Frank Rich: They Got Some ’Splainin’ to Do

As political theater, the Sonia Sotomayor hearings tanked faster than the 2008 Fred Thompson presidential campaign. They boasted no drama to rival the Clarence-Anita slapdown, the Bork hissy fits or the tearful exodus of Samuel Alito’s wife. There was rarely a moment to match even the high point of the Senate’s previous grilling of Sotomayor — in 1997, when she was elevated to the Second Circuit. It was then that Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri previewed the brand of white male legal wisdom that would soon become his hallmark at the Bush Justice Department. “Do you believe there’s a constitutional right to homosexual conduct by prisoners?” he asked. (She aced it: “No, sir.”)

Yet the Sotomayor show was still rich in historical significance. Someday we may regard it as we do those final, frozen tableaus of Pompeii. It offered a vivid snapshot of what Washington looked like when clueless ancien-régime conservatives were feebly clinging to their last levers of power, blissfully oblivious to the new America that was crashing down on their heads and reducing their antics to a sideshow as ridiculous as it was obsolescent.

Read the rest of the op-ed here.

Douchebag of the Week: Rep. Todd Tiahrt

Words fail me.

Rep. Todd Tiarht (R-KS): If you think of it in human terms, there is a financial incentive that would be put in place, paid for by tax dollars, that would encourage…single parents, living below the poverty level, to have the opportunity for a free abortion. If you take that scenario and apply it to many of the great minds we have today, who would we have been deprived of? Our President grew up in those similar circumstances. If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother might have taken advantage of it? Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we’d have been denied his great mind?

Not only does he fail to realize that President Obama's mother wasn't a single mother while she was pregnant, apparently Rep. Tiahrt thinks that only minorities get abortions. ...He also thinks Clarence Thomas is one of today's "great minds."



Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Doucheberg): Douchebag of the Week.

Must Reads

Glenn Greenwald: Chuck Todd's arguments against investigations & Celebrating Cronkite while ignoring what he did

Paul Krugman: The Six Deadly Hypocrites

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Oysters for Health Care

John Nichols: A Real Win for Single-Payer Advocates

Robert Naiman: The Day They Arrested President Roosevelt

Rude Pundit: Sotomayor, Day 3 (and Some Day 4): More Random Observations of the Tedious Madness

Paul McCartney at Citi Field

When I bought my tickets, I felt a sting in my wallet. I had never seen McCartney in concert and I thought this might be the only time I would have the opportunity to see the Beatles legend live. The closest I came to anything remotely related to the Beatles was attending the John Lennon memorial in Central Park in 1980 a week after he was killed.

So I figured I'd pony up the dough and take the wife to the first concert in Citi Field, in itself an historic event for the new stadium. And boy, was it the best spent money in a long time! Although the slight rain that came down for about an hour might've dampened our clothing, it didn't dampen our spirits as McCartney blazed through a myriad of songs, old and new and rocked the stadium.

A video backdrop behind the band included pictures of the young Beatles days, computer-animated Beatles from the video game “The Beatles: Rock Band”, video of a Wings photo shoot during "Band on the Run" that included James Coburn, Christopher Lee and Robert DeNiro, and even a couple of simulated Obama headshots during "Sing The Changes." I'll try to add some photos and maybe a video later.

One particular thing that warmed my heart were the parents who brought their young children to witness the Rock 'n Roll legend. There was a dad with his daughter of perhaps 9 or 10 years of age, who sat in front of us and knew every lyric to every Beatles song being played. To our left was a mom and her 5 year old girl who sang along with "Hey Jude." In this age of the Jonas Brothers, Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, it's nice to see the history of rock music being handed down to the next generation. Too many times I've come across some in their late teens and early twenties who think the genre started with Nirvana and answer questions of The Beatles with, "Who?"

If you can come up with the scratch and can score tickets for one of the remaining two concerts, it's well worth the experience.

Jon Pareles has an excellent write up in the New York Times.

Here's Friday night's set list:

“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got To Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It” (with a “Foxy Lady” coda)
“Highway”
“The Long and Winding Road”
“My Love”
“Blackbird”
“Here Today”
“Dance Tonight”
“Calico Skies”
“Mrs. Vandebilt”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Sing the Changes”
“Band on the Run”
“Back in the U.S.S.R.”
“I’m Down”
“Something” (on ukulele)
“I’ve Got a Feeling”
“Paperback Writer”
“A Day in the Life”/“Give Peace a Chance”
“Let It Be”
“Live and Let Die”
“Hey Jude”

Encore:

“Day Tripper”
“Lady Madonna”
“I Saw Her Standing There” (with Billy Joel)
“Yesterday”
“Helter Skelter”
“Get Back”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (reprise)/“The End”

Walter Cronkite Dies at 92

NY TIMES: Walter Cronkite, who pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, died Friday at his home in New York. He was 92.

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 18, 2009

Health Care Reform Cannot Wait

"...any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans – including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest – and choose what’s best for your family. And that’s why we’ll put an end to the worst practices of the insurance industry: no more yearly caps or lifetime caps; no more denying people care because of pre-existing conditions; and no more dropping people from a plan when they get too sick. No longer will you be without health insurance, even if you lose your job or change jobs."

President Obama on Health Care Progress

When the latest CBO report came out stating that the healthcare reform would cost more than save in the long term I knew it would be the perfect fodder for those opposed to the public option. I also have a feeling that this initial report will be followed up by secondary report amending their first overstated report, as the CBO is accustomed to doing. I thought if President Obama, or someone speaking for the White House didn't come out in opposition to the report, we'd be in a little more trouble when it comes to passing health care reform with a strong public option. Then you have dolts like Lieberman and Landrieu saying we should slow the whole thing down and protecting their health care lobbyist moolah.

Enter President Obama:

Portrait of a Racist

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Standing By Your Convictions

Texas Governor, Rick "Secession" Perry, the Republican politician who rejected stimulus money in March, is now asking for funds from that oppressive, evil federal government.

Texas is now asking the federal government for a $170 million loan so that benefits keep getting paid.

“This is nothing out of the ordinary. We’re following protocol that we put in place,” said Governor Rick Perry.

Texas has asked for this loan only one other time, in 2003. This year however, the decision is getting extra attention after Governor Rick Perry rejected federal stimulus money that would have replenished the fund.

Texas is expected to request $650 million, roughly $100 million more than Perry initially rejected. At a “tea party protest” in April, Perry trumpeted his decision to reject stimulus dollars from the Obama administration. “I believe the federal government has become oppressive,” he said, adding that he might even consider seceding from the Union.

I love the smell of Republican hypocrisy in the morning.

Greenwald vs Chuck Todd

Yesterday, Glenn Greenwald blogged about and criticized the latest back and forth between Chuck Todd and Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski & Pat Buchanan and their discussion on a possible investigation into the Bush administration's interrogation (ie. torture) policies, specifically criticizing Todd for blurring the line between being a journalist and a pundit, between stating the facts and stating his opinion. Todd contacted Greenwald to talk about his post and debated about those torture issues. They agreed to have an interview.

The half hour podcast is here. Must listen intertubes!

Oh, Sweet Justice!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Orly Taitz Is Insane

Last night as I drove home from work, I had the extraordinary pleasure of listening to Alan Colmes interview Stefan Cook and Alan Keyes Birther movement lawyer, Orly Taitz. During the lead up to the interview, I anticipated hearing an intelligent discussion between Colmes and what I thought would be an attorney well versed in the ways of debate in order to make sense of the whole Birther movement.

Imagine my surprise when what I heard coming out of a break, was one of the most bizarre interviews I had ever heard with a "lawyer" who sounds like Arianna Huffington on crack.

Orly Taitz refuses to believe that President Obama was born in the United States, has called and continues to call him an "arrogant jerk," believes that the FactCheck.org debunking of the whole birth certificate drama is photoshopped by "a bunch of yahoos" and has absolutely no regard for civilized discourse during the entire interview.

I'm still trying to find the full audio, but you can listen to a 5 minute clip here. Prepare for a jaw dropping experience.

Senate Committee Passes Health Bill

The Senate health committee cast a milestone vote Wednesday to approve legislation expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans, becoming the first congressional panel to act on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

The 13-10 party line vote advanced a $600 billion measure that would require individuals to get health insurance and employers to contribute to the cost. Democratic leaders are driving for floor votes in the House and Senate before Congress goes on its August break.

Lindsey Graham Is A Dick - UPDATED

The highlight of my day while watching the Sotomayor hearings was Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Doucheland) being Mr. Tough Guy and after about 6 hours of answering questions, incredulously asked Judge Sotomayor to repeat her "wise latina" quote because he couldn't find it in his notes to beat her about the head with it. Seriously.

You've had all day, Lindsey. If you want to drag Sotomayor through the mud, that's your prerogative. But don't ask her to help you do it because you're unorganized and misplaced your right wing talking points fax. Dick.

UPDATE (10:35pm): Via Third Branch:

Via Atrios, Craig Crawford describes the political disaster that the GOP has decided to perpetrate upon itself:

Watching Lindsey Graham's gotcha grin as he needled Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with disingenuous and rhetorical questions you had to wonder what was so funny. Does the Republican senator think it is amusing that he and his party's condescending tone toward the Hispanic woman was costing them ethnic votes with each passing hour of Tuesday's Judiciary Committee hearing?

. . . Even if they vote for her, the fallout for Republicans could reach well beyond Hispanic voters. They are coming across as a bunch of snarky and bitter old white men who cannot bear the thought of their kind losing power.

The only thing that can make it worse for the GOP will be, as I noted earlier, if no Republicans vote for Sotomayor's confirmation. Here's hoping.

Birthers Get Thrown A Bone

A judge said he would listen to "the merits" of Alan Keyes' case challenging Obama's presidency. While a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said the move was merely procedural, birth conspiracy proponents are encouraged.

And a soldier refuses to be deployed to Afghanistan because he believes Obama presidency is illegitimate.

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook has argued that he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because the man sending him there isn't really president.

In the 20-page document -- filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia -- the California-based [Alan Keyes lawyer Orly] Taitz asks the court to consider granting his client's request based upon Cook's belief that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Cook further states he "would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President's command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties."

Ironic that the government is discharging willing and able gay soldiers and preventing them from fulfilling their duty and this "patriot" is using the birther conspiracy as an excuse not to send his cowardly ass to Afghanistan. Fine, dishonorably discharge the fucker.

Palin Wrote What?!

Escuse me while I wipe the tears from my eyes. I haven't been able to stop laughing at this statement: "Sarah Palin wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post." Seriously? C'mon. Her name may be on it, but anyone who's paid any attention to Sarah Palin over the last 9 months has to realize that this did not come from the pen of Palin. Especially on the heels of her rambling resignation "speech" less than two weeks ago which began, "Hi Alaska."

Ezra Klein expounds on her op-ed explaining her cap and trade opposition:

It's probably a bit kind to say that Sarah Palin "wrote" this. There are no words in all capital letters. There are no sports metaphors. There is nothing at all like "*((Gotta put First Things First))*." The stylistic and grammatical tics on display in last week's speech are totally absent. Sarah Palin signed her name to this. Or at least let someone else do so.

But that's not all that's missing. The term "global warming" is absent. So is "climate change." It's a bit like an op-ed that attacks firefighters for pointing pressurized water cannon at everything but never mentions fires, or a column that condemns surgeons for sticking sharp things into people but never mentions illness.

You could no more argue with this op-ed than you could drive a car made out of candy.

We've obviously not heard the last of Sarah Palin. She is now putting her name to op-eds in the same paper as Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson.

I do have one question: who wrote that op-ed for her?

Today's News

In my continuing effort to get my apartment ready to put on the market, I've completely neglected the blog today. I managed to get a couple of Tweets in (follow me!) during the installation of a medicine cabinet, bathroom lighting fixture and a pantry door.

So here's my version of today's news:

Judge Sotomayor's hearing in finally underway. And along the way Senators Sessions and Kyl show how bitchy they are to the world. Senator Hatch also gave us his whiny, wimpy side (as if he has any other) during Hardball. It was nice to see Senator Al Franken in his first Committee hearing as was the last to speak being the most junior senator. Speaking of seniority, the penultimate speaker at the hearing? Alren Specter. ...Heh.

Dick Cheney, in his latest impression of Dr. Evil, is exposed for ordering the CIA to withhold information from Congress for eight years! That would be his whole time in office as Vice President. Hmm... would that mean that Nancy Pelosi wasn't entirely incorrect when she was vilified a few weeks ago for claiming that she was lied to by the CIA? Still waiting on one of those creeps, namely John Boehner to apologize to Pelosi.

The future ex son-in-law of Sarah Palin, Levi Johnston continues his media tour and suggests Palin quit because she couldn't hack it. She couldn't take the pressure. Take it with a grain of salt considering the source, but you have to wonder about someone who quits because, according to her, she was tired of the attacks. And yet, the GOP and 7 in 10 Republicans would vote for her in 2012.

Apropos of Nothing

posted by Armadillo Joe

I have always been a fan of the NBC sit-com "News Radio" and of Stephen Root in particular. The Inter-Webs are really cool because this scene popped into my head this afternoon and I had found and it re-watched it -- for the first time in over a decade -- in under five minutes.

From Season Two, Episode 8 - "The Negotiation"

Thanks, But No Thanks On That Campaigning Offer

HuffPo: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's not only staying involved in national politics, but she plans to jump back into the national scrum when she leaves office at the end of the month.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee said she plans to write a book, campaign for political candidates from coast to coast - even Democrats who share her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence - and build a right-of-center coalition.

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said during an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times.

So that's her plan! Destroying the Democratic Party from the inside like a termite. What politician in their right mind, would want Palin anywhere near their campaign? Before you answer that question, remember that the operative words are "in their right mind."

Imagine If He Were President?!

What little respect I had for Senator John Sidney McCain III, if any at all, has now vanished.

"On 'Meet The Press' today, he told host David Gregory [Sarah Palin] is qualified to be president.

In fact, he was so spring-loaded to make the point about his former running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, he didn't even allow Gregory to finish his question..."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Equilvalent of Hoods

I've always found it rather unsettling that the anonymity of the internet causes what would otherwise be normal discourse and debate into heated, hate-filled rhetoric that one would most likely never dare to say face to face for fear of physical assault.

With the ascent of our country's first African-American president after our sordid history of racism however, never has it struck me more that the progeny of the cowards who once wore hoods and robes are now trading them in for the 21st century version of their shameful furtiveness.

We've seen it bubbling up more and more. What may have started as a moron with a Curious George doll at a Palin campaign rally or the accusations of President Obama being a secret Muslim has escalated to deadly violence and frightening vitriol on conservative websites without the slightest hint of disgrace or remorse.

Case in point. Free Republic.

"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

The cowardice to write such things while hiding behind a keyboard used as a hood and a username used as a robe is immeasurable. This isn't about disagreeing with the administration's policies. This isn't worrying about national security. This isn't about the threat of terrorism. This is hostility and disdain for an 11 year old girl purely based on the color of her skin. This is about the overt racism displayed at the President of the United States and his family.

And the bigotry doesn't stop at the faceless ones living under rocks. Now the ugly scars and boils filling in a Dorian Gray's portrait of the GOP are visible for all to see. Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent out CDs containing the song,"Barack the Magic Negro." South Carolina GOP activist Rusty DePass joked that an escaped gorilla from a local zoo was an "ancestor" of Michelle Obama.

Speaking of primates, let's not forget about the editorial cartoon depicting police officers shooting a monkey and lamenting that "they'll have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill." And most recently there's Audra Shay, a candidate to chair the Young Republicans National Federation, who "LOL"ed when a Facebook friend ranted that they had to "take this country back from all of these mad coons." Further review of her Facebook account and her poor attempts to scrub her page found more than a few racist and homophobic comments.

In October 2008, in the wake of news that an effigy of Sarah Palin was being hung outside an affluent Hollywood home as an offensive Halloween decoration, Shay replied, returning to the “LOL” style that she employed after the “coons” comment: “What no ‘Obama in a noose? Come on now, its just freedome [sic] of speech, no one in Atlanta would take that wrong! Lol.”

She picked up the thread again the next morning with a clarification and a new insight. “Apparently I could not spell last night. I am wondering if the guys with the Palin noose would care if we had a bunch of homosexuals in a noose.”

By the way, she won her election.

Apparently, this is the future of the Republican party, continuing to elect not only racists, but overt ones at that. While the anonymous "hooded" cowards of the Internet feel free to spew their intense hate of "the other" without fear of repercussion, their elected Grand Dragons and Imperial Wizards further marginalize the 21st Century Whigs.

GOP R.I.P.

posted by Armadillo Joe

I've figured out what really pisses me off about the whole Steve King slaves-aren't-significant-to-American-history episode.

He's from Iowa. Iowa fought for Union. Iowa was never a slave state. So why is he making common cause with a bunch of Dixie-fied Civil War re-enactors? I know why. It goes to my larger thesis about the Dixie-fication of America.

When Nixon used the Southern Strategy (actually hatched during the Goldwater campaign) to bring former Dixiecrats into the GOP fold, he welded the definition of "conservative" to that of the word "southern" and, forever after in American life, conservatism as it is popularly understood has a distinctly southern flavor. I offer the coast-to-coast appeal of Jeff Foxworthy's "redneck" jokes as just one piece of evidence.

And though what I'm sure they all thought was a sure bet for electoral success ad infinitum could have worked if calibrated properly and tended to with loving care, the Republican Party is now imploding into a minor regional party because the overlords, in order to garner allies in their generational class war, thought they could harness the inchoate fears in the lower classes of nigras, uppity wimmin-folk, queers and other assorted dirty fucking hippies. The monsters refused to be yoked to the narrow ambitions of the Ruling Class and have now overrun HQ. The result? An ever more tightly wound black-hole of hate, self-serving mythology and historical revisionism that pulls in anything in its gravitational field, including Steve King of Iowa, a state that fought for Union.

This is what "conservatism" and the GOP look like at the tail-end of the Southern Strategy. I have a whole new view of the overall arc of "The Movement" since WW2 because of Rick Pearlstein's "Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus." The fact that McCain went down in flames to a man unimaginable as president within the living memory of most Americans makes a neat historical bookend to the fact that Goldwater -- and, more specifically, the Goldwater campaign -- launched the modern Republican Party by inviting in the racist yokels, toothless goobers and paranoid rednecks to their party who had once been beyond the pale of polite society and then ruthlessly organized them into an orc army with the help of modern technology and mountains of private and corporate cash. Prior to Goldwater, conservatives were split regionally and culturally between the two political parties. Between Goldwater and Reagan, they united under the Republican "brand."

However, I don't believe the GOP will be able to pull out of its current death-spiral. GOP resurgences since Goldwater's implosion in '64 have happened because "The Movement" was still gathering steam: Nixon resigned and Ford was weak, but Reagan overran a clueless Jimmy Carter; a vacillating Bush41 lost in a three-way split, but the post-Reagan GOP caucus in Congress (and a Supreme Court with no less than four Reagan-appointed justices -- including O'Connor from Arizona and Chief Justice Rehnquist also from Arizona who had been on Goldwater's legal team) had redrawn the political map enough to get Bush43 in office.

But Reagan, Gingrich's Congress and the impeachment of a popular president for a blowjob were the apex of their power. I think they've been coasting on inertia ever since because they don't know what to do. Since Goldwater, the right (and eventually the whole of the GOP) had always defined itself in opposition to things. Once they were put fully in charge, they proved utterly clueless. Were it not for the adrenaline-boost of 9/11, they may have even imploded before Bush's second term. He may not have even had one.

The GOP and conservatism have fallen a long, long, long way -- farther even than they had stood in the late 1950's when some on the American right-wing were accusing Republican President Eisenhower of being a communist sympathizer, before Goldwater twisted the party into an ugly enough horde to actually place a diseased cur like Dick Nixon on their ticket. The last time the American right was laid this low was in the early days of FDR and the Great Depression. It took 30 years and the Senator from Arizona to galvanize them back into an effective movement, even if the whole edifice was built under false pretenses and group delusion.

This time, though, I don't see how they can get back up again. I really don't.

And that is a good thing.

Must Reads

Daniel Klaidman, Newsweek: Independent’s Day - Attorney General Eric Holder may probe Bush-era torture

Matt Taibbi: On The ‘Everyone Was Doing It’ Excuse

Rob Tornoe: Cartoonist Reveals Unedited Michael Jackson Strip

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Some Choice Words For "The Select Few"

Sam Stein: Emanuel's Public Plan With Triggers Trial Balloon "Blew Up": Dem Lawmaker

Bob Herbert: The Human Equation

David Michael Green: A Saw The News On Television Today, Oh Boy

Robert Reich: When Will The Recovery Begin? Never.

Armadillo Joe recommends...

Joe Conason: The losers who gave us Sarah Palin

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 11, 2009

Recovery and the Jobs of the Future

Nooners feels the shock of recognition

posted by Armadillo Joe

...and fires a parting shot as she just walks on by.

Sarah Palin's resignation gives Republicans a new opportunity to see her plain — to review the bidding, see her strengths, acknowledge her limits, and let go of her drama. It is an opportunity they should take.

[...]

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.

[...]

...she is... a seemingly very nice middle-class girl with ambition, appetite and no sense of personal limits.

Hitler's Reaction to Palin's Resignation

Another awesome video from Funny or Die!

Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns - watch more funny videos

The Kucinich Bitchslap

Don't fuck with Dennis Kucinich.



And who is this little prick, Dr. David Gratzer? Hope he can get to a proctologist after that reaming.

(H/T GottaLaff)

House Rejects Obama Signing Statement

I'm glad that the House did this. I just wish they had some backbone and did the same with some of the more egregious Bush signing statements, namely ignoring a provision banning the torture of terror detainees.

The House rebuked President Obama for trying to ignore restrictions to international aid payments, voting overwhelmingly for an amendment forcing the administration to abide by its constraints.

House members approved an amendment by a 429-2 vote to have the Obama administration pressure the World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards and require a Treasury Department report on World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) activities. The amendment to a 2010 funding bill for the State Department and foreign operations was proposed by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), but it received broad bipartisan support.

Minnesota GOP Sends Franken $96K

Is this a magic number or what? First Ensign's parent's send $96,000 in hush money to his mistress, and now this:

In the last chapter of a stinging loss to now-Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota's Republican Party has sent the Democrat almost $96,000 to cover lawsuit costs.

...Minnesota law required Republican Norm Coleman to reimburse Franken for some costs because the election lawsuit didn't change the outcome. The judgment excluded Franken's attorney fees.

Whew! I thought maybe Franken was secretly the Minnesota GOP's mistress... mister? Whatever.

Signing that check sure had to hurt. Heh.

Stupidity Knows No Bounds

On Wednesday, I awarded Rep. Steve King (R- Doucheland) my Douchebag of the Week honors, something I normally reserve for a Sunday afternoon. Soon thereafter, Brian Kilmeade made his wonderfully racist comment on Fox and Friends which Fraulein brought to our attention.

For a minute, I thought I may have been too hasty in not waiting until the end of the week to rip King. But never let it be said that King disappoints. It only took 24 hours to top himself.

"[O]f the 645,000 Africans that were brought here to be forcibly put into slavery in the United States, there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery. And I don't see the monument to that in the Congressional Visitor Center, and I think it's important that we have a balanced depiction of history."

Not only is King a racist douche, but he's a moronic one as well. "... there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery." Uh, Rep. King? Wasn't that the TOTAL amount of casualties for BOTH sides? If so, then, uh... who fought against those who wanted "to put an end to slavery"?

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Ensign's Mommy & Daddy "Gifted" Mistress $96K

Senator Ensign, it just gets more and more embarrassing for you, doesn't it?

Politico: Sen. John Ensign's parents shelled out big bucks to pay off their son's mistress, the latest twist in an unfolding scandal that has upended the political career of the one-time rising GOP star.

...On Thursday, Ensign's attorney said that the senator's parents gave Doug Hampton, Cynthia Hampton and their two children gifts worth $96,000 in the form of a check. The attorney, Paul Coggins, said that each gift was limited to $12,000 and "complied with tax rules governing gifts."

Seriously, John? Your mommy and daddy tried to pay off your mistress and her family? Sort of makes Governor Mark "Juan Peron" Sanford look like a stand up guy.

Runner-Up Douchebag of the Week: Brian Kilmeade

Posted by Fraulein

I doubt this guy is competent to make himself a bowl of cereal in the morning. And yet here he sits, "screeching," as Gawker notes, on "Fox and Friends." He's concerned that Americans have a tendency to "marry other species." What the fuck is Brian Kilmeade talking about, you ask? Has there been some epidemic of matrimonial unions between people and earthworms? Oh no. He's talking about interracial marriage.

Somebody put this douchebag out of our collective misery, please.

GOP Bizarro Wingnut World

Liveblogging the Palin resignation:

4:46 pm: Stop the ACLU has rounded up reaction from the right blogosphere. He culled the wrong opinion. They don't get it.

4:30 pm: My take? If Palin is anything like I think she is (know she is), Obama's treasonous presidency is responsible for this. She, like all patriotic Americans, is shocked by what is happening. Obama is destroying this country. She knows it. We all know it. We need a leader. She is answering our call.

She did not quit. She is going to get into the fight to save America. Watch what happens.

4:23 PM: FOX news cut her news conference. 7 days of Michael Jackson and they did not allow us to hear her remarks in full. First Iran, now this.

From what I saw - this is not a woman who is retiring. She is assuming the mantle. This was a campaign speech. She was amazing.

-Pamela Geller

Ballsy Greenpeace Protest

Greenpeace activists scaled Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama. "Our brave climbers rappelled down the face of Mt. Rushmore today to issue a challenge to President Obama: If he wants to get his face on this monument, he needs to be a true leader on global warming, not a politician," said one Greenpeace member.

Texas Tech (still) sux

posted by Armadillo Joe

And Matt Yglesias agrees with me.

Oscar Mayer Dead at 95

Oscar G. Mayer, who transformed his family business into one of the the world's largest meat processors, died Monday. He was 95.

Remember this kid?

And here's the story behind the original Oscar Mayer wiener jingle.

Douchebag of the Week: Rep. Steve King

There are many things that expose Iowa Congressman Steve King's douchebaggery pretty much every time he opens his mouth. There's the time he called the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses "separatist groups." Or when he went on a "Socialist" scare rant calling the Progressives in the House "socialists." Or when he claimed that Al-Qaeda would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama won the presidential election.

But this time, King really takes the cake.

That the United States Capitol, and specifically the Statue of Freedom that rests above it, was built by slave labor has long been a source of shame. The House sought to redress that grievance on Tuesday evening, however slightly, with a resolution acknowledging the role slaves played in the construction.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) isn't having it.

The resolution passed 399-1, with King voting against.

The purpose of the resolution, according to its text, is to direct "the Architect of the Capitol to place a marker in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center which acknowledges the role that slave labor played in the construction of the United States Capitol."

The lone Congressman who decided that even this slight acknowledgement wasn't good enough to garner his vote was our good Christian, Rep. Steve King, who not too long ago thought a resolution to recognize "the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world" was worthy of Congressional votes. But a nod of recognition to the slaves who built our Capitol building? Not so much.

Iowa Rep. Steve King (R as in "Ridiculous"): Douchebag of the Week.

Cartoon of the Day

Froomkin Hired by HuffPo

According to Glenn Greenwald:

...[Dan] Froomkin to be [Huffington Post's] Washington Bureau Chief and regular columnist/blogger. Froomkin will oversee a staff of five reporters and an Assistant Editor, guide The Huffington Post's Washington reporting, and write at least two posts per week to be featured on its main page and Politics page. I learned last night of the hiring and spoke to both Arianna Huffington and Froomkin this morning.

...Froomkin was fired by The Washington Post a little more than two weeks ago after writing an online column for almost six years that was one of that newspaper's most popular.

The old media establishment keeps having heart palpitations every time another newspaper goes down failing to realize that boneheaded moves like these are causing their demise.

Rahm Got The Message

It's been extremely frustrating to hear non-definitive talk from White House officials when it comes to a strong public option for healthcare reform. Especially if it comes from the supposed arm-twister, Rahm Emanuel. Yesterday, Emanuel seemed to be a little mealy mouthed when discussing the possibility of a final healthcare plan without a public option. Now this was according to the Wall Street Journal, which is now owned by Rupert Murdoch. Enough said. But the doubts still lingered - enough for President Obama to make a statement from Russia (with love):

"I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals."

So what was with Rahm and the mixed signals? Why is the possibility of accepting a compromise like a trigger or a co-op even being thought about? I know that in the world of Obama being The Great Mediator, they can't just say flat out that the President will veto any bill that doesn't contain a strong public option. They at least have to act as if all options are on the table rather than piss people off and slow things down to a crawl. But still, be firm and consistent with your message.

Well it looks like Rahm got the message.

After initially indicating his support for a public plan “trigger,” White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reassured House Democrats tonight that he strongly backs a public plan. Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said she told Emanuel that support for a “trigger” would cause health reform to lose Democratic votes:

“We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game,” Woolsey said she told Emanuel. “People clapped all over the place. We mean it, and not just progressives.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said Emanuel reassured him that he “doesn’t stand by that trigger.”

It's gotten to the point that the bill would lose more Democratic votes than gain Repubican ones if a public option is not part of the plan. This combined with Harry Reid's instructions to Max Baucus to drop the proposal of taxing health benefits and stop trying to garner GOP votes looks promising for the public option.

Stimulus Funds Finally Working

It's true. Just ask former United States Attorney General and George W. Bush lackey Alberto Gonzales. It seems like there was nowhere for ol' Torquemada to go after leaving the Bush administration Department of Justice (or as Sarah Palin would call it "your department of law there in the White House"). No one would hire him. We all thought it was because he had subverted the rule of law, claimed he had no idea what was going on at the DoJ or didn't know who was actually running things in his office. But now I realize that it was the result of the very early stages of the recession. Now that President Obama's recovery package has started to disburse funds, good ol' Fredo has found employment.

Gonzales, who was Gov. George W. Bush’s lawyer, Texas secretary of state and then a Texas Supreme Court justice before joining Bush in Washington, will be working as an visiting professor in the political science department, teaching a “special topics” course on contemporary issues in the executive branch, according to Dora Rodriguez, a senior business assistant in the department.

...Lawrence Schovanec, interim dean of Texas Tech’s College of Arts and Sciences, was quoted saying: “Judge Gonzales brings a unique experience to our classroom. His career in law, government and public service will provide our political science students a rich perspective of the executive branch and issues and challenges facing our nation.”

(H/T FDL)

If this keeps up...

posted by Armadillo Joe

...I'm going to stop telling people where I went to college.

First it was chair-flinger Bobby Knight. When Indiana fired him, I rejoiced that the S.O.B. was on the street. I thought - "Good. No college would touch that guy. I'm glad he's jobless." Then my alma mater gave him a job.

Now, Gonzo found a job when no one else would take him. Guess where?

...(sigh)...

Go Tech!

This is Going to be Super Classy

Posted by Fraulein

Oh. My. God:

"You would think that the family wants to end this with a bang," "Today" show correspondent Michael Owku, stationed at Forest Lawn, told Meredith Vieira.
"They want to have a great big surprise for all the fans and all the friends that will be gathering there at Staples Center, and what bigger surprise than to suddenly have the casket of Michael Jackson up on stage for the last time?"

What The Fuck, Rahm?!

WSJ: It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Monday.

"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.

...Mr. Emanuel said one of several ways to meet President Barack Obama's goals is a mechanism under which a public plan is introduced only if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own. He noted that congressional Republicans crafted a similar trigger mechanism when they created a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare in 2003. In that case, private competition has been judged sufficient and the public option has never gone into effect.

...On Monday, Mr. Emanuel said the trigger mechanism would also accomplish the White House's goals. Under this scenario, a public plan would kick in under certain circumstances when competition was judged to be lacking. Exactly what circumstances would trigger the option would have to be worked out.

It's time for Chuck Schumer to step it up and for Senate Democrats to refuse to pass legislation without a public option.

...Some Democrats pushing for a vigorous public plan say the trigger idea isn't good enough. Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in an interview, "If it's not there on day one, those of us who support a public option have a real problem with it."

(H/T Bob Cesca)

UPDATE (10:20am): David Shuster on Twitter:

Sanford Censured

As Major Garrett would say, "What took you so long?"

After nearly four hours of deliberation and multiple rounds of balloting, the South Carolina Republican Party voted Monday night to censure Mark Sanford for secretly traveling overseas to visit his mistress — but stopped short of calling on the governor to resign.

We can't totally blame them. After all, if a schlub like Mark Sanford can get an Argentine hottie to play Evita & Juan then you gotta give him a little credit. So what if he called for the resignation of Bill Clinton when he was in the same situation? Obviously his mistake was that he didn't keep his shenanigans overseas.

So, a little slap on the wrist for a Governor who abandoned his state for almost a week with no information to his whereabouts in case of emergency. But hey, it's okay if you're a Republican.

Another Possible Motivation for Palin

Posted by Fraulein

This weekend I felt as confused by Sarah Palin's rambling press conference as everyone else, but now I think I have a theory about what she's really up to. I agree with Carl that it's possible she simply wants to clear the decks and prepare for a 2012 Presidential run. However, I still think that at some point, as dumb as the leading "thinkers" in the GOP are, these people have to accept that it would be suicide for the party if Palin were to emerge as the front runner. I mean, we can't possibly get that lucky, can we? To have this blithering doofus at the top of the ticket, when she doomed McCain as their Vice Presidential candidate? The Republican base for whatever incomprehensible reason just loves this woman. The rest of the country, not so much.

So here's my alternative theory: it's all about the money. Specifically, money from speeches and a book tour.

Palin herself, although seemingly untroubled by any complicated thought process, still must have at least some dim understanding that a Presidential bid would be doomed from the start. She did like getting to shop for all those expensive clothes though. She loved having the cameras on her, and hearing the cheers of the adoring GOP faithful. What better way to milk what remains of her 15 minutes of fame than "writing" a "book" about her experiences on the campaign trail and giving speeches at fringe right-wing wacko gatherings for some obscene fee? That way she gets to remain "famous," which I think is what she liked the most about the whole campaign anyway, make a shitload of cash, and walk away laughing.

What do you all think -- any other theories?

_____________________________

EDITOR'S NOTE: While my original instinct was that Palin flew the coop to prepare for higher aspirations, I want to make it clear if I haven't before that I think it's the stupidest move she could have made.

Along with most other analyses, I agree that not running for re-election but also flat out quitting her job makes her look like she couldn't hack it. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant. She failed to fulfill one full term in office as Governor of the 4th least populated state while receiving the most federal aid of any state. This further diminishes what little she had on her resumé to begin with. Her penchant for hashing out private matters in the tabloids (see Johnston, Levi) or using the power of her office for intimidation (see Gate, Trooper) makes her seem power hungry and unstable.

And here's the kicker. If Bill Kristol thinks it's a good move, you know it's wrong.

- Broadway Carl

Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93

NY Times: Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war’s moral consequences, died early Monday at his home in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing his wife, Diana. He was 93, and according to the news agency, had been in failing health for some time.

I just realized...

.... that after all the Teabagger threats of "Going Galt", someone finally did. And it was Sarah Palin. If you want to look into the mind of a confused faux martyr, with her projection of "superficial wasteful political bloodsport," take a look at Palin's Twitter page.

Perhaps more GOP wingnuts should take Sarah's "lead." Go Galt and watch society die without you. Heh.

Steve McNair Dead at 36

NY Times: Steve McNair, the former N.F.L. quarterback who shared the league’s Most Valuable Player award in 2003, was found shot to death Saturday, the Nashville police said.

McNair, 36, and Sahel Kazemi, a 20-year-old friend, were found dead with gunshot wounds Saturday afternoon in a condominium in downtown Nashville, the police said. McNair had multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, and Kazemi was found with a single gunshot wound to the head, the police said.

...McNair played for the Tennessee Titans for 11 years, taking them within inches of overtime against the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl after the 1999 season. He retired before the 2008 season after playing for two years in Baltimore. In his 13-year career, he established himself as one of the best quarterbacks of his era and earned the nickname Air McNair.