Three Words Away

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Friday December 12, 2008 · 9:54 AM PST

2008/12/12 · 09:54

Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican point man against the auto industry bailout, has been widely quoted as saying:

We were about three words away from a deal

Which immediately made me wonder: what three words?

The first ones that came to mind were "Screw you all" but I couldn't figure out how those would help the deal; rather, that seemed to be the initial negotiation position of the GOP. Likewise with "Banks, not cars" which seems to sum up the thinking of the "Gang of 18".

Probably the words they'd like to hear are "We give up". Or alternately, "Okay, you win." That would be kind of understandable, as they've probably gotten used to hearing those phrases from the Democratic side of the aisle.

What three words do you think Sen. Corker would most like to hear?

What three words would you like to say to Sen. Corker?

Rahm Emanuel accepts

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Thursday November 06, 2008 · 10:56 AM PST

2008/11/06 · 10:56

Against the advice of Karl Rove, Rahm Emanuel has accepted the chief of staff position in the Obama administration, according to CNN.

I have to admit I'm surprised - with Emanuel's rapid rise in the House leadership, I figured he had his mind set on the Speakership. But maybe he figures Pelosi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I haven't always agreed with him, but there's no question Emanuel is the kind of guy you want on your side in a fight, as Ezra Klein says:

He's the type of guy who makes enemies, then makes lists of his enemies, then makes lists of his enemies' friends, then makes lists of how they'll pay.

His experience in the White House under Clinton means he knows how things work. Since Obama's not going to have much time to get up to speed, that seems especially valuable.

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What do you think of Emmanuel's selection?

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What do you think of Emmanuel's selection?

Approve

160 votes

Disapprove

36 votes

Don't know

40 votes

Don't care

2 votes

Pie

6 votes

What Not To Wear (And Where Not To Wear It)

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Monday November 03, 2008 · 10:08 PM PST

2008/11/03 · 22:08

Last Thursday, Frank Knaack of the ACLU posted this diary about wearing campaign clothing, buttons, etc. to the polls. His bottom line is worth repeating:

Unless you know for sure, we suggest that you either refrain from wearing political clothing, or be prepared to cover up or remove such clothing. Though you may be permitted to vote with it on, you also risk losing your right to vote.

The rules vary from state to state. I was curious as to just how many states do ban campaign apparel. I was surprised at the number that do; I only found five states (edit: now six, counting Iowa) that explicitly allow it. See below the fold for a state-by-state list. If the state name is hyperlinked, it goes to an official statement from a state government website. Unofficial sources (including news accounts) are listed after the state name.

GreenCA

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Tuesday September 16, 2008 · 3:33 PM PDT

2008/09/16 · 15:33

The McCain campaign is putting out some of the most confused mixed messages in political history. Just before making his much mocked Blackberry comment, McCain's economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said this about McCain's service on the Senate Commerce Committee:

"He didn’t have jurisdiction over financial markets, first and foremost."

Which makes sense, since the financial industry is under the jurisdiction of the Banking Committee. But meanwhile McCain himself is making a completely different claim:

"The point is, I was chairman of the Commerce Committee. Every part of America's economy, I oversighted."

GreenCA

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Wednesday August 13, 2008 · 11:38 AM PDT

2008/08/13 · 11:38

Barack Obama's new ad hitting McCain on the economy drew this response from McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds (though of course, as we all know, nobody actually speaks for John McCain):

Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time [...]

Yes, President Bush - who was, last I checked, still a member of the Republican Party - is now so radioactive that the Republican candidate to succeed him considers it a viable tactic to accuse his Democratic opponent of being too close to Bush.

Of course, if "nearly half the time" qualifies as "lockstep", what does McCain's 90% or so rate count as? Maybe we can say McCain votes "in straitjacket with" Bush? Or perhaps "in leg-irons with" the President?

McCain campaign: Obama was right on financing

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Friday July 11, 2008 · 10:26 AM PDT

2008/07/11 · 10:26

In a story on The Hill (tip of the hat to electoral-vote.com), the McCain campaign has essentially admitted that Barack Obama was right in his rationale to opt out of public financing.

Obama, as you recall, said that the system was broken and the Republicans masters at gaming the broken system. McCain campaign chairman Rick Davis confirms that fact:

GreenCA

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Thursday October 19, 2006 · 8:32 PM PDT

2006/10/19 · 20:32

"The weapons that we all believed were there, based on the intelligence, were not there." - White House press secretary Scott McClellan, January 2005

"Our coalition has not found WMD stockpiles in Iraq [...] the flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight [...]" - Vice President Dick Cheney, November 2005

"I still believe they will find the WMD." - Rep. John Doolittle, yesterday

Yes, John Doolittle continues to swim against the current of reality, fly in the face of facts, and...well...there should be a third metaphor here, really, but I can't think of one. But you know these things work better in threes.

Please help Charlie Brown rid us of this guy. Even Bush and Cheney have spat out this flavor of koolaid - California does not need a representative who's still happily guzzling it down!

Specter smooches the pig

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Thursday February 16, 2006 · 12:35 PM PST

2006/02/16 · 12:35

Every now and then, I decide I have some shred of respect left for Sen. Arlen Specter. And then he comes out with something like this:

Some senators who support the measure agreed that the latest deal involved marginal changes.
"When Senator Feingold says that, he happens to be right," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. "Sometimes cosmetics will make a beauty out of the beast and provide enough cover for senators to change their votes."

GreenCA

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Wednesday February 15, 2006 · 3:23 PM PST

2006/02/15 · 15:23

In a poll thread two days ago, SoCalLiberal had this to say:

Angelides being a dork may actually help him, there's this new tv/movie craze of having loveable dork characters. From Seth Cohen to Napoleon Dynamite, audiences can't seem to get enough. It sounds stupid (and I guess it is) but it may actually help Angelides.

Yesterday, Angelides continued his pursuit of the dork vote by filing his official paperwork on Valentine's Day: Read More

Doolittle says "Investigate me"

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Monday January 30, 2006 · 11:05 AM PST

2006/01/30 · 11:05

Rep. John Doolittle (CA-04) has been linked to Jack Abramoff and his clients. Just how linked? From an AP story:

Doolittle accepted at least $14,000 in campaign money from Abramoff from 1999 to 2001, records show, and initially failed to report a 1999 fundraiser in Abramoff's sky box, as required.
He took tens of thousands of dollars more from Abramoff's tribal clients, including $5,000 in 2004 from the Sac & Fox tribe, also known as the Meskwaki.

GreenCA

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Friday November 11, 2005 · 10:31 AM PST

2005/11/11 · 10:31

So Samuel Alito is supposed to be a "textualist", right? Who views the constitution strictly as a "text", not a "living document"?

His own promises to the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, apparently are living documents. What he wrote in his Senate questionnaire in 1990 (according to Newsday, which had the most complete version of the quote that I could find)was:

I would, however, disqualify myself from any cases involving the Vanguard companies, the brokerage firm of Smith Barney or the First Federal Savings & Loan of Rochester, N.Y.

Today, however, he says:

As my service continued, I realized that I had been unduly restrictive on my 1990 questionnaire [...]

RSS

Three Words Away

Rahm Emanuel accepts

What Not To Wear (And Where Not To Wear It)

Oversighted or Not?

Even McCain hates Bush

McCain campaign: Obama was right on financing

CA-04: Doolittle still believes in WMDs

Specter smooches the pig

Dorks for Angelides

Doolittle says "Investigate me"

Alito: Not such a textualist, after all