Hastert did learn the keep the roll call trick from someone
ArchPundit
We can thank Da Speaker for that particular innovation in Illinois. And a god awful ballpark to boot.
February 2006
embittered, junkie, white college drop out angry at successful black man with a Harvard JD
Tell me what’s incorrect about the above?
CALLER: Oh, they’re putting him up because he’s well spoken, he’s well mannered, he gets in front of the camera, he has a presence, but he says nothing. He looks — he’s like a Bill Clinton, but just a different shade, that’s all. And you know, you were right about [Sen. Joe] Lieberman [D-CT]. In this Connecticut area, there’s a groundswell now with some local senators and representatives in his district saying, “Based on his stance on the war, let’s not re-elect Joe Lieberman.” So, if you’re a Democrat, you go against it, so now Lieberman is, by his own party in Connecticut — the groundswell is starting. But they’ll put him — Barack Obama — on a pedestal.
LIMBAUGH: Yeah, well, I don’t know. I kind of like that analogy that he is the Donavan McNabb of the U.S. Senate —
CALLER: Don’t say too much about him, Rush.
LIMBAUGH: — in the sense that he is being propped up. He’s being —
Oh yeah, Barack is happily married to his first wife and has children. He’s got family values too.
Last I checked Barack also isn’t out shooting watermelons in his backyard to demonstrate how the Cheney shooting was a conspiracy.
Hackett’s Whining
Usually, the ‘calls to donors’ aren’t high level people, but people who are connected and friends of other candidates and campaigns, always in the mode of thinking its them against the world interpret that to mean they are being frozen out by a vast conspiracy.
One of the stories about the Hackett campaign is that isn’t well known is they didn’t actually have a voters list until two weeks before the race when some folks came in at the last second and set up the ground operation. They did a good job, but it was late and ultimately, Hackett was a great candidate, but his campaign wasn’t as strong as it seemed.
Those sorts of concerns are why Schumer and others were worried about him and Rahm was trying to get a good candidate he could back and back heavy in a hard district to win with a better plan than last time. That’s not insulting, that’s a compliment as Markos points out.
Being Thrown Under the Bus is Worse than being Sprayed
I’m not sure why Mike Allen felt the need to make Karl look this good in the story, but it’s pretty funny:
The Vice President was the press strategist, and Karl Rove was the investigative reporter.
I had some sympathy
For the V-P. While he produced outrageously funny headlines, he had shot a friend. That sympathy evaporated when I saw this:
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tried to absolve Cheney of blame for shooting wealthy Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, saying that hunting “protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington when it came to notifying others that he was there. And so, you know, unfortunately, these types of hunting accidents happen from time to time.”
I’m not a hunter, and long time readers know I don’t like guns. I don’t like them in a different way than most people who say they hate guns. I don’t mind if people own them, use them for recreation or self-defense. I’m not wild about concealed carry, but it honestly hasn’t made much of a difference in Missouri.
I don’t like them because when handling them you have to be hyperaware of your surroundings, your actions, and the firearm. It’s too much work to concentrate upon those three things and enjoy myself. I shoot everyone once in a while, but it’s only if I happen to be around when someone else happens to be planning on shooting. I’m absentminded so having a gun around the house, especially with kids, would be a horrible idea in my case.
The reason I’m like that is that before I ever layed hands on a firearm it was drilled into me that if you pull the trigger, you damn well know at what you are shooting and know that there is a backstop or no way another person could be in the way of the shot. Period.
People screw up though–and we are all human so every so often someone gets shot by accident. It happens and it’s sad, but we always know the guy who pulled the trigger is responsible.
Trying to pass it off as Whittington not following prototocol is the mark of a jackass. It doesn’t matter if Whittington did something stupid, Cheney shot him (and not sprayed–shot). This is especially true because Cheney did know Whittington was retrieving a bird and he had to be somewhere out there.
Add this to the surreal idea that they were all driving around the ranch cherry picking quail off within viewing distance of the car.
Cheney can redeem himself by going before the press (meaning the media that does not include people who have claimed Hillary had Vince Foster killed) and acknowledging his responsibility and his mistake. I’m sure he feels horrible about his mistake, but he is the Vice-President of the United States.
I crack myself up.
Need to feel good about yourself
Go here, and donate what you can.
It’s important.
If you can’t donate, you can also volunteer. While I’m not sure how hard Madigan will get out there for Lipinski, Madigan and the elder are long time allies. Madigan can call up ground troops in a second that dwarf most political operations—usually that’s a good thing. John will need all the help he can get.
I know most of the volume is in the 6th, but frankly there are three good people running for that seat and it’s a tougher seat to win then this is to retain. If you want to fight over who’s more liberal or progressive, this is the District in which to do it. This is an easy seat to retain with a Dem. Worse, if Ethics reform is the issue de jour, getting your seat from your Daddy who dumped some hump on the Republican ballot so you’d have no real competition is sort of a problem.
John had a disappointing 4th quarter, but if there was ever a good fight to be had in a primary this is it. For all the piss and vinegar being used in other races, this one is a clear choice for Democrats–it’s a 59% Kerry District represented by not just a pro-life Democrat (there are many of those and I respect them), but a guy who is socially conservative across the board in a district that is quite Democratic. Did I mention, Lipinski is just a crod to boot?
Normally, I’m tough on candidates who have bad fundraising quarters, but John is in a situation where Dan Lipinski may face a perfect storm by the primary with disgust over how he got the position and a general unhappiness over his positions. Let’s put John in a position to take advantage of that situation.
Cegelis Interview Coming
Sorry, sinus infection last week.
Find a way to pay for it
And I’ll endorse tomorrow. No joke–in fact, I said this before
This is an issue I’ve done quite a bit of work on over the last few years and I feel quite strongly about it. I’ll be adding more to this over the next week in what I hope can be a fairly in depth policy analysis of why this is important–nay, essential. The most basic point is that the Minneapolis Fed study by Art Rolnick found that spending on early childhood education is one of the best investments a government can make. It far outstrips garbage like incentives for individual businesses and other targeted tax breaks of subsidies for business.
All that said, he has to pay for it, and without a significant increase in general revenue funds, this initiative is probably impossible. As I often make the point, if you don’t balance the budget, social justice cannot be achieved because you limit the ability of future generations to continue worthwhile programs or ameliorate future social problems. The doomsayers go overboard in suggesting the state is about go under, but adding this kind of initiatives without increasing revenues will result in Really Bad Thing (TM) down the road.
Sweet use of puns
Probably the trademark of Blogging is the use of bad puns in titles, fortunately, one of the newest bloggers has that down already. Zorn will be happy that the order of the posts is most recent first…
One thing I find is that many bloggers and blog readers assume that journalism is just some job, and not a profession with strong ethical standards. It goes along with the assumption that reporting is actually easy and all that any reporter does is go to press conferences—there are some who do that and they usually are in front of a camera, but tracking down sources and getting useful information is incredibly difficult. The first point is more important because when someone accuses a reporter of lifting a quote, that’s a serious charge–especially someone of the stature of Sweet. Too many bloggers and blog readers don’t get that and too often attack reporters without understanding the context or, especially how politicians reuse lines, just makes one look like an ass.
Comments and trackbacks even so it looks good–and, of course, she got to gripe about the Washington Times plagerizing her as well, which complaining about the WT, is another favorite past time on blogs. (small thing about Markos–he was raised largely in Schaumburg, but also spent some of his early years in El Salvador-at a time when the civil war was very hot).
And, of course, this only ups the ante in her and the Trib’s Jeff Zeleney in a contest to see who can write more words about Barack Obama. Fortunately for the readers, both can actually write and usually find interesting angles.
Most disappointing thing about the coverage the McCain-Obama spat story in the Illinois press–no one pointed out that McCain and Fitzgerald got into screaming matches on the floor of the U.S. Senate over O’Hare. McCain getting snarky or losing his temper is about as noteworthy as John Kerry doing a liveshot.
On a more serious note, I’ve never been one of those who moan about the good ole days of blogs when it was this insurgent movement (AKA dorks without lives ranting). It’s a way of delivering information and providing far greater analysis that is available in an column or even a good news story. When good reporters do blogs you get someone filling in details that don’t make the paper and a more complete analysis. I was excited when Eric started, and most of those who have followed have been good additions–but someone at the Trib needs to get an RSS feed for Charles Madigan.
It is nice that blogs give more access to more divergent voices and it provides a good check on bad reporting, but in the hands of good reporters, it provides citizens with more information. I’m happy to blast people who I think are being lazy–hello Tim Russert—but too many bloggers don’t point out the good work that does go on–Eric, Maureen Ryan (best TV journalist out there), and now Sweet and the Swamp over at the Trib all deserve that sort of credit.
As an extra bonus, Lynn can start posting a minute by minute account of Obama’s fundraisers….
Hey Tim
How do any of these folks feel about the use of the word ragheads and it being used at a political event and garnering applause?
Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senator George Allen, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, Senator Mitch McConnell, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Ken Mehlman, Wayne LaPierre, Bob Novak, Grover Norquist, and Congressman Mike Pence or anyone from one of these organizations certainly should be asked about whether or not the support such language if Colin Powell and Barack Obama have to answer questions about Harry Belafonte not related to how many bananas the banana man has.