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27 Jun 2010 21:49

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Politics: Max Headroom: Blame Robert Bork for Elena Kagan’s problems


  • “Conceivable”? Really? Elena Kagan is like a puppy dog with wide eyes and a lovable smile. Yet, Sen. Jeff Sessions seems to think there might be a chance she gets filibustered. Really? Are we talking about the same Elena Kagan?

  • Blame Robert Bork Why is Kagan’s hearing so seemingly controversial? Because Robert Bork, the Reagan Supreme Court nominee, created an air of contention that every high court nominee’s hearing has had ever since.

  • One woman to anotherLate last month, Sandra Day O’Connor, who went through a painful confirmation herself, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the process is tough for everyone, but she thought Kagan would make it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jun 2010 20:34

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U.S.: Robert Byrd, one of our greatest natural resources, “seriously ill”

We hope he pulls through OK, but we bet that every newspaper in the country has an obit written up on the 92-year-old Senator. You know, just in case. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jun 2010 19:49

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Offbeat: The Whitest Kids U’Know nail the game of politics

  • Let’s face it. Everyone’s known this about politics for years. It’s just a game of sanding off as much about your personality as possible in an attempt to not outwardly offend anyone. Unless you’re Alvin Greene. Then it’s a matter of getting through another interview without completely falling apart. That’s the kind of game that we like.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jun 2010 09:22

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Biz: It took all freaking night, but we have a finance reform deal

  • Quite frankly, common sense prevailed. … Our objectives were to get the risky stuff out of banks. We figured out how to do that.
  • Sen. Blanche Lincoln • On her derivatives proposal, the meat of which was kept in a last-minute deal brokered waaaaaaaaaaaaay past bedtime. Obviously, most of this stuff will fly over non-investors’ heads, but the deal essentially allows banks to keep using derivatives on less-risky investments – foreign exchange, interest rate, gold and silver swaps, and hedges on their own investments – while forcing them to spin off separate companies for their riskiest derivatives. You know, the ones that caused the financial crisis, like cleared and uncleared commodities, agricultural, energy and equities swaps, and credit. Some biz-friendly Democrats wanted to railroad this, but failed. Nice save. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2010 11:14

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U.S.: Financial reform bill is nearing the finish line. WHOO!

  • DERIVATIVES! DERIVATIVES! DERIVATIVES! DERIVATIVES! We’re so pumped to see financial reform finally pass between the House and Senate that “DERIVATIVES!” is kinda like a battle cry for us. Or not. But Christopher Dodd gets his name on the broadest rewrite of financial law since the 1930s, and the deal-brokering has if nothing else, made the bill palatable to some on both sides of the aisle. Congress has given themselves a deadline of today, so some stuff may end up on the cutting-room floor, but it would still be a big victory. Right? Right? DERIVATIVES! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2010 11:04

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U.S.: Did Robert Gates want to keep Gen. Stanley McChrystal?

  • YES at least that’s what CNN’s source says source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2010 21:37

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U.S.: Some key numbers from the whole Stanley McChrystal thang

  • 40minutes, the length of the interview David Patraeus got
  • six days ago, the White House got some fact-checking calls from Rolling Stone
  • 48 hours ago, the article came out (though Rolling Stone sat on the hit machine at first, idiots)
  • <30 number of minutes it took Obama to talk it through with Stanley McChrystal source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Jun 2010 20:57

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Politics: Eliot Spitzer: CNN uses words like “well-respected” and “prostitute”

  • Spitzer, a Democrat who resigned as governor in March 2008 after acknowledging visiting a prostitute, is a well respected political mind and a take-no-prisoners prosecutor who has been often referred to as the ‘Sheriff of Wall Street.’
  • A CNN press release • Regarding the move to take the former New York governor and put him on their 8 p.m. slot against Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly. Spitzer, who we admit to be willing to give a second chance, will be joined by conservative Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker. All told, the stunt-casting should get CNN some of eyeballs that Campbell Brown’s show never did. (Maybe.) Now, next step: Filling that 9 p.m. slot with someone other than Larry King. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2010 10:15

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World: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tries to save his job

  • cause Julia Gillard, a member of the prime minister’s party, said she was going to challenge Kevin Rudd’s Labor party leadership.
  • reaction Rudd held a late-night press conference where he forced the issue – the party will hold a leadership vote on Thursday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2010 21:26

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U.S.: At the top of South Carolina’s ticket: Nikki Haley, Alvin Greene

In case you were wondering, at least one state is probably going to have a bizarro hippie governor by the end of the election cycle. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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