Posts for July 12, 2007
>>> settle down the drama a bit
I dunno -- I'm going to be here late anyway so I'm procrastinating, and the anonymity here gives me a chance to speak candidly, so I will:
<?xml:namespace prefix =" o" ns =" "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"" />
I've been on the Hill about two years now (working for a committee in my area of expertise, seeing it as a nice interlude and resume-enhancer after 5 years of law firm life -- so I'm hardly representative of the typical Hill staffer), and I've been stunned at just how common this sort of "ho-hum" reaction and utter lack of historical perspective is around here. I consider myself, on balance, a moderate D, who two generations ago might have passed for an East Coast Establishment Rockefeller Republican (pro-free-trade, fiscal responsibility, liberal/libertarian on cultural issues, yada yada yada); but I've been absolutely astonished by the enormity and the brazenness of the assaults on the fundamental premises of the American constitutional system over the past 6 years.
Last October, immediately after passage of the MCA repealing habeas corpus, I came very close to quitting my job, since I was having trouble reconciling my own patriotism, by belief in the importance of public service, and the oath I took to support the Constitution, with working for an institution which had just done severe damage to the single most fundamental right in the Anglo-American tradition.
But what was most jarring was the fact that, at the same time that I was wrestling with the morality of staying here, it was as if I was living in a completely different universe from those around me, who seemed to be carrying on as if nothing unusual at all had happened, that this was just standard pre-election partisan posturing, like it's perfectly normal to be debating how much torture is acceptable or just how broad of a category of people we're going to authorize the President to arrest and detain forever, as if those are things about which reasonable minds can reasonably differ while both maintaining respect for a commitment to the American political process.
I mean, I might have understood it if I was back in my hometown, talking with colleagues or neighbors too busy to be following the news out of DC as obsessively as me and thus who didn't really realize the gravity and moral import of what was happening -- particularly since the mainstream news media (unlike in 1973-74) appears solidly committed to downplaying that gravity and import. But I figured people on Capitol Hill, if anyone would, would care about whether America remains, in key respects, a representative democracy committed to the rule of law or not (and would by and large recognize that this was what was at stake in the MCA) -- but in fact I realized that while I was glued to a nearby TV screen for debate in both the House and Senate as the bill marched forward, others around me really were paying very little attention to it (our committee's jurisdiction has nothing to do with either military or criminal justice matters), and when I confided to a couple of friends that I was wrestling with the morality of staying in my current job or not, it was initially they looked at my with this expression like they thought I was crazy.
(And it's so strange in many ways -- because when everyone around you is (whether deliberately or subconsciously) pretending that everything's just fine when a seemingly objective view suggests that it's not, it's easier at times to think maybe it is you that's crazy and not the 100 people around you, and you can understand how it can come to pass that otherwise good -- but human and flawed -- people can stand back and let horrible things happen; can push the button believing they're delivering a painful shock to a test subject because there's a professor in a lab coat telling you it's okay to go ahead and do it; can not ask too many questions about what happened to the people who lived in this house before the Serbs liberated this town, because maybe you really don't want to know…)
So maybe you've already tuned out, because you've already decided I sound a little bit too much like the crazies who call your office to demand an investigation of whatever nutcase 9/11-conspiracy theory is currently in vogue among the tinfoil-hat set, or just a little bit too much like the dude outside of Union Station mumbling "conservative opposed to Bush" and handing out his schizophrenic-word-salad literature, and so be it. But I for one feel better getting that off my chest.
Now, back to work...
Thirsty Thursday!
"obviously we've already gone beyond anything that even the Nixon White House did"----settle down the drama a bit
Anyone here an expert on House rules and precedents on contempt? Trying to understand what happens next with Harriet Miers. Obviously anyone not living in a cave knows that she blew off a Judiciary Committee subpoena today and Subcommittee Chair Sanchez ruled that her "refusal to comply with the subpoena and appear at this hearing, and to answer questions and provide relevant documents regarding these concerns, cannot be properly justified on executive privilege or related immunity grounds." But this is decidedly NOT a citation for contempt of congress (although it would seem that as a legal matter she clearly is in contempt). Read somewhere this afternoon a description that as a result of the ruling, Miers has 5 additional days (business days? legislative days? calendar days? the writer wasn't specific...) to comply or show cause why she should not be found in contempt of the House. Anyone know? Or is it sort of up to Conyers and Sanchez how to proceed? (Obviously we've already gone beyond anything that even the Nixon White House did, so it's not like there's a detailed rulebook for how things play out from this point forward...)
Thursday survivor? Here? I will Outwit, Outlast Out win... whatever all that crap is
and then what?
what?
thursday survivor - i win
National Veterinary Assocation reception now, Dirksen 215.
Vitter '10
he's busy changing diapers.
can someone from vitter's office please fill us in on what's going on?
ay bay bay
re: the hindu prayer this morning. http://www.breitbart.tv/html/2957.html
i have no clue how she got reelected.
Heather Wilson is a man baby
when is vitter going to show his face again?
He's a drunk. He needs AA, but we'll just wait until he gets pooped for buying hookers first.
McCain campaign now might only have 250K and another top aide is in trouble this time for soliciting sex. I think it's safe to say that Walnuts is probably done.
No, Senators don't represent the entire country. Calls yours & leave us alone.
But I am an AMERICAN citizen! I deserve an answer! You represent America don't you?
he is crying? where? what chan?
levin amendment passes: 94 Ayes, 0 Nays.
gimme a good cry Boehner. C'mon!!!
So where is this Big Ten network reception?:
It is by invite only. If you work in an office within the 8 states of the Big Ten, someone should have got invited.
sessions amendment passes: 90 ayes, 5 nays.
"This Congress has not been able to pass gas so far, let alone extend anything." -- Trent Lott
more resignation from mccain's staff. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/mccain_iowa_team_hit_by_re...
No, Senators don't represent the entire country. Calls yours & leave us alone.
is ralph nader going to be on the hill tomorrow
Hatch is too rich to care about poor kids
The top two senior Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee today
blasted the Bush administration for threatening to veto a bill
reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, saying the
bipartisan compromise being negotiated represents the best chance for a
Republican role in the policy. "What the administration needs to
understand is that if a bipartisan plan isn't achieved, then the
Democratic-controlled Congress will, at the very least, extend the
current program with all the terrible policy provisions that have
evolved, such as waivers for childless adults and coverage for
higher-income kids," said a statement from Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Health Care Subcommittee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
whew. sometimes not having to talk to a man you despise is a relief.
the house anti-jihad caucus?
me too.
they don't really give a representative list of choices. I went with "They're OK with it."?
classy bunch. i voted too.
The people that shouted at the Hindu chaplin were from the Mississippi-based American Family Association. Their website is running an online poll about this morning's prayer. I voted (in support of the chaplin, of course), I hope others do to. It'd be fun if we could offset thier own poll.
The poll is on the left hand corner nex to their poll about America's menacing "porn problem."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/poll_todays_porn_problem.php
and Hensarling. He's a retard also.
So where is this Big Ten network reception?
Love that little red dot on the clock.
Is the House still on track to be 'in' until 10?
Login: Elitistfucktard Password: imsecretlycloseted
I feel bad for anyone who works for Tom Price. What a doucheretard.
Where's Tom Price's moustache?
You're not invited.
yeah. uber-douche. and while we're on the subject, anyone have a login and password they'd like to share with the rest of us?
thoughts?.... Turbo douche.
this can't be good for jindal.
Vitter's style -- somewhere between hard-charging and downright
irascible -- has rubbed a number of people the wrong way during his
political career, and this is the perfect situation for someone with an
ax to grind to do so
Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt said
Wednesday five New Orleans prostitutes have stepped forward to say they
had sex with Sen. David Vitter, a "family values" advocate.
Flynt
said the five would share in a $1 million bounty his magazine offered
in a full- page newspaper ad last month to anyone who could provide
credible information about sexual infidelities of high-ranking
government officials.
Some top Louisiana Republicans are discussing
whether to ask U.S. Sen. David Vitter to resign and packaging a deal
with Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco to appoint a place-holding
Republican to take his spot.
Speculation has centered around
former Gov. David Treen, a Republican defeated by Vitter in the 1999
congressional race. Treen met with his brother, John Treen, of
Metairie, a member of the Republican State Central Committee, in
Metairie to discuss the issue Wednesday.
diapers, dude. diapers.
my office just hired an assistant to the assistant to the deputy cheif of staff. what? Can I be HIS/HER assistant?
my office just hired an assistant to the assistant to the deputy cheif of staff. what?
David Gregory to Bush: "Why should the American public not conclude that you are either stupid, stubborn or in denial?"
"screaming" like panic screaming or pissed off screaming? Pissed off screaming. Sergeant at Arms has to remove them.
Bush press conference at 10:30
OK, I get that interns and staffers hit up receptions for free food and booze. I do it too, but the amount of idiot interns at the Guam reception with their frat boy attitudes, shit eating grins and sunglasses perched on their heads drives me nuts. At least attempt to act professional. its the least you can do for free beer.
USDA is holding a briefing on cononly collapse (bees) in 328A Russell today at 1:30pm.
We’re talking about, among other things, Diaper Fetishism.
That’s right folks, according to a trusted inside source, Vitter was well known
among other Canal Street Brothel patrons to like diapers as well as other
bizarre “fetishes”. I don’t have much more info than that from my source,
except that some of the other patrons at the brothel included a well known
business-minded New Orleans Republican and a well known Democratic ex-governor.
There are many other well known patrons who never held public office, too.
You’ve probably heard various names floated about.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love that New
Orleans has more than its share of sex fetishists and preeverts
who can’t come missionary. This ain’t a vanilla town, kids.
But the thought of Vitter prancing around in a dipey is a bit jarring,
especially since I’m changing those nasty things every day. I can’t help
picturing the scene and wondering about the details. I assume they were adult
sized. But were they cloth or disposable? Did they get dirty? Was there a
diaper genie available? What about a tube of Boudreaux’s?
Were they customized in Vitter
Blue? How old were Vitter’s children when this was going on? Did he change
diapers in the morning and then wear them at night?
Gossip is that Cheney is on the DC Madam's list.
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/07/dick-john-cheney-on-her-list-t...
How is a prayer inappropriate? It's been a tradition of the body for decades...they include Catholic priests, Protestant ministers, Imams, and Rabbis. And the prayers are hardly saturated with divisive religious doctrines.
Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the "D.C. Madam," said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandls.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/flynt-is-tracking-20-congressional-s...
"Agriculture Horticulture and Organic Subcommittee Chariman Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., told CongressDaily this week he will not support the bill written by Agriculture Chairman Peterson unless more money is added for specialty crops, conservations, research into disappearing bees and other programs."
Someone told me recently that the bees are disappearing and that no one seems to understand why. Is that true?
am i the only one who's uncomfortable with having opening prayers? i don't know. i just think it's sort of inappropriate.
"screaming" like panic screaming or pissed off screaming?
friggin people in the gallery were screaming during the Hindu opening prayer on the Senate floor
soybean farmers host inaugural luncheon, Rayburn 339, 12 p.m.
douchebag interns should be summarily executued by nancy
Yeah, I'm sure Hoyer will give it every consideration...<cough>
At least you wern't on the metro listening to a very loud intern bragging to his Senate intern friend about how he was going to walk up to Steny Hoyer and give him his resume tonight at that intern thing...
Meanwhile, of course, the entire car could hear him.... Ick.
there was this intern from the PA delegation on the metro...gray suit dark blue shirt bragging to these ugly girls about how good he is at giving tours. In a building full of douchebag interns...that kid takes the cake.
