Train Action 2010 Candidates: Russ Feingold

This endorsement is extremely easy.

In the land of douche bags, prima donnas and unspeakable assholes, Russ Feingold is one of the very few Senators that is right on the issues and uses his power for good.

He opposed the Patriot Act, the Iraq war, and is fighting the good fight on any issue you can name.

He should be coasting to reelection, but unfortunately it isn't the case. He has a multimillionaire self funded opponent who is your average right wing jackass. The polls in this race range from tight to depressing, so our help is absolutely needed.

If we had only one Train Action candidate for this cycle it would be him, because he really is that good, and keeping in the Senate really is that important.

Donate to Russ on our Train Action page!

"Buck Up Or Stay In The Truck"

Taibbi on the teabaggers:

"We're shaking up the good ol' boys," Palin chortles, to the best applause her aging crowd can muster. She then issues an oft-repeated warning (her speeches are usually a tired succession of half-coherent one-liners dumped on ravenous audiences like chum to sharks) to Republican insiders who underestimated the power of the Tea Party Death Star. "Buck up," she says, "or stay in the truck."

Stay in what truck? I wonder. What the hell does that even mean?

Read it, it's as awesome as you'd expect.

Steny Hoyer is a Joke

There are a lot of things happening in congress right now that I would call an embarrassment. This was not one of them:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) was neither humored nor pleased with Stephen Colbert's recent testimony before the House Judiciary committee's subcommittee on immigration, calling it an embarrassment for the Comedy Central host.

"I think his testimony was not appropriate," said Hoyer, during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday." "I think it was an embarrassment for Mr. Colbert more than the House."

"You asked me, Chris [Wallace] whether the testimony was appropriate," he added. "I think it was not appropriate."

Colbert appeared before the committee on Friday in his trademark unaware, archconservative character to discuss his 10-hour volunteer work as a migrant farm worker. Almost immediately, lawmakers were piqued by the performance, with some cheering him on and others shaking their head in disbelief.

Also worth noting from Colbert's appearance was this:

It was shtick, good shtick, but the best part came when Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) asked, “Why of all the things you could testify about did you choose this issue?” Colbert seemed to surprise himself as he fell out of character—he rubbed his head in thought and said:

"I like talking about people who don't have any power, and this seems like, one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. That’s an interesting contradiction to me. And, you know, 'Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers'—and this seems like the least of brothers—right now. A lot of people are least brothers right now because the economy is so hard. And I don’t want to take anyone’s hardship away from them or diminish anything like that. But migrant works suffer and have no rights."

All Colbert did was bring attention to the plight of migrant workers, more than anything Steny Hoyer has done in his career. He wants congress to get back to real business, the stuff that matters. You know, like delaying a vote on the tax cuts for the rich because it might upset his precious blue dogs if they have to vote for a bill that doesn't involve blowing someone who makes over $250,000 a year.

Steny Hoyer people think Colbert's testimony was an embarrassment.

I happen to think Steny Hoyer's constant advocacy on behalf of the shittiest members of the Democratic caucus is an embarrassment.

It's all about your priorities, I guess.

Get The Fuck Out

I wonder what industry you cut a deal with to become mayor of Chicago?

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce Friday that he is leaving the Obama administration to consider a campaign for mayor of Chicago.

Though ABC News reports that he has yet to make a final decision, speculation has swirled around Emanuel's possible run for the Chicago mayoralty -- a stated goal of his -- since longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he would not seek another term.

And the decision is all but final, CNN reports. According to a prominent Democrat close to Emanuel, "we see nothing that will stop a run. But you don't announce a campaign for Mayor of Chicago in Washington, D.C. You leave and go home and finish your business there."

Biden to the Left: "Stop whining."

This blogger to Biden: "I'm not voting for your stupid party anymore."

Oh, and "Good luck winning elections without your base. Moron."

Train of Thought Lounge: John Legend and The Roots

Covering Arcade Fire's "Wake Up":

Just When Things Can't Get Dumber...

Didn't get a chance to post on this last week, but it just defies all logic.

The Senate will delay action on whether to renew Bush-era tax cuts until after the November election, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has announced.

Democrats don't want tax cuts extended for the richest 2% of Americans, while Republicans say they want tax relief for everyone. The issue is sure to play a prominent role in the fall campaign.

Also today, Senate Republicans again blocked consideration of campaign-finance reform that would require disclosure of groups funding political ads, our colleagues at On Politics say.

So in the run up to an election, this is an issue where the Democrats can position themselves very clearly as advocates for the poor and middle class and paint Republicans as defenders of the rich and powerful. So what do they do? They defer to the biggest assholes in their caucus who to the surprise of no one want to fight for tax cuts for the super rich.

Only Democrats would find a way to blow this, and to the surprise of no one, they did.