Jabba the Rush

Someone Saw This Economic Crisis Coming...

Rachel Maddow points out that contrary to claims from many politicians, the current state of the economy was actually predicted by those who have an appreciation of history:

The Principled Senator from Arizona

John McCain has had a long, distinguished career in government service, and while I disagree with the vast majority of his political views, I believe he has represented the interests of the Republican Party well in the Senate.  But like most politicians, he does tend to make a fool out of himself from time to time.   The frequency hit its peak when he was fighting for the presidency, but is now once again on the upswing, likely a result of his struggle to be crowned the new leader of the GOP.

Yesterday was one of those foolish days for Senator McCain.

In Senate hearings yesterday, McCain threatened his opposition to President Obama's nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Interior, David Hayes.  What reason could the Senator have for his "principled opposition?"  In 2006, David Hayes wrote an article that McCain found "deeply offensive" towards Ronald Reagan.

From the "controversial" article:

The conservative political agenda in the West is grounded in hoary stereotypes about the region and its people...Out of this conservative world view emerges the stereotypical Western man (and it is unquestionably a “he”)—a rugged, gun-toting individualist who fiercely guards every man’s right to drill, mine, log, or do whatever he damn well pleases on the land; he hates government, taxes, regulations, environmentalists, and anyone or anything else that tries to tell him what to do (provided, of course, that federal subsidies for mining, logging, grazing, and the like continue unabated).

Like Ronald Reagan before him, President Bush has embraced the Western stereotype to the point of adopting some of itsaffectations—the boots, brush-clearing, and get-the-government-off-our-backs bravado.

It was this passage that caused McCain to umbrage, and question "You had to throw Reagan in there?"  Strangely, McCain expressed no discomfort about Hayes' comments about Bush.  McCain's final opinion on the matter: 

I will be considering seriously whether I can support your nomination or not.

I find it exceptionally odd that Senator McCain believes a prerequisite for this office is adoration of Reagan, while Bush-mocking is entirely okay.

Specter (D - PA)?

Great article over at WhoRunsGov.com today about Arlen Specter, the Employee Free Choice Act, and his chances at getting re-elected next year.

Back in 2004, Specter was barely able to hold onto the GOP nomination for the Senate seat he's held since 1981, even with the help of W., who was then still popular at least among Republicans.  With him being one of three Republicans to break the party line and vote for cloture for the stimulus bill, he hasn't won any additional supporters on that side of the aisle.  The same conservative opponent Specter was barely able to beat in the 2004 primary is challenging him once again in 2010.  Although Specter would be a strong favorite in the general election, surviving the Republican primary seems exceptionally unlikely.

But there may be hope for Senator Specter...According to Greg Sargent, both AFL-CIO and SEIU union leaders have strongly suggested that if Specter votes for the Employee Free Choice Act, he will receive their union's official endorsement.  EFCA makes it easier for employees to unionize and is vehemently opposed by the GOP, and any support Specter provides would certainly be the final nail in the coffin of his Republican career.  The possibility of support from labor in 2010 make re-election look likely, but not within the Republican Party.  Even less so as Michael Steele has been flipping back and forth as to whether or not the RNC will withhold financial support from him for his support of the stimulus package.

If Specter is hoping to stay in the Senate beyond next year, he had better decide quickly. If he decides to try to get the GOP nomination and fails, Pennsylvania law forbids him from running in the general election as an Independent or a Democrat.

While it seems exceptionally unlikely and he may simply retire, it seems his best option is to switch to the Democratic Party!  The Republican talking heads love to bash him now, but if he comes over to the Democratic side, perhaps they will fall in love with him just as they have with Lieberman.  

Rachel Maddow and Meghan McCain

Rachel Maddow's interview this evening with Meghan McCain wasn't particularly exciting, but was definitely a change of pace from what you normally see from these discussion shows.  Both Maddow and McCaing were exceptionally sensible!  

I especially love that Meghan McCain admitted that she doesn't know anything about the economy, and that Maddow accepted that response without being at all condescending!  Nice change of pace.

I do, however, take issue with the fact that while McCain admitted on Maddow's show that she doesn't know anything about the economy, it doesn't stop her from saying "a second stimulus doesn't make sense." 

If she's just saying she doesn't know anything about the economy as an excuse to not justify her views, my respect for Meghan will dwindle.

Part 1:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Part 2:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Ceasefire in the War on Science

The federal government's war on science finally coming to an end?

Science nerds returned to the White House Monday, triumphant and ready to tinker. After years of complaining about being shoved into the politics version of their school lockers, smiling scientists crowded into the ornate East Room, took cell phone photos and got a message from President Barack Obama they said was clear: Science, which once propelled men to the moon, again matters in American life.

Limbaugh Addresses America Once More!

Rush Limbaugh addresses the nation... - watch more funny videos

Jon Stewart Blasts Santelli and CNBC Coverage

Here's the video clip of the segment I Twittered about last night...Great stuff!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Ideas vs. Tantrums

Great article by David Frum over at The New Majority sizing up the battle between the leader of the country, President Obama, and the leader of the floundering Republican Party, Boss Limbaugh:

Here’s the duel that Obama and Limbaugh are jointly arranging:

On the one side, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims. This president invokes the language of “responsibility,” and in his own life seems to epitomize that ideal: He is physically honed and disciplined, his worst vice an occasional cigarette. He is at the same time an apparently devoted husband and father. Unsurprisingly, women voters trust and admire him.

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them
rebroadcast for a long time.

Rush knows what he is doing. The worse conservatives do, the more important Rush becomes as leader of the ardent remnant. The better conservatives succeed, the more we become a broad national governing coalition, the more Rush will be sidelined.

Limbaugh Hates the Constitution

Good old Rush Limbaugh was given an award at CPAC last weekend for his "defense of the Constitution."  Hilarious that in his CPAC speech he would then quote the Declaration of Independence and say it was from the preamble to the document he is supposed to have so expertly defended:

We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. [Applause] We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. [Applause] Liberty, Freedom. [Applause] And the pursuit of happiness. [Applause] Those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you.

It's somehow so fitting that the Republican "Defender of the Constitution" has seemingly never read the document.