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News tidbits from yesterday and today:
-- The Senate Democrats managed to shoot down the latest Republican poison-pill amendment to the Democratic energy bill, Pete Domenici's (R-Jammies) "Let's Lie About Coal And Nuclear" amendment. Alas, while most of the Democrats are backing a clean, strong bill, we can't depend on all of them to behave: Michigan's Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, at the behest of their state's floundering auto industry (which wouldn't be floundering quite so badly if its CEOs and COOs weren't skimming so much cream off the top, but that's another story), are among those legislators being lobbied by the vast army of auto-industry flacks to water down or vote against the bill.
-- Speaking of legislation, Bush is going to cater to the remnants of his base and veto the Democrats' stem-cell bill, even though the vast majority of Americans favor this research.
-- Rudy Who? As I predicted a while back, GOP backing for America's MayorTM wasn't able to withstand Fred Thompson's entry into the Republican presidential candidate field. Now all those Fundies who hate Catholics and Italians and East Coasties can cuddle up to someone who looks and sounds like them even though he's spent most of the past quarter-century as a highly-paid slick-as-oil lobbyist on Capitol Hill.
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PW!
Phoenix Woman!
Science is a major victim of this administration.
Reminds me - time to get the septic tank pumped…
OT but it’s rich. Lights Out Cohen on his live blog rationalizing his column implies that Libby has suffered enough because he has spent all his money on legal fees and he hasn’t slept in 8 months.
Ed*ard Teller @ 4
Indeed!
Cohen needs to quit mainlining the Kool aid.
He has sprinted away from reality and everything that he spouts sounds like someone from Mork.
EPU’d
TheOtherWA @ 151
Bluetoe @ 5
Oh, yeah. Christy ripped into Cohen big-time yesterday. As did Bob Somerby, Glenn Greenwald, and every other thinking person in the blogosphere.
Living in the DC metro area, we’re constantly bombarded with position ads from various industry groups. The latest round of radio ads come from the oil industry, making all kinds of scary claims about “returning to the 70’s and long gas lines”. There’s even one echoing the same line from - get this - the “SUV Owners Of America”
looks like Rudy is floating a trial balloon for the No. 2 slot on the ticket.
Oh, boo hoo, Scooter hasn’t slept in 8 months. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 6 years.
America’s energy needs are best served by clandestine policy making by the Vice President, oil services industries, and oil companies.
Anyone who believes otherwise, doesn’t know Dick.
America’s Mayor has certain things to worry about:
Giuliani is a walking time bomb. His pre-9/11 and post-9/11 record with NYC firefighters, his enstrangement from his kids (who, BTW, have both dropped his last name), his dalliance with Kerik, and so on, will blow up in his face as time goes on and may well combust his candidacy. You heard it here first.
‘Scuse me, but cynic as I am, I think Cohen is lapping up all this attention he is getting, negative as it may be. He strikes me as the sort of person who needs to be noticed, however assholish he looks trying to get that attention. Nothing we say is going to change his mind. That Newmanish “What, me worry?” grin tells it all.
Lights Out Cohen is maintaining that the trial is about “nothing.” He also states that V. Plame was not covert! This is truly stunning.
If the US car mfrs would spend 1/10th the time on fuel efficiency that they spend thinking up ways to circumvent it, they wouldn’t be getting their butts handed to them by the Asians. Again.
And with Bloomberg entering the ring, the two New York mayors have to point out to world how they know, up close and personal, what a sucky job of mayoring the other did. Mutual Assured Destruction. Neither will be able to win their own home state.
Ed*ard Teller @ 4
Don’t delay! (Ask me how I know.)
Hmmm, I wonder if Mr. Cohen will choose my question?
I’m betting not…
It won’t much matter Redshift. He’s totally incoherent despite many very good questions. A highlight:
RedShift at 20 — How dare you bait him with your evil logic, you meanie. (I’m guessing not as well. SIGH) And I do think that dreamcatcher is correct that the attention is something that he is enjoying, sad to say.
This South Carolina coke-indicted Tom Ravenel, Rudy’s state chairman until yesterday, looks like he comes from the not-Rove cookie cutter, the other one, the Mehlman mold.
Appparently, this indictment means Lindsey Graham is safe from a challenge from the right, until the reichers come up with someone else.
Interesting that Ravenel was talked of as the challenge to Graham — we were all chatting on Pach’s Saturday nite post about “what does Lindsey get outta this relationship?” I guess we know now — a quick takedown after a year-long investigation.
dreamcatcher @ 15
Good that he decided to clarify his position with the online chat. I’m now a true believer in his assholiness. Lieberman would be proud.
Tom Steele @ 10
Ya know, if Big Oil executives spent the money on R&D that they spend on lobbyists and feathering their own nests, Japan wouldn’t be kicking their asses so hard.
My question to Cohen will never see the light of day, either:
“Exactly which (type, class, genotype, etc.) people are not afraid of jail time?”
Prairie Sunshine @ 17
Great minds think alike, PS!
punaise @ 11
“Eeewwww! A floater!“
Christy Hardin Smith @ 22
The chatz-manager simply turned off the “ask a question” token at the bottom of the page at approximately 9:50 PT. Cohen seems finished (ah, how I wish!)
Prairie Sunshine @ 17
Amen. I’ve heard that the technology exists to build non-hybrid cars that get much higher gas mileage, but they can make more money from the hybrids.
spurious @ 3
Yup, because science is about finding the truth, and if BushCo hates anything, it’s truth.
I’ve just read emptywheel’s dissection of Susan Ralston’s deposition mentioned in the “Processed” post; it’s the kind of skilled investigative journalism - putting the pieces together - you might have seen in the MSM thirty years ago.
Nowdays I have FDL as my home page and a bookmark folder at the top of my browser with half-a-dozen other blogs that I trust and use regularly, including emptywheel.
Thank God for the Internets…
Energy bill? Oh yeah. Did you folks see that Sen. Kohl (D-WI) got an amendment passed that allows USA to sue OPEC for price fixing?
I’d like to see Bush sign that bill without having a chat with Uncle Bandar Bush.
Ed*ard Teller –
Josh Marshall at TPM put out an APB for dirt on Senator “dealin” Stevens — if you have any, pass it along.
Phoenix Woman @ 27
Must be the rarefied air of Minnesota….
Drive By Posting:
Tweety Attempt To Get Rival Haddad Fired After Open Mike Puts Expletive On Air!
Rule Number 1: Blame somebody else.
There was a comment that really struck me in a diary at Kos this morning in response to the outrage that is eating everybody up about everything, and it pointed out the degrees of “grief”.
We have to be careful not to end up in the “acceptance” category ultimately….we have to fight on from a position of unity and keep countering the lies people like Cohen are given a platform to spread.
spurious @ 30
Maybe someday they’ll realize there’s more money to be made being enviro-friendly for the long term.
TeddySanFran @ 23
And of course, this is the sort of thing that if it’d happened to a Democrat would be all over the evening news. (Remember the MSM’s vastly different handlings of the forced outings of Jim McGreevey and David Dreier, both of whom were accused of putting their boyfriends on the payroll?)
Indeed.
OfT: Local news last nite had a story that a rider got slipped into the farm bill late — it will void the local laws that prevent GM foods from being planted. Four counties in California (Marin, Mendocino, two others) have local laws preventing GM foods. The new farm bill makes these laws illegal and prevents other localities from passing new ones.
Paging Dr Murphy…
Hiya Phoenix Woman!
I think the repubs have a bunch of crappy candidates on their list.
Prairie Sunshine @ 38
You mean like that wacko who claims to have invented the internets ?
I heard that Ford sells cars with great mileage in Europe but they don’t sell the same ones here. Is that true? Anyone know?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 36
What. A. Fucking. Tool. (And I take full responsibility for that cussing.)
How much of a worthless coward crapstain do you have to be to blame somebody else for your own lack of control?
tpres2000 @ 32
The MSM is dead……….Long Live the Internets
Hey, I know this is OT…I fell asleep before the Digby video was posted.
Is there anyone who knows/would be willing to give us a rundown of all the people who were standing on stage with Digby? There are only a few that I can recognize, but would like to know who the rest are.
Phoenix Woman @ 45
I think that’s part of the form you sign when you register republican.
ironranger @ 12
I wonder if this a**wipe read the article in his very own paper the other day about the 20 year old Iraq veteran who can’t sleep because he is watching a never ending loop of his sergeant being blown to bits.
Phoenix Woman @ 45
Lower than Imus.
Meanwhile, MoDo is back on the tails of the Clintons:
(NYTimes link behind TimesSelect firewall.)
The usual suspectsFox News All-Stars’ Bash Progressive Bloggers As ‘Pungent,’ ‘Profane,’ ‘A Pox’: LINKThanks PW!
SnarKassandra @ 44
Of course they do, or they couldn’t compete in Europe. We got an entirely different and less fuel-efficient Ford Focus, for example. Another sad story: Saturn (built from the ground up over the last 15 years by GM to build small American cars) now imports its primary sedan and crossover (SUV-type) from GM’s Euro subsidiary, Opel
TeddySanFran @ 41
And someone from WVa (harumph) has tried / is trying to slip one into the energy(?) bill that shuts down windpower (save the poor birds; promote liquified coal). I wrote my rep about both of these when I heard of them, but it is damn near impossible to find out what amendments are alive, when they’re to be voted on… Frustrating.
Lou Costello @ 52
oooh, goodie, free publicity
you know what is really scary pheonix?
the auto industry would be enjoying the RICHEST years of their HISTORY if they would have invested in alternative technology
there are friggin wating lines for hybrid cars, there is a HUGE demand for electric cars AND THESE IDIOTS SOLD THE BATTERY TECHNOLGY TO THE FRIGGIN OIL MAGNAGES
we should be on the CUTTING EDGE of autmotive alaternative technology yet because of reagan and both bush’s we STILL rely on oil
we could EASILY be energy independant and OUR auto industry should be THRIVING
with a proper alternative fuel auto industry EVERYONE with petro cars would be ITCHING to get the new technology
that’s the scary part, the FACT that higher efficiency standards HELP the industry it does NOT hurt the auto industry
Now that really tells you sumpin about what kind of elephant-sized dung heap the GOP is in right now.
As a former contract worker for GM and former employee of an auto supplier in the Detroit area, I’ve never understood the backward looking of the “Big Three” and Levin and Stabenow. One would think innovation and getting a jump on the need for alternatives would re-fuel (pun intended) the industry. But no, they know better than me. So I’m out of it, on to a new career.
Bluetoe @ 16
There is a Chinese Wall at the Post between the op-ed board and the reporters.
That is, people like Cohen can’t be bothered to read what peole like Carol Leonnig or Dana Priest write.
TeddySanFran @ 54
So who’s really to blame here? Obviously the Big Three can make greener cars.
It’s not about the mileage or emissions.
How’s healthcare in Europe?
I posted this at the end of the previous entry and it needs to be reposted
you know there’s a huge issue we are being faced with…I predicted this a short while ago too;
the more we expose the depravity of these people the more brazen they become
they feel like they have less and less time to accomplish their goal and they have less and less to loose
look at torture…the American public has somehow begun to accept torture as some kind of tool that works (it doesn’t work but Americans are convinced it does)
look at Abu Gonzales…clearly a liar, clearly using his position to steal whatever the administration can steal, and in the face of more and more depravity he enjoys stronger and stronger support
look at Libby…this man is clearly a traitor, he clearly exposed vital national secrets at our nations peril, he clearly is covering up the tracks of other traitors and it’s becoming acceptable to actually consider a friggin pardon!
look at war…this president clearly lied us into war and is somehow able to lie more to begin a new war on a new front in Iran
look at the world trade center…we know as a fact the president was given precise intel informing him of the attack certain to come…intel this precise is almost impossible to acquire…he actually stood down even though there was a successfull template to follow he did none of it…yet even though the public knows these facts he can still act as if he defends this country
look at the economy…we know as a fact the president has given middle class investments acquired over generations to people so wealthy they will never ever spend it…yet the president continues his tax giveaway programs and continues to claim they are working
look at our military…general after general has informed the public the president has destroyed the armed forces of this nation, has squandered the assets and reduced it’s ability to dangerous levels…we know as a fact the president did exactly the opposite of the military advice given…yet the president is able to claim he is strengthening our security
we are told he has increased the amount of terrorists exponentially yet he continues to claim he is fighting terrorism
the list goes on and on…the more he is exposed the more brazen he becomes.
what is left for us?
who would have possibly guessed how much damage we would uncover when we won the majority, if even one of the things this president did were exposed of a democrat the press would have had that persons head…yet we are helpless
the more they are exposed the more brazen they become
we have to do something, we have to start talking to the republicans and deal, we have to stop what is happening to this country, America can’t wait, the world can’t wait
spurious @ 30
The partner and I drive a standard 1992 Honda Accord Wagon. Yeah, we take care of it and it is a low mileage car (only 80,000 miles after 15 years). But on a recent road trip, we got 33 mpg heading uphill from Nebraska into Colorado. And by the way, this car was built in a factory in this country, so let’s not call this Honda a foreign immigrant.
The technology is and has been available. For years.
Seems to me that some of us have been singing to Detroit with our purchases (or lack thereof) for years. Have they listened?
Maybe they would if more of us joined the chorus?
Lou Costello @ 52
I’ll take that as a grudging, offhand compliment.
All that means is that we are effective and they don’t have the first friggin’ clue as to what to do about it.
Rayne @ 61
why aren’t we demanding greener cars? then they’d make’em.
GordonM at 55 — If I had to guess on that one (and it would only be a guess, because I don’t know who is doing it), I’d say it’s likely Shelly Capito. She represents the Elkins area where environmental groups have been working for years to prevent a wind power farm from going in at the pristine wilderness area. There is a recent state supreme court decision in that case as well. FYI.
From NYT:
Still, Mr. Giuliani is likely to view even this level of flirtation as a serious betrayal: His support for Mr. Bloomberg in 2001, after the attacks of Sept. 11, was critical to Mr. Bloomberg’s success and accounts for why he is where he is today.
I dunno what happened there. I even edited my post but it ain’t there.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 36
Tweety is a crybaby AND a bully. What a combination.
Biodun @ 51
I have to agree with her on that one. Not a huge Celine Dion fan. Course, not a huge Hill fan either. But it is totally trivial stuff which we all know she loves to write about from time to time.
Still, I saw the clip on CSPAN this morning, thought it was kinda silly and pandering, but what do I know? I never watched the Sopranos.
When it comes to environmental issues, Gore is king. And on other issues too, he is the best by far.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 67
is this gonna devolve to Godzilla v Gargantua?
I have been driving for a whole two days so far. (I might get to drive today if the rain stops, but still only in parking lots.) I am learning on my brother’s girlfriend’s car, which is really small and gets good mileage, but my brother wants me to drive his truck or something else big when I have my license because he thinks that little cars get crushed too much in accidents with SUV’s. (He also wants her to drive a bigger car or a truck but she said no.) Anyway, as long as there are huge SUV’s all over, a lot of people won’t want to switch to smaller cars with better mileage.
Wordpress seriously buggy today.
The last three posts (65-67) are one huge link.
Busted — It’s there — try refreshing your whole screen.
Allan at 74 — I’m not seeing any problems. What are you seeing? Can you be more specific? What browser are you using, for starters?
In response to LS at 37: We do have to be careful not to end up in the “acceptance” stage of grief; we must grieve that our country has in some ways died but look for ways to begin again, where we are.
In teaching, we learn the hard lesson everyday that we can only teach children at the edge of where they are able to learn. No way around it.
Our country is in a crisis - thus, the world - and we must find ways to meet those who are deluded where they are able to learn. That will require becoming mainstream (they won’t come looking for information here). So, if what I wrote has merit, how do we become mainstream?
Re: Chris Matthews and the word sh*t on air:
Gore has enemies. Big oil, Auto makers and the DLC.
Some thing is definitely buggy.
After refreshing the whole page I see my post but I tried to post again and had no submit comment button,twice.
PS @ 38
“Maybe someday they’ll realize there’s more money to be made being enviro-friendly for the long term.”
Belaboring the obvious, they clearly have no vision that includes the long term. Management’s choices and decisions are based on what will get them the best pay increases, bonuses and stock options at year’s end.
Unfortunately, labor’s vision is similarly short-term.
But I am surprised that there haven’t been stock-holder lawsuits for mismanagement.
Smile when you say “buggy,” mister. The “Q” in my handle is just for style.
Hows this?
*G*
Bustednuckles @ 83
Had your eyes closed in that picture. Try again. :)
See y’all at late night! Check out my Bloomberg post!
Bye!
SnarKassandra @ 42
That, my dear, is an understatement. But, I must admit, just watching them in action provides much-needed comic relief and some good, old-fashioned belly laughs.
This just in:
Mitt “Double Gitmo” Romney just announced he will re-name the new and improved Guantanamo facility he has promised if elected president.
The name, wait for it . . .
“MittMo!”
(Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week. Try the veal.)
Complain to the FCC here about Chris Matthews’ swear on the air yesterday, if you like. I did.
TeddySanFran @ 86
He also admitted they are all actors. Not very good ones, IMO
Sigh,
Back to work, dangit.
I don’t understand , it’s bad enough they expect me to be here on time, but then they actually want me to do stuff!
Lou Costello @ 52
Maybe Jane, Christy, Pach, etc. should challenge The Pox also-rans to a debate, and then let the public decide who is more pungent and profane?
C’mon Pox, what are you afraid of?
Tweety = serial swearer
Mandrake @ 85
I’m a little worried bloomberg is gonna run…I think he takes more democrats then republicans however the reverse could be true
for instance, there are republicans that WANT anything BUT a republican but they can’t bring themselves to voting democratic
that leaves bloomers
however if there is nobody exciting then the democrats will look to bloomers like he is the best thing they can get and he will take some of our needed votes
personally I don’t like him in the race, I think it helps the re puke licans
-ck- @ 34
Back before TPM was very big - just Josh posting a few times a day - he’d write back if I e-mailed him. But he’s gotten a lot busier and perhaps perceives me as too pro-Palestinian for his tastes. I’ve sent stuff along to him or to Paul Kiel or to Laura McGann on Ted Stevens and on Don Young. Several times.
The guy the TPM crew needs to interview is Ray Metcalfe, the source of much of the information the FBI used to get their investigations rolling. Metcalfe has been a thorn in the side of GOP corruption here for years, and his knowledge is encyclopedic on the subject. He outdoes the MSM media and the cops every fucking step of the way. Josh, Paul and Laura know how to get hold of Ray, have known how to for months. I found Josh’s plea to be quite disingenuous.
spurious @ 3
Yes - this can’t be underestimated. Bright flight from governmental agencies, leads to gutted research and development agendas, which leads to the weakening of R&D industry - goes to other countries, which further depletes supply of scientists and academicians in the US, which leads to erosion of healthcare, consumer protections (OSHA,CDC,FDA,NIOSH, USDA, CMS, Dept of Ed, Geological services, Dept of interior, etc, etc.) So our supply of qualified educators decreases, we lose physicians and nurses due to lack of faculty and lack of salary support, educational loan, support. It’s a cancer which has metastacized, and is in danger of eliminating global competitiveness of the US in science, R&D, healthcare and education. Very much a third world policy agenda.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 76
I refreshed and it’s gone. Thanks.
Incidentally, the FCC does treat these complaints seriously. Although recently smacked down by the Supremes, they did send me a thoughtful response to my complaint about the “HANNITY SUCKS ASS” sign aired at a Connecticut event on Hannity & Colmes on Fox.
Bustednuckles @ 80
No submit button: I’ve been having that problem intermittently this week. I just copy, refresh, and paste. (The submit button comes back when you refresh.) Yes, Wordpress is definitely buggy. FYI: I use IE and my cache is more or less empty. (I empty it several times a day since I work exclusively online.)
We have a local company here that leases portable outhouses.
Their name . . . “KitMo”
Anyone see an appropriateness here?
TeddySanFran @ 54
The Subarus are different too, or at least were when I bought mine in 1998. The Forester models sold in Australia and Europe had smaller motors and got better gas mileage. Japan has been very sensitive to mainstream American preferences. (Also, the US has more safety requirements, which add weight and reduce horsepower.)
oldmommy: Oh yeah, the list is long of people who can’t sleep.
Families of soldiers.
People w/o jobs, health insurance, etc.
People worried about losing their jobs, health insurance, etc.
People worried about our country going to hell in a handbasket.
Scooter has a big safety net even if he does spend some time in the pokey. He will be provided with a well paying job & who knows what else by his pals.
I’ve heard 5 year olds come up with better excuses than Cohen & co for not being punished when caught breaking the rules.
Bluetoe @ 46
“no, no, no, they’re outside
looking in”
Well, this is scary. So much for all that “blue island in a sea of red” talk about Austin TX.
Don’t mean to call out a whole town (or state!) based on this event, but jeez — vigilantism in any form is hella scary!
perris @ 91
I think it’s gonna take a little while to see how this thing shakes out. I have a feeling he may drop out at some point. I kinda think he will hurt the Repubes more than Dems. Some big money Repubes might want to back him but I’m not so sure about the average Joe (Reagan is God) Blow voter.
Plus, Repubes will jump all over his “elitist and monied” background. However hypocritical that may seem, that’s exactly what they’re gonna do.
I can’t see most independents going for him either. I get the feeling they lean more populist. Of course, that is purely conjecture on my part.
It isn’t just the senators from Michigan, either. Sessions was complaining about funding alternate sources of energy: you’d think his state (Alabama, is it?) is permanently on the dark side of the moon, to hear him talking about wind and solar power.
(They could probably run the state on his hot air production, though. /snark)
perris @ 57