#2 House Democrat, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, stabs Stephen Colbert in back, says his comedy is "in bad taste," defends George Bush

UPDATE: DailyKos asks if Steny Hoyer will be the Joe Lieberman of 2008? I.e., the next member of Congress for whome the blogs seek out a challenger and help fund him.

What's in bad taste is Steny Hoyer continuing to call himself a Democrat.

This man used to be someone I respected, but over the past few years all he's been concerned about is his own ego and finding new and interesting ways he can screw over Nancy Pelosi at the expense of the Democratic party.

Sure, George Bush is plumetting in the polls. So what does Steny Hoyer do? The Hill newspaper reports that he takes a cheap shot at someone who's out there defending the party and taking the president on. Watch the video of Colbert's appearance this weekend, and read the transcript. It's brilliant. And what's more, Stephen Colbert has the balls to call Bush on his incompetence to his face. Where are Steny's ball?

Feel free to give him a call and ask him:
Phone - (202) 225-4131

And feel free to email the congressman as well - note that you need to enter a valid Maryland zip code on the Web site in order to send a note, you can find those zip codes here, pick one.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) took on a rare role yesterday as a defender of President Bush.

Hoyer came to the defense of the commander in chief after Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where the president took a drubbing from comedian Stephen Colbert.

“I thought some of it was funny, but I think it got a little rough,” Hoyer said. “He is the president of the United States, and he deserves some respect.”

“I’m certainly not a defender of the administration,” Hoyer reassured stunned observers, but Colbert “crossed the line” with many jokes that were “in bad taste.”

Digby weighs in too. Read the rest of this post...

Conservative nutjob Ken Blackwell wins GOP primary for Ohio governor's race

We hate her. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

What's the latest? It's cold and rainy in Boston... Read the rest of this post...

Bush and GOP members of Congress agree to EVEN MORE tax cuts

They have GOT to be kidding. The Republicans are desperate to buy off the American public. The Republicans got slapped down last week for their cute little $100 gas rebate, enough to buy two tanks of gas, thanks a lot. And since the American public was too smart to be bought off by that little trick, now the Republicans wants EVEN MORE tax cuts.

We are expected to have a $370 billion budget deficit this year, and all the Republicans can do is find ways to put the country further and further in debt.

Credit Card Republicans: Spend now, pay later.

The Republicans have a majority in the US House and the US Senate. We need to get these bozos out of office now. Read the rest of this post...

Right-wingers apparently freaking out over Stephen Colbert's jokes about Bush

Check out this latest headline from Drudge:



Yes, things have gotten so bad that the right-wing noise machine is revving up to take on a comedian.

First off, the fact that the right-wing noise machine is running scared of a comedian is just plain funny, and rather pathetic.

Second, you mean Colbert's new TV show, running on a smaller network, doesn't have the viewers that one of the main news networks does? Uh, ok. So what's your point, Matt? That a comedian whose only had a show for, what, six months was able to so unnerve the president of the United States that you're all running to his defense like Colbert was Osama bin Laden or something?

Pathetic. Read the rest of this post...

High school kids of America: If you're gay, Dick Cheney says it's okay

That's nice. So why are you trying to outlaw her in the US Consitution?

And the more interesting question, or point, is that according to Drudge's coverage of the upcoming Vanity Fair article about the Cheneys, the Vice President of the United States had no problem accepting his high school age daughter as a lesbian.

Spread the word to all of America's high school kids: If you're gay, Dick Cheney says it's okay. Read the rest of this post...

Surf's up for ADM

Archer Daniels Midland is riding the ethanol wave and spreading money around for everyone. No wonder everyone in Congress is so impressed with an energy net loser. How else could something so inefficient gather so much support? Three cheers for more corporate welfare on the back of the middle class.

Net income jumped to $347.8 million, or 53 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31 well ahead of the 46 cents a share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Read the rest of this post...

Second cell phone privacy bill is making its way for a vote in the House

And where is the Senate bill, Mr. Frist?

The push to protect the privacy of telephone consumers, particularly those who use cellular phones, is back on the House agenda today. The chamber is set to consider a second bill on the topic.

A week ago, the House passed a bill, H.R. 4709, inspired in part by blogger John Aravosis of Americablog. That measure went through the Judiciary Committee....

In the Senate, meanwhile, Americablog reports that Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has asked Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to put a Senate measure on cell privacy on the floor schedule. Reid made the request in a Friday letter that Aravosis posted at his blog.

Read the rest of this post...

USNews: Stephen Colbert had Bush ready to blow a gasket

That's when happens when you confront overgrown children with overblown egos, they lose it.

Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert's biting routine at the White House Correspondents Association dinner won a rare silent protest from Bush aides and supporters Saturday when several independently left before he finished.

"Colbert crossed the line," said one top Bush aide, who rushed out of the hotel as soon as Colbert finished. Another said that the president was visibly angered by the sharp lines that kept coming.

"I've been there before, and I can see that he is [angry]," said a former top aide. "He's got that look that he's ready to blow."

That's nice. I mean, we wouldn't want Bush to blow a gasket over the fact that he lied to the American people, totally blew the war in Iraq, keeps his top aide on staff even though he's a traitor and a known security risk, lost an entire American city while he was on vacation, blew the Clinton budget surplus, has destroyed America's image in the world, was asleep at the switch on September 11, has yet to catch Osama, was ready to sell our ports to the United Arab Emirates, gutted mining safety right before those miners died, and oh so much more.

No, what apparently wakes Bush up from his stupor is a comedian making fun of him.

(Hat tip to RawStory) Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

While the Joe's away... Read the rest of this post...

The DNC's gay problem

It comes as no surprise that a week after an "unnamed" Democratic party official blasts the party publicly (well, as publicly as you can do it "unnamed") for the "racist" idea of letting New Hampshire and Iowa be the first two primaries for the presidency, we now have a very public letter from openly-lesbian African-American Democratic elder (well, younger elder) Donna Brazile saying pretty much the same thing.

Funny, though, that the diversity list in Donna's letter doesn't say anything about her own people, gays and lesbians. An oversight? Maybe not, especially after you read what Democratic party insider Paul Yandura had to say last week about the DNC's homophobia.

this is what Donna wrote, then read Paul's below.

Calendar Woes Ahead for Democrats
May 2, 2006
By Donna Brazile
Roll Call Staff

"The party must invest and court those voters now. We cannot wait until some presidential candidates are comfortable enough to address the concerns of these voters. The time is now. The Democrats are making significant inroads in state and local elections in the Deep South and West; these two regions are critical to the party's future if we're serious about becoming relevant again....

"There's no question that the voters of these states understand their importance in helping select the eventual nominee, and they work assiduously preparing for their personal time with the candidates, often in their living rooms, backyards, union halls or farms. And it is possible for these candidates to spend quality time in kitchens and front porches in Columbia, S.C., Tucson, Ariz., Reno, Nev., Birmingham, Ala., or Colorado Springs, Colo. The days of having a presumptive nominee emerge before a sizable (and diverse) percentage of Americans had an opportunity to participate are over.

"The DNC has made a commitment to rebuilding state and local affiliates, and this process must not end in 2008. It must continue beyond and into the future. Reaching out and selecting new, additional diverse states that include significant numbers of African Americans, Latinos and union members, among others, will require our presidential candidates to put forward a message that brings all Americans together - not just the privileged few."

And now for Paul's open letter - coincidence?

Dear Friends:

The Republicans have announced that they intend to use gay equality issues as a divisive election year tactic- AGAIN this year. Neither the DNC, nor any of the national committees (DCCC,DSCC), have a strategy to combat this hatred (unless you count avoidance as a strategy).

Dont believe me? Ask Howard, Ask Nancy, Ask Harry, Ask Rahm, Ask Chuck.

For many months a number of us have made appeals to Howard Dean and party officials to care about and defend the dignity of gay and lesbian families and friends, in the same way they defend the dignity of other key constituencies.

As the enclosed article shows, the DNC is fighting the vicious attacks being waged upon immigrants by the Republican party. Its the right thing to do and I applaud their action. Why then is it so difficult for them to do the same for us?

Why are gays and lesbians continually left to fight these battles alone? Where are our allies?

All progressives need to be asking how much has the DNC budgeted to counter the anti-gay ballot initiatives in the states. We also all need to know why the DNC and our Democratic leaders continue to allow the Republicans to use our families and friends as pawns to win elections.

We need answers to these questions. Until we get them my advice is don't give any more money to the Dems.

-Paul

Read the rest of this post...

Net Neutrality - what is it, why you should care

The NYT explains the problem concisely:

One of the Internet's great strengths is that a single blogger or a small political group can inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible to the world as Microsoft's home page. But this democratic Internet would be in danger if the companies that deliver Internet service changed the rules so that Web sites that pay them money would be easily accessible, while little-guy sites would be harder to access, and slower to navigate. Providers could also block access to sites they do not like.

Read the rest of this post...

Dear Google & Palm, your Treo 700 for Windows doesn't work on Blogger

Dear Google and Palm,

Through the wonders of the Treo 650, Joe in DC is able to blog on the road, which is a great help when I'm off knoodling with Katherine Harris and Jeff Gannon.

But then Joe went and bought the new Treo 700 for Windows, and guess what? It doesn't work when you pull up Blogger.com. We can't log in to Blogger, and the folks at Palm tell us that they had the same problem using Blogger with the 700, and it must be a problem with the Blogger page being incompatible with the Treo 700 for Windows.

Now, Joe in DC isn't the only blogger to use a Treo. I know for a fact that lots of them do, and I also know that I was going to get the new Treo 700 to blog on the road, until I found out that it doesn't work with Blogger.

Now, here's the deal. Joe has talked to the Palm folks on the phone. They say the problem is Blogger. I've emailed the folks at Google (who own blogger) and haven't gotten any response at all.

Someone needs to fix this little problem or a lot of bloggers are going to be mighty surprised when they buy the Treo 700 for Windows and realize they can't blog anymore. That mean's they're going to return the Treo 700, and that isn't good news for Treo. Or, they're going to keep the Treo 700 and move their blogs off of Blogger - and that isn't good for Blogger.

So, Treo/Palm and Blogger, can you two please get together and fix this?

Love, John and Joe Read the rest of this post...

34 (a new low for this poll, too)

Bush's approval rating dropped two points in the USA Today/Gallup:

Six months before Republicans try to hold on to control of Congress in the fall elections, a new poll shows President Bush has slid to the lowest approval rating of his presidency, and a majority of voters say they'll vote for Democrats in November.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday found Bush's approval rating at 34%, two points under his previous low. He also received the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy, energy and foreign affairs. He tied his previous low on Iraq: 32%.

The poll showed Democrats leading 54%-39% among registered voters who were asked which party they would prefer in a congressional race.

He's going to break 30 in one of these polls soon. Read the rest of this post...

Senate GOPers cave to Big Oil Again

No wonder Bill Frist was so cranky this morning. Not only is his party's energy proposal being skewered, he's been getting beat up by his friends in Big Oil. Of course, the oil guys won:

Senate Republicans on Monday hurriedly abandoned a broad tax proposal opposed by the oil industry and business leaders, another sign of their struggle to come up with an acceptable political and legislative answer to high gasoline prices.

Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, said he had decided to jettison the provision, which would have generated billions of dollars by changing the way businesses treat inventories for tax purposes. Instead, he said the Senate Finance Committee would hold hearings on the plan "later this year, so the pluses and minuses of the provision can become well known."

Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Just saw Frist on the Today Show. Basically, we learned, the entire oil crisis will be solved if we drill in the Arctic Refuge. And, of course, it's all Bill Clinton's fault because he vetoed drilling there in 1996.

Frist shouldn't do early morning TV. He looks and sounds awful. Well, he always does, it's just particularly bad in the morning. Read the rest of this post...

Who writes headlines like this?

'Mission' Gets Closer to 'Accomplished' The story does mention the problems (to say the least) since Bush made his ridiculous proclamation but this AP headline is a joke. Outside of the hardcore GOP, who really believes that the mission is getting that much closer to being accomplished? Read the rest of this post...

Social Security tanking again but plenty of cash for friends

It's going straight down the tubes and there's no money (again) for it but somehow...somehow...the GOP can always find billions and billions to spend on unnecessary wars, Big Oil welfare and Big Pharma handouts. Isn't it amazing how finance works with the GOP? No money for regular Americans but plenty of cash to go around for GOP campaign donors and botched foreign policy. Must be the new math or something. Read the rest of this post...