Blogging the cloture vote ~ BrianInNYC

 

cloture – The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/cloture.htm

I suspect many of you will be glued (as I will be) to C-SPAN today watching the first vote that health care reform will have on the floor of the US Senate.    I hope you’ll share your comments as we watch the events unfold throughout the day.  I don’t know about you folks but I love this stuff.  It’s a shame that Senator Kennedy won’t be part of today’s historic vote but lets hope his spirit weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of Senate at large!

More weird GOP shit!

 

Poll: Majority Of Republicans Don’t Think Obama Won 2008 Election

 

When Doug Hoffman blamed ACORN for his loss in the NY-23 special House election, he was apparently channeling the GOP base. A new Public Policy Polling survey found that a majority of Republican voters think that ACORN stole the presidential election for Barack Obama last year

Read more

The menace of the public option (courtesy of BevnTempe)

M.C. Blakeman

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option – specifically,the public library option.

For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantly each day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free. How is the private sector supposed to compete with free? And just what does this public option give us? People can spend hours and hours in these dens of socialism without having to buy so much as a cappuccino. Furthermore, not only can anyone read books for free in the library, they can take them home, too. They get a simple card that can be used at any library in town. No checking on the previous condition of books they’ve read. No literacy test. Nothing. Yet, do these libertines of literature let you choose any book you want, anytime you want it? No. Have you ever tried to get the latest best-seller at a public library? They put you on a waiting list for that, my friend. And if you do ask these government apparatchiks a question about a book, they start talking your ear off, and pretty soon they’re telling you what to read.

Of course, if you break one of their petty rules and return a book late, you have to pay fines that mount grotesquely each day. Even if you die, your overdue fees keep piling up. Is that not a death tax? How long must the elderly live in fear of burdening their children with these unfair sanctions on their estates?

Don’t be fooled for a minute. Somebody has to pay for these "free" libraries, and I’ll tell you who it is, pal. Those good ol’ suckers, the American taxpayers, that’s who.

Have you ever wondered who’s really behind this public library option? And don’t you think it’s fishy that they mask their nefarious activities with benign-sounding names, like Friends of the Library? What’s their real agenda – and why do they have so many "volunteer" meetings, anyway?

No, my fellow Americans. We cannot wait until we’re all goose-stepped into a massive book checkout line. This assault on capitalism and our very way of life has got to end. Be subversive … burn your library card! Go out and buy a book!

M.C. Blakeman is the co-author of "Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods" (Nolo Press).

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/19/ED7B19P06H.DTL

USS Gerald R. Ford

Last Saturday officials laid the keel of the first of the new class of aircraft carriers, CVN-78, to be named USS Gerald R. Ford.  The Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers replaces the Nimitz class, first commissioned in 1975.

Gerald Ford was a guy who always stepped up when no one else would.

During his Naval service in WWII on the USS Monterey a fire broke out as a result of a typhoon.  Admiral Halsey ordered Captain Ingersoll to abandon ship. Instead Captain Ingersoll ordered Ford to lead a fire brigade below. After five hours he and his team had put out the fire.

In 1964 when LBJ led a landslide victory, Ford was approached to be House Minority Leader.  He accepted.

In 1973 when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned Ford was tagged as the replacement.

In 1974 when President Nixon resigned Ford assumed the presidency.  One month later he pardoned Nixon, with the full knowledge that it would doom his presidency and any chance at reelection.  But it was the right thing to do so that the country could move on from an extremely difficult time.

For this controversial, but selfless and patriotic move he was lauded with praise by Jimmy Carter during his inaugural speech.   The two opponents went on to be pals using their presidential gravitas to accomplish much.  In 2001 Ford received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for the Nixon pardon.

President Ford has done so much for this country, naming an aircraft carrier seems like the least we can do for him.

Something funny to start out the week

Rules of the Universe ~ BevnTempe

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don’t worry about what people think; they don’t do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

6. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention! It never fails.)

7. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

8. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

9. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

10. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

11. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

12. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it. Embrace your differences. Love each other.

13. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

14. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

15. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

16. Opportunities always look bigger after they have passed.

17. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

18. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

19. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

20. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

21. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

22. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

23. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.

24. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and "mental illness."

25. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

26. You should not confuse your career with your life.

27. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

28. Never lick a steak knife.

29. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

30. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

31. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

32. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

33. Your friends love you anyway.

34. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

35. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

Veterans Day 2009

Veterans Day is always a sobering reminder of the cost of freedom, particularly in a time of war.  This year we also morn the victims of the Fort Hood shootings.  Today is a day to give thanks for those who have served their country.