Archive for posts ‘Chris Dodd’

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GOP’s 1-for-2 on Facts about Barack Obama

7/31/09 1:58 pm | Comments disabled. | Permalink | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

A Stimulating Conversation

That's actually Obama in that t-shirt. Seriously!

  • Jon Kyl went on TV today to demand an end Obama Socialism, aka the Stimulus, so Obama said “OK, Jon” and sent his Cabinet to take back Arizona’s stimulus money. What a bad ass. But then Republican Gov. Jan Brewer pointed out that Arizona, collectively, could really use the cash, and all of this made the state’s other John (heh), McCain, very angry. (Daily Kos)
  • Awww, did meany Chris Dodd make the widdle lobbyists cry, by saying mean things about them? Don’t worry, lobbyists, the NRSC is there to cheer you  up because they love you soooooo much. (Party Time)
  • Ugh, now everyone has to line up at the DMV again to get their new socialist ID number tattoo driver’s license, because apparently George W. Bush even screwed those up. (MSNBC First Read)
  • Was that Al Franken in the Senate Judiciary Chairman’s chair? Who does this humorous clown, the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota, think he is? (CNN Political Ticker)
  • Silly Hillterns,* just because the Democratic Party has all the colored folks in it does not make it the minority party. You don’t have to be a Republican to swim at the Valley Club pool, yet. (Spotted: DC Summer Interns)

* That’s “Hill interns,” for the uninitiated.

(P.S. I offer no apologies for the horrible, horrible pun in the title of this post.)

7/15/09 8:58 pm | Comments disabled. | Permalink | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Okay, So There Is No Federal Investigation of Sarah Palin

palin-i-quit

  • The FBI says that Sarah Palin is not under investigation and anyone who says otherwise will be shot with a moose gun, legal style. She is, however, the subject of many costly state ethics investigations–because not being under investigation is “politics as usual” and she is a maverick–so there’s one reason why she may be resigning. (CNN/New York Times)
  • Sen. Chris Dodd and the Democratic leadership want to know just who this Barack Obama character thinks he is, wanting his health care bill by October 15. That is obviously not going to happen because of, um, Sonia Sotomayor, somehow. (Roll Call)
  • I hope Republicans appreciate that they have an entire television channel, FOX News, which lets them go on America’s teevees and just make shit up–like, for example, allowing John Boehner to say that there have been no stimulus-funded proejcts in Ohio when there have actually been $83 million worth of stimulus projects in Ohio. (Media Matters)
  • Your President Obama is headed to Russia today to talk about the good old days (Socialism) and maybe eliminate some nuclear weapons while he’s there. But then what will we nuke Iran with? (Washington Post)
  • Michael Jackson fans, here is a convenient list of people you can beat up and steal Michael Jackson funeral tickets from. (Los Angeles Times)
  • According to Science, your coffee can prevent Alzheimer’s. When they figure out how to dispense it intraveneously, sign me up. (CBS News)

7/6/09 10:11 am | Comment (1) | Permalink | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Birther-in-Chief

  •  Orly Taitz, “a Laguna Niguel dentist with a law degree from an online academy,” does not care for your terrorist-lovin’ Mooslim anti-Christ fake President, Barry “Obama” al-Hussein. (Orange County Weekly) — If you need a laugh today, you should really read the full article.
  •  Okay, so maybe the Iranian election was a teensy-weensy bit fraudulent. A spokesman for Iran’s Guardian Council announced that over 100% of eligible voters voted in 50 cities on Iran’s Election Day. (PressTV)
  • As the political crisis in Iran grows increasingly violent, Marco Rubio, a Republican candidate for Senate in Florida, has a solution: more guns! Guns for everyone! (TPMDC)
  •  In a reversal of his long-standing position on civil unions, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) now supports full marriage equality for all Americans.  (Dodd.Senate.gov)
  • Shep Smith’s factually accurate report on scary wingnut email sent to FOX News has resulted in–SURPRISE!–more scary wingnut email sent to FOX News. And by the way, Shep, odds are that some of them really do hate you and want death on your family. (Media Matters/New York Times)
  • SHOCKING NEWS: noted sex fiend Senator John Ensign is less popular now than he was before admitting his long-term affair with an employee. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

6/22/09 9:48 am | Comments disabled. | Permalink | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Time to Ditch Harry Reid?

Leadership poll: Harry Reid

To clarify, that dismal poll (for Harry Reid, at least) was posted at 11:10 AM Eastern.  The screenshot above was taken at 5:15 PM Central. Yikes. And while that certainly isn’t scientific, it is from DailyKos, a site dedicated to electing Democrats. Chris Bowers at OpenLeft has enough links to keep you busy for a while.

Ah, the Democratic controlled Congress. Republican Senate holds are respected, Democratic Senate holds are not. Republicans need 50 votes to pass legislation in the Senate, while Democrats need 60. Only one Democrat is needed to pass a renewable energy bill, and that Democrat is in serious danger of defeat in her next election? Forget applying pressure on her, just roll over and gut the bill. Bush threatens to veto Iraq war funding? Just roll over and give him a blank check. Challenge the Bush Dogs who vote with Republicans? Nah, they will just withhold funds from the DCCC if anyone dare to even suggest they face primary challenges, while other Democrats continue to just pour money into their campaign coffers. Use more aggressive tactics to challenge this situation? Nah, those would just hurt Democrats at the voting booth (and we are doing great in special elections as a result of this timidity). Can’t end the war or change its direction? Well, at least we can condemn opponents of the war, and make others apologize. And so, we end up in a situation where Democrats and Independents, the same people who voted for new leadership in Congress, approve of the Democratic-controlled Congress as much as Republicans do.

Unless Reid is going to step up and, I dunno, show some leadership, I think it’s time for him to step down.

Chris Dodd for Majority Leader, maybe?

12/17/07 4:29 pm | Comments disabled. | Permalink | Tags: , , ,

Biden, Obama, Richardson Join Dodd in Opposing Telecom Immunity

A few days ago, I praised Chris Dodd for putting a hold on the FISA reauthorization bill that would give retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that helped George Bush spy on you and me. Not surprisingly, Harry Reid is not pleased, but Chris Dodd is prepared to go the distance, threatening to filibuster if Reid tries to bring the bill to the floor. Dodd deserves a lot of credit. This, as I’ve said, is really leadership. It’s doing what the people want, not what the lobbyists want and definitely not what the Chump-in-Chief wants. Fortunately, Dodd is not the only presidential candidate willing to lead, so, if it comes down to it, Dodd will not be filibustering alone.

From an online chat at The Washington Post:

San Francisco: Will you join Sen. Chris Dodd’s hold and proposed filibuster on any FISA bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecoms? Thanks for joining us for this chat today, Sen. Biden, and thanks for the leadership you provide the Democratic Party and America.

Sen. Joe Biden: Yes.

Via Greg Sargent at Talking Points Memo:

It’s official: Obama will back a filibuster of any Senate FISA legislation containing telecom immunity, his campaign has just told Election Central. The Obama campaign has just sent over the following statement from spokesman Bill Burton: “To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.“

Although he obviously can’t be part of the filibuster, Bill Richardson also voiced his support:

I urge my Democratic primary opponents, and every Senator, to stand up and state loudly and clearly — without any equivocation — that he or she will not pass any bill that grants retroactive immunity to companies that willingly aided the Bush administration in violating the law and spying on our own people.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but it’s true: there is a clear difference between running for president and acting you are the president.

10/25/07 12:09 am | Comments disabled. | Permalink | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Acting Presidential

So much of the 2008 presidential race is utterly superficial. Who’s wearing a flag pin on their lapel? How much money does each candidate spend on their hair? Why does the candidate with breasts have cleavage? It’s so nice to finally see two of the Democratic candidates showing real leadership and doing what’s right for America even if they aren’t getting much press from it.

On Thursday, Chris Dodd put a hold on the Senate’s FISA bill. You know, the bill that would grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunication companies who shouldn’t need it since they swear they never spied on you (even though it’s looking more and more like they were spying on you long before 9/11). In his statement, Dodd said:

I have decided to place a “hold” on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President’s assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization. I said that I would do everything I could to stop this bill from passing, and I have.

The Democrats should never have let this provision come to floor of the Senate, but they did because they didn’t want the big, bad Republican minority meanies calling them “weak on terror” and stealing their lunch money. Chris Dodd was willing to stand up to the Senate Republicans and President 24% because it’s what’s right for America. End of story.

Barack Obama is the other candidate who was truly presidential today. Earlier this month, John Tanner, chief of Justice Department’s voting rights section, argued that voter ID laws, which have been shown to negatively impact minorities, actually hurt whites the most. His reasoning?

Tanner explained that “primarily elderly persons” are the ones affected by such laws, but “minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do: They die first.” So anything that “disproportionately impacts the elderly, has the opposite impact on minorities,” he added. “Just the math is such as that.”

I can’t respond any better than Obama did:

“Such comments are patently erroneous, offensive, and dangerous, and they are especially troubling coming from the federal official charged with protecting voting rights in this country….Through his inexcusable comments, Mr. Tanner has clearly demonstrated that he possesses neither the character nor the judgment to be heading the Voting Rights Section. For that reason, I respectfully request that you remove him from his position.”

Even if, as I cynically suspect, the Justice Department ignores Obama and continues to justify voter disenfranchisement laws, I can rest slightly easier knowing that there will be no room for people like John Tanner in the Obama administration.

Kudos to

10/20/07 10:40 am | Comment (1) | Permalink | Tags: , , , , ,

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