Good morning Christy, I never did hear how the little doggie fared, everything turn out alright?

Busted — Yep, she’s doing great. Thanks for asking.

Could Mitch McConnell really done that bad of a job vetting his staff?

Ditch Mitch! McConnell already needed to be taken down, but this is so wrong.

Karma’s a bitch..

and I have to admit, I take special joy this time in seeing her bite the neocons right on their collective asses.

Hello again, Christy…

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Is there a place where I can make a donation?

Bush asks “Is our children learning?”

Although, as C&L points out, and so does SadlyNo! and MediaMatters (H/T brendan) and mahablog, some of them didn’t bother to learn a thing…

It would seem, then, that the answer to Bush’s question is “no.”

If the conservative blogs would help take him down….OH yeah. I still maintain that most of the heavy lifting will eventually be done by Republicans themselves, who are sick of what’s happened to their party and our country.

“Just remember this, Mr. PotterMcConnell, that this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?”

Doesn’t good health and education make future generations better citizens?

Pardon my barging in here (off-topic)–could you dastardly “foul-mouthed fem-bloggers” pls. give this very unscientific Bangor Daily News Susan Collins/Tom Allen “poll” a smackdown?

Thanks muchly~

From Countdown last night:

OLBERMANN: Mrs. Frost, your address posted online, these lies accepted as facts, death threats. Did you know beforehand that people like this existed in America?

BONNIE FROST: I knew people like this existed in America. But I am shocked that it came to this, that they seem to use this as a distraction technique to take away the issue at hand. And that is that millions of children in America are without health insurance and could benefit greatly from the S-CHIP bill, just like my family has. And my main goal was to get that message across, that we just want to help other families like we have been helped. And just thinking that it was turned around in such a nasty, negative way is unbelievable to me.

HALSEY FROST: Yes, definitely an agenda that they seem to need to be filling. Because I guess when you have to attack in such a manner, you‘re obviously it‘s a distraction because the facts are very clear. This helps hard working American families. This country needs this now. And I am sorely disappointed in our president for not having his finger on the pulse of what‘s going on right now.

And Halsey Frost explains the fiction:

OLBERMANN: Mr. Frost, just deconstruct this fictional picture of your family that‘s been put together by the fringe, the lunatic fringe. You‘re a business owner? You work out of a commercial property you own. You live on a street full of half million dollar homes. You pay 20 grand a year for your kids to go to private school.

HALSEY FROST, FATHER OF GRAEME FROST: It would seem to me it would be common sense if you do all the math on that, that we‘d be doing really, really well. And that‘s far from the case. You know, that‘s quite a rosy picture they painted. But the fact is I did have a business. Of course, they did not report properly that I ran from like—Frost Works from 1990 and folded up around ‘98, ‘99, went as far as incorporating that, actually carrying health insurance. And actually that was probably one of the nails in the coffin in that business. It became cost too much to bear for that.

And half a million dollar homes. This is a house that we bought as a just near about shell and did all the work ourselves. So I would hope that we‘re not punished for the sweat equity into that. But I have the ability and the unique skills to be able to do everything that‘s required to turn this property around. And this is our home. This is not an investment thing. This is the Frost house.

(Same link as my 12.)

Epu’d It pays to call and insist upon an answer.

Tom Latham(r-Iowa) will vote to overide the preisidents veto according to Jacob Parker, Senior Legislative Aide to Latham.

I got a call back in spite of being in Braley’s district. Yea!

Roxanne @ 7

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Is there a place where I can make a donation?

BlueAmerica PAC could probably figure out a way to do something productive with any donations that would make Mitch’s professional life a little more precarious than it already is.

Ed*ard Teller @ 4

Ditch Mitch! McConnell already needed to be taken down, but this is so wrong.

I also want to know what reporters(besides the Malkin-ite kind published these smears. Did any of the traditional media publish them?

Sorry to be OT
Jena 6 hearing. The Panel unanimously determines that hanging of the nooses was a “hate crime”

Peterr @ 15

Roxanne @ 7

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Is there a place where I can make a donation?

BlueAmerica PAC could probably figure out a way to do something productive with any donations that would make Mitch’s professional life a little more precarious than it already is.

Just think, McConnell and Elaine Chao’s could both be tossed onto K Street at the same time!!

Democrats “used” the Frosts to help other children obtain health care (and, let’s not kid ourselves, help the Ds win votes).

Republicans “used” the Frosts to attack other children and deny them health care (thinking it would win R votes).

The Republican’s electoral strategy makes no sense to me.

Ed*ard Teller @ 4

Ditch Mitch! McConnell already needed to be taken down, but this is so wrong.

Ditch Mitch KY!

Joe Klein’s conscience @ 16

Ed*ard Teller @ 4

Ditch Mitch! McConnell already needed to be taken down, but this is so wrong.

I also want to know what reporters(besides the Malkin-ite kind published these smears. Did any of the traditional media publish them?

From the Baltimore Sun.

Although they’ll say they were just reporting on conservative bloggers…

Jim Clausen @ 14

Epu’d It pays to call and insist upon an answer.

Tom Latham(r-Iowa) will vote to overide the preisidents veto according to Jacob Parker, Senior Legislative Aide to Latham.

I got a call back in spite of being in Braley’s district. Yea!

Woohoo!!

Great job Jim.

Mitch McConnell got into the Senate by running one of the first purely negative campaigns against the Democratic incumbent Dee Huddleston. Having founded his Senate career on smears, it is hard to believe that he didn’t sign off on this one as well.

Peterr @ 3

Could Mitch McConnell really done that bad of a job vetting his staff?

Could Kentucky really have done that bad a job vetting its Senator?

Joe Klein’s conscience @ 16

Ed*ard Teller @ 4

Ditch Mitch! McConnell already needed to be taken down, but this is so wrong.

I also want to know what reporters(besides the Malkin-ite kind published these smears. Did any of the traditional media publish them?

My understanding is that John Roberts of CNN totally swallowed the kool-aid down to using the “Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?” sentence.

Jena 6
After Rep.King ask the panel whether the hanging of the nooses was a “hate crime” and they unanimously agree that it was. King ask whether the beating of the young white man was a “hate crime”. The panel said “no”.

Al Sharpton then brings up to King that the point is that the hanging of the nooses was not even handled as a crime, but as a prank by the school.

Just wait, if the SCHIP veto is overturned you’ll be hearing cries of “It will hurt the troops!”

MSM on the Frost smear:

And from Time Magaine.

JF @ 24

Peterr @ 3

Could Mitch McConnell really done that bad of a job vetting his staff?

Could Kentucky really have done that bad a job vetting its Senator?

Much of Kentucky politics is owned by Big Coal so yes, in Mitch they got exactly what they wanted.

egregious @ 9

If the conservative blogs would help take him down….OH yeah. I still maintain that most of the heavy lifting will eventually be done by Republicans themselves, who are sick of what’s happened to their party and our country.

Hi eg, mornin’ all.

Yeah, those conservative bloggers should just ask Colin Powell how he feels about political “allies” burning their credibility. neo-cons are USERS.

And the Frost smear campaigners got some ammo from this NYTimes wedding announcement of the Frosts.

Just called Virginia Foxx & told staffer I was insulted to read her letter of response calling the SCHIP bill a “Democrat bill”. Also took issue with her assertion that the bill provides healthcare to “illegal aliens”.

Biodun @ 28

MSM on the Frost smear:

And from Time Magaine.

saw that. and note it doesn’t give Ms. MM any space. *g*

egregious @ 9

If the conservative blogs would help take him down….OH yeah. I still maintain that most of the heavy lifting will eventually be done by Republicans themselves, who are sick of what’s happened to their party and our country.

That is exactly what is happening with the GOP in Alaska.

The Cushing spot price for oil is currently $86.65. The unmotivated speculative frenzy continues. Think of it as a mini-bubble.

Arca @ 27

Just wait, if the SCHIP veto is overturned you’ll be hearing cries of “It will hurt the troops!”

Actually.. it’s always fun to see what links the wingnut fringe comes up with in cases like this. For example: when they found out the Cleveland school shooting last week was carried out by a white kid, the Freepers (the same people who published the Frosts address, if I remember correctly) started using the pure conjecture that he was “probably used as a punching bag” by the black kids at his school, to justify his actions… since no tragedy could conceivably be the result of anything other than minority violence toward the master race.

Ed*ard Teller @ 34

egregious @ 9

If the conservative blogs would help take him down….OH yeah. I still maintain that most of the heavy lifting will eventually be done by Republicans themselves, who are sick of what’s happened to their party and our country.

That is exactly what is happening with the GOP in Alaska.

Really appreciate your updates on the political situation up there. Also your dinner menus. More please.

Fair MSM coverage (in the Indianapolis Star) of the Frost smear.

(From WaPo columnist E.J. Dionne.)

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Now let me get this straight: Conservative bloggers (and, I presume, journalists & telejournalists) are mad at Mitch McConnell’s office because they didn’t do their homework? So they’re left holding the bag? I thought it was their job to verify the information they get before publishing it. Yet it’s the Senator’s fault?

Far be it from me to defend Mitch McConnell’s office, because it’s not the first time I’ve heard of him asking specifically for dirt, for ammunition for a smear campaign. But that fact alone should have been enough to clue any good journalist or blogger in, and they know for sure that he’s far beyond partisan, that he has an agenda, for sure. So the fact that so-called journalists and bloggers did not fact check anything the Senate Minority Leader’s office told them about the opposition party or anyone representing the opposition’s POV, is reprehensible and inexcusable.

Peterr @ 8

Bush asks “Is our children learning?”

Although, as C&L points out, and so does SadlyNo! and MediaMatters (H/T brendan) and mahablog, some of them didn’t bother to learn a thing…

It would seem, then, that the answer to Bush’s question is “no.”

Well, you’d probably prefer to Ms. Perino correct your transcript, but I thought the quote was

Is our childrens learning?

;)

Hugh @ 29

JF @ 24

Could Kentucky really have done that bad a job vetting its Senator?

Much of Kentucky politics is owned by Big Coal so yes, in Mitch they got exactly what they wanted.

Hugh,
As a native of the Bluegrass, let me qualify your statement. A lot of the Republican Party of Kentucky is owned by Big Coal. And a lot of folks in Kentucky were bamboozled by McConnell et al for years.

But there will be a new Democratic governor most likely inaugurated in early December and most likely a new Democratic senator in the state in January 2009. Many voters are not happy about Mountain Top removal mining and how the miners have been treated in the recent past. Mr Peabody’s coal train no longer drives the state, if it ever did.

Ann in AZ at 39 — No, the bloggers are pissed off because, as I am hearing it, they were prodded into fronting out the oppo on the Frosts and then left taking all the heat for the strategy while McConnell’s office refused to comment on it for a week. They are pissed at McConnell for not being honest about his office’s role in all of this and for leaving them with egg on their faces while his office tried to look in the clear.

Hugh @ 35

The Cushing spot price for oil is currently $86.65. The unmotivated speculative frenzy continues. Think of it as a mini-bubble.

I heard on NPR this morning that, adjusted for inflation, the current price of oil beats the record high of 1980 or 1981.

yellowsnapdragon @ 43

Hugh @ 35

The Cushing spot price for oil is currently $86.65. The unmotivated speculative frenzy continues. Think of it as a mini-bubble.

I heard on NPR this morning that, adjusted for inflation, the current price of oil beats the record high of 1980 or 1981.

Not to mention, it’s what, about 4 times what it was when Bush took office?

Christy Hardin Smith @ 42

Ann in AZ at 39 — No, the bloggers are pissed off because, as I am hearing it, they were prodded into fronting out the oppo on the Frosts and then left taking all the heat for the strategy while McConnell’s office refused to comment on it for a week. They are pissed at McConnell for not being honest about his office’s role in all of this and for leaving them with egg on their faces while his office tried to look in the clear.

So I guess it is ok for “others” to be thrown under the bus, but not for them, personally, huh?

Toby at 45 — Yes, that would be my understanding. Cozy, isn’t it?

The Cushing spot price just jumped to $87.75. I can’t stress strongly enough that this has more to do with a casino mentality than it has to do with economic realities.

Ann in AZ @ 39

Now let me get this straight: Conservative bloggers (and, I presume, journalists & telejournalists) are mad at Mitch McConnell’s office because they didn’t do their homework?

So… they call for the family’s lynching, publish his home address, and then blame McConnell for ‘forcing’ ‘em to behave in a such an utterly disgusting manner?

I guess the rightyblogs work the opposite way ours do. Instead of serving as the conscience of their leaders, investigating and exposing their failings, their job is to be their mindless hired thugs, kicking to death anybody those leaders point out as being worthy of such disposal?

I suppose they feel extra guilty ’cause the victim of their latest act of Brown Shirt thuggery was a white kid, whose middle class suburban family could’ve been right in their base.

do-si-do

Many thanks!

*g*

Hugh @ 35

The Cushing spot price for oil is currently $86.65. The unmotivated speculative frenzy continues. Think of it as a mini-bubble.

do you know where i can watch the price of heating oil in the NE? that’s the one that most interests me (although i’ve already paid a fixed price for the amount of oil i expect to need to heat my house this coming winter).

Blub @ 47

Ann in AZ @ 39

Now let me get this straight: Conservative bloggers (and, I presume, journalists & telejournalists) are mad at Mitch McConnell’s office because they didn’t do their homework?

So… they call for the family’s lynching, publish his home address, and then blame McConnell for ‘forcing’ ‘em to behave in a such an utterly disgusting manner?

I guess the rightyblogs work the opposite way ours do. Instead of serving as the conscience of their leaders, investigating and exposing their failings, their job is to be their mindless hired thugs, kicking to death anybody those leaders point out as being worthy of such disposal?

Yes.

Anything else you want to know?

Christy Hardin Smith @ 46

Toby at 45 — Yes, that would be my understanding. Cozy, isn’t it?

Well, I used to think of it as “delusional thinking” until I read John Dean’s book. Now, it makes all the sense in the world.
THEIR world, that is.

JF @ 24

Peterr @ 3

Could Mitch McConnell really done that bad of a job vetting his staff?

Could Kentucky really have done that bad a job vetting its Senator?

Amen to both!

Biodun @ 38

Fair MSM coverage (in the Indianapolis Star) of the Frost smear.

(From WaPo columnist E.J. Dionne.)

Excellent column with a great lede. I was scratching my head for a long time wondering why in the h*ll Rs didn’t like this family!

The Frosts are exactly the embodiment of The All American Family according to the GOP criteria except they had the bad luck of a pretty nasty car accident. That would NEVER happen to a “real” GOP family.

thanks again. The columnist did a great job IMO.

Geez, parents value education. Children get education and they are “slimed” by, slimeball for talking points! Sad indeed!

fyi - sam seder will be filling in for randi rhodes this after noon and scott horton will be on during hour 3:

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will start its hearings on the President’s nomination of Michael B. Mukasey to serve as attorney general. Harper’s magazine legal affairs contributor Scott Horton will discuss the issues likely to surface in the hearings this evening on Air America’s Randi Rhodes Show, guest hosted by Sam Seder.

p.s. and Spencer Ackerman will be on during hour 1

Jena 6 hearing

Rep Johnson brings up how District Attorney Reed Walters said to these black students ” I can make your life disappear with a stroke of a pen”

Johnson continues with how the situation continued to escalate and little was done. Fights, black students being called “n****” often, a white student pulled a gun on a black Jeastudent and then the black student was charged with stealing the gun.

Rep. Johnson thanking Al Sharpton for coming on the scene in Jena.

Johnson “It (Jena) smacks of vindictive prosecution”

Wha? A decent piece of journalism printed in the Indianapolis Star?

Hugh @ 29

JF @ 24

Could Kentucky really have done that bad a job vetting its Senator?

Much of Kentucky politics is owned by Big Coal so yes, in Mitch they got exactly what they wanted.

Well, if that’s the case, then the electorate should be, dare I say, disgruntled miners. So why are they voting against their own interests? Especially with as many mine accidents that we’ve heard about in the last year alone, you’d think they’d want to vote someone in that would protect their safety and maybe promote other types of gainful employment to work their way out of the mines. Maybe a nice progressive?

Lizard brains can often get upset by cognitive dissonance. “Wait, you’re the enemy, but you don’t look like the enemy! Damn you! this is confusing…I guess I’ll have to pound you anyway just to make sure.”

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

yellowsnapdragon @ 57

Wha? A decent piece of journalism printed in the Indianapolis Star?

well, I don’t know if opinion counts as journalism? check and see for yerself! ;)

…the old check and verify routine…certainly the catch phrase for this story, isn’t it?

Does anyone remember the good ol’ days when irrational, but hate-filled, obnoxious blow-hards were relegated to the outskirts of civil society?

They were the loud-mouthed uncle who drank too much and made an ass of himself at family gatherings, but most people didn’t take seriously. They just looked at him with either scorn or pity, or some mixture of the two.

Now they dominate and frame all discourse in this country while accusing everyone else of being bigoted, close-minded and shrill.

The public, in general, is kind of getting hip to this, but we have a ways to go. I’d like to see a very focused campaign at shining a light on exactly what’s happened to our society. And none of this “equal time” crap where we select one of thousands of these hate-mongers from the right and contrast them with one of only a handful of left-leaning haters. And thus creating the myth that the problem is equally bad on both ends of the idealogical spectrum.

Argh! Sorry, that’s my little rant for the day. Now I have to prepare for a meeting.

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

what is the emoticon for dropping jaw on floor? wow!

yellowsnapdragon @ 57

Wha? A decent piece of journalism printed in the Indianapolis Star?

Impossible! Where?

So Texas firepups, now what?

After the general rejoicing of course.

do-si-do @ 64

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

what is the emoticon for dropping jaw on floor? wow!

Seems that some R’s don’t want to stick around to answer any questions.

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

Except the retirement won’t be effective until ‘12 unless she resigns earlier to run for governor.

Biodun @ 31

And the Frost smear campaigners got some ammo from this NYTimes wedding announcement of the Frosts.

If anyone read that it would actually go far to dissuade anyone that this couple was wealthy. The announcement seems more to be a tribute to the Grandfather who was a reknowned architect for several NYC public buildings. But Sebring was a “receptionist for the Cat Hospital” and Halsey was the owner of a woodworking studio. Hardly reeks of the wealthy!

selise @ 50

Hugh @ 35

The Cushing spot price for oil is currently $86.65. The unmotivated speculative frenzy continues. Think of it as a mini-bubble.

do you know where i can watch the price of heating oil in the NE? that’s the one that most interests me (although i’ve already paid a fixed price for the amount of oil i expect to need to heat my house this coming winter).

You can follow the heating oil future here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/marke.....rices.html

This site updates the price of heating oil weekly:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/i.....llate.html

This gives a weekly summary of energy in general:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp

Hugh @ 47

The Cushing spot price just jumped to $87.75. I can’t stress strongly enough that this has more to do with a casino mentality than it has to do with economic realities.

nevertheless

alternatives

wind,solar(both silicon and dye sensitive cells),tidal,small and large scale hydro,etc are not only on the market but singly and collectively
ready,willing and able to replace on grid,the failing energy supply of a failed ideology.

good job!

do-si-do @ 64

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

what is the emoticon for dropping jaw on floor? wow!

Eight times as many Republicans fleeing Congress than Democrats

Christy - I have not been around much today. Did anyone pull up anything on the latest Rush Limbaugh “thing”?
http://mediamatters.org/items/.....0710160001
It’s sort of the same technique that McConnell’s people used the other “journalists” for on the Frosts, only nastier and more personal.
If I’d read it as lines from some sort of gangster film, spoken by Al Pacino or Deniro or something like that, it would make sense, but this sort of stuff is just so thuggish and threatening, it really makes you wonder what can be done.
“And we said, ‘You know what? We’re going to find out where your kids go to school.”
Excuse me?
And what is the legal definition of harassment? Would this qualify under “assault” (I know since he did not touch the person that battery doesn’t qualify), but would it, Christy?)

SufiLizard @ 65

yellowsnapdragon @ 57

Wha? A decent piece of journalism printed in the Indianapolis Star?

Impossible! Where?

See my 38.

do-si-do @ 61

yellowsnapdragon @ 57

Wha? A decent piece of journalism printed in the Indianapolis Star?

well, I don’t know if opinion counts as journalism? check and see for yerself! ;)

…the old check and verify routine…certainly the catch phrase for this story, isn’t it?

Wha? A sane opinion piece in the Indianapolis Star? That’s even more shocking! :)

do-si-do @ 64

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

what is the emoticon for dropping jaw on floor? wow!

I only wish Molly Ivins were still with us for this moment.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 42

Ann in AZ at 39 — No, the bloggers are pissed off because, as I am hearing it, they were prodded into fronting out the oppo on the Frosts and then left taking all the heat for the strategy while McConnell’s office refused to comment on it for a week. They are pissed at McConnell for not being honest about his office’s role in all of this and for leaving them with egg on their faces while his office tried to look in the clear.

That’s not egg on those wankers’ faces.

do-si-do @ 54

Biodun @ 38

Fair MSM coverage (in the Indianapolis Star) of the Frost smear.

(From WaPo columnist E.J. Dionne.)

Excellent column with a great lede. I was scratching my head for a long time wondering why in the h*ll Rs didn’t like this family!

The Frosts are exactly the embodiment of The All American Family according to the GOP criteria except they had the bad luck of a pretty nasty car accident. That would NEVER happen to a “real” GOP family.

thanks again. The columnist did a great job IMO.

Did you read the comments? I had to stop. Those people scare me.

Jena 6 hearing

Rep. Patty Sutton (oh) “This (Jena) is a National issue” She brings up what was said earlier that there is a “cry for peace and harmony, but where is the cry for justice”

Sutton ask why there was no response by the Justice system and no legal consequence for what was determined as a “hate crime”. She goes onto say that a “legal response” would have said to the rest of our country that “this is completely unacceptable to all of us” (hanging nooses)

Al Sharpton said that Rep. Sutton had “hit the nail on the head”. He also brought up the “copy cat” responses to the hanging of the nooses.

Diane @ 32

Just called Virginia Foxx & told staffer I was insulted to read her letter of response calling the SCHIP bill a “Democrat bill”. Also took issue with her assertion that the bill provides healthcare to “illegal aliens”.

If you think about it, the federal government is responsible for that illegal alien being here to begin with. If the Feds hadn’t failed to do their job of border enforcement, they wouldn’t have to worry about who pays the medical bills when the aliens are sick of have an accident. So it’s quite reasonable to expect the Fed to pay, or who else should? The aliens first, of course, but in the end, they seldom can (I spent just under 8 hours in the emergency room and the bill was close to $5K.) The bill should not be just another default that the hospital is expected to absorb, so the Fed gets to pay. I call that fair.

meanwhile, david brooks opens today’s column with a bit about a repubbb representative’s cancer-ridden daughter who recently died.

but how many times did brooks call out the rabid rightists who were piling on frost? in fact, how many times did brooks mention the frosts in his oct. 12 column on the s-chip debate?

uh, that would be zero.

Ann in AZ @ 39

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Now let me get this straight: Conservative bloggers (and, I presume, journalists & telejournalists) are mad at Mitch McConnell’s office because they didn’t do their homework? So they’re left holding the bag? I thought it was their job to verify the information they get before publishing it. Yet it’s the Senator’s fault?

It seems that they are pissed off at him because he isn’t continuing to support their continuing campaign of vitriol against the family.

McConnell asserted that he had spoken to “a blogger that I trust” who told him the claims were false. That means that he considers the other bloggers UNRELIABLE and UNTRUSTWORTHY.

But it doesn’t explain why he “trusted them” in the first place…or at least until his role in their campaign was going to become known. Suddenly he then “retracted”.

This is the best thing I’ve read today, linked to from commenter “hauksdottir” at emptywheel’s site.

The David Kelly case:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukla.....01,00.html

I don’t consider anything that relates to Judith Miller off topic here.

Filed under “Ahem”:

Filed at 12:25 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General-designate Michael Mukasey is headed for swift approval with scant objections, the powerful Democrat who will chair his confirmation hearings said Tuesday.

”I would expect him to be confirmed,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told reporters after meeting with the former federal judge. ”I like him.”

“I like him. He’s my kinda guy!”

OT. Don’t know if this has already surfaced on the lake, but the Guardian had a story yesterday about David Kelley’s suicide. Apparently the pen-knife he used didn’t have any fingerprints, and he wasn’t wearing gloves.

Just saying.

Another SCHIP family
NRO hit piece

She further admitted that after they were married she voluntarily left a job at a country club that had good health insurance, because the situation was “unmanageable.” From there she took a job at a restaurant with no health insurance, and the couple went on to have a baby anyway, presuming that others would pay for it and certainly long before they knew their daughter would have heart defect that probably cost the gross national product of Burkina Faso to fix. But not knowing about future health problems is the reason we have insurance in the first place.

Ok… are these guys the pro-life people but “the couple went on to have a baby anyway”
So….. you are pro-life unless the baby and mother is uninsured and born with birth defects?
The mother should of toughed it out and stayed at a “unmanageable” job which might of cost her the pregnancy and/or her life because they had insurance?
THIS is what is sooooo wrong with their thought processes

Hugh @ 47

The Cushing spot price just jumped to $87.75. I can’t stress strongly enough that this has more to do with a casino mentality than it has to do with economic realities.

Is there a quantitative reason you say it has nothing to do with it? I’m not saying I have any idea one way or the other, but this one isn’t obvious to me.

For one thing, I’ve no idea what the elasticity of demand is for oil but it’s not hard to imagine that small fractional changes in supply / demand could drive larger fractional changes in price.

Moreover, suppose traders think that war with Iran is getting about 2% more likely by the week. Then I think the price increases are entirely rational.

Ann in AZ @ 59

Hugh @ 29

Much of Kentucky politics is owned by Big Coal so yes, in Mitch they got exactly what they wanted.

Well, if that’s the case, then the electorate should be, dare I say, disgruntled miners. So why are they voting against their own interests? Especially with as many mine accidents that we’ve heard about in the last year alone, you’d think they’d want to vote someone in that would protect their safety and maybe promote other types of gainful employment to work their way out of the mines. Maybe a nice progressive?

Big Coal is where the money comes from. There is a Golden Triangle made up of Louisville-Lexington-Covington (Cincinnati) which is better off and moderate. Outside this you have very conservative areas. Appalachia has a tendency to be very conservative but throws up these atypical progressives from time to time. They seldom win. If Kentucky is trending Democratic in the next election cycle it has more to do with the hopeless bumbling corruption of the Republican Party and a rejection of the failed Bush Presidency. Basically, Kentucky has some moderates and progressives, and lots and lots of conservatives.

Ditch Mitch
http://www.ditchmitchky.com/78.....r-protest/

Mornin’, Christy!

Well, I done it. I actually called Doolittle’s Washington office this morning and speaking to the staffer who answered the phone I urged Doolittle to vote Yes on overriding Bush’s veto of SCHIP. I was very polite, and so was the staffer, and he promised me he would pass the message on to Doolittle. So, anyhow, I guess I have to trust that Doolittle will actually be told that at least one person in CA-04 has called to request Doolittle vote to get SCHIP passed into law. Yeah, I’m probably being naively optimistic, but what else can I do? Cynicism is a cop-out.

I also followed the MediaMatters link to Limbarf’s screed. Left me nauseated, but still it’s good to be occasionally informed of what these wingnuts are saying, I guess. Otherwise I wouldn’t have even known of it, since I just cannot bring myself to listen to Rush; he sickens me to my core.

Hope all goes well for you today, and also my fervent hope for a Miracle SCHIP Thursday (but I’m not holding my breath). Still, it’s possible, right?

Hugh @ 69

I had to laugh when I saw the URLs from the DOE links you posted: “tonto.eia.doe.gov . . ”

Tonto works for the DOE? Who knew?

(Do they have another server named “KemoSabe”?)

SufiLizard @ 63

Does anyone remember the good ol’ days when irrational, but hate-filled, obnoxious blow-hards were relegated to the outskirts of civil society?

They were the loud-mouthed uncle who drank too much and made an ass of himself at family gatherings, but most people didn’t take seriously. They just looked at him with either scorn or pity, or some mixture of the two.

Now they dominate and frame all discourse in this country while accusing everyone else of being bigoted, close-minded and shrill.

I agree. There use to be a certain amount of shame in being a bigot. Then racism and small mindedness got recast as being for limited government and Christian value and being against “activist” judges, affirmative action, and immigration. For me, this all goes back to Nixon’s Southern Strategy which established and defined the modern Republican Party.

OT–Re: Randi Rhodes:

Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night on 39th Street and Park Ave, nearby her Manhattan apartment, while she was walking her dog Simon.

Which then brought out the wingnuts to post some nasty comments…

do-si-do @ 63

Diane @ 60

Another one bites the dust - Kay Bailey Hutchison is not seeking re-election.

http://dailykos.com/

what is the emoticon for dropping jaw on floor? wow!

Well that’s not going to be for awhile sadly (2012), and perhaps earlier as she’s thinking about running for Governor (2010). I would presume that the incumbent, Republican Rick Perry, or Kay Baily herself (if she wins), would appoint her interim replacement. It could get tricky with the timing of her resignation as well as whether and when a special election would be held to fill the seat after the interim period.

If she resigns before the Goober election then the 2010 election might be the one to fill her seat. But if she holds out and doesn’t resign until after the election results, then either she or Perry would fill the interim post and any Special Election might be awhile. And if she loses the Goober-natorial count, then she could slink back to the Senate until 2012.

Ann in AZ @ 39

There is some substantial anger among conservative bloggers at being left to hold this festering turd of a strategy for McConnell’s office — so much so that I heard yesterday that a couple of the bigger bloggers are considering actively working against McConnell’s re-election.

Now let me get this straight: Conservative bloggers (and, I presume, journalists & telejournalists) are mad at Mitch McConnell’s office because they didn’t do their homework? So they’re left holding the bag? I thought it was their job to verify the information they get before publishing it. Yet it’s the Senator’s fault?

Far be it from me to defend Mitch McConnell’s office, because it’s not the first time I’ve heard of him asking specifically for dirt, for ammunition for a smear campaign. But that fact alone should have been enough to clue any good journalist or blogger in, and they know for sure that he’s far beyond partisan, that he has an agenda, for sure. So the fact that so-called journalists and bloggers did not fact check anything the Senate Minority Leader’s office told them about the opposition party or anyone representing the opposition’s POV, is reprehensible and inexcusable.

The irony is, of course, that conservative bloggers are notorious for not factchecking their spewings. This time they got burned by the blowback. Being the conservative bloggers that they are, their first reaction naturally was to blame someone else.