mornin’ all

Tonight was a big win for illegal-immigration amnesty, remorseless socialization of health care, and big-government solutions to global warming.

Yay, Team!

FYI everyone — the SJC has a hearing with Mukasey on waterboarding and torture today. I have to run some things over to The Peanut’s preschool this morning — after liveblogging for two straight days, I’m behind on my momma duties. Emptywheel is going to liveblog the hearing so no one will miss anything, and you can find her first liveblog thread here.

(((Mark Steyn)))

lol!

It’s fun watching the GOP bitch and whine about how bad their candidates are, isn’t it?

Sadly, I’m predicting a Hillary-McCain general…

Well, I *do* wish that MSNBC would change their slogan for McCain from “Less Jobs, More Wars” - to “Fewer Jobs, More Wars”.

(latent English Teacher-ism inherited from me mum)

From the Washington Times:

Iraq not using oil cash to rebuild

My favorite part:

“The government is broken,” said Mr. Said, speaking by telephone from Baghdad. “The country’s midlevel bureaucracy has either fled the country or been purged in de-Ba’athification, [and] a lot of ministers are politically appointed and not professional.”

Replace “de-Ba’athification” with “de-Democratization” and it sounds just like the good old US of A.

Let’s see, global warming issues should be left to local government. On the other hand, a consitituional ammendment is needed to ensure gay couples don’t use the word “marriage” to describe their relationships.

I’m really sorry to hear that things aren’t working out to Mark Steyn’s liking.

Tonight was a big win for illegal-immigration amnesty, remorseless socialization of health care, and big-government solutions to global warming.

If McCain wins in November, he’ll be eager to show he can “work” with a Democratic Congress.

here’s what’s amazing to me bt;

these guys say things as if they have the authority of fact when they are clearly wrong

he says “McCain will use government to clean the air” as if everyone agrees with him that it’s a bad idea.

this is their latest method, repeat things as if they are facts, as if everyone agrees with them and they then frame the discussion and everyone else is on defense

this method must be answered with a laugh in the face, the responder must first point out the method being used and then say “people that fall for this method are children or morons, now here are the facts…”

this is something the democrats need to learn, how to control the discussion so the real facts are what’s being discussed and they should not spend time discussing ridiculous claims as if they have any merit at all

Heh. You got that gene too, did you?!

If this is the same Mark Steyn who was taken aboard The Irish Times as a yank pundit there are two gestures for you

mln
and on the other hand
nlm

That’s funny, a Repug will “work with” a Dem Congress, but a Democrat wouldn’t? I’m sooo confused!

There’s this:

Some conservatives, it turns out, have a wee problem with Arizona Sen. John McCain. Actually, they hate him. With a passion. The Christian right hates him in part because he called Jerry Falwell an “agent of intolerance” in 2000. (McCain tried to fix that by playing to that constituency earlier in the campaign, but it didn’t seem to work.) The anti-immigration forces hate him for his pursuit of a more moderate immigration policy, complete with what they term “amnesty.” Everyone else hates him because of his activism on campaign finance reform, which influential conservative groups like the National Rifle Association, well, hate. There are probably other reasons, but this is a lot of hate for so early in the morning.

So McCain’s victory in Florida’s Republican primary has some conservatives, unsurprisingly, feeling a mite peevish. Here’s a roundup of some of our favorite reactions to the news from the right side of the blogosphere.

EXCELLENT shot, Tex!

And Biodun, I think the only way we get a Hillary-McCain general is if John Edwards and Al Gore endorse her.

You got a point-spread on that happening? :o)

Let us all watch. I think/hope that Edwards bailed now because he knows that he’s been taking more votes from Obama than from Clinton, and I’m just about ready to get down on my knees and pray that just before or just after the stupor bowl, he will give them back, and take a giant step toward making the republican party practically irrelevant for the next 8 years. (Except for SCOTUS, and time will take care of that. :o) )

Likewise, I pray that, as we speak, he and Al Gore are swapping phone calls about how to co-ordinate their endorsements of Obama.

For the party and the country: DO IT, GUYS! :o)

…a lot of ministers are politically appointed and not professional…

So it would appear that all the lessons Paul Bremer taught them were well received.

The Conservative Boo Hoo Chorus is waiting in the wings to play the aggrieved outsider and the victim.

Cue the violins.

-G

Sorry to OT, but to recap my EPU’d comment from below.

The MSM just screwed themselves royally by allowing Edwards to drop out. They ignored him, so he couldn’t get any traction.

But the American public hates the Hillary/Obama nasty snipe fest, but without Edwards in the race Hill and Obama have nothing else to talk about b/c their platforms are so similar.

So, this firepup is about to get over her addiction to TV news, sorry KO, I luv u babe, but no longer have a reason to watch until after the convention.

Whoever is the Dem nominee, I will vote for. But I just lost all interest in the coverage of this horserace.

It was foolish of the MSM to kill off Edwards, they needed him to keep the story interesting. With the writer’s strike an all, I no longer hve a reason to turn on my TV at night. I may start doing evenings at the gym instead, and reading more–thank heavens for Book Salon.

Oh and for X-mas I got this cool thing that will transfer all my vinyl and cassette tape music onto discs and I haven’t had time to do something that noisy that would drown out MSNBC and PBS. Now I can convert my music!! yippeee

Yeah.

Big government should stay out of planetary-level challenges, but big government is needed to ensure that teh gay doesn’t spread.

Does it make sense to deny medical services to the people who harvest our food supply?

Hi, Blue Texan. Good post!

Mark Steyn sound like the kind of guy you’d like to see at the county fair in the dunking cage. It really seems like it would be fun to drop him in a vat of ice water!

I tells you, folks; we pick Obama, and the inner rot that afflicts the goopers souls will accelerate to warp speed, to the point that the flesh will start dropping off their bloody jowls like a creature-feature flick. :o)

As the Republic nominee, will McCain still feel that it’s in his best interest to appear to be a Bush toady?

Probably… But it’s all good for Republicans. Instead of chanting “4 more years” this time they can chant “4 more wars.”

Nothing says BS quite like, the “remorseless socialization of health care”. Soooo out of touch with reality.

Global warming left to local gov….
Except, God forbid you’re California seeking a waiver to allow for stricter greenhouse emiission rules.

yeah, this guy needs a little couch time.

Romney is much scarier than McCain, but both are very scary.

I am with you LHP. This race has become meaningless for me. I will vote for the Democratic nominee but refuse to consume the horserace BS.

My friends, I love George W. Bush.

My friends, the conutry sucks, we have no jobs and the wars will go on fovever but my friends I love George W. Bush, my friends.

-G

Hey LHP - Emptywheel is blogging the Mukasey testimony. It doesn’t look so good right now. He doesn’t feel as theugh he can answer anything.

It’s amazing how ignorant the conservatives are about how the rest of the developed world is function. Their ideas got set decades back. If you look at statistics on healthcare, quality of life, freedom of the press, etc., we’re doing quite poorly.

I am shocked that George W. Bush’s choice for AG has turned out to be another prevaricating, stonewalling rat.

He’s much better at lying than Gonzales. He looks much more serious, that’s about all though.

-G

yes, gonzo was a much better version of the smirking chimp.

I am shocked that George W. Bush’s choice for AG has turned out to be another prevaricating, stonewalling rat.

LOL

Yeah, interesting timing-a week before super Tuesday. Appears to me like Edwards wants to give Obama a fighting chance against the Clinton machine.

from TPM on the new face of stonewall:

“[I] have concluded that the interrogation techniques currently authorized in the CIA program comply with the law…. I have been authorized to disclose publicly that waterboarding is not among those methods. Accordingly, waterboarding is not, and may not be, used in the current program…. It is precisely because the issue is so important, and the questions so difficult, that I, as Attorney General, should not provide answers absent a set of circumstances that call for those answers. Those circumstances do not present themselves today, and may never present themselves in the future.”

venting here. Shorter Mcclu%terf**k.

Its a secret, our means of legality
We want their “willing cooperation”

Abu Gonzales REDUX

Yes, lhp, we are free, free at last.

We should all seek such satisfactions as we may find, and take pleasure in regaining so much time, which we may now spend in seeking equanimity and genuine inner-peace.

There shall be much to vex us later on; we needn’t waste efforts on the false hope(s) which will be peddled unceasingly amongst the bombast and mud-slinging.

Whew!!! Now, we can just relax and watch the idiocy unfold.

I salute all the good and stalwart souls who gather here.

To brighter tomorrows and legitimate hope for a kinder, better world.

For all of us.

John Edwards will make a fine AG.

To brighter tomorrows and legitimate hope for a kinder, better world.

*clink*

Per Glenzilla:

Leaving aside how shallow and, shall we say, unserious is this endless chirping for more “bipartisanship” — as though it’s a magic feel-good formula for resolving actual policy differences — it’s hard to imagine how there could possibly be any more “bipartisanship” in Washington even if that were the only goal. Other than formally disbanding as a party — or granting a permanent proxy of their collective vote to Mitch McConnell — how could Congressional Democrats possibly be more accommodating than they already are?

FUCK BIPARTISANSHIP

OT — I’m having a bad morning…

Yesterday, my Mom found out that if she keeps buying her medications, she will hit the Medicare donut-hole in April, and that’s not the bad news. The bad news is she will have to spend $4,000 out of pocket before she qualifies for catastrophic coverage. And her medications cost $600 a month.

And then I get to work and find out Edwards is out of the race. If his name is on the Ohio ballot in March, I’m still going to vote for him…

exactly.

So, Bush is going to ‘bill’ congress for copies of the budget.

What should we ‘bill’ George W. Bush for? And should we get a campagin going to submit those bills to the Whitehouse in laaaaarrrrge numbers?

-G

Let me get this straight. Mukasey will “not provide answers absent a set of circumstances that call for those answers,” and he won’t investigate those circumstances because he’s not sure it’s a crime. Oh boy! Schumer, you asshole.

Muk’s voice is distractingly similar to Gouliani’s. Makes it even more difficult to watch.

Who knows?

followin’ right along with my Amen again, LHP

Will vote on Feb 5, will vote on Election Day.

Bush discards Iraq law with a signing statement: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/.....ment-iraq/

Why aren’t the Democrats loudly denouncing this? They are lapdogs who desire to quietly return to minority party status.

Thanks Chuck!

Boy, I remember Big Mitch vouching for this asshole Mukasey because he was a pious and observantly religious man.

So was Jerry Falwell and the Ayatollah Khomeini.

-G

Bad news:

Filed at 11:01 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy nearly stalled in the fourth quarter with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, capping its worst year since 2002.

The Commerce Department’s report on the gross domestic product, released Wednesday, showed an economy that had deteriorated considerably during the October-to-December quarter as worsening problems in the housing market and harder-to-get credit made individuals and businesses more cautious in their spending. Fears of a recession have grown, even as inflation remained elevated.

yup :/

The Bush tax cuts just keep on working!

Will vote on Feb 5, will vote on Election Day.

Since I no longer have a dog in the race, and I really don’t care who wins in the primary now, can you give me one good reason to bother going to the polls to vote at all, other than the “civic duty” one I usually give myself? I mean, I’ll go in Nov., but I’m not very interested in the primary now.

Jane has a perfectly good new post upstairs about Ted Kennedy’s Torture Questions.

I was thinking an Obama-McCain matchup was looking pretty likely right about now.

lhp @ 19: You hadn’t given up on the MSM before this? In my caucus next week I’m going to vote for Edwards regardless.