Moe Lane

[UPDATE] Welcome, Instapundit & Hot Air readers.

…well, as much as a Democratic party career politician can manage it, at least:

Which is to say, it’s even money that Dick Durbin (D, IL) isn’t sufficiently aware of the political battlespace to know that he had called the head of his political party a liar.

Moe Lane

[UPDATE]: Ed Morrissey is collecting reactions. And The New Ledger beat me out on using my own video…

So they can spend that money right here on Earth:

Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles’ retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft.

That sum includes 9,000 “direct” space jobs and — conservatively speaking — 14,000 “indirect” jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center, said Lisa Rice, Brevard Workforce president.

…(via Geraghty) more accurately, so that they can spend that money right here on Earth, and in districts that aren’t R+4 and that aren’t represented by a Democrat who voted against health care rationing.  I mean, seriously: they would have eventually killed the space program anyway.  But being able to do it in a way that would get maximum revenge against an apostate?  That’s just gravy.

Moe Lane

PS: You know, if we absolutely had to elect a Democrat President, it’s a darn shame that we didn’t at least elect the one who said (bolding mine):

“We cannot cede our leadership in space. That’s why I will help close the gap and ensure that our space program doesn’t suffer when the Shuttle goes out of service by working with Senator Bill Nelson to add at least one additional Space Shuttle flight beyond 2010; by supporting continued funding for NASA; by speeding the development of the Shuttle’s successor; and by making sure that all those who work in the space industry in Florida do not lose their jobs when the Shuttle is retired – because we cannot afford to lose their expertise.”

Oh, wait. We did.

PPS: I had a nice chat with Republican FL-24 candidate Tom Garcia at CPAC, including some discussion of space issues.  Just saying.

Crossposted to RedState.

Time:

The controversy over Republican Representative Joe Wilson’s shouting “You lie!” at the President over his claim that illegal immigrants wouldn’t benefit from health-care reform apparently sparked some reconsideration of the relevant language. “We really thought we’d resolved this question of people who are here illegally, but as we reflected on the President’s speech last night, we wanted to go back and drill down again,” said Senator Kent Conrad, one of the Democrats in the talks after a meeting Thursday morning. Later that afternoon, Baucus said the group would add a proof-of-citizenship requirement for participation in the new health exchange — a move likely to inflame the left.

Wilson wins, Ben.  Oddly, in much the same way that another particular dispute was won by THAT WOMAN.

See also Hot Air, Ace of Spades, Sister Toldjah, and -  for that special extra flavor of whiny Lefty exasperation, TPMDC:

But though Wilson’s allegation was false, and the political impact has been largely negative, Democratic leaders on the Senate Finance Committee seem to think it’s worth fixing the non-existent problem Wilson was complaining about.

Seldom does one see a sentence quite so at war with itself as this one is.

Moe Lane

PS: Yeah, kids: I saw the Democratic flash poll, and I saw that the current state of the potlatch is at, what, $750K at this point?  Alas, I also saw Wood & Sabato’s current estimate of the GOP’s likely gains next year (20 to 30, and Wilson’s not on their competitive races  list).  This just isn’t a cycle to topple a R+9 incumbent.  Particularly since none of the people currently at white-hot levels of hatred are going to remember his opponent’s name in two weeks.

Or possibly even one.

PPS: I tell a lie.  AMERICAblog is even whinier than TPMDC.

Crossposted to RedState.