From the "It ain't over 'til it's over." file.

Is it over?

Minnesota's Supreme Court has dismissed former Sen. Norm Coleman's challenge to the state's November election results and declared Democratic challenger Al Franken the winner.

Apparently. Hopefully.

And quickly, please.

Just thinkin'...

…that Republicans are like back seat drivers who, if given the wheel, would immediately drive into a ditch as they have time and time again.

Time and time again, though, Americans have given in and given 'em the wheel.

We've really gotta knock that off.

Something of substance...

...when I catch up a bit. An unfortunate alignment of vacation schedules and an injured cook has led to me spending altogether too many hours at the perfect tavern. Today was Day 12 of Shaun Held Hostage and there's no relief in sight for a number of days. Drop in if you have a chance and you're likely to find me around or by in a bit. Big doings planned for the Fourth, by the way, if you're in town and at loose ends.

Anyway, thought I should check in. Off to Bloglines in search of posting fodder...

Slightly Bowdlerized Quote of the Day.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE)…

"F*ck you!"

Really.

It's time for...

At long last...

...the random ten you've been waiting for!

The Louvin Brothers - Cash On The Barrelhead
Wilson Pickett - 634-5789
The Grateful Dead - Deal
Blue Street Jazz Band - Take The A Train
Gram Parsons - Streets Of Baltimore
Phil Lesh & Friends - Turn On Your Lovelight
Keely Smith - One For My Baby (One More For The Road)
Bottoms Up Blues Gang - Ain't Nobody's Business
Willie Nelson - I Gotta Get Drunk
Rig The Jig - The Lifting Of The Latch

So what you're saying…

Nick Beaudrot...

...if you take the view that the police state has gone too far in enforcing drug laws and that any reduction in police powers or complications in prosecuting drug crimes is a good thing, today was a good day.

…is that today was a good day.

Good.

From the "Strange bedfellows" file.

Me & Haley Barbour…

"I don't talk about people's personal problems: I don't think it's polite."

Well, not usually, anyway, though hypocrisy can create some tempting targets.

From the "Not fast enough" file.

Minority Leader John "Boner" Boehner, whining about Nancy's team…

"They are running over us."

Faster, harder, further, please.

From the "Sad but true…" file.

Well, not that sad, from a Democratic perspective. Pretty sorry, though, and probably true. Texas Gov. Rick Perry on his Alaskan counterpart's support…

"If there's a bigger endorsement in the Republican universe, I don't know who it is than Sarah."

The good questions keep coming.

Sir Charles this time…

It appears that Sanford and John Ensign were in the same Bible study group on Capitol Hill -- what version of the Bible were these guys reading, the Bob Guccione edition?

The only answer I can think of is Heh™.

Good question...

...from Darryl.

Why didn’t President Mohammad Khatami of Iran come out with more forceful statements when the 2000 U.S. presidential election was being stolen?

Maybe they bought his silence with a promise to take out his belligerent neighbor.

Maybe.

Worth repeating.

BTB at Horses Ass…

Chris Dodd, with a strict emission standards and carbon tax proposal that won over the likes of Al Gore, had arguably the best energy plan out of the entire 2008 Democratic presidential field.

He was an early and forceful voice on FISA and has since discussed the idea of Bush administration torture trials. Plus he had the balls to endorse Ned Lamont over his long time colleague and King Rat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in 2006.

Now Dodd stands up for marriage equality in the middle of a re-election race that the Republicans are salivating all over.

He deserves more love from the left. If you know someone in Connecticut, where Dodd’s polling has been dismal all year, I suggest you call them.

Yep.

Maybe "they" don't…

…but I do. Most of my friends, too. Donald Rumsfeld, via Political Wire…

"They never say Colin Powell lied. They don't say Condi lied."

Once again, for the record. Colin Powell lied. Condi, too.

And, of course, Rumsfeld his own self…

From the "Since you asked…" file.

John Cole inquires...

I’m seriously sick of wingnuts and Republicans. Or is that redundant?

Since you asked, yes, it is.

It's time for...

From the "Strange bedfellows" file.

Me and Barry and Hank and Pat. Brother Buchanan, via John Nichols...

It is impossible to believe a denunciation of the regime by Obama will cause it to stay its hand if it believes its power is imperiled. But it is certain that if Obama denounces Tehran, those demonstrators will be portrayed as dupes and agents of America before and after they meet their fate.

If standing up and denouncing the Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad from 7,000 miles away is moral heroism, it is moral heroism at other people's expense.

All I can say is, well, yep.

Ladies and gentlemen…

…The Grateful Dead. Random tunes, random times, random places…

West L.A. Fadeaway 7/26/87
C.C. Rider 8/7/82
I Know You Rider 8/4/74
The Other One 4/26/69
Far From Me 7/24/87
Black Throated Wind 3/25/72
Row Jimmy 2/28/73
Big River 8/6/74
Doin' That Rag 4/26/69
Brown-Eyed Woman 5/21/77

Chart of the day.

Via, well, you know...

And the beat goes on…

Yes, yes, click!

Hat tip to jnfr, again.

Well, I thought so…

…but if ol' Henry Kissofdeath agrees...

Kissinger: Obama is handling the situation in Iran well.

…I could be wrong.

They tried it with their budget…

…now they're using it for health care. Brad at Where's Eric Cantor? Offers the three stages of Republican policy...

1. Cut taxes
2. ?
3. Success

…and a fun fact...

...Americans trust health insurance companies more than they trust Republican leaders in Congress...

Conspiracy theory of the day.

Melissa McEwan on Secretary of State Clinton's "broken elbow" (slightly bowdlerized as is my wont)...

The fall is just a cover story. It's really a repetitive strain injury sustained from four decades of nudging dudez in the ribs to get sh*t done or get the hell out of her way. Feminist elbow.

Heh™.

And get wells to the Secretary from here, too.

Chart of the day.

Via, once again, Mr. Yglesias (becoming known around Upper Left World Headquarters as The Chart Czar)...


Not too bad for a guy who, I hear, has taken on too much, in the wrong order, and alienated key blocs of his base while becoming over-exposed in the media. Bound to fail, I'm told.

Or maybe he knows something a bunch of us don't...

Good questions?

E.J. Dionne's got a bunch...

Where did we get the idea that the only good health-care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective? And if bipartisanship is a legitimate goal, isn't each party equally responsible for achieving it?

All good, but I find the latter particularly compelling.

If a majority party lacks the cohesion and discipline to enact its own program with its own votes, and the minority party has votes to offer that will help the majority leadership achieve its goals in return for some consideration that doesn't contradict those goals, well, that's a bipartisanship I can understand, if not invariably support (the devil, of course, being in those considerations.)

Otherwise, I remain Proudly Partisan.

This is true.

Mo-ha-med, via Jeremy Scahill (and slightly bowdlerized by yours truly)...

You know nothing. Abso-f*cking-lutely nothing about what happened, or is happening across Iran at the very moment. Most of us don’t, actually. What we see is a tiny slice of reality, mind you, what is happening on the main squares in the big cities, under camera lenses.

Still, this is impressive...

Click it bigger? But of course!

Good question.

Walter Jon Williams, via Brad DeLong...

Does the use of Twitter in Iran somehow absolve it of totally sucking?

Maybe.

Prob'ly not, but maybe.

You say you want a revolution…

Tehran today…

By all means, click it!

Hat tip to jnfr.

Remember...

…there is no recovery without jobs.

American's flight schedule cuts mean 1,600 fewer jobs
Cessna Aircraft to cut another 1,300 positions
No recovery so far, it seems...

It's time for...

Ten for today...

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine
John Prine - Big Ol' Goofy World
Roger Miller - Kansas City Star
James McMurtry - Out Here In The Middle
Wylie & The Wild West - Hooked On Honky Tonk
The Meters - Hey, Pocky Way
Frog Holler - Stray
Jerry Jeff Walker - L.A. Freeway
Dave Zanes w/ Bob Weir - Wabash Cannonball
Steve Earle - Sweet Little 66

What Republicans are.

Republicans are…

Like arsonists who complain about how
The house they torched is being rebuilt.

Tony Peyser, via Gordon.

Score one for the good guys.

Two, even. Congress strikes a blow for adulthood...

WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators have agreed to drop amendments to a supplemental appropriations bill that would have banned the release of photos depicting alleged detainee abuse and would have restricted bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States.

Personally, I don't see any need to display more torture pictures except as exhibits at the trials of those who created the conditions and policies that made those pictures possible - even inevitable - but a Congressional ban is an idea worthy only of it's sponsors (Lieberman and Graham), who aren't worthy of the support of their peers on either side of the aisle. The whole "no prisoners on US soil" is part and parcel of the same scairdy-cat syndrome.

Nice to see the grownups in charge for a change.

From the "Me too" file.

Matt Yglesias...

Personally, I’m more interested in a good bill than a bipartisan one.

He's talking about health care, but again I see more universal application.

Whatever it's about, me too.

Data points…

…from Senator Webb, with my emphasis...

• The United States has 5% of the world’s population, yet possesses 25% of the world’s prison population;
• More than 2.38 million Americans are now in prison, and another 5 million remain on probation or parole. That amounts to 1 in every 31 adults in the United States is in prison, in jail, or on supervised release;
• Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980, up from 41,000 to 500,000 in 2008; and
• 60% of offenders are arrested for non-violent offensives–many driven by mental illness or drug addiction.

Seems pretty clear that the road to prison reform starts with surrender in the war on (some) drugs. It also seems pretty plain that the road to economic health, especially for many state and local governments, starts with cutting prison costs.

Or maybe Americans are just too high to care.

Chart of the day.

A little economic whodunnit via Matt Yglesias...

Speaking of Twitter...

...if I didn't know it was an online toy, I'd swear it was a drug in a William Gibson novel.

From the "Ain't it the truth" file.

She's talking about Sen. Grassley's twitter addiction, but this, from Sara K. Smith, surely has broader application...

"We are all stupider for having read this."

Heck, I apply it around here from time to time...

Strategy of the month club?

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Monday gave the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan 60 days to conduct another review of the American strategy there, the fifth since President Barack Obama took office less than five months ago.

I got'cher strategy right here - the right way in Afghanistan is out.

From the "Told ya' so" file.

Told ya' so. The San Francisco Federal Reserve, via Calculated Risk...

Our analysis generally supports projections that labor market weakness will persist, but our findings offer a basis for even greater pessimism about the outlook for the labor market. Specifically, we suggest that the relatively low level of temporary layoffs and high level of involuntary part-time workers make a jobless recovery similar to the one experienced in 1992 a plausible scenario.

Specifically, we suggest that the relatively low level of temporary layoffs and high level of involuntary part-time workers make a jobless recovery similar to the one experienced in 1992 a plausible scenario. (emphasis mine)

It's time to make it very clear that if it's "jobless" it isn't recovery. Given the concentration of wealth and disparity of income in this country, improvement in the markets or an increase in the GDP is meaningless in terms of the kitchen table economics that determine whether working people can meet their basic needs.

We need to demand a jobs first recovery, and we need to fight for it.

Hat tip to Atrios.

It's time for...

All American...

...and mostly Americana, here's a random ten...

The Lovin' Spoonful - Lovin' You
Buddy Blue - Blues In The Night
Railroad Earth - The Good Life
Lyle Lovett - Closing Time
Robert Earl Keen - The Road Goes On Forever
Nanci Griffith - This Old Town
Christine Kane - She Don't Like Roses
Reckless Kelly - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Tom Rush - The Circle Game
James McMurtry - Out Here In The Middle

Chart of the day.

Via Brad DeLong…

Yep, you can biggerize it with a click.)

Quote of the day.

Sen. James Inhofe on President Obama…

“I just don’t know whose side he’s on.”

Just as long as it's not Inhofe's side, I figure we'll come out alright.

Hat tip to Goldy.

Not just here…

…but there, and, it seems, everywhere...

With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years.

...and yes, it's worse than it looks...

If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.4 percent in May, the highest on records dating to 1994.

Last time around we invented the "jobless recovery," while the speculators got fat on the (non-)workers misery. This time we've got to demand a "jobs first" recovery, or understand that there's no recovery at all.

If you think the system is working…

…ask someone who isn't. Via The Capitol Record…

There are 35 percent fewer job openings today than there were six months ago, according to the Employment Security Department. Whereas the department estimates there were more than 50,000 openings that employers were actively looking to fill in the fall, today there are around 32,600.
…

Most job openings were not for high-paying jobs, with more than 40 percent of vacant positions offering less than $10 per hour.

Not very stimulating news...

No they don't.

McClatchy headline...

Sotomayor's finances look a lot like the average person's

Let's get real. Judge Sotomayor is a single woman with about 70% equity in a million dollar Manhattan condo, a piece of New York rental property, a primary income of $180k a year or so guaranteed for as long as she wants it (and avoids an impeachable felony), another $25k in pin money from a side job and a couple million set aside in a defined benefit pension.

She is, in other words, a wealthy person. Not as wealthy, perhaps, as Chief Justice Roberts, who came to the court with about $6 million in the bank, but her finances don't look anything like the "average person's".

Can we stop the silly now?

From the "Me neither" file.

President Obama…

"I don't find most of the cable chatter very persuasive. I don't feel as if I'm learning anything from the debate."

Me neither.

I recommend he spend some quality time with my blogroll instead.

I've got nothing, really…

…to add to the discussion of Dr. George Tiller's murder. Like everyone of sanity and good will, I deplore the act and the ideas that led to it, but there's scant evidence that the purveyors of those ideas feel any regret or responsibility, and some evidence of a perverse sense of pride. That's terrible, but if anything positive comes from this tragedy, it will be a firmer resolve by those who believe in a nation of laws to refuse to be terrorized.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl fhtagn!

Meet PZ Cthulhu...


One for the want list...

Chart of the day.

Via Nick Beaudrot...


Looks like the capitalists have things well in hand for now.

From the "Bring it on" file.

Via Political Wire...

"House Republicans, hoping to put Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) back on defense, are weighing whether to take another run at a resolution calling for an investigation into her allegations that the CIA lied to Congress about its use of enhanced interrogation techniques."

Sounds a lot like the investigation that's been encouraged by Speaker Pelosi her own self. I'm not sure how you put her on defense by adopting her position, but there's a lot I don't understand about how Republicans think.