Blagojevich

It's been a while since this whole Blagojevich Bust went down, and I realize I never really posted on it. Early on, I snagged a few good pics and political cartoons to maybe use in a post, but it never materialized...mostly because I had other shit I wanted to discuss. But now that he's made his appointment to replace Obama in the Senate and thrust himself back into the spotlight, I suppose I'll wade in...

When this all broke, I'd heard the guy's name before, and I knew he was bad news, but I'd never heard the guy speak, nor could I pick him out of a lineup or pronounce his name. My immediate reaction to all of this was, "That guy's got a pair." and "Here's hoping Obama and his team gave this jackass a wide berth." I enjoyed the initial round of mockery and ridicule of his foul Chicago mouth and Fisher-Price hair, and wondered who the fuck would ever vote this guy into office. But as the story began to fill out I found myself departing—somewhat—from the company of just about every blogger I like.

This guy looks to be a douchebag of the highest order and probably should do the honorable thing and step aside because he's certainly too big a dick to be Governor. And it makes sense that he should probably refrain from making an appointment under these circumstances. But here's where I depart from the mob: I haven't heard ANYTHING CLOSE to a smoking gun regarding this allegation of his selling Obama's Senate seat

People are acting like this guy was busted like Jimmy Serrano with a cash-filled suitcase exchange. I'm not seeing it. I've heard and read nothing beyond what I imagine to be the sort of horsetrading that probably happens all the time in these situations—ie: "I appoint you, you campaign for me, scratch each other's back, fundraise, etc." Hell, even Obama's appointments are in some cases surely rewards for support.

I think he's probably guilty of this, and whatever drew him into U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald's sights in the first place—but that's my impression, and not based on any actual evidence that I'm aware of.

Fine, if you're Obama, or the party: distance yourself from the guy, throw him under the bus, even ask for him to "step aside if he's guilty." I'm all for zero tolerance and purging corrupt people from office regardless of party. By all appearances, Blago deserves to be alone on his self-constructed island, but at a certain point it boils down to this: he's innocent until proven guilty and deserves a chance to defend himself. And frankly, if he thinks he did nothing wrong, he should tell Obama and everyone else to "Fuck off. I'm Governor, and I'm not going anywhere."

And if that's his position, I have no problem with him fulfilling his Constitutionally-required duty and appointing someone to Obama's seat. Viewed in a vacuum, Roland Burris appears to be a perfectly good selection. Taking into account Blago's situation, Burris appears to be the perfect appointment, and the Governor probably deserves credit for selecting him.

What's unfortunate is Burris is now inextricably tied to Blagojevich, and if the Senate holds to it's stated position that any appointment by Blagojevich will NOT be seated, a good man was probably sacrificed as part of this ridiculous standoff.

Of course the Democratic caucus holding to a position other than bent-over is a goddamn joke. If Burris doesn't get seated it's more likely to be because Harry Reid has given Joe Lieberman a second Senate seat.

UPDATE: I could have saved myself the trouble and just posted a link to John Cole

The Opposite of Change

Somehow this Onion story made it into the US News & World Report...

GOP Envisions Gephardt as Possible Obama Running Mate
By Paul Bedard Wed Jul 2, 12:56 PM ET

Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers. "Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.

Gephardt has run for the presidency and scored well among the types of voters Obama is trying to reach out to--lower and middle-class workers, laborers, and minorities. Another strategist said that Gephardt presents a friendly face of liberalism that would be hard to attack. He also has a deep well of support among House Democrats, who they believe would rally around an Obama-Gephardt ticket, especially the allies of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

I cannot think of a worse potential running mate than this flesh-haired, two-time Presidential loser who reeks of the 80s and the decline of unions. This is the lead asshole who went behind the party's back to broker the deal with Bush that launched the Iraq War—yeah, I'm sure he's at the top of Obama's list. Nobody personifies the feckless, failed Democratic Party of the hopefully soon-to-be past, more than Dick Gephardt.

Put it this way. If Barack Obama were to select Dick Fucking Gephardt as his VP, the first thing I do—after I pick myself up off the floor—is weep. For a few days. Then, I figure out some way to get my donation money back. After that, I'd take my family to Canada and mourn for my country.

Hitlery*

* I know, I know, but what else am I gonna come up with? Are you more comfortable with "Hitlarity?"

A Fucking Clue for the Democrats...

The reason Congress' approval numbers are spiraling down the bowl, is NOT because you are "weak on terror" or "don't support thr troops" it's because you refuse to fucking stand up to the Administration and the GOP and refuse to do anything of substance to slow down the slow and steady destruction of Constitutional Democracy.

The confirmation of an Attorney General who thinks torture is fine and dandy, and the President is above the law is just the latest in a long list of failures. It's not even what I would call a "disappointment", because it was inevitable.

I actually wish we never regained the Congress. At least the Republicans knew they were rubber-stamp, and didn't pretend otherwise.

You guys are a fucking joke.

There is much more to write on this, but I'm not sure I have the energy. Nor is there any point.

--

Recovering Republican and would-be Conservative John Cole joined the Democratic Party this week. Sorry I won't be there to welcome you, John. I am leaving. I will stay long enough to vote for Chris "The Only Guy Who Remembers the Constitution" Dodd in MI's primary and then I am out.

Links: "Democrats Suck" Edition

UPDATE: More links...

FISA Post-Mortem
Matt Stoller has a simple summary of the procedural screw-ups that resulted in the passage of the crappy FISA bill. While no one comes away looking good to me, this clearly looks worse on Reid and the Senate. To continue an analogy from the piece...if the House "walked the pitcher," it was in relief. It was Reid who loaded the bases and issued the first three balls.

Fucking Dreamworld
David Sirota is smoking serious crack if he thinks the Dems would actually do this—he lays out a strategy to defeat the FISA bill by de-funding it.

A "concensus?" Really?
Somebody buy Joe Biden a clue. Or take Sirota's crackpipe away from him.

Aiding and Abetting
Glenn Greenwald makes the case in his article "Democrats' Responsibility for Bush Radicalism" that the Dems aren't merely gutless, but that they are, in fact, willing accomplices. Greenwald looks at the fatal flaws of the strategy, and also includes an excerpt from his interview of one of the few Dems not on my shit list—Chris Dodd.

As usual, Greenwald is loaded with tons of good stuff. Hell, just read 'em all:
The strong and tough Democrats
Attention Democrats: GOP fear-mongering does not work
Chris Dodd on FISA, habeas corpus and Democratic capitulation

The List Grows Longer
That would be the list of things I don't like about Hillary... Mark Kleiman rightly calls her out for employing a union-buster as her chief strategist and pollster, and for taking lobbyist's money.

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?"
Sen. Leahy extends subpoena deadline. Again. Here's an idea, Senator, maybe you should have told the White House to "go fuck itself" on the FISA overhaul unless they comply. I can hear Fred Fielding and Karl Rove laughing from here.

In Gonzo We Trust
The always excellent Dahlia Lithwick has a column at Slate on the ridiculous contortions by Democrats on Gonzales.

There is virtually no way to reconcile Sen. Mark Pryor's, D-Ark., claim that Gonzales has "lied to the Senate" and needs to go with his vote to expand the reach of our warrantless eavesdropping program. And how can one possibly square Sen. Dianne Feinstein's, D-Calif., claim that the AG "just doesn't tell the truth" with her vote to give him yet more unchecked authority?

[...] Imagine that the Democrats had been hollering for the past six months that Gonzales was an out-of-control drunk. With their eavesdropping vote, they've handed him the keys to a school bus. Nobody was forcing these Democrats to impeach or censure the AG. But this warm pat on the back they have offered him is beyond incredible.

With this FISA vote, the Democrats have compromised the investigation into the U.S. attorney scandal. They've shown themselves either to be participating in an empty political witch hunt or curiously willing to surrender our civil liberties to someone who has shown—time and again—that he cannot be trusted to safeguard them. The image of Democrats hypocritically berating the attorney general with fingers crossed behind their backs is ultimately no less appalling than an attorney general swearing to uphold the Constitution with fingers crossed behind his own.

"Answer the question, Claire!"

Now, you suck too, Obama?

Now I recognize that I am at my absolute low-water mark with the Democrats, and that this is the stupidest of topics to base a political decision on... But for fuck's sake, can any of these non-committal, afraid-to-offend, pandering, calculating jerkoffs ever answer a freaking question?



"Yes" or "No." All that stuff about sports and kids, and cynicism is fine, but take a goddamn stand, already.

I've fucking had it with these losers.

And, yes. You should honor Bonds at the White House.

Stick to Football, Tubby

SI's "Monday Morning Quarterback" column by Peter King [link]:

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. I find it incredibly hard to believe anyone can go to a place and cheer for one dog to rip the neck of another dog open so the dog will bleed to death. Please. I need to know this: What kind of person does that? And why are these people allowed to walk free and breathe the same air that normal human beings breathe?

Okay, so far so good...

b. Not that I'm questioning what planet David Ortiz has fallen off, but the catcher for Kansas City, John Buck, who starts about 65 percent of the time and has 121 fewer at-bats, has as many homers, 16, as Ortiz.

c. The following players, four months into the season, have more home runs than Ortiz, who hit 54 last year: Dan Uggla, Brandon Phillips, Carlos Pena, Chris Duncan, Jimmy Rollins, J.J. Hardy, Jack Cust, Brad Hawpe.

d. Theories, anyone? And don't give me the stuff about his right knee being sore. That's not his plant knee.

Cute. If you're going to call somebody out for steroids or PEDs, be a man about it and actually say so. Otherwise shut the hell up and stop blaspheming Big Papi.

Moron. Has King actually watched any highlights of Ortiz this year? His power is down because his swing is completely different from last year—because he's not using his legs!

I Guess There ARE Frivolous Lawsuits

The first one is from the also-a-lawyer Baseball Crank:

BOSTON -- [link] A man who claims he failed the Massachusetts bar exam because he refused to answer a question about gay marriage has filed a federal lawsuit, saying the test violated his rights and that his religious beliefs were targeted.

Stephen Dunne, 30, of Boston, is seeking $9.75 million in the suit against the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He was denied a license to practice law in May after scoring 268.866 on the exam, just shy of the 270 passing grade.

Dunne, who is representing himself in the case, refused to answer an exam question addressing the rights of two married lesbians, their children and their property, and claims in the suit that it cost him a passing score.

In the suit, Dunne called the question "morally repugnant and patently offensive," and said he refused to answer it because he believed it legitimized same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting, which is contrary to his moral beliefs.

He probably should have been sure he was scoring well enough to pass before he climbed on his high horse. Sorry, counselor, a failing grade is a failing grade. You lose. And you're a douche.

And $9.75 million? Something tells me when you barely pass (or fail) the bar, perhaps you are slightly overestimating your earning potential.

Consolation Prize: Dunne displayed all the important qualifications for a job in the Bush DOJ!

UPDATE: Great analysis and mocking by a Law Prof here.

--

The second one regards the verdict in a case you may have heard about—the asshole who sued his drycleaner for $54 million...

"The D.C. administrative law judge who sued his neighborhood dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of lost pants found out this morning what he's going to get for all his troubles.

Nothing.

h/t: Hilzoy, who has a nicewrap-up.

iDiots

Look, I'm as big an Apple fan* as anyone, but I was just astounded at the display last week of jackasses camping out on the street to get in line for an overpriced, oversized phone/iPod. People scalped their spots in line for thousands of dollars!

I'm sure it's slick and pretty—all Apple products are—but come on, people, get a fucking life. It's a phone!

Anyway, at Christmastime the jokes on all of those asshats that overpaid for the oversized first-gen iPhone, when Apple unveils the newer, smaller, cheaper nano-based iPhone...

NEW YORK - Apple Inc. plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone in the fourth quarter that could be based on the ultra-slim iPod Nano music player, according to a JP Morgan report.

Kevin Chang, a JP Morgan analyst based in Taiwan, cited people in the supply channel he did not name and an application with the U.S Patent and Trademark office for his report dated July 8.

Apple filed a patent application document dated July 5 that refers to a multifunctional handheld device with a circular touch pad control, similar to the Nano's scroll wheel.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined comment.

Don't these nerds know that it never pays to buy the first version of something? Especially with Apple? Jobs always has something else up his sleeve.

Here's a funny bit from The Daiily show on the iPhone...



UPDATE: But, will it blend?

* Full disclosure: Pretending I haven't had two Apple products utterly fail and screw me over the last five weeks...AND, I just gave Apple another two grand to replace my wife's laptop and get myself a new display. For the G5 that's still in the shop.