Congrats!

Steve - Congrats and keep up the great work!

"Whether you've been reading for six days or six years, my most sincere thanks for the support."

You are welcome. But the thanks goes to you.

You do a very nice job. I appreciate it. Been a reader for 2-3 years.

At first glance I thought you wrote BLAGOversary and spent a couple seconds trying to figure out who you might have tried to hit up for money and what authority you thought you had to appoint a senator anyway ;-P

Anyway, congrats, Steve. Good work.

Congrats, Steve (if I may join the chorus). What you failed to mention is that you did 12 years of work during those six. Best wishes for a long run.

I was a little worried when Kevin left for Mother Jones. I shouldn't have been. Thank you and congratulations!

6 years ago today?

So you were yet another blogger who got involved because of the craziness in the lead up to the war, eh?

Man those were crazy times. I guess the side benefit is that it caused the left to finally organize, and with a serious vengance.

Was it only 6 years ago that you could post comments on Daily Kos without logging in, reading Billmon and Guillard (r.i.p.) as his only guest posters? A different world. Any Kos post that got over 20 haloscan comments (yes, he used Haloscan then) was considered a big discussion. 100 comments was unheard of.

Atrios (still anonymous) was a bigger name back then than anyone else on the left, probably due to Krugman's reference. But unlike Kos or TPM, he didn't turn his site into a franchise. And unlike Kevin Drum (a.k.a. Calpundit) he didn't run off to join a bigger organization.

Congrats and thanks, Steve! Here's to many more successful years!

That's like half a century in dog years. Congratulations!

Happy blogoversary. 15 posts are a pretty impressive way to celebrate it.

doubtful - I haven't heard from Sen Byrd's office yet, but I think I found the answer about the quorum calls. Normally if someone "suggests absence of a quorum", the presiding officer must do the roll call to verify a quorum. Once that is done the next Senator gets to speak. However, the rules change after a cloture vote of 60 is achieved. At that point, the presiding officer can merely look into the well of the Senate and declare a quorum is present.

The long and short of it is that if you don't have the sixty votes, you can't stop discussion. But the minority has no particular incentive to stall the cloture vote either. After a cloture vote fails, however, if the majority leader decides to make the minority continue debate, they can merely alternate quorum calls with trivial statements. It's a nuisance to both majority and minority Sens, because they have to maintain enough members to support the quorum.

Now if Byrd's office tells me something different, I'll let you know.

Cool,

Thanks for mentioning Steve Gilliard. Miss that dude a lot. He was a good man and I really enjoyed reading him.

What a damn shame he didn't get to see Obama elected President.

Yes, congrats, Steve. I've been reading you for years now and, although I haven't commented much since the election, I am still here, reading.

Saying this is my first Internet stop of the day isn't enough -- it's my first, fifth, tenth and fifteenth. I have no idea how you do it, but you're a blogging machine.

I found you a couple of years ag when you were guesting on TPM, and since then you've been number one on my blogroll.

Thanks for all the hard work. I don't comment much, but I appreciate it every day.

No, thank you! - I appreciate your work.

You provide a lot of information I normally wouldn't come across. And the occasional humor is also greatly appreciated!

Happy Anniversary!

(Geez, that Santelli's a tool).

Karl Rove didn't show up for today's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the U.S. Attorney purge scandal.

So let's see if Obama's Justice Department is more willing to enforce a contempt of Congress citation.

Believe it or not, I just realized that Rick Santelli works for CNBC. Having seen the clip, I honestly believed he was some crackpot trader who had been given a mic or something. Wow. That really makes his goofball rant all the more embarrassing.

That wasn't even up to the standards of a Bill O'Reilly or even John Gibson. At least they sound like they might have a reasonably intelligent point. Santelli just sounded like one of the millions of drunken ranters you hear at bars who don't realize why O'Reilly and Limbaugh get paid the big bucks. It really takes a certain knack to spout off imbecilic rants without sounding like a complete imbecile. Santelli does NOT have that knack.

Hardest working person in the blogosphere. Congratulations!

Congrats Steve on the anniversary blogging on the Internets!

Open question here for this open thread...a friend of mine said he stayed on the phone quite a while today getting his student loans straightened out and that several of his classmates have been told by the finanical aid folks at the university that "because of the stimulus package" they are not able to get their loans right now. Does this even sound right? Can someone shed some light on why they might be saying this as a way of blaming Obama for something when it's probably urban legend?

Sell off equities, stop purchasing autos, let the mortgage foreclose and withdraw deposits to punish Santelli and the capitalist dictatorship he represents. It is the only way to remove non-value added waste from the economy, since the politicians have abdicated their power to the banksters.

Congrats, Steve!

However, I'm still depressed when I read about Rove ducking out on another inquiry and the Obama DOJ once again looking just like the Bushies.

Re Chris Wallace's asinine remarks about Holder, the question does arise who stole the cheap shot about the Rich pardon from whom? Did Wallace steal it from Mo Dowd or vice versa? In either case, it's both stupid and irrelevant; the issues about the Rich pardon had nothing to do with courage on matters of race, and it's the typical "nyah nyah" response from overgrown adolescents who don't like to hear accurate criticism of their own racial attitudes. In this case, we have a perfect demonstration of the closed loop of mindless talking points within the mindless beltway elite.

You're the best, Steve. Keep up the good work.

Six years! Way to go!

While it's a new medium, it's also a long time given how difficult it is to be "successful" in it.

If your sucess is ranked by the amount of time I've spent reading either Carpetbagger or WM, then you are a smashing success.

Likewise, if your success is measured by my ability to refute right-wing talking points with truth, then again, BIG BIG success.

Keep it up Steve!

ORANGE

Homer

Re Rove: I wish there were more vaginas in the Congress. Maybe, if there were, the limp boys on both sides of the aisles would be inspired to rise to the occasion. I expect Rove to continue to slide with the blessing of the White House. Let's not make anyone responsible for past acts. It might make someone upset.

Happy 6th Blogoversary, Steven! I've been reading your blogs now for the last few years. Thanks for being such a reliable source to find what is happening in the political spectrum. :) Peace, brother!

* I can't quite figure out the rationale for this: "The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails."

Probably because it's a bit of a waste of money now, and they're not any better in a position of recovering them. The crooks got away with the crime already... It's time to charge those responsible with the crime instead.

A little redundant by now, but thanks for getting the word out for 6 years. I started reading the Carpetbagger Report at roughly that time I think.

Anyway, I have to say that out of all the sites I visit a day yours is almost always ahead of the pack in breaking news.

it's hard to believe it's been six years, although sometimes it feels like 100.

thank you, steve benen, and hilzoy, for making political animal the best place to come for breaking news and analysis.

in re rove: i'm buying a bottle of champagne when he ends up in jail on contempt.

Wow--you've been at this for six years????????

Now that's what I call dedication--especially as you say, it was relatively new six years ago!

So happy I learned of you about 8 months ago from Maddow's Air America program! (Hey, I think you're due for an appearance on her cable show--you did a great job with that medium too!).

I really hope you keep doing this fantastic blog, Steve--it's my daily sanity. For real.

* I can't quite figure out the rationale for this: "The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails."

There is a hole under the now shuttered outhouse known as Shrubworld and it is filled with stuff so vile and disreputable that if it was really set free it would suck all of the energy out of everything except endless accusation and denial.

There is too much on the line and Obama is walking a tightrope just to move the essentials forward that are needed to keep us from sinking financially. Bipartisanship is a hollow hope but if the door to the outhouse is pried off and the demons fly out, everything will really go to hell.

All of the Cheneybots, (Shrubwit included in that group), should rot in jail, but it ain't gonna happen because the nastiness is so profound it can't be stirred up.

________________________________________________

Congrats to you Mr. Benen/Carpetbagger, you Political Animal you. I was just thinking the other day about your ability to keep writing multitudinous great posts after all the information you've put out year after year. I've been reading you since close to the beginning and it's made the evolution of the political blogosphere that much more interesting to be able to keep close tabs on your rise to the top.

What you've accomplished is really impressive.

New Haven, Conn's newspaper ownership company also filed Chapter 11.

* I can't quite figure out the rationale for this: "The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails."

It's one thing to dedicate no effort towards obtaining valuable information for prosecuting crimes against the nation, but FIGHTING IT?

How low has Bush set the bar that this doesn't have me furious? Why am I still so weary? When will this kind of thing piss me off again?
Not good. The good guys are in charge and I'm still expecting so little.

I started reading blogs, here at Political Animal when Kevin Drum was at the helm. It didn't take long before I followed a link to Carpetbagger Report and I became a regular reader there, as well. Your blogs have been a must read for me because you cover just about everything that's happening in the political sphere. Thanks for keeping me well informed and happy blogoversary to the iron blogger!

"Too big to fail," said the dinosaurs to the mammals...

From page story in the NYTimes today had these two paragraphs in it:

Bank shares were pummeled last week, partly because of rumors that the government might nationalize some of the banks. Officials consider many of the top 20 banks “too big to fail.�

And then later on, a return to the same phrase waltzing in quotes:

Administration officials have tried to make that point, but they have stopped short of making absolute declarations — probably because many industry analysts say some banks that are “too big to fail� may well be too feeble to stand on their own.

I am glad reporter Andrews threw quotes around the adage. That is a start. The phrase needs to be dragged out of the conventional wisdom closet and given some harsh sunlight. When does “too big to fail� become “too big for taxpayers to shoulder�?

Jon Talton starts to scratch that itch with this post: GM and Chrysler: Hasta la vista, baby.

Congrats Steve! (I can't believe that I've been reading you daily for that long. Time sure does fly...)

Happy Anniversary.

In Dr. Seuss style:
I followed you here,
I'll follow you there,
I will follow you anywhere.

Congrats, Steve! You are one person (of very few) I read daily; you go above and beyond the call of fairness, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, I'm guessing.

Re Rove: I will throw a big party (something I don't usually enjoy) if and when he ends up in an orange jumpsuit. Jonathan Turley is now talking about him on Rachel's (Rachel-less tonight, feel better soon Rachel!) show now. Turley says Congress must tell Rove he's got to cooperate, that he has no legal claim to blow them off.

Turley also says that the Obama admin is carrying a lot of water for the Bush admin and is distressed by it.

Re that CNBC guy: Apparently some people have been spurred on to hold "Tea Parties" in the mold of the famous one in Boston to protest the mortgage bailout. Contessa Brewer on MSNBC got one of these people on the line this morning and asked whether this woman's neighborhood was suffering lower values, neglected properties, etc. from vacant, foreclosed homes. She said no, the banks keep them looking nice. Which didn't answer anything about the value of her home (she probably has no idea her home value has dropped). Contessa then asked her what her solution would be to the foreclosure problem. Her answer: The markets will take care of it. Un-freaking-believable. Most likely a Rush devotee.

Congratulations on the six years! I've read almost every post you've done in the past two. I love having my news delivered in small chunks of well-written commentary, not too long-winded and with clever insight & sense of humor.

Congratulations, both on your long term anniversary and your recent work with the Washington Monthly. The pleasure and gratitude is as much ours as it is yours.
You seem to be on 7 days a week. Pace yourself, man, we don't want you to burn out.
Best Wishes
David Chisholm

Where is this "do-over" talk coming from?

Probably anonymous sources in the GOP higher-ups who are funding the obstruct-Franken effort.

A week or so ago, the "chief political corrspondent" (or something) for Politico was on my local radio station proclaiming "we'll probably never know who really won. Trying to lay the groundwork for a Gore-in-2000 propaganda line that, despite the fact that they don't have the law or the evidence on their side, the honorable thing would be for Franken to concede and spare us all this trouble.

Because the Village always believes that Republicans are honorable if they fight to the end, and Democrats are honorable if they give in to Republican demands.

(Congrats on the blogoversary, too!)

Hannah -- apparently Malkin's the one who's pushing the "Tea Party" idea. Jesse Taylor at Pandagon covered her "Tea Party" instructions quite effectively:

Notice that at no point do they actually tell you what to protest or how to protest it, but whatever the hell it is you say, it’ll be in BIG LETTERS.

Sounds like a pretty good description of the woman you heard, eh?

For anyone interested, I wrote about the Santelli-Gibbs threat here:
Nihilist Thuggery, Obama Style

Obama is laying the smack down, people. The Santelli's of the world need to realize there is a price to pay for heroism.

Happy Anniversary Steve. Never missed the Carpetbagger, and now Political Animal. Loved seeing you on Rachel. You are a gem and you are so appreciated! I look to you for some semblance of sanity and you always deliver. Thanks so much.

Thank you for all of your hard work, Steve. Six years on and you're still coming up with the gems.

You do very good work spending a whole lot of time on it, so thank you!

To Steve Benen, congratulations on your success. I read Political Animal every day.

* I can't quite figure out the rationale for this: "The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails."

Going back at least as far as his FISA reconsideration, Obama has been protecting White House and Executive Branch powers. It doesn't imply he'll never do anything effective, but he wants (and his staff wants) White House/Executive Branch control over the process. Most presidents have preserved and extended as much executive power as they could.

In the last six years, the mighty newspaper industry has come crashing down, news magazines have lost gobs of circulation and Steve Benen turned a small blog into the go-to spot in the internets for political news. Coincidence? I think not.

Happy blogoversary, Steve! I hope you realize how much we appreciate you. I wish my virtual cantina were a real one so I could treat you and the readers here to a proper celebration!

Yours is the first blog I pull up, every day without fail (although, y'know, what with Neil deGrasse Tyson in town, I was a little late today!). You and Hilzoy do incredible work. You and Glenn Greenwald were the first bloggers who showed me just how powerful and informative this medium is, and you honed the political appetite that had been whetted by the Daily Show and Colbert Report. I'll never be able to thank you enough.

Salud, amigo!

Congrats, Steve. I'm a long-time reader and a fan.

ORANGE

Steve,
You've been indispensable for me for at least the last four years. Keep doing what you do.
D

Steve,

I also appreciate your work. I hope that you can become more and more 'mainstream.' I've been a reader of your blogs for about 1-2 years. Not long enough to understand what ORANGE is or AGENT ORANGE (whatever that is).

I also think you should be as frequent a visitor on Rachel Maddow's show (or Keith's) as Ana Marie Cox. Maybe they could fly you out there a few times a month or something.