Jonathan Cohn has the big news today where health care is concerned:
“There will almost certainly be full negotiations but no formal conference,” the House staffer says. “There are too many procedural hurdles to go the formal conference route in the Senate.”
[...] “I think the Republicans have made our decision for us,” the Senate staffer says. “It’s time for a little ping-pong.”
“Ping pong” is a reference to one way the House and Senate could proceed. With ping-ponging, the chambers send legislation back and forth to one another until they finally have an agreed-upon version of the bill. But even ping-ponging can take different forms and some people use the term generically to refer to any informal negotiations.
But the post of the day is compliments of the SEIU, with Rush Limbaugh playing the lead. It’s priceless. Mr. Limbaugh will be back on radio Wednesday. So, we still have him to kick around. Prayers answered.
Monumental news on appointments, as Obama gives a nod to a transgendered individual for Commerce.
On Tiger’s fall, Brit Hume should remember it’s more about the Golden Rule, which has absolutely nothing to do with religion, Christian or otherwise, something my husband Mark reminds me of often.
Great photo from Dubai, compliments of my friend Steve Clemons, who was there for the big fireworks as the tallest building in the world opens.
On the terrorism front, the New York Times reports, U.S. Intensifies Air Screening for Fliers From 14 Nations:
Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, countries that are considered “state sponsors of terrorism,” as well as those of “countries of interest” — including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen — will face the special scrutiny, officials said.
Seriously, Cuba? No wonder we’re still chasing our tails on terrorism.
And to answer Kris’s question “In the News” (with more over there), the last thing Sect. Clinton could do was jump into the middle of the muddle the Obama administration set into motion by Napolitano’s “the system worked” gaffe, which by the way was orchestrated by someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
TM Note: As the New Year opens, as I said weeks ago, my long and very busy days are directed towards a project, which I’ll talk about down the line some time. I’m juggling a lot that’s for sure, but it’s a great adventure, which is the whole point to life, really. Following your bliss isn’t easy and is filled with struggles and disappointments challenges along the way to manifesting your intentions, but it sure as hell beats the alternative.
Another news item that is interesting is Zacarias Moussaoui’s conviction has been upheld.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010401866.html
The floor is now yours.
Taylor, how do you know that Hillary didn’t tell Napolitano what to say on that Sunday? This is interesting: National Security Advisor Jon Brennan was briefed in October by Muhammed bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s Chief counter-terrorism official, about underware bombs. Seems that Nayef was almost assassinated by an underware bomber from the Yemeni al Qaeda group in late August. Maybe Hillary told Brennan what to tell Napolitano? Maybe, like Reagan, nobody tells Obama anything? Peace
Ms. marsh, how do you know that imhopless didn’t partake of massive amounts of pshycotropic drugs resulting in his/her/it’s extreme paranoia and obsession with crazy conspiracy theories that have been shown to be bunk so often it is past absurd to consider the wackos who still believe them seriously?
Maybe the tooth fairey is telling imhopless what to spew?
I mean, his shotgun approach of throwing a bucket of feces against the wall to see what will stick wthout ever backing anything up?
Maybe like Timothy Leary his/her/it’s brain is so fried he/she/it can’t even TELL the halucinations from reality anymore?
Imhotep, maybe Napolitano got a phone call from an un-named source, telling her to go to her underground garage, were she would find a note telling her what to say on Sunday? Could of happened, who’s to say it didn’t happen? Another un-named source said the note was written by Cheney. Could of happened, only Napolitano knows.
Olbermann just rattled off a list of ways the Hawaii system is more progressive than all but a few. They require All their employers to provide insurance to any employee who works more than 20 hours,their nurses are MOST unionized in the country. ha ha ha ha ha
I’m laughing at how much Rush lauded his care.
Uh….no one from Jordan?! I wonder why not since the Khost bomber who killed the CIA agents was a JORDANIAN.
“Following your bliss isn’t easy …”
Actually it’s easier than being false to oneself. Thoreau (Walden): “In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely…It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats more easily than I do.”
But you knew that. –”…but it sure as hell beats the alternative.”
Imhotep says:
04 January 2010 at 7:47 pm
Clinton is not her boss and the Secretary does not set Administration policy. Surely you know that, Imhotep.
Ahhhh…..Thank you Taylor. Imhotep simply is blinded by hatred so much that the simple Administrative pecking order doesn’t get recognition.
djjl, I’m not blinded by, or blind to, any possibility. Which makes me very dissimilar to those who have a firm and unchangeable opinion about people and other things. “You say you want a revolution…..you better free your mind instead.” Peace
My mind is free – it’s what allows for real informed thought. You don’t even get that the Secretary of Homeland Security REALLY doesn’t take direction from the Secretary of State – pretty preposterous for one who claims not to be blinded.
I don’t generally care too much for Cohen – but he’s got something here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010402720.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
‘Still, the reason the GOP criticisms have started to stick is that Obama can be made into anything his critics want. He is a lean man of ideological clay who has let others mold his image. His bottom line is forever on the move. It’s not that he’s not good or smart; it’s rather that in a political universe ruled by ideological yellers, he lacks both an ideology and the pipes.
The White House faces a major political problem. Obama’s first year was not a bad one — and yet he suffered. The coming year threatens to be much worse. Fatalities are going to increase in Afghanistan. Unemployment could fester. The debt is going to increase, and all over the country, state and municipal governments are going to go broke and look to Washington for help. The land will roil with anger, and Mr. Cool in the White House is not up to FDR-like fireside chats. He was born to blog.
Journalists like to believe that if they are getting criticism from both sides of the story, they must be doing something right. This is not true for journalists — they may actually have gotten the story doubly wrong — and it is certainly not true for political figures. In Obama’s case, his misfortune is to be a leader without a cause.
He wanted a health-care bill. Why? To cover the uncovered. Maybe. To rein in the insurance companies. Maybe. To lower costs. Maybe. What mattered most was getting a bill, any bill. This is not a cause. It’s a notch on a belt.
Obama could be a great president. He has already achieved much — possibly saving the country from financial ruin, salvaging the auto industry, getting some sort of health-care reform. Possibly, possibly. Yet his numbers sink as his achievements rise. He is the Johnny Appleseed of cognitive dissonance, so utterly detached that when he wins it seems to be only for himself. Pollsters measure him but poets have described him. William Butler Yeats got it down years ago: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”‘
djjl, I posed a question. I did not make a statement. Apparently like the other non-readers around here like secularhuminist, your fault is reading more into what is said or asked rather than taking the time to comprehend or understand what is actually written. Peace
Twisting in your own wind