Basically, it's time for a "better bill," in Steve Benen's words: "The White House has been willing to make all kinds of concessions to win over Republican support, but it's not enough. Since the GOP is going to vote 'no' anyway, why not make the bill as effective and progressive as possible? If there's no point in the majority party offering unwelcome enticements to those who'll remain obstinate anyway, then pull the enticements and let the majority party do the right thing."
The Republicans are showing once again who and what they really are: a mean, nasty mob of self-interested, partisan zealots. At a time when it's essential to do what is right for America, and for the American people, Obama and the Democrats will have to do it themselves.
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Make what preparations you must...this might last a while.
And to all of you who are willing to "give him a chance", isn't that what the Democrats have been doing for 8 years? Enough is enough. We voted for a liberal agenda. Liberal isn't a dirty word any more than conservative is and I'm tired of being on the defensive. The Democrats in their minute wisdom have gone against Dean's strategy that got us here. We have a president who has spent more time talking to the opposition, the MINORITY opposition than members of the party he claims to belong to. Why?
But let's not rush to judgment. Let's give him some more time. Maybe he'll even talk to a progressive sometime over the next year... or three. Pretty soon it'll be 2010 and we'll say, "Just give him a little more time" then in 2011 we can say, "Well, maybe he's got some plan in mind."
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_re_us/students_expelled
Glenn Greenwald tears Dick Cohen and his colleagues into little tiny pieces for their conviction that powerful people shouldn't have to be held accountable for terrible crimes.
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Obama gave an interview to Al-Arabiya, reaching out to the Muslim world. "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."
For example, he reached out to the Muslim world by saying that "Israel's security is paramount," i.e., more important than any consideration involving the Palestinians, and that nothing Israel can do will affect American support for it: "Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States."
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Just hours after Barack Obama was elected president last November, three men (I wouldn't call them men) set ablaze a predominantly African-American church in Massachusetts to "interfere" with the civil rights of its congregants, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Benjamin Haskell, 22, Michael Jacques, 24, and Thomas Gleason, 21, all of Springfield, Mass., burned Macedonia Church of God in Christ to the ground in the early hours of Nov. 5th as payback for the election of the country's first African-American president, the department's indictment alleges.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Three_men_indicted_for_burning_black_0127.html
Hopefully they'll be getting their "payback" in prison.
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Oh boo freaking hoo
The New York Times reports on women who have been hit hard by the economic crisis: the wives and girlfriends of bankers. Clinginess, cooking at home, canceled credit cards... these are just a few of the unfortunate consequences, these women report.
The golddiggers have banded together to start an unofficial support group called Dating A Banker Anonymous, which meets once or twice a week in New York for brunch or drinks.
They also have a Dating A Banker Anonymous blog
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"Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict" http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/limbaugh-actually-was-more-lucid-when.html
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Holder confirmation passes out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 17 - 2. Senator Cornhole and Coburn were the only two against him.
Republican Kit Bond says that Holder "assured senior Republican senators that he won't prosecute intelligence officers or political appointees who were involved in the Bush administration's policy of enhanced interrogations."
If that's true, then we're stuck with someone that is going to trade what is right for what is simply politically expedient, and he's no better than Gonzales.
And Mr. Holder? What about prosecuting THIS intelligence officer:
Unbelievable. Someone whose job was to further the interests of the U.S. in Algeria really did a number on us instead:
The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
Officials say the 41-year old CIA officer, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.
The discovery of more than a dozen videotapes showing the CIA officer engaged in sex acts with other women has led the Justice Department to broaden its investigation to include at least one other Arab country, Egypt, where the CIA officer had been posted earlier in his career, according to law enforcement officials.
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From the Boston Globe: Sovereign Bancorp pays CEO $7.2 million for a months work while laying off 8% of work force.
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"Let's just say that, that, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, is brought to the United States to be tried in a federal court in the United States, under a federal judge, and we know what some of those judges do, and on a technicality, such as, let's just say he wasn't read his Miranda rights. … He is released into the streets of America. Walks over and steps up into a US embassy and applies for asylum for fear that he can't go back home cause he spilled the beans on al Qaeda. What happens then if another judge grants him asylum in the United States and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is on a path to citizenship." Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa)
I know there is some tough competition, but this has to be the dumbest thing said by anyone in the last twenty years. Is there anyone on the planet who honestly thinks that KSM is going to be released because he was not read his Miranda rights? And since when did King decide KSM deserves Miranda rights?
Aside from that, is there anyone on the planet who thinks that KSM will not be found guilty in any jurisdiction in the country? Anyone?
And even then, King's primary concern is that KSM, once freed by an activist judge and allowed to roam the streets, is primarily a danger because he will…. apply for citizenship?
Here is an idea. Put King in Gitmo and allow KSM to represent the people of Iowa. They will be better off.
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You can run a bank into the ground, and you get to keep your job! That's right - Nearly nine out of ten banking executives that oversaw the industry's collapse are still on the job and now managing billions in taxpayer money.
And this: CEO's who received billions of tax payer dollars to save their asses are using the money to organize a massive attempt to block the Employee Free Choice Act.
It's bad enough to see these Bozos still try and buy private jets and hand out massive bonuses with our money, but to actively attack labor with it should be a criminal offense.
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Unlike Madoff, this guy didn't steal from a bunch of trust-fund types and other rich folks. He stole from middle-class and working-class people.
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Oh, goody - the Christofascist Zombie Brigade has got their war on. How much of a scumbag do you have to be to imply that Barack Obama's mother would have aborted him had it been legal?
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Blowfish testicles poison 7 diners in Japan: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28874327/
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Oh for the love of God
Obama will be hosting a cocktail party tonight to continue to brown-nose about the stimulus package: Read it at Associated Press.
If the most popular Democratic president in 70 years can't stand up to an eviscerated GOP and say "You're wrong, people hate you, sit down and shut the hell up," then we're doomed.
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Digby on being shameless
Can someone explain to me why I'm seeing Republican after Republican on television advising Americans on the right way to run the economy? Is there any reason why we should listen to them sanctimoniously lecturing us on "what's worked in the past" and telling us that the only way to cure the problems they themselves created are to do more of the same? They've always been known for chutzpah, but this takes the cake.
If a few Democrats could bother themselves to challenge their standing to make these assertions, that might be helpful. Or maybe one gasbag or spokesmodel could ask them why no matter whether the country is economically doing well or doing badly, their advice is always tax cuts. It would really be great if somebody, somewhere, could ask them why they think anyone should take them seriously on these issues considering the mess we are in today. I know that's a lot to ask during this time of reconciliation but honestly, it's infuriating to see them swarm the television and have to watch the media listen to their "analysis" and swallow it whole. If I didn't follow politics closely, I would think these people are the ones who won the election.
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Is Israel a nation - or a religion?
This is an interesting thesis, one that may actually affect the resolution of Palestinian statelessness.
But it's just a fascinating story, no matter what.
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Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, two of the child actors in "Slumdog Millionaire," are still living in the slums of Mumbai, despite the film's $14 million dollar budget and worldwide success. Ali earned 500 British pounds ($710) for one year's work and Ismail earned 1700 pounds ($2414), less than many Indian domestic servants.
Both children were found places in a local school and receive £20 a month for books and food. However, they continue to live in grinding poverty and their families say they have received no details of the trust funds set up in their names. Their parents said that they had hoped the film would be their ticket out of the slums, and that its success had made them realise how little their children had been paid.
Ismail is in fact "worse off" now, as his "family's illegal hut was demolished by the local authorities and he now sleeps under a sheet of plastic tarpaulin." Ali lives nearby — in a "hut." A Fox Searchlight spokesperson said he is "proud" of their treatment and boasted, "For 30 days work, the children were paid three times the average local annual adult salary."
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h/t Biggi and Cheryl
Ben & Jerry's created "Yes Pecan" ice cream for Obama. For George W., they asked for suggestions for the public. Here are some of their favorite responses:
Grape Depression
The Housing Crunch
Abu Grape
Cluster Fudge
Nut'n Accomplished
Iraqi Road
Choc and Awe
Wire Tapioca
Impeach Cobbler
Guantanmallow
ImPeachmint
Heck of a Job, Brownie!
Neocon Politan
Rocky Road to Fascism
The Resse's-cession
Cookie D'oh!
Nougalar Proliferation
Death by Chocolate - and Torture
Freedom Vanilla
Chocolate Chip on my Shoulder
Credit Crunch
Mission Pecanplished
Country Pumpkin
Chunkey Monkey In Chief
George Bush Doesn't Care About Dark Chocolate
WMDelicious
Chocolate Chimp
Bloody Sundae
Caramel Preemptive Strike
I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands...with nuts
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Here's one of the last photos taken of Bush as he re-enters the White House East room to say goodbye to staff and friends after his primetime address in Washington, January 15, 2009.
"If he wasn't just back there behind that door crying, I don't know what that look on his face is. Because he just looks absolutely devastated as he comes through this door after essentially ending his eight year presidency. And it's just really striking. He just looks absolutely devastated. "
I hope he looks and feels devastated for the rest of his miserable, shameful life. And that he thinks about the devastation he himself inspired:
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Clarence Thomas, sleeping through Obama's inauguration
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"Maybe Obama's speechwriter should leave out the Bush bashing. You did not see Bush take office and constantly talk about what he inherited." Sandy Ennis, on the notion that Obama was mean to Bush in his inaugural address Link
Hey lady, try to get a clue of what you're talking about. Obama's inauguration was the biggest media event in the history of the world. Every country was watching live - it was a bigger event than the Super Bowl and the world wanted to know if America was going to change or be more torture and more murder, etc. Obama HAD to say America would stop the murders, tortures and invasions. He HAD to reassure the world that the insanity was going to stop immediately. And no wonder Bush didn't scold Clinton. Clinton left him with a robust economy, peace and a budget surplus. What the hell did Bush have to complain about?
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The press awakens from its 8 year slumber Link
Suddenly revved up and vowing to keep a hawk-like watch on the Obama administration ("I want to hold these guys accountable for what they say and do") and all of a sudden obsessed with trivia, while glomming onto nitpicking, gotcha-style critiques, Beltway reporters have tossed aside the blanket of calm that had descended on them during the previous administration, a blanket of calm that defined their Bush coverage.
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