Found via Balloon Juice. If you get past the dirty words in Matt Taibbi's blog post on True Slant, you find gems like this:

Anyway this teabag thing has really gotten out of control. It’s amazing, literally amazing to me, that it wasn’t until Obama pushed through a package containing a massive public works package and significant homeowner aid that conservatives took to the streets. In other words, it wasn’t until taxes turned into construction jobs and mortgage relief that working and middle-class Americans decided to protest. I didn’t see anyone on the street when we forked over billions of dollars to help JP Morgan Chase buy Bear Stearns. And I didn’t see anyone on the street when Hank Paulson forked over $45 more billion to help Bank of America buy Merrill Lynch, a company run at the time by one of the world’s biggest assholes, John Thain. Moreover I didn’t see any street protests when the government agreed to soak up hundreds of billions in “troubled assets” from Citigroup, a company that just months later would lend out a jet furnished with pillows upholstered with Hermes scarves to former chief Sandy Weill so that he could vacation in Mexico over Christmas.

I hear Fox Not-Necessarily-the-News is trying to whip up more teabag protests over the 4th of July weekend. Uh huh. Let us know how that goes, guys.

Thanks to Mr. David Shuster for pointing out this Kevin Drum post on Mother Jones:

Like everyone else, I was amused when Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, requested help from the CDC with swine flu medication just a week or so after he said that the "federal government has become oppressive" and that if Texans started considering seceding from the union, "who knows what might come out of that." Perry didn't seem to realize that throwing off the yoke of the federal government would mean no more help when the going got tough.

Today comes news that Perry has issued a disaster declaration for the state of Texas, the first step in getting assistance from federal agencies like FEMA, DHS, and HHS. I decided to take a look at how many times the federal government has bailed Texas out during Perry's tenure. The results are pretty incredible.

According to FEMA's website, Texas has been the site of 13 "major disaster declarations" since Perry took office following George W. Bush's departure in 2001. That includes five instances of severe storms and flooding, two tropical storms, one "extreme wildfire threat," and Hurricanes Claudette, Rita, Dolly, and Ike. (Texas received significant federal assistance following Hurricane Katrina, but it did not appear on FEMA's website in the "major disaster declaration" category.)

Not only that, but apparently Texas has received more FEMA aid than any other state.

So maybe it is a good idea if Texas secedes. Maybe we'll save some money, and have more to spread around when the next hurricane hits or earthquake explodes.

Steve Benen discusses the significance of the switch over on the Washington Monthly blog.

Me, I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Hooooooooly shit.

Specter To Switch Parties

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning.

Specter's decision would give Democrats a 60 seat filibuster proof majority in the Senate assuming Democrat Al Franken is eventually sworn in as the next senator from Minnesota. (Former senator Norm Coleman is appealing Franken's victory in the state Supreme Court.)

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said Specter in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

President Obama was informed of Specter's decision at around 10:25 a.m., according to White House officials, and reached out to the senator minutes later to tell him "you have my full support," and we are "thrilled to have you."

( The WHOA continues under the cut... )

McConnell: GOP becoming 'regional party'

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a blunt warning to Republicans Thursday: Their party must regain lost supporters plus blacks, Hispanics and voters on both coasts — or risk becoming a permanent minority party with a limited power base.

“We’re all concerned about the fact that the very wealthy and the very poor, the most and least educated, and a majority of minority voters, seem to have more or less stopped paying attention to us,” McConnell said in a speech at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting. “And we should be concerned that, as a result of all this, the Republican Party seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party than a national one.”

In stark terms, the Kentucky Republican added: “In politics, there’s a name for a regional party: It’s called a minority party. ... As Republicans, we know that common-sense conservative principles aren’t regional. But I think we have to admit that our sales job has been.

“And in my view, that needs to change,” he said.

House districts are so weirdly drawn, that representatives are a bit more extreme on either side. But the Senate knows they have to be more realistic. Kudos, Senator McConnell. Go have a word with your House colleagues

I love this story!!! From WaPo:

It was billed as the biggest, most eye-popping of the inauguration hotel packages: the JW Marriott's $1 million "build-your-own-ball" offer. You get 300 rooms, four suites, $200,000 worth of food and drink, and a primo site overlooking the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route.

And it was snapped up within hours of Barack Obama's election as president by a customer the hotel declined to identify.

This morning, the Marriott is scheduled to announce that the buyer is a Virginia businessman who wants to bring to the inauguration disadvantaged people, terminally ill patients, wounded soldiers and others down on their luck.

Earl W. Stafford, 60, of Fairfax County, the founder of a Centreville technology company who grew up as one of 12 children of a Baptist minister, said he will provide his guests lodging, food and special access, as well as beauticians, gowns and tuxedos, if necessary.

Stafford has paid the $1 million, a spokesman said, and is prepared to spend $600,000 more for a breakfast, a luncheon and two balls at the hotel. Stafford said he hopes to recoup some of the $600,000 from other sponsors, yet to be recruited.

"We wanted to . . . bless those who otherwise wouldn't have an opportunity to be a part of the great celebration, the inauguration and the festivities," he said in an interview yesterday. "Our objective is to bring in a cross-section of society -- those who are distressed, those who are terminally ill, those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, those veterans who are wounded and served our country."

Stafford said the idea was inspired by his deep religious faith and the good fortune that has come his way. The inauguration is an opportunity to remember the less fortunate and remind the country of its traditions of benevolence, he said.

"We've gotten away from those core values that made America great," he said yesterday at the headquarters of his company, Unitech, which provides weapons simulation systems to the military. "We just need to get back to caring about one another."

The initiative, in its early stages, comes amid hard economic times, when many in the Washington region are seeking ways to make money on the inauguration -- be it hotels charging sky-high rates or residents renting out homes and apartments.

Stafford said his guests, yet to be chosen, will come from across the country. They can watch the parade from a heated tent atop the Marriott's terrace, with terrific views and every comfort available.

"We're not charging a dime," Stafford said.

"The People's Inauguration," as Stafford calls it, is scheduled to unfold Jan. 18, 19 and 20, with lodging all three nights. He said the initiative will be funded through the family's nonprofit Stafford Foundation, created in 2002; this will be its first major enterprise.

What an amazing idea. Wait till the Obama folks find out. I bet they'll help too. Thank you, Mr. Stafford!

Via Balloon Juice:

This is, quite honestly, the first semi-sane thing I have seen written at Red State in several years:

We Lost Because We Suck: There’s no conspiracy, really.
So, we have this great big circular firing squad going about whether to purge moderates, or socons, or fiscons, or libertarians, or Methodists, whatever. No, Virginia, there isn’t a smoke filled room somewhere where a bunch of Ivy League, Wall Street, K Street elitists conspired to deprive the Republican Party of a victory in the last two elections. We lost because nobody in their right mind would trust us to run a government. That we did as well as we did is a tribute to the fact that they don’t trust the Democrats much either.

***
In seven years we demonstrated to the American people that we really didn’t mean what we’d said for all those years; we weren’t against spending, we were against Democrat spending. We weren’t against big government, we just wanted it big in the places we like. The people caught us in the lie and held us responsible for it.

Hey, it's a start, and a pretty amazing one.

But at long last... change has come to Alaska!

WASHINGTON - Convicted Sen. Ted Stevens lost his re-election bid to Democrat Mark Begich after the last large batch of votes was counted Tuesday.

The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count.

That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Congratulations Senator-Elect Begich!

BYE BYE TEDDY!

And BYE BYE SENATOR PALIN!!!

I'm sitting in the comfy chair, sipping wine and smelling the lasagna baking in the oven. I love this recipe! Here's what I've been reading today:

NY Times article on voting in Levittown, PA. My parents live there, but I doubt they would have spoken to the interviewer:

...I traveled again to Levittown on Election Day to see how people would vote and how they would respond to what looked like an imminent Obama victory. The contrast from the spring — and, in fact, this new vision of Levittown compared with what I had known in my childhood — was almost breathtaking.

“Obama,” said the ironworker, when I asked how he’d be voting.

“Obama,” said the plumber.

“Obama,” said the chef.

And on and on. Military moms. Vietnam veterans. Abortion opponents. College students and retirees. Bank tellers, pipe fitters, officer workers, machinists, meat cutters, boilermakers and carpenters....

"Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team." I'm dreaming, right? Am I dreaming?

Gee, and I thought I was excited: Antigua plans to rename highest peak after Barack Obama!

A center-right country? Yeah, right:

The Concern Trolls are roaming free in the Village these days: John King, Laura Ingraham, Charles Krauthammer, Tom Brokaw, Karl Rove, Ruth Marcus … I don't know how many talking heads I've heard claim that "America is still a center-right country" in the past few days, but if it were a drinking game, I'd have alcohol poisoning.

I guess I'm confused. I keep hearing from a lot of conservatives that McCain lost because he wasn't conservative enough -- that is, he was essentially a center-right candidate. And I think that's the consensus about where he sat on the political spectrum.

So if America is a "center-right country," then why didn't they elect the center-right candidate?

It's all bullshit, of course. As a CAF/Media Matters study found last year: "Media perceptions and past Republican electoral successes notwithstanding, Americans are progressive across a wide range of controversial issues, and they're growing more progressive all the time." In fact, as CAF's Robert Borosage points out, "Voters didn't just elect Democrats, they elected progressives." This is a liberal mandate.

Via Boing Boing:

Over at Ethicurean, there's an extensive post exploring what the newly elected American president might do differently about food, farms, and related systems of energy and technology in the United States:

According to Speech Wars, between April and October, John McCain uttered the word “agriculture” only twice, and “nutrition” just once. Barack Obama did slightly better, referring to “agriculture” twelve times and “nutrition” four times. He gave farms a passing mention in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. But let’s face it: for the most part, food was a quiet issue, sacrificed to our discussions about race and religion, gender and sexism, oil and bailouts.

Meanwhile, food prices continued to rise. Our nation continued to lose farms daily. We continued to spend billions of dollars treating lifestyle diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Rural towns continued to wither. Fertilizer runoff continued to damage our drinking water.
There’s no way around it: the Obama administration will need to address food issues head-on....

Hey, I agree. I'm looking forward to a food pyramid not written by the meat, milk and sugar lobby. But I think we can all agree that the economy needs a quicker fix.

Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times:

Barack Obama’s election is a milestone in more than his pigmentation. The second most remarkable thing about his election is that American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual.

Maybe, just maybe, the result will be a step away from the anti-intellectualism that has long been a strain in American life. Smart and educated leadership is no panacea, but we’ve seen recently that the converse — a White House that scorns expertise and shrugs at nuance — doesn’t get very far either.

And finally: a guy took his wife out on a date, and the world press followed them.

The campaign signs are still scattered around my neighborhood. The news media and bloggers -- who are still in shock that they have no election to write about anymore -- have to write about something. The topic of the moment: are Obama's cabinet appointments diverse enough? My response:

1. We're really complaining that the first-ever African American president's cabinet may not be diverse enough? Really?
2. Obama is taking advice from people in the last Democratic administration we had in the last 20 years. Guess what: they're primarily white men.
3. Just because the list might be short on women's names, do we really think a man raised by his single mother and grandmother and married to one of the brightest toughest women on the planet and father of two amazing daughters... doesn't care about women? Or their issues?
4. We just suffered through 8 years of an administration staffed by people who weren't hired for their qualifications, but by how much they loved baby Jeebus. Let's hire and appoint the most qualified people -- regardless of race, color, creed, gender or sexual orientation.
5. Some of these short lists have damn good ideas. Like Governor Tom Kean (R) for Homeland Security secretary. Wouldn't it be nice to have the chairman of the 9/11 commission in a position to actually make the commission's conclusions into reality?

To sum up, in the words of our newly elected president:
see Sarah Palin pictures

But he thoughtfully wonders what happens if -- I said if, Universe -- Obama becomes president:

Maybe the polls are wrong, and John McCain is about to pull off the biggest election upset in American history. But right now the Democrats seem poised both to win the White House and to greatly expand their majorities in both houses of Congress.

Most of the post-election discussion will presumably be about what the Democrats should and will do with their mandate. But let me ask a different question that will also be important for the nation’s future: What will defeat do to the Republicans?

You might think, perhaps hope, that Republicans will engage in some soul-searching, that they’ll ask themselves whether and how they lost touch with the national mainstream. But my prediction is that this won’t happen any time soon.

Instead, the Republican rump, the party that’s left after the election, will be the party that attends Sarah Palin’s rallies, where crowds chant “Vote McCain, not Hussein!” It will be the party of Saxby Chambliss, the senator from Georgia, who, observing large-scale early voting by African-Americans, warns his supporters that “the other folks are voting.” It will be the party that harbors menacing fantasies about Barack Obama’s Marxist — or was that Islamic? — roots....

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!

...Alaska's founders were optimistic people, but even the most farsighted might have been stretched to imagine this scenario. No matter the outcome in November, this election will mark a signal moment in the history of the 49th state. Many Alaskans are proud to see their governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage.

Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain....

Newsweek breaks it down for us:

Acorn + Mickey Mouse = The Most Adorable Political "Scandal" in Recent Memory.

It may also be one of the most pointless.

In recent days, conservative activists and right-leaning media outlets like FOX News and Matt Drudge--who led his influential site with the Mickey Mouse story yesterday afternoon--have tried to raise a ruckus over the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a liberal nonprofit/lobbying group--it typically fights on behalf of poor people for free school lunches and government housing--that also spearheaded one of this cycle's largest (and most controversial) voter registration drives. Unless I'm mistaken, the conspiracy theory goes something like this: Obama "has ties" to Acorn; Acorn is trying to steal the election; therefore, by the transitive property, Obama is also trying to steal the election. To see why this makes no sense, it'll be helpful to break the equation down into three bite-sized pieces....

Shorter article: it's no big freakin' deal.

Another shorter: "...people are confusing voter fraud (a dangerous offense) with voter registration fraud (a petty crime)."

Go. Read. Share. Clear this up, and let's talk about stuff that actually matters.

Can anyone out there tell me when -- if McCain does not win the presidency -- his current Senate term is up? I swear, I've checked the Wikipedia and used the Google, and cannot find this information.

But... but... the Republicans told me it was all those minority homeowners who forced lenders into giving them subprime loans and caused the crisis! No?

WASHINGTON — As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail.

Commentators say that's what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They've specifically targeted the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie's and Freddie's financial problems.

Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren't true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.

( More under the cut )

I don't know how big the religious centenarian demo is, but Obama just got a big endorsement from one of their leading voices! From the BBC:

A 106-year-old American nun living in a convent in Rome could well be the oldest person to vote in the 2008 US Presidential election.

Sister Cecilia Gaudette, who last voted for President Eisenhower in 1952, has registered to vote and says she will vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

Although hard of hearing, she keeps herself informed by reading newspapers and watching TV at the convent.

"I'm encouraged by Senator Obama," she says.

"I've never met him, but he seems to be a good man with a good private life. That's the first thing. Then he must be able to govern," she adds.

Sitting in her modest office in the convent where she has lived for the past 50 years, the diminutive nun appears uninterested in the row inside the American Catholic church over Senator Obama's support for pro-choice policies on abortion.

Asked about her hopes for the US under an Obama presidency, she says: "Peace abroad. I don't worry about the Iraq war because I can't do anything about it. Lord knows how it will end."

"It is very complicated," she said. "Those Eastern people are not like we are."

But despite taking part in the 4 November election, Sister Cecilia does not intend to return to the US.

"I have no plans for the future. I am too old to go back to the US. Life has changed too much."

But she still watches "very important events" on TV. The election comes under this category.

Well, rock on, 'Ster.

We only just got around to watching Tuesday's Daily Show this morning, and there was so much good stuff in it!!! So much so I had to post all my favorite bits here ( under the cut )

How dare you act all surprised when people at your rallies tell you they're afraid of Obama because he's a terrorist and a foreigner and some Muslim extremist, when you've spent weeks TELLING PEOPLE THAT VERY THING?

I mean, I'd like to think you told the crowd that "Obama is a decent man" because you finally have a tiny flicker of shame left. But let's be real. You could skate away from the rallies where people shouted "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!", saying, Oh, you didn't hear them. But in Minnesota tonight, these people said this garbage to your face. In frame, on camera. So you had to own what you have created.

And when you told your audience that, "I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States," they booed you. They booed you.

And you acted surprised?

You've been releasing ads and making little insinuations -- because, let's face it, it's the only play you have left -- and you dare to act surprised. Congratulations: your ad buys have been working. Oh wait, they've only worked on the fringe right, not rational people.

If anything happens to Senator Obama, sir, I lay it completely at your feet.

Hubby got up wicked early this morning to read the WaPo online again, and had a lot of interesting stuff to e-mail me about. With his permission, I reprint his response to today's column by Charles Krauthammer ( in its entirety )

Paul Krugman has a great explanation of the candidates' health care plans today in the NY Times:

...Most Americans under 65 currently get health insurance through their employers. That’s largely because the tax code favors such insurance: your employer’s contribution to insurance premiums isn’t considered taxable income, as long as the employer’s health plan follows certain rules. In particular, the same plan has to be available to all employees, regardless of the size of their paycheck or the state of their health.

This system does a fairly effective job of protecting those it reaches, but it leaves many Americans out in the cold. Workers whose employers don’t offer coverage are forced to seek individual health insurance, often in vain. For one thing, insurance companies offering “nongroup” coverage generally refuse to cover anyone with a pre-existing medical condition. And individual insurance is very expensive, because insurers spend large sums weeding out “high-risk” applicants — that is, anyone who seems likely to actually need the insurance.

So what should be done? Barack Obama offers incremental reform: regulation of insurers to prevent discrimination against the less healthy, subsidies to help lower-income families buy insurance, and public insurance plans that compete with the private sector. His plan falls short of universal coverage, but it would sharply reduce the number of uninsured.

Mr. McCain, on the other hand, wants to blow up the current system, by eliminating the tax break for employer-provided insurance. And he doesn’t offer a workable alternative.

Without the tax break, many employers would drop their current health plans. Several recent nonpartisan studies estimate that under the McCain plan around 20 million Americans currently covered by their employers would lose their health insurance....