I want to welcome my friends in the back. We travel together just like a family. A dysfunctional family. As you know, it’s been a really quiet week for me, so it’s nice to get out on a Friday night.
Alex Rodriguez • Referring to the press, who followed him to the University of Miami, where Alex Rodriguez Park was dedicated to him last night – just days after admitting to using steroids between 2001 and 2003. The Yankees slugger never went there, but he almost did and has since donated a lot of money to the school. • source
Is that a good thing? Alex Rodriguez, an amazingly-gifted baseball player, has also been a thorn in the New York Yankees’ side for a while already due to off-field drama. And he’s going to be there until at least 2018, when he’s old and (possibly) fat. The slugger, who was recently pinpointed as testing positive for steroids during his 2003 MVP season, will cost the Yankees as much as $300 million. And that contract’s so big that he’s basically untradeable. Good for him! source
She seemed to be someone who would help Barack Obama in a significant way become president. She was obviously someone with a much broader bully pulpit than other senators.
Rod Blagojevich • Illinois governor, on one appointment consideration he had for Barack Obama’s old senate seat, iconic daytime talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. The governor is facing an impeachment trial for allegedly making that seat pay-for-play. He chose to take his case to “Good Morning America” today, rather than testify at his own trial. • source
What did Apple know beforehand? Investors are understandably wondering about what the company knew about Steve Jobs’ health before he took a leave of absence last week. So now the feds are looking into it, just to see if they did anything sketchy about announcing it. Jobs is a cancer survivor and is dealing with a hormonal imbalance that has made him lose a significant amount of weight. source
I think he is stung by the reaction to him. Nobody else is going to make the case for him right now, so he wants to make it.
Bruce Buchanan • professor of government at University of Texas at Austin, on George W. Bush’s plans to build a presidential library, museum and think-tank for himself on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The plan has seen skepticism from academics, as well as SMU students and faculty, who say that Bush is attempting to use the center to rewrite his legacy. • source
Republicans hate him. The former “Saturday Night Live” writer and actor is that kind of guy that brings everyone together by pulling them apart. Now he’s likely to be in the U.S. Senate. Says Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey, “I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken.” source
Republicans hate him. The former “Saturday Night Live” writer and actor is that kind of guy that brings everyone together by pulling them apart. Now he’s likely to be in the U.S. Senate. Says Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey, “I don’t know if we’ve ever had an opponent who is so disliked by Republicans as Al Franken.”
Norm’s a long-shot. Despite initially being in the lead (barely) prior to the recount, an unlikely-to-hold-water court challenge is the only thing that stands in the way of Norm Coleman losing his senate seat to Franken. Some analysts say that Franken’s history as a liberal commentator and entertainer will come to haunt him in office. source
The rules of the United States Senate are clear. … At this point, we’ve clearly reached an impasse.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin • senior U.S. Senator from Illinois, on the appointment of Roland Burris without a signature from Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. Burris’ appointment by Rod Blagojevich was valid, according to the Illinois Supreme Court. • source
Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp.
Cardinal Renato Martino • president of the Council for Justice and Peace and a right hand man to Pope Benedict XVI; Israel obviously condemned the marks. • source
