Open Thread

Congratulations to Governor Markell and Lt. Governor Denn on their inauguarations to their second terms. Check out Marc Ambinder on why President Obama took the Trillion Dollar Coin option off the table. And he's right, because if you've lost Jon Stewart... .

"Around 11:45 on Monday morning, Justice Clarence Thomas broke almost seven years of silence during Supreme Court arguments. But it was not entirely clear what he said."

It is criminal that he gets paid to be a judge. He is nothing but an automoton.

"Every President elected between 1976 and 2004 was, by birth or by choice, a Southerner, except Ronald Reagan, who enjoyed a sort of honorary status. (When he began the 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, scene of the murder, in 1964, of three civil-rights workers, many Southerners heard it as a dog whistle.) A Southern accent, once thought quaint or even backward, became an emblem of American authenticity, a political trump card. It was a truism that no Democrat could win the White House unless he spoke with a drawl. Now the South is becoming isolated again."

As it should be. This is a spectacularly good thing.

The weekend! And it seems like the political news has slowed down some, or is that just me? Anyway, I do hope that you have plans to enjoy this warm weekend.

Friday! Yay! Just a few hours until Happy Hour. You've probably heard of the contretemps between Piers Morgan and Alex Jones based on their interview discussing gun rights and the obligation to gun safety. Apparently Morgan pissed off Jones, who started a White House petition demanding that Morgan get deported. This petition was answered by WH Press Secretary Jay Carney, who used it as an opportunity to explain that the First Amendment means something:

Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First. President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press -- fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy. Americans may disagree on matters of public policy and express those disagreements vigorously, but no one should be punished by the government simply because he or she expressed a view on the Second Amendment -- or any other matter of public concern.

Awesome -- read your constitution, people!

President Obama nominates his Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, to head the Treasury Department and the Republicans are having a fit. Why? Jon Chait has the answer:

Lew’s disqualification, according to numerous Republicans quoted in the story, is that he doesn’t agree with Republicans on public policy issues. The quotes are sort of amazing:

Johanns said it’s also about policy, saying a Lew choice would be “controversial.”

When can you say an idea is gaining momentum? The WSJ had an essay on Saturday calling the War on Drugs a Failure. To be sure, this essay did not appear on the famously wingnutty WSJ Opinion page, but still. I'm intrigued by these articles that point out the high cost of some of our worst social decisions -- it is looking like we are trying to give ourselves permission to get smarter and stop throwing so much money down the drain:

Boehner caves already, admitting that the House Republicans' threat not to raise the nation's debt ceiling in budget negotiations with President Obama is an empty one.

The Sunday Yack Shows yesterday were full of discussions of Government Shutdown if the GOP doesn't get what it wants to raise the debt ceiling. From here, it looks like they want the Democrats to propose a bunch of budget cuts that the GOP can run against in 2014. Have I got that wrong? As you think about the stupidity of this demand, you might want to read this piece from The Atlantic, which asks, Are People Being Unfair to the House Republicans? Steve LaTourette is interviewed and asked to defend the 112th GOP caucus.

Who knew there would be snow and ice this AM? The traffic reports were full of issues, so I stayed home instead of going to Philly today. This is what I've been reading:

If you are still recovering from all of the revelry and working on getting back to it on Monday, maybe you'll have some time to sit down with a cup of hot something and read some of these longish pieces from recent publications.

Ezra Klein: "What's the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It's hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule."

Breitbart News (with is a contradiction in terms) claims at least 20 House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position when it comes up for a vote tomorrow. Now, there are 233 Republicans taking their oaths of office tomorrow. If there are really 20 Republicans who will not vote for Boehner for Speaker, that means Boehner will be denied a majority, as 233 minus 20 is 213. Since there will be two vacancies at the start of the new Congress, only 217 votes is needed for a majority. So Boehner needs to peel off either 4 of those Republicans or 4 conservative Democrats to remain Speaker. Are there 4 conservative Democrats in the House anymore? Perhaps that is why John Boehner had a short temper with Harry Reid outside the Oval Office last Friday.