Rex Kickass

I would be a proud Bee. My party platform would be to replace "The Star Spangled Banner" with Bea Arthur's rendition of "Oh Why-o, why-o Did I Ever Leave Ohio?" as our national anthem.

Sort of my point. If there's evidence to be brought against him, bring evidence against him. Or deport him. But I think its a dangerous precedent to subject legal residents of the US to different levels of legal access than citizens are allowed to have.

Actually Kap, I take that back. When I look at various issue releases from other Senators who ran under the Dem ticket, I found a plan for Iraq. First, tell Iraq we aren't there forever. Internationalize the conflict by using our friends in the region to take an active interest. Develop an exit strategy for leaving Iraq but remaining close enough by to take care of any serious fires needing to be put out. Speaking of which, what exactly is the plan we have now? 1. Stay in Iraq. 2. ?????? 3. Profit!?

That's great that this is what you see. Unfortunately, it is not what the DOJ is arguing. This specific argument refers to the appeal by Qatari Citizen Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri. He entered the country with his family on September 10, 2001. He was arrested and transported to a naval brig where he has been held under the classfication of "enemy combatant" ever since. He has been denied any kind of legal hearing and has been held indefinitely without charges. Al-Marri was a student at the University who was living in the United States legally. Here's his brief. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pdf/al-marriappealbrief.pdf

The Democratic House leadership said that they want to change the way things are done with regard to lobbyists. Let's see if they do.

You're right, Kap. They have about three plans for Iraq. Because the only place where there has been any kind of debate on Capitol Hill about what to do in Iraq has been in the Democratic Party

Immigrants, Kap. As in legal residents of the United States but potentially not citizens of this country.

We finally got DD here this year. And its great, because now I know that my check clears before I bother coming into work on payday. Sometimes, that IS a concern.

Werd.

He also is just the "general chair." He won't actually run the RNC, just be the face of it.

I'm not happy with what they've done in the past. But before I condemn them as being ineffective as a majority leader, I want to see what they do as a majority.

Here's my honest to god question about economics: There's a bunch of economic growth, but I don't see it with the people I work with. My finances improved - but that had more to do with me relocating and changing careers. Unemployment went down, but the number of people actually in the workforce hasn't really changed as a percentage of people in the economy. Inflation's "in check" but I'm paying twice what I paid 6 years ago to fill up my gas tank. Food seems more expensive than it was a few years ago too. Those are my biggest non rent/utility expenses each month but they are excluded from inflation numbers. If it's not any easier for working class families, and even - in many cases - middle class families, how is this an improving economy for America?

Im all about ING Direct. I've earned extra cash by referring friends.

Some gentle condescension from Michael Moore. The sentiment is kinda sweet actually.

According to Feder, its so http://www.suntimes.com/business/feder/134...feder14.article

So this year, thanks to my guy, I finally can co-opt having a niece and nephew to buy presents for. For my guy's niece: I'm totally getting Lego... cause as far as she's concerned I might as well be called Zack Zach, Lego Maniac. (Whenever she sees me, she actually goes and pulls out all her legos.) For my guy's nephew: He'll only be four months - so I'm getting him a savings bond for college, to be used as a bookmark in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friederich Neitzsche. Because what baby's room is complete without a copy of Neitzsche??

I thought that a lot of Illinoise was deeply personal or at least felt that way. John Wayne Gacy feels as much about Sufjan as Gacy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6111301128.html

I love the way numbers get spun. Some Democrats think its a revolution in the way the voting populace think, which its not. Some GOP think its just a correction and was a close election..... like Karl Rove, for example. http://time-blog.com/allen_report/2006/11/...ect_speaks.html Karl Rove and the RNC spins "how close" this was. 77,000 votes cast the other direction on Tuesday, and the House stays Red. Sounds close, right? But 77,000 votes is also the difference between the Dems capturing another 19 seats last week. So although 77,000 votes in specific districts may have been the difference between 14 and 29 seats lost for the GOP, it's also the difference between 29 and 48 seats lost for the GOP. They also note that this wasn't a big shift for "6th year mid terms" (referring to the midterm elections in the second term of a presidency. There have been exactly four "sixth year midterms" since World War II. 1950, 1974, 1986 and 1998. 1974 was right smack dab in the middle of Watergate. In 1950, the Truman led Democrats lost 28 seats in the House. And five seats in the Senate. In 1974, the Nixon/Ford GOP lost 49 seats in the House. And four seats in the Senate. In 1986, the Reagan led GOP lost 5 seats in the House. And eight seats in the Senate. In 1998, the Clinton led Democrats gained 5 seats in the House. And there was no change in the Senate makeup. So this "merely average" 6 year midterm turnover was only eclipsed in the last 60 years by the 1974 election, held two months after the President resigned rather than be impeached. But remember, its just "average." What does this mean? Not a lot, actually.

Chisoxfn on grammar.

Quote of the month up there somewhere. Nice, Jas.

You would be correct. Steny Hoyer - although having more support with Blue Dogs than you would think, is actually the far more liberal majority leader. John Murtha is a centrist, by definition. Although bringing Murtha in is more of a personal relationship thing rather than an ideological battle, bringing Murtha in - ultimately - would be more of a pull to the center by the Democratic party. BTW: it should be noted that putting Murtha in the position of Majority Leader will not necessarily change anything in the way that Iraq is handled. But if you are going to put someone in a position of influence over war efforts, someone with actual combat experience - that's not a bad thing to have. In my opinion, I'm not a fan of Hoyer or Murtha. Frankly, I think that they are part of the problem in D.C. generally, and I hope for some sort of conversion over to more responsibility with what they do as Majority Leader fiscally, but I'm not holding my breath.

Unexpected. He doesn't have much in the way of organization that you would expect from someone seriously exploring a run for the Presidency according to the CW though.

Prediction: Hoyer wins Majority Leader post. Handily.

I don't think that matters - because he was able to help deliver his seat to Corker - and distanced himself from the horse race in general at this point.