You're welcome Steve!

All those jokes about the deep South seem to apply even better to Alaska.

* China's growth carries a severe cost: "A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations."

China (and India) really blew it. It could have leap-frogged the West by adopting a cleaner/greener development model. Yet, save for all the high tech trappings, it might as well be England in the 19th Century. Just pathetic.

I wouldn't really care except for the externalities foisted on the rest of us - dust and heavy metal laden particulate smog increasing acid rain in Japan and even the West of the U.S.

Yes. I know we are the still the worst polluter on earth, but China was starting almost from scratch and made and continues to make all the wrong decisions.

Hillary for State Dept.? Oh yeah, give the woman a job as a secretary.

Barack Obama collects comics? I knew I liked him.

Spidey and Conan the Barbarian, no less. Good taste!

Obama collects comics.
Now if he collected Strikeforce Morituri I think I could die happy...

I'd rather Hillary were majority leader. Fortunately for Hillary, my permission isn't needed for any job change she may wish to make.

* On a related note, could dirty air in California really kill more people than car crashes? (thanks, R.K.)

No. It may indeed hasten the end of people already afflicted with respiratory disease. But short of sucking on a tail pipe, otherwise healthy people are not killed by air pollution in the U.S.

Also from the list of things I did not know about Obama:

While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

One of the things I grew to admire about the Obama campaign is how they refused to get sucked into the daily media cycle. They did not get trapped in each little story or headline. They were not reactionary. They stayed on message.

This little tibbit shows an element of Obama's discipline. He is clearly well informed on the issues. But he understands that the 24 hour news cylce is largely a distraction. One does not have to be buried in the 24 hour news cycle to understand the world. And in fact it often helps to stay clear of it altogether.

What do you want to bet McCain and Schmidt spent hours a day sweating over what was happening on FOX, CNN and MSNBC every minute?

I figured Hillary for AG.

The Pro. Prop. 8(CA gay marriage ban) advocates, including many LDS/Mormons, claim, among other things, that marriage is only legitimate between 'a' man and 'a' woman. It seems to me that the Mormons advocated and legitimized marriage between multiple partners, mostly one man with several wives. Wasn't that in their "Bible"? Is there anywhere in The Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)that prohibits marriages with multiple partners? There was also a lot of marrying of widows to their deceased spouse's brothers. One would presume that if the brother were already married, he would then have more than one wife, right? So, you may ban marriage between same-sex couples, based on Biblical law(which is not a law)but what about opposite sex multiple partner marriages? Is that covered? I have been studying some of the Bible verses with a well-educated teacher(yes, there are many "bibles" written by/for most of the spiritual traditions, so using the term "The Bible" is innacurate, in itself). He has pointed out and documented that there are so many contradictions within this particular bible that it is literally impossible to follow it "literally". The Fundamentalists have taken a quasi-historical/literary work and twisted it into a tool of control of those too ignorant to read and interpret it for themselves.

I do believe in God as the creator of all that is, but that God is not personal in that sense that He(for the Fundies out there) answers individual prayer and pleas in a way that contradicts Universal Principles. God doesn't suspend gravity for the righteous falling out of an airplane without a parachute. H/she hits the ground just as hard as the sinner under the same circumstances. The True Believer is one who recognizes Universal Principles and learns to work with them for the highest good of all. S/he doesn't discriminate against one over another. God is the infinite arbiter of all behavior through Natural Law, not personal bias. And, atheists use the same principles as the religious/spiritual person. Chemistry, physics, biology and philosophy are all governed by the same Principles. They just look at different aspects of the whole.

End of lecture.
I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Obama is working hard to drive the progressives away. Caving on FISA and voting for the bank bailout were bad in themselves, but this joLIE circus is absolutely without basis in reality. Some posters were saying that Obama was staying out of Senate business as he should, but now we see that he is actively working to keep joLIE in as chairman of DHS. Dems are more likely to be able to get some other repug Senator to support an important dem vote than to get holy jo to do so. If he is going to keep some w cabinet members at least through the first year or so because of their experience, why not keep them all? Obama's real purpose has been met: he wanted to be accepted as an inside the beltway player who won't cause problems, and that is "Mission Accomplished."

For the record, I think Hillary Clinton would make an excellent choice for Secretary of State.

I disagree. Make Bill Clinton Secretary of State, and put Hillary on the Supreme Court. She's stubborn enough she'd be there till she's 100 years old (and I say that in a nice way), upholding the liberal tradition. I fear if she was tapped for Sec of State there'd be some odd dynamics if Bill tagged along on her official missions.

I disagree. Make Bill Clinton Secretary of State, and put Hillary on the Supreme Court. She's stubborn enough she'd be there till she's 100 years old (and I say that in a nice way), upholding the liberal tradition. I fear if she was tapped for Sec of State there'd be some odd dynamics if Bill tagged along on her official missions. Posted by: President LIndsay

Are you out of your fucking mind? Bill Clinton needs to be kept as far away from the U.S. government as possible. In terms of what he accomplished as president, he was pretty much all show and no go. And as far as a person, he's pretty much the antithesis of Obama.

As far as putting Hillary on the court, she's proved as a senator to be anything but liberal. In any case, the members most likely to retire are not from the neo-Nazi side of the bench.

LOL! "The Republican governors not named Sarah Palin were less than pleased with her press conference today."
Talking about understatement of the day there, LOL!
Again, though, these are 'anonymous' people saying this. Don't they know that they are simply 'JERKS' according to Failin' Palin?

Hillary said many times she was running for president, not for herself, but for the little person who needs universal health care. While I don't believe her; she could prove me wrong. But Sec. of State would not be the place to get universal health care through Congress.

Majority leader would have been perfect for her, if she had withdrawn before PA. But she made all the Senators pick sides and it makes it hard for her to lead now.

She should stay in the Senate, get the chair that would draft health care, and fulfill her promise.

"She should stay in the Senate, get the chair that would draft health care, and fulfill her promise."

This is a really good point, but I think the argument for her as SecState is strong as well. It's worth asking her, anyway.

She'd also make a strong AG, but so would Kerry. This would have the added benefit of keeping him out of the State job, which I don't think would be best for him, or us.

You need a little bit of a rock star at State - someone who commands attention when they walk into the room. Still, that rock star has to have brains and substance. Perfect gig for the Hilbot.

As far as putting Hillary on the court, she's proved as a senator to be anything but liberal.

If Hillary were on the court, we wouldn't have to be treated to the "Our Lady of Perpetual Triangulation" schtick anymore, because she wouldn't be running for anything anymore. She could just let herself follow her best instincts, and I still believe those instincts would serve the progressive cause (and certainly women's issues) very well on the court. I suspect Hillary would welcome the release from always having to triangulate, something which by now must be second nature to her but which must be a helluva way to lead one's life.

Just heard that Obama is resigning his Senate seat as of Sunday. Guess he doesn't want to have to vote on the fate of Joe the Turncoat.

Agree with others who'd rather see Hillary in the Senate than in an executive branch, or even at SCOTUS. She could be a power there. As for her past, less-than-liberal, votes... I believe those were cast with an eye towards her presidential bid; she'd probably be quite different now, having discarded that yoke.

Ooops, sorry; didn't see that there was a whole separate post on Obama's Senate seat. That's what comes from reading the entries out of order...

Tell your reps

Oddly enough, it looks like scandal-plagued Rep. Don Young (R) managed to win re-election in Alaska.

No earmarks for Alaska!
That pit is worse that Oklahoma, Idaho, and Utah combined...

Can we please leave some of our Democratic Senators in, like, the Senate. Let Hillary take on Reid for leadership. If Hillary were smart she'd make a play that role and with the clout she has and the horrble job Reid is doing, she should be able to take it.

Let her make her career mark as the new lioness of the Senate. Thats just as honorable, if not more, than some token cabinet position (not meaning to denigrate SoS or AG in any way, but those people really dont go down in history like active politicians do - unless they are awful).

And Supreme Court for Hillary - snowballs chance in hell so why bother with thinking about it. Imporactical and impossible for so many reasons.

Outside of her present position, the Supreme Court is the only place where Hillary's hubby wouldn't be looking over her shoulder, and Obama's. It's the VP syndrome extended.

What makes you think Don Young actually won? Thanks to all the relocated southerners, Alaska is replicating the Deep South in the Far North. The South has only recently learned to take elections seriously; Alaska is still catching up. It's likely Young's indictment isn't far behind, though.

And, I've seen Obama's shoes. He needs to ditch the Chicago style and find something with some arch support. That'll probably be coming right after Young's indictment. Speaking of which, why is DeLay still walking around? The South progresses, when it's forced to.

Kudos to Richard Wolffe for reminding Olbermann yesterday that:

"EVERY VOTE OBVIOUSLY COUNTS".

What a hypocrite Olbermann is:

To make such a pointed, lucrative career out of continuously commenting and confronting and critiquing the indifference and short-sightedness of others--especially those Americans who make things rougher for all of us--

Only to find out that when it comes to doing your part, when it comes to caring enough to put your money where your mouth is--you remain SILENT (?).

You chose to NOT VOTE in this, the most historic and critical election of a lifetime.

Are you on drugs? Or are you just really that indifferent? Or that cynical?

Just playing a part, pretending to care, when you truly don't?

If you don't vote, you DO NOT GET TO Continue to make Political Criticisms of others, Mr. Olbermann. Especially about their responsibilities as Americans, as citizens, as caring, involved human beings...

Why don't you take your bucks and your young babe and get the hell out of dodge? You clearly don't truly give a damn about any of this--it's just a lucrative spotlight--just a:

'Pretend to care about America' gig you got lucky on this time around.

Actions speak louder--as in MUCH LOUDER-- than words.

Good thing you aren't a parent--because that's the first thing you learn. You know you need to be who you want others to aspire to. You lead by example. And you know that you can't discipline your child for speeding when you yourself run red lights. You can't discipline your child for not speaking out against injustice when you yourself remain silent when it matters most.

It may indeed hasten the end of people already afflicted with respiratory disease. But short of sucking on a tail pipe, otherwise healthy people are not killed by air pollution in the U.S.

Yes, air pollution makes people who have respiratory ailments more likely to experience severe symptoms (including death) from them; it also makes people more likely to develop those ailments in the first place. It's true, I suppose, that at the time they are killed by air pollution, those people have likely been unhealthy for quite some time, because air pollution doesn't kill quickly, but it is not true at all that people who would have been healthy but for air pollution are not killed in the US by air pollution.

What a hypocrite Olbermann is:

What a hypocrite you are, promising not to talk about this anymore and then repeating your little rant about it again and again after that.

Hillary Clinton as Secrtary of State? You're not serious are you? Why not just make her -- I don't know -- VP or something???

I'm sorry, but this is DOA, or at least should be. Hillary Clinton and her scene-stealing fuck-up husband are the last thing that our foreign policy needs. We need serious people who have no other agenda but getting the job done.

As for the quote, since when did you start buying into junk like this:

"There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field might be expanding somewhat...."

Increasing chatter means somebody floated the idea. Political circles means there were at least two somebodies floating the idea. The rest of it is bullshit launched by whoever is trying to force Obama to take Hillary rather than somebody who's actually qualified for the job.

What experience does Hillary Clinton bring to the table? Getting shot at by ghosts in Kosovo?

I can't wait to hear Palin call those anonymous Republican governors "cowardly jerks." In these recessionary days, Sarah is quite the entertainment value!

I agree with the comments above about Olbermann.

I am in shock that Keith Olbermann, who makes his living by critiquing indifferent Americans who make things hard on all of us, who just spent the last two years preaching the horrors of McCain/Palin and pointing out the highlights of Obama/Biden and then illustrated the problems with voter suppression and so forth...and then he didn't vote!

And he had the audacity to try to reason it away, when he had NO good reason.

The joke is on all of us!

Olbermann is a total fake-out.

And Supreme Court for Hillary - snowballs chance in hell so why bother with thinking about it.

Why bother? Because I like the thought of Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's heads exploding.

Yes, dirty air kills more people than car crashes. And it's not just oldies dying of respiratory disease slightly earlier than they otherwise would; it's people having heart attacks, kids with asthma, and so on.

When you factor all these costs in on top of global, cleaning up transport emissions really starts to look financially attractive.

Wait - YOU read comics Steve?

I knew there was a reason I liked you.

Of course, the way the comic book industry is going I'm expecting the big two comic book companies to declare themselves to be banks and ask for a bailout.

Hilary Clinton???
Secretary of State?

Why does her name have to come up for EVERYTHING?

Craminy, I really don't care for that woman.

Secretary of State!
I mean, she'd have to meet with world leaders who....

And her husband...

Um...

Well, crap.

I think I'm okay with that. That actually is not a bad idea.

Does she even WANT the job, though?

For others who also feel Keith Olbermann's choice to not vote quite odd, please see Amy Bernstein's eloquent essay at opednews.com. from yesterday, November 12.

I do think Obama would be wise to have her in the administration where he can keep an eye on her. However, I think she has very poor judgment, and it's hard for me to think of a cabinet post where good judgment isn't a requirment.

Then, too, her husband is a notoriously volatile loose cannon who could bring big trouble on his wife and the administration at any time.

It's very difficult to say what Obama should do about Senator Clinton.

First: hah!

Second: Blerd is the word.

It's very difficult to say what Obama should do about Senator Clinton. Posted by: Helena Montana

He doesn't have to do anything.

Tooweary, my thoughts too.

Bleck!

"She doesn't just have issues; she has a lifetime subscription."

The gilded coxcomb

Note to Main Stream Media...

As an avid consumer of your product I'd like to suggest you give us more Todd Palin.
I am getting a little bored of sloppy Sarah. She is tired not wired.

I'd like to know more about First Dude. What did the $40,000 buy him (against his will)?
Yeah I heard about the silk step-ins, and the sixpack of spray on tan...
Cool.

But $40,000?
I mean really...
With that kind of dough did they get Todd a diamond-studded solid-gold cock ring?

Inquiring American minds...
We want to know damn it.

Clinton at State? No.

She needs to stay in the senate. If she wants to make a real mark, take on Harry Reid for the leadership position and have a lead role in implementing all legislation.

MESSAGE To Sarah Palin:

The GOP can't go away completely, but you can.

MR. PAULSON, PLEASE GO ALREADY
Henry Paulson's indecisiveness and lack of leadership is playing havoc with the markets around the world. As soon as he opened his mouth Wednesday November 12, Dow Jones fell by over 6% sending shock waves around the world markets.

The $700b bailout package was approved by Congress on the premise that it will be used for buying toxic assets from banks to provide liquidity. Paulson now says he will not buy these assets. He says one thing one day and another the next, sending confusing signals. He indecision is sending shivers down the spines of Pension/Investment/Fund Managers. In these times of trouble (worse since the depression), a strong leadership and a steady hand is required. Mr. Paulson is certainly not that. Had it not been for the leadership of Mr. Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister to inject funds into banks through preferred shares, Mr. Paulson would still have been deciding on what to do wioth the bailout money.

Besides, why are a couple of investment bankers from Goldman Sachs running the Treasury? Aren't the Investment Bankers the real culprits of this financial fiasco, producing fancy derivatives which are now sinking the entire financial system. They have walked away with millions of dollars from their previous jobs and are now running the same ship that they helped sink in the first place.

Mr. Paulson, please resign and go already and take the other investment bankers in Treasury with you. You will do the world a great favor by quitting. As you know the new Administration does not take over until January 20, which is two months away. If you don't resign and handover to a neutral person, it may be a little too late for the new Administration to salvage the situation.

Regarding the e-mail virus: I got a phishing email the other day claiming to be from the IRS. Which in this case actually stands for International Rumanian Spammers. I did not click through, but watch out for that one!

I was never gung-ho Olberman, but after the rabid calisthenics were getting from the OMGHeDidn'tVote11!!!!11!! toad, Ol' Keith is starting to look pretty good.

What's up with all these Senators being drafted? LEAVE THE SENATORS IN THE SENATE - WE NEED A DEMOCRATIC SENATE!!!
Mr. Obama ran on 'CHANGE'. Good NOW: GET SOME CHANGE INTO OUR GOVERNMENT - don't just resurrect the same ol', same ol'! Look for qualified people outside of Big Government, and bring back "Government BY the People, FOR the People and OF the People'!

[Holds envelope to forehaid]

What GOP America would look like?

[opens envelope
"A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather..."

Senator Clinton for Secretary of State? Is this like a rerun of Senator Clinton for VP? I agree with Yeswecan - leave the Democratic senators in the Senate. They can't be the only politicians Obama knows?

Obama is not in office yet and I think its a mistake to start all this judging before the 100 days has even began.

I really love Maddow's show--she keeps out-doing herself. Today's show was awesome, replete with her commentary re: Joe Leiberman.

Maddow is clearly a true-blue passionate Political Scientist who does her homework and has her heart in this work.

She is not just engaging with a commanding presence as Olbermann has--but she has a grasp of both content of policy as well as all the layers of complicated process. And she loves the work--it just shows.

The combination of attention to both process and content as well as compelling presence is amazingly refreshing to behold, and I suspect she will go far.

As opposed to Olbermann, who is clearly just reading with gusto from a prompter and gets paid a shit-load of money for the same.

I gotta admit though, he did pave the road for Maddow--and for that I will never forget. I think that was the better part of him that kinda knew Rachel is the real deal and that he owed this to all of us.

I'd like to think so, anyway..

Looks like Hillary Clinton may indeed be our next Secretary of State. Wow. I think Steve may be right--I think she may prove to be very helpful for our country in that regard. It's just weird, though. But perhaps a very good thing.

I like Hillary as a justice on the Supreme Court. I believe she's a liberal at heart, and with the complete freedom that the justices have, she'll shine for decades to come, and be overshadowed by no one, including Bill, the best Republican president since Eisenhower.

Failing that, she should remain in the Senate, and become the champion of universal health insurance.

I think she'd be fine too, but what about Wes Clark? How come I never hear his name mentioned in conjunction with Secretary of State, a position for which he is absurdly well qualified?

Hey, I like Olbermann and watch his show religiously. But now that I know he is a hypocrite. Wow. I guess I flip on O'Reilly. I am so glad someone who is not a concern troll or Bill O' himself is on this forum warning us away very subtley. VERY subtley.

I wish Obama did not smoke, incidentally. It does him no credit there. That is a health risk we don't need from him.

This virus that Steve mentioned is not just about UPS - as the Snopes article points out, it is "commonly-used items". I had an e-mail this evening from ATT that was labeled "questionairre about your ATT service". I looked at the sending address and it was not an ATT address, so I dumped it (but a person not familiar with ATT addresses might have thought that "att@att.online.com" was official - for the record it isn't.

As UPS says, none of these companies send attachments with their notices.

Remind me again: why do we need Obama to run a Clinton administration?

Bailout Mania:

I don't often find myself agreeing with David Brooks, but sometimes he sounds like a Socialist. Here is part of what he said in his column against the bailout of the auto companies:

"It is all a reminder that the biggest threat to a healthy economy is not the socialists of campaign lore. It’s C.E.O.’s. It’s politically powerful crony capitalists who use their influence to create a stagnant corporate welfare state."

I wish Obama did not smoke, incidentally. It does him no credit there. That is a health risk we don't need from him.

O my. Well, I'm quite sure he wishes that too. In fact, I'm certain that there's millions of us out here still who wish it wasn't a major fact about ourselves but it is. Me? That would be a good 40 years now. I grew up in tobacco. Literally. And I have to tell you, the condemnation of people like me and President-elect Obama, or the condemnation of anyone with an addiction issue is just plain cruel and serves no one. Guilt never cures addiction.

Perhaps you could go to change.gov and suggest that Barack help us all recovering from nicotine addiction by funding the science needed to finally remedy this painful legacy.

Just saying...

And finally, Barack Obama collects comics? I knew I liked him.

Yeah, but does he play "Call of Duty?"

Now my mother has another reason to like Obama...comics.

She has a hidden room in her house where 100s of comics reside. They are not collectables but her grandchildren and sundry others spend hours in this room, known as the "Reading Room", reading old comics. Her favorites are Classics Illustrated, but you can find old Supermans, Batmans, Mad, Disney, etc.

Elsewhere in the house are real books, in the thousands, but the Reading Room is a place where comics rule!

Wonder how many learned more about "A Tale of Two Cities" by reading Classic Comics at the news section of a drug store, than in any library?

Ah, "Les Miserables", or "The Count..." as well.

Then, one could spend more time on Terhune and collies at the library.

"For the record, I think Hillary Clinton would make an excellent choice for Secretary of State."

For the record, on this I think you are full of crap!