TBogg: Does Joe Lieberman have any goals beyond promoting Joe Lieberman?
Instaputz: OY. Another gal who can't write is expected to produce a book for an audience who can't read? Sarah Palin will plotz!
Rude Pundit: Hoo boy. Pat Buchanan's paramilitary heroes are to teabaggers what a gay rights parade is to that parade's extra special leather contingent.
Evil Slut Clique: Think Before You Pink, a comprehensive overview.
Mike is at a music gig this week; send tips [with subject heading ROUND UP] temporarily to bluegalsblog AT gmail.
The Villagers always love to attack us liberal bloggers and leave conservative bloggers alone. I know in their hearts they can't stand the dirty hippies that we are, but then I read this post by my pal John Cole and I realized something:
The moment I heard Snowe was going to vote for the bill, I began furiously refreshing Red State for the reaction. Finally, they deliver:
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That is right, folks. To show unhappy they are, they are going to ask you to buy rock salt through their amazon store and mail it to Olympia Snowe. They don’t call them the Red State Strike Farce for nothing.
Seriously, how do I make a joke about this?
(You have to check out the screen grab Cole has. It is "the joke," Mr. Cole.)
They are too stupid to be taken seriously even by the John Harwoods of the pundit class so I know why they do it. Because we do have political influence and it bothers the Beltway media elites profoundly. I'd say we're doing our job. Now pack up your rock salt and get to UPS.
I rarely watch over-hyped television events, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Teddy Kennedy's wonderful Irish wake last night.
Since I grew up and still live in a largely Irish Catholic cohort, I don't know much about how other cultures usually deal with death. But I can tell you about the Irish side of my heritage: We do like to spit in the eye of death - with prayer, with jokes, with song. (And a side of sarcasm, please.)
And much like my own father's funeral, I got a much bigger picture of Ted Kennedy as reflected in the eyes of those who loved him.
But it wouldn't be a real Irish wake without this, one of my favorite Irish poems:
May those who love us, love us.
And those who don’t love us,
may God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles
so we’ll know them by their limping.
In Teddy's honor, we won't ever stop pointing to those limpers.
The Daily Beast:
Friday night's event commemorated both past and future, again beginning with the site. It was held at the John F. Kennedy Library, in an auditorium where Senator Kennedy used to hold dinners—shadow state dinners, really—to honor foreign leaders such as Czech President Vaclav Havel, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and a variety of Irish politicians including Mary Robinson and John Hume. But the library is next door to a plot of land where the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate will rise. Boston's mayor Thomas Menino said it would provide "another lasting legacy of the Kennedys in Boston." Contributions to the project, budgeted at $100 million, have picked up since the senator's death, said its CEO, Peter Meade, and the public has been invited to contribute instead of sending flowers.
The night's speeches — a total of three-and-a-half hours that left the audience scrambling for cars in a downpour that is a foretaste of Tropical Storm Danny's promises for today -- alternated between solemn assessments of Kennedy's merits and accounts of his misadventures. The most entertaining of the latter came from John Culver, a former senator from Iowa and a college chum of Kennedy's. He told of being assured by Kennedy that "there's nothing to it" when he enlisted for a sailing race, and then being seasick, rain-soaked, and chilled for 24 hours while Kennedy shouted orders. "We were being bounced all over," said Culver, "and it's all my fault?" And Dodd told of a phone call from Kennedy earlier this month, when he was in a recovery room after prostate surgery. He said Kennedy told him, "Between undergoing prostate surgery and holding town meetings, you made the right choice."
Dodd turned serious then, listing some of the laws Kennedy sponsored in education, health and other areas, and compared him with his brothers: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy inspired America. Robert F. Kennedy challenged America. Our Teddy changed America."
Vice President Joe Biden told of how Kennedy "took on the role of being my elder brother" when he was in despair after his wife and daughter were killed and his sons gravely injured in a car crash just after he was first elected to the Senate. Kennedy urged him, again and again, to give the Senate a chance. He got him committee assignments, encouraged him to get involved, and then, when Biden suffered from brain aneurisms in 1988, took over his committee for him for months until arriving unexpectedly in Delaware to tell Biden he was needed and it was time to return.
Then Biden turned to the dozens of young Kennedys in the hall and said pundits were making a mistake when they said the era of Kennedy was over. "Because of you," he said, "the dream still lives."
The evening's final speaker made the same point. His niece, Caroline Kennedy, said, "We are the ones who have to do all the things he would have done, for ourselves and for our country."
Then the audience stood and all sang a favorite song of Kennedy's: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
One Year Ago Today
It was a privilege to be there.
RIP Teddy.
I was there too. It was awesome and Ted lit up Denver. I just heard historian Michael Beschloss say on MSNBC that when Ted was a boy he knew FDR. He saw it all and was part of so much American history.
Statement from The Kennedy Family:
“Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and
uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis
Port. We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous
light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and
perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone
who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who
stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress
toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this
country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that
our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them
without him.”
Hip-Hop fans got some sad news today. Adam Yauch, aka MCA, one third of the legendary hip-hip trio Beastie Boys, announced that he had a cancerous tumor that needed immediate attention.
In a video statement released by the band, MCA explains that the doctors caught it early enough that there should be no problem in getting it out without it coming back. However, the group will be canceling their upcoming summer tour and push back the release date of their new album.
Paul Rieckhoff from IAVA gave me a heads up on this yesterday. Ralph Peters is one of those wacko military hawks that FOX News uses to ramp up the Rambo style militia movement they hold so dear to their hearts. He was prattling on (almost spitting up as he spoke) about how this soldier might be a deserter and if that was the case--he should be executed by the Taliban. Yea, real sane analysis by Peters.
Peters: Now look, Julie, I want to be clear. If, when the facts are in, we find out that through some convoluted chain of events, he really was captured by the Taliban, I'm with him. But, if he walked away from his post and his buddies at wartime... I don't care how hard it sounds, as far as I'm concerned, the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills.
I couldn't believe my ears, but just minutes ago on "America's News HQ," guest pundit Ralph Peters suggested something to the effect that the Taliban should "save us the headache" and execute captured 23 year-old American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, because "it looks like" Bergdahl deserted his unit. While prefacing his comments by stressing that a military decision should not be made until all of the facts surrounding Bergdahl's capture are determined, Peters then ignored his own advice and encouraged the Taliban to kill this young man. Fox News' Julie Banderas was visibly shocked at the words coming out of Peters' mouth, but did not challenge any of his statements before awkwardly ending the segment.
Peters: Rejecting the god of their fathers, the neo-pagans who dominate the media serve as lackeys at the terrorists’ bloody altar.
Pretending to be impartial, the self-segregating personalities drawn to media careers overwhelmingly take a side, and that side is rarely ours. Although it seems unthinkable now, future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media.
Blue America's Alan Grayson and Florida's new rising star just keeps coming. And he hits on an important problem for our government. Do you get this? Because I really don't get this. The Federal Reserve has lent out TRILLIONS of dollars to private banks, and is keeping the recipients and the amounts a total secret. In an e-mail I received:
In a hearing yesterday, Congressman Alan Grayson asked
the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve whether she's keeping
track of the money. What money, she pretty much asks. You really have
to see this to believe it. I guess literally no one in government is overseeing what the Federal Reserve is doing with OUR money.
And it's no shock that Republicans are targeting Grayson as their public enemy # 1. He puts fear into their hearts and well he should.
