Month: December 2010

Maxine Waters (D) case delayed via Democratic incompetence?

That’s what the Washington Post reports, at least (H/T: The Daily Caller).  To refresh people’s memories: Rep. Waters used her position on the House Financial Services Committee to intervene on behalf of OneUnited Bank, which happens to be a bank with a personal connection with Waters.  The case was set to go in September, only to be delayed at the last second.  It will be looked at in the next Congress, much to the displeasure of Democrats.

Highlights from the WaPo article:

  • The ostensible reason for the delay of the Waters case is that new information in the investigation was suddenly deemed necessary for a proper prosecution.  Current Ethics chair Zoe Lofgren (D) took this event as an opportunity to try to get two investigators fired; this was blocked by Rep. Jo Bonner (R), who is the current Ranking Member*.
  • Lofgren allegedly mucked up the investigation from the start by not being aggressive on subpoenaing either Rep Waters and/or Rep. Barney Frank (chairman of Finance) and his staff.
  • Lofgren also allegedly encouraged an unseemly haste to the proceedings, from trying to lock in a pre-election trial date to cutting investigators’ allotted time to present their case by four-fifths.
  • By all accounts, Lofgren had also not prepared herself or her committee for a scenario where Rep. Waters was prepared to fight the charges; thus creating a leadership crisis when Waters did not make a deal.

Continue reading Maxine Waters (D) case delayed via Democratic incompetence?

#rsrh My guesses on the Lame Duck Three.

These are all subjective examinations of the current gestalt, which is a pretentious way of saying ‘They’re all WAGs.’  Caveat emptor, and all that.

  • DADT Repeal: will pass.  I think that we’ve* got the votes; Northeast Republicans are just generally more comfortable with the idea; and this is one area where libertarians are going to be not in sync with social conservatives.
  • DREAM Act: will not pass.  Immigration issues are very touchy right now, thanks to the Democrats’ incredibly ham-handed attempt to demonize over half of the population for daring to think that existing  federal immigration law should be, you know, taken seriously.  Supporting this will mean the difference between a credible primary challenge and a token one for at least two Republican Senators – and could easily be the last nail in the coffin for at least four Democratic ones.
  • START: will pass, but the odds are almost even.  If Reid only needed sixty votes it’d pass.  It’s a treaty, so he needs sixty-seven; it’ll be a close-run thing.  I think.

Guess we’ll see tomorrow, huh?

Moe Lane

*Note pronoun.

#rsrh Omnibus/Tea Party/Schoolhouse Rock.

(Via Glenn Reynolds) The Foundry’s Conn Connell notes an interesting coincidence: yesterday’s abandonment of the Democrats’ last-gasp omnibus bill was also the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party*.  Which has no real deeper meaning, in the greater scheme of things: except that it’s giving me an excuse to put up the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0LmYEjXNIg

Especially since I know that a certain category of my political opponents absolutely hates that video, usually with a certain amount of baffled bewilderment mixed in.

Moe Lane

*Which, by the way, took place in 1773.  I mention this because, well, we’ve had occasions where some folks on the Other Side had a little trouble with getting the date right.

#rsrh Does this really count as satire?

I mean, I don’t think that Iowahawk has recordings or anything – but there’s nothing that rings false in this decidedly NSFW post on the ongoing Democratic civil war between the President and Congress.  Somebody, somewhere, is saying all of those things.  Profanity, insensitive language, stereotyping, and all.

Moe Lane

PS: Who am I rooting for, in said civil war?  Why: injuries, of course.

Did you thank your Senator?

As Glenn Reynolds indirectly notes, our elected officials like to know when they’ve done something properly.  Without question, making Harry Reid back down on that appalling omnibus bill was a righteous act; so give your Senator a call and say thanks.  If both of them are Democrats, then give Senator McConnell a call and say thanks.

Note: “give a call and say thanks.”  Not “send them money,” “offer an oath of fealty,” “tattoo their names on your arm,” “pledge unto them your firstborn,” or even “promise never to say bad things about them ever again.” Especially don’t do that last one; you never know when somebody’s going to backslide.  But the other half of behavior modification is rewarding desired behaviors; and an attaboy costs you nothing.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Let me be preemptive: whatever.  Do it anyway.

#rsrh No Omnibus for you!

So I see that Harry Reid has suddenly realized that he doesn’t have the votes to put together a 1.1 trillion buck omnibus pork-extravaganza.  Ain’t that a shame.  I also got sent a link to this incredibly, amazingly, and absolutely hysterical kick-sand-in-their-faces from our esteemed Republican Senators:

Minutes later, in one of the most chortling colloquies of the 111th Congress, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) gloated over the defeat of the spending bill.

Kirk, the most junior member of the Senate asked, “Did we just win?”

McCain responded, “I think there’s very little doubt that the Majority Leader of the United States Senate would not have taken the action he just took if we didn’t have 41 votes to stop this monstrosity.”

Kirk continued, “so for economic conservatives, a 1,924-page bill just died?

“A 1,924-page bill just died,” McCain responded laughing.

Is it time for the Democratic party’s theme song? It is time for the Democratic party’s theme song.
Continue reading #rsrh No Omnibus for you!

RIP Blake Edwards, 1922-2010.

I just got the email that director Blake Edwards has passed; he was 88 years old.

Edwards, of course, was the director for the Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseau movies, among many others.  It is a measure of the man’s skill that I have never forgotten this clip from The Pink Panther Strikes Again:

I don’t know why it stuck in my head, but it did.  But then, Blake Edwards always did like to make movies that did that.

Moe Lane

Continue reading RIP Blake Edwards, 1922-2010.