I now declare this F.O.O. holiday "office" party started!
And, to those of you who didn't take me seriously last night about office photocopying shenanigans, I've already beat ya' to it!
Tomorrow night is the Countdown Favorites of 2010 show. Even though I won't be diarying about it, we can certainly make some predictions here & comment about what we saw when the diary returns next week! :D The Daily Beast has offered its own pretty darn decent insights; I usually just check out The Daily Beast to see if "my guy" has written anything new. :) Senator DADT Bull Connor McCentury might garner a mention or 2, and TDB has an interesting article on him, with a bit more new information beyond the attempted "analysis" by so many others these days.
Christmas punch, anyone? :)
I'm noting only 1 "this day in history" item that immediately perked up the juvenile adolescent humor part of my personality; as I said the other night, if you don't have a juvenile adolescent humor part of YOUR personality, you're in the wrong sparkin' diary! ;D On this date in 2005, astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling Uranus {insert punchline here}.
It's time for the final pre - Christmas SPARK! Emily Post's granddaughter is channeling the Miss Manners' spirit; I reply with the following! I've found another house for Santa to leave an "extra gift" at. ;D
Have a cookie!
I wonder if BillO's read this angle on the "war on Christmas?" I doubt it. ;D Finally, for those F.O.O. who actually HAVE TO contend with that white vile frozen stuff this time of year, if you see this snowplow, RUN!!
Yes! The party entertainment is here - 'bout damn time. ;D
Let's Countdown!
Thanks again to Chris "the Countdown elf" Hayes!
#5 "DADT Repealed" AKA " –Don’t Ask- Don’t Tell Don’t Care" - {insert hallelujah chorus here!} I know it’s another 2 months until things are officially official, but I’m going to enjoy this moment for a bit.
But, paranoid little me still wouldn’t be coming out of the closet until then. A soldier in George Washington’s army was tried & convicted of "sodomy," so the history of gay Americans serving our country goes back to before we were a country! How ‘bout that WWII soldier’s story?! Wow... How many of those discharged under this shameful policy will re – enlist? I really couldn’t tell you; I think I’d be too pi$$ed off as hell to do so. But, that’s why I’m not military material! Garrison Phillips is a Korean war veteran who served his country honorably and is gay; he was at the signing ceremony today & is obviously very emotional about it. Cmdr. Zoe Dunning is retired from the Navy who served her country honorable and is gay. Professor Manning Marable called today’s signing one of the biggest civil rights victories in decades; yea, I’d go along with that.
The White House WAS SLOW in ending this policy; this could’ve ended way before now. But, this White House refused to act on the political capital & mandate given to it by the American people in November 2008; it was too busy trying to look like the grown – up in the room with a group of "people" who made known very quickly they would not work with this President in good faith. This group followed their REAL leader in doing all it could in wanting this administration to fail. So much wasted time...
Even before DADT, gay soldiers & veterans couldn’t display any sort of pride in marching in military parades or functions. I’m sure there will still be incidents of struggle even after the implementation of DADT repeal; human nature won’t be changed over night whether it’s "the law" or not. Mr. Phillips didn’t think he’d see this day in his lifetime.
#4 "Do – Something Congress" - START has been started! AND, the health care bill for 9/11 first responders was passed via unanimous consent in the Senate. Jon Stewart should get a medal; yes, I’ve said this before but bears repeating! :D And, no one nowhere should let ANYONE forget how long GOBP Senators put the kibosh on this legislation. The party of "keeping America safe" thought giving tax cuts to those who neither deserve nor need it was more important than providing care of last resort to those who responded on one of our darkest days in the history of this country.
13 GOBP Senators voted to ratify START; read your roll call tally here, folks! President Obama’s approval remarks have gone up over the course of the lame duck session. Here’s a list of what was accomplished in the 111th Congress: health care reform (which should’ve been better), Wall Street reform (which gave too much to the banks who held onto their bailout money instead of lending it to those who needed it), hate crimes prevention (basically have no beef with how that came down!), credit card reform (that gave credit card companies plenty of time to come up with new fees in place of the money they would lose), student loan reform, Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, auto bailout (wondering how many of those against it drive American cars :D), the Recovery Act (the first solid evidence that the GOBP was NOT going to work with President Obama on anything [a whopping 3 GOBP votes in total] & should’ve been much bigger), the modernization of food safety laws, and 2 female SCOTUS justices (suck on it, Uncle Pat & Senator Racist Dick MORAN!). Said Senator Racist Dick MORAN had this to say about the 111th Congress:
I think it was a disaster.
Hence, the nickname RACIST DICK MORAN!!!!! ;D
Here’s E.J. Dionne – lurve him! Chris again asked the question of how so much was able to get accomplished since the November election. I think I sort of said this the other night. Dems knew their "control" of Congress was coming to an end, and when this administration took its base to the woodshed for not reacting to the tax cut extension deal the way they thought its base should have, Dems in Congress figured they’d better act while the acting was good. How ‘bout E.J.’s tie?! ;D And, he agreed with me!! I am so smart!!!
Shep Smith over at FAUX News did a lot to get the GOBP to demonstrate a bit of shame (what little they’re capable of such) in their 9/11 responder bill obstructionism. How the spark does he still have a job there? Me thinks TurdBlossom or $aint $arah from Wasilla or the Mannity would’ve ordered his canning long ago. E.J. said this administration needs to be way better at making their case for policy & such. THANK YOU! And, again, I place a lot of that blame on the "person" who wants to be mayor of Chicago. If he doesn’t deserve a "gift" from Santa down his chimney, I don’t know who does!
E.J. wants to abolish the Senate?! HA! Man, he’s gonna hear about that remark. ;D
** Robots are waiters in China; they’re riding bikes, too! Do they put baseball cards in their spokes? ;D The UConn women’s basketball team beat the UCLA men’s basketball team victory record last night, which I’m sure has sent the "women should stay barefoot & pregnant at home" crowd a retchin’! People in Spokane, WA just don’t know how to operate their vehicles in winter conditions. If any F.O.O. from that area need help, pay for my way out there & let me stay with you, and I’ll give y’all some winter driving lessons! :D **
#3 "NOT Forgotten" - The 9/11 first responders health bill has been passed – long LONG after it should’ve been passed. How’s this for a rag – tag group to light a fire under some people in DC – Jon Stewart, Mayor Noun – Verb – 9/11, and Shep Smith from FAUX News? Here’s a statement from the Oklahoma City Fire Fighters Association to their lovely Senators concerning the bill:
The Oklahoma Fire Fighters urge our two Senators to stand tall with America’s first responders. Instead of employing procedural tactics of delay, vote to give the heroes of 9/11 the protection and benefits they have earned.
The sad thing is that OK voters probably won’t even hold those obstructionist tactics against their Senators when it comes time for their re – election.
The compensation fund will be kept open for 5 years instead of 10, and the dollar amount will be $4.2 billion instead of $6.2 billion (how much were those super – rich tax cuts again?). The bill was always & will always be fully – funded & PAID FOR! Soon – to – be Speaker Bawling Small Price to Pay Goldilocks (y’all like the new nickname?!) decided to go home early & wait for Santa, so he wasn’t around to vote for the bill. Here’s Rep. Anthony Weiner {insert loud riotous standing ‘o’ here}!
#2 "Census 2010 Seat Shuffle" - This country is getting redder, and it ain’t because of blushing. States that voted for President Obama in 2008 lost 6 seats in Congress. Well, this "Hoosier" is disputing the map indicating that we’re a blue state; what happened here in 2008 was a once in every 30 or so years phenomenon. Unless things change drastically, President Obama will not win Indiana in 2012. States that voted for Senator McCentury gained 6 seats. TX gets 4 more to their Congressional delegation. Yea (?). Chris thinks the GOBP advantage is on a short – term basis only because of "the Exterminator’s" shenanigans. I wish I could believe that. Chris also said that people who move to "red states" tend to vote Dem. Where does he get that information? Minorities & college grads may help Dems soon; OK, I’ll buy that.
#1 "The Grinch" AKA "Banking on Chaos" - OK, I don’t know who was in charge of this decision, but could another story have been chosen for the last show before Christmas other than how banks are screwing people in their home foreclosures? How ‘bout another Countdown favorites 2010 preview?! Chris forgot something the Grinch stole! What about the last can of Who Hash, dammit?! ;D
Banks are not only wrongfully – foreclosing on homes, but they’re tossing out personal possessions, too, like Who Hash! OK, I can’t deal with these details. Feel free to fill in the gaps in comments.