The First 100 hours will be free of GOP obstuctions

Works for me. The House Democrats aren't going to let the Republicans ruin the first 100 hours according to The Washington Post:

As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.

House Democrats intend to pass a raft of popular measures as part of their well-publicized plan for the first 100 hours. They include tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans.

But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.

The Democrats won. And, this is how the House works. Majority rules. Given their behavior over the past twelve years, it is completely disingenuous for any Republican to complain. Read More......

Open Thread

Back to the regular routine tomorrow. This is going to be an interesting -- and historic week. We officially get Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid. And, Bush finally, finally, finally gets some oversight.

Is everyone still sticking with their New Year's resolutions? Read More......

Cell phone turned Saddam's execution in to a public spectacle -- and the angry fallout builds

No one was surprised that Saddam Hussein was executed. That was pre-ordained. The surprise is how poorly it was handled. The now widely circulated cell phone footage of the execution has turned it in to a public spectacle. Here's a link on Google video to that controversial cell phone video -- and be warned, it's graphic. The backlash from that video is starting to spread across Iraq:

Enraged crowds protested the hanging of Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland Monday, as a mob in Samara broke the locks off a bomb-damaged Shiite shrine and marched through carrying a mock coffin and photo of the dictator.

The demonstration in the Golden Dome, shattered in a bombing by Sunni extremists 10 months ago, suggests that many Sunni Arabs may now more actively support the small number of Sunni militants fighting the country's Shiite-dominated government. The Feb. 22 bombing of the shrine triggered the current cycle of retaliatory attacks between Sunnis and Shiia, in the form of daily bombings, kidnappings and murders.

Until Saddam's execution Saturday, most Sunnis sympathized with militants but avoided taking a direct role in the sectarian conflict -- despite attacks by Shiite militia that have killed thousands of Sunnis or driven them from their homes. The current Sunni protests, which appear to be building, could signal a spreading militancy.

Sunnis were not only outraged by Saddam's hurried execution, just four days after an appeals court upheld his conviction and sentence. Many were also incensed by the unruly scene in the execution chamber, captured on video, in which Saddam was taunted with chants of "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada."

The chants referred to Muqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand Shiite cleric who runs one of Iraq's most violent religious militias. He is a major power behind the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

So, just when you think Iraq can't get any worse, it's getting worse. Bush couldn't do anything to improve the situation over there before this latest debacle. We're so screwed.

Bush may have Saddam's scalp, but, even in death, Saddam is getting his revenge on Bush every day that this war continues. Read More......

Novak says there is trouble in GOP land over the Bush/McCain escalation plan

The GOP is freaking out over Bush's plan to escalate the war in Iraq according to the Prince of Darkness:

I checked with prominent Republicans around the country and found them confused and disturbed about the surge. They incorrectly assumed that the presence of Republican stalwart James Baker as co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group meant it was Bush-inspired (when it really was a bipartisan creation of Congress). Why, they ask, is the president casting aside the commission's recommendations and calling for more troops?

Even in Mississippi, the reddest of red states, where Bush's approval rating has just inched above 50 percent, Republicans see no public support for more troops. What is happening inside the president's party is reflected by defection from support for his war policy after November's election by two Republican senators who face an uphill race for reelection in 2008: Gordon Smith of Oregon and Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Coleman announced his opposition to the idea after returning from a trip to Iraq that preceded McCain's.

Among Democrats, Lieberman stands alone. Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, will lead the rest of the Democrats not only to oppose a surge but to block it. Bush enters a new world of a Democratic majority where he must share the stage.

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NY officially has a Democratic Governor

A great way to start the new year:

Mr. Spitzer took the oath of office as New York’s 54th governor in a capital desperately in need of a new moral authority figure. In his inaugural speech later in the day, he emphasized that New York State was on the brink of reform and a change of course from the past.

“Over the last decade, we have seen what can happen when our government stands still in the face of great challenge and inevitable change,” Mr. Spitzer said.

“We’ve seen it in the burdensome property taxes and the health care we can’t afford; in the jobs that have disappeared from our upstate cities and the schools that keep failing our children; in a government that works for those who hold office -- not those who put them there.”

“Like Rip Van Winkle, the legendary character created by the New York author Washington Irving, New York has slept through much of the past decade while the rest of the world has passed us by,” Mr. Spitzer said, as his wife and three daughters looked on from an audience that included the former governor and other state officials.

“Today is the day when all of that changes — when we stop standing still and start moving forward once more,” he said.

“Day One is now,” he said at the end of the speech.

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New Year's Day Open Thread

First open thread of the year. Have at it. Read More......

Iraq handled the Saddam execution by themselves -- except for the key role played by U.S. officials

So, the U.S. was involved with Saddam's hanging before we weren't involved in Saddam's hanging. Or something like that. Considering this was one of the most anticipated events in Iraq since the U.S. invasion, The NY Times examination of the events surrounding the execution give insight in to just how disorganized and chaotic that country is:

American officials in Iraq have been reluctant to say much publicly about the pell-mell nature of the hanging, apparently fearful of provoking recriminations in Washington, where the Bush administration adopted a hands-off posture, saying the timing of the execution was Iraq’s to decide.

While privately incensed at the dead-of-night rush to the gallows, the Americans here have been caught in the double bind that has ensnared them over much else about the Maliki government — frustrated at what they call the government’s failure to recognize its destructive behavior, but reluctant to speak out, or sometimes to act, for fear of undermining Mr. Maliki and worsening the situation.

The article is worth a read. Iraq is a mess.

Bush wanted Saddam's scalp. He got it. Iraq is a bigger mess now. Heckuva job, Bushie. Read More......

"Scared to Death" Repubs. holding back support of Bush/McCain plan to escalate Iraq War

Yesterday, I wrote a post asking who else was supporting the Bush/McCain/Lieberman plan to escalate the war in Iraq. Today, the Washington Post gives the answer. So far, the only public supporter is LindseTy Graham. Other Republicans are holding back:

Bush has been hoping for bipartisan support for his new policy. But with the exception of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), comments from the leading Democratic experts on national security matters last week indicated strong opposition to any plan that would involve increasing troops in Iraq beyond the current level of roughly 140,000 soldiers. And while McCain has been joined by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) in promoting the idea of sending more troops, many other Republicans appear to be laying back.

"Republicans are scared to death of it politically," said Ed Rogers, a top GOP lobbyist with ties to the White House and Republican leaders on the Hill. "The fear is that it won't make any difference. There won't be a perception of turning the corner."

This may be the first time Republicans on the Hill are right about Iraq. However, wait and see if they all line up behind Bush like they usually do. Read More......