Birfer major just lost his civilian gig too.

Let's hear it, 1 -2 -3 AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Cornyn didn't disavow the filibuster out of kindness, but because he knows he can't get anywhere close to 40.

"Cornyn, however, still doesn't understand the basics of the Ricci case"

Show me any RightWinger that DOES.

And a caller challenged Glenn Beck today on health-care policy. His on-air breakdown was pretty extraordinary, even for him.

Nah, that wasn't a breakdown, Steve. That's just part of doughypant's schtick.

From my National Review Cruise journal
Days 7 and 8 - Ephesus and Athens

Candy lost her diamond evening watch on Monday night. As I had given it to her in congratulations for her augmentation we were both very upset. The room steward completely overreacted when I asked him if he had taken it. I have traveled extensively and stayed in top hotels and I speak from long experience when I say that the best-trained service personnel are the ones who learn not to show their emotions at the drop of a hat.

In spite of this the service on board has been fairly good. I had to speak sharply to a waiter who bumped my gouty toe while bringing me a second helping of crème brulee. Otherwise I have no complaints.

By Tuesday morning we were out of Christendom and had sailed into dangerous waters. Many on board wondered why NR had not asked the cruiseline to change its usual eastern Med itinerary to avoid the radical Muslim country of Turkey. Monday night the talk among the passengers was that most were afraid to disembark in Izmir.

Candy and I were signed up for a tour but when we arrived on the dock we found that eight of the buses were being driven by menacing-looking Turks and one by an American expatriate. All the passengers stampeded the American’s bus and no one would get on any of the others. Seeing women in headscarves walking around us was the last straw for me. This is what we have to look forward to in American cities if the left has its way in imitating the “social democracies" of western Europe. We got back on the ship, me first suggesting that Candy gently approach some of these women to talk about the freedom available to their sisters in the Christian west. She was very hesitant to do this despite my explaining to her that these women would be grateful for the information. I was annoyed at her reticence but am thankful to have a wife who does not always need to be the center of attention.

One of my Tuesday lunches disagreed with me and I spent the rest of the day and evening napping and watching movies in the cabin. Candy reported with relief that Sergei had found her watch. Not sure why she should have taken it off in the casino but sometimes she gets very distracted during a good game of seven-card stud. I considered informing the cabin steward that the watch had been found but was not disposed to talk to him after his conduct of this morning. I fell asleep early after a room service dinner of soup, salad, entrée, rolls and cheese plate. No appetizer and no dessert as my tummy was too rocky.

Athens today. I had eagerly awaited seeing the city in which so many of my favorite historical romances are set but was not prepared for the Parthenon to be in such pathetic shape. It really cannot be that hard to rebuild a pillar, even the Corinthian kind. Plaka was all dark and narrow streets full of stray dogs who made me miss my coonhound, Marlboro Man, even more. Although I prefer French wines I enjoyed hoisting a few glasses of ouzo at Bretto's with Peggy Noonan, whose language in reference to Governor Palin got exceptionally salty as the afternoon wore on. Someday women may learn how unbecoming sexual jealousy really is.

The rumor as we sailed out of Piraeus was that Dick Morris had not returned to the ship. Apparently he was detained by authorities following an attempted business transaction with an Athenian lady. We only hope he didn’t talk details of Republican strategy with her.

A wonderful dinner slightly marred by noise from the few children on board. Vito Fossella has brought both his families on the cruise and his kids can be seen playing happily with crew members assigned full time to them. Tonight’s production is Let Freedom Ka-Ching: Salute to the American Corporation. Rich Lowry plans to stay for both shows!

Boy, was I pissed off today listening to Norah "Moron" O'Donnell on MSNBC this morning.

She was talking about Tom Coburn's questions regarding abortion and she referred to a 20 week FETUS as a "20 week old BABY".

She did it at least twice.

Get your terms right, Moron. A 20 week fetus is NOT the same as a 20 week baby.

The caller that caused Glenn Beck's head to explode mentioned healthcare in France, so I went and found an article which talks about the cost per person of healthcare there which describes the differences and similarities between American and French, and other, healthcare schemes, but the money quote, as it were:

But it is not as expensive as the U.S. system, which is the world's most costly. The United States spends about twice as much as France on health care. In 2005, U.S. spending came to $6,400 per person. In France, it was $3,300.

It's not a long article, and I encourage you all to take a look at it.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92419273

If only a senator had possessed the wit to invoke a line from The Godfather during the Alito hearings, or from Amos and Andy when Thomas was before the committee. That would have been good natured jesting par excellance.

Steve: "And a caller challenged Glenn Beck today on health-care policy. His on-air breakdown was pretty extraordinary, even for him. Pay particular attention to the high-pitched scream about three and a half minutes in. Wow."

I'll take your word for it. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not have to listen to that corpulent right-wing know-nothing.

Clinton gives a major address, and CNN has a headline: "Is Clinton being back-benched?"

Huntsman to Palin to Nixonland

Very good stuff.
The Times's Daniel Finkelstein on the eternal sophomores of the Republican Party:

Two weeks later Barack Obama announced that he had offered Governor Huntsman an appointment as Ambassador to China. And he had accepted.

Mr Huntsman’s decision is a tragedy for the Right in America. But it is the right decision for him. Because he correctly divined that there was no point him seeking the leadership of the Republican Party. For the Republican Party already has a leader. It is Sarah Palin.

I don’t mean by this that Mrs Palin will be the next Republican nominee for president. She may not even seek that job. I mean, instead, that Mrs Palin now symbolises her party, that it is what she is, that it stands for what she stands for.

There is no more eloquent statement of modern Republicanism than resigning office with time still on the clock. Mrs Palin has chosen to talk about power, rather than exercise it. She would rather write a book and give lectures about being a governor than actually be a governor. And her party has made the same choice.

It has cast itself, deliberately, as the opposition, the angry outsider, and it is more comfortable in this role than it is as the party of power. As Rick Perlstein describes in his book Nixonland, being the party of the angry outsider began as an election strategy.Richard Nixon wanted to mop up votes that went to urban machine “law-and-order” Democratic mayors such as Richard Daley in the North and populist rabble rousers such as the segregationist Democrat George Wallace in the South. Yet the anger of Nixon’s coalition has never quite left it, even after years of huge political success...

Myke K, you continue to amaze. Hubby and I were also disappointed with Athens. It's nothing like Rome. The only ancient ruins left are the Parthenon, the Acropolis, and the original city gates. To get any sense of the history of the country, you need to get outside of the city. Delphi was remarkable, though with your gout you might have trouble with the hike up. And the Isle of Delos is not to be missed. The Phallic statues lining the walkway into the city are phenomenal.

The Glen Beck thing was really scary. And I was just reckoning up the lies with each sentence he uttered.

Is there a new rule that only Catholics can be on the Supreme Court?

I do find it odd that Obama and Sotomayor didn't discuss abortion. Just because she is a woman and a moderate doesn't mean she supports Roe v Wade.

"...Mrs. Palin has chosen to talk about power, rather than exercise it...". quoted by koreyel @ 6:41 PM.
Oh, she wants to exercise power all right; it's the Federal, state and local laws that limit that exercising that don't suit her. Such petty limitations stifle her inner Czarina.

I checked out the story about the army major objecting to his deployment to Afghanistan because he doubted Obama's citizenship.

That article in turn linked to a McClatchy article, which was very informative.

Blue Girl also links to a Wingnutdaily article (worldnetdaily). So I read the wingnut article. Ok, I couldn't finish it, because it was a several page rehash of efforts to prove Obama is not an American citizen.

However, I noticed two very interesting things about the worldnetdaily article. All of the hyperlinks send you to either two categories of sites. One category of sites is just other worldnetdaily articles. The other category of hyperlinks sends you to websites where you can buy stuff. For instance they highlight the name of the company that the Major worked for. Is it a link to the company's website. NO. It is a link to Dun & Bradstreet. Another hyperlink in a sentence about the Defense Security Services, a purported arm of the DOD, does not send you to that agency, but to an internet security firm selling home security. When discussing how the private contractor is a closely held corporation, the link does not link you to information about the corporation but to a company that will help you incorporate.

So every link on the wingnutdaily page either tries to sell you something, or just circles back to another wingnutdaily article. No outside sourcing.

"Many on board wondered why NR had not asked the cruiseline to change its usual eastern Med itinerary to avoid the radical Muslim country of Turkey. Monday night the talk among the passengers was that most were afraid to disembark in Izmir."

I have to ask, are you being being serious here? What a bunch of idiots. Turkey is one the best countries I've visited. If you are afraid to go there, you are really missing out.

I really, really couldn't believe Coburn's Ricky Ricardo line. My lord, I sometimes feel like I'm watching a horrible old sitcom from the 50s when I watch Senate proceedings.

@ Myke K.. "As I had given it to her in congratulations for her augmentation we were both very upset." Augmentation?! lololol The voice in these pieces is *remarkably spot on. A book! There must be a book!

@fostert - The NR Cruise Journal is snark! :D

I really, really couldn't believe Coburn's Ricky Ricardo line. My lord, I sometimes feel like I'm watching a horrible old sitcom from the 50s when I watch Senate proceedings.

You ain't kidding. I put a fair amount of effort into Myke K only to be pwned by Coburn and Company. These people are beyond parody.

A passenger jet crashed in northwestern Iran this morning, killing all 168 passengers and crew.

Good to see the Panetta didn't cancel all of Cheney's secret projects....

"@fostert - The NR Cruise Journal is snark!"

Thanks, it's getting so hard to tell these days. I've had a several wingnuts tell me in detail all the supposed horrors of Turkey, and then I ask "ever been there?" The answer is always "no," but they still insist that they are more informed than I about Turkey's evilness. But in some sense, Turkey is the greatest threat to the wingnuts. Radicals are always most threatened by moderates.

Okay, I under estimated that punk wimp Myke K. talks about ethnic groups, but he's scared out of his mind of them.

Then the damn nerves to accuse someone of stealing something his damn wife pawned to keep gambling. Oh, I'm not surprised it's the same guy, Sergei.

He'd better hope they don't spit in his food/drinks, or worse.

Goes back to what I said before, he needs to stay in his own neck-of-the-woods if he has a problem with others. Stay in his own safety zone. Meaning stay in his "house."

And to say women are jealous of Palin! Pu-leez, She's no Diane Lane, Heather Locklear, Jacquelyn Smith, Angelina Jolie, Demi Moore.....

Jesus Christ Mike K give it up, no one gives a shit about your fucking cruise. Why don't you post on a conservative blog where you'll get what you want; accolades for your wannabe Bill Buckley diatribes.

Cook will not be court-martialed if it is true that a reserve soldier who volunteers for an active duty tour may ask for a revocation of orders up until the day he is scheduled to report for active duty. He's the one that volunteered to go to Afghanistan back in March. So he changed his mind; fine. No day in court, just no place in the reserve and no civvy job. How'd that work out for you, loser?

Fostert, you are spot on. Many people love Turkey. Yes, they know how to party in Turkey. So, no, they are not all muslim radicals. If that were the case, there'd be no alcohol, drugs, sex (you know what I mean about this), and partying.

Well, maybe that was the payback to people like Myke K in, I think it was Minnesota, where the muslim cab drivers refused to let anyone in their cabs that were drunk or had alcohol in their possession.

So every link on the wingnutdaily page either tries to sell you something, or just circles back to another wingnutdaily article.

Furthermore, pay attention to who advertises over there. There is a very good reason why fringe right-wing media like WorldNet Daily survives and thrives. The Wall Street elites pay for it.

Outrageous good eats in Turkey, by the bye. Ooo wee.

Heh, there are reports of "Big blobs of mystery goo floating off Alaska coast"!
See http://www.mcclatchydc.com/environment/story/71842.html.
Sarah, what are you up to?

Also, conservatives are griping over raising taxes on the wealthy, don't "punish success" etc. Well, they evade that many of the wealthy pay capital gains rates in large proportion to the amount they are taxed at income rates. If we really want to reward success, we can start by making sure no one does better by trading than by working to create new value directly.

BTW, did they ever run the cap gain rate back up, or will they? Why don't we hear more about tax rates, and BTW Steve I'd like you to discuss it more too.

doughypant's schtick.
doughy pantload is jonah goldberg, is beck getting that name too or were you confused?

Hey - Myke K is supposed to be a parody of Mike K, how come he/she goes to all that trouble and elaboration about something that shouldn't even be real?

Annjell, don't forget "Candy" is screwing Sergei. She misplaced that bracelet when she was bending over for the crew.
I love the attention to detail Myke K puts forth creating this BS.
I wish my family's stories about their rethug parties were nearly as entertaining.

Getting back to health care reform: Like I keep saying, the *net* cost of the plan isn't how much we pay for it (such as one T or 1.5 T, etc), but how much it costs relative to what we already have!
H-e-l-l-o-o .... Steve, remind everyone all the time!

"Yes, they know how to party in Turkey."

Especially in Kusadasi. On the first night, I made it back to the hotel at around 7AM, just in time to catch my bus to Ephesus. My head was totally pounding and who's the first first I meet? Randall Terry. That was a rough morning. That guy won't shut up. Fethiye is pretty fun, too.

Candy lost her diamond evening watch on Monday night. As I had given it to her in congratulations for her augmentation we were both very upset. -- Myke K, @ 17:56

(Mumbling to herself and hoping that Mark Foley continues to monopolise the onboard computer, so that Myke can't get to it..) What a *dumb broad* he has married; should have had her *brain* augmented, instead of her tits. Did she really think Myke wouldn't *notice* that her watch was missing? Doesn't she have anything less conspicuous? Or, even, cash? Not that I'm in favour of paying people to get laid; there's plenty of that to be had for free. OTOH, I don't expect a single man to perform the work of seven studs, either...

cartoon of Sotomayor - latinos outraged.

Apparently the cartoon was in a Oaklahoma newspaper.

www.syracuse.com/today/index.ssf/2009/06/latino_community_outraged_by_s.html

***The cartoon is supposed to have Sotomayor, Obama, and the GOP - you've got to see the cartoon, and see the artists reponse!!!

BTW just wanna say Myke K does great. I'm not complaining but curious - and know that spoiling mystery tends to be dopey and unlucky.

Oops, forgot, was Dick Morris detained for solicitation? hehehe!!!!

VMMeggs, Yes, we all know that Candy can bend it like Beckham!!!

But, I think either she was paying Sergei, or, she pawned her jewelry to get cash to gamble.

Fostert, I didn't want to say anything about this, but, they have Russian girls that have been trafficked into Turkey for sex, forced labor....

Glenn Beck looks like a furry white caterpillar that's been attacked and had all his fur shaved off.

"Fostert, I didn't want to say anything about this, but, they have Russian girls that have been trafficked into Turkey for sex, forced labor...."

Yes, just like every other country in the world. Think there aren't any Russian sex slaves in New York? Think again. Hell, they have Russian sex slaves in Bangkok. And there's no shortage of Burmese, Thai, Lao, Malay, and Khmer sex slaves there. What do they need Russians for? Don't know, but they have them. Sex trafficking is unfortunately a worldwide phenomenon.

my favorite bit about the birther skipping out on his assignment is that his lawyer's name is Orly. "My client is an unpatriotic douchebag? O RLY??"

Fostert, you definitely know a lot more than I do. Not meant as scarcasm, you really do know more.

I was just stressing the point that Myke K has no clue about certain people.

For example, if they were radical muslims, the Westerners would not be there, unless of course they were kidnapped by the muslims. They do look at Westerners as infidels.

Radical muslims would not be able to consume alcohol and definitely not use drugs.

Sex is a definite no-no.

You and I know that so-called radical countries, women can't have a drivers license, they can't eat in a restaurant unless its a family restaurant, a man cannot enter the home without another man already there, forget about unsupervised dates while unmarried.....

Hey, I heard from Brad DeLong (but I'm a notorious hopped up skimmer who looks at too much and gets some wrong) that Hilzoy was retiring from blogging. I didn't hear about it at WaMo. Well, sorry to see you go and your posts were interesting. We need wise [whatever you "are" ;-)] woman giving perspective, hope you dip in again some time/s.

Wait. They don't have pawn shops on cruise ships do they?

LOL. I am such a fucking idiot sometimes!!!! Too much acid for me in the early 1970s.

well, I'd guess you're an idiot from the right. For you buster, it's pronounced as in jail.

I wonder if and when the media is going to consider the possibility that the Governor from South Carolina is a stalker.
Perhaps when the woman they have been calling his mistress files for the restraining order, eh?

Exxon-Mobil is backing J. Craig Venter in his creation of higher-yielding algae for biofuels.

About the birther who thinks he should get out of his duty because he doesn't believe that Pres. Obama is a citizen. This is the same as refusing to deploy because you think the world is flat and you'll fall off the edge if they send you to Afghanistan. Glad to hear the creep lost his job because it required a security clearance which his little escapade lost him.

Beck seems to think that it says something that leaders of other countries come to the US for medical treatment, but what it says is that only the rich can afford treatment here. He ignored the fact that a lot more US citizens are going to India for surgery because they can't afford what it costs here. And he exaggerated beyond belief the number of prime ministers and other functionaries coming to the US.

I think that Myke's cruise is just a hoot!! I like the line about Dick Morris being detained by Athenian authorities after an attempted business transaction with an Athenian lady. Hope he didn't spill the Republican strategy.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Cha-ching. Nailed it. Three-point dagger. Run it back.

Texas Aggie:

About the birther who thinks he should get out of his duty because he doesn't believe that Pres. Obama is a citizen. This is the same as refusing to deploy because you think the world is flat and you'll fall off the edge if they send you to Afghanistan.

Beck's tirade today was planned. The caller may not have known about it in advance but this was not a spontaneous reaction on Beck's part. He didn't have a meltdown. This is what he is about. Oh My (poster's handle) above was right about the schtick, even if s/he incorrectly identified Beck as Pantload.

Beck's irrational tirades are just as disingenuous as his politics.

"Radical muslims would not be able to consume alcohol and definitely not use drugs."

When I was in Pumakkale, Turkey I had this amazing conversation with a Salafi scholar from Syria. It lasted about five hours and covered a wide range of topics. The contrast was amazing. I'm sitting there in shorts and a t-shirt with my Raki, my beer, and I'm chain smoking cigarettes. He's there in his Clerics robes, and sipping mint tea. He had never used any drug in his entire life, not even caffeine. His views on sex just blew me away. He would never marry a woman who had so much as even kissed a man. Of course, after marriage, sex is okay, even for a cleric. What was interesting is that he didn't actually think of me as evil, just very sinful and misguided. I thought he was crazy, but very polite and intelligent. He was surprised I had read the Quran, and I was surprised he read the Bhagavad Gita. It was interesting, for sure.

Um, a reservist can't be court martialed unless on active duty. No jurisdiction. He is in fact a private citizen until his report date, which was Wednesday (and which was canceled on Tuesday). He had not yet refused a lawful order and his lawsuit was brought while still a private citizen. They could screw him by calling him to active duty but they haven't (the army isn't interested in creating martyrs). So he has not committed any UCMJ violations cause he is not under UCMJ jurisdiction. That's also why he can be politically active. Same reason that you have reservists in congress. They are private citizens when not on active duty. This is really basic stuff (that blue girl should have picked up being a military wife but obviously didn't...she's usually dead wrong on military issues). The other thing I'll say is that this idiot (the birther major) may be a moron but he has deployed and served honorably before so he deserves a little respect for his past service. Too bad he was misled by this birther nonsense.

Anyone want to go through the full 570 pages of Sanford staffer emails and see what the State missed?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17394703/Emails-to-Governor-of-South-Carolina-staff

I know it's a tradition for supreme court nominees to evade these questions, but it's still pretty lame... don't judges expect straight answers from people on the stand?

.
Well, I guess the wimmin are a-takin' over. Before ya know it, we'll have a lady President. Better get ready for it, Repukelickins: Many of them have blogs where they reveal their innermost thoughts and political inclinations. Start your research here with this month's Cosie award winners. No need to grab yer ankles, unless ya wanna give yerself a prostate exam.
.

Fostert,

didn't respond last night because I fell asleep.
Glad you had a chance to meet with this guy. The thing is, if you meet some Muslims that are not radical, they are very friendly. As a visitor, you will be treated very well.

When I made the comment about no Westerners there, I meant more specifically, no Westerners bringing in women for that purpose. You know if they watch their own citizens like a hawk, you know they are watching the foreigners even more. Ah, the secret police/citizens.