandal, but it does show the type of person he is by withdrawing his name with the prospect of the investigation taking months.
"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."
Click on portrait for a complete list of President Obama's Executive Orders, Presidential Memoranda and Proclamations
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