Tuesday Open Thread
As the history of the Bush Administration is written, more and more will be convinced that it was a miracle of God that humanity survived at all.
According to Republican Congressman Steve King, ACORN is a scandale a thousand times bigger than Watergate. While it is worthwhile to point out that an independent investigator has determined that nothing illegal has occurred with respect to the “ACORN scandal of the millenium,” but I like this take from BarbinMD of Daily Kos the best:
So, we had secret slush funds, the involvement of the White House, Justice Department, FBI and CIA in the crime and/or the cover-up, the “Saturday Night Massacre,” the prison sentences, and the resignation of a President … versus allegations of voter fraud that has never been proven and a couple of conservatives dressing up like a pimp and a prostitute.
The right wing and their allegations would be a hysterical sitcom if it weren’t for all the dying caused by their demagougery.
David Sirota is a liberal blogger and a writer that I rarely agree with, but his take on the decline of our media and the decline of journalism being represented by the movie Julie & Julia is a very interesting and probably correct read. Take a gander.
If you are a fiscal conservative, then you must support healthcare reform to evade charges of hypocrisy:
Take the CBO estimate of the cost of subsidies and Medicaid expansion in the Senate bill — that is, ignoring all possible cost savings. It’s $179 billion in 2018. Take the CMS projection of total health care spending in 2018: it’s more than $4.5 trillion. So the direct cost of expanding coverage is less than 4 percent of total health care spending. That’s the amount by which, on the current trajectory, health spending rises every 7 months.
Thanks for doing this DD. I’m busy getting ready to travel tomorrow. My posting will be pretty spotty until then.
Meanwhile, give a big congratulations to Glenn Beck. He won Media Matters Misinformer of the Year. I’m sure the competition was fierce, but it’s well deserved honor.
Like I said, you all can take a break from posting. Are you guys traveling back to Kentucky?
Officials: House Democrat will switch to GOP (freshman Parker Griffith of Alabama)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 12/22/09 | AP
WASHINGTON – Senior House aides say freshman Democratic lawmaker Parker Griffith of Alabama is switching to the Republican Party. — Griffith is a radiation oncologist. His switch comes as Congress is trying to pass a much-contested health care bill. Democrats will still control the House by a substantial margin.
Thanks, DD. I’m going to be hit or miss the next few days.
Found this on a friend’s Facebook page – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90KVt2NzYQI
My wish for the New Year is that O’Liely and Beck lose their powers of speech.
Yes, DD. Free Radical and I are going to see my parents in Kentucky. I’m going to have to learn how to hold my tongue or leave the room, I think. My uncle-by-marriage posted on Facebook “READ THE CONSTITUTION MR. OBAMA!” This still cracks me up. Does my uncle even know that Obama taught Constitutional law?
Parker Griffith has at least two GOP primary challengers.
Maybe he meant for him to read it in his native Kenyan.
Yeah, Griffith is not exactly being met with open arms.
Gov.-elect Chris Christie compiles plans to slash N.J. spending up to 25 percent
NJ.com ^ | 12/22/09 | staff
TRENTON — Gov.-elect Chris Christie and his transition aides are compiling plans to slash New Jersey state spending and state programs by as much as 25 percent in response to the continuous flow of dim financial news from the New Jersey Treasury Department, according to an internal document obtained by The Star-Ledger.
Even before he takes office next month, his team is looking for programs that can be eliminated entirely and calling on state administrators to find untapped federal funds to cover whatever they possibly can.
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hope Jack is taking notes.
The Year in Crazy, Part 1
The Onion’s top 10 stories of the last 4.5 billion years.
“Evolution Going Great, Reports Trilobite”
Hey LG, what happend to the AJAX comment editor?
Working on it. Upgrades kill…
Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law? [Andy McCarthy]
You just can’t make up how brazen this crowd is. One week ago, President Obama quietly signed an executive order that makes an international police force immune from the restraints of American law.
Interpol is the shorthand for the International Criminal Police Organization. It was established in 1923 and operates in about 188 countries. By executive order 12425, issued in 1983, President Reagan recognized Interpol as an international organization and gave it some of the privileges and immunities customarily extended to foreign diplomats. Interpol, however, is also an active law-enforcement agency, so critical privileges and immunities (set forth in Section 2(c) of the International Organizations Immunities Act) were withheld. Specifically, Interpol’s property and assets remained subject to search and seizure, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions like the Freedom of Information Act. Being constrained by the Fourth Amendment, FOIA, and other limitations of the Constitution and federal law that protect the liberty and privacy of Americans is what prevents law-enforcement and its controlling government authority from becoming tyrannical.
On Wednesday, however, for no apparent reason, President Obama issued an executive order removing the Reagan limitations. That is, Interpol’s property and assets are no longer subject to search and confiscation, and its archives are now considered inviolable. This international police force (whose U.S. headquarters is in the Justice Department in Washington) will be unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution and American law while it operates in the United States and affects both Americans and American interests outside the United States.
corner.nationalreview.com
Since I wasn’t planning on searching Interpol, I couldn’t care less. Interesting how Lizard doesn’t mind that US communications companies are allowing warrantless searches of my, and his, electronic correspondence. See, that one does affect me, while his concerns don’t. Typical conservative.