November 2006: Democrats across the country rejoice as the results begin pouring in and it becomes clear that voters have not just soured on the Republicans, but have served up a full-fledged beatdown, tossing control of both chambers to the Democrats - in the case of the House, with a margin that is likely to sustain control for a decade.  With such a slim margin in the Senate, and with the ever-present possibility of the presidential veto, sweeping legislative change is an impossibility, but other avenues - potential impeachment hearings, Conyers and his oversight mandates, the ability to at least force Republicans into embarassing filibusters - portend other equally important changes.

Well, they got Gonzalez.  The House has given a few headaches to Senators who would pass the Republican FISA bill.  Really, the only change of true import was that the corporate media by and large stopped carrying the GOP's water for them.  By virtually any pre-election progressive benchmark, the 110th has been a dead letter.  

Sorry to be so negative, but Bush is not going to be impeached.  As the Speaker of the House has straightforwardly noted, Congress has no inclination to pursue this route.  Many of our representatives might reconsider if they began to sense that the majority of the populace passionately desired impeachment, but weak polls spun to look midly favorable and a passionate majority are far from the same thing.  The fact of the matter is that no such majority will emerge when most Americans hear little to nothing on the subject in their weekly media intake.

This one will be short but sweet.

As Kagro X noted today, the Democratic House's attempt to provide for even the slow withdrawal of troops from Iraq, via the "hard benchmark" plan, is currently being stymied by Blue Dog Democrats, for whom even this very moderate alteration to current strategy is apparently too much.  

Below I've listed all 43 members of the Blue Dog coalition.  Having spent my entire life in red states, I'm well aware that sometimes you have to take what you can get, but not every one of the Blue Dogs hails from a district that would seem to merit such an equivocating posture.  Thus, working on the hypothesis that the 2004 presidential election vote was a pretty good inidicator of the partisanship of congressional districts, I've listed these representatves in descending order based on Kerry's margin vis-a-vis Bush (the % figure is Kerry's % of the district vote minus Bush's).  

Apologies for tossing out some meta on an otherwise peaceful Saturday afternoon, but I think the issues I'll be addressing here are of key importance to the site and, as they are intimately connected to the very nature of progressive blogging, they won't be going away any time soon.

Why is the American health care industry geared more toward the interests of insurance companies than the citizenry?  Why was bankruptcy reform such a "necessity", given the significant profit margins of all the major lenders?  Why was Iraqi "reconstruction" entrusted to private contractors on a no-bid basis?  Why do energy companies have a larger voice in the crafting of American energy policy than any other U.S. entities?  Why do so many of our politicians accept the absurd canard that voluntary corporate self-regulation is the anwer to most of our environmental problems?  Why did our politicians feel comfortable raising the rates on student loans when doing so directly contravened the interests of so many of their constituents?  

Today I was leafing through my copy of This Week - a guilty-pleasure, news-lite weekly that synthesizes the hard work of our nation's journalists into a single, reductionist format, when I came upon this item:

Nanoparticles in everyday products such as sunscreen and toothpaste could invade and damage brain tissue.  Nanotechnology, the science of the very small, is the source of many of this year's technological innovations.  In the latest generation of sunscreens, for example, tiny particles of zinc or titanium block the sun's rays.  But nanomaterials are so new to the medical landscape that scientists still aren't sure what repercussions they might have.  In one study on mice, the tiny grains seeped through the bloodstream into fragile brain tissue, causing permanent damage.

Folks, with the holidays upon us, there has descended a cloud of civility upon DailyKos.  The combination of time off of work, time spend around family, the still glowing aura of a Democratic victory, and a slow news cycle has left those of us who crave excitement and argument grasping at straws.  Bob Johnson tried to show us a way out, but I just can't get into time wars, having known a close friend who lost his dignity in the Mountain vs. Pacific fracas of 2004.  So, in honor of all who secretly miss the specter of Francis Holland, I provide to you this - a Christmas pie.

Let me apologize in advance for the utterly non-political and non-substantive content of this diary.  I figure that, if ever there were a time to drop something like this on the recent diary list without endangering the prominence of someone's intricate, thought-provoking, labored-over piece, it would be the Friday night before Christmas.  

(More over the flip)

Here at DailyKos, we do our fair share of handwringing over the often skewed, usually superficial, and always fickle institution that is our establishment media.  The concern is logical and very well-founded, as public opinion is the lifeblood of broad-stroke politics.  And, recognizing the lazy acceptance of Orwellian frames and the abandonment of objective reporting in favor of "you decide" pundit wars that now masquerade as the journalistic standard, it scares the hell out of us.

Well folks, I, for one, am done being scared.

(More below the flip)

Just finished watching Fox News Old Time Right-Wing Gospel Hour Sunday, where - surprise! - the fair and balanced panel did an extended hatched job on Durbin.  For those wise enough to spend their Sunday mornings doing something relaxing or uplifting, I'll give you the break-down.  Chris Wallace gives an overview of Durbin's remarks while the camera cuts repeatedly to Brit Hume looking like someone just murdered his cat...