George W. Bush Murdered in Surprise Shoe Assault

This morning the world was shocked by the news that President Bush had been attacked by a shoe-wielding Iraqi during a press conference. Although major news networks and the government quickly moved to stifle the truth, it has now been uncovered: contrary to their claims that Bush is 'perfectly fine' and that 'the shoe missed him,' expert Youtuber Bleeep has proved conclusively that Bush was killed in the attack. Here is Bleeep's tribute video, graphically depicting the kill and the immediate aftermath.



Shocking stuff. 12/15/2008- never forget.

18 complete and utter assholes

Bob Bennett, R-UT
Richard Burr, R-NC
Saxby Chambliss, R-GA
Tom Coburn, R-OK
Norm Coleman, R-MN
Bob Corker, R-TN
John Ensign, R-NV
Chuck Grassley, R-IA
Judd Gregg, R-NH
Orrin Hatch, R-UT
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX
Johnny Isakson, R-GA
John Kyl, R-AZ
Mel Martinez, R-FL
John McCain, R-AZ
Mitch McConnell, R-KY
Lisa Murkowski, R-AK
John Thune, R-SD

These 18 senators (all Republicans) are the people who voted for the 700 billion dollar no strings attached bailout to Wall Street, but voted against the plenty of strings attached 14 billion dollar loans for the auto industry that would prevent 12 million people from losing their jobs.

I understand a principled opposition to all bailouts. But to give 700 billion dollars to crooks who tanked their companies by behaving recklessly while refusing to save the jobs of 12 million people who have NOTHING to do with their industry's downfall is a level of callousness that I really can't begin to imagine.

I'm have more on the auto bailout at some point when I have more time am in less of a blind rage.

If there were instant karma, these guys would be living in UAW made cars under a bridge this Christmas.

Harry Reid does not accept your bribe.

I haven't been a big fan of how Harry Reid "led" the Democrats in the senate, but this story might be one of the coolest things I've ever read. Via Ezra Klein:

In July of 1978, a man named Jack Gordon, who was later married to LaToya Jackson, offered Reid twelve thousand dollars to approve two new, carnival-like gaming devices for casino use. Reid reported the attempted bribe to the F.B.I. and arranged a meeting with Gordon in his office. By agreement, F.B.I. agents burst in to arrest Gordon at the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” Although he was taking part in a sting, Reid was unable to control his temper; the videotape shows him getting up from his chair and saying, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempting to choke Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off. “I was so angry with him for thinking he could bribe me,” Reid said, explaining his theatrical outburst. Gordon was convicted in federal court in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison.

Let me get this straight. Even though he knew it was a set-up, Reid was so incapable of containing his rage that he proceeds to go Sprewell on the guy while the FBI is in the room?! Where did that Harry Reid go? Wouldn't the senate Republicans be a little less filibuster-happy if they thought the guy across the table might flip out and try to kill them?

If there's anything we need in the senate, it's highly combustible Ron Artest type doing the negotiations, and I'm not really joking.

So despite his usual "strength through weakness" approach to politics, the Blagojevich bribery scandal touched a nerve and led to this shocking response from Reid:

On Wednesday, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin drafted a letter -- which they subsequently urged their Democratic colleagues to sign -- that calls on the Illinois Governor to not just remove himself from office but to "under no circumstance" make a last-minute appointment to fill Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Should Blagojevich disregard these warnings, Reid and Durbin write, the Senate would "be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated."

The Majority Leader then added: "Is Harry Reid gonna have to choke a bitch?"

A scientist for Energy Secretary?

Yes we can:

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next energy secretary, and he has picked veteran regulators from diverse backgrounds to fill three other key jobs on his environmental and climate-change team, Democratic sources said yesterday.

Chu, the son of Chinese immigrants, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997 for his work in the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light." But, in an interview last year with The Washington Post, Chu said he began to turn his attention to energy and climate change several years ago. "I was following it just as a citizen and getting increasingly alarmed," he said. "Many of our best basic scientists [now] realize that this is getting down to a crisis situation."

While it may seem like common sense to have a scientist as energy secretary, according to dkos diarist Shawn in Showme, this is a first:

If you look at the history of the Department of Energy, you'll find that there's never been a Secretary who actually was an expert on energy. The closest we've ever gotten was Charles Duncan who had a chemical engineering degree and had a cup of coffee out of school at Humble (later Exxon). For some reason it just never occurred to the President to install a person who was qualified for the position.

Instead we've been subjected to a long line of career politicians, military men and folks that were as far away from energy as you could get (Reagan's first Secretary of Energy was an oral surgeon) . Is it any wonder that our energy policy is set by industry since the person who is supposed to do that doesn't have a clue?

Not only does Chu have a clue, he's a Nobel-prize winning scientist and is already working under the auspices of the Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

Why is having a scientist so important? Well for starters, as Chris Bowers points out, they'll be less likely to listen to all of the bullshit that will be thrown their way:

Placing a scientist at the head of the Department of Energy is very exciting to me, because we will be dealing with a true expert on the subject matter. Further, it is not just any scientist, but the scientist at the center of solar and biofuel research, meaning that industry lobbyists won't stand a chance when talking to him. Yet further, it means that his closest colleagues will also be alternative energy scientists, thus resulting in some excellent deputies and assistants. Even yet further, having a physicist like this in the cabinet means there will be a true science and technology expert within the cabinet, which could bleed over into decisions in other areas.

An appointment like this is the physical representation of the change that mandated on November 4th. Out with people who were bought by the energy companies, and in with someone who truly understands the impact of our energy policy on the world.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know that much about the rest of the team, or about this field for that matter, but this seems very good from what I can tell. There are several readers who follow this field very closely (or are scientists themselves) and I'd be curious to know their take.

Compromise, Pelosi Style

BarbinMD sums up an article about the crafting of the "compromise" for the auto bailout, and considering my recent post on Pelosi I figured I'd point it out:

-Democrats bent to the will of the president on several key demands, most notably in agreeing that the emergency funding would be drawn from an existing loan program aimed at promoting fuel-efficient technologies.

-Democrats had hoped to take the money from the Treasury's $700 billion financial rescue program, but the White House objected. A breakthrough came Friday, when Pelosi dropped her opposition...

-The Democratic proposal makes no provisions to replenish the loan fund, as Pelosi had hoped.

-Democrats flirted with the idea of naming a seven-member board to oversee the auto bailout but decided instead to have the president name an individual, as Bush had suggested.

This seems to follow the usual pattern of negotiations under Reid and Pelosi:

• Step 1: Bush Makes demands.

• Step 2: Pelosi and Reid give forceful reply with their own set of demands.

• Step 3: Bush restates original demands.

• Step 4: Pelosi and Reid cave to major Bush demands while winning concessions on minor issues.

• Step 5: Pelosi and Reid hold press conference trumpeting the bill as a success.

Same as the Iraq war debate, and just about all other "negotiations" between the president and congress this past couple of years, most shamefully during the last two when they've had real power. Thankfully, the election of Barack Obama severely limits the damage her "negotiations" can do in the future.

Obviously there had to be a give and take on the auto bailout with Bush still in charge, but allowing him to appoint the overseer of the loans seems a bit much. Hopefully January 20th marks the end of the no spine caucus.

"Obama? Fuck him!"

This should help distance Obama from the whole Blagojevich thing:

The tapes reveal a two-term governor who no longer wants his job, badly wants cash and is determined to leverage a financial benefit out of his appointment powers.

He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a "motherf***er" at one point.

“F**k him,” Blagjoveich says of Obama during a lengthy call with top aides and his wife recorded on November 10th, “For nothing? F**k him.”

In another section of the complaint, Blagojevich expresses exasperation that Obama and his team aren't willing to offer him an inducement in exchange for appointing an aide, apparently Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate.

Blagojevich "said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but 'they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. F**k them,'" says the complaint.

What an dick. Kudos to Patrick Fitzgerald for kicking ass once again.

Obama stands with Chicago's laid-off workers

Simply Awesome:

CHICAGO — Representatives of the company whose laid-off employees are staging a sit-in at the shuttered factory where they worked will meet Monday with union and bank officials, a congressman said.

Some 200 workers who abruptly lost their jobs last week have said they won't leave the Republic Windows and Doors plant until they get assurances they will receive their severance and vacation pay. Their demonstration has drawn support from President-elect Barack Obama and others.

. . .

Republic Windows and Doors told the workers on Dec. 2 that they would be out of work by the end of the week.

Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, said the company told the union that Bank of America had canceled its financing. The bank had said in a statement that it wasn't responsible for Republic's financial obligations to its employees.

The announcement of the meeting comes after a wave of publicity about the sit-in and appearances by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Obama, who said Sunday that the company should honor its commitments to the 200 workers.

"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy," Obama said at a news conference Sunday.

To their amazement, the workers have become a national symbol for thousands of employees laid off nationwide as the economy sours.

"We never expected this," said factory employee Melvin Maclin, vice president of the union local that represents the workers. "We expected to go to jail."

For Obama not only to support them, but to state that they're "absolutely right" is a major deal. And the fact that management suddenly decided to restart negotiations is another reminder of the power of the bully pulpit. Very, very cool.