There are a slew of great "this day in history" items - one of which should be a national holiday of celebration in my most humble of opinions! There's a couple not - so - great ones, too, but people are peeved enough around here these days, so let's concentrate on the fun. Here's a clue to the item that should be a national holiday!
On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight near Kitty Hawk, NC. The peanuts from that first flight are still being served on today's flights {insert rim shot here}.
On this date in 1933, in the first NFL championship game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants 23-21 at Wrigley Field. This win was the last champion of any sort that was won in Wrigley Field; Jay Cutler sure as $hit wasn't quarter backing for them {insert yet another rim shot here}! Is it bad that I'm missing Rex Grossman?!
Finally, the item that should be a national holiday, The Simpsons premiered on FOX on this date in 1989! I've missed precious few episodes. I've said before, and I'll say again; I would not have survived my undergraduate college days without The Simpsons. The show began when I began college, and my dorm was the weekly gathering place to watch the show. The show is now officially the longest - running show ever! The brilliant actors behind The Simpsons were on Inside the Actors Studio awhile back. Too...damn...funny!
And, did y'all hear about The Simpsons movie?! ;D
Bart Simpson has the following message for our lovely (*&^%$#@!) Senate:
Let's not have a cow, man, & Countdown!
#5 "Reform Deformed" AKA "Line in the Sanders" - Ain’t the wonder of videotape grand? Then – candidate Obama had an interesting take back in February 2008 on the usefulness of a mandate to fix homelessness & by extension HCR. Once again, life on the campaign trail is a damn sight different from life behind that big desk in the Oval Office. Howard Dean is still getting trashed by the White House; today, it was David Axelrod.
Dr. Dean said in a Washington Post Op – Ed today that he thinks there’s still SOME time to fix the $hitacular parts of the Senate bill. A couple of unions that helped President Obama get elected are still not real thrilled. Senator Ben Nelson said today that he won’t vote for the bill in its current form unless his inner – Stupak can be released. I am still increasingly of the belief that it won’t be Senators Nelson, Lincoln, Joementum, etc. who "kill" this bill; I really don’t think Senator Bernie Sanders is going to vote for this!
Senator Bob Casey is still trying to push the abortion stuff. Senator McCentury said on the Senate floor today that he agrees with Howard Dean; I’m sure Dr. Dean’s thrilled. ;D Of course, Senator McCentury, like a whole lot of other people, is dropping the message ball on what Howard Dean has said!! I said in a thread earlier today that I could count the number of Senators I trust on this issue with one finger; that was before SENATOR (suck on it, BillO!) Franken decided to follow the instructions given to anyone who’s acting like "president of the Senate" & ensuring that no one speaks beyond their allotted time – especially with the time crunch for this HCR Senate bill. And, who, pray tell, went beyond their allotted time & wasn’t permitted to keep droning on? JOEMENTUM! So, now, I can count the number of Senators I can trust on this issue with 2 fingers. ;D And, Senator McCentury had a fit. HERE’S SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS!!! INSERT LOUD BOISTEROUS OBNIXOUS STANDING OVATIONS HERE!!!
Is it just me, or does Senator Sanders look tired? He insists he’s still trying to make the Senate bill better. As long as GOP Senators keep pulling procedural shenanigans like Tom Coburn did the other day, Senator Sanders will not be allowed the opportunity to freshen up this stinky turd sandwich. Once again, and y’all are going to get tired of me saying this, I don’t think Senator Sanders will vote for this bill. He insists he’s working with the White House & Senate Dem leadership to make this bill better. I wonder if there’s something afoot behind closed doors we don’t know about? Senator Sanders thinks reconciliation should’ve been done from the get – go because there was never going to be 60 Dem votes for HCR reform with some teeth in it. Senator Sanders thinks Howard Dean offered some "constructive" criticism of the Senate HCR bill but also acknowledged that so many people need so much help. Once again, as has been mentioned frequently over the last couple of days, Dems are in a lose – lose proposition here. And, the sick thing about it is IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Howard Fineman made a great point; the White House and especially Rahm Emanuel (*&^%$#@!) have been wishy – washy (to be charitable about it) about a public option being part of HCR. When you start from that position then do nothing to dispute the horrible inaccurate information & out – right lies that were being spewed out over the summer, HCR with teeth in it was going to be DOA in the Senate. David Axelrod is still insisting that a vote on HCR will be done by the holidays; I even read on MSNBC earlier today that Senator Reid wants a vote on this Christmas Eve. That’s just not going to happen. I know the Senate is planning to be in session all this weekend, but what’s to prevent further GOP procedural shenanigans in delaying this yet again? Nothing – zero – zip – nada – big ‘ol stinky rotten goose egg – NOTHING. The Dem caucus met again tonight because the defense bill is becoming a problem, too. The reconciliation path isn’t exactly going to be filled with wine & roses either because certain committee chairmen (namely Senator Kent Conrad) who aren’t wild about this idea or any other idea that will beef up HCR will be in charge of the damn process. But, it might be the lesser of the infinite number of evils that are before us.
#4 "Kill the Bill?" AKA "Emergency Surgery for Health Care" AKA "The Health Care Prognosis" - As Keith clarified, what comes out of the Senate (if this bill DOES come out of the Senate) IS NOT T...H...E... BILL. It plus what passed in the House will go to conference committee to hash out the differences, then the result gets voted on in the House, then it gets voted on in the Senate before it gets signed into law by President Obama. I feel like I just stepped into Schoolhouse Rock mode – HA!
So, as I said last night, there are plenty of ways & means for HCR to go down in flames. Dr. Dean wants state – based exchanges to be added to the Senate bill. Senator Kerry claims those exchanges are already in the bill, but Senator Reid hasn’t released that part of the bill. Man, I want Harry Reid’s arse handed to him next year. Is there a potential Dem primary contender for him in Nevada? We get Jonathan Cohn tonight to clarify some of this mess. What Dr. Dean wants is a "prudent purchaser" state exchange shopping for the best buy out there. Apparently, some of this language might still be in the bill. Of course, the House bill option is even better.
Another complication to the reconciliation memo is "the Byrd rule" which states that nothing can be a part of the reconciliation process unless it has to do with the government’s "bottom line." Yea, I’m with Mr. Cohn & Keith on this score; HCR is going to have a hell of an impact on our nation’s budget. But, DC politicos apparently believe otherwise. Mr. Cohn thinks "progressives" need to focus their energy on the conference committee process. That would be a lovely good idea if we get to that point; I don’t believe we’ll get to that point.
** Thank Jeebus for "Oddball" tonight! We all need some comic relief. There’s a guy jumping from roof to roof in Cambridge, MA. I wonder if the Car Talk guys saw him? A guy in Tokyo married a video game character. O...K... Check out the water main break in Baltimore! Surf’s up, dude! Boss Limbaugh is having a jolly – old time with snow in Copenhagen. The Metrodome potty is trapping retired Twins baseball players! Tiger Woods has an ally in America’s Mayor. Hasn’t Tiger suffered enough?! ;D **
#3 "The Slime Machine" AKA "From Tweets to Twits" - Some brilliant conservative blogger reported that the White House tried to blackmail Senator Ben Nelson into supporting the Senate HCR bill with a base closure in Nebraska. The "usual suspects", of course, ran with this story. Well, guess what? Said brilliant conservative blogger fibbed & published a retraction of sorts. Even the other Nebraska Senator called the story bunk! Ain’t this tidbit of info a brilliant telling observation of GOP Senate mind set; even though the other Nebraska Senator KNOWS the story is hog – wash, he & a host of others want hearings anyway. THESE PEOPLE are the ones the White House is trying to make nice with in HCR! *&^%$#@!
The next base closing commission doesn’t meet until 2013! Guess which brilliant journalist revealed THAT fact? BOSS LIMBAUGH! Here’s Chris Hayes; I’ll start the cold shower – with plenty of falafels. HA! ;D Maybe I should get on the Twitter; just think of the "news stories" I could come up with! I’ve got a hell of a creative streak, ya’ know. Did y’all hear Chris Hayes? He called all the rancor about HCR in certain "progressive blogospheres" "substantive!" Well, that should make us all feel better. Do we all feel better? I ASKED DO WE ALL FEEL BETTER??!!
WPITW – Boss Limbaugh haz teh fuzzy brain about the history of economic prosperity in this country. The Mannity thinks President Obama & the leader of North Korea are pen pals. When GWB wrote to said North Korean insane guy, that was okee – dokee. Michelle Malkin thinks a kid was suspended from school for drawing a picture of Jesus; her lemmings are threatening the teacher. But, the kid was never suspended or in trouble.
#1 "The Mad Hatter" AKA "Hat Trick" - OK, I hope my "capture reliable source" got a capture of St. Sarah from Wasilla in her newest get – up! TOO...DAMN...FUNNY... She apparently used a Sharpie to try to exorcise Senator McCentury from last year’s campaign. Her witch – huntin’ preacher must’ve not been available. ;D
Will I get "my guy" for this segment? Please? Pretty please?? With sugar on top??! Am I horribly mean for hoping Grandma ExGov TurkeyLover gets a blistering sunburn while she’s in Hawaii? HEY! I wonder if she’ll get a look at President Obama’s birth certificate while she’s there? She’s at the proverbial scene of the crime, yes?! St. Sarah from Wasilla dissed Utah GOP leaders while she was there to sign the bird cage liner written in her name. And, she apparently wasn’t exactly Mrs. Joe Six - pack with the person who did her hair before a signing gig, either. The person who cut her hair was instructed to not speak to St. Sarah from Wasilla unless St. Sarah from Wasilla had spoken to her first. And, the Costco where the book signing was removed the tomatoes from their shelves because someone might try to throw one at her again – HA! D’Oh! I ask for Richard Wolffe; I get Craig Crawford. Oh well... ;D