Thursday Open Thread [12.6.12]
The leader of the Senate Teabagger Caucus, Senator Jim DeMint, the one who said the passing of Obamacare would be the President’s Waterloo, has resigned his seat to head up the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. It is a very curious move, perhaps signalling the end of the teabagger influence in Congress. South Carolina Governor Niki Haley gets to appoint a replacement, who will then face a special election in 2014. How much do you want to bet it will be Joe “You Lie” Wilson?
“I have no clue whether or not Hillary Clinton will run for the presidency in 2016, but I would argue that she would be the strongest non-incumbent frontrunner in modern history upon inspection of the primary landscape… 1. Clinton’s polling at a record 61% in the early primary field… 2. Clinton is on her way to winning the endorsement primary… 3. Clinton has organization in the early primary states… 4. Clinton isn’t going to make an idiotic statement… 5. Clinton’s got the demographics on her side.”
I wonder if Hillary will clear the field. Andrew Cuomo, Martin O’Malley, Joe Biden and Brian Schweitzer will all run if she does not. But do run if she does. I imagine Vice President Biden will not. But the others, I dunno.
Meanwhile, in a great moment of Congressional Humility and Interaction with the Plebs, we have this:
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) chewed out a House staffer after catching her riding on a “members only” elevator, according to an ITK tipster who was on the scene. […] Our spy hit the “members” button on the elevator after waiting (and waiting) for a lift on Tuesday. Elevators were slow that day because furniture was being moved around the Longworth House Office Building. When the members-only elevator arrived, our tipster and a female House staffer stepped in. The elevator went up a single floor before the doors opened and Foxx walked in with an aide. […]
Foxx said to the staffer, “This is a ‘members-only’ elevator; can you read?” She then demanded the staffer’s name before the elevator stopped after going just one more floor up. “Get out here,” Foxx supposedly commanded. Before our insider and the berated staffer exited, the politician exclaimed, “What does this sign say? It says, ‘Members of Congress only.’ ”
But that wasn’t it. The innocent staffer attempted to point out that the sign next to it stated, “during votes,” which is when, our tipster says, Foxx started yelling, “Members only!” as she pointed to signs. “I’m just making sure we are hiring people who know how to read,” the lawmaker said.
What a bitch. Sorry, Pandora, Cassandra, the term applies here.
Rhymes with SHUNT.
Those Clinton numbers alone will clear the field.
The great minds over at Red State are calling for conservatives to replace John Boehner.
Don’t know about you, but I’m amused.
That would be icing on the cake. Boehner won’t even make the history books, except as the Tea Party’s water boy.
After having done nothing except kiss teabag ass for 4 years, it would be the most awesome irony ever if 16 House teabags abstained and deprived Boehner of the speakership.
I remember a story about Fred Grandy (TV’s Gopher) being on an elevator with a staffer who cheekily asked him to push the button for the Lido deck.
The staffer was identified and fired. Some people have no sense of humor.
I’ve heard from friends that none of the rules of 21st century office decorum exist in Congress. It is wall to wall ‘Mad Men.’
Love this headline: DeMint’s departure leaves no void, Senate conservatives insist