Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Bush Bashing, Republican Style (11:40 pm)

The treatment of his war minister connotes something deeply wrong with George W. Bush’s presidency in its sixth year. Apart from Rumsfeld’s failures in personal relations, he never has been anything short of loyal in executing the president’s wishes. But loyalty appears to be a one-way street for Bush. His shrouded decision to sack Rumsfeld after declaring that he would serve out the second term fits the pattern of a president who is secretive and impersonal.
(…)
It is hard to find anyone in the Bush administration who endorses the way Rumsfeld was handled. His friend and comrade, Vice President Cheney, is reported to be profoundly disturbed. But even before the election, Cheney appeared melancholy. A high-ranking administration official who visited the vice president then reported him to be nothing like the upbeat Cheney of earlier years in this administration.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

“Comedy” for Right-Wingers (4:18 pm)

Monday, it was reported that Fox News Channel has plans to broadcast what was described as a “Daily Show-like program” for right-wingers.

To provide just a small taste of the humorous pleasures that await, Gavin at Sadly, No has assembled a collection of videos, featuring a galaxy of star GOP laugh meisters rewarding their audiences with stellar comedic deliveries of what passes for wit in the universe of conservative minds.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

House Democrats’ First 100 Hours (10:14 am)

Kid Oakland at MyDD provides a brief outline of seven items specified by Speaker-elect Pelosi, and links to details, in a dscussion about strategy for netroots activism in support of the agenda.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

Florida-13: Analysis Shows 18,000 Disappeared Votes Were Predominantly from Democratic Voters (9:55 am)

Quelle surprise!
Jim Stratton for the Orlando Sentinel reports

The group of nearly 18,000 voters that registered no choice in Sarasota’s disputed congressional election solidly backed Democratic candidates in all five of Florida’s statewide races, an Orlando Sentinel analysis of ballot data shows.

Among these voters, even the weakest Democrat — agriculture-commissioner candidate Eric Copeland — outpaced a much-better-known Republican incumbent by 551 votes.

The trend, which continues up the ticket to the race for governor and U.S. Senate, suggests that if votes were truly cast and lost — as Democrat Christine Jennings maintains — they were votes that likely cost her the congressional election.
(…)
David Dill, an electronic-voting expert at Stanford University, put it this way: “It seems to establish with certainty that more Democrats are represented in those undervoted ballots.”

The Sentinel reviewed records of 17,846 touch-screen ballots that included no vote in the tightly contested 13th District congressional race to determine whom voters selected in other major races.

The analysis of the so-called “undervotes” examined the races for U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner.

The results showed that the undervoted ballots skewed Democratic in all of those races, even in the three races in which the county as a whole went Republican.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

Pelosi Not Going to Waste Any Time Getting Started On House Business (12:15 am)

Marc Sandalow for SFGate reports that

Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi will open the House for the first session of the 110th Congress on January 4, and keep it in session for the first several weeks of January.
(…)
Congress typically convenes the first week of January after a holiday recess just long enough for new members to be sworn in, and then promptly adjourns until the president’s State of the Union Address toward the end of the month.

Pelosi’s team apparently figures there’s no reason to allow President Bush to set the agenda in January by leaking bits of his speech. Instead the Democratic Congress will immediately plunge into its lengthy to-do list, starting with an ethics reform package, and perhaps have some bills on Bush’s desk by the time the State of the Union is ready for delivery.

“From economic security to national security, the American people have resoundingly called for a new direction,” Pelosi said in a just-released statement. “It is imperative that we waste no time in addressing the pressing needs facing our nation.”

Via Chris Bowers at MyDD

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Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Bush Daughter’s Purse and Cell Phone Stolen Under Nose of Secret Service (11:23 pm)

AP reports

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - U.S. and Argentine media reported that one of President Bush’s 24-year-old twin daughters had her purse stolen while being guarded by the Secret Service during a visit here.

ABC News, citing unidentified law enforcement reports, reported on its Web site Tuesday that Barbara Bush’s purse and cell phone were taken while she was dining in a Buenos Aires restaurant.

La Nacion newspaper, citing anonymous government sources, said in its online edition early Wednesday that one of Bush’s daughters had her purse taken Sunday afternoon in the popular tourist district of San Telmo.

A pair of thieves removed the purse from under a table while Secret Service agents stood guard at a distance, La Nacion reported.

posted by Brian Zick | 1 comment

5300 Houston Janitors Win Wage Increase, Improved Benefits (6:23 pm)

Houston Justice for Janitors reports

HOUSTON—On the heels of a string of victories in Miami, Los Angeles and Boston that have resulted in dramatic gains for families, more than 5,300 janitors in Houston won higher wages, more hours, and health insurance in their first city-wide union contract. The contract will lift hundreds of janitors out of poverty, more than doubling their income within 24 months and guaranteeing secure affordable health care. Houston is the second major victory for janitors in less than a year, and is being seen as a major breakthrough in the South and for low-wage workers around the country.

These courageous people more than earned their well-deserved victory. Jordan Barab at firedoglake reports on some appallingly nasty shit pulled by the Harris County DA and Houston Police in the last few days, above and beyond using horses to trample peaceful demonstrators.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

Net Neutrality in the New Congress (12:13 pm)

Matt Stoller at MyDD notes that John Dingell - who has been a supporter of Net Neutrality - has hired Gregg Rothschild to be his Committee Chief of Staff for the Energy and Commerce Committee. Stoller says:

Rothschild is great on energy, he’s great on prescription drugs, and media, and other issues the committee handles. He’s also a former Verizon lobbyist and in that role he was a vicious opponent of net neutrality. That could mean that Dingell is no longer serious on net neutrality, and that he’s going to accommodate himself to the telecom lobby. Or it could ideally mean that Dingell has hired the perfect ambassador to the telecom industry, the one would can [sic] explain to Verizon and AT&T that they must accept an open and neutral network, and in return for this the public will put in the funds to build a really massive and effective broadband infrastructure.

Dingell’s contact info:
2328 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2215
Phone: (202) 225-4071