Now, here again, after yesterday's rant against the sex scandaled "family values" GOP hypocrites, who emerges from his tomb yesterday but none other then Vito Fossella from Staten Island, that model of Republican rectitude who loved families so much he just had to have two of them! Incredible!
Fossella Endorsed for Congressional Comeback from Congressional Quarterly
"If Fossella's name doesn't ring a bell, he's the ex-congressman whose career in Washington was derailed by a drunken driving arrest that exposed to the world -- and his wife -- that he secretly had another woman and they had a baby together."
On a more positive note, folks at Politico actually ANSWER the question I posed yesterday! Here's there response:
Scandalous: Who Stays, Who Goes? from Politico
"Tuesday’s events left congressional aides, journalists and assorted veterans of past scandals on Capitol Hill pondering the mysterious — and entirely unwritten — laws of scandal, in which similar offenses condemn some sinners to a political death sentence while others get away with an apology and a few hours of community service. What gives?"
Lessons From Iran's Nuclear Developments (Patrick Clawson) from the Washington Institute
"In the fluid situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program, perhaps the safest bet is to expect more surprises. ... All the same, important lessons can be drawn from this week's developments."
Dealing with Tehran (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"This certainly was a victory for the Obama Administration's patient, collegial diplomacy, but it was also attributable to sheer idiocy on the part of the Iranians. "The Iranians are the world's worst negotiators," says Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution. "They've managed to infuriate everyone.""
Europe is Sleepwalking to Decline (Timothy Garton Ash) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Our leaders are peddling delusions. The eurozone has not been saved, the EU has no foreign policy, and others are making history"
Five Primaries Where the World Matters from Foreign Policy Magazine
"From immigration to defense spending to Israel, foreign policy is making a surprising showing this election season."
BP, Coast Guard Officers Block Journalists from Filming Oil-Covered Beach from the Huffington Post
"Emerging reports are raising the question of just how much of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill journalists are able to document. When CBS tried to film a beach with heavy oil on the shore in South Pass, Louisiana, a boat of BP contractors, and two Coast Guard officers, told them to turn around, or be arrested."
WTF! A disturbing development.
How They Did It (Part One): The Inside Account of Health Care Reform’s Triumph. (Jonathan Cohn) from the New Republic
"This is the first of a five-part series explaining, in remarkable detail, how Obama and the Democrats came to pass health care reform. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the second part, which reveals how Ted Kennedy wooed Max Baucus and what Rahm Emanuel promised the drug industry."
Texas State Bd of Ed Swamped with Criticism Over New Textbook Guidelines from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Critics, including the president of the NAACP, a former U.S. education secretary and the committee that wrote the draft guidelines being edited by the board, complained that the proposal has become a vehicle for political ideology, has watered down the teaching of the civil rights movement and slavery and reveals a lack of historical knowledge from the board."
That last line ... OUCH!! But it's absolutely true. I wondered when this Bd of Ed would be held to account.
Winners and Losers from the May 18 Primaries (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
"Our initial impressions -- based on conversations with smart strategists in both parties -- about who won and who lost in last night's balloting are below. As always, the goal of our winners and losers post is to pick some of the less obvious bests and worsts of the day that was."
Election Day Downer for Republicans (David Frum) from The Week
"Republican leaders insist that unqualified opposition to Obama is the gateway to GOP victory in November. But it's proving hard to win campaigns without ideas."
Bring It On: Pelosi Predicts 'For Sure' That Dems Will Win House from The Hill
"A buoyant Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday basked in the Democrats’ special-election triumph while bashing Republicans and expressing confidence that her party will retain control of the House."
June 8 Races Next Big Test of Tea Party Strength from Congressional Quarterly
"Within the next three weeks, a pair of highly touted Republican Senate candidates will try to avoid going the way of Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson by becoming the next victim of a suddenly energized tea party movement out to punish all insiders."
CT-Sen: NY Times Blows the Blumenthal Story from Daily Kos
"The AP went and looked at the video in question, something which the NY Times apparently did not."
Well ... one thing this shows about the Blumenthal campaign is that they are VERY LUCKY in their opponents. And luck is a good thing to have if you are running for the Senate. This story is moving its focus more towards the objectivity of the Times and the role of Blumenthal's opponent than it is about the Dem candidate himself.
KY-Sen: Rand Paul Says Businesses Should Have Right To Discriminate from the Rachel Maddow Show via the Huffington Post
This is why Rand Paul is not going to win in November.
"Paul argued that Maddow's questions weren't practical, but were instead abstract. She asked Paul to tell that to protesters who were beaten in their struggle for equal rights:"
The Proud Ignorance of Rand Paul (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic
"Did Bill Halter benefit from a hidden conservative vote in Tuesday's Arkansas Democratic primary against incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln, despite having run to Lincoln's left? And will those voters be back again for Halter in three weeks' time, when the runoff is held?"
KY-Sen: Kentucky Primary Hype: Tempest in a Tea Party (Joshua Green) of the Boston Globe
"The idea that Rand Paul’s victory heralds an imminent Tea Party wave soon to sweep the country makes a great deal of sense if you’ve watched the proceedings unfold on television. But it doesn’t make nearly as much sense if you’ve been in Kentucky these last few days."
CA-Sen & Gov: Stunning Drop in Whitman’s Support Transforms GOP Race for Governor; Fiorina, Campbell in Dead Heat While DeVore’s Support Doubles from the Public Policy Institute of California
""This election is very much in flux,” says Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO. "Voters are alienated. Republicans are struggling to figure out what to do about it and what their party stands for. The Democrats—with their candidates unchallenged—aren’t going through this soul searching.”
More evidence that the GOP's hand-picked candidates are being slammed from the right and from ultra-conservative tea party activism. Whitman and Fiorina are especially in trouble one month out from the primaries.
AR-Sen: Dem Bill Halter's Base -- Rural Conservative Voters? from TalkingPointsMemo
"Did Bill Halter benefit from a hidden conservative vote in Tuesday's Arkansas Democratic primary against incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln, despite having run to Lincoln's left? And will those voters be back again for Halter in three weeks' time, when the runoff is held?"
Wow. Who'd a thought?
MEDICAL NUGGET [maybe]
New Drug Reverses Even 'Untreatable' Cancers from the Daily Telegraph [of the UK]
"Cancer patients may be offered new hope in the form of a harmless virus which can reverse even apparently untreatable forms of the disease when injected into tumours."
ROBOT NUGGET [of a sort]
Military Robots Keep Soldiers Out of Danger from Discovery News
"Although they aren't yet advanced enough to replace field combatants, robots can perform routine tasks that would otherwise put troops in harm's way."
This is good -- I guess. My problem with these kind of developments is that it could have the effect of sanitizing war for the side that has these machines to such an extent that we lose track of how catastrophic war is. As the bloody mess it is now, we learn with great clarity that war is something to be avoided.
In a similar vein (and more disturbing) is this item:
The Cyborg Insects Are Coming from Slate
"Telepathic helmets. Grid-computing swarms of cyborg insects, some for surveillance, some with lethal stingers. New cognitive-enhancement drugs. (What? Adderall and Provigil aren't good enough for you?) Lethal autonomous robots. Brain-chip-to-weapon platform control systems on a "future force warrior" platform. American military technology is getting very frisky."
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