When Eric Holder claimed that the president has the authority to order a drone strike on an American citizen (who is engaged in terrorism) on U.S. soil, I was .
As a of , I'm usually of President Obama and his administration's policies, this being .
So, Rand Paul's decision to launch a real-life talking filibuster (not to be confused with your garden-variety filibuster) in order to block the confirmation of John Brennan, one of the program's architects, made me .
After all was said and done, the junior senator from Kentucky had for almost 13 hours (without a bathroom break), much to the dismay of John McCain.
Then it was time to move on to the next battle; the old battle.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA); Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI); Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO); Joe Scarborough (MSNBC); Roundtable: Author Dee Dee Myers, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Republican Strategist Steve Schmidt and Ruth Marcus (Washington Post).
Face the Nation: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I); Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R); Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH); Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Roundtable: Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), Author/Journalist Carl Bernstein, Sally Quinn (Washington Post) and Author Greg Tobin.
This Week: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R); Filmmaker R.J. Cutler; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), DNC Chair/Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Paul Krugman (New York Times) and Julianna Goldman (Bloomberg News).
Fox News Sunday: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI); Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R); Roundtable: Kimberly Strassel (Wall Street Journal), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Radio Host Laura Ingraham and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA); Former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn; Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos; Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile; Reliable Sources: Dana Milbank (Washington Post); Ryan Lizza (The New Yorker); Kara Swisher (All Things Digital); Outgoing Ombudsman Patrick Pexton (Washington Post); Former Ombudsman Geneva Overholser (Washington Post); Former Ombudsman Michael Getler (Washington Post); Gail Shister (TB Newser); Marissa Guthrie (Hollywood Reporter).
The Chris Matthews Show: Kathleen Parker (Washington Post); Gloria Borger (CNN); David Ignatius (Washington Post); Blogger Andrew Sullivan.
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Author Rory Carroll; Author Nikolas Kozloff; Former Venezuela Minister for Trade and Industry Moises Naim; Michael Brune (Sierra Club); Evan Osnos (The New Yorker); Neil MacFarquhar (New York Times); Author David Agus.
Up with Chris Hayes: Deepak Bhargava (Center for Community Change); Columbia University Prof. M. Victoria Murillo; Michael Shifter (Inter-American Dialogue); New York University Prof. Alejandro Velasco; Michael Moynihan (Newsweek/Daily Beast); Queens College Prof. Sujatha Fernandes; New York University Prof. Greg Grandin; Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH); Former Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Raj Date; Occupy Wall Street Activist Alexis Goldstein.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on tainted pain medication that caused fungal meningitis that has so far has killed 48 Americans and sickened hundreds more (preview); an interview with Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg (preview); and, a report on the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, which has been under construction for more than 130 years (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart—who announced that he will be taking a 12 week hiatus this summer to direct his first feature film—laid the blame for the sequester on Congress' incompetence.
And Stephen Colbert worried that President Obama's upcoming trip to Israel might be a little awkward in light of Prime Minister Netanyahu's tacit support of Mitt Romney.
Note: The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will be airing reruns this week.
Elsewhere...
Washington state Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) argued that bikes produce as much greenhouse gas as fossil fuels, or something.
"You would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car," he said. However, he said he had not "done any analysis" of the difference in CO2 from a person on a bike compared to the engine of a car (others have).
"You can't just say that there's no pollution as a result of riding a bicycle."
Speaking of pollutants...
Newt Gingrich expressed an interest in appearing on "The Celebrity Apprentice."
"I've known the Donald, we've done fundraisers together. But look, I think Republicans would be so much better off and relaxed [to] go on shows like that and be interesting."
He added: "Donald Trump is a phenomenon. Donald Trump has no meaning in American politics except that he is a billionaire who is interesting and who is very clever at getting in the news."
"If only the Republicans were as talented at branding as Trump is," said Ingraham, who also said she'd appear on Trump’s reality show. [...]
"That would require a risk-taking attitude and a willingness to look a little foolish, which most Republicans are horrified at," Gingrich said. "Trump is a guy who is pretty careful about going out there and mixing it up, and he knows that some days he's going to look foolish and some days he's going to look brilliant — but overall, you're going to remember his name."
And, in other news...
The Continuing Resolution passed by the House this week contained a provision to defund ACORN again.
A new short-term budget bill introduced on Monday by House Republicans includes a bizarre provision banning federal funding to anti-poverty group ACORN, despite the fact that the group has already been stripped of federal funding — and has been defunct for nearly three years.
ACORN leaders announced that the group was disbanding in March 2010, after Congress cut off all federal funding to the organization. The provision in the current GOP budget bill, buried on page 221 of 269, would duplicate legislation that has already passed, to target an organization that does not exist.
THE END
- Trix