 |
 |
   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.
|
   |
|
|
June 4, 2009
THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * If you missed President Obama's speech in Cairo this morning, and wanted to watch it in its entirety, it's online. * Busted: "The government is charging Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, and two other company executives with civil fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday afternoon that its case also accused Mr. Mozilo of illegal insider trading." * Sonia Sotomayor finished the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionnaire in record time. Bonus points for turning it in early? * A court has ordered South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) to take $700 million in stimulus money, whether he wants it or not. * Immigration reform this year? * President Obama's policy towards Israel is being undermined by lawmakers in his own party. * How dishonest is Liz Cheney's political analysis? She's willing to say things Dick Cheney has already rejected. * Ezra explains, "The toxic loans portion of Tim Geithner's Public Private Investment Program looks to be officially dead." * Harold Koh's nomination isn't going anywhere for a while thanks to an anonymous hold. * Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) makes children cry. * House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) believes the PMA Group controversy deserves more scrutiny. * Good move for transparency: "The House will begin posting representatives' expense reports online, giving the public easy access to records of the millions of dollars lawmakers spend on staff and items such as catering, cars, computers and TVs." * Karl Rove thinks the health of the economy will affect the president's popular support. He's quite a genius, you know. * I had no idea I have a page on IMDB. No Wiki page, though. * The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin walks back his anti-union remarks. * And congrats to my friend Rachel Maddow on her nomination for a Television Critics' Association Award. Note, her show is the only prime-time cable talk show to get a nomination. Well deserved. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread. —Steve Benen 5:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (29)Comments
I really don't think Sorkin's reply was much of a walk back. With his "literally no" remark, he's still suggesting that his point was largely true. And he's hiding behind the "it's fair to question" ruse to hide the fact that he thinks unions are a bad idea. In essence, his "apology" serves to attack his opponents for nitpicking and for trying to stifle debate; and thinks his general point was still correct. There was no apology or walk back here. Posted by: Doctor Biobrain on June 4, 2009 at 5:33 PM | PERMALINKAnd congrats to my friend Rachel Maddow on her nomination for a Television Critics' Association Award. Note, her show is the only prime-time cable talk show to get a nomination. Well deserved. *********************************************** Chris Matthews was just spotted at the local 7/11 requesting an emergency supply of DEPENDS Posted by: stormskies on June 4, 2009 at 5:34 PM | PERMALINKIt would be nice if immigration reform included passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). Posted by: Michael W on June 4, 2009 at 5:35 PM | PERMALINKHurray for Rachel. She deserves any award available. And Hurray for Steve for being her guest from time to time! Posted by: Evergreen2U on June 4, 2009 at 5:37 PM | PERMALINKAargh, I should have clicked through to the rest of the articles to see the Sessions item first. Oh, well. ;) Steve, IMDB is VERY thorough. Still, maybe you or your documentarian could flesh out the details a little bit?? Rachel, yay! And Steve, congrats on your movie star status. If it's on the internets, it must be true. :-) Posted by: Frak on June 4, 2009 at 5:46 PM | PERMALINKCongrats to Steve for his top 10 ranking in Wikio's 100 top political blogs: http://www.wikio.com/blogs/top/politics Take THAT Daily Kos! Posted by: TG Chicago on June 4, 2009 at 5:47 PM | PERMALINKI wish someone had said, "Enough with the hystrionics" when Samual Alito's wife welled up at his confirmation hearing. For those who don't click on the links, that's what Sessions said when a child started crying. Posted by: Danp on June 4, 2009 at 5:51 PM | PERMALINKFirst, yay Rachel, I hope you win. Steve Benen More at IMDbPro » -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Filmography Self: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored Links (What's This?) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- mhr - What would you know about the real world? Posted by: Danp on June 4, 2009 at 6:58 PM | PERMALINKDoes AIPAC hand out crack or something? Obama tells Israel to stop growing their illegal settlements in the West Bank and democratic congressmen just can't stand it and are ready to revolt. Unbelievable how in bed both parties are to the israeli lobby. Posted by: exhuming mccarthy on June 4, 2009 at 7:07 PM | PERMALINKScience reveals that conservatives are more easily disgusted, http://www.livescience.com/culture/090604-conservative-disgust.html Posted by: alan on June 4, 2009 at 7:18 PM | PERMALINKObama Cairo speech philosophically, historically, culturally wrong. The president's error is in attributing "Islam" to the accomplishments of the Arab world of a thousand years ago. The president couldn't be more wrong. http://charlottecapitalist.blogspot.com/2009/06/united-states-of-america-and-islam-have.html Posted by: Charlotte Capitalist on June 4, 2009 at 7:21 PM | PERMALINK"The government is charging Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, and two other company executives with civil fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday afternoon that its case also accused Mr. Mozilo of illegal insider trading." Does this mean that Republicans will finally stop blaming individual homeowners and only homeowners for the implosion of the housing market and start blaming some of the greedy mortgage brokers and banks for the mess? I know, dumb question. Posted by: Mnemosyne on June 4, 2009 at 7:25 PM | PERMALINK. * Sonia Sotomayor finished the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionnaire in record time. -- Steve Benen Show off. What's the rush? It's not as if we're going to do anything about it until September, anyway. Typical of her race; can't get used to the fact she's no longer being paid per finished shirt or per bushel of picked strawberries. Bet it's a shoddy piece of work, too, especially if she had hurried through it without the help of those English grammar books of hers... Bonus points??? You have to be kidding. That'll do, for starters. Now I have to go and wash out my brain; channelling Repubs is easy, but nausea-inducing. Posted by: exlibra on June 4, 2009 at 8:11 PM | PERMALINKUnbelievable how in bed both parties are to the israeli lobby. Could this really mean that the Money Party is in bed with the Israeli lobby? Posted by: anonymous on June 4, 2009 at 8:14 PM | PERMALINK>"Does AIPAC hand out crack or something? " No, the israeli lobby has something better than Crack. They hand out massive amounts of money... and savagely target anyone who doesn't toe the line. Remember that these folks were able to get a commercial pulled from national TV simply because Rachel Ray wore a checkered scarf. Out of the memory hole... in the early days of the Bush II regime, George made a few noises about a new 'even handed' peace initiative in the mideast. 'The phone call' must have come within hours... the next morning the initiative was dead... actually, more that that, it was as though it never existed. Power, hideous power. Posted by: Buford on June 4, 2009 at 8:29 PM | PERMALINK* I had no idea I have a page on IMDB. No Wiki page, though. I have an IMDB page under my real name. (I work in animation.) But I was suprised to find I had a page on the Turner Classic Movies site, and on the NY Times site. They're blank, just my name, no actual credits. But still... Posted by: Roddy McCorley on June 4, 2009 at 9:04 PM | PERMALINKWiki has been started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Benen jkb Posted by: Jason Broccardo on June 4, 2009 at 9:09 PM | PERMALINKPretty much everyone who has ever been in the credits of anything that has ever been put onto film, video, or an mpeg is in IMDB. I have a friend who has a page because she made some costumes for a friend's senior thesis movie. That'll do, for starters. Now I have to go and wash out my brain; channelling Repubs is easy, but nausea-inducing. I just figured it must be Talk Like A Gingrich Day. "The toxic loans portion of Tim Geithner's Public Private Investment Program looks to be officially dead." I never figured how that was supposed to work, other than a as politically necessary but realistically doomed first step to take before biting the damn bullet and putting insolvent banks into receivership. Have to say I listen to Rachel Maddow nightly, and remain impressed, Regarding Liz Cheney: Another comment, at my own risk. WTF? Actual gun worship, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/04/kentucky-pastor-invites-p_n_211498.html A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment. New Bethel Church is welcoming "responsible handgun owners" to wear their firearms inside the church June 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety. "We're just going to celebrate the upcoming theme of the birth of our nation," said pastor Ken Pagano. "And we're not ashamed to say that there was a strong belief in God and firearms _ without that this country wouldn't be here." Posted by: alan on June 4, 2009 at 10:29 PM | PERMALINKRe: Rachel 
November 2009
October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 |
|
|
    |
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
