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   Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?
 The federal government is supposed to issue new rules about debt levels for students in for-profit colleges. In the meantime, the states are working on their own regulations.
 Washingtons budget hawks want to decimate the federal workforce to shrink the deficit. It will have the opposite effect.
 There arent nearly enough counterterrorism experts to instruct all of Americas police. So we got these guys instead.
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August 28, 2009
FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Consumer spending in the U.S. edges up, just a little. * Iran really shouldn't stonewall nuclear watchdogs. * The Taliban was driven from three Pashtun-dominated districts in northern Afghanistan in 2001, and the area has been considered safe for quite a while. Now, Taliban insurgents are back, and they're taking over. * On a related note, the more there are accusations of fraud and voter coercion in Afghanistan's presidential election, the worse it is for the legitimacy of the Kabul government. * When it comes to the health care debate, conservatives seem almost obsessed with "death." * Apparently hoping to prove how truly crazy he's become, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) claims to have been just days away from filing a lawsuit challenging the president's citizenship. * I'm glad to see Tom Coburn's remarks this week to a wife of a brain-injury victim start to get noticed. If Democrats were better organized and had a more favorable media environment, the video probably would be the single most important exchange of the summer. * According to local officials, including some very conservative Republicans, the Obama White House is doing some terrific work on post-Katrina efforts in Louisiana. * Newt Gingrich wants President Obama to fire Attorney General Eric Holder. Newt Gingrich isn't very bright. * South Carolina's GOP lawmakers are moving forward with possible impeachment plans against Gov. Mark Sanford (R). * On a related note, half of Sanford's constituents want him to go away. * Greg Sargent keeps making Stephen Hayes look foolish. Hayes, for reasons I don't understand, keeps coming back for more, and Greg keeps making Hayes look worse. * Nice piece today from Michael Tomasky on Drudge and Breitbart. * I have no idea whether turnout for the next Tea Party events will be strong or not, but I've never seen events get this kind of publicity from an outlet pretending to be a "news" network. * Michael Scheuer, still nutty. * And finally, if you haven't already seen it, watch this mock cable-news debate: "Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?" It's painfully funny and painfully sad at the same time. Instant classic. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread. —Steve Benen 5:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (27)
Comments
It's Friday, so I just wanted to remind everyone that this blog is STILL very ugly, and I still write my own blog. As for that Coburn thing, here's a conservative blogger who was actually mocking her tears by cynically pondering whether she can help Democrats cry our way to healthcare reform. These are some seriously damaged people. Posted by: Doctor Biobrain on August 28, 2009 at 5:43 PM | PERMALINKOK ... Why aren't Democrats better organized, and what can we do about it? As for conservatives mocking the crying wife of a brain-injury victim: they have a weird, dissonant attitude about sympathy. They will rail against "culture of death", abortion, etc., but hate to show sympathy to full-flegded living persons who are down and out. Posted by: Neil B ♪ on August 28, 2009 at 5:47 PM | PERMALINKWhat's Scheuer talking about? The CIA never before had to "answer to a President who actively gave aid and comfort to the enemy?" Sure they did. Hasn't he ever heard of Ronald Reagan's arms sales to Iran? Posted by: T-Rex on August 28, 2009 at 5:49 PM | PERMALINK"Iran really shouldn't stonewall nuclear watchdogs." Anyone think there's anything to the story that Israel will trade building new settlements in exchange for everyone looking the other way while they bomb Iran? Wonder if this story is the beginning of laying the groundwork for that. If I was Iran right about now, I might be pretending, if I had to, that I DO have a nuke. Posted by: flubber on August 28, 2009 at 5:55 PM | PERMALINKSo is Scheuer trying to actually de-legitimize the authority of the Obama presidency with this insane babble? Sounds like it to me. And by the way, Minotaurs totally own!! Posted by: Curmudgeon on August 28, 2009 at 5:58 PM | PERMALINKThe brown-haired "anchor" on the Onion thing is my cousin Jennifer! Yay, she's arrived! She sent me the clip a couple of days ago. Posted by: psychobroad on August 28, 2009 at 6:08 PM | PERMALINKNewt Gingrich isn't very bright. On the plus side, what he lacks in intelligence he more than makes up for in mendacity. Posted by: Roddy McCorley on August 28, 2009 at 6:29 PM | PERMALINK'Tom Coburn' -yeah, isn't he the Senator that promoted prostitution by telling Sen. John Ensign to 'pay -off' his mistress? Posted by: Brian on August 28, 2009 at 6:31 PM | PERMALINK"So now you want to tie the hands and hooves of our interrogators?" Another win for The Onion! Posted by: Quaker in a Basement on August 28, 2009 at 6:33 PM | PERMALINKIt's Friday, so I just wanted to remind everyone that this blog is STILL very ugly, and I still write my own blog. ... Ummmm...,OK. Just curious. If this blog is so very ugly, and you have one of your own, doesn't that beg the question -- not to put too fine a point on it--, WTF are you doing here bashing this one instead of writing yours? Seriously. Posted by: In what respect, Charlie? on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM | PERMALINKEarlier, on the previous thread, I denegrated the personal foibles and failings of Sen. McCain. To be fair, Sen. Ted Kennedy had his share. The ones we know about- paying someone to write his senior thesis at Harvard, the tragedy of Chappaquiddick, the decades of insobriety, the failure of his first marriage-are many. But, for all his human faults, he never stooped to the hypocrisy so often displayed the Other Side. And so we both mourne and celebrate the passing of a giant. May the Other Side aspire to his greatness. And his humanity. . . Posted by: DAY on August 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM | PERMALINK"Consumer spending in the U.S. edges up, just a little." Mostly thanks to the Cash For Clunkers program, which the goofy American RightWing STILL tries to spin as a major failure. Posted by: Joe Friday on August 28, 2009 at 7:31 PM | PERMALINKMajor investment in fuel from sewage. Posted by: MatthewRMarler on August 28, 2009 at 7:56 PM | PERMALINKThe current crop of for-profit corporate health care company CEOs make serial killers look lame in comparison. Posted by: The Oracle on August 28, 2009 at 8:06 PM | PERMALINKflubber, "Anyone think there's anything to the story that Israel will trade building new settlements in exchange for everyone looking the other way while they bomb Iran?" Exactly what would Israel "bomb" in Iran ? Posted by: Joe Friday on August 28, 2009 at 8:14 PM | PERMALINKExactly what would Israel "bomb" in Iran ? The same as they bomb in Lebanon and Palestine -- people. Make sure to check the cluster bomb shrapnel for that "Made in USA" logo. Exactly what would Israel "bomb" in Iran ? -- Joe Friday, @20:14 Not "in"; "out of". As in: "bomb the eff out of Iran". Or, as Disputo said above: people. Posted by: exlibra on August 28, 2009 at 9:48 PM | PERMALINKA) That would likely accelerate the Iranian nuclear program, not deter it. B) Given that Israel utilizes American armaments, they would likely have their surrogates retaliate against America as well as Israel. Rather futile aggression. Posted by: Joe Friday on August 28, 2009 at 11:02 PM | PERMALINKWake me up when we have a Democrat in the white house and Democrats in control of the senate and the house. Then we will have serious health care reform. I had a dream last night that Obama won in Fall '08 and the Dems took control of both houses. It was a very pleasant dream. Posted by: rational on August 28, 2009 at 11:22 PM | PERMALINKJimmy Kimmel just said that from what he's seen of the town hall meetings about healthcare being held around the country, what we're really lacking is mental health care, as there are nothing but crazy people attending them. Then he showed video of the town hall held by Michele Bachmann.
steve: When it comes to the health care debate, conservatives seem almost obsessed with "death."
what's the problem? Posted by: mr. irony on August 29, 2009 at 7:22 AM | PERMALINKWhat line would FOX have to cross before they were considered a partisan organization and made to conform to campaign finance laws? This isn't a serious suggestion, not really, but I still ask how far we would be willing to allow a corporate funded entity shill for a party (or against another) before we would insist that they not be allowed to be called a news outlet. Even if one defends FNC now, there is no evidence that they see any bounds on themselves whatsoever, so thinking about the limits should be happening sooner rather than later. Posted by: jhm on August 29, 2009 at 7:43 AM | PERMALINKMajor investment in fuel from sewage. That should make you a rich man, then, Marler. re: all that fauxnews tea party coverage...according to Tana Ganeva at AlterNet, . Wooo!Great News!Enjoy reading your post! 
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