(1) The recounting is done in Connecticut’s 2nd District, and Democrat Joe Courtney won — by 97 votes. 97. Wow. This means that there is only one Republican Congressman from all of New England (Chris Shays of Connecticut) (2) Carol Shea-Porter is the new Democratic congressman from NH (who supposedly never stood a chance to win). Her victory is explained … Read More
Newsweek Cover
Oh, this picture isn’t going to help the father-son relationship one bit: Flashback to better times: With his parents back in Washington, Bush went to stay with them for the holidays and was involved in one of the most notorious incidents of his "nomadic" years. He took his 16-year-old brother Marvin out drinking, ran over a neighbor’s garbage cans on … Read More
Doug Feith On His Homage To Rumsfeld
WaPo editorial: Rumsfeld’s drive to overhaul the Pentagon — to drop outdated practices and modes of thought — antagonized many senior military officers and civilian officials in the department. He pushed for doing more with less. Less troops than needed, less body armor, less oversight….. REMINDER: It bears repeating that the author, Doug Feith, was in charge of the Office … Read More
Rumsfeld — International War Criminal?
Bad way to start his retirement: New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany’s top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and at … Read More
The Shift
Who voted Democratic this year? Seems like everybody. Below is a chart listing the shifts in all sorts of demographic groups (compared to how those groups voted in 2004): GenderWomen: +15Men: +11 EthnicityWhites: +14African-Americans: +1Latinos: +30Asian: +13Other: -1 Age18-29: +1330-44: +1545-59: +1060 and over: +10 IncomeUnder $15K: +10$15K-$30K: +10$30K-$50K: +12$50K-$75K: +15$75K-$100K: +10$100K-$150K: +10$150K-$200K: +12$200K and over: +20 Union membershipUnion members: … Read More
Conservatism vs. Liberalism — And The Future
This is so good, I’m reprinting (almost) the whole thing. From the Anonymous Liberal: Over at The Corner today, Jonah Goldberg wrote the following: Now, I don’t say any of this because I’m particularly bullish on conservatism’s immediate future. It’s got problems. But they’re not as fundamental as the problems liberalism faces. Conservatism has a problem putting its ideas into … Read More
President Vilsack?
I don’t know his politics, but they would have to be pretty damn good before I vote for someone with that last name. I mean, it’s a word just waiting to be an insult. As in, "That guy. He’s such a vilsack!" Wonkette laments: Jesus Christ, can’t we even have a single weekend off before the goddamned presidential campaign starts? … Read More
It’s Official, By The Way
Allen in Virginia and Burns in Montana are both conceeding and not challenging the election results. So Dems control the Senate now too.
Election 2006: A Victory For Conservatives?
That’s the spin. Conservatives are trying to argue that the election results point to a victory for conservatism. This morning, for example, George Will writes that "conservatism continued its advance Tuesday." What’s the basis for this argument? Apparently, it’s because some of the Democrats who won were not actual socialists*. They point to people like Lieberman, who won out over … Read More
Now That The Election Is Over, Expect Gas Prices To Go Up Again
Suuuuure, falling gas prices had nothing to do with elections.
The Onion Covers Rumsfeld’s Resignation
The Onion: Rumsfeld: ‘My Half-Assed Job Here Is Done’ WASHINGTON, DC—After nearly six years of much-publicized service as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld announced his resignation Wednesday afternoon, saying that he had "proudly accomplished everything [he’d] set out to bungle." "Years ago, I decided to bog this great nation down in an extended, grueling foreign occupation, and I’m happy to … Read More
Wait For It
At 12:19 p.m. yesterday, conservative blog Wizbang posted the following: Right now, the Dow is down by about 29 points, one day after the Democrats win back the House and probably the Senate. Later that day, from no less than Fox News: Stocks Rise on Election Results Wall Street rose for a third straight session Wednesday, with the Dow Jones … Read More
Dear Dismayed Conservatives
Dear Dismayed Conservatives: I hereby make these promises to you. We will protect your lives and livelihoods. We will listen to and respect your beliefs. We will never try to force you to change your religion, sexual orientation, or first language. We will do our best to reduce the number of abortions in our country. We will have no tolerance … Read More
What The Rumsfeld Resignation Means
I didn’t see the Bush presser, but I gathered (from those that did) that the pundits are seeing this the same way as me. This is Bush finally finally finally breaking himself away from the neocon doctrine of pre-emption and aggression. This is Bush saying to Cheney (and Rumsfeld), "I’m not listening to you anymore." [UPDATE: Here’s an excerpt from … Read More
Election Post-Mortem
Well, my predictions were pretty close. I predicted a Democratic gain in the House of 24 seats — it’s 28 right now. In the Senate, I predicted a Dem gain of five seats (meaning that they don’t take the majority). They have four in the pocket, and have all but "won" in Montana and Virginia. Those states will probably be … Read More