Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2009 - Pt. 7)

We're about 3/4s of the way there (Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, and Part Six is here)...

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Hate radio host Neal Boortz, who compared Obama to a child molester here (truly no line these people won’t cross, but we knew that)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Yes, I know Max Baucus recently stood tall here, but I don't believe that balanced out the fact that his committee really goofed on health care reform (here).

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee ("Nah, Just Kidding" Citation)

This would have been a real shocker, but Bill Orally briefly qualified for this remark about the public option, though he returned to form here.

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Bill Orally again for receiving a “Press Courage” award, though the press was barred from attending (here)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Jared C. Monti (courage for real, as opposed to O'Reilly's brand) - Rachel Maddow tells his story below...

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

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

I’ve dumped on Bob Casey a lot, rightly I think, but I should also give him credit for being one of seven votes here against that ridiculous Senate resolution from Repug Mike Johanns banning funding for ACORN as a result of that even-more-ridiculous sting video from that creep James O’Keefe (Yes, the DC office screwed up, but how about counting the good work ACORN does, which more than balances out this mistake, as well as the fact that the ACORN office in question didn't break any laws, whereas that's still an open question concerning the conduct of O'Keefe and Hannah Giles?...kudos also to Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Patrick Leahy, Roland Burris, Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse for joining Casey; more on ACORN later).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Fred Barnes, for saying here that Obama’s wise decision not to try and deploy a “Star Wars” missile defense shield could lead to a development worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis (guess what, you asshat – Obama’s decision was seconded by Brent Scowcroft, who’s forgotten more about matters of national security than you’ll ever know)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Butler, PA Repug State House Rep Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, who halted a resolution to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives because, as he put it, “it has a homosexual agenda” (and as Mike Morrill tells us here, “on the same day, also on the House floor, he made matters worse. The House was about to vote on increasing marriage license fees from $3 to $28, with the increased amount going to a fund for victims of domestic abuse. Metcalfe opposed the measure, calling the funding a domestic violence programs 'a slap in the face to family values.'2 The bill passed despite his outrageous claim.”)

(I'm sure we'll be hearing from Metcalfe in 2010, by the way; he has also sponsored a bill to make teacher strikes illegal in PA, which new Pennsbury School Board member Simon Campbell will do his best to publicize, of course, being more concerned about Harrisburg than he is about his own school district.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Michael Schwartz, chief of staff for Tom Coburn, who basically said here that porn makes you gay (didn’t work on me – h/t The Daily Kos)…

Do Gooders Of The Year Nominees

As noted here, the following NFL football teams made the highest campaign contributions to the Democratic Party:

The St. Louis Rams (also worthy of rooting for them, even though they’re real bad, because they have ex-Eagle coach Steve Spagnuolo as their head coach)

The San Francisco 49ers

The Philadelphia Eagles (yep, despite the fact that they were cheapskates with Brian Dawkins, Tra Thomas and Sheldon Brown, though they were inexplicably generous to Michael Vick)

The New England Patriots (despite the presence of Bill Belichick)

The Buffalo Bills (despite the presence of T.O.)

The Oakland Raiders

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Ivan Marte, the ex-chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, who quit the Repug Party over the Joe Wilson “You Lie” outburst (here)…

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Former Bushco ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe here for noting the fact that our embassies are getting more and more expensive (and a supplemental citation to James Gordon, formerly of ArmorGroup, the company contracted for security in our Kabul embassy, for blowing the whistle on the antics going on there)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Sen. Al Franken, for, as noted here, “reading the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee to urge reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act” (seems Al wasn’t happy with the answers he was getting from Kris in response to questions he was asking about why the provisions should be reauthorized…there were reasons why we stuck it out with him during the Norm Coleman recount nonsense, and this is one of them)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Dem Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, for slapping down that idiot Jon Kyl of Arizona here on the question of whether or not maternity care should be covered in the health insurance reform legislation…

The “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – For White People Only, I Guess” Citation

Andy Williams, he of the omnipresent white turtleneck sweater at Christmas, said that he thinks President Obama “wants the country to fail” here (let me know when your '60s variety show is ever syndicated, OK dude?)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

So many reasons for this one, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gets it in particular for, as the New York Times puts it here, being “way behind the curve” on global warming (and kudos to Nike and the other companies who have resigned their memberships in protest)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Dem U.S. House Rep Alan Grayson of Florida for pronouncing that the Repugs “want you to die quickly,” in response to the statements noted by The Daily Kos here (also, Grayson happens to be, in effect, telling the truth)...also for this

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

BET co-founder (and major donor to VA Repug gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell) Sheila Johnson, for making fun here of Dem gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds’ habit of stuttering and stammering when speaking (somehow, I think she can find more substantive reasons to disagree with Deeds than that if she so chooses – she later apologized)

Do Gooders Of The Year Nominee

The English rock group Muse for telling Glenn Beck to withdraw his endorsement of them here (which he did - the update, however, tells us this whole citation is questionable)

Dregs Of The Year Nominees

Repug Sen. Jeff Sessions and every other clown from his party in that body of Congress (including serial philanderer David Vitter) who voted against Sen. Al Franken’s amendment barring the awarding of federal funds to any company that “restrict(s) their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court,” as a response to KBR/Halliburton’s actions against gang-rape victim (and employee) Jamie Leigh Jones, as noted here (Do-Gooder nominations within this citation to Franken and, especially, Jones)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bob Dole thinks Bob Dole would have won the 1996 presidential election if the media had listened to Bob Dole and highlighted the Clinton business with Monica Whatsername, even though the WaPo “spiked” a Bob Dole story about Bob Dole having an affair, as noted here…nice.

Dregs Of The Year Nominees

Don Imus (God, is he STILL around?) for saying here that, after 9/11, President Obama was “the second attack on America” (also to “Straight Talk” McCain for laughing at it…and I give Imus no credit for admitting that it was a dumb thing to say; yep, so how come you even opened your mouth about it in the first place?)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The offending employees of CIGNA for their treatment of Hilda Sarkisyan, a mother who, as Will Bunch tells us here, “marched into (the company’s) headquarters on a chilly fall day, 10 months after the company refused to pay for a liver transplant for her daughter,” and yelled out "You guys killed my daughter,"(the diminutive San Fernando Valley real estate agent declared at the lobby security desk). "I want an apology."

Cigna employees, looking down into the atrium lobby from a balcony above, began heckling her, she said, with one of them giving her "the finger."

At times like this, I wish stupidity and arrogance were pre-existing conditions, because all of those CIGNA bastards would surely lose their own coverage.

Do Gooder Of The Year

President Obama has to get the nod here for winning the Nobel Peace Prize (and of course it’s indirectly a slam at Dubya –so what?)…

…and having a lot to do with this also; the U.S. jumps from seventh to first in a poll by the Nation Brand Index (NBI).

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Repug strategist Floyd Brown, for launching an impeachment drive against Obama here (inevitable I suppose from a bunch of partisans with no clue whatsoever about how to solve our myriad problems, which they largely created after all)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Robert Lowry, Repug U.S. House candidate running against Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida’s 20th district for next year, who used pictures of Wasserman Schultz for target practice at a gun range, noted here (I wish this were only a bad joke)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Dem NJ Congressman Rush Holt for winning congressional approval of a measure to mandate videotaping of interrogations (here)

Non-Story Of The Year

The utterly ridiculous “will she or won’t she support health care reform” saga of "President" Olympia Snowe (I think we have our answer here, assuming there was ever any doubt)

The “No Truth To The Rumor That His Next Work Will Be A Bird Feeder In The Shape Of A Swastika” Citation

German Artist Ottmar Hoerl posed 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in an installation that he called “a protest of lingering fascist tendencies in German society” (here)

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep John Shadegg, who ranted here that health care reform will result in “Russian gulag, Soviet-style gulag healthcare” here (and we’re supposed to take members of his political party seriously after disgusting garbage like that – a new low indeed)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Bill Maher, believe it or not, for arguing against getting the H1N1 vaccine during an interview with Bill Frist on “Real Time” (here, with Frist actually the voice of reason on this…I know Maher is on this “anti-medicine” and “anti-religion” kick, but what works for him may not work for others)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell, who refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because he believes such marriages “don’t usually last very long” (here…you just bought yourself one sweet lawsuit, buddy)

Stupidest Halloween Costume Of The Year

The “Illegal Alien” here (Fix Noise thought it was hilarious, of course)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

I hate to do this, but I have to give it to Dave “Mudcat” Saunders for saying here that it’s “bullshit” to blame Creigh Deeds for the eventual loss of Va.’s gubernatorial seat (read this kos post and try explaining to me how Saunders is actually right).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Steve Forbes here, for going all “humuna, humuna, humuna” when Glenn Beck complained about being nominated as one of the “scariest people” of 2009 (Forbes is a pussy with waaay too much money and not the slightest inclination of how to use it constructively)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Dede Scozzafava, named as the Republican to run for the U.S. House in New York’s 23rd district, who was basically blackballed for not being conservative enough by the likes of Just Plain Folks Sarah Palin Dontcha Know and former Senator Man-On-Dog; after the wingnuts endorsed third-party candidate Doug Hoffman, Scozzafava gave the Repugs a great big middle-digit-raised-on-high by endorsing Dem Bill Owens (here and here)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Bob Schieffer, for comparing the shortage of flu vaccine (presumably blaming Obama, and it’s not Obama’s fault) to Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina here; you know, it really is a sign of the moral bankruptcy of our corporate media that Schieffer is allowed to pontificate about anything having to do with Dubya when Schieffer’s brother Tom was a co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team with Number 43 (oh, but Tom gives to Democratic candidates also – riiiiight - more here)…

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Me, for proposing that Bart Stupak be nominated as Commerce Secretary here before he turned into a total anti-choice wanker on health care reform here (thanks, Bart, for giving Catholic Democrats a bad name)

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Terry McAuliffe, for dropping himself into Virginia just enough to totally screw up the Democratic primary contest for governor, taking out Brian Moran (who should have been the nominee) along with himself and thus ensuring that the useless Creigh Deeds emerged as the nominee, who of course got steamrolled by Repug Bob McDonnell on election night

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

This goes out to any Internet-based enterprise that claimed that they were discontinuing “support” of web browser IE6, thus encouraging users to upgrade to Google Chrome, Firefox or IE8.

Now I certainly am not a fan of Microsoft, but really, how much does, say, a web hosting service “support” one browser or another besides resolving configuration issues? And how many years has IE6 been out there? At this point, what is there left to “support? Nothing, that’s what.

And isn’t it con-vee-nient that, right next to the note on the site that claims that that site will no longer support IE6, there are links to upgrade to the browsers I noted above?

You know why these sites decided not to “support” IE6 anymore? It’s because they’re all getting a cut for forcing users to upgrade from the companies that developed the other browsers, that’s why.

Just be honest and admit it and not act like cowards for a change, OK?

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Chris Matthews, for putting down the Corzine campaign here for the commercial implying that governor-elect Chris Christie (still having a hard time trying to fathom that) is fat (yeah, that probably was brainless by the Corzine people), when Matthews has regularly criticized Al Gore and Al Sharpton for their periodic weight gains (h/t Atrios)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Anyone who “jumped the line” ahead of school-age kids to receive their H1N1 shots before those who needed it most got their injections (including NBA and NHL players, noted here, and Goldman-Sachs/Shitty Group employees here, to name those who come immediately to mind)

The "Oh, But A Change Of Heart Comes Slow" Citation

MTV and, in particular, the band U2 here for sponsoring/performing a concert at the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and, in so, doing, building an – ahem – six foot wall around the concert venue so people from the street couldn’t see the show (can you say irony?)

Dregs Of The Year Nominee ("Where No One Wants To Know Your Name" Citation)

Actor John Ratzenberger, known partly for his role as Cliff Clavin in the 1980s sitcom "Cheers," who slammed the Democratic health care bill as a form of socialism at the 11/5 “Tea Party” rally/meetup/press conference/whatever the hell that bozo Michele Bachmann is calling it right now (here)...

"These are Woodstock Democrats," (Ratzenberger) said at the rally. "We have to remember where their philosophy comes from. It doesn't come from America. It comes from overseas. It comes from socialism. And socialism is a philosophy of failure."

So let this remove any doubt once and for all that Ratzenberger is truly the same obnoxious buffoon as his “Cheers” character.

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Rich Stearns, who runs World Vision, which, according to this story “(sends) the impoverished around the world thousands of team championship caps, jerseys and T-shirts produced before the World Series and Super Bowl and then rendered unusable for marketing in the United States when teams don't win the title” (the Phillies’ stuff after the World Series loss was a hit, as it turns out)

(Presumed) Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee (Commemorative PFC Jessica Lynch Citation)

Sgt. Kimberly D. Munley, who reportedly shot Fort Hood attack gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan and thus saved the lives of people Hassan otherwise might have killed, though upon further review as they say, it appeared that she did not (here)

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana (he won the seat after William Jefferson, he of the $90G in the freezer, lost) for being the only House Repug to vote in favor of health care reform (here)

We're getting close to the end here; I don't know if I'll finish this up next time or not - we'll see...

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (12/23/09)

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week (and I also posted here).

House

Jobs, benefits spending. Voting 217-212, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 2847) to provide $74 billion to create or preserve publicly funded jobs in areas such as education, law enforcement, school and housing repairs, and highway, airport, and mass-transit construction. The bill also would appropriate $79 billion to fund unemployment checks and COBRA health benefits for the long-term jobless and help states meet Medicaid obligations, among other social safety-net outlays.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: John Adler (D., N.J.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Here is the press release from Patrick Murphy’s office explaining this vote, which was just flat-out bad as far as I’m concerned.

For about the 150th time, can we please forget about the deficit for the moment until this still-moribund economy actually creates jobs instead of shedding them and people are no longer losing their homes??!!

And this is par for the proverbial course as far as Adler is concerned; no sense even wasting my time commenting on it.

2010 military appropriations. Voting 395-34, the House approved the conference report on a $636.3 billion fiscal 2010 military appropriations bill that includes $128.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $28.3 billion for service members' health care. The bill (HR 3326) funds a 3.4 percent military pay raise; caps production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet; funds C-17 cargo jets over Pentagon objections; and appropriates $15 billion for procuring seven Navy ships and $6.3 billion for buying 6,600 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) all-terrain vehicles.

A yes vote was to approve the conference report.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

Wow, even Pancake Joe voted for it? Color me shocked!

National debt limit. The House voted, 218-214, to raise the national debt limit by $290 billion to $12.39 trillion. Now awaiting Senate action, the bill (HR 4314) would extend Treasury borrowing authority until about Feb. 11, at which time Congress would vote again to raise the debt ceiling.

A yes vote was to raise the national debt ceiling.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

The last thing in the world I want to do is give ammunition to the wingnuts running against Patrick, but at least Adler is consistently wrong in that he voted against the jobs bill and against raising the debt ceiling. I don’t see the point of opposing the jobs bill in the name of fiscal prudence while supporting an increase in the debt ceiling.

Senate

Drug importation. Voting 51-48, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to pass an amendment under which individuals and businesses could import U.S.-made, federally approved pharmaceuticals from Canada and other countries at retail costs much lower than in U.S. stores. This amendment was offered to a pending health-care bill (HR 3590).

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) said: "As much as we want to cut costs for consumers, we cannot afford to cut corners and risk exposing Americans to drugs that are ineffective or unsafe."

A yes vote backed drug importation.

Voting yes: Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

As noted here, Lautenberg sponsored an amendment that competed with the amendment sponsored above by Sen. Byron Dorgan (Lautenberg’s amendment approved of importing the drugs provided they could be FDA certified), which actually garnered more votes than Dorgan’s, even though both fell short of the dreaded “60 votes needed for passage to prevent yet another Repug filibuster” scenario (I don’t think Lautenberg’s was necessary, to tell you the truth, but it only served as “a spanner in the works,” as they say, Big Pharma being REALLY big in NJ and all that).

And the only reason Specter actually supported Dorgan’s common-sense, consumer-friendly amendment is because of Joe Sestak’s primary challenge (and by the way, to help Admiral Joe, click here).

Health-bill taxes. Voting 56-41, the Senate tabled (killed) a Republican bid to delay until 2014 the start of new taxes that would help pay for HR 3590 (above). While most of the bill's new programs and benefits would be delayed until 2014, its taxes would begin before then, some as early as 2010.

A yes vote was to kill the Republican motion.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Catchall 2010 budget. Voting 57-35, the Senate approved the conference report on a $447 billion catchall spending bill (HR 3288) for 2010 composed of six appropriations bills that Congress has failed to enact individually. Covering the budget year that began in October, the bill funds military construction projects; dozens of independent agencies in areas such as financial regulation and disaster relief; about 4,800 earmarks totaling $3.7 billion; and the budgets of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Commerce, State, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development. The bill also clears $650 billion in fiscal 2010 entitlement spending for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans' benefits.

Sen. Ted Kaufman (D., Del.) said the bill takes "tremendously important steps toward creating a better and safer climate. More than $1.2 billion are intended to help us face the threats of climate change."

A yes vote was to send the bill to President Obama.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

2010 military appropriations. Voting 88-10, the Senate sent President Obama the conference report on a $636.3 billion fiscal 2010 military appropriations bill that includes $128.3 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and $28.3 billion for service members' health care.

A yes vote was to pass the conference report.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

This week, the House is in recess, and the Senate continues to debate health care, of course.

Tuesday Stuff

Kind of drifting into a holiday mode here without the usual political videos, though there is some stuff I want to get to before year-end (probably about three more "Do-Gooders And Dregs" posts, among other items).

In the meantime, here's something a little mellow from a seventies icon...



...and something a little more flipped-out from a guy popular a decade later.

Much Wingnut Ado Over A "Bush Dog" Dustup

Over at Irrational Spew Online, someone named Stephen Spruiell is crowing here over a defection from the U.S. House Democratic ranks, and that would be someone named Parker Griffith of Alabama who just announced that he would become a Repug.

Well, considering Griffith’s horrible voting record, as noted here, that really isn’t much of a surprise (and good for the DCCC here).

However, that didn’t stop Spruiell from saying the following…

…that puts the Blue Dog scoreboard at:

Retirements: Dennis Moore, John Tanner, Bart Gordon, Brian Baird.

Defections: Parker Griffith.

We need a ticker to keep track of these.

Not yet you don’t, unless, of course, Spruiell has difficulty counting beyond the number four (in that event, I believe Spruiell could purchase an educational aid of some type from Fisher Price).

But if it’s a ticker he wants, then he might need one to keep track of the following Repug defections from Congress…

109th (here):

28 November 2005 - Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Republican - California CD 50 resigned, effective at close of business 1 December, from the U.S. House after pleading guilty to Federal charges involving bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.

9 June 2006 - Congressman Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay - Republican - Texas CD 22 resigned. House Majority Leader DeLay was indicted on one count of criminal conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme by a Texas grand jury on 28 September 2005. House rules required him to relinquish his leadership position. Mr. Delay was renominated in the 7 March 2006 Texas Primary but withdrew his nomination 4 April and announced his intention to resign on 11 May.

29 September 2006 - Congressman Mark Foley - Republican - Florida CD 16 resigned and withdrew his candidacy from the General Election. Mr. Foley had received his party's nomination in the 5 September primary.

3 November 2006 - Robert "Bob" Ney - Republican - Ohio CD 18 resigned. He pleaded guilty on 13 October 2006 to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

110th (here):

Dennis Hastert (resigned from the House; seat won by Dem Bill Foster)

Richard Baker (resigned from the House; seat won by Dem Don Cazayoux)

Tom Davis (resigned in advance of retirement)

111th (here):

Mel Martinez (resigned from the Senate)

George Voinovich (resigned from the Senate)

Jim Bunning (resigned from the Senate)

Sam Brownback (resigned from the Senate)

“Kit” Bond (resigned from the Senate)

(Also, as noted here, Spruiell had an issue with K.O. referring to Obama’s predecessor as “Mr. Bush,” even though that “dastardly liberal” Bill Buckley did the same thing.)

To be fair, there have been plenty of Democratic member changes in Congress over that time for a variety of reasons, including winning the presidency (Obama in the Senate), winning the governorship of New Jersey (Jon Corzine, who handed off his Senate seat to Bob Menendez in ‘06; as we know, Corzine lost his bid for re-election this year), and deaths (Bob Matsui and Tom Lantos in the House and Ted Kennedy in the Senate).

Also, if Spruiell’s point is that the Dems would have to play defense in the election cycle coming up as well as 2012, I should point out that that’s something that has been known for some time (much as the Repugs had to do so in 2006).

And though I would rather that the Democrats do so on the wings of passage of a health care bill that actually is more than about 60-70 percent of a loaf, as it were (as opposed to what will likely pass), I would rather be in their shoes at this moment than that of a national party whose primary hope for electoral success lies with a bunch of “teabaggin” values-voter throwbacks to the earlier part of this decade (happily now over) who think that Obama is trying to control one-sixth of the economy, who believe we will sacrifice jobs in the name of reversing the horrific effects of climate change (assuming that is still possible), and who actually have bought and will buy Sarah Palin’s book.

Update 1 12/23/09: Maybe another on the way (here)? No big loss (h/t Atrios).

Update 2 12/23/09: I hope this fraud ends up having to pay every penny owed back to the DCCC, with interest (here).

Monday Stuff

I'm too busy doing hallucinogenic drugs to look for political videos, so I'll just put up some holiday stuff here - first, something stirring and traditional...



...and something that isn't.

“Torture Yoo” Delivers A Christmas Lump Of Coal

As long as Philadelphia’s conservative house organ of record continues to give column space to one of Bushco’s most notorious enablers, then I and/or others will have no choice but to respond.

Here is some true balderdash (trying not to use bad words) from yesterday’s column (and I’ll try also to avoid Yoo’s laughable editorializing about Obama “growing up,” “(leaving behind) the apologies,” and “recognizing reality”)…

…instead of fleeing Afghanistan, as many in the antiwar left hoped, Obama is sending an additional 30,000 troops. Instead of accelerating the drawdown of American forces in Iraq, Obama is keeping to the Bush timetable.

Uh, no.

If Obama were truly keeping with “the Bush timetable,” then he would be continuing to short change our military in that country while engaging them in the black hole of Mesopotamia with no end in sight; indeed, one of the many problems is that there never was a “timetable.” And while I don’t agree with Obama’s actions in Afghanistan, I understand that he at least is trying to resolve the war in a manner that he thinks is best; I’ll admit that the drawdown over there should take place a lot earlier than the “glide slope,” as National Security Adviser James Jones put it, of July 2011, but however insufficient, this constitutes an improvement from the wretched mistakes of Obama’s predecessor.

As this story tells us (with more here, by the way)…

The problems began in early 2002, former Bush administration, United Nations and Afghan officials said, when the United States and its allies failed to take advantage of a sweeping desire among Afghans for help from foreign countries.

The Defense Department initially opposed a request by Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, and Afghanistan's new leaders for a sizable peacekeeping force and deployed only 8,000 American troops, but purely in a combat role, officials said.

During the first 18 months after the invasion, the United States-led coalition deployed no peacekeepers outside Kabul, leaving the security of provinces like Helm and to local Afghans.

''Where the world, including the United States, came up short was on the security side,'' said Richard Haass, the former director of policy planning at the State Department. ''That was the mistake which I believe is coming back to haunt the United States now.''

The lack of security was just one element of a volatile mix. Twenty years of conflict had shattered government and social structures in Afghanistan, the world's fifth poorest country, where the average life expectancy is 43.

American officials said the country was more destitute than they had envisioned, yet the $909 million they provided in assistance in 2002 amounted to one-twentieth of the $20 billion allocated for postwar Iraq. Officials quintupled assistance to $4.8 billion by 2005, but then reduced it by 30 percent this year.

The Taliban leadership, meanwhile, found safe haven in neighboring Pakistan. And Robert Grenier, the C.I.A.'s former top counterterrorism official and Islamabad station chief, said Pakistani officials largely turned a blind eye to Taliban commanders, who later seeped back across the border.

And as noted here, as of March 2008, we had about 142,000 of our military deployed in Iraq, with about 31,000 deployed in Afghanistan. That tells you all you need to know about how Bushco failed to prioritize the conflict that truly mattered.

It should also be noted that, in a column ostensibly having to do with foreign policy, Yoo engages in the typical right-wing fearmongering on domestic issues by saying that Obama “wants to nationalize one-sixth of the economy by taking over health care,” and wants to “limit greenhouse gas emissions, which will result in energy rationing.”

These idiotic remarks could laughably be dismissed as the product of a hopeless partisan, as indeed they should be, though concerning health care in particular, the following should be noted (here)…

Obama has rejected a British/Canadian-like single-payer reform and most policy makers are looking for a “uniquely American solution” that preserves the employer-sponsored system and creates a hybrid public-private partnership. In other words, American reforms would look a bit like the Swiss health system in which the government “leaves the provision of health care and health insurance in private hands” but creates a marketplace within which insurers can compete on price, and not avoid insuring the sickest patients.

And this was written in April, while Ted Kennedy still drew breath and long before the public option and Medicare for All were drug into a Senate cloakroom somewhere and bludgeoned to death by the Repugs and their pals Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, and of course Joe Lieberman, among others.

And Yoo’s line that “Congress has conveniently forgotten how to howl about an imperial presidency,” is laughable (funny, but I don’t recall any member of Congress yelling out “You Lie!” to Dubya, though they would have been correct to do so, bad manners and all). But the following line in his screed stating “the attacks on Bush were always more about partisan politics than the Constitution” is too repugnant to go unanswered; in reply, human rights lawyer Scott Horton tells us the following from here…

(Last March) the Obama Administration released a series of nine previously secret legal opinions crafted by the Office of Legal Counsel to enhance the presidential powers of George W. Bush. Perhaps the most astonishing of these memos was one crafted by University of California at Berkeley law professor John Yoo. He concluded that in wartime, the President was freed from the constraints of the Bill of Rights with respect to anything he chose to label as a counterterrorism operations inside the United States.

…

John Yoo’s Constitution is unlike any other I have ever seen. It seems to consist of one clause: appointing the President as commander-in-chief. The rest of the Constitution was apparently printed in disappearing ink.

After enduring another exercise in propaganda like this from Yoo, it would seem that the Inky never got the memo about the “good will towards men” that is commonly cited as an inspiration for our holiday celebrations. And the former Bushco stooge’s latest ramblings should be treated with the same seriousness we devote to tales of toy-making elves, jolly snowmen in silk hats, flying reindeer and sugar-plum fairies.

Sunday Stuff

Good for Dick Durbin for calling out Coburn’s BS here, in as polite a manner as allowed by “the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

The “gentleman” from Oklahoma is insane, people, though our corporate media will never point out that plainly obvious fact, as we know (and if he were actually interested in learning why and how his constituents would benefit from health care reform – though we know he isn’t, of course – he might want to read some information from here)...



,,,and yeah, I know I said not to waste time with this schmoe, but MoveOn did go to the trouble of coming up with this catchy ad, so…



...and here's more traditional, seasonal stuff...



...and we could've used a great, big sled today.

Saturday Stuff

Same to you, Mr. S., wherever you are...



...and I'm sure I'll be seeing snowmen tomorrow for real tomorrow; for now, I'll settle for the animated cartoon version.

CNN's Chunnel Chuckle

This CNN headline tells us the following...

Sounds like a disaster in the making, doesn't it?

Well, fortunately, it isn't; as the story tells us...

London, England (CNN) -- Eurostar said it canceled all services Saturday because of severe weather in northern France, stranding thousands of passengers on the weekend before Christmas.

The cancellation follows the breakdown of five Eurostar trains Friday night inside the Channel Tunnel, also called the Chunnel, which runs between Britain and France. Eurostar blamed the breakdown on the weather.

...

Roughly 2,000 people affected by breakdown are being offered a full refund, another return ticket, and 150 pounds in compensation. About 25,000 people should have been traveling on Saturday, Eurostar said.

"We strongly recommend that travelers whose journeys are not essential change their tickets for travel on a later date or have their tickets refunded," Eurostar said on its Web site.

The five trains became stuck in the tunnel because the air inside was much warmer than the air outside the tunnel entrance in France, Eurostar spokeswoman Amelle Mouhaddib told CNN.

She said she believed it was the first time that air temperatures had caused Eurostar trains to fail.

Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel, said it evacuated all.

And remember, you read this on CNN.

...

We'll have to "leave it there."

Friday Stuff

The Repugs are imploding before our very eyes, my fellow prisoners (and don't ask me what's going on with health care - I have no clue, and anyone outside of the Senate who says that they do is a liar)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and speaking of our clueless opposition party, it looks like a certain Sen. James Mountain Inhofe made a muddle of things yet again (remind me to add Der Spiegel as a favorite, and this is what Rachel Maddow was referring to as the report ended)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and I'm not big on country, but I liked this, for what it's worth...



...and this is only a joke, people...only a joke.

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (12/18/09)

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.

House

Tax-break extensions. Voting 241-181, the House sent the Senate a bill (HR 4213) to extend through 2010 a $31 billion package of temporary tax credits and other fiscal incentives that benefit a multitude of U.S. businesses, farms, units of government, schools, charities, individuals, nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, and other recipients.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

So just remember boys and girls – if you’re rich, you’re entitled to as much of a tax cut as the Repugs can finagle/cajole/browbeat/steal if possible through legislation. Otherwise, as a former Illinois senator once said when describing the “ownership society,” as far as they’re concerned, you’re on your own.

Catchall 2010 budget. Voting 221-202, the House sent the Senate a $447 billion catchall spending bill (HR 3288) for 2010 composed of six appropriations bills that Congress has failed to enact individually. Covering the fiscal year that began in October, the bill would fund military construction projects; dozens of independent agencies in areas such as financial regulation and disaster relief; and the budgets of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Commerce, State, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development.

The bill also would clear $650 billion in fiscal 2010 entitlement spending for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans' benefits.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Have fun losing to Jon Runyan next year, Adler. An almost unceasing parade of crappy votes just like this one will do the trick (he has actually supplanted Joe Pitts in that category, and I didn’t think that was possible).

Financial rules. Voting 223-202, the House passed a bill (HR 4173) that would increase federal regulation of the financial-services industry, establish an independent agency to protect financial consumers, and provide congressional review of Federal Reserve policies. The bill awaits Senate action.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency would protect consumers against abusive home-lending and credit-card practices but would be barred from regulating auto dealerships and community banks.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

See my comment on the tax break extension vote above (the “Party of No” strikes yet again).

Senate

Abortion dispute. Voting 54-45, the Senate rejected an amendment to bar federally subsidized private insurance plans from covering abortions and prohibit individuals who receive government premium subsidies from buying plans that cover abortion. The bans would have applied even if a woman were to use her own money to buy the policy. The amendment to health-care legislation (HR 3590) went beyond "Hyde Amendment" language already in the bill that would bar federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Bob Casey (D., Pa.) and Ted Kaufman (D., Del.).

Casey actually isn’t bad as a senator on most issues, but when it comes to the “God and guns” stuff, he’s absolutely horrible (and the only reason I can think of why Kaufman would go along with this is because he’s Roman Catholic also).

Insurance executives' pay. Voting 56-42, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to pass an amendment to limit the compensation of health-insurance executives. The amendment to HR 3590 (above) sought to reduce from $1 million to $400,000 annually the amount of executive-compensation packages that firms could deduct as a business expense.

Lautenberg said: "This amendment will not tell insurance companies what they can pay their executives. They can pay them whatever they choose to. But only $400,000 annually can be treated as an expense. That is what the president makes."

A yes vote was to cap executive pay.

Voting yes: Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Voting no: Carper

A senator from (the former) MBNA strikes again; for votes like this, I wish Carper’s seat were in play next year instead of Biden/Kaufman’s – it might make me do the unthinkable and consider a Repug, or more likely, a third-party candidate.

Medicare at home. Voting 41-53, the Senate refused to strip HR 3590 (above) of its $43 billion slowdown in spending growth over 10 years for a program that delivers Medicare services at the patient's home. The proposed cuts would help pay the $848 billion cost of the bill while securing the Medicare trust fund.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Medicare advantage. Voting 42-57, the Senate defeated a motion to reduce taxpayer subsidies of Medicare Advantage plans by $120 billion over 10 years. The savings would be used to help pay for the pending $848 billion health bill (HR 3590) and secure the Medicare trust fund.

A yes vote opposed Medicare Advantage cuts.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez and Specter.

I believe this was included in a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers’ credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes, introduced by John McCain.

Based on last week’s vote, I thought our area delegation opposed funding Medicare Advantage, which would have been the right thing to do. Apparently (and sadly), I was wrong about that, since MA is nothing but a Bushco-engineered gift to their pals in the insurance industry.

This week, the House considered the 2010 defense budget and a jobs measure, while the Senate debated the defense budget and, of course, engaged in the health care circle jerk (no, the Inky didn't really say that, of course - funny if they did, though).

Friday Mashup (12/18/09)

This story from The Hill tells us the following…

Two House Republicans said the White House broke protocol by not inviting them to Vice President Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday in their home state of Georgia.

Biden appeared on Thursday with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) to tout the effects of the stimulus law in Rep. Nathan Deal’s (R-Ga.) district.

Deal said he was caught off guard by the media event. He explained that had it not been for Perdue’s office making a courtesy call, he would not have known Biden was planning to appear in his district.

“Had Congressman Deal been invited to this event, he most certainly would have made every effort to attend. Unfortunately, he was not given this opportunity, and is disappointed by that fact,” Deal’s spokeswoman Stephanie Mayfield said.

Deal told The Hill on Wednesday night that “I’ve just heard vague talk about it — it’s apparently going to be held in my district — but to my knowledge, I have not been officially invited.”

Deal’s Georgia colleague, GOP Rep. Paul Broun, whose neighboring district will also be affected by Biden’s announcement of stimulus dollars going into broadband development, said that he had not been invited either.

I don’t know much about Deal, but Broun is whacked, as noted in his “Worst Persons” citation here where he rehashes the typical right-wing BS about everyone supposedly having health care because they can go to an emergency room. And besides, as the Hill story tells us, both Deal and Broun voted against the “stim” anyway.

And in the department of “the executive branch not notifying Congress about a speech,” I give you the following (here, from January ‘07)…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that President George W. Bush did not consult her before announcing his new strategy for the war in Iraq — a sign that, despite the cozy rhetoric, the relationship between Washington's two powerhouses has already had its share of friction.

So let’s just say that there’s room for improvement on both sides and leave it at that, OK?

On the pages of the Murdoch Street Journal today, Turd Blossom himself returned for his almost bi-weekly-at-this-point attack on Obama with the following (here)…

Barack Obama has won a place in history with the worst ratings of any president at the end of his first year: 49% approve and 46% disapprove of his job performance in the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll.

In response, I give you the following from Media Matters (here, noting a December 1981 poll)…

The public's confidence in the economy and opinion of President Reagan's performance remain near their lowest levels since he took office, according to the latest Associated Press-NBC News poll.

The nationwide poll, of 1,602 adults telephoned Dec. 14-15 in a scientific random sampling, said 48 percent think Reagan is doing a good or excellent job as president. Last month, the president's approval rating was 46 percent, his lowest since it peaked at 66 percent last spring.

Gee, I dunno Karl – messing with the mythology of The Gipper? You sure you’re “man enough” for that?

Also, according to Rove…

Mr. Obama also claimed at Brookings that he prevented "a second Great Depression" by confronting the financial crisis "largely without the help" of Republicans. Yet his own Treasury secretary suggests otherwise. In a Dec. 9 letter, Mr. Geithner admitted that since taking office, the Obama administration had "committed about $7 billion to banks, much of which went to small institutions." That compares to $240 billion the Bush administration lent banks.

As usual, Rove does a crappy job of sourcing here, but do you know what? In the spirit of the season a bit, I’m actually going to cut him a bit of slack on the $240 billion thing; however, the following should be noted also (here)…

In pure destructive power, the subprime mess has become Wall Street's version of Hurricane Katrina. It has wreaked havoc on the nation's iconic brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500), and biggest bank, Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500), which have announced billions of dollars in losses and parted ways with their celebrated CEOs, E. Stanley O'Neal and Charles Prince. Banks, brokerages, and lenders have announced thousands of layoffs, and more are sure to come.

The blow to shareholder wealth is staggering. Since June 29, Citi's share price has dropped 35%, from $51 to $33, while Merrill's stock has slid from $84 to $54, a 36% swoon. In the same period, the dozen biggest Wall Street firms and the commercial banks with the largest investment arms - a list that includes Bank of America (Charts, Fortune 500), J.P. Morgan Chase (Charts, Fortune 500), and Credit Suisse (Charts) - have lost more than $240 billion in market value. Dozens of smaller companies in the mortgage business have suffered huge losses or folded completely.

So, assuming that Dubya actually did give banks $240 billion, at least that much was lost due to the malfeasance that took place under his watch.

And finally, from the author…

Mr. Obama continued distorting the record in his "60 Minutes" interview Sunday when he blamed bankers for the financial crisis. They "caused the problem," he insisted before complaining, "I haven't seen a lot of shame on their part" and pledging to put "a regulatory system in place that prevents them from putting us in this kind of pickle again."

But as a freshman senator, Mr. Obama supported a threatened 2005 filibuster of a bill regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He doesn't show "a lot of shame" that he and other Fannie and Freddie defenders blocked "a regulatory system" that might have kept America from getting in such a bad pickle in the first place.

Truly, you can cut the dookey here with a knife, people – as noted here…

Here's what actually happened. In October 2005 the House, by a vote of 331-90, passed a bill to establish a new federal regulator created for Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The new regulator was authorized to set capital standards and, if it deemed necessary, require reductions in mortgage portfolios. The White House opposed the proposed legislation and instead supported the pending Senate bill. But the Senate bill never came up for a vote, and the legislation died.

In other words, the Republicans failed to negotiate a deal when they were in charge, and now place the blame on others...

One Republican has a different take on events. Rep. Michael Oxley claims his bill was opposed by White House "ideologues" who wanted to privatize Fannie and Freddie and who opposed a bigger government role.

And Media Matters again tells us the following (here)…

In May 2007, four months after the Democrats organized in Congress, the House passed a bill giving the Bush administration everything it asked for in increased regulatory powers over Fannie and Freddie. My reference to the president's inanity came in August and referred to his calling on the House to do what we'd already done.

The question at the time was whether or not Fannie and Freddie could take increased action to try to deal with the mortgage crisis. The House voted to significantly increase regulatory oversight of the two entities so that they could increase their activity in a responsible way. That is why after saying the president's comments were "inane," I said "Tell the Republicans to stop blocking the [House-passed] bill" in the Senate.

Republican obstruction ended in July 2008. So after 12 years in which the Republican Congress had not passed a reform bill, the Democratic Congress gave the Bush administration all that it asked for in 19 months. Who blocked reform?

And just for good measure, Matt Yglesias makes a good point about Bushco and the housing bubble here.

I’m sure there’s more posting material in Rove’s column today, but you get the point; besides, if he isn’t going to be honest enough to give Obama credit for this, then he isn’t going to be honest enough to do it for anything.

Finally, in a bit of a Bushco trifecta, I give you the following from former Dubya speechwriter Michael Gerson (here)…

The proposed law (in Uganda) requiring the reporting and punishment of homosexuals is not only an improper role for government, it also directly undermines the public good. Uganda is a nation struggling with a 5.4 percent rate of AIDS infection. Laws like this one simply drive men who have sex with men underground. They don't learn prevention. They don't get tested for the virus. They don't receive timely treatment. They may continue to spread the disease to others. Public health authorities lose an accurate epidemiological picture of the disease, undermining their ability to craft a response. And the social stigma against AIDS increases, making everyone less likely to be tested.

Ugandan supporters of the bill have dismissed international criticism as liberal, cultural imperialism. The sponsor of the bill, David Bahati, accuses gay rights groups in the United States and Europe of "engaging in a game of manipulation, deception and control." But Ugandans should not be deceived into thinking that criticism comes only from gay rights advocates. Republican Sen. Tom Coburn calls the law "absurd." GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley describes it as an "un-Christian and unjust proposal." Pastor Rick Warren concludes it is "unjust, extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals." All three are right. And the prospect of pastors and counselors as informants for the state is particularly offensive -- the calling of Judas instead of Jesus.

His nauseating invocation of the Bible notwithstanding, Gerson is actually right to criticize the Ugandan travesty that has been investigated so thoroughly by The Rachel Maddow Show (here), among others.

However, I cannot think of a word to describe the hypocrisy of someone taking this position who served a regime that fought marriage equality (here), imposed a travel ban on anyone infected with HIV (repealed by the Obama administration, as noted here), and generally acted with ruthless antagonism towards the LBGT community (here).

I seem to recall a phrase from my elementary school religion classes that goes, “judge not, lest ye be judged.” Based on his actions before he became a well-heeled pundit, I think Gerson should revisit those blessed words, in the name of the religious “pluralism” he professes to admire.

Thursday Stuff

This is another great moment for Al Franken, but again, I feel like I have to say a few words about Senator "He's With Us On Everything But The War."

Lieberman's actions on health care reform (which, thanks to the ineptitude of Harry Reid first and foremost, now allowing Ben Nelson to act like a little tin god also) should have surprised absolutely no one. And yes, he is a worm and a lowlife and totally despicable, but here's a thought (I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again); let's harness a fraction of the energy we would expend against Holy Joe (who, after all, won't run again until 2012) in support of someone who needs it, and that is Chris Dodd, a true friend, OK? And by that I mean let's try to publicize all the good things he does on our behalf, as opposed to beating up Lieberman, who truly doesn't care what we do and will get so much dough from Big Pharma And Insurance when it's his time to run again that he'll dwarf what we raise by comparison.

Hey, I want Lieberman out as much as anyone, but I'm just saying that we should be practical about this.

(By the way, do you think McCain meant the "comedy" of the Senate? If he did, I agree with him.)...



Update 1 12/18/09: This is "straight talk we can believe in, my friends":-).

Update 2 12/18/09: Our brain-dead media strikes again, people (h/t Atrios).

..."Worst Persons" (Flush Limbore imagines prosperity during the heinous Bush years; sounds like that "hillbilly heroin" is working its magic, huh Flush?; Sean Inanity chastises Obama for writing a letter to Kim Jong Il, when Number 43 did the same thing; but Michelle Malkin gets the nod for making up another story about a kid suspended from school for drawing Jesus on the cross, when in reality, the kid drew himself and was not suspended - as usual, Malkin tries to play human tragedy for her typically sick propaganda purposes)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Update 12/18/09: Uh, Bucks County Courier Times? As Keith noted, the Taunton thing you cite here was fake (here, kind of like your recent fake Thumbs Down for the House health care bill since it didn't address "tort reform").

...and it's time for me to get into the traditional stuff, I know...



...and I thought this was a kickin' version of the tune we all know (don't try this at home, or if you do, just don't tell me about it, OK?).

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2009 - Pt. 6)

Back after a brief hiatus (Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, and I also posted here)...

Holier-Than-Thou Republican Comeuppance Of The Year

Definitely some competition in this category this year, but I have to give it to Repug Senator John Ensign, who once called for Bill Clinton’s impeachment over the business with Monica Whatsername, and said that his infidelity wasn’t as bad because he did nothing “legally wrong” (here, though, as noted here, Ensign really isn't "in the clear").

The “Interesting Reaction From One Of Our ‘Friends’ (I Mean Libya)” Citation

Downing Street confirmed that Gordon Brown had written to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, calling on that country to "act with sensitivity" and to ensure a "low-key return" for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (the mastermind, for lack of a better word, of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that broke up over Lockerbie, Scotland and killed 270 people; he was released because he supposedly is terminally ill – think what you will of the judgment behind that decision). Hours after Britain sent the letter, however, Megrahi was cheered by hundreds of supporters, some waving Scottish flags, as he landed at Tripoli airport accompanied by Gaddafi's son (here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Chris Wallace of Fix Noise here, who was caught doctoring information supposedly from a VHA document alleging that the agency is “pressuring vets to end their lives,” then is called on his BS by VA head Tammy Duckworth, and then calls her a liar in response ("journamalism" at its worst, my fellow prisoners – h/t Atrios).

Class Guy Of The Year Citation

To conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart here, for his “unrestrained Twitter attack” on Ted Kennedy upon news of the senator’s death, calling him a “villain,” “a big ass motherf@#$er,” a “duplicitous bastard” and a “prick.” “I’ll shut my mouth for Carter. That’s just politics. Kennedy was a special pile of human excrement,” (I’ll be honest – I’m not real big on the concept of Twitter anyway, though I’m sure it has a practical use. And by attacking Kennedy like this, it just ensures Breitbart’s place in the wingnut Hall of Shame.)

The “Maybe You Mistyped An ‘H’ Instead Of A ‘D’” Citation

Repug Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, who said her party needs a “great white hope” here (And you know what? I’m sick of these “if I offended anybody, I apologize” non-apologies. I was taught that an apology was an act of contrition showing remorse and communicating that you understood the reason why you did wrong, and Jenkins plainly doesn’t...here).

…and Jenkins strikes again here.

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

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Idaho Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell, who made a “joke” here about issuing hunting licenses for the President (presumably to hunt him as opposed to the small, helpless creatures Rammell is no doubt used to blowing to bits, since, if he went after some serious game, this panty waist could actually get hurt – kudos to Repug Sen. Crapo for slapping Rammell down, not that that should have taken much courage, I know)

“Walk Back” Of The Year

Former DHS Head Tom (“OMIGOD, it’s a Yellow Alert Day, And I’m Wearing Clashing Chino Slacks!") Ridge, for claiming here in his book that he was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over…though, as if by magic, he backtracked on that here (Abu G also did that little “two step,” if you will, on Holder’s investigation into torture).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Pastor” Steven Anderson for dedicating an entire sermon to “Why I hate Barack Obama,” and for having a parishioner who brought an AR-15 to a protest outside a speech delivered by President Obama, with Anderson declaring “I’m not gonna pray for (Obama’s) good. I’m going to pray that he dies and goes to hell.”…every time I get annoyed with Bill Maher (a future "Dregs" nominee, by the way) because he says something putting down religion, along comes one of these numbskulls to validate him (here)…

Dregs of The Year Nominees

Baby Newton Leroy and Congressman “Man Tan” here (attacking the “stim,” of course)…

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

Global warming denialist George Will (yes, you read that right) for calling for a U.S. troop pullout in Afghanistan here (I’m not thrilled with his reliance on drone aircraft, but hey, we’re talking “baby steps” here, people)…

“Comedian” Of The Year

During the August congressional recess, Arlen Specter performed his patented stand-up act and apparently included a joke or two about Sarah Palin (here).

However, do you want to watch something REALLY funny? Check this out (and to do something in response, click here).



Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Michele Bachmann (again) for calling for people to “slit their wrists” in opposition to health care here (you first, dear)

The “One Small Step To Combat Vote Fraud For Real” Citation

Diebold sold its voting machine business unit (here)

Dregs Of The Year Citation

Teamster Boss James Hoffa here for waffling on the public option (tell us who got to you, Jim…for real; of course, many others in power would end up following suit, unfortunately)

Do Gooders Of The Year Nominee

The Ninth U.S. Circuit of Appeals, which ruled here that the claims of a former University of Idaho student plausibly suggest that former AG John (Lost To A Dead Guy) Ashcroft can be sued because he “purposely used the material witness statute to detain suspects whom he wished to investigate and detain preventively.”

Dregs of the Year Nominee

California wingnut Randy Thomason here, who opposed the designation of May 22nd as a day of “special significance” honoring Harvey Milk; the bill designating that day was passed by both houses of the Democratic-controlled California Legislature the week of August 31st (Thomason also compared the day of recognition for Milk to “a hypothetical day…in which California school kids would be forced to show up in drag and watch a ‘Queer as Folk’ marathon while pledging allegiance to a pride flag” here – nice guy; and by the way, this is a wonderful film, and Sean Penn is brilliant)…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Central Bucks and North Penn school districts in Bucks County (here) for refusing to air President Obama’s speech to the school kids on Tuesday September 8th (dishonorable mention to the Council Rock and Pennsbury school districts for not showing the speech live, or so they said)…

A message on North Penn's Web site stated: "As Sept. 8th is the first day of school for NPSD, it is impossible to notify all parents of the webcast and for our staff to develop a viable and consistent exemption process. Prior parent permission is critical because of the national debate that is occurring and because we have heard from so many parents who do not want their child to have access to the speech."

In response, I think John Harwood of the NYT nails it here…



Dumb Campaign Idea Of The Year

Yes, I support Admiral Joe Sestak against Arlen Specter, but deciding not to invite Specter to a health care forum here - in which Sestak and Pat Toomey of the Club for Growth answered questions and did the whole political-back-and-forth thing by themselves - was petty and generally not a very bright thing to do.

Do Gooder Of The Year Nominee

The lady attending the Town Hall meeting with wingnut Tom Coburn here who advocated a single payer system, to which Coburn immediately fell back on the “tenther” argument that the Constitution doesn’t allow it, which of course is wrong (and a “Dregs” citation to Coburn for his misinformation on other nations’ health care and the crowd who tried to hoot her down).

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

Tom Brokaw, for wrongly claiming that the public option would cost $1 trillion here (actually, it would save $150 billion, and this was after chiding Americans for not being informed on the whole health care dustup) – Brokaw has praised “The Greatest Generation,” as well he should, but my dad was part of that era, and he thought Brokaw was nothing but a phony…my dad was right

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

The obligatory yearly citation to Repug U.S. House Rep Jack Kingston of Georgia, this time for telling a man named Jim Parker here at a town hall meeting on health care that the system worked “very well” for him, even though Parker went bankrupt paying for his cancer treatment (wonder if Kingston ever found his flag lapel pin?)

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

U.S. Senate Repug Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, for claiming here that Obama needed to show “humility” in his speech on health care in September (funny to hear that coming from a guy who never showed it for a second when smearing Max Cleland on his way to winning Cleland’s Senate seat, alleging that Cleland’s actions were sympathetic to al Qaeda…as we all know, Cleland left three limbs on the battlefield of Vietnam – a pox on any Georgia voter who supported Chambliss over Cleland now and always)

Dregs Of The Year Nominees

The various GOP dumbasses who acted like spoiled brats during President Obama’s speech on health care here on 9/9/09 (including U.S. House Rep Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who called out “You Lie!” when Obama said coverage wouldn’t include illegal immigrants…which it plainly doesn’t – should be obvious even to a disrespectful moron like Wilson…and yes, Wilson apologized, though not to the U.S. House as he should have).

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

This is a really tough call I know, but I have to give it to Mike Tharp, editor of the Merced Sun-Star in California (here), who decided to run the AP photo of U.S. Marine Lance Corp. Joshua Bernard, who was mortally wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan; Bernard was shown with one leg partly blown off while tended to by his comrades. He died at a hospital a short time later.

I understand Tharp’s “deep duty to show American civilians the costs of fighting a war. To show the ultimate sacrifices paid by our servicemen and women in our name,” as he put it. And that is commendable.

The problem is that the parents objected to the release of the photo. And as far as I’m concerned, their wishes come first. And violating a rather simple guideline like that creates an opening for yet another brainless politician or media numbskull to call for a ban on all wartime photos and video.

Dregs Of The Year Nominee

NBA great Michael Jordan for his utterly classless acceptance speech into the NBA Hall of Fame on Friday September 11th (here); it sounds like the only person he didn’t put down was former teammate Scottie Pippen (and guess what, Michael – nobody cares about buying concession items in your restaurants if the food is lousy)

More later...

Wednesday Stuff

Here is the inevitable Special Comment from K.O. on the health care reform travesty (and I'm sure Joke Line will now write a "Swampland" post calling Keith dumb)...

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...and in a desperate ploy to find good news, I present this to let us know that Commander Codpiece is happily now out to pasture, though our current chief executive has acted in his shadow just a little too much for us to remain silent.

Tuesday Stuff

I'll try to get back to "Do-Gooders And Dregs" tomorrow, for what its worth, but I can't promise anything at the moment. In the meantime, I give you a Democrat who actually has a spine (here - take notes, Harry; I knew there was a reason why we fought so hard for this guy, and I'm glad we did...good job by Sherrod Brown also to back up Al on this)...



...and here is Howard Dean to explain the point of view that is so "dumb" to Joke Line (and by the way, I know I should know better than to be impudent enough to disagree with my "A" list betters, but this whole notion of that, somehow, we were wrong to get excited about expanding Medicare in place of the public option lest we give "Short Ride" Lieberman cause to disagree with it (here) is one of the silliest things I've ever heard coming from people I otherwise respect; for us to assume that Lieberman only acted when we embraced the Medicare expansion in place of the P.O. is either inflating our own egos or it assumes cowardice that is unbecoming of us - sorry to use profanity, but I don't know how else to say it...fuck Lieberman - he was going to do what he was going to do anyway independent of anything we ever did)...



...also, I've noted a few anniversaries this year, but I would be remiss if we got to 2010 without acknowledging "Kind of Blue," the highest-selling jazz LP (again, remember them?) of all time that was recorded in 1959, and was the subject of this congressional citation today (hat tip to BP at WRTI in these parts for that one; Miles Davis and John Coltrane are featured of course, and I have a feeling that's McCoy Tyner on piano, but I'm not positive)...



...and there's no way I can forget to include this holiday selection, can I (by the nativity scene...)?

Is Our Pundits Learning (Health Care “Reform” Version)

This is basically a rhetorical question I know, but as noted here, Joke Line tells everyone who will listen that Howard Dean is “dumb” because he urges a No vote on health care legislation that, except for maybe an amendment or two, does nothing to control the cost of coverage by expanding Medicare or providing a public option (though I will acknowledge that there are positive points to the bill without it …kind of like saying there are “positive points” to riding in a Model T versus a late-model Chevy sedan).

However, Joe Lieberman will continue to be treated with deference by the Beltway know-it-alls even though, as Ezra Klein tells us here…

We have a very sterile policy debate in this country. We talk about things in terms of costs, not lives. It's the equivalent of conducting wars from the air: You hide the damage. That might be helpful, in some cases. Too much passion can impede clear thinking. But we run the danger of forgetting the implications of our actions. It's fine to speak in terms of costs so long as we do not forget to think in terms of lives.

And as noted here, Lieberman has cut the guts out of health care reform as a “payback” to those bad liberal bloggers who had the audacity to support Ned Lamont in ’06 because of “short ride” Lieberman’s support for Dubya’s Not So Excellent Iraq Adventure…but Dean is the one who is called dumb (to say nothing of venal or callous, on Lieberman’s part)?

Check this out, Klein (Joe, I mean), and try telling anyone in these videos how “dumb” Dean is for actually caring about people who will pay the ultimate price for the cowardice of the fools we elected in the vain hope that they would actually represent us.

Monday Stuff

OK, so let's review where we are, painful as it is, I know...

The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act early last month (with "Joe" Cao of Louisiana as the only Repug voting yes - kudos to him), and then it gets handed off to the U.S. Senate (Update 12/15/09: I forgot to note that it contained the pro-sepsis coathanger abortion Stupak-Pitts atrocity, but it was fine otherwise).

Which promptly makes an utter hash of the bill every way imaginable (and some ways I couldn't imagine).

First there was the horrible Baucus bill from the Senate Finance Committee without the public option (but not to worry, we were told, by Tom Harkin among others - the HELP Committee bill had the P.O. thanks to Ted Kennedy, the only Dem senator who really understood what was going on here), then the two Senate bills and the House bill started getting meshed together, and all of the elite punditry worried whether or not it would be supported by President Snowe (of course it wasn't).

So then the talk turned to what kind of a public option. With or without triggers? Would the triggers be "automatic"? Then there was the supposed "opt out" of the public option, or whether or not there would be a Carper-sponsored "co-op" with or without a "trigger" in place of the public option (and would the exchanges be federal or by state).

Then, recently, it all got shitcanned to expand Medicare eligibility to anyone 55 or older, though younger voters would still supposedly be allowed to enroll in an exchange which provided coverage (that is, unless the for-profit carriers didn't do that, in which case the government would provide coverage instead...somehow).

I've actually tried to make sense of this ridiculous kabuki exercise up until now. And then along comes The Last Honest Man with his version of "52 Pick Up" over "Medicare For All" which he supported because he was forced to in 2006 when he ran against Ned Lamont (and, of course, which he no longer does now, as noted below).

And if this bill dies (or worse, is signed into law with neither a public option nor an expanded Medicare provision), thousands of Americans without health coverage will die (oh, but as noted here, Ezra Klein is nothing but a dirty, stinking, liberal pinko blogger for pointing out that plainly obvious fact - h/t Atrios, who is another one, of course...and more Lieberman deceit is here).

Every time I think I cannot possibly be more disgusted with the Democratic Party, they prove me wrong.

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Update 1 12/15/09: Uh, yep.

Update 2 12/15/09: And despite their protestations, I’m sure this constituency is completely satisfied with Majority Leader Reid’s performance.

...and speaking of disgust, I thought this little montage by K.O. of the right-wing noise machine's smears against its enemies and their culpability for violence was pretty well done...

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...and today's marks the 30th anniversary of the LP (Remember them? Hey, I saw a couple of turntables on sale at "Best Buys" - seriously) "London Calling" by The Clash - here is a lesser-known track...



...and as I watch health care reform crash and burn, I feel like I need a holiday pick-me-up, and short of alcohol, I guess this will do for now.