With the space shuttle fleet soon being retired and all, maybe Obama can upgrade to the shuttle crawler? Lots more room under that than a bus.

..."As we turn the corner on the first year, this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world," Rogers told the Chicago Sun-Times, which first reported she was leaving.

Like senior West Wing advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, Rogers is a Chicagoan in Obama's inner circle. She is particularly close to First Lady Michelle Obama...

You know what they say about close up and personal killings/firings...the first one is the hardest. It gets easier after that. Or so they say. Pretty soon its no more gut wrenching than tossing away a used Kleenex. more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 02:16 PM | Comments (304)
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And if you don't like it, he's got two words for you..."Tough Shit".

In an unusual display in the normally sleepy chamber, Bunning – without the support of GOP leadership – has blocked efforts to quickly approve a series of extensions to measures that would otherwise expire Sunday, including unemployment insurance and the Cobra program that allows people who lose their health benefits to continue getting coverage.

And that has led to a furious exchange on the floor, with Democrats attacking the senator, who has refused to relent on his objection, in unusually harsh terms.

In a colloquy with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, was pleading for Bunning to drop his objection, when the Kentucky Republican got fed up.

“Tough s—t,” Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.

Bunning apparently supports the bill, he just wants this $10 billion covered by some cuts or to come out of the Congressional Slush Fund (aka TARP).

Obama signed a new Pay-Go bill not too long ago, I guess that starts later or probably never.

This is a bit of showmanship, Reid will be able to get this to the floor once they come back next week but it does show the GOP hasn't quite taken the deficit message to heart yet. I know this is a politically necessary bill but it would be nice if the Republicans made some effort to actually pay for this stuff by at least offering some areas where costs could be offset. Not so much it seems.

Posted by: DrewM at 11:52 AM | Comments (400)
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Game update: Finland's coach says he sorry he started this guy in net today...

It was an interesting experiment but it didn't pan out.

Kudos to "garrett" in the comments for the scouting report on Miikka Kiprusoff.

Original Post:
Before getting to today's game just let me say I may, just may, have to reconsider my absolute loathing of womens 'hockey'. After the Canadian women beat the US in the gold medal games, the canuks hung around on the ice drinking beer and smoking cigars. The IOC is miffed but I'm...kind of aroused.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:54 AM | Comments (298)
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Seems a bit odd that the Brits would have a tea party -- the big one was something of a blow to the empire -- but...

Last night Allah linked one of the most obnoxiously condescending stories on the tea party (American division) I've ever had the misfortune to read.

The LA Times commissions a deeply snide and insulting sociological look at the Tea Partiers, reducing them, as is their wont, to little but crude and callow impulses. And who did they seek for this "analysis"? Democratic Party consultants, of course!

Note that the leftist media never bothers to wonder about what psychological inadequacies might drive all those smelly hippies and black-masked trust-fund anarchists they unfailingly refer to as "veterans, shopowners, mothers, and grandmothers, just plain folks expressing their discontent with war/capitalism/America."

Neither "average Americans," as they like to portray themselves, nor trailer-park "Deliverance" throwbacks, as their lefty detractors would have us believe, tea partyers are more highly educated and wealthier than the rest of America. Nearly 75% are college educated, and two-thirds earn more than $50,000.

More likely to be white and male than the general population, tea partyers also skew toward middle age or older. That's the tell. Most came of age in the 1960s, an era distinguished by widespread disrespect for government. In their wonder years, they learned that politics was about protesting the Establishment and shouting down the Man. No wonder they're doing that now.

Look closely at the tea partyer and what you see is a famil- iar American genus: a solidly middle-class, college-educated boomer, endowed by his creator with possessions, opinions and certain inalienable rights, the most important of which is the right to make sure you hear what he has to say.

The tea party is a harbinger of midlife crisis, not political crisis. For men of a certain age, it offers a counterculture experience familiar from adolescence -- underground radio, esoteric tracts, consciousness-raising teach-ins and rallies replete with extroverted behavior to shock the squares -- all paid for with ample cash.

The partyers are essentially replaying the '60s protest paradigm. (We're aging boomers ourselves, so we know it when we see it.) They fancy themselves the vanguard of a revolution, when in fact they are typical self-absorbed, privileged children used to having their way -- now -- and uninhibited about complaining loudly when they don't. It's the same demographic Spiro Agnew called "an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals."

...

The tea partyers' pictures and sound bites are so good, no one cares that their math doesn't add up: Cut taxes and the deficit but keep your hands off my Medicare; do something about jobs but don't increase spending. Everyone understands it's about something deeper.

Ah, tea partyer, we know ye well. One of your signs says "Listen to ME!" That's all that's ever really mattered -- the original "me generation" grabbing the spotlight and the world's attention by whatever means necessary. The rest, whether beads, bell bottoms or birther slogans, is just a means to the same end.

Again, we never saw this sort of crude disparagement of motive directed by the media at Obama's Zombies or any of the leftwing protests.

Posted by: Ace at 10:10 AM | Comments (134)
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Perhaps they will be killed last.

Politiken issued the apology after settling with a Saudi lawyer representing eight Muslim groups that complained after the cartoon was reprinted by 11 Danish papers in solidarity with the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who received death threats last year.

Outrage at the move was led by DenmarkÂ’s Prime Minister and by Mr Westergaard, 74, who survived an alleged assassination attempt by an Islamic axeman at his home last month.

Politiken responded that it was apologising for the offence caused, not the decision to publish, in an attempt to reduce tensions with the Muslim world.

...In a statement, Politiken said that it “recognises and deplores” that Muslims were offended by the caricature. “We apologise to anyone who was offended by our decision to reprint the cartoon drawing,” it said.

Toeger Seidenfaden, the Politiken editor in chief, added that the paper was apologising for the offence caused by the cartoon, not the decision to reprint it. “We have the right to print Kurt Westergaard's drawings, we have the right to print the original 12 drawings, we have the right to print all the caricatures in the world,” he said. “We apologise for the offence which the reprint has caused. That is what we apologise for.”

He said that Politiken considered the statement a “unique chance” to foster dialogue on the issue and reduce tensions between Denmark and the Muslim world.

Yes, the chance to sell out core values to thugs is "unique" and apparently must be taken whenever one has the chance.

The other newspapers who ran the cartoons are rather pissed at Politiken for breaking ranks and selling out. It's no doubt made it much more dangerous for those defending the core principles of western civilization. The first crack is usually the hardest one to get but once it happens the rest are easier. People always remember the first to toss others under the bus but it gets easier once the precedent is set. Now the Islamists know it's not a question of whether pressure will work, just how much.

Thanks to Politiken, the pressure will no doubt be upped on the rest. But they should be fine because these things always work out well for those who sell out.

more...

Posted by: DrewM at 09:39 AM | Comments (99)
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So, we're talking about doing one. Next month. When the weather here in the Northeast will still suck mightily. It always seems to be cold when we hold these things.

Date and place yet to be determined. Some folks are talking Fairfield County? Yes? Eh?

Connecticutian Morons, please visit the yahoo forum and put us some knowledge.

We need more ideas for the party.

So far we have only one idea, but it feels like a winner. Daryl T. came up with it and he's a genius.

Content warning for language.

SIGH. We always have such a nice time at these things.

Posted by: LauraW at 08:06 AM | Comments (91)
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Looks like NY's accidental Governor is going to drop his election bid, which he officially announced only last week.

Gov. David Paterson has told Democratic leaders that he won't seek election to a full term amid a roiling scandal over whether he and his troopers intimidated a woman who'd reported domestic violence against one of his top aides, The Post has learned.

Paterson communicated his intentions to top advisers and supporters, saying he'll make an announcement today, multiple sources said -- confirming a Post report.

Paterson, who took over the state's top spot when Eliot Spitzer resigned after it was disclosed that he had sex with a prostitute, is expected to say he won't resign.

Just last night Paterson said he intended to continue his campaign, which he launched this past weekend. But he also said he would talk to fellow Democrats about his future.

I guess they told him what everyone already knew...he was dead man walking before the recent scandal hit and that being caught up in allegations of intimidating a possible victim of domestic abuse wasn't exactly going to help.

My guess is he will still wind up having to resign before all is said and done.

What's this mean for Republicans? Not much in terms of the Governor's race. Andrew Cuomo, who will be investigating Paterson now, will still win the Democratic primary and Rick Lazio will still get steamrolled by him.

It might help on the margins in some suburban state Senate districts that were formally held by Republicans but lately have been going to the Democrats. Retaking the state Senate in '10 and holding it in '12 will be very important as NY goes through its redistricting process, especially since NY is likely to lose at least one House seat.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:33 AM | Comments (109)
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As I walked to work yesterday, the chyron on all the TVs on the CNN building, and the giant information ticker that runs around the building, said: "Bipartisan Healthcare Negotiations." And as I watched part of the summit, I kept hearing the President and Democrats say to the Republicans, "we agree with that."

So, I was surprised to see this headline this morning which suggests that Obama isn't going to change his bill at all:

Obama To GOP: ItÂ’s Over

Obama listened politely for six hours, with occasional flashes of temper, but in the end, the message was clear: ItÂ’s over. WeÂ’re moving forward without Republicans.

Whether Obama and Dems will succeed in passing reform on their own is anything but assured, to put it mildly. But there’s virtually no doubt anymore that they are going to try — starting as early as tomorrow.

That was the subtle but unmistakable message of ObamaÂ’s closing argument. After hours of hearing Republicans repeat again and again that only an incremental approach to reform is acceptable to them, Obama rejected that out of hand.

How will Americans react to this farce? I'm guessing they're not going to be any happier about it today than they were on Wednesday. That is, a majority will still want either to do nothing or to start over from scratch.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:38 AM | Comments (147)
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FRIDAAAAAY!!!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:30 AM | Comments (77)
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Maxine Waters vs. monetary policy:

The look on Ben Bernanke's face is priceless.

h/t: Crossing Wall St.

Posted by: Slublog at 05:07 AM | Comments (166)
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