Everything else is just bogus rhetoric designed by cynical candidates who think Americans are so stupid — so bloody stupid — that if you just show them wind turbines in your Olympics ad they’ll actually think you showed up and voted for such renewable power — when you didn’t.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, I guess.
Steven Aftergood take on it is that Congress is breathing down their necks because, they were not notified of a major safety event:
According to David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, the triggering event in this case was congressional outrage at the NRC’s concealment of a major “nuclear safety event” in 2006 at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin, Tennessee.
In that case, approximately 35 liters of highly enriched uranium solution leaked and spilled, creating the possibility of a criticality accident, i.e. an uncontrolled chain reaction. Yet “NRC failed to notify the public or Congress for 13 months regarding this serious incident,” complained Rep. John Dingell in a July 3, 2007 letter (pdf) to NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein.
If I were a member of Congress, that would piss me off.
If I lived near Erwin, Tennessee, I’d consider putting my house up for sale.
Now that her repulsive strategy has been revealed for all to see, and made embarrassingly public by KO’s “Worst Person” comment, EMILY’s List has condemned the ad, but has not, at least not yet, withdrawn the endorsement.
I understand the dynamic, EMILY’s list, they are frequently accused of ignoring the minority community and that their supported candidates are too white, but this endorsment, when the bigotry was on full display for months is stupid.
Barack Obama’s campaign has condemned the ads too but in kind of mealy mouthed way. They mention no names.
Finally, the Skeptical Brotha has a rundown on what Nikki Tinker does when she is not running for office: She is Vice President for Labor Relations and General Counsel for Pinnacle Airlines, which means that, “She specializes in destroying employee rights to collectively bargain and be free from workplace racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.“
I would also note that she is one of Harold Ford’s protégés, who is now the chair of the DLC, and has yet to find a Republican talking point that he does not like, she was his campaign managers in one of his largely uncontested campaigns.
Hopefully, she loses big, and hopefully, EMILY’s list catches enough flak to improve their vetting process.
I’m beginning to think that the Ford machine is a cancer on the Tennessee, and the US Democratic party.
It appears that Harold Ford, who refused to endorse the incumbent, Steve Cohen (yes, he’s Jewish and white) in the general in 2006, has now decided that it needs to be brought back into the purview of the Ford machine.
In this case, one of his proteges, one Nikki Tinker is apparently losing, because she’s going hard on race on religion, with her proxies putting out this flier, which Ms. Tinker hasn’t even bothered to make a perfunctory denunciation of.
But, as the Ronco announcer says, wait, there’s more!!!!
She’s now run an ad, which she has now pulled off of Youtube,
While he’s in our churches, clapping his hands and tapping his feet … he’s the only senator who thought our kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school
It’s a clear, and enthusiastic appeal to anti-semitism, and as Olberman says, “It has no place from a Democratic candidate, or a Republican Candidate, or a white candidate, or a black candidate. It is Shameful.“
I would note a clip of Keith is below.
I would also note that Emily’s List apparently threw in some big bucks for her campaign, which one should consider if they hit you up for donations.
In all fairness, Emily’s List condemned the ads, but they should have know who and what she was. She ran in 2006 too.
When William “Lacy” Clay, Jr. (D – MO), signed off on Barney Franks’s (D-MA) bill to decriminalize marijuana, he thought that he was supporting medical marijuana, which he has supported for years.
It turned out that Frank’s bill actually decriminalized posession of all pot in amounts less than 100g (a bit less than ¼ pound).
Clay was worried about the reaction. Supporting the liberalization of marijuana laws is not often seen as a political winner, especially in Midwestern cities like St. Louis.
But instead of stoner jokes, derision and righteous indignation, Clay was surprised to start getting praise from complete strangers.
“People are coming up to me saying this is a common-sense, sensible way to deal with the issue of personal use,” Clay said.
So far, he said, his calls, mail and contacts are running 80-20 in favor of the bill. He was impressed enough that he decided to go ahead and step before the cameras last week with Frank and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) at a news conference touting the bill.
The only people who support throwing people in jail for a couple of joints are the business interests in the iron triangle that is the US Law Enforcement/Industrial/Prison system.
Not surprisingly, Ron Paul, who is consistent about such things, was the only Republican co-sponsor of the bill.
The Great Lakes Basin Compact is a multi-state agreement that would, among other things, prevent transfer of water out of the region and coordinate environmental efforts.
It’s interesting that it’s being cast as preventing the export of water to foreign nations, though it’s far more likely that any mass transfers would be to the mountain west, parts of which rely on the rapidly depleting Ogallala aquifer.
It appears that the House will pass it too, and Bush has said that he will sign it.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) got language inserted into the defense spending bill to benefit Boeing, things like forbidding consideration of characteristics of the tanker proposals that might exceed the minimum requirements of the bid, which I would note is pretty much an admission that the A-330 makes a better tanker.
Well, we have a rumor that the nomination of Michael Donley for Secretary of the Air Force has had a hold placed on it by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) (as if you couldn’t guess the state). She wants the military to, “the gravity of the flaws in the tanker acquisition process.”
At first, it seemed fairly straightforward, with friends of the DDG-1000 fighting it out with friends of the DDG-51, though it is complicated because, even the Navy doesn’t want any more, Admiral Mike Mullen, who is chairman of the JCS, spent a lot of time defending it, and the policy direction, to Congress.
Well, John Murtha just made everything a lot more complex. He’s proposing that instead of putting the money in either destroyer, that the money be put into an LPD-17 amphibious warfare ship, two T-AKE auxiliary dry cargo dock carriers, and long lead items for the next Virginia class submarine.
Thing is, Murtha is probably right. The surface combatant fleet, destroyers basically, is the youngest part of the fleet, and the old ships that need to be replaced are amphibious warefare craft and support ships, and the Submarines are the only survivable combatants in a surface engagement with a peer power (which is at least 20 years away), and are useful at surveillance and things like inserting SEAL teams.
The Republicans, having a phony issue, the kind that they like best, that they think that they can run with, offshore drilling, have vowed to block everything until they get a vote on the issue.
Well, it looks like the Dems are calling their bluff, and daring them to block a troop funding bill which includes:
A 3.9% across-the-board pay raise for military personnel
A funding increase for research into traumatic brain injury treatment
If fraud can be shown, they could be declared ineligible for future government contracts, which would, thankfully, put them out of business.
As Waxman explained in a memo (PDF) accompanying the launch of the three investigations, they each hinge on Blackwater’s self-classification of its workers as contractors rather than employees. Waxman argues that classifying security personnel as contractors has allowed Blackwater to apply for small business contracts for which it wasn’t eligible, underpay income taxes and workers benefits, and avoid complying with DOL anti-discrimination requirements for federal contractors.
As useless as Pelosi is sometimes, it’s good for Waxman to have subpoena power.
The total amount of dollars from the Navy would be similar, but the Burkes have more local content, as the Zumwalts are made from modules from all around the country (the better to spread the pork around to many Congressional districts)and then assembled at Bath Iron Works, so the Burkes mean more money for Maine, which should be a selling point for Allen.
That’s what Bush and His Evil Minions™ are threatening over offshore drilling, that they will either filibuster or veto the spending bills unless they get their favor for their buddies in big oil.
There is a cell there, and since Mukasey has said that he refused to enforce contempt citations you can have the Congressional sergeant at arms arrest him and lock himup.
I’m not sure whether this move is smart or stupid.
It requires 60 votes to make the amendment, and that means 11 Dems or 10 Dems + Lieberman, because McCain won’t be casting another Senate vote until he’s done with the presidential campaign, and I do not see the votes there.
I’ll avoid the “tubes” and the “incredible hulk” jokes, as most of the ‘net does snark better than me.
In any case, he has been indicted on 7 counts related to concealing income from gifts from lobbyists and their firms, once again proving that it’s the cover-up that will get you.
