Crooks and Liars » Mitch McConnell Press Conference: Al-Qaeda Baby!

Crooks and Liars » Mitch McConnell Press Conference: Al-Qaeda Baby!:

"McConnell: “Those reports will be before the Congress next week..ugh..I
think most of my members are actually interested in what the facts are. I don’t
think most of them have made up their minds before they get the reports and
they’re intensely interested in what’s going to be in these two reports to
Congress and I think that will largely determine where the majority of our
members come out. And of course we haven’t heard from the President either about
what he thinks is the way forward. I can tell you what I would personally like
to see if that’s worth anything to you. I would like to see us with at least
some level of bi-partisan agreement that we need a long term deployment
somewhere in the Middle East in the future for two reasons…Al Qaeda and
Iran."

I think if we abandon the region, it will create a backlash against us in the nations in the region that will suffer. Iran would get more powerful, Al-Qaeda would not stop hating America or planning attacks on America. They would only have more power, more money and a message that America deserted its friends when they were in need. We cannot abandon the region and we cannot abandon Iraq.

Republicans are apoplectic over Craig's new plans - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Republicans are apoplectic over Craig's new plans - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:

"So Larry's thinking about sticking around the Senate. That latest
development in the Craig scandal has Republicans freaking out. Sure, Larry is
looking for vindication. Let's just say, this also feels like payback. The
Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, publicly chastised Craig last week -- and
basically forced his resignation. But, now Larry's fighting back -- and
blatantly challenging McConnell and his leadership. What changed, one
wonders?"

This really wasn't a good choice for him in my opinion. I think that if he had left now, with the long history that he has had the story would die. He wouldn't be forever remembered for his wide stance, or his not being gay. Staying in office is going to keep the story alive in the press, and could result in him being defeated in the next election. This is probably why other republicans are so upset, they know that it will be easier for a Democrat to defeat Craig than a replacement.

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Wrong…Very, Very Wrong, Part Deux

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Wrong…Very, Very Wrong, Part Deux:

"The story is this: Pat Leahy got snookered by Arlen Specter, into delaying the
vote on Southwick so that the GOP leadership could work on Dianne Feinstein by
playing to her ego. And Leahy fell for it — even though he had the votes to shut
down the Southwick vote altogether back in July. Why didn’t the SJC simply vote
then, knowing that they could stop the Southwick nomination entirely? No clue.
Really…no freaking clue. Here’s how the behind-the-scenes blather goes: Specter
coaxed Leahy into a delay, a sort of gentleman’s agreement not to vote, and then
the GOP started whining publicly about the delay they, themselves, had asked
for…all the while using said delay to kiss up to Feinstein. Word is that both
Trent Lott and Mitch McConnell played to Di’s sense of “fairness and integrity,”
and that Lott did so by asking DiFi to give Southwick a second look see
interview. When she did so, Southwick came in and turned on the Southern
charming man wattage, and won her over with his “nice guy” persona, hideous
judicial record be damned."

Right or wrong this sounds like the nature of any political system, that it takes deals and sometimes it takes a little arm twisting and trickery to get something through. It is being condemned in this case, but if it were a case that benefited the Democrats I think the tune would be sung differently.

Nancy Pelosi's Choice

Hugh Hewitt: Nancy Pelosi's Choice

"The McConnell-Bond bill that revises and updates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support of 17 Democratic senators. It is a crucially necessary bit of legislation given that FISA is not only 30 years old, it has also been crippled by the 'secret ruling by a FISA judge earlier this year that declared surveillance of purely foreign communications that pass through a U.S. communications node illegal without a court-approved warrant -- a requirement that intelligence officials have described as unacceptably burdensome.'"

This bill is too important to be playing politics with. I think that congress has created an atmosphere where the hatred of the president is outrageous. They trust the president so little that they wouldn't allow him to hold their wallet, if it were empty. This is partly due to Bush and the way he has governed and he has to be honest about that. The truth is that it is harming America though, and some kind of solution needs to be worked out.

Immigration Bill Headed Back to Floor | Air America Radio

Immigration Bill Headed Back to Floor Air America Radio:

"Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced
that the Senate will again take up the immigration reform bill once the body
finishes consideration of the energy bill. Under the bipartisan agreement, the
Senate will consider 22 additional amendments to the bill, split evenly between
Democratic and Republican sponsors. "

This bill should be brought back to the floor, it should be worked on and it should pass. I still doubt that there will be a compromise between the two sides on this issue. We just cannot go on with the system as it is, without making some real changes and starting to address what to do about the millions of people who are in this country illegally.