One person's plea for sanity and the continuation of the human race in an insane world.
posted by rich at 6:19 PM
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AP Interview: Leader of Democrats in next Congress says ethics reform, minimum wage and stem cell research head party's agendaWASHINGTON: Ethics reform, a higher minimum wage and more money for stem cell research are the top items on the Senate agenda next year, the new leader of the upper house of the U.S Congress said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Sen. Harry Reid, who will lead the Democratic majority when a new Congress convenes in January, said he will tackle those priorities after cleaning up the "financial mess" that the outgoing Republican leadership has left. He was referring to nine long overdue appropriations bills covering 13 Cabinet departments for the budget year that began Oct. 1.
"They're just leaving town, it appears," Reid said in his office. "We hope that's not the case, but it appears that's what they are going to do. And so we're going to have to find a way to fund the government for the next year."
The must-pass legislation totals more than $460 billion (€350 billion) and promises to divert time and energy from other items on the Democratic agenda.
Reid also said he is doing away with the "do-nothing Congress" that Democrats campaigned against this year as they ousted the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress in elections in November. Reid, who is wrapping up his final days as Senate minority leader, will take control of the Senate agenda when the new Congress takes the oath of office in January, becoming one of the most powerful politicians in Washington.
"We're going to put in some hours here that haven't been put in a long time," Reid said. That means "being here more days in the week and we start off this year with seven weeks without a break. That hasn't been done in many, many years here."
Reid said he hopes that President George W. Bush is willing to work with the Democratic congressional leadership, but the early signs have not been encouraging. He said the White House has not reached out to him since his meeting with Bush in the Oval Office on Nov. 10. "Sorry to say," Reid said.
Bush used the only veto of his presidency so far to reject a bill passed by Congress last year that would have expanded embryonic stem cell research through government funding.
Supporters of such research say it could lead to treatments and cures for a wide variety of ailments, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries. Bush and abortion foes, however, have opposed embryonic stem cell research because the embryos die in the process of harvesting the stem cells from them.
Reid said he hoped the president "will relent and see the light" that the research gives hope to Americans struggling with illnesses and injuries. He said the Senate is "not even close" to having the two-thirds vote necessary to override Bush's veto, but he hopes some Republicans will join the Democrats after losing the election this month.
The election came on the heels of several ethical scandals involving lawmakers, and Reid said reform is needed. He said "the first thing we do" will be to try to cut the practice of lawmakers anonymously inserting "earmarks" — narrowly tailored spending that often helps a specific company or project in their district — into bills.
Citizens Against Government Waste, a taxpayer watchdog group, said there were 9,963 such projects in the spending bills for the 2006 budget year, costing $29 billion (€22.billion).
The third item at the top of Reid's agenda is increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 (€3.92) to $7.25 (€5.51) an hour. The White House has signaled that Bush may be willing to consider the proposal.
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Man, how refreshing will it to have a Congress that actually does something for people for a change?!
posted by rich at 6:10 PM
DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti- Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said."Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up," he said in a telephone interview Sunday.Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing."Jensen, a past association president, calculates the fines will cost her about $1,000, and doubts they will be able to make her pay. But she said she's not going to take it down until after Christmas."Now that it has come to this I feel I can't get bullied," she said. "What if they don't like my Santa Claus."The association in this 200-home subdivision 270 miles southwest of Denver has sent a letter to her saying that residents were offended by the sign and the board "will not allow signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive."The subdivision's rules say no signs, billboards or advertising are permitted without the consent of the architectural control committee.Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn't say anything. Kearns fired all five committee members.
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posted by rich at 6:09 PM
U.S. Embassy asks Bush twins to leave Argentina because the headlines generated by their trip so far have created security concerns, ABC News reports. The twins refused and are sticking to their plan to stay in the country until Thursday.
posted by rich at 6:05 PM
posted by rich at 11:41 AM
Actually, Darwin is the root of all terrorism
I see the extremist Christian right in America might have some new friends.Arriving unsolicited by post, the large-format tome offers 768 glossy pages of photographs and easy-to-read text to prove that God created the world with all its species.America's Taliban. So much in common with so many backwards, screwed up people.
At first sight, it looks like it could be the work of United States creationists, the Christian fundamentalists who believe the world was created in six days as told in the Bible.
But the author's name, Harun Yahya, reveals the surprise inside. This is Islamic creationism, a richly funded movement based in predominantly Muslim Turkey which has an influence U.S. creationists could only dream of.
Creationism is so widely accepted here that Turkey placed last in a recent survey of public acceptance of evolution in 34 countries -- just behind the United States.
posted by rich at 11:27 AM
Baghdad death toll climbs to 202 dead, 252 wounded
No wonder Cheney didn't want anyone to talk about him being in Baghdad yesterday. How much more of this Bush-style democracy can a country withstand? Between reaching the highest single month death toll in October and now the Thanksgiving Day Massacre, there is nothing in the real world that suggests anything is moving in the right direction in Iraq.
posted by rich at 11:24 AM
Saddam's WMD: Slingshots and Molotov cocktails
Not kidding. This is why we went to war?
posted by rich at 11:19 AM
Baghdad Shiites burn six Sunni worshippers alive
Yes, Iraq is a far better place now that Saddam Hussein is gone.Militiamen grabbed six Sunnis as they left Friday worship services, doused them with kerosene and burned them alive as Iraqi soldiers stood by, and seven Sunni mosques came under attack as Shiites took revenge for the slaughter of at least 215 people in the Sadr City slum.
posted by rich at 11:16 AM
posted by rich at 11:10 AM
Bush, Maliki to meet as Iraqi deaths hit new high
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Jordan next week with grim new statistics showing record numbers of Iraqis were killed last month and many more fled the country.
A U.N. report put civilian deaths in October at 3,709 -- 120 a day and up from 3,345 in September. Nearly 420,000 moved to other parts of Iraq
since the February bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra triggered a surge in sectarian attacks. It said as well as those displaced within Iraq, nearly 100,000 people were fleeing to Syria and Jordan every month -- proportionally equivalent to a million Americans emigrating each month, depriving the U.S. economy of a city the size of Detroit.
posted by rich at 8:22 AM
Cavuto: America’s #1 Movie, Happy Feet, Is ‘Offensive,’ ‘An Animated Inconvenient Truth’The #1 movie in the country, the animated film “Happy Feet,” is “an entertaining story about a young bird’s journey toward self-acceptance.” But to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto it’s insidious “far left” political propaganda.
Cavuto saw the movie with his sons and found it “offensive.” Cavuto objected to the fact that penguins in the movie have trouble finding food because of overfishing and oil drilling. Cavuto called the film “an animated ‘Inconvenient Truth.’ I half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop-up.”
posted by rich at 6:23 PM
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WASHINGTON - Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills,There's also no guarantee that Republicans will pass a multibillion-dollar measure to prevent a cut in fees to doctors treating Medicare patients.The bulging workload that a Republican-led Congress was supposed to complete this year but is instead punting to 2007 promises to consume time and energy that Democrats had hoped to devote to their own agenda upon taking control of Congress in January for the first time in a dozen years.The decision to drop so much unfinished work in Democrats' laps demonstrates both division within Republicans ranks and the difficulty in resolving so many knotty questions in so short a time. GOP leaders promised their House and Senate members the December lame duck session would last no more than two weeks, or until Dec. 16 at the latest.Now, with the agenda shrinking, a session that will be the last for 45 retiring or defeated House members and senators should be wrapped up by Dec. 8.That could work against efforts to forestall a cut in physicians' Medicare payments. Under a formula dating back to 1997, Medicare payments to doctors for office visits will drop an average 5 percent on Jan. 1 — unless Congress steps in. Keeping them the same for another year would be expensive, about $10.8 billion, and chances are mixed at best for the doctors' lobby.Driving the decision to quit and go home rather than finish the remaining budget work is a determined effort by a group of conservative Republicans to prevent putting a GOP stamp on spending bills covering 13 Cabinet Departments — and loaded with thousands of homestate projects derided as "pork" by critics.Some Republicans on Capitol Hill would rather complete this year's budget work and have the GOP's imprint rather than a Democratic one on how federal agencies will be spending their money through next September. However, conservatives such as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., fear doing that would leave as the GOP's legacy a foot-tall bill containing thousands of parochial projects. Last week they seized the upper hand by employing delaying tactics to drag the budget process to a halt in the Senate."The last thing Republicans need is an end-of-Congress spending spree as our last parting shot as we walk out the door," said DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton.Some Republicans also look forward to using unfinished budget work to gum up an early Democratic agenda that includes raising the minimum wage, negotiating lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, cutting interest rates on college loans and repealing some tax breaks for oil companies."Other stuff may get pushed off the table," said GOP lobbyist Hazen Marshall, a former longtime Capitol Hill aide. "It kills (Democrats') message."For its part, the White House sided with GOP traditionalists such as Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who has been pushing to finish the budget while Republicans still hold power."We think it's the best thing for fiscal discipline," White House Budget Director Rob Portman told reporters last week.Instead, lawmakers are expected to pass a temporary bill to keep the domestic agencies such as the Education, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments on autopilot at this past year's spending levels until Democrats can come up with new bills.It will be no small test of the incoming Democratic majority, which has yet to develop a plan to cope with the more than $460 billion in unfinished budget business. The Democrats' problem is made even more complicated because President Bush in early 2007 will send Congress a bill that could exceed $130 billion for continuing the war in Iraq, according to Capitol Hill aides.Bush is likely to be torn between the necessity of working with Democrats to finance his priorities — including the war — and a desire to take a stand against spending increases. Bush has never vetoed a spending bill in his six years in office, but that may change now that it will be Democrats writing them.Democrats pledge not to overreach in their dealings with the president."We're not going to send him veto bait," said Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., who will be taking over as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "We're not that stupid."
posted by rich at 6:14 PM
Commentary: Town makes it illegal to fly a foreign flagSAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- This is where we've arrived in this country: You have the constitutional right to burn an American flag, but you can get into trouble for simply flying a foreign one.
At least you can in the 30,000-person town of Pahrump, Nevada, which is close to Las Vegas and even closer to stepping over the line with an idiotic, intolerant and insulting ban on foreign (read: Mexican) flags. The town council voted last week, 3-2, to approve an ordinance that makes it illegal to display a foreign flag -- unless an American flag is flown above it. Scofflaws face a $50 fine and 30 hours of community service.
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(first seen at Americablog)
posted by rich at 6:40 PM
O.J. Simpson book, TV special canceled
NEW YORK - After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It.""I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."A dozen Fox affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week before the book's publication.
posted by rich at 5:51 PM
War On Fiction ContinuesNot content to attack dramas like "Law & Order", the conservative movement, smarting from electoral losses, has taken to criticizing the very excellent My Name Is Earl for the sin of having a bunch of dope-smoking hippies discuss global warming and The Simpsons and Family Guy for not being sufficiently patriotically correct.
The casualties keep mounting in the War on Fiction. Who's next? If we save the cheerleader, do the terrorists win?
(Oliver Willis)
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This is pretty hilarious - check out the comments! To the person, they do not understand the show at all. The show portrayed extreme stereotypes on both side of the issue - y'know, kinda what comedy does? - and the "morale" was that people need to believe the facts but also use common sense in coming up with a solution. Kinda like the Dems do!
Man, the things people get upset about!
posted by rich at 5:47 PM
GORE: Bush Admin "Most Incompetent-Inept & With More Moral Cowardice..."(Democratic Underground)
AL GORE: MOVIE STAR
A former vice president tells the Truth, ignites a global debate, and suddenly looks like a dark-horse candidate. GQ.com presents the complete Al Gore Q&A, including what he really thinks about George W. Bush. PLUS: Photos you’ll see only on GQ.com
Do you feel that we would be safer today if you had been president on that day?
GORE: Well, no one can say that the 9-11 attack wouldn’t have occurred whoever was president.
Really? How about all the warnings?
GORE: That’s a separate question. And it’s almost too easy to say, “I would have heeded the warnings.” In fact, I think I would have, I know I would have. We had several instances when the CIA’s alarm bells went off, and what we did when that happened was, we had emergency meetings and called everybody together and made sure that all systems were go and every agency was hitting on all cylinders, and we made them bring more information, and go into the second and third and fourth level of detail. And made suggestions on how we could respond in a more coordinated, more effective way. It is inconceivable to me that Bush would read a warning as stark and as clear (voice angry now) as the one he received on August 6th of 2001, and, according to some of the new histories, he turned to the briefer and said, “Well, you’ve covered your ass.” And never called a follow up meeting. Never made an inquiry. Never asked a single question. To this day, I don’t understand it. And, I think it’s fair to say that he personally does in fact bear a measure of blame for not doing his job at a time when we really needed him to do his job. And now the Woodward book has this episode that has been confirmed by the record that George Tenet, who was much abused by this administration, went over to the White House for the purpose of calling an emergency meeting and warning as clearly as possible about the extremely dangerous situation with Osama bin Laden, and was brushed off! And I don’t know why—honestly—I mean, I understand how horrible this Congressman Foley situation with the instant messaging is, okay? I understand that. But, why didn’t these kinds of things produce a similar outrage? And you know, I’m even reluctant to talk about it in these terms because it’s so easy for people to hear this or read this as sort of cheap political game-playing. I understand how it could sound that way. (Practically screaming now)But dammit, whatever happened to the concept of accountability for catastrophic failure? This administration has been by far the most incompetent, inept, and with more moral cowardice, and obsequiousness to their wealthy contributors, and obliviousness to the public interest of any administration in modern history, and probably in the entire history of the country! More
posted by rich at 5:44 PM
O’Reilly: iPods Are Endangering AmericaGamePolitics.com caught this gem from the Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:
I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.
(Think Progress)
posted by rich at 5:42 PM
Homophobes need apply.“Conservative Christian groups have begun an intensive lobbying campaign against a new questionnaire for prospective high-level gubernatorial appointees” in Florida. The questionnaire “asks the would-be appointees if they have ever been the subject of a complaint or investigation for discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or national origin. The groups want sexual orientation removed from the list.”
posted by rich at 5:40 PM
WASHINGTON - House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi said Monday her new Democratic majority will extend a hand to Republicans in moving the agenda of relieving the "middle-class squeeze." She said restoring the military draft will not be part of that agenda when Democrats take over the House in January.---Pelosi and Hoyer repeated that in the first 100 legislative hours of the new Congress that convenes in January, they will try to pass bills that directly affect the pocketbooks of working-class and middle-class people, including raising the minimum wage, cutting interest rates for student loans and allowing the Medicare program to negotiate lower drug prices.Other top priorities for January are lobbying reform, implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and rolling back subsidies to the oil industry.
posted by rich at 5:33 PM
Not so curious George does another drive by road trip
When a leader is so uninterested in the world around him, should it come as any surprise that his foreign policy has been so bad? Anyone who has ever had to travel for business knows that it's not fun, often boring and very tiring but when you are working, you are working. Bush completely misses the point that when he does these trips, he is working for the American public. After six years of trashing our good name around the world and days after a blistering campaign that was very much about Bush and his policies, any normal person might see this trip to Asia as an opportunity to rebuild alliances and reaching out to the world but no, not with George. Not so curious George would rather stay the course and interact as little as possible with the world around him and instead get back to the comfy confines of his hotel room.
What this tells me, again, is that Bush will never change and will just continue to stay the course regardless of the impact on our great country. Full steam ahead with the not so curious president and his failed policies.
posted by rich at 4:02 PM
Secret CIA Report: No evidence that Iran is trying to build nukes
It's Iraq all over again. Bush and Cheney just lied to us, again, about yet another country's irrefutable quest for weapons of mass destruction.A classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top US investigative reporter has said....And as an added bonus, Cheney now says he's willing to break the law in order to declare war on Iran.
But the administration's planning of a military option was made "far more complicated" in recent months by a highly classified draft assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency "challenging the White House's assumptions about how close Iran might be to building a nuclear bomb," he wrote.
"The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear-weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh wrote, adding the CIA had declined to comment on that story.
A current senior intelligence official confirmed the existence of the CIA analysis and said the White House had been hostile to it, he wrote.A month before the November 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy.Republicans don't obey the law. They don't obey the will of the people. They do what they want to, to hell with what's right, to hell with the law, to hell with what the people want.
"If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran," Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion.
Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions "and thus stop Congress from getting in its way," he said.
posted by rich at 3:59 PM
posted by rich at 5:50 PM
(Americablog)
GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell: Give us our right wing theocratic judges or we'll filibuster
The GOP still wants to stack the federal bench with theocratic, extremist judges. Mitch McConnell sounded like he was making a filibuster threat against the Democrats. But wait, is McConnell really saying that the GOP Senators will filibuster and slow down the Senate to get their way? Didn't they just rail against those tactics when the Democrats used them?:The Senate's next Republican leader issued a veiled threat to block action on legislation if Democrats refuse to allow confirmation votes on President Bush's troubled judicial nominations.The GOP doesn't control the Senate. Now, they're in the minority. Watch them use the same filibuster that just months ago they were castigating. Such hypocrites.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become minority leader Jan. 4, told the conservative Federalist Society Friday not to feel bad about the Senate election results because Republicans will hold 49 seats in a body that requires 60 votes to end a filibuster and bring legislation or presidential nominees to a final vote.
If the "Democrats want our cooperation, they'll give the president's judicial nominees an up-or-down vote," McConnell said.
Vice President Dick Cheney told the same group Friday that Republicans' loss of Congress in last week's election won't dissuade Bush from continuing to nominate strict-constructionist judges to the federal bench.
UPDATE: Think Progress has the goods on McConnell advocating the nuclear option back in March of 2005. That was during an interview with Fox News where McConnell was also defending the GOP's intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.
posted by rich at 5:40 PM
Alaska Lawmakers Thumb Nose At Court Ordered Gay Benefits
(Juneau, Alaska) Alaska Republicans have drawn a line in the sand, refusing to obey a court order mandating health and other benefits for the same-sex domestic partners of state employees and retirees.
posted by rich at 5:36 PM
Blitzer, Hannity praised Steele's "spectacular" and "principled" campaign, ignoring misleading campaign tactics
Summary: Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge the assertion of Michael Steele, a losing Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Maryland, that he "did not see ... until a couple of days after the fact" a flier that misleadingly referred to "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats" and falsely suggested that certain prominent African-American Maryland Democrats endorsed Steele and Republican Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Both Blitzer and Sean Hannity praised Steele's campaign in their interviews with him without noting Steele's 10-point margin of defeat.
posted by rich at 5:30 PM
posted by rich at 5:28 PM
Pentagon Alters Homosexuality GuidelinesWASHINGTON -- Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or "circumstances" that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying.
posted by rich at 5:27 PM
Leahy Calls On Justice Department To Investigate Laura Ingraham’s Phone JammingOn election day, ThinkProgress posted audio of right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham urging her listeners to obstruct efforts to protect voting rights by jamming a free voter protection hotline.
Yesterday in a Senate Judiciary Commmittee hearing, Pat Leahy (D-VT) asked Wan Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, whether his department would be investigating Ingraham’s phone jamming. Kim said Ingraham’s actions sounded like a “voter fraud scheme,” but that they didn’t fall under his division’s responsibilities, which cover “voter access.”
posted by rich at 5:25 PM
Coalition of the shrinking. “Iraq’s coalition of the willing is becoming an increasingly exclusive club. … Twenty-three countries remain in the U.S.-led coalition and the United Nations’ mission serving in and around Iraq, down from a high of 42 that joined the United States in the invasion or the postwar occupation of Iraq. More than half of those contributors have fewer than 150 troops, engineers or military trainers in the Iraq theater.”
posted by rich at 5:23 PM
Inhofe: Don’t Worry About Global Warming Because ‘God’s Still Up There’In an interview with Fox and Friends this morning, outgoing Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works James Inhofe (R-OK) argued that the current wave of unprecedented warming is due to “natural changes.” “God’s still up there,” Inhofe said, and to the extent there is warming going on, it is “due to the sun.” He added, “George Soros, the Hollywood elitists, the far left environmentalists on the committee that I chair — all of them want us to believe the science is settled and it’s not.”
(Think Progress)
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Wow - how many senators are certifiable?!
posted by rich at 5:20 PM
LONDON - Amid all the dire warnings about the AIDS pandemic, researchers announce some good news: Young African women report they are increasingly using condoms with their partners.
posted by rich at 5:19 PM
WASHINGTON - Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq has dropped to the lowest level ever, increasing the pressure on the commander in chief to find a way out after nearly four years of war.The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found just 31 percent approval for Bush's handling of Iraq, days after voters registered their displeasure at the polls by defeating Republicans and handing control of Congress to the Democrats. The previous low in AP-Ipsos polling was 33 percent in both June and August.
posted by rich at 5:18 PM
posted by rich at 5:16 PM
Gay penguin book shakes up Ill. schoolSHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.
posted by rich at 5:14 PM
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, to the consternation of its critics, has picked the medical director of an organization that opposes premarital sex, contraception and abortion to lead the office that oversees federally funded teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs.The appointment of Eric Keroack, a Marblehead, Mass. obstetrician and gynecologist, to oversee the federal Office of Population Affairs and its $283 million annual budget has angered family-planning advocates.Keroack currently is medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit. The Dorchester, Mass.-based organization runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling. It also works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion," according to its statement of faith. And it opposes contraception, saying its use increases out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion rates."A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," its contraception policy reads in part."The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation's family planning program is striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation's priorities," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.
posted by rich at 5:09 PM
posted by rich at 8:03 PM
McCain vs. Abizaid
It was an interesting, three-way showdown today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, with Dems talking about a timeline for withdrawal, John McCain talking about adding 20,000 more troops to Baghdad, and CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid saying they’re both wrong. The McCain-Abizaid discussion was particularly interesting.
MCCAIN: Did you note that General Zinni who opposed of the invasion now thinks that we should have more troops? Did you notice that General Batise, who was opposed to the conduct of this conflict also says that we may need tens and thousands of additional troops. I don’t understand General. When you have a part of Iraq that is not under our control and yet we still — as Al Anbar province is — I don’t know how many American lives have been sacrificed in Al Anbar province — but we still have enough and we will rely on the ability to train the Iraqi military when the Iraqi army hasn’t send the requested number of battalions into Baghdad.
ABIZAID: Senator McCain, I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, ‘In your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq?’ And they all said no. And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.
McCain was, apparently, none too pleased with the response, saying he was “disappointed” that Abizaid was “advocating the status quo here today, which I think the American people in the last election said that is not an acceptable condition.”
Of course, Abizaid isn’t going for timetables for withdrawal, either.
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East warned Congress Wednesday against setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying it would impede commanders in managing U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The assertion by Gen. John Abizaid seemed to put him at odds with some Democrats pressing the Bush administration to begin pulling out of Iraq. […]
In arguing against a timetable for troop withdrawals, Abizaid told the committee that he and other U.S. commanders need flexibility in managing U.S. forces and determining how and when to pass on responsibility to Iraqi forces.
“Specific timetables limit that flexibility,” the general said.
So, no troop increases, no troop decreases, no stay the course. That ought to clear things up.
As for the near-future, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) pressed Abizaid on how much time remains before Baghdad spirals entirely out of control.
“Four to six months,” Abizaid said.
(The Carpetbagger Report)
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So, we've got 4-6 months to get something right?! Not likely with bush in charge!
posted by rich at 8:00 PM
Bush renominates Tomlinson for Broadcasting Board of Governors
President Bush on Tuesday renominated the chairman of the agency that directs U.S. overseas broadcasts even though the nomination has been stalled in the Senate amid allegations of misconduct.
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was nominated again as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and for a term on the board expiring Aug. 13, 2007. The board oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, broadcasting initiatives in the Middle East and other nonmilitary U.S. broadcasting overseas.
It’s one thing to pick a partisan hack for an important governmental post, evaluate his joke of a tenure, and then move onto someone new. After all, maybe the president didn’t realize just how ridiculous Tomlinson was when the White House first tapped him.
But after several years of humiliating hackery, Bush no longer has any excuses. Renominating Tomlinson again this week is a not-so-subtle message to Democrats and the rest of the electorate: Election failures or not, nothing is going to change at the Bush White House. No partisan is too unqualified, no right-wing ideologue can screw up enough, no controversy is too scandalous to prevent a Bush buddy from keeping important administration positions.
The John Bolton renomination was offensive enough; this is adding insult to injury.
At this point, Ken Tomlinson’s partisan, ideological, and generally ridiculous work is legendary. By August, it became almost comical.State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a “horse racing operation” and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll, according to a summary of a report made public on Tuesday by a Democratic lawmaker.
The report said that the official, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, had repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit.
The summary of the report, prepared by the State Department inspector general, said the United States attorney’s office here had been given the report and decided not to conduct a criminal inquiry. The summary said the Justice Department was pursuing a civil inquiry focusing on the contract for Mr. Tomlinson’s friend.
This is actually the second instance of Tomlinson getting caught breaking the law. A year ago, we learned that he violated the Federal Broadcasting Act, which prohibits the use of “political tests” in employment.
We’re dealing with a man who has lied, schemed, and politicized his way through three years of government service. And yet, Tomlinson has stayed in a key diplomatic post.
Indeed, Tomlinson’s job as head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, given to him by Karl Rove, puts him in charge of an “independent” government commission that oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Liberty, and Radio Sawa and its sister TV network, Alhurra — making Tomlinson a key person in America’s international diplomacy.
As Franklin Foer explained in a very good TNR piece a year ago, Tomlinson has run the BBG just as he ran the CPB, “purging the bureaucracy of political enemies, zealously rooting out perceived ‘liberal bias,’ and generally politicizing institutions that have resisted ideological intrusions for decades.”
In August, after Tomlinson had been caught, again, misusing government resources and violating government personnel policies, I asked “How long will the White House stand by this clown?” At the time, several lawmakers, in both chambers, were imploring Bush to immediately remove Tomlinson from his position.
Instead, Bush has renominated him for another term. This tells us all we need to know about the president’s rhetoric about “bipartisanship.”
(The Carpetbagger Report)
posted by rich at 7:58 PM
Frist’s Post-Election Revelation: We Are ‘Not Winning’ In Iraq
Last night on Fox News, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was asked to explain the midterm election results. Frist answered, “clearly, number one, the fact that we were not winning in Iraq dominated.”
posted by rich at 7:21 PM
The latest legislator/accused domestic abuser.
Minnesota State Rep. Mark Olson (R) appeared in court today “in connection with an alleged domestic assault against his wife, Heidi, at their home Sunday.” Olson’s wife says he “pushed her to the ground three times” and police found a “fresh bruise.” Olson admits only to “grabbing his wife by the shoulders” and “placing her to the ground.”
posted by rich at 7:20 PM
Fox News internal memo from Nov. 9:
“Be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem controlled Congress.” Read the full memo at Huffington Post.
posted by rich at 7:18 PM
Trent Lott is back.In a 25-24 vote, the Senate Republican caucus has elected Trent Lott (R-MS) as Minority Whip, the #2 minority position in the Senate. As expected, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was elected Senate Minority Leader. Lott, who defeated Lamar Alexander (R-TN), resigned his post as Minority Leader in 2002 after he said the United States would have avoided “all these problems” if then-segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.
(Think Progress)
posted by rich at 7:15 PM
President Bush has renominated Kenneth Tomlinson as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). In August, a State Dept. inspector general’s report showed that Tomlinson had abused his position by using BBG resources to support his personal horse racing operation and receiving compensation that exceeded the maximum allowed by law.
posted by rich at 7:13 PM
posted by rich at 7:12 PM
WASHINGTON - Citing the disputed vote in a Florida congressional district, a Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday urged Congress to approve his measure requiring a paper trail for electronic voting.Rep. Rush Holt sponsor of the bill, said the inaccuracy of electronic touch-screen voting machines "poses a direct threat to the integrity of our electoral system." The New Jersey congressman argued the Florida district, in which more than 18,000 votes have gone uncounted, has exposed the system's flaws.
posted by rich at 7:10 PM
NY Post editorial: Democrats must confirm Bolton "to demonstrate to America's enemies that they don't have allies on Capitol Hill"A November 13 New York Post editorial argued that Democrats "have an obligation to demonstrate conclusively to America's enemies that they don't have allies on Capitol Hill," but have "sent precisely the opposite signal" by indicating they will block John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The editorial approvingly noted Sen. George Voinovich's (R-OH) "warning" that he could not "imagine a worse message to send to the terrorists and to other nations deciding whether to engage in [fighting terrorism] than to . . . replace" Bolton. The editorial then asserted that this was not an "idle warning," citing recent statements by Iran, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Al Qaeda in Iraq, and "former Gitmo [Guantánamo Bay] detainees [who] moved to bring criminal charges in Germany against top Bush administration officials." The statements, the editorial argued, represented not only a "postelection pile-on against" President Bush, but "may also represent a genuine belief that the Democrats ... will go soft in the War on Terror."
Similarly, on the November 11 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys, co-host and Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes said that Democrats' efforts "to dump John Bolton [are] purely vindictive," and that "[a]ny reasonable person, Republican or Democrat, who looks at the job he has done there [at the United Nations], would have to say he's done a fantastic job in promoting America's interests there." Barnes was belatedly responding to Beltway Boys co-host and Roll Call executive editor Morton M. Kondracke, who said that "the first sign that sweetness and light is not going to prevail was the Senate Democrats' decision not to ... confirm John Bolton," who Kondracke claimed has "done a very good job." Neither Barnes nor Kondracke mentioned that Bolton's confirmation is also opposed by Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), who recently lost his bid for re-election. Chafee sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his opposition to Bolton's confirmation, along with the opposition of all of the committee's eight Democratic members, has prevented Bolton's nomination from gaining the support of a majority of the 18-member committee.
(Media Matters)
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I guess that most Americans are not "reasonable" by this wacky definition!
Man, how long will it take before the "liberal media" realizes how irrelevant these repugs mouthpieces are and we no longer have to listen to this idiocy?
posted by rich at 6:50 PM
posted by rich at 6:46 PM
Immediately refuting the campaign lies spewed by Republicans guaranteeing across-the-board tax increases from a Congress controlled by Democrats, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) opened the lame duck Senate session yesterday by calling for tax relief for middle-class Americans.
In what will be one of his last opening statements as Senate Minority Leader, Reid called for the passage of tax breaks for middle-class families and businesses as well as appropriations bills that include funding for veterans health care, education and energy programs.
posted by rich at 6:43 PM
posted by rich at 6:36 PM
posted by rich at 6:34 PM
Russert falsely suggested Sen. Reid opposes the "Office of Public Integrity" and "lobbying reform"On the November 12 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host and NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert suggested that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) opposes the creation of an independent Senate Office of Public Integrity and does not support "lobbying reform." During an interview with Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, who has promised to caucus with Democrats after running as an independent in the midterm elections, Russert quoted a November 10 Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) claiming Reid has been "touched" by "scandals." He then asked Lieberman: "Why not use, as a condition for your vote for majority leader for Mr. Reid, that he support the Office of Public Integrity and lobbying reform, now?" However, Russert's suggestion that Reid is opposed to the creation of the Office of Public Integrity and "lobbying reform" is false -- Reid introduced lobbying reform legislation in January calling for that office's creation.
(Media Matters)
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Our "liberal media" can't let a little something like "facts" get in their way of a non-story.
posted by rich at 6:31 PM
Report: Abortion, “welfare culture” add to immigration problem
Missouri House panel’s Democrats refuse to sign conclusionsJEFFERSON CITY | A report from a Republican-led Missouri House committee argues that illegal immigration is partly the result of abortion and a “welfare culture,” findings that Democrats called ridiculous.
The six Democrats on the House Special Committee on Immigration Reform refused to sign the panel’s final report, which was signed by the 10 Republican members. In a letter to Rep. Ed Emery, the Lamar Republican who heads the committee, the Democrats said the report included things the panel never discussed and other comments that were “inappropriate.”
One of those comments was listed in the report’s recommendations section, Democrats said.
“The lack of a traditional work ethic, combined with the effects of 30 years of abortion and expanding liberal social welfare policies have produced a shortage of workers and a lack of incentive for those who can work,” the report said. “Today’s growing affinity for government dependency has created a class of potential employees who are not eager to work.”
Other sections of the report supporting this argument said that “the entitlement and government welfare culture that has emerged over the last 50 years” had caused a shortage of workers, and “many Americans prefer a subsistence income from the public treasury rather than earning a similar or better income as a reward for hard work.”
The result is that 50 years of “counterproductive social policies” makes it hard for employers to find legal workers, concluded the report, which was completed late last month.
National immigration expert Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in New York, dismissed the connections between abortion, welfare and immigration.
She called them “silly arguments” that have been embraced only by the far-right wing.
Emery said that he had inserted the language on abortion into the report.
“It is certainly my opinion,” he said. “I don’t know that we heard committee members express that as their critical concern.”
Emery said, though, that the language on social programs reflected the majority view of the panel.
Rep. Trent Skaggs, a North Kansas City Democrat, said the sections on abortion and “liberal social welfare policies” sucked all credibility out of the report.
“It’s delusional and not really owning up to what the problems are,” Skaggs said of the report.
Rep. Ed Wildberger, a St. Joseph Democrat on the committee, agreed and called Emery’s arguments “ridiculous.”
Jacoby said a prominent cause for the rise in immigration is Americans’ rising education.
For example, half of American men dropped out of high school and pursued unskilled work in 1960; today that figure is 10 percent, she said. Unskilled jobs still must be filled; immigrants are hired for many of them.
Welfare isn’t a good explanation for immigration, she said, because the overhaul of welfare in the mid-1990s imposed limits on how long people can depend on welfare for their livelihood.
Emery’s comments in the report include a section on the history of immigration in America, immigration law and the importance of English as a national language.
“Our culture is worth protecting,” Emery wrote. “It does not treat women like Muslim nations do. It does not kill newborn daughters like Communist China. … Cultures are not equal. Ours needs to be protected from being diluted by those who disrespect our laws and come only to exploit our successes.”
Skaggs and Wildberger said the report paid virtually no attention to Democrats’ chief concern — that the first priority should be to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
A point in the report’s executive summary of recommendations mentions “increased penalties and enforcement to stop hiring of those without lawful presence,” but there is no elaboration. Wildberger said it was difficult to get even that snippet of vague language in the report because Republicans were reluctant to penalize employers who often complained they unknowingly hired illegal immigrants.
“I did express more than once that one of my personal goals was that we not punish the innocent to get to the guilty — that we didn’t create an anti-business climate,” Emery said.
Other recommendations included making English the language of official proceedings, imposing greater restrictions on admitting illegal immigrants to public higher education institutions, restricting taxpayer-funded services for illegal immigrants, giving the Highway Patrol a role in enforcing immigration law and abolishing income taxes in favor of sales taxes.
(Kansas City Star)
posted by rich at 6:28 PM
Former President Bush Blames ‘Bloggers’ for ‘Ugly’ Political Climate
Last night on Fox News, former President George H.W. Bush said the current political climate has “gotten so adversarial that it’s ugly.” Asked to offer an explanation for why there is this “incivility,” Bush pinned the blame on bloggers. “It’s probably a little worse now given electronic media and the bloggers and all these kinds of things,” he said.
Also, Bush revealed that he enjoys using “the email” but lamented that his son, President George W. Bush, cannot for fear that the emails would get subpoenaed. Bush worried that presidents who used email would be forced to prove “that you were telling the truth and all this stuff.”
posted by rich at 6:24 PM
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - The South African parliament on Tuesday approved new legislation recognizing gay marriages — a first for a continent where homosexuality is largely taboo.
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posted by rich at 6:22 PM
TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran would soon celebrate completion of its nuclear fuel program and claimed the international community was ready to accept it as a nuclear state--"Initially, they (the U.S. and its allies) were very angry. The reason was clear: They basically wanted to monopolize nuclear power in order to rule the world and impose their will on nations," Ahmadinejad told a news conference."Today, they have finally agreed to live with a nuclear Iran, with an Iran possessing the whole nuclear fuel cycle," he said. He did not elaborate.
posted by rich at 6:20 PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen dressed as police commandos kidnapped up to 150 staff and visitors in a lightning raid on an education ministry office Tuesday, the largest mass abduction since the start of the U.S. occupation. Five senior police officers — including the neighborhood police chief — were later arrested, the government said.At least 82 people were killed or found dead in murders, bombings and clashes nationwide.
posted by rich at 6:19 PM
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Monday that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have no right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts and that lawsuits by hundreds of detainees should be dismissed.
posted by rich at 6:57 PM
This has "soft bigotry of low expectations" written all over it. From yesterday's presidential radio address:
One freedom that defines our way of life is the freedom to choose our leaders at the ballot box. We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war." (emphasis added)…read on
If he had his way—he'd cancel our elections while tapping our phones— then throw us all in prison for as long as he wants…Ouch…
(Crooks and Liars)
posted by rich at 6:55 PM
FBI Nabs Suspect in Olbermann’s Fake Anthrax Letter Case
This is great news. This piece of crap not only sent sent letters to Olbermann but Senator Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Jon Stewart and David Letterman as well. I wonder how the NY Post will treat this story.From Reuters :
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California man suspected of mailing threatening letters containing a suspicious white powder to celebrities and U.S. politicians has been arrested and could face federal charges on Monday, the FBI said.
Investigators identified Chad Castagana, 39, of Woodland Hills, California, as the person suspected of sending more than a dozen threatening letters to media outlets and the homes of public figures in various cities, the FBI said in a statement on Sunday evening. Read more..
posted by rich at 6:52 PM
Mel Martinez is taking over for Ken "The Talking Point" Mehlman at the GOP. Hmmm…Mel was the guy that passed out talking points on the floor on how to use the Terri Schiavo affair for political gain.
The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted yesterday that he was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the senator said in an interview last night.—Martinez, a freshman who was secretary of housing and urban development for most of President Bush's first term, said he had not read the one-page memo. He said he inadvertently passed it to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who had worked with him on the issue. After that, officials gave the memo to reporters for ABC News and The Washington Post.
Remember how the wingnuts were so intense on calling these talking points forgeries? And not surprising—Power line led the way.
(Crooks and Liars)
and more from Americablog
posted by rich at 6:51 PM
Bartlett: Medicare Doesn’t Need To Negotiate Lower Prices Because Drugs Are Already Cheap Enough
Today on Fox News Sunday, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the federal government does not need to negotiate lower prices for seniors. Bartlett said that prices have “come down” and drugs are already cheap enough. He concluded, “the proof is in the pudding.”
posted by rich at 6:48 PM
posted by rich at 6:45 PM
posted by rich at 6:40 PM
It's easy to forget in our little media bubble that many, many people outside of the U.S. were anxiously watching the results of our election. The Economist looks at our elections from afar.
Courtesy of WatchingAmerica, here are some other international takes:
Right-Wing Extremist Viciousness Punished
"The Republicans have suffered a clear defeat. The Democrats have regained the majority in the House of Representatives. Our United States correspondent describes the reasons and presents a scenario for America's political future - he predicts a political pig pickin.'" Read on…
Though President Bush was not a candidate in this U.S. midterm elections, this was very much a referendum on his presidency. And by handing a decisive victory to his opponents the Democrats, the American electorate has expressed an overwhelming lack of confidence in his leadership. It has forced Bush to kiss a humiliating defeat. Read on…
Inside the hall, there were affectionate cheers for Laura Bush as she urged the audience to "go out and bring some more supporters to the polls". Reeling off a list of her husband's achievements, such as tax cuts, she continued: "Thanks to our troops, the Iraqi people are free from the oppression of Saddam Hussein and working to build a democratic country." There was a stony silence and she quickly moved on.
The crowd was composed of hand-picked Republican supporters, yet even here there were defectors. "To be honest, I'm not as big a fan of President Bush as I was," said Gloria Murray, 51. "I don't know that it is his fault exactly, but there have been a lot of mistakes that have lost people's respect." Read on…
posted by rich at 10:20 AM
posted by rich at 10:18 AM
Jonah: Let Mom Do It
This is quite remarkable for several reasons -- as well as being awfully funny, albeit in a very disturbing way. At The Corner:How Bush Should Handle Loss [Jonah Goldberg]Even playfully imagining that Bush could actually do anything remotely like this is ridiculously laughable, as laughable as thinking that Baker and Cheney would demand such a rite of passage. All these men have known only pampered, highly insulated lives of immense privilege and comfort. And when Cheney does go hunting, it's not actually "hunting," in the sense of a "sport." No: "It's disgusting bloody-mindedness, a lazy, cowardly, vicious sort of abuse." These people are all more than happy to send other men (and women) to fight genuine battles, and to suffer grievous injury and even death. But face actual physical peril themselves? Please. Inflicting pain and torture on frat pledges or helpless animals is one thing; when it comes to doing it in real life...well, they'll instruct soldiers at Abu Ghraib to take care of it. The first makes the second possible, but the first represents the full extent of these men's "bravery."
I think James Baker and Dick Cheney should take Bush out to the woods around Camp David. After 24 hours in a sweat lodge, he should be given only a loin cloth, a hunting knife and a canteen of water. Bush should then set out to track and kill a black bear, after which he should eat its still beating heart so he can absorb its spirit. He should then fly back to Washington in Marine 1. His torso still scratched from the bear's claws, his face bloodied and steaming in the November chill, he should immediately give a press conference at which he throws the bearskin on the front row of the press corps, completely enveloping Helen Thomas, declaring, "I'm not going anywhere."
This will send important messages to Democrats and well as to our enemies overseas, who are no doubt high-fiving as we speak.
The Bush Cultists are seriously having a psychological breakdown.
posted by rich at 10:15 AM
posted by rich at 9:51 AM
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Several Republican sources tell CNN that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman is all but certain to step down at the end of the year, and the White House already is searching for a replacement or replacements to lead the party into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle.
posted by rich at 6:16 PM
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Democratic Nevada Sen. Harry Reid says he's certain to emerge as Senate majority leader even though a key race remains uncalled Wednesday - and getting the top job will have major benefits for his home state.---Asked to list potential benefits to Nevada now that he's in line for the top job in the Senate, Reid said he'll oppose future funding for the federal government's proposed nuclear waste dump northwest of Las Vegas. That project already has cost about $9 billion but is years away from completion.Reid said he viewed the project as dead anyway, given the many delays it has faced, adding, "There's not much to kill." But he said any new funding plans for the dump would be "cut back significantly for sure" while alternatives, such as dry-cask storage elsewhere, would be pursued.
posted by rich at 6:14 PM
Limbaugh greets Democrats as liberatorsOn the November 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed to "feel liberated" by Democratic victories in the House and Senate on November 7 because he is "no longer going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried." Limbaugh added that the Republican Congress has produced "some of this legislation coming out of there that I have just cringed at, and it has been difficult coming in here, trying to make the case for it when the people who are supposedly in favor of it can't even make the case themselves -- and to have to come in here and try to do their jobs."
(Media Matters)
posted by rich at 6:12 PM
