"The Snow Machine Pummeled Through the White-Dusted Plain Like a Jubilant Beaver"

Slate held a Sarah Palin write-a-like contest. These are the winners. Read More......

CNBC was considering hiring Dobbs until Latino groups pushed back

Pressure works. Read More......

Afghan surge shows fissures between Hill and White House

What's interesting about this story from yesterday isn't Afghanistan, it's that we're finally seeing some clear signs of trouble in the relationship between the White House and the Congress. We've already seen strained relations between the White House and various constituencies, including the Netroots, gays, women, and the immigration community, to name a few, but just this past week we saw the Congressional Black Caucus challenge the White House, and now others in Congress on Afghanistan.

To some degree, this is natural. It didn't happen much when George Bush was president, but Bush tended not to allow dissension. And while the Obama White House hasn't hesitated to push back against liberals on the Hill, they've been less likely to pressure conservative Democrats or Republicans. That has started, I think, to push the rest of Democrats to the edge of their tolerance. If you think about, there were some early signs. Rockefeller getting ticked off at the White House and Baucus over their negotiating with Republicans and not Democrats on health care reform. Or the White House not supporting Speaker Pelosi when she tried to take on the Teabaggers last summer (Pelosi didn't respond at the time, but it's hard to believe that she didn't notice the White House publicly undercutting her position.)

Most interesting in the article is this line from an Arizona Democrat: “We want this administration to be successful,” Mr. Grijalva said. “It is important to us and it is important to the country. But the loyalty issue is a two-way street.” I think that sums up a lot of the concern that a lot of Democratic constituencies have had with the administration.

And finally, one part of the article I do not agree with at all:

To a considerable extent, the strain stems from a calculation by Mr. Obama’s aides that it is essential to move early in the term. But there are political calculations as well: Mr. Obama has nearly three years to recover from any damage he suffers by pushing through legislation that divides the public. Members of Congress do not.

“They say you do the tough things early,” said Representative Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York. “Early 2010 is early for the White House, but it is perilously late for members of Congress. I don’t know if it’s a new tension, but it’s certainly something people are talking about on the Hill.”

I'm not convinced the White House moved early at all. If anything, they compromised early on the stimulus and health care reform. But, even if you accept that analysis, it spells trouble for every other issue if the message now is that the White House was being bold this past year, but will be less bold when it comes time to address the other campaign promises, like climate change, Wall Street reform, immigration reform, or gay rights. There's already significant concern that those promises are being watered down. If it gets worse in the coming years, I think the fissure is going to get a lot wider, noisier, and nastier. Read More......

Reid blasts Aetna for planning to drop 600,000 health insurance customers to increase profits

Jed has the transcript as well.

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Monkeys can recognize their friends in photos

Very cool finding, though perhaps not a complete surprise.

In the study, the monkeys looked at four photos, including one of a monkey they knew. They also looked at another four monkey photos, including one of a monkey they didn't know.

"This required monkeys to look at similar-looking faces and use their personal knowledge of group mates to solve the task," lead researcher Jennifer Pokorny, said in a university news release. "They readily performed the task and continued to do well when shown new pictures in color and in grayscale, as well as when presented with individuals they had never before seen in pictures, though with whom they were personally familiar."

According to the researchers, previously, there hasn't been evidence that nonhuman primates can look at two-dimensional images and understand they represent things and animals from real life.

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Please watch, and donate to, the Second City that Never Sleeps

24 hours of non-stop improv for a great cause.

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From our good buddy Andy Cobb, who has done so many of the humorous political videos we've posted on the blog:

In my spare time I volunteer and teach acting at Hollywood Arts, a homeless services center for 18-25 year old kids in Los Angeles who are too old for foster care but still without a home, family, or support

It's a great bunch of folks, and I'm organizing a benefit this weekend for them at Second City Los Angeles. Myself and some other Second City alums will be improvising for 24 hours straight to raise money for a scholarship fund for Hollywood Arts. We'll have celebrity special guests, musicians, and generally a kickass lineup of entertainment for all 24 hours. Plus, myself and some other alums will be onstage pretty much constantly, slowly losing our health and minds for a great cause.

The show will feature veterans of shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, MTV's Wild N Out, Current Television, Groundlings, Second City, SNL, FrankTV, Reno 911, 30 Rock, Last Comic Standing, The Office, Daily Show, Chocolate News, According To Jim, Heroes, Lie To Me. MAD TV, and Parks And Recreation.

We'll be livestreaming the event here (nothing fancy, a one-camera setup) http://www.ustream.tv/channel/24-hours-of-improv starting at 9:30 PM PST Friday Dec 4, till 9:30 PM Saturday night Dec 5.

People can donate to this effort via PayPal.

More info on Facebook. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The Senate is in session debating the health insurance reform legislation this weekend. There should be votes on amendments today and tomorrow. Remember when Obama used to say he wanted a health care bill before the August recess? He was so adamant about it. But, top White House staffers Rahm Emanuel and Jim Messina enabled Messina's former boss, Senator Max Baucus, to slow down the progress on this bill. And, the real beneficiaries of that delay have been Republicans and the insurance industry. Well, the spotlight is on Baucus again. He surely added some buzz to the weekend with the news John posted last night about nominating his staffer/girl friend to be a U.S. Attorney.

Carlos and I are heading up to Maine this morning to get Petey. He stayed with my parents and their dog, Riley, after the No on 1 campaign because we were going to South Africa. Apparently, Petey and Riley have had a ball. I can't wait to see him and to get back on our routine.

We have a Winter Weather Advisory here in DC for later today. It's going to snow and this city can't handle even a hint of snow.

It could be an interesting weekend...

And, one more thing. Before I left for South Africa, I didn't know there were penguins there. But, there are -- on False Bay, just south of Cape Town. I could have watched them all day. (It was really windy on the Cape, hence the noise in the video):
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A bit of a change in sound this morning

Our cousin told us about his step-daughter's great success in Sri Lanka's equivalent to The X-Factor called "London Star." "Shanu" is only 11 years old and has made it through the semi-finals of the show. It's quite a different musical sound than we're used to in the west but she has a very sweet voice that anyone can appreciate. I can't even begin to imagine how I might have done at such a young age. Besides being on the TV show, she's also had a few interviews with Sri Lankan TV. Shanuka is singing in Sinhala, which is her mother tongue. She also speaks perfect English. Read More......

Should rich countries accept climate change refugees?

An interesting idea that should at least be included in the discussion. It might make the polluting countries think differently with the way they address this problem. The same could easily apply for quite a few issues above and beyond the environment. The Guardian:

Up to 20 million Bangladeshis may be forced to leave the country in the next 40 years because of climate change, one of the country's most senior politicians has said. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh's finance minister, called on Britain and other wealthy countries to accept millions of displaced people.

In a clear signal to the US and Europe that developing countries are not prepared to accept a weak deal at next week's Copenhagen climate summit, Abdul Muhith said Bangladesh wanted hosts for managed migration as people began to abandon flooded and storm-damaged coastal areas.

"Twenty million people could be displaced [in Bangladesh] by the middle of the century," Abdul Muhith told the Guardian. "We are asking all our development partners to honour the natural right of persons to migrate. We can't accommodate all these people – this is already the densest [populated] country in the world," he said.

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Dem Sen. Max Baucus nominated his adulterous girlfriend for US attorney job

You may recall that Baucus is the Senator who initially led the charge against the public option, while wasting months negotiating with Republicans in an effort to get the most conservative bill he could. All for nought. From Roll Call:

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus’ office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

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