Inspire Political Discourse

Deal on Auto Bailout Purportedly Reached and Pelosi Won't Allow a Vote

You heard it here first. According to sources in the Washington DC office of Senator Levin [D-MI], a bipartisan compromise deal on the auto bail-out has now been reached. Details when they are available.

UPDATE:12;34 PM - Senator Levin will release details at a 2:30 P.M. EST press conference

UPDATE: 3:09 PM - Congress has refused to vote for the compromise legislation.

Pelosi wants to tsee a business plan from the auto companies before there is a vote on the compromise plan. The earliest they will vote will be December 8. This could sink the economy completely. Very bad.

“Democratic leaders in Congress sidetracked legislation to bail out the auto industry Thursday and demanded the Big Three develop a plan assuring the money would make them economically viable. "Until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a hastily called news conference in the Capitol.” Huffpo

Kathleen Parker: the Problem With the GOP is Religion - DPN - Thursday, November 20, 2008

►UPDATE on Penny Pritzker:This morning, we told you that Penny Pritzker was  said to be the Obama choice for commerce secretary, according to the New York Times.  According to Jake Tapper of ABC News, Penny Pritzker is out of the running.

“Obama-Biden Transition Team spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter says, "Penny Pritzker is a trusted adviser and valued friend to the President-elect, and played a critical role in his campaign. She would be an enormous asset to an Obama administration, given her experience in business and economic growth, but has decided that, given her family and business commitments, she is not interested in serving at this time. She'll continue to be a close economic advisor to the president-elect and his team"”

►Dingell [D-MI] gets the boot, and loses his chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. His replacement is Henry Waxman, a liberal Dem from California, who is seen as a better fit with Obama. The auto bail-out mess is.......well, Dingell's banishment has nothing to do with the auto-lord-idiots who arrived on their private jets with their hands out, does it? <----insert sarcasm

“Waxman, a California liberal and avid environmentalist and booster of health care programs, toppled Dingell Thursday on a vote of 137-122 in the Democratic Party caucus, capping a bitter fight within party ranks.” Huffpo

Michelle Bachman Attacks Obama Choices - Again

Bachman does her attention seeking Palin thing yet again, but before I go on let me just say this right the frack out front. Barbara Bachman (D-MN) and Sarah Palin make me freakin' ashamed to even be the same gender as they are, and these two completely clueless women should not be allowed to represent anyone except themselves, in my opinion, and they sure as hell don't represent a majority of American women.

You all already know way more than you needed to know about Palin, but Bachman didn't get quite as much attention during the pre-election period, until she went out there and reeled it in. Given today's news, I felt that she deserved just a little more attention, and so here are the adventures of Barbara Bachman, in the national media, starting in January 2007, shortly after she began her first term in congress, and ending with today's news. Did I miss anything?

Lieberman Goes Unpunished by Senate - DPN - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

►ABC News reports that P-E Obama has appointed a blogger, the first ever to fill a cabinet position, for his cabinet. | Source

►Lieberman crows to Couric about his lack of punishment, and says he feels "closer to Dems" than he has since 2000. *gagging*

Watch CBS Videos Online

“Asked to respond to critics who are angry at how little punishment Lieberman received for campaigning against Barack Obama in the election, the Connecticut Independent pointed to Barack Obama's appeal against retribution.”  »Huffpo

:: Lieberman: Dems didn’t punish me »Politico

►Not really political 'news' persay, but nevertheless of interest to many online, Andrew Sullivan, at The Atlantic poses the question "Will Blogs Kill Political Magazines?" Interesting and well written, Sullivan is one of my favorite writers online.

:: James Joyner responds to Sullivan »Outside the Beltway
:: Sullivan responds to Joyner in Will Blogs Kill Political Magazines?, Ctd.

Begich Defeats Stevens in Alaska Senate Race

Breaking News: from the Anchorage Daily News:

Democrat Mark Begich has defeated Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in the election for U.S. Senate. The Anchorage mayor widened his lead to 3,724 votes in today's counting of absentee and questioned ballots.

This is FABULOUS because it means that Palin will not be going to Washington. YAH!!

Political News Round-up - Tuesday, November 18, 2008

►Eric Holder to be named Obama's attorney general [Holder was Clinton's deputy attorney general], and thus the first Aftrican-American US Attorney General. According to Charles Gibson on ABC World News, two senior Democratic senators told ABC that they expect Holder to be confirmed.

“President-elect Obama has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to two legal sources close to the presidential transition.”  NEWSWEEK
:: Holder to be named attorney general   »MSNBC
:: Barack Obama picks Eric Holder as first black attorney general  »Weekly Telegraph - UK

►As we told you yesterday that he would, Lieberman has kept his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but lost his chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works subcommittee, which is a minor post. This so ticks me off. Update: New movement - LOL- today is "International Laugh at Joe Lieberman Day".

“How about we make the rest of the calendar year International Grow Some Mother Fracking Balls Day, and deluge the rest of the Senate Democrats?”  Jason Linkins

60 Minutes Interview With Michelle and Barack Obama - Full Video

A smashing interview with Michelle and Barack Obama by 60 Minutes. Among the topics covered by Steve Croft solely with President-elect Obama were the economy, the big 3, Guantanamo (Obama reiterated his intent to shut down Guantanamo and stop the torture), national security, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, the financial crisis, and former presidents Lincoln and FDR.

During Croft's conversation with both of the Obamas, they talked about their visit to the White House, the soon-to-be family dog, their resolve to ensure that the whole experience of being the children of a president doesn't adversely affect their daughters, and college football.

One of the most interesting aspects of the interview for me, was the opportunity to see the  interaction between Michelle and Barack Obama as a couple. But, most heartwarming for me was the realization that I had while listening to Obama talk. And that realization is that we have indeed chosen the best and most knowledgeable man to be the 44th president. I have very high hopes for this presidency, and I am eager to watch it all play out.

Don't miss this interview, it is well worth watching!

Watch CBS Videos Online

This interview originally aired on CBS on Sunday, November 16, 2008.
The full transcript is available here.
Photo Credit: Aaron Tomlinson/CBS

RECENT POSTS

>Political News Round-up, Monday, November 17, 2008
>The Changing Face of the G.O.P. as Infighting Rules - Part I
>Solidarity With Prop 8 Protesters
>Sarah Palin in Desperate Need of an English Class.....or Three
>Palin Still Matters
>Palin and Rachel Maddow on Bloggers in Pajamas
>Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional

Political News Round-up, Monday, November 17, 2008

►Lieberman May Survive With Slap on the Wrist - Roll Call
According to Roll Call, Dem leaders are expected to allow Lieberman to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but lose his chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works subcommittee.This amounts to nothing, not even a slap on the wrist, IMO. I really had hoped that they would kick him to the curb, as he so richly deserves.

►Palin is the first confirmed speaker for the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) - Think Progress
Palin so loves the attention, she apparently plans to stay in the national spotlight, even in to 2009 OMG - *screams and pulls some more hair out*

►Obama interview with 60 Minutes - CBS
         - full video here
         - NYT on the interview
         - Huffpo on the interview
         - Politico on the interview

►Clinton in the vetting process - NYT
         - Huffpo on the vetting process
         - Politico - Bill vetting could cost Hillary her Cabinet post

►John McCain and Obama meet today - HuffPo
         - Pics and statement from meeting - HuffPo
         - Obama And McCain Talk Transition - The Washington Post
         - Obama Meets With McCain in Chicago - NYT

Note: There has been no update from Alaska on the count to determine which candidate has won the Senate seat. The Democrat, Begich, was at last tally on Friday, ahead of convicted felon, Senator Ted Stevens, by 1,000+ votes. We really, really want Begich to win, because if Stevens does, he will be ousted, and Palin will very likely take his place. Which would put her in a much better position for 2012. *throwing pennies in a fountain and muttering incantations*

Inspire Political Discourse: Monday - Friday Digest - Hottest Political News Stories of the Day

A new feature, consisting of a daily (weekdays only) political news round-up in one post. This will be in addition to my regular posts. Feel free to contribute news by contacting me via modrnglamATgmailDOTcom.

The Changing Face of the G.O.P. as Infighting Rules - Part I

It's now verging on two weeks since we elected Barack Obama as our 44th president in an historic election.

The daily back and forth, engendered by the unique aspects of this particular election, is no more. And all of the excitement is gone with it.

But wait, the "eat each other" attitude of the GOP as they rehash their losses and lay the blame hither and yon, is quite entertaining, and worthy of a few good posts, at the least.

The infighting amongst members of the G.O.P. is not solely because they lost this election after eight long years of bad behavior, but rather, it is about an essential split in the Republican party, characterized by conservatives, genuine conservatives in the manner of Christopher T. Buckley and Christopher Hitchens, going blue, en masse, because of some very fundamental differences that were irresolvable.

Since then we have learned much about the changes occurring in the G.O.P., including the following:

>>Many of the wealthiest members of the G.O.P., a group that has always been solidly Republican, went blue in 2008, in a huge swing of 34%.

>>A large number of the most notable Republicans, or the Republican elite, publicly endorsed Barack Obama. Many others in this same group, kept silent, but did not endorse John McCain, while many others still, publicly criticized McCain, but did not publicly endorse Obama. One of these, former Michigan governor, William Milliken, has since publicly acknowledged that he voted for Barack Obama. Milliken had previously endorsed Senator McCain during the primaries.

>>The G.O.P lost to the Democrats in every region of the country by double digits except the South, where they won by less than double digits (9 pts). | Source

Part Two to follow in the next week or so.

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Solidarity With Prop 8 Protesters
>Obama Offers Clinton Cabinet Position as Secretary of State
>It's Been Confirmed That Hillary Clinton Met With Obama Yesterday - Will She be the New Secretary of State?
>Sarah Palin in Desperate Need of an English Class.....or Three
>Palin Still Matters
>Palin and Rachel Maddow on Bloggers in Pajamas
>Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional

Solidarity With Prop 8 Protesters

Barack Obama on Prop 8:

“ When you start playing around with constitutions just to prohibit somebody ah, who cares about another person, it just seems to me that that's not what America is about.”

From the Obama interview with Sway/MTV on Nov 1, 2008.

Joe the Plumber is a Freakin' Idiot

Okay, I am bloody dead tired and should go to bed, but I just learned that Joe the plumber not only has a book coming out, but that he has launched a website, apparently seeking to take advantage of every idiot he can manage who lands on it.

Are people really that freakin' stupid? The man is a loser whom McCain picked up on to use as a stick to prod Obama with. That's it. Nothing more. So why does anyone want to buy his book, sign up for his movement to nowhere, and even freakin' listen to that guy???
From Jason Linkins:

| Ahh, the sweet nostalgia of a bygone time when Samuel Wurzelbacher may have actually been doing some plumbing, instead of proferring [sic] his always hastily retracted opinions about everything!

We especially love the whole business model, where a "We Are Joe" Membership is free, for the poor people, and a "FREEDOM" Membership costs you $14.95 a year. You know what they say, after all: FREEDOM ISN't FREE. (Actuaries place the cost of freedom at $18.99/year, so this is a relatively good deal.)

And what do you get for your paid membership? Among other things, you get "a monthly subscription to Joe's blog, where he can share the latest on the fight for preserving Americas freedoms." Because that's what everyone does! Charge money to read blogs! Naturally, I'm skeptical that this will work, but if Joe goes out and hires the former staff of Radar Online, I'm totally bookmarking it.

I'm going to sleep. Maybe I'll wake up and find that Joe the Plumber is just a dream. One can hope.

Obama Offers Clinton Cabinet Position as Secretary of State

A great choice! And one thing that I think we can deduce is that Obama is not in the least afraid of strong women. A real pleasure to see in a powerful man. Obama also asked Valerie Jarrett to take a position as a senior advisor today. Another strong woman, and then of course there is Michelle Obama herself.

I have some doubt that Clinton will accept, but I believe that she would be a tremendous asset to Obama, and to the nation.

| President-elect Barack Obama offered Sen. Hillary Clinton the position of Secretary of State during their meeting Thursday in Chicago, according to two senior Democratic officials. She requested time to consider the offer, the officials said. |Source

It's Been Confirmed That Hillary Clinton Met With Obama Yesterday - Will She be the New Secretary of State?

From the Huffington Post:

| A Democratic official confirms to the Huffington Post that Sen. Hillary Clinton met with President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss her role in the new administration.

Clinton's trip to Chicago, described in press reports as "personal business", came following a request from Obama, the official said.

The New York Senator is reportedly under consideration for Secretary of State, | Source

RELATED  ARTICLES

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State?
HRC for Secretary of State: Crazy or Crazy Like a Fox?

Sarah Palin in Desperate Need of an English Class.....or Three

As much as I have learned to loathe Sarah Palin, there is a thing about her that makes me freakin' crazy, yet has little to do with my reasons for disliking her. The woman appears completely incapable of putting together a simple declarative sentence. In fact, at times it seems that she is speaking a foreign language.

From her interview with Wolf Blitzer:

“Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations.”

Does anyone understand that? The final sentence is the only one that makes any real sense to me. How about you?

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Palin Still Matters
>Palin and Rachel Maddow on Bloggers in Pajamas
>Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional
>Washington Post Columnist and Dem, Thanks Fox News
>Reversing Bush 43's Midnight Regulations
>Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror
>Keith Olberman: Gay Marriage is About Love
>Obama Administration Announces Ethics Rules for Transition Team
>Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Dive In
>The Vet Who Didn't Vet

Palin Still Matters

When I created this blog, I intended for it to be nothing more than an aggregation site, in hopes that helping to bring the news to people would encourage them to vote and enable them to become more educated. My political blogging itself was confined to Inspire Emotion, where I normally blog about anything but politics. Inspire Emotion temporarily became a political blog because John McCain chose a completely unvetted and unqualified candidate for vice president. I fought back in my own way on Inspire Emotion because I felt it was important, and because my search traffic was far more substantial than it could be on a brand new blog.

All that said, I am now doing my political blogging on this blog, rather than on Inspire Emotion. And, I made a decision to do this almost immediately after the election. Why am I continuing to focus on politics when my candidate won, and I have publicly said that politics is "not my thing"? And more importantly, why continue to pay attention to Sarah Palin? Because Sarah Palin still matters. Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic, said it much better than I could. 

"Why Palin Still Matters":

Some readers think my continuing attempt to expose all the lies and flim-flam and bizarre behavior of Sarah Palin is now moot. She's history - they argue. Move on. I think she probably is history. Even Bill Kristol and his minions in the McCain-Palin campaign may not be able to resuscitate her political viability now. But even if she is history, she is history that matters.

Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth[.........]

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional
>Washington Post Columnist and Dem, Thanks Fox News
>Reversing Bush 43's Midnight Regulations
>Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror
>Keith Olberman: Gay Marriage is About Love
>Obama Administration Announces Ethics Rules for Transition Team
>Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Dive In
>The Vet Who Didn't Vet 
>Obama and Bush 43 in the White House Together

>Obama Confronts Guantanamo

Palin and Rachel Maddow on Bloggers in Pajamas

Thanks, Rachel!

Op-Ed: Prop 8 Unconstitutional

"Prop 8 is simply democracy at work." That comment was posted on a forum, and as is obvious to most, it is far too simplistic.

We live in a constitutional democracy, with a constitution that guarantees certain fundamental civil rights/freedoms. In California, there is a constitutional right to marry. On the Federal level, the US constitution assures us the right to equal protection under the law. Additionally, every single state in the union has a constitution which also guarantees this right to equal protection under the law.

Thus, marriage equality is a civil right, and may only be abridged by changes to the Federal constitution. States may not revoke a freedom as it is provided under the tenets of the US Constitution. Only the Supreme Court may do that, and only if they change the US Constitution.

This being the case, Prop 8 is not a matter of legitimate policy. It is a law which revokes the federally guaranteed civil rights of a classification of people, and is thus unconstitutional, and would not hold up to a review by the Supreme Court.

Now, the Supreme Court can revise that part of the constitution [14th Amendment] in order to make Prop 8 and similar laws legitimate. We could then discriminate against other classes of people as well. For instance, we could ban any specific group from marrying --- religious freaks, for example. Unfair? Sure. But so is preventing same-sex marriage, and as they say, "you reap what you sow".

Consider long and hard the next time you vote in favor of a law which seeks to abridge and deny a fundamental civil right.

Your own liberty is also at stake.

Props to cabieri (a Republican who voted for Obama) who inspired me to clarify my thoughts on this matter.

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Washington Post Columnist and Dem, Thanks Fox News
>Reversing Bush 43's Midnight Regulations
>Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror
>Keith Olberman: Gay Marriage is About Love
>Obama Administration Announces Ethics Rules for Transition Team
>Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Dive In
>The Vet Who Didn't Vet 
>Obama and Bush 43 in the White House Together

>Obama Confronts Guantanamo

Washington Post Columnist and Dem, Thanks Fox News

In You Report, We Marginalize, Harold Myerson writes rants to the president of Fox News, former Nixon aide, Roger Ailes.

Hilarious, and true, a must read for Dems and Republicans.

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror
>Keith Olberman: Gay Marriage is About Love
>Obama Administration Announces Ethics Rules for Transition Team
>Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Dive In
>The Vet Who Didn't Vet 
>Obama and Bush 43 in the White House Together

>Obama Confronts Guantanamo

Reversing Bush 43's Midnight Regulations

Good news on W's efforts to enact last-minute regulations which will further decimate our environment, and benefit only large corporations.

There is a little known law which should provide for a simple reversal of regulations enacted between October 3, 2008 and January 15,2009. That law is the Congressional Review Act of 1996, and essentially, it will allow Congress to reverse these regulations with a joint resolution that is not subject to filibuster in the Senate.

| Source - Politico

Image credit - AP

RELATED - RECENT POST

>Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror
>Keith Olberman: Gay Marriage is About Love
>Obama Administration Announces Ethics Rules for Transition Team
>Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Dive In
>The Vet Who Didn't Vet 
>Obama and Bush 43 in the White House Together

>Obama Confronts Guantanamo