When Vice President Joe Biden successfully (?) negotiated a bill to stave off fiscal disaster (for a couple of months, at least), it really was a big fucking deal.
After all, the 112th Congress—arguably the worst Congress in history—wasn't exactly known for its bipartisanship; yet the bill ultimately passed the House and Senate with support from both parties.
Unfortunately, that same bipartisan spirit didn't help the victims of Hurricane Sandy or domestic violence.
But, no worries.
The 112th Congress is now a thing of the past, and the 113th Congress looks poised to finally solve the nation's problems—by repealing Obamacare, hating on teh gheys, ending birthright citizenship, and taking additional hostages.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Deficit Commission Co-Chairs Alan Simpson (R) and Erskine Bowles (D); Roundtable: Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Vice Chair of the NRSC Carly Fiorina and E.J. Dionne (Washington Post).
Face the Nation: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN); Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ); Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA); Roundtable: David Sanger (New York Times) and Rana Foroohar (TIME).
This Week: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-TX); Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Greta Van Susteren (Fox News), Gwen Ifill (PBS), Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Jonathan Karl (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Nina Easton (Fortune), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) and Charles Lane (Washington Post).
State of the Union: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC); Neera Tanden (Center for American Progress); Stephen Moore (Wall Street Journal); Dana Bash (CNN); Jackie Calmes (New York Times); Reliable Sources: Dana Bash (CNN); Jonathan Weisman (New York Times); Tim Carney (Washington Examiner); Ana Marie Cox (The Guardian); Dave Marash (Formerly of Al-Jazeera); Thomas Mann (Brookings Institute); Norman Ornstein (American Enterprise Institute).
The Chris Matthews Show: Bob Woodward (Washington Post); Michael Duffy (TIME); Gloria Borger (CNN); Joy Reid (MSNBC).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Ian Bremmer (Eurasia Group); Richard Haas (Council on Foreign Relations); For,er State Department Official Anna-Marie Slaughter; Lionel Barber (Financial Times); Anatole Kaletsky (London Times); Londson School of Economics Prof. Fawaz Gerges; UN and Arab League Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.
Up with Chris Hayes: Steve Ellis (Taxpayers for Common Sense); Victim of Hurricane Sandy Fran O’Connor; Ben Jealous (NAACP); Esther Armah (WBAI-FM); Tio Hardiman (Violence Interruptor Initiative); Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the fate many newspapers face as the Internet becomes the source of almost instantaneous news (preview); a report on "design thinking"—incorporating human behavior into design (preview); and, an interview with Lionel Messi, considered the best soccer player in the world (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were still on vacation this week, so once again there are no new videos to share. Instead, let's take a look back at the fiscal cliff negotiations.
The Daily Show
Monday: Actress Anne Hathaway
Tuesday: Retired US Army General Stanley McChrystal
Wednesday: Actor Jeff Bridges
Thursday: Actor Josh Brolin
The Colbert Report
Monday: Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales
Tuesday: NFL Player Chris Kluwe
Wednesday: Author Neil Shubin
Thursday: Musician Ben Gibbard
Elsewhere...
Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) longed for a white Christmas.
"Almost no black people today care about Kwanzaa -- just white left-wingers who try to shove this down black people's throats in an effort to divide Americans," Grothman said in a press release, according to Patch.
"Why must we still hear about Kwanzaa?" Grothman asked. "Why are hard-core left wingers still trying to talk about Kwanzaa -- the supposed African-American holiday celebration between Christmas and New Year’s?"
Meanwhile...
Certified genius Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) nailed the problem with gun control.
"I refuse to play the game of 'assault weapon.' That's any weapon. It's a hammer. It's the machetes. In Rwanda that killed 800,000 people, an article that came out this week, the massive number that are killed with hammers."
And, in tangentially-related news...
The latest effort by Orly Taitz, DDS, Esq. to prevent Barack Obama from becoming president was shot down by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr.
"Why do you keep filing these lawsuits when they keep getting rejected?" England asked at one point.
Taitz responded by comparing herself to Thurgood Marshall and his persistence in filing suits to fight segregation. She explained that one of the plaintiffs is a Republican elector for Mitt Romney, who came in second to Obama in November.
"But second," England countered. "What part of 'second' don't you understand?"
Finally, the judge rejected the request for a restraining order, saying Taitz had no hope of prevailing anywhere.
Maybe next time will be different.
- Trix