Buddha With Thousand Hands

From from China's Disabled People's Performance Art Troupe. Simply wonderful.

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NPR: Justice Souter is retiring. Obama gets to pick a Supreme Court Justice.

Via NPR (which probably means Nina Tottenberg who really does know all things Supreme Court):

NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's current term.

The court has completed hearing oral arguments for the year and will be issuing rulings and opinions until the end of June.

Souter apparently won't leave the Court til his replacement is confirmed.

UPDATE: Pete Williams from NBC has the same news. Read More......

The DC media elite are squabbling over who gets to sit with whom at their big dinner

Um, does this sound like junior high? It's right out of the movie "Mean Girls," except it's not. It's Washington, D.C. and the White House press corps.

Yes, these are the people who want to inform the public and shape opinion. They are your "media elite." Could they be more petty?:

The battle over A-list guests begins long before the date of the dinner is set and often leaves news organizations complaining — all off the record, of course — about who stole what guest and which celebrity bailed on them.

This year, news outlets are grumbling in particular about ABC’s impressive roster of White House guests — senior adviser David Axelrod, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, adviser Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama Chief of Staff Jackie Norris, CIA Director Leon Panetta and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice.

Traditionally, the White House divides its staff among the various news organizations after looking through its invitations. But several people pointed to ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos’s close friendship with Emanuel, and questioned how the network got so many big names.

ABC disputed the questions about Stephanopoulos’s involvement and said it was their hard and early work that resulted in the guest list.

The network pointed out it was ABC senior political editor Virginia Moseley who invited Emanuel, while correspondent Jake Tapper invited Axelrod and anchor Terry Moran invited Jarrett.

“That rumor needs to be ‘shot through the heart,’ but the only guest George booked for this White House Correspondents Dinner was Jon Bon Jovi, and to quote the singer, we weren’t exactly ‘livin’ on a prayer’ booking guests. We started earlier, worked harder, and these are the results,” said ABC News spokeswoman Emily Lenzner.

The White House refused to get involved in the dispute. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told The Hill he hadn’t “seen the lineup of who’s going where.”

Ridiculous. Just ridiculous. Read More......

Churchgoers more likely to back torture

Who would Jesus waterboard? And big surprise here - evangelicals are the most pro-torture of any Christians. Read More......

Obama admission of "torture" may force inquiry, Nadler says

I have to admit that my legal ears perked up when Obama said during his press conference last night that in fact waterboarding is torture, and our government did waterboard. He was per se admitting, as the president of the United States, that our country committed torture. I started to wonder if legally he might have set something in motion that he didn't intend. Congressman Nadler apparently wondered the same. Read More......

H1N1 influenza A

That's the new name according to the WHO. Well, not really new but official/technical name due to misconceptions about the role of pigs in the outbreak.

Thompson said the flu name change comes after the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to order the slaughter of pigs.

"Rather than calling this swine flu ... we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A," he said.

On Wednesday, Egypt began slaughtering its roughly 300,000 pigs as precaution, even though experts said swine flu is not spread by eating pork.

Not quite as catchy but with silly slaughters as we witnessed this week in Egypt, perhaps it made sense. Read More......

Mormon leader of NOM appears to advocate overthrow of US government "by whatever means necessary," and criminalization of homosexuality

UPDATE: Orson Scott Card only joined the board of the National Organization for Marriage a week ago. I'm guessing there's a bit of buyer's remorse going on at the homophobe hotel right about now. Then again, maybe the rest of the NOM leadership agrees that the government is "our mortal enemy" and that gays should be thrown in jail. Perhaps someone should ask them.
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People for the American Way has discovered that in a long rambling article about the ills of gay marriage, reeking of conspiracy theories, Orson Scott Card, a Mormon leader of the religious right's top anti-gay marriage organization, National Organization for Marriage, advocated the criminalization of homosexuality, labeled the US government "our mortal enemy," talked about the "insane Constitution" dying, and then appeared to advocate the overthrow of the US government "by whatever means is made possible or necessary." The article was published in the influential Mormon Times, a publication owned by the Mormon church. (And in all fairness, JoeMyGod spotted this connection a week ago.)

By whatever means necessary

Faithful sexual monogamy, persistence until death, male protection and providence for wife and children, female loyalty to children and husband, and parental discretion in child-rearing.

If government is going to meddle in this, it had better be to support marriage in general while providing protection for those caught in truly destructive marriages.

Because when government is the enemy of marriage, then the people who are actually creating successful marriages have no choice but to change governments, by whatever means is made possible or necessary.

Conspiracy theories

And you can guess how long it will now take before any group that speaks against "gay marriage" being identical to marriage will be attacked using the same tools that have been used against anti-abortion groups -- RICO laws, for instance.

Overthrow of the government

Why should married people feel the slightest loyalty to a government or society that are conspiring to encourage reproductive and/or marital dysfunction in their children?

Why should married people tolerate the interference of such a government or society in their family life?

If America becomes a place where our children are taken from us by law and forced to attend schools where they are taught that cohabitation is as good as marriage, that motherhood doesn't require a husband or father, and that homosexuality is as valid a choice as heterosexuality for their future lives, then why in the world should married people continue to accept the authority of such a government?

What these dictator-judges do not seem to understand is that their authority extends only as far as people choose to obey them.

How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.

Biological imperatives trump laws. American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die.

Putting aside the fact that the Mormons have a little history when it comes to violently opposing a government that disagrees with them about marriage - the Mormons also seem to have a belief about the use of violence to defend property (in the original piece, not quoted here, the writer talks about making marriage more like property) - does anyone else read this and wonder if some day, something big will happen, and someone will re-read this article and say "the signs were all there"? Read More......

Republicans increasingly admit Franken has won Senate race in Minnesota

First the media admitted it, and now GOP politicians. It's over Norm. And another major blow to the Republican brand. Read More......

Jobless claims surprise, in a good way

The market ignored the horrendous GDP drop for the first quarter and seems to like the jobless decline. Reuters:

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 631,000 in the week ended April 25 from a revised 645,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast 643,000 new claims versus a previously reported count of 640,000 the week before.

Also, employment costs rose by the lowest amount on record in the first quarter, government data showed Thursday, as the country's severe recession dented compensation amid soaring unemployment.

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GOP chair Steele agrees with Rush Limbaugh, it's a good thing Specter left the party and became a Dem

Well, then maybe we can make a good thing even better. Olympia, you're always welcome, glyka-mou.

So, come on, all you guys over at the DNC, you're paying Steele off, right? I mean, invoking Limbaugh and agreeing with him that moderate Republicans are "dead weight" that are better off being run out of the party - I mean, seriously. It's difficult to overplay how significantly stupid of a move this is for party chair Michael Steele, and the GOP overall. Now, granted, there aren't too many moderates left in the GOP, so maybe Steele and Limbaugh think there's no point in worrying about moderates leaving when they've already left. But still. I would think the Republicans aspire to more than a 20% share of the electorate.

So then Steele is saying that he agrees that the Democrats gaining another seat in the Senate, their 60th in fact, is a good thing, and what's more, he agrees that John McCain should leave the party too? That's what Rush said. That's what Michael Steele agreed with, in his sycophantic effort to suck up to the remaining extremists in the GOP. Let me remind you of what Rush said exactly:

"A lot of people say, 'Well, Specter, take [Sen. John] McCain with you. And his daughter [Meghan]. Take McCain and his daughter with you if you're gonna…" he told listeners, dissolving in laughter.

"…..It's ultimately good. You're weeding out people who aren't really Republicans," he said.

I'm sorry, but this is all just too delicious. To think a year ago we had the chimp as president, global warming denialism as the state religion, and now the Republicans are in ruins, and going south fast. Absolutely delicious. Read More......

Maine senate passes gay marriage

UPDATE from Joe: My sister, Sharon, was in the State House sending text messages with updates. After the vote, she said people were overjoyed and weeping in the hallways. I can't imagine Governor John Baldacci won't support this legislation. He's been a longtime supporter of LGBT equality. John and I did an event with him back in October 2005 when we were working to defeat the right wing's referendum was to overturn the legislation adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Maine Human Rights Act. Our side won that election. I imagine those same gay haters will try to overturn marriage, too.

Kudos to Equality Maine for their amazing work on this issue. And, a personal thanks to my good friend and former boss, Senator Barry Hobbins, for his leadership and helping to get the bill out of the Judiciary Committee.
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The Maine Senate just passed legislation legalizing marriages for gay couples in that state. The state House would have to pass the legislation as well, though Joe says it should be an easier fight than was the Senate, then it would go to governor Baldacci, a Democrat who hasn't said what he'll do. A vote to send the issue up for a statewide referendum failed. (We wanted that to fail.) Yet another major advance for civil rights advocates. Read More......

Religious right now trying to punish pro-gay speech

On the heels of the hate crimes vote in the House - a vote where the religious right claimed that laws against murder would somehow stop them from verbally criticizing gays - the religious right has just launched a campaign against Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus simply for saying that Jesus loves everyone, including gay people.

Talk about intolerant. Now we're going to threaten TV shows because their stars aren't homophobes? Because they believe that Jesus loved everybody? Should we throw her in jail too?

It's also ironic that the religious right was just all up in arms a week ago when blonde bimbette Miss California lost the Miss USA beauty pageant. They claim she lost because the judges didn't like her answer to a question on gay marriage (she's against it, but her answer also showed a decided lack of knowledge of the English language). The religious right has claimed that since Miss California lost, it shows that all of America is now in danger from the gay agenda. I know, it's all a bit weird, but what's important is that the religious right just launched a well-funded ad campaign featuring Miss California (paid for by the Mormon bigots?), talking about how intolerant the world is for not picking Miss California over Miss Arizona, and then the next day they launch a campaign against a TV star for simply saying she's pro-gay.

Here's what the intolerant homophobes just emailed out to their action-alert list. First here is what Miley Cyrus said that is so offensive:

"Everyone deserves to love and be loved and most importantly smile."
"Jesus loves you and your partner and wants you to know how much he cares! That's like a daddy not loving his lil boy cuz he's gay and that is wrong and very sad!
"Like I said everyone deserves to be happy."
"God’s greatest commandment is to love. And judging is not loving."
"I am a Christian and I love you - gay or not - because you are no different than anyone else! We are all God's children."

Wow, pretty nasty stuff. Love. God's commandments. We are all God's children.

Stone that woman.

And here is how the bigots at the American Family Association reacted:

Such statements will send the wrong message to our children who are influenced by this teenage megastar. Parents need to realize that Cyrus is not the positive role model she was once thought to be.... Clearly she is confused and does not understand the Bible.

Seriously, these people are evil. They clearly don't worship the same God as you and me. They don't even think Catholics are Christians. And just as their philosophical forbears would do anything to stop blacks from gaining equal access to the American dream, today's religious bigots will stop at nothing - even calling Matthew Shepard's brutal murder "a hoax" - in order to bash the gays one more time.

And the GOP wonders why it's only at 20% in the polls. With people like these extremists controlling the Republican party, God help the Republicans - 20% may be their high point for a long time coming. Read More......

Palin, Gingrich and Steele cut out of new group meant to revitalize GOP

UPDATE: Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring says Palin was invited to join the group, but they haven't heard back.

The group is meant to highlight promising GOP presidential candidate. It includes John McCain and Mr. Volcano in Louisiana. It doesn't include Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich, two of the top GOP presidential candidates in 2012, or Michael Steele, the head of the RNC and himself a potential GOP presidential candidate.

The lawmakers' group includes Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain....

Notably absent from either group's rosters are the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has his own policy group. Others mentioned as potential 2012 candidates and missing are South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, although the latter is a close McCain ally.

McCain and Bush, promising presidential candidates in 2012? Is there nothing new in this party, ever? But more important, the GOP civil war is alive and well. Read More......

No deal. Chrysler will declare bankruptcy

Last night, at the press conference, Deb Price from the Detroit News asked Obama about the auto industry and the potential for a Chrysler bankruptcy. The president thought a deal could be struck to save Chrysler (from the emailed WH transcript):

Q Thank you, Mr. President. On the domestic auto industry, have you determined that bankruptcy is the only option to restructure Chrysler? And do you believe that the deep cuts and plant closings that were outlined this week by General Motors are sufficient?

THE PRESIDENT: Let me speak to Chrysler first because the clock is ticking on Chrysler coming up with a plan. I am actually very hopeful, more hopeful than I was 30 days ago, that we can see a resolution that maintains a viable Chrysler auto company out there. What we've seen is the unions have made enormous sacrifices, on top of sacrifices that they had previously made. You've now seen the major debt holders come up with a set of potential concessions that they can live with. All that promises the possibility that you can get a Fiat-Chrysler merger and that you have an ongoing concern.

The details have not yet been finalized so I don't want to jump the gun, but I'm feeling more optimistic than I was about the possibilities of that getting done.

Well, the details didn't get finalized. This morning, the Obama administration announced that Chrysler will file for bankruptcy:

The Obama administration will will announce at noon today that it will take Chrysler LLC into a historic bankruptcy to force a cut in debt key to a partnership with Fiat S.p.A. after three firms refused a sweetened offer.

With the UAW late Wednesday ratifying cost cuts in its contract and cuts in the money due its retiree health-care trust fund, President Barack Obama will announce a Chrysler-Fiat deal and the government’s “surgical” bankruptcy plan later today.

The administration "was willing to give the holdout creditors a final opportunity to do the right thing," an administration official said. But "the agreement of all other key stakeholders ensured that no hedge fund could have a veto over Chrysler's future success."

The lack of an agreement will not "impede the new opportunity Chrysler now has to restructure and emerge stronger going forward," the official said.

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Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews go off on GOP rep who called Matthew Shepard murder "a hoax"

As you'll recall, yesterday we wrote about the Republican House member in charge of opposing the hate crimes amendment, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who referred to the brutal murder of young gay college student Matthew Shepard as "a hoax." Well, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews both had a few things to say about Ms. Foxx.





And just to remind everyone, America already has a hate crimes law. We've had it for decades. But it only covers race, religion and national origin - in other words, it covers the religious right. It doesn't cover everyone else. The amendment, which passed in the House yesterday, would add gender, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity to the already-existing law. Regardless of your feelings towards hate crimes laws, if America is going to have one on the books - and it does already - the law should cover everyone, and not just give special rights to the Christian fundamentalists at the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the men at the Concerned Women for America. Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, we're on day 101 of the Obama presidency. Looks like he surpassed expectations for the overly analyzed first 100 days. The American people, with the exception of the wing nut Republicans, are satisfied. And, Obama is what he is. There have been no surprises.

I thought he was masterful at the press conference last night. He can go pivot from issue to issue with no hesitancy. I also thought the caliber of the questions was better last night. Obama doesn't just call on the same news outlets every time. It's not a given that the usual suspects will get called on, so when they do get a question, they can't blow it. Quality questions from the not-so-usual reporters have really upped the ante. Competition works in the East Room. (It probably helps that so many of us critique the dumb questions, too.)

Let's get it started... Read More......

WHO raises flu pandemic to 2nd highest level

As expected, cases are growing around the world and the Boston Globe has a few good maps of where it has been identified in North America and the world. Again, yesterday reports from Mexico were that it may have peaked and was starting to come under control which is positive news assuming that remains the same. CNN:

Dr. Margaret Chan, the U.N. agency's director-general, said the decision to raise the alert on the 6-point scale indicated that all countries should "immediately" activate pandemic preparedness plans.

"This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharm industry and the business community that certain actions now should be taken with increased urgency and at an accelerated pace," Chan said.

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London banksters still raking in billions

They refuse to get it and they refuse to care that they caused the global recession. The US bonus money reserves have been shockingly high so far for the year as well, not that Wall Street cares either. These spongers are living quite well and have been for years even when they were generating all of the paper money that was wiped off the books. Whatever they do they win. Great work, when you can get it and you have no conscience for screwing the world. The only part that's even more annoying is to see politicians who make the rules do absolutely nothing to change the system.

The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "Given the havoc that the City has wreaked on our economy, pegging back bonuses to a mere £7bn a year falls short of the value for money taxpayers should expect after bailing out the banks."

In 2008, bonuses suffered their first fall in five years as the early months of the credit crunch took their toll – but the fall was small, to £13.7bn from £14.1bn in 2007, after a 30% rise from 2006.

The low point in recent years was £5.2bn in 2003, as the financial sector recovered from the dotcom bust in the stockmarket. This year's payout will be broadly similar to that of 2004, when financial markets were in good shape.

Wow, scaling back to 2004 bonuses. How will they ever survive? Read More......

Obama references Churchill

Brilliant. The right loves using Churchill references but with this one, they'll probably dismiss Churchill as a commie pinko. The Guardian:

Obama has been criticised, in particular by Cheney, for making public four secret Bush administration memos detailing interrogation techniques approved for use by the CIA, including waterboarding. Cheney has called on Obama to release other classified documents he claimed would show that valuable intelligence was gained from detainees interrogated in this way.

Obama responded by pointing to the example from the Blitz: "I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British, during World War Two, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said 'we don't torture', when all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat. And the reason was that Churchill understood you start taking shortcuts, and over time, that corrodes what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country."

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Citi wants even more bonuses

While it may be a positive sign that they are coming to Treasury to ask for the right to hand out "retention bonuses" this is still troubling because this is one of the banks that has paid out bonuses based on revenue whether real or fake in recent years. Maybe Citi ought to go back to the bums they shoveled bonuses to including Charles Prince. Let Citi fight that legal fight if they want it so badly. There is no reason why taxpayers ought to spend one more penny helping Citi when Citi has thumbed its nose at the American way. Break this beast up and let's move on.

Citigroup has asked the U.S. Treasury for permission to pay special bonuses and is looking for ways to free an energy-trading unit from government restrictions, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Website on Tuesday.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier this month to be allowed to pay stock-based bonuses to employees but the government has not made up its mind yet, the paper reported.

Geithner has of course been very cozy with Citi for a number of years so if he denies this request it will be shocking. The only way he would do that is if mistakenly thought Citi was GM. Read More......

Bank of America shareholders fired Ken Lewis as Chair of the Board

It was decision day for the Bank of America on the future of Chairman Ken Lewis. And, Ken Lewis lost:

Bank of America shareholders stripped Kenneth D. Lewis of his chairman’s title on Wednesday while allowing him to remain president and chief executive officer, in a vote that may mark the beginning of the end of his leadership at the embattled bank.

Walter E. Massey will succeed Mr. Lewis as chairman, the bank said.

Earlier, at an annual meeting here that was widely viewed as a referendum on Mr. Lewis, Bank of America shareholders re-elected him to the board, along with the company’s 18 directors, by “a comfortable margin,” a spokesman said. But the vote to shear Mr. Lewis’s chairmanship raised questions about how much longer he could steer the bank as shareholder anger mounted over his handling of the contentious acquisition of Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis.

SEIU has led the effort to dump Lewis. Over the past couple weeks, SEIU along with MoveOn.org, True Majority and a bunch of other groups collected more than 90,000 "taxpayer proxy cards." You know, as taxpayers, we are the largest shareholder in BofA, and those 90,000 taxpayers want Ken Lewis fired. The proxy cards were delivered at the meeting today. Read More......

Majority of Americans live with unhealthy air

Maybe after years of letting business pollute at will, Washington will show some interest in improving air quality. Polluted may be fine for the balance sheets of big business but there's a health cost for everyone else.

Overall, the report found that air pollution at times reaches unhealthy levels in almost every major city and that 186.1 million people live in those areas. The number is much higher than last year's figure of about 125 million people because recent changes to the federal ozone standard mean more counties recognize unhealthy levels of pollution.

Health effects from air pollution include changes in lung function, coughing, heart attacks, lung cancer and premature death.

"Six out of 10 Americans right now as we speak live in areas where the air can be dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, dirty enough to shape how kids' lungs develop and even dirty enough to kill," said Janice E. Nolen, the association's assistant vice president on national policy and advocacy.

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Live-blogging Obama's press conference at 8pm Eastern

Odd, but actually quite interesting, question from Jeff Zeleny of NYT. What surprised, troubled, enchanted, and humbled you most on taking the presidency. GREAT answers from Obama. This is actually very interesting.

Ed Henry: abortion. Do you hope that congress sends Freedom of Choice Act? Not my highest legislative priority. Yikes.

If America were under imminent threat would you then allow torture? O: Could we have gotten same info without these techniques, and are we safer as a result of these techniques? I will do whatever required to keep American people safe, but won't take shortcuts that undermine who we are.

Jake, torture, do you believe the previous admin sanctioned torture? O: Waterboarding is torture, violates our values. Brits during WWII had a few hundred detainees, still said "we don't torture." Even in the face of unimaginable risk and threat. You start taking shortcuts, it erodes the character of a country. We hold true to our ideals even when it's hard, not just when it's easy. Take recruitment tool away from Al Qaeda.

Obama's doing that "intelligent president" thing again, speaking in detail about the issues like a world leader. Strange that.

Deb Price - well-known lesbian journalist, but she's asking about the auto industry.

Should we close the border with Mexico, or quarantine? Cause for deep concern but not panic. Public health officials have not recommended a border closing - like closing barn door after horses got out, we already have cases here in the US.

He's damn presidential.

Lots of work to do, America will see a better day, rebuild a stronger nation, endure as a beacon.

Update on the 100 days. Tax cuts, health care, mortgages. Change direction of the nation's foreign policy. Begin to end war in Iraq. Forged new strategy to target Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Closed Gitmo, banned torture. Good start but just a start. Pleased what we've done, but I'm not satisfied. Credit not flowing, families touched by auto industry in trouble, deficits too high, govt not efficient enough. Going to work on health care reform, and clean energy revolution. Wall Street reform legislation by end of the year.

Gratified that House and Senate passed budget resolution today.

Schools where Swine Flu is spotted should consider temporarily closing. Obama has requested $1.5bn in emergency funding from Congress. Keep hands washed, cover mouth when cough, stay home from work when sick, keep your children home from school if they're sick.

It's on...

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Joe is there, and twittering (or tweeting, if you prefer). His Twitter ID is joesudbay. Joe says he'll be sitting to Obama's right, two rows behind some woman in green. He'll be sending photos from his Blackberry, like this one of CNN's Ed Henry and ABC's Jake Tapper doing their broadcasts before the presser:

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The other First 100 Days

I was talking to a reporter yesterday who made an interesting point. Obama just completed his first 100 days. But there was another 100 days as well. The Republican first 100 days... in opposition. And they didn't do so well. Here is Dan Balz in yesterday's Washington Post:

How much more can the Republicans take? Demoralized, shrinking and seemingly lacking an agenda beyond the word "no," Republicans today saw their ranks further thinned with the stunning news that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is switching parties and will run for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat....

[T]he Republican Party continues to contract, especially outside the South, and that it appears increasingly less welcome to politicians and voters who do not consider themselves solidly conservative. Northeast Republicans have gone from an endangered species to a nearly extinct species. Republicans lost ground in the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest in the last two elections. That's no way to build a national party.

Balz adds:

Republicans have been on a downward slide for the past four years, a decline that began not long after the reelection of former president George W. Bush in 2004. Many Republicans have blamed most of the party's problems on Bush's leadership. But the problems go deeper than any one person. Specter's shocking departure may provide a wakeup call to Republicans that a broad reassessment is now urgently needed.

It's not about George Bush. He was an abject failure, to be sure, but Republicans fool themselves when they blame Bush as some kind of aberration. The only problem, they say, is that Bush wasn't a true conservative. In fact, the only problem was that he was. He cut taxes. He took us to war, repeatedly. He deregulated and favored business over the individual. He opposed abortion and bashed the gays. And what did it get us?

The Republicans need to wake up and smell the Kool-Aid. George Bush didn't fail because he wasn't conservative enough. George Bush failed because he was a true Republican. America of the 21st century needs more than tax cuts. Read More......

Spain launches Gitmo torture inquiry

This may get interesting. If the US is afraid to get serious about judging the legality of torture, at least Spain is not backing down. AP:

Spain's top investigative magistrate opened an investigation into the Bush administration Wednesday over alleged torture of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

Judge Baltasar Garzon said documents declassified by the new U.S. government suggest the practice was systematic.

Garzon said he was acting under Spain's observance of the principle of universal justice, which allows crimes allegedly committed in other countries to be prosecuted in Spain.

Read More......

WHO raises threat level on Swine Flu

This is starting to get scary. Read More......

Big day: Hate Crimes passed in House; Same-sex marriage passed in the NH Senate

The Hate Crimes bill just passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 249 - 175. The House Republicans sure worked hard to prove that they are hateful and out of touch today. Witness the new Marilyn Musgrave: North Carolina's Rep. Virginia Foxx.

Also, by a vote of 13 - 11, the New Hampshire State Senate approved a same-sex marriage bill today. The House already passed the bill. The Democratic Governor, John Lynch, hasn't said what he'll do yet. Come on, Governor Lynch. Do you really want to be remembered for vetoing this bill? Read More......

20% of adults self-identify as Republican

Then again, I hear only 20% of Republicans self-identity as adults.

The second poll this week, this one from NBC/WSJ (original poll here), to confirm that only one in five adults self-identifies as Republican. 30% self-identified as Democrats. That suggests that the Washington Post poll, which reported a figure of 21%, was not a fluke (or an "outlier," as Joe and pollster-folk like to call aberrant polls that you can't trust). Read More......

Republican congresswoman says Matthew Shepard's murder was "a hoax"

The House Republican chosen to lead the charge against including women, people with disabilities, and gays in America's already-existing hate crimes law - existing law already counts violent crime based on the race, religion or national origin of the victim as a "hate crime" - just referred on the US House floor to Matthew Shepard's murder as "a hoax."

You will recall that Matthew Shepard was the young gay man in Laramie, Wyoming who, a decade ago, was tied to a fence, Jesus-like, pistol whipped in the head some 50 times, then left for dead in the cold fall night, only to be found a day later clinging to life. Shepard died five days later. Even though Shepard's murderers admitted that they killed him because he was gay, the far-right bigots who control the Republican party couldn't resist the opportunity to gay-bash Shepard one last time. Now by referring to his brutal murder as a hoax.

Here is what North Carolina (figures) Republican had to say about Shepard's horrific murder:

If you didn't vote for this bill -- against this bill and against this rule for anything else, you could vote against it because we are spending additional money. i also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the matthew sheppard bill is named afte a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. it wasn't because he was gay. this -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.

Now read what really happened:

During the trial, Chastity Pasley and Kristen Price (the pair's then-girlfriends) testified under oath that Henderson and McKinney both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man. McKinney and Henderson then went to the Fireside Lounge and selected Shepard as their target. McKinney alleged that Shepard asked them for a ride home. After befriending him, they took him to a remote area of Laramie where they robbed him, beat him severely (media reports often contained the graphic account of the pistol whipping and his smashed skull), and tied him to a fence with a rope from McKinney's truck. Shepard begged for his life. Both girlfriends also testified that neither McKinney nor Henderson was under the influence of drugs at the time. The beating was so severe that the only areas on Shepard's face that were not covered in blood were those where his tears had washed the blood stains away.

Media Matters has lots of links, and quotes, from the mainstream media attesting to the fact that Shepard was murdered because he was gay.

A hoax? Belittling the brutal murder of a 21 year old college student? And Republicans wonder why their angry, hateful, pathetic party is now only 20% of the US population.

Watch the video for yourself. Then feel free to call this sorry excuse for a human being and tell her what you think of her bigotry.

Phone: (202) 225-2071
Phone: (336) 778-0211
Phone: (828) 265-0240



I wonder where Virginia Foxx stood on letting blacks swim in our pools fifty years ago. Actually, I think I already know. Read More......

A-

My grade for the first 100 days.

1. Obama showed us he's presidential material. You look at the man, and whether you agree or disagree with him, you easily say that he looks presidential.

2. He's restored confidence in America at home and abroad.

- At home. Americans finally feel that their country is heading in the right direction. 50% of Americans today, versus 19% in the last days of the Bush administration just three months ago. Look at the right direction/wrong direction numbers from the past year, and tell me Obama hasn't given the nation a renewed hope.



- Abroad. America is respected again. The world no longer hates our leader, and indirectly our country and our people. The world no longer thinks we are led by an idiot. In fact, much of the world seems mesmerized by our president. And while Americans like to say that they don't care what the world thinks of us, in fact we do.

3. The Economy.

Again, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the steps Obama has taken to avoid our country going into a depression, you cannot say that Obama has been nothing but talk. He passed a massive stimulus bill - historic in its proportions - aimed at staving off an even greater economic crisis. I happen to think the bill was imperative. But regardless, it was more than just talk.

4. Iraq. Obama has set a timetable for our withdrawal. 180 degree change from the previous administration, and again, something he promised and is now delivering on.

5. Global Warming. Our government is finally acknowledging that the problem even exists. Ridiculous that this is even considered noteworthy, but after the past eight years of denial, it is.

6. Oversight. Salmonella anyone? Chinese poison wallboard? Wall Street run amock? We finally have a president who doesn't believe that his job entails ignoring every problem that arises, and letting the market solve all of our ills.

7. Torture and Geithner. Yes, I'm disappointed with Obama's position on investigating the torture abuses of the Bush administration. But I understand his position, even if I don't entirely agree with it. Politically, Obama sees nothing to be gained by the torture inquiry, and he risks alienating independents who may, or may not, wish him to hold Bush et. al. accountable. But sometimes leadership is about more than just polls, and more than just politics. It's about doing what's right. If we truly as a nation committed war crimes, how can we ever reclaim the mantle as the shining city on the hill until we find the truth and cleanse our national soul? So I understand where Obama is coming from. I just fear where our nation has gone, and is heading.

And Geithner. Chris has written a lot about our illustrious Treasury Secretary. His ties to Wall Street. And his buddy Larry Summers. Obama needs to diversify the field of economic advice he is getting. He doesn't have to accept everything Paul Krugman and Joe Stiglitz say as truth. But it would be nice to know that someone in the White House at least recognizes that there are other voices, and other ideas, beyond the too-close-to-Wall-Street clique that seems to have the president's ear.

So for all of that, Obama gets an A-. Yes, we aren't entirely happy with him on every issue. But I don't think either Joe or I expected to be, whether the president was named Obama, Clinton (Hillary), or Edwards. The point is that our country is finally starting to move in the right direction. And for that, our president has earned our praise. Read More......

Top RNC leaders demand Steele relinquish budget powers

We don't normally link to the cult-run GOP propaganda organ, but in this case, we're happy to make an excception:

Randy Pullen, the RNC's elected treasurer, former RNC General Counsel David Norcross and three other former top RNC officers have presented Mr. Steele with a resolution, calling for a new set of checks and balances on the chairman's power to dole out money.

The powers include new controls on awarding contracts and spending money on outside legal and other services.

This isn't just humorous schadenfreude, it's another indicator of how conservatives have taken over the GOP, and are quickly destroying it.

The funding fight comes on the heels of another open challenge to Mr. Steele's authority. Unhappy RNC conservatives secured the signatures to force the committee to convene next month's special meeting to vote on a resolution labeling Democrats as "socialists," despite the chairman's reservations about the political wisdom of the move.

Critics said the "socialist" resolution battle was a sign of Mr. Steele's rocky start as RNC chairman and his continuing struggle to assert control of the party's message since his election in January.

Conservatives are attacking Steele because he didn't want to call President Obama a "socialist." In this case, Steele was right. It makes the Republicans look ridiculous - reaching for yet another weapon from their 1980s arsenal, trying to label Democrats as "socialists"? What's next? Hiring Cyndi Lauper to show how cool and hip Republicans are?

Cindy Lauper - Girls Just 'W' Have Fun -
by Sunskynet

Read More......

"Same-Sex Marriage Holds Peril for G.O.P."

That headline for this post is also the headline in the print edition of the New York Times for Adam Nagourney's analysis of Republican Party and gay issues. Wasn't too long ago that Karl Rove made gay-bashing a top priority for the G.O.P. Dan Froomkin captured it shortly after the 2004 election:

Rove Targets Gay Marriage

In what AFP called a "victory lap around the U.S. talk shows," Rove yesterday explicitly added a big item to Bush's avowed second term agenda.

Jim Drinkard writes in USA Today: "President Bush 'absolutely' will use his second term to push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, his top political strategist said Sunday. Karl Rove, who oversaw Bush's re-election victory, said Bush will renew the effort, which failed in Congress this year but may enjoy new support after 11 states approved bans on same-sex marriage on Election Day."

Rove had a lot of help from Marilyn Musgrave and Rick Santorum (who both lost re-election bids) among others in Congress and, of course the entire gay-obsessed right-wing extremists like Tony Perkins and James Dobson.

As Nagourney notes, times have changed -- and are changing fast:

The fact that a run of states have legalized gay marriage in recent months — either by court decision or by legislative action — with little backlash is only one indication of how public attitudes about this subject appear to be changing.

More significant is evidence in polls of a widening divide on the issue by age, suggesting to many Republicans that the potency of the gay-marriage question is on the decline. It simply does not appear to have the resonance with younger voters that it does with older ones.

Consider this: In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released on Monday, 31 percent of respondents over the age of 40 said they supported gay marriage. By contrast, 57 percent under age 40 said they supported it, a 26-point difference. Among the older respondents, 35 percent said they opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples, be it marriage or civil unions. Among the younger crowd, just 19 percent held that view.

The obsession with gay-bashing is another reason why the G.O.P. is the incredibly shrinking party. Now, perhaps, some leading Democrats will also see where the nation is heading and start supporting marriage equality. Read More......

GDP crashes 6.1%

Worse than expected, which is never positive news. CNBC:

Gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, dropped at a 6.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said, after shrinking 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast GDP falling at a 4.9 percent rate in the January-March quarter. Output has declined for three straight quarters for the first time since 1974-1975.

Read More......

GOP leader Rush wants Specter to take McCain (and Meghan)

Rush, the titular leader of the Republican Party, wants to continue the purge. From CNN's Political Ticker:

Conservative host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he isn't sorry to see Arlen Specter leave the GOP — and that many Republicans wish the Pennsylvania senator would take a few others with him when he goes.

"A lot of people say, 'Well, Specter, take [Sen. John] McCain with you. And his daughter [Meghan]. Take McCain and his daughter with you if you're gonna…" he told listeners, dissolving in laughter.

"…..It's ultimately good. You're weeding out people who aren't really Republicans," he said.

It is ultimately good -- for the Democrats. Rush is weeding out anyone who is remotely moderate. He is shrinking the GOP.

Keep it up, Rush. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, we've hit the 100-day mark. What will the traditional media and the pundits have to talk about tomorrow? I don't think they've established the next fake milestone yet.

In the wake of the Specter switch, I think we need to thank Dick Cheney, George Bush, FOX News, Hannity, Rush, Beck, Coulter, Newt, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and all the other rabidly right wingers. Sure, they annoy us. But, over the past few years, their inanity and extremism has led the Republican Party to its new weakened status. They've turned off the American people -- and a lot of former Republicans. So, sure, they're infuriating, but look where they've taken the GOP. So, to that whole gang: Keep it up. And, thanks. Thanks for a Democrat in the White House and large majorities in the House and Senate.

Let's get it started. Read More......

Suspect initial swine flu carrier identified in Mexico

Mexican authorities now believe they have identified the person who spread the disease while going door to door. She was also the first reported death. Also, from the sound of things, Smithfield Foods (factory farming company) chose La Gloria, Mexico because of easy business laws which one has to wonder if that included lax health standards for the farm. Knowing the sorry state of the US factory food industry and their "let industry self regulate" it won't be a surprise if we learn about problems with that factory farm that lead to the outbreak.

The first person to die of swine flu was a 39-year-old tax inspector whose job required her to make door-to-door visits, putting her in contact with at least 300 unsuspecting members of the public when the disease was at its most virulent, Mexican authorities have said.

Maria Adela Gutierrez, a census-taker in the southern tourist city of Oaxaca, was admitted to a local hospital on 8 April and died five days later. She'd been suffering acute respiratory problems, exacerbated by diabetes and severe diarrhoea, and is believed to have infected scores of people.

The good news is that the death toll in Mexico is stabilizing though again, new cases are emerging globally as visitors from Mexico travel. Read More......

Pay gaps growing for blacks and hispanics

Note the time frame of the growing disparity in pay. It's no wonder the GOP struggles to win over anyone other than angry white men because that's their target audience. They pound their fists on the table and trash any programs that might help level the playing field, convinced that somehow racism in the workplace doesn't exist. The facts say otherwise.

Blacks and Hispanics lag behind whites for higher-paying jobs at the largest rates in about a decade as employment opportunities dwindled during the nation’s economic woes and housing slump.

Census data released Monday show an increasingly educated U.S. work force whose earnings didn’t always seem to match up with its potential.

“The lesson of most economic downturns is minorities are the last hired, first fired. They lose jobs more quickly, and they will be the last to recover,” said Roderick Harrison, a demographer at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that studies minority issues.

Read More......

July 7 London suicide bombing trial ends without convictions

This is not going to improve the stature of British police four years after the deadly bombing. Despite believing up to 20 people were involved only 3 went to trial and yesterday they were cleared. The Guardian:

Senior security officials conceded last night that it is likely no one will be brought to justice for the 7 July bombs that killed 52 people in London in 2005, despite their belief that more than 20 people were involved in the attacks.

The admission came shortly after the only three men to be charged in connection with the suicide bombings were acquitted yesterday.

After a £100m criminal investigation, the biggest police inquiry in modern times, the trio were cleared by a jury at Kingston crown court of helping to plan the attacks by carrying out a reconnaissance mission with two of the bombers.

The men, Waheed Ali, 25, Mohammed Shakil, 32, and Sadeer Saleem, 28, had already been tried once last year, when a jury failed to reach a verdict.

Read More......

Rate of decline in housing slows

The housing misery may not be over but at least the fall is slowing down and that's a start. Few believe that it will rebound into a sellers market any time soon but stopping the decline will be a very good first step. CNNMoney:

The weak housing market continued to plague home sellers in February as home prices extended their losing streak to 31 consecutive months, according to a report issued Tuesday.

However, the rate of decline slowed, with the S&P;/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index not hitting a record low for year-over-year drop for the first time since October 2007.

"We will certainly need a few more months of data before we can determine if home prices are finally turning around," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard and Poor's.

Read More......

A black woman in the Capitol

My friend Chris writes:

I don’t know if you saw the news tonight, but a statue of Sojourner Truth was unveiled today at the U.S. Capitol. She’s the first African American woman to be honored with a statue in Statuary Hall.

She was born into slavery and then became a crusader for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights. At the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851, she listened to most of the speakers and then stood up to speak. People were horrified – a black woman, and former slave daring to speak? Here’s what she said:

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne five children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or Negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.

--Sojourner Truth

The statue of her was unveiled today by Nancy D’allesandro Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, and Hillary Clinton, former United States Senator and current United States Secretary of State.

God, I love this country. We do screw up, but good lord, when we get it right we really get it right.

Amen. Read More......

It took the light below 13 billion years to reach us

When the universe was only 630 million years old (for you kids out there, that's before even John McCain was born). That's just freaking cool. Read More......

If Swine Flu goes pandemic, could make recession two to three times worse

Good thing the Republicans weren't in power. I'm sure those tax cuts would help a lot of people in the unemployment line. Washington Post:

The impact in the United States would be far greater in the case of a larger-scale pandemic, with the worst-case scenario akin to what happened during the Spanish flu of 1918, which killed tens of millions of people worldwide. A 2006 report from the Congressional Budget Office estimated a pandemic, depending on its severity, could cost the United States between 1 percent to 4.1 percent of annual economic output. Given that the U.S. economy is expected to shrink by 2.8 percent this year, a pandemic could lead to a contraction of 3.9 percent to 6.9 percent as consumer demand and worker productivity suffer further.

All snark aside, the business of politics is deadly serious. It's not just a game. And it's not just about winning. We lead this life for a reason. To try to help people, to try to make our country and our world a better place. It is already very scary, the world we live in. I shudder to think what would have happened, how bad things would be permitted to get, if the Republicans in their current form - extreme and ultra-political - would have been in power in the White House and Congress as all this was going down. Read More......

Scalia rules against FOX in censorship case

This is when conservative worlds collide.

Today, in an opinion by ultra-right wing Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court ruled against Rupert Murdoch's FOX network in an case about swearing. Okay, it's a stupid case based on a stupid rule from George Bush's FCC -- and the Court didn't even make a determination on the First Amendment implications. But, I do love that FOX lost because of a dumb Bush policy supported by the right-wingers on the Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Tuesday in favor of a government policy that threatens broadcasters with fines over the use of even a single curse word on live television, yet stopped short of deciding whether the policy violates the Constitution.

In six separate opinions totalling 68 pages, the justices signaled serious concerns about the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's "fleeting expletives" policy, but called on a federal appeals court to weigh whether it violates First Amendment guarantees of free speech.

By a 5-4 vote, however, the court did throw out a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. That court had found in favor of a Fox Television-led challenge to the FCC policy and had returned the case to the agency for a "reasoned analysis" of its tougher line on indecency.

The commission appealed to the Supreme Court instead.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said the FCC policy, adopted in 2004, is "neither arbitrary nor capricious."

The FCC changed its long-standing policy after it concluded that a one-free-expletive rule did not make sense in the context of keeping the air waves free of indecency when children are likely to be watching television.

This must mean a fine for FOX News because of Shepard Smith, too. (Even though it was one of the few times anyone on FOX News made sense.)

In George Bush's warped world, it was one expletive that would destroy the well-being of children, not the economic collapse or the war built on lies or global warming or not protecting the food supply or failing to provide health care.... Read More......

Sebelius confirmed as HHS secretary

Another failure for the party of no. Read More......

Why does Rick Sanchez hate freedom?

Fabulous comeback by CNN's Rick Sanchez to GOP Senator Jim Demint (R-SC):

CNN'S RICK SANCHEZ: [Specter] seems to be saying that Republicans are making it very difficult for other Republicans to win because, and he said this on several times, you tell me what you think of it: You're shrinking the electorate to an extreme to a point where a regular Republican can't win. What do you make of that argument?

SENATOR JIM DEMINT (R-SC): That's quite the opposite. We're seeing across the country right now that the biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom. And what we need to do as Republicans is convince Americans that freedom can work in all areas of their life for every American, whether it's education or health care, or creating jobs...

SANCHEZ: What, what the hell does that mean, freedom? The biggest tent is freedom? Freedom?! I mean you gotta do better than that.

Yes they do. Read More......

Should we be happy that Specter is now a Democrat? The question has two answers.

One of my friends just sent me this message:

Is it just me, or are you also wondering why in the world all of your democratic friends are also so excited about Specter?

John and I were just talking this subject. We don't like Arlen Specter and don't trust him. Never have. This was a calculated move by a calculating politician. Specter has no scruples and was worried about losing in the GOP primary next April.

Today, we're not celebrating Specter. But, if we look at his move solely through a political prism, this decision is seismic. And, it's just so fun to watch Republicans squirm.

The political optics just couldn't be better. The DC pundits and talking heads love Arlen Specter (kinda the way they love Lieberman.) That crowd believes the hype that Specter is a moderate -- and compared to the rest of the GOP, Specter is definitely more moderate. So, we'll hear endless chatter about how the GOP has become a shrinking party. That means the talking heads will finally get something right.

Democrats have to play hard ball with Specter. He needs Democratic support now. He has to earn it. He may not vote for every issue on final passage, but he better stick with the Democratic caucus on busting GOP filibusters.

When it comes to Specter the person, it's no great catch. But, politically, it's pretty damn good. Read More......

Get ready for the GOP to go all out on Franken

Joe has been keeping you up to date about the Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman race in Minnesota - a race that Al Franken won five months ago. The Republicans have been basically filibustering the election, using legal maneuvers, like a convict on death row, to stop the state from certifying Franken's victory. The GOP goal isn't to win the election - they know they've already lost - it's to hope that nobody cares if they just keep appealing and appealing legal loss after loss, stopping Minnesota from getting its second senator, ever, but more importantly, stopping the Democrats from getting their 60th Senate seat.

That means that whatever pressure national Republicans were putting on Coleman before, it's going to be far worse now. Perhaps now the Democrats in Washington will care about the Franken race, because they sure rolled over and played dead up until now. Had the Dems only challenged Coleman earlier, forced him to concede the way that they'd have forced us were the situation reversed, perhaps we'd have sixty seats today. Oh well, another profile in Democratic courage that ends up biting us in the behind.

David Waldman at DKos has a delicious idea:

Seat Al Franken and give him his committee assignments now, or we'll block a new organizing resolution that would let you reassign Specter's previously Republican committee seats to one of your own.

In other words, the GOP just lost a seat on every committee that Specter sat on. They can't reassign Specter's seat to another GOP Senator without a new organizing resolution, something we can block. Read More......

Specter is on TV live

The gist:

Republican partying is moving farther and farther to the right.

Voted for the stimulus to avoid a 1929 style depression.

Specter dissing the GOP primary electorate in Pennsylvania.

Painful decision.

Disappointed my colleagues. I've been disappointed by them too.

I can keep helping Pennsylvania.

Specter won't be an automatic 60th vote (gee you think). His position on EFCA proves this, he says. (Of course, it doesn't. It proves that Specter is still trying to split the baby in half - he supported EFCA before, he only opposed it to suck up to the GOP after they decided to oppose him in his primary. So why stick with his opposition to EFCA now, when his opposition was mean to woo the far right?)

Here we go. The real Arlen Specter comes out. He thinks both parties are equally in trouble. That's why, he says, Joe Lieberman lost his Democratic primary (no, he lost it because he was embracing George Bush and his agenda). But for Specter to suggest that the Democrats are having the same problem as the GOP, that people are deserting our party in droves, that our party is beholden to people like me - please. I wish.

Specter says the Republican party was pretty far to the right in 2004.

Oh dear God, he's wrapping himself in the Joe Lieberman flag again. Read More......

GOP party chair Michael Steele just accused Democrats of pushing "socialism"

This is why the Republicans are at 21%. This is why moderate Republicans have either been defeated, retired, or have become Democrats. This is why people like me, and Markos, and Arianna once were Republicans, and now no more (I can't really speak for Markos and Arianna, but you get the idea). The Republican party is dying. It began at least a decade ago. The party moved so far to the right, embraced such extremists and extremism - calling Obama a socialist? - that a super-majority of Americans now no longer identify with the GOP.

And speaking of Michael Steele, let's not forget that it was Steele who said the GOP would seek retribution for voting for the stimulus package. So let's all give Michael "pro-choice (sometimes) and pro-gay-marriage (kind of)" Steele a hearty thanks for the great work he's doing leading the GOP. Today couldn't have happened without him.

PS Steele, in his live phone interview on CNN, also keeps using the word "Democrat" incorrectly - it's something far-right Republicans do, in some kind of weird effort to diminish Democrats. For example, he just referred to the "Democrat primary" and the "Democrat base." It's Democratic. You'd think the head of the Republican party would know how to speak proper English. But putting that aside, it's one more sign of just how bad the Republican party has become - resorting to cute little far-right mind games like mispronouncing the name of the party rather than proposing ways to get us out of the economic crisis and avoid a worldwide flu pandemic. Read More......

The number for today, brought to you by the right wing Republicans

When Al Franken is finally seated -- and he will be, the Democrats will have 60 members of their caucus (including Lieberman and Sanders). That is, or should be, a filibuster-proof caucus.

Not every time, of course. Specter claims he will stick to his newfound opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act:

My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.

Specter was for the Employee Free Choice Act before he was against it. So, it's not perfect, but still...

Today offers a prime example of GOP extremism. The Republicans have been filibustering the confirmation of Kathleen Sebelius, despite the swine flu emergency. The Sebelius filibuster shows just how crazy the GOP Senate caucus has become. Read More......