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30 May 2011 14:45

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U.S.: Gen. Martin Dempsey tapped as Joint Chiefs Chairman

  • Martin’s memorable Memorial Day: President Obama announced today that Army General Martin E. Dempsey is his nominee to serve as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey’s nomination will go before the Senate, where Obama’s folks have been known to languish against a partisan opposition. Seeing as military issues and figures have generally become matters of bipartisan veneration, though, we reckon this very high profile job will be an exception to that political rule. Interesting tidbit: Dempsey was sworn in as the Army’s Joint Chief on April 11th, 2011, making this an impressively quick promotion. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 May 2011 15:51

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U.S.: Obama Judicial nominee Goodwin Liu asks to withdraw his name

  • Goodwin Liu says goodbye: One of the many contentious battles between the Republican Party and the Obama administration may come to a close, as judicial nominee Goodwin Liu has asked the President to withdraw his name from consideration. Obama nominated Liu on February 24th, 2010, and he’s languished in the Senate approvals process ever since. His nomination was a hit with the President’s liberal base, as Liu is rather liberal himself (and a UC Berkeley professor, to boot), but that made the political strategy for the GOP all too obvious. With the strength of the Senate filibuster still in hand, they decided to wait it out, hoping that Senate gridlock would scuttle his nomination. It seems that they were right. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 May 2010 20:55

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Politics: Andrew Sullivan asks what more than a few people are thinking

  • Is Obama actually going to use a Supreme Court nominee to advance the cause of the closet (as well as kill any court imposition of marriage equality)? And can we have a clear, factual statement as to the truth? In a free society in the 21st Century, it is not illegitimate to ask. And it is cowardly not to tell.
  • Super-blogger Andrew Sullivan • Breaking into detail about a question referring to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: “So is she gay?” Sullivan, isn’t exactly trying for the homophobia card or anything like that – dude’s HIV-positive and long-openly-gay, so his cards are already on the table. But he raises a good point. If the never-married Kagan is in fact gay, this means that she could be in a position to shape gay rights a certain way as a Supreme Court justice. And Obama should be forthright about this. (For balance purposes, we should note that Hanna Rosin of Slate’s Double X suggests this debate is in fact not OK.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2010 22:24

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U.S.: Five reasons why Elena Kagan is an obvious SCOTUS pick

  • one She’s 50, exactly the right age to run for the court. She’d grow really old there.
  • two Loaded with a stellar resume he has an East Coast background, like other justices.
  • three She’s solicitor general. She already argues high court cases for Obama.
  • four She’s already faced the Senate already, meaning confirmation will be fairly easy.
  • five People have been talking about her getting the job like it’s already a given. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2010 16:48

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U.S.: Security fail: A year later, Obama still doesn’t have a TSA head

  • 2 TSA leader nominees have withdrawn their names so far source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2009 12:14

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Politics: Sonia Sotomayor is giving the GOP major spin troubles

  • Republicans appear to have given up fighting her nomination. The Supreme Court nominee, who goes up against the Senate next week, appears – much like the guy that nominated her, Barack Obama – to be a tough cookie to crack. She’s a minority and a woman – two groups the party struggles with – and worse, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has fought off allegations of racism in the past. Plus, the GOP has just 40 votes in the Senate. Which sure makes it seem like they’ve given up on fighting back, doesn’t it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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