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   Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gnter Grass still thinks reunification was a bad idea.
 Forty years of writing from Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Katherine Boo, Marjorie Williams, Joshua Micah Marshall, and more.
 With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.
 The best recent memoir from republican Washington is a hoax. That should tell you something.
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January 27, 2009
TUESDAY'S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP....Today's installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn't generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers. * Norm Coleman's lawsuit got off to a bad start yesterday in Minnesota: "It's not a good day when the court throws out your evidence and tells your legal team to submit it all over again." * The race for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee is getting increasingly ugly. Some anonymous activists sent around a parodied USA Today cover, mocking the reactions if South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson wins the contest. One grammatically-challenged headline read, "RNC Chooses White's Only Chairman." Dawson rival Michael Steele, meanwhile, is under attack from the religious right. * As expected, Florida state senator Dan Gelber (D) announced yesterday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. He's the second Democrat to enter the open-seat contest, following Rep. Kendrick Meek. * Despite pressure from his Republican colleagues to retire, Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning (R) said yesterday that he intends to run for re-election. In the same conversation, Bunning had no idea that Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (D) had already announced his campaign against him, saying, "I've been very busy." * Former President Bill Clinton hosted a fundraiser last week for Terry McAuliffe's gubernatorial campaign in Virginia. * Colorado Attorney General John Suthers (R) was widely expected to be a leading candidate for the Senate in 2010, but he announced yesterday that he's not running. Former Rep. Scott McInnis (R) will also skip the race, though he's likely to run for governor. * Kirsten Gillibrand will be sworn in as New York's junior senator in about a half-hour. She has already begun campaigning for her 2010 race. —Steve Benen 12:00 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (10)Comments
"It's not a good day when the court throws out your evidence and tells your legal team to submit it all over again." That's true only if you're trying to win the court case: For Coleman, on the other hand, each day that Franken can be blocked from taking his Senate seat is a good day. Posted by: scott_m on January 27, 2009 at 12:03 PM | PERMALINKAn interesting line in the draft stimulus bill (h/t Ed Brayton and David Weigel): Not sure if this is wise, or even Constitutional -- a number of Ed's commenters raised the question of 'bill of attainder.' But there is an evil part of me that is smiling. I don't understand how Jim Bunning continues to be allowed to serve as Sen. from KY. There are so many instances of his erratic behavior and speech that indicate that he is seriously disturbed, either mentally or emotionally. Isn't there anyone in power who is willing to say this and move for his removal as unqualified to serve? I am not being facetious or making fun of him. There seems to be a reluctance to speak the obvious truth, even when people's lives and welfare are threatened. We incarcerate people who act erratically in public for public drunkenness, as being under the influence of substances, legal or illegal or for mental instability. How is Sen. Bunning any different? Power is an interesting phenomenon: it seems to insulate one from practical actions that diminish that power. And, the powerful seem to want to avoid such action, for fear it may, at some time, be used against them. We have a broken system that allows power to abuse those with less power and fails to respond proactively to such abuse. Any response or solutions? I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation " The race for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee is getting increasingly ugly." Raises an interesting question of grammar/logic: Is it possible for something to get "increasingly ugly" if it's maximally ugly to begin with? It was only a local maximum. Posted by: freelunch on January 27, 2009 at 2:13 PM | PERMALINKfreelunch:"It was only a local maximum." aah, mathematically literate commenters! Posted by: arnold on January 27, 2009 at 2:33 PM | PERMALINKIt was only a local maximum. Beautiful. Posted by: shortstop on January 27, 2009 at 3:26 PM | PERMALINKGillibrand and McAuliffe would appear to represent continued strength in the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party. It will be interesting to see how they fare in 2010 - especially in Virginia, where Obama had such a large force on the ground. Posted by: Rachel Q on January 27, 2009 at 5:17 PM | PERMALINKAs a VA "carpetbagger" who moved from New England in 1968 as a kid, McAuliffe simply hasn't taken the time to build the bridges required to run for office in the state. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine succeed despite being born out of state by working in the trenches in local politics for years. McAuliffe OTA went state shopping rejecting runs for the governor of NY and Florida before deciding on VA. Living in Mclean since the begining of Clinton's first term does not count towards one's VA bonefides! Hell, I always assumed he lived in DC or Maryland all these years. I've never ever seen him at a local political event let alone a JJ dinner in Richmond. Posted by: HokieAnnie on January 27, 2009 at 7:34 PM | PERMALINKmarg8 @ TPM had the funniest analysis: It seems the court is essentially saying to Coleman's lawyers "keep digging fellas, the grave has to be 6' deep."Posted by: bruno on January 27, 2009 at 10:25 PM | PERMALINK Post a comment
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