Month: November 2010

Rothman chief of staff arrested on child solicitation charges.

Yesterday the report came out that Bob Decheine, chief of staff for Rep. Steve Rothman (D, NJ), had been abruptly fired.  This came as a bit of a surprise, as Decheine has been a notable figure in NJ Democratic politics: he was a senior adviser to the Obama campaign in 2008, and as Rothman’s CoS had just shepherded his boss to another win in Congress, by fair means or foul.  In other words, a bit of a surprise, no?  Turns out Decheine got arrested last week for soliciting sex from a minor.  It was a sting operation, which means that – thank God – no kids were hurt by this guy.

This time: because unless we’re really, really lucky this creep* has been doing this for a while.  So now would be a good time for people to come forward with any evidence that they might have about this Decheine’s past activities.  Because if it turns out that there’s a history that those people didn’t talk about… well.  The longer it stays hidden, the worse it’ll smell when it’s exhumed.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*If Rothman’s office is treating this accusation as fully justified and incontestable – and an instant-firing qualifies for that descriptor – then why shouldn’t I?

PS: More details here.

“Somewhere That’s Green.”

Always a bit more meaningful for me than perhaps the composer intended: I mean, I know that it’s supposed to be kind of ironic and so forth, but the 1950s middle class lifestyle looks a hell of a lot less tacky when seen from below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_A50V0WOgE

“Somewhere That’s Green,” Little Shop of Horrors

Randy Quaid: I’m being hunted by Hollywood kill squad.

…wait.  What?

The pair quickly claimed refugee status and their hearings have been conducted amid their bizarre claims of being hunted by what they call “Hollywood star whackers.”

They say many of their friends have died under mysterious circumstances and believe they could be next on the hit list.

All righty, then.  Apparently, this wasn’t actually acting:

…he was kind of paranoid all along.

Via @MelissaTweets.

Meghan McCain on THAT WOMAN.

What annoys me about this Meghan McCain article (via here) is not that I feel the urge to get a red pen (or perhaps an old priest and a young priest*).  Coherent writing on the Internet is not… precisely unknown; but neither is it particularly reliable.  You have to accept that there are a lot of people out there who cannot really write.  Some of them do so for an audience.  Insanely, some of them even get paid.

No, the annoying bit is that there’s an actual point in McCain’s essay, crying in the dark because it’s surrounded by slightly oozy fluff: Sarah Palin is manipulating the New Media paradigm in a fashion that not even Obama has, or possibly even can. Continue reading Meghan McCain on THAT WOMAN.

#rsrh The IMPORTANT thing about the AL legislature flip.

(Via AoSHQ Headlines) It’s not that four state legislators have flipped from Democratic to Republican, thus giving the GOP a super-majority in the Alabama House of Representatives.  It’s that the GOP had a majority in the first place; Alabaman voters voted in the Republicans in power there for the first time since 1874.

In other words, the Southern Democratic politician is rapidly becoming an endangered species.  Which, given the heavy-handed racism traditionally shown by the legislators in that wing of the party over the years, doesn’t distress me in the slightest…

Moe Lane

#rsrh WaPo hires Jen Rubin of Commentary.

This is so shockingly a good idea on the Washington Post’s part that I’m wondering whether they’re feeling well.  I’ve met Jen a few times: she’s a devastatingly good reporter, and good people generally.  Putting her in on the online editorial side makes a heck of a lot of sense for the WaPo.  Too much sense, given that print news in general seems kind of determined to commit slow-motion suicide these days.  Ach, well, they can’t always do precisely the worst possible thing, right?

See also Dave Weigel, who is praising this from the other end of the spectrum.

Moe Lane

#rsrh QotD, They won’t listen anyway edition.

Republican campaign manager Matt Mackowiak, on the nature of the 2010 elections:

Despite the protestations of Democrats, this election was not a mandate for bipartisanship. (Isn’t it funny how the losers always want bipartisanship?) The electorate chose divided government not to increase cooperation between the parties, but to increase gridlock. It’s not “What is the government doing for me?”; it’s “What is the government doing to me?”

Unfortunately for the Democrats, their leadership hasn’t caught up with 2010 yet.  Heck, judging from the average age of the Democratic leadership, they haven’t really caught up with 1994, either.  Which is something I like to see in my political opponents.

‘It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.’

It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.

It is from the Juice of Java that the thoughts acquire speed.

The thoughts acquire speed.

The hands develop shaking.

The shaking becomes a warning.

It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.

Adapted from here – and, obviously, originally, here.

Moe Lane