Let’s talk this morning about old friends and new, real and virtual. Pull up a chair…

Roy Clark — Sally Was A Good Old Girl, from episode 303 of The Muppet Show.

So, let’s see… where did I leave off when I last posted here, two weeks ago? Oh, yeah, something about how the short-lived front-runner status of GOP presidential wannabes like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry demonstrated that “there’s something inherent about Republican party politics that makes being new and untested a plus and sustained public exposure a problem.”

In retrospect, the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement shouldn’t be all that surprising.  Millions of hopeful people flocked to the ballot box in hopes of reversing decades of pro-corporate, pro-wealth, anti-ordinary people policies, only to realize that they had voted in what they thought they had voted out.  Progressives who had dedicated themselves [...]

Now that’s what I call solidarity.

Thursday at Occupy LA many of the tents were off the South Lawn to accommodate the regular farmers’ market and local food vending. People were happy that the city council voted to support Occupy LA.

However, there is also a buzz on because the city wants to resume sprinkling the lawn every night at 10:30. Frankly, the lawn could just be watered twice a week, which would also save the city money; but hey I’m not in charge.

Here’s some good news — The Respect for Marriage Act (S. 598), legislation that would repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act that was enacted in 1996 will head for markup next month, according to Senator Patrick Leahy, who serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Kevin’s livestreaming from Liberty aka Zuccotti Park in New York City.

The Obama Administration announced that they will not implement the CLASS Act, a voluntary long-term care insurance program that was a key priority of the late Ted Kennedy, and which was instituted as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Tim Geithner went on CNBC today and said that the Administration is getting right on the whole “prosecuting the people who defrauded the economy” thing.