TPM Reader TS raises a good point I’ve been wondering a lot about. I can’t figure it out …
There seems to be no mention in the press of the current use of the threat of filibuster by Senate Republicans. In the previous Congress, as I recall, there was much criticism of Democrats for suggesting that they might filibuster Bush’s Court appointments. Am I wrong in thinking that Republicans have stopped ordinary legislation at least twice in the last week by threatening extended debate? But where’s the mention of it in the press? In the NYT story this morning about the amendment to give troops more time at home, the f-word only appears in the second to last paragraph. shouldn’t they be called on this?
If anything it’s worse than this as Senate Republicans have been filibustering just about everything. Everything on Iraq certainly. And this is the sense of ‘filibuster’ as it has been used more or less continuously for a decade.
The Dems are idiots on this. Reporters should note it, yes. But it’s not really their job.
Bush: We’ll do what the generals want, not what the people want.
Of course, the generals were pretty much to a man against the surge. But Bush fired them and got some generals that agreed. So there …
If you complacent liberal freaks knew what Fox News’ Neil Cavuto was doing to keep you safe from the terrorist threat of universal health care you’d thank him.
Watch this round-up of Neil’s work in today’s episode of TPMtv and learn something for a change.
A very revealing moment. For the first time the president was asked, now that all the legal stuff is over and there’s nothing more pending, whether he was disappointed in the fact that a number of his top advisors were responsible for revealing the name of a covert CIA operative.
He couldn’t even manage a perfunctory statement of disappointment or regret. He managed to slip in a dig at Rich Armitage, a general statement that the whole thing had been very rough on the White House staff and that now “we’re” moving on.
Needless to say, the president was involved from day one. He was always in favor of doing it. And he basically said so again today. Truly a shameful man. Will have the video momentarily.
Late Update: Here’s the clip:
Some highlights from the House Judiciary Committee hearing this morning, where Democrats took the first step towards citing Harriet Miers with contempt.
As the president told us again today, he’ll veto any bill that will tie his hands on doing whatever he wants in Iraq. We know that. But not many people seemed to notice that he also told Congress he’d veto any measure that would limit his ability to take military action of any sort in Iran.
Biden: “This progress report is like the guy whoâs falling from a 100-story building and says half-way down that âeverythingâs fine.â”
“When you stand up and are arrested, and the Hindu is allowed to go free, this country has gone upside-down.” That’s what Rev. Flip Benham, the guy behind today’s incident in the senate, told TPM’s Eric Kleefeld when he interviewed him this afternoon. See the rest here.
Okay, finally the definitive story. Last night we were bringing you the latest on the proxy fight between the Giuliani and McCain campaigns over who could have the most prominent or outrageous campaign official involved in a prostitution scandal. Where we left things was whether Florida state Rep. Bob Allen (R), Florida co-chair of the McCain campaign, had offered to pay a Titusville plain clothes police officer for oral sex or whether he had asked to be paid for oral sex. The price, in either case, you’ll remember was to be $20.
Well, mystery solved. Courtesy of TPM Reader VS we were able to track down the arrest report. As officer Kavanaugh explains in the arrest report “Allen engaged me in a conversation in which it was agreed that he would pay me $20.00 in order to perform a ‘blow job’ on me.”
So, advantage Rudy.
Late Update: Allen holds press conference. Claims he’s innocent, fighting the charges. “The political process and the legal process has different communication styles and requirements. As a person in the political arena that is a representative of people, I tend to want to talk about each and every detail, to give a response to each and every item, and let it be known the truth will be coming out. But I have to follow the legal process because I’ve been put into a legal process.”
Dem Senator Ben Nelson likely to vote No on Reed-Levin amendment forcing withdrawal from Iraq. That and other political news of the day in today’s Election Central Happy Hour Roundup.