We have a rich tapestry of "this day in history" items, so let's jump on in; the water's fine! ;D
Harry Caray died on this date in 1998. The Cubs loosing was much less fun after his passing.
Auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr., 49, died from injuries suffered in a crash at the Daytona 500 on this date in 2001; Ugh, I HATE living in "the racing capitol of the world."
Let's get away from all this death & celebrate some birthdays! John Travolta is 56 today. My favorite role of his HAS to be Pulp Fiction; don't worry, no "blood & guts & language" in this clip! ;D
Actor George Kennedy is 85 today; let's laugh! :D
Time to Countdown...
#5 "Public Optional" AKA "The Public – Option Push" AKA "Opting for the Public Option" AKA "Public Option, Political Co – Option" - More & more Dem Senators (18 at this point) are on the record as being in favor of trying the public option via reconciliation. The White House is playing all this close to their proverbial vest, I’m sure. Reconciliation was also used to pass CHIP & COBRA. HA! I am so smart...I am so smart... S – M – A – T - ...er...uh...S – M – A – R – T! Look who declined to sign the letter; these names should look familiar from my little head count from last night – Mary Landrieu, Joementum, & Blanchie Lincoln. Harry Reid’s constituents oppose the HCR bill passed by the Senate 58 – 34%. However, they support a public option 56 – 38%, and the numbers are higher among independents. ARE YOU LISTENING, HARRY?! They are also on board with a public option via reconciliation. OK, let’s see how Sam Stein’s head count matches up with mine. They put Baucus in the "expected supporter" column?! No sparkin’ way – not gonna happen.
Did they listen to him during the Finance Committee stuff?! Golly, otherwise, I was kind of on the same page! I am so smart...I am so smart... S – M – A – T - ...er...uh...S – M – A – R – T! ;D The "question marks" include the Senator from WellPoint; sorry, I know him better. Put him in the "no" column. I’m surprised Russ Feingold is on the "question mark" list, too! The reason Sam Stein said that Senator Feingold is on the list is because of procedural issues?! DUDE! OK, I gotta disagree with Sam Stein on his assessment of the Bayhipede. He & his wife’s pocket books and their WellPoint stock would take a hit if a public option were in the mix. And, based on his not – so – glowing remarks about his fellow Dems in Congress, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be ready, willing, & able to play ball with them on the reconciliation score. Keith said Evan could "...vote his conscious." I’m not sure he has one anymore.
I agreed on 3 out of the 4 expected opponents! Is Robert Byrd going to try his little "Byrd rule" shtick & say this has nothing to do with a budget item or something? According to Sam Stein, there are 40 "yeses & 6 – 7 probably "no’s. Y’all will have to pick me up off the floor if Maxie Baucus signs onto this idea! Get the cold shower ready for the Chris Hayes fans! ;D Lots of calls from "we, the people" are helping this along – kewl! But, as I said last night, I’m not doing any celebrating until it’s in the bill President Obama signs into law. All eyes appear to be on Harry Reid; that doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence. Chris ended his segment with the million dollar question. Will Congress critters listen to "we, the people"? Once again, based on past performance, I am not instilled with confidence. They care about their sorry political a$$es more.
"Special Comment Quickie" An email floating around is taking issue with President Obama kicking back in the Oval Office with his feet on the desk. And, there’s GWB & President Ford propping their tootsies up, too. And, "people" are still trying to pick apart Keith’s comment from the other night.
#4 "Anger in Austin" - Joe Stack crashed his plane into a building in Austin, TX today that housed IRS offices; he’d had numerous tax issues in the past. OK, I have a question, and I ask this with the full knowledge & sadness that this gentleman felt he had to resort to this, and he’s left a wife & daughter behind basically homeless because he set their house on fire before he crashed his plane. How could Joe Stack afford a plane? I bit the bullet & read his note this afternoon; I gotta say that some of it makes quite a bit of sense. Some of it was damn scary; it all was very sad. There are already Facebook pages in support of Joe Stack. 13 were injured; the fate of 1 person is still unknown. Pete Williams gives us the latest news about this horrible event. Huh...apparently, the kind of plane this guy flew shouldn’t have created that big of a fire ball, so the prospect of him having extra fuel or other combustible material on board is being looked into. His letter was posted within hours before the crash.
** There’s something on VP Biden’s head! Oh, got it...Ash Wednesday. I guess he’s Catholic? Some models at a fashion show got a little carried away – one of them literally! **
#3 "Con Pack" - DICK & his spawn reared their ugly, evil, hateful rears at CPAC today; and, there was much figurative & probably literal orgasms. The crowd was chanting for DICK to run. I’d like for DICK to get the runs. He thinks President Obama is going to be a one – termer, and "conservatism" has a bright future. I hope this prediction works out as well as that whole "we’ll be greeted as liberators" thing! Jim DeMint made an appearance today, too. OK, Mark Rubio might be a conservative a$$hat, but he is cute! If he’d just shut the spark up & not talk... ;D Small Price to Pay Boehner promised that a GOP – led House would be different from all the other times the GOP led the House.
He also mentioned Keith fondly in mentioning the anniversary of all the GOP House critters just saying no to the recovery package. Keith & Tweety are on a doormat, too! Here’s Arianna Huffington – brother. Senator Nude Cosmo introduced Mittens Romney today, apparently. St. Sarah from Wasilla ain’t in da’ house. She’s probably shooting wolves or something. Mark Rubio is behind the "official" GOP nominee in some FL districts, so the possibility of a repeat of NY – 23 just might be there. There’s a punching bag in the image of Senator McCentury?! They’re punching their most recent GOP POTUS nominee??!! DUDE, that ain’t right. GWB & DICK got the biggest rounds of applause today.
"Special Comment Quickie II" Senator Hatch got read the riot act to him by a bunch of tea baggers last night. He told them to stop fractionalizing the GOP, and they didn’t appreciate it. OK, the Patty Murry story got mentioned! Has someone been lurking?! Or, was that story mentioned elsewhere on Daily Kos? Well, until I hear otherwise, I’ll bask just a bit in the belief that someone took a little peek at last night’s effort! ;D Mark Rubio made fun of President Obama’s teleprompter use via a speech from a teleprompter – BRILLIANT!
"Not – WPITW" Marsha Blackburn said her WPITW mention would help her raise campaign coin. Her little campaign mailer is wrong; she was only the "bronze medalist!" Lonesome Rhodes barked like a dog today, and it cracked Keith up! Coultergeist, in the process of saying she believes Iran’s claim about their nuclear capabilities, made a joke about Keith’s dead mom & MY GUY!!!!!! OK, *ITCH IS GOIN’ DOWN!
#1 "Mellencampaign" AKA "Cougar Town" - There’s an effort to get John Mellencamp to run for the Bayipede’s Senate seat; he’d have to take a hell of a pay cut! But, can you just imagine the a$$ whoopin’ he’d give to the likes of Mitchie McConnell & other GOP ilk?! ;D A former staffer for Evan’s Dad, Birch, said John is
...one of the great advocates of small – town America, of the kind of ‘square deal’ for Americans that Teddy Roosevelt once championed.
Golly! The right – wing blogosphere is having a cow. Keith talked this possibility up with David Letterman! Gotta set the DVR for this!! Brent Budowsky is the originator of the above quote. I just can’t see him having the patience for Congress critter life.