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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

What About Congress Day?

In Government, Politics on February 16, 2010 at 3:47 am

Yesterday was Presidents’ Day. A nice day off for most, a long weekend retreat for many others. The Prez himself took the day off. As I considered the holiday, it occurred to me that at its most basic level, it’s a celebration of the service and accomplishments of only one branch of our system of government. What gives?

Well, first of all, I’m wrong. As implemented in 1880, federally, the holiday is officially called Washington’s Birthday, although ironically with later modifications to assure it falls on the third Monday of February, it will always be between the 15th and 21st. Old Boy George’s birthday is on the 22nd. (In researching this I also learned that the Iroquois not so fondly nicknamed him “Town Destroyer” in the French and Indian War.)

While the holiday was solely intended to celebrate Washington’s leadership and role as “Father of our country,” that has not become its popular interpretation. Most state and local governments (not to mention Raymour & Flanigan) favor Presidents’ Day and celebrate more broadly the Office of the Presidency and the men who have held the title. That sounded fine to me at first. After all, as Mel Gibson says to James Coburn in Payback, “One man… you go high enough you always come to one man.”

Then I thought… what about the other branches? This feels like a checks and balances issue. The president already has the nicest mixed-use facility in the world to live and work out of, extensive media coverage, and the best-trained armed guards in the history of the world at his side for the rest of his life. Plus the buck stops with him! The Executive Branch is the easiest to understand! One person handles all the stuff.

Why should he (or she, someday) get a holiday but the Legislative Branch get shafted? Where’s my Congress Day? The two houses of Congress deliberate all year but get no recognition.  It’s profoundly challenging to argue incessantly for that long and get nothing done. They deserve to be honored. Congress has a stutteringly abysmal approval rating, averaging about 20%, and measuring as low as 15% in some samples. Even Sarah Palin has higher numbers, and friends, that is saying something. Read the rest of this entry »

A New Episode Of LOST: Live-Blogging Obama’s First State Of The Union.

In Politics on January 27, 2010 at 2:36 am

POTUS is delivering his first State of the Union address tonight. Here’s a quick primer, written by Hillary’s cantankerous former campaign honcho. Okay, my fingertips are on the keyboard. Hopefully I will have something to say. I just feel so inadequate now without an iPad.

Coming into tonight’s address, when I think of the Obama Adminstration, I think of what Liam Neeson said to Bruce Wayne early on in Batman Begins: “Whatever your original intentions… you have become truly lost.”

It’s not so much that they have screwed up the country, but they are in a rut. Scratch that, I think slump works better. Y’know what, let’s just go with “ditch” and get on with the speech. Maybe POTUS will pull off an upset tonight, though it’s not bloody likely.

Shakedown! | 9:05 p.m. Some members of Congress camp out all day to be seen shaking the president’s hand now. Last year, this was certainly the case. I wonder how many less pitched a tent in the pews of the House chamber this year? Oh, he’s coming in! God, this entrance make me want to watch The American President.

Bad Optics | 9:12 p.m. Whatever Obama says, I bet he wishes he could swap in some alternates. That visual of Biden and (especially) Pelosi behind him can only do harm right now. Nonetheless, I’m digging his tie.

Bipartisan Ovation | 9:17 p.m. United hatred of the bailout gets Republicans and Democrats to stand for the first ovation of the speech.

Bailout “As Popular As Root Canal” | 9:19 p.m. Oh, no you didn’t! Dentists have got to be marshaling their resources to take down Obama now. On a related note, Joe Biden’s been overdosing on Crest Whitestrips.

Read the rest of this entry »

Extreme Court Makeover.

In Advertising, Media, Politics on January 22, 2010 at 3:11 am

Man, every time the Supreme Court seems to be forgotten about for a while, it comes roaring back to the fore and shakes things up. This time they really did it, overturning key campaign finance limits, which will allow corporations and unions to spend unlimited sums of money to influence elections. Talk about judicial activism.

Hey, and it was another nail biter. Okay, not really. It split predictably along ideological lines. Yup, another 5-4 ruling! Maybe 5-4 rulings should just not count. Make it like a veto: two thirds majority. 6-3 or bust.

By the way, can the justices make some more public appearances, please? For one, it seems like they make these huge declarations and then hide behind the curtain Wizard of Oz-style. Moreover, the once-annual footage of them coming out for a class picture in full robed regalia is almost as worn out as that clip of Bill Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky.

Today’s ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, is the judicial equivalent of a 20-yard loss and it’s going to be felt almost immediately. It reverses important components of the McCain-Feingold law (officially called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002), two important related rulings, and “a century old-understanding,” as The New York Times put it, that imposed sensible balances on organizations affecting elections.

Am I missing something? Do the special interests not already have enough power? Are they not lobbying and throwing millions around behind closed doors to great effect? You need only look at the health care, climate change, and financial reform legislation to see their impacts.

We need some stare decisis up in here! Was this not settled law? I mean c’mon, it was bipartisan! Doesn’t that count as the same thing? Read the rest of this entry »

Mass Killing.

In Politics on January 21, 2010 at 2:11 am

So, a Republican won a Senate seat in Massachusetts. That is a special election indeed. Upsets like this give the New Jersey Nets, currently 3-37, hope of making the playoffs. In honor of the roughly five points that Senator-elect Scott Brown won by, here are five points on the race, in decreasing order of obviousness:

5. Sports can only hurt a politician. (Exception: Bill Bradley.) Just days before the vote, in the capital of Red Sox Nation, Democratic candidate Martha Coakley made a thunderous blunder on a radio show. Curt Schilling, a Yankee Fan? This guy is the pitcher that brought the Curse of the Bambino to an end for the Red Sox. He’s most famous for playing through a game in the ALCS against the Yankees that year with a bloody sock. He literally had a red sock! Come on, Coakley!

4. The Republican brand remains in trouble, but so does the Democratic one. Statewide losses in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts? These are all states that went for Obama in 2008 and are moderate or progressive. I am a strong believer that perception is reality, or that it quickly becomes it. The writing is on the wall. If I had to put money down today, I’d bet the Democrats will lose seats in both houses in November. Read the rest of this entry »


BLOVIATOR: AP Yemen.

In Politics, War on January 6, 2010 at 5:39 am

Bloviate (v.)  \ˈblō-vē-ˌāt\

to speak or write verbosely and windily

Just when you thought it was out… it pulled you back in! What better time for the triumphant return of the Bloviator than a new decade? For previous editions, click here.

I took a bunch of Advanced Placement classes back in high school, but somehow “AP Yemen” was not an option. What can I say, it was a public school.

This left me with a lot of research to do in the aftermath of the botched terror plot on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, when the Nigerian perpetrator, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, claimed training and support from a group in Yemen. He smuggled 80 grams (frightening that’s all he would have needed) of the explosive PETN onto the flight, in his briefs. Or was it boxers? Either way, I hope he singed his bollocks.

If there is any justice in life, it is that he will forever be known as the “Underwear Bomber.”

Like most Americans until now, my knowledge of Yemen had pretty much come from episodes of The Unit. Suffice it to say, I had some catching up to do.

My key takeaway can best be expressed in the form of a pitch to the Yemeni board of tourism: “Yemen: it’s like Afghanistan, with waterfront property.”

What else came out of my crash course on Yemen? Here we go. (Disclaimer: I read a lot. This may get boring.) Read the rest of this entry »

Mates’ Rights.

In Politics on December 19, 2009 at 9:09 am

Now that is a “bignorant” sign (bigoted + ignorant), but proponents of same-sex marriage have a bit of good news after a year of numerous defeats. No, Richard Simmons is still gay. Rather, the District of Columbia City Council voted 11-2 to make it legal there. And yesterday, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the bill, meaning gay couples in Washington could be married come mid-March. (Tasty morsel: one of the two “no” votes came from everyone’s favorite crack fiend ex-Mayor Marion Barry, who is a current council member.)

However, there is a catch. It is not yet law. DC being DC, Congress gets to review all laws passed in the district and evaluate them if it so chooses. USA Today foreshadowed this possibility back in April.

Congress gets 30 legislative working days to act on the bill by enacting what is called a  “joint resolution of disapproval.” In layman’s terms: “We really do not care what you autonomously decide is in your own best interest.” Reporters say interference is unlikely, since Congress has “rejected [DC] legislation just three times in the past 25 years.” I went to dig up what those exceptions were, but could not get a definitive return just yet. If anyone has the answers, please share.

So, what other precedent is there for something like this? In 1993, Congress opted not to repeal a law legalizing consensual sodomy, when the balance was also weighted to the Democrats. However, a decade earlier they did reject a similar law. As another barometer of social issue legislation, Washington may legalize medical marijuana use based on the freed-up result of last week’s Senate spending bill that stripped away the ban on that drug. Read the rest of this entry »

Gee, Why Joe?

In Media, Politics on December 16, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Most news outlets are reporting that Senate Democrats will give into “parliamentary terrorist” Joe Lieberman’s demands. That’s what he is at this point, regardless of your political leaning: someone who knowingly and unexpectedly creates legislative anger, confusion, and uncertainty for his own narrow-minded goals.

The Huffington Post was most blunt: “Lieberman Wins.” Long form, this means dropping two components of the bill that the Senate working group (aka the Gang of Ten) agreed to: allowing 55-64 year olds to buy in to Medicare, and a public option “trigger” if the national private nonprofit plans the bill calls for fail to come to fruition.

Suffice it to say, liberals are not happy. Some members of his state’s Congressional delegation are even calling for an (albeit non-existent in Connecticut) recall, just to show how livid they are.

Hater Joe made his initial unsupportive comments on Face the Nation. It’s too bad he doesn’t actually have to, y’know, face the nation and hear what people really think of him. It wouldn’t be pretty. With homeless guys lobbing tomatoes at Sarah Palin and mental cases nailing adulterous Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with statues on the fly (he and Tiger Woods should hang out), it’s kind of surprising nobody has chucked a honeydew at Lieberman.

Read the rest of this entry »

That’ll Do Donkeys, That’ll Do.

In Politics on December 9, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Perhaps you awoke this morning, exfoliated in the shower, chomped on your fibrous cereal of choice, and checked out the news, only to see that a certain buzz-term that fast became household vernacular is suddenly threatening to leave us.

If you said “Blue Dog,” go bark up another tree. If you said “Public option,” have a Scooby Snack; you’ve earned it.

That’s right, nine days into closed-door negotiations in the Senate between the Gang of Ten as they are being called (five more liberal Democrats and five centrists), Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is not one of the group, popped out and announced with an odd optimism that a “broad agreement” has been reached and it includes scratching the public option.

Maybe he’s not familiar with another DC buzzword: “Agreement.” (Who down there is?) Or maybe this is a good deal. Let’s unpack this development from two sides.

At first glance, this news reminded me of a tweet from a few months back: “@pourmecoffee: every Senator should have an animal name. Harry Reid is ‘The Bat of the Senate’ because he always caves.” Today’s New York Times originally led with, “Reid Says Deal Resolves a Dispute on the Public Option.” Man, talk about massaging language. That’s giving it a sensuous shiatsu and throwing in some aromatic Swedish oils. Resolves? Capitulates? What’s the difference?

Olympia Snowe may have flurried away from a vote with the Dems, eerily coinciding with an icy weather mix near in her home state of Maine, but now, reports say the irksome Independent that is Joe Lieberman is in play.

Read the rest of this entry »

Marching Orders: Live Blogging Obama’s Afghan Speech.

In Media, Politics, War on December 1, 2009 at 9:10 pm

President Obama is giving a much-awaited announcement on his intentions for the conflict in Afghanistan tonight from Eisenhower Hall at West Point. I am following along with commentary:

The Commander-in-Chief Emerges | 8:03 p.m. To a substantial, sustained, but not striking applause, Obama emerged, waving with a staid smile to a sea of gray-uniformed cadets.

Past is Prologue | 8:11 p.m. He’s just finished summarizing the history of Afghanistan’s relationship to 9/11, our deployment in the region, and how the war in Iraq has withheld resources from it, without placing blame, but acknowledging the controversy of that war.

30-Large | 8:15 p.m. The official number leaked earlier has now come out of his mouth: 30,000 troops will head to Afghanistan by this summer, “the fastest possible pace.”

Three Means Justifying Three Ends  | 8:23 p.m. He hasn’t mentioned any metrics for the outcomes in the speech, but he outlined each of his objectives: to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven, reverse the Taliban’s influence, and strengthen security forces and the sovereign government. The intended means to accomplishing these are a military effort, a civilian surge, and an effective partnership with Pakistan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Another Saturday Night.

In Politics on November 22, 2009 at 6:17 pm

Making it impossible for his colleagues to enjoy a prix-fixe dinner before the theater, Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled his vote for 8pm on Saturday on whether to begin debating the health care reform bill that he has unveiled to the Senate. It passed, by the minimum margin.

Since an average of 3,750 people die daily traced back to a lack of insurance, giving up a Saturday here and there seems a tiny price to pay. I suspect Sam Cooke and Cat Stevens (both singers of this piece’s namesake) would agree.

This vote contributes to Reid’s goal of getting this bill passed by Christmas. Not for nothing, but if he can fast track it by another week, maybe he can sneak in a vote while Joe Lieberman is lighting the Hanukkah candles.

Whatever happens, the current situation can’t keep up much longer: all of these shots of Senate Democrats fawning over each other, smiling knowingly at each other are too eerily reminiscent of Frodo and Sam’s yearnings at the end of Lord of the Rings.

There were a few late-breaking holdouts that caused anxiety for Reid in the centrist camp. Word broke Friday that Ben Nelson (D-NE) would vote for proceeding with debate, but Mary Landrieu (D-LA) wouldn’t reveal what her vote was until the morning of the vote. In addition, Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) was an enigma until midday Saturday. They all broke in Reid’s favor for this round. Read the rest of this entry »