• Brown offers nothing constructive, nothing coherent, nothing concrete, and no support for anything President Obama has done or plans to do. He’ll fit right in.
• Newsweek columnist Daniel Gross • Regarding Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown, who he feels has no firm fiscal policy, just like many other Republicans. Gross argues that it seems like the current agenda for many Republicans is something along the line of party pooper for any sort of economic recovery. He’s argued this before in Slate, referring to the party as the “Failure Caucus.” Ouch. He goes further: “In fact, it’s virtually impossible to find an elected Republican official who can speak intelligently and accurately about budget issues.” Painful. source

• It is clear that my nomination has become a lightning rod for those who have chosen to push a political agenda at the risk of the safety and security of the American people.
• Transportation Security Administration chief nominee Erroll Southers • Regarding his decision to drop out after a brutal, months-long stalling created by Sen. Jim DeMint. DeMint’s big problem with Southers? He didn’t like the fact that he might unionize the TSA. This nomination became contentious, by the way, after the attempted terror attack in Detroit last month. source

• She called Curt Schilling a damn Yankees fan. source

• If Scott Brown wins tomorrow, the Senate bill hits the House floor. Facing a possibly embarrassing loss for the Democratic party in Massachusetts tomorrow, President Obama has a pretty good solution in mind for the health care bill that he’s long fought for. The Senate bill – which has already passed – will get sent, with no changes, to the House. Then it gets voted on. And if it passes, this massive cluster#(&@ of a bill will finally get signed by Obama. A little sneaky, but it technically works – and fast! Well, as long as everybody goes along with the plan. source

• morning Apple announced a vaguely worded “special event” will take place on the morning of the 27th, which will likely be whatever this slate thingy is. Nerds are excited.
• evening Obama, after nearly angering “Lost” fans by picking the day of the show’s season premiere, will have his State of the Union on the 27th. The GOP has their claws out.

• 53% approval rating, which is up slightly (+/- 3%)

On race relations:

• 58% of Americans thought Obama would change race relations before his inauguration
• 41% of Americans say he’s actually improved race relations in his first full year in office source

• Where was the freefall? Strangely enough, it was largest among other blacks. While white voters dipped to about 40 percent from 55 percent, blacks were at 75 percent a year ago, free-falling to 51 percent – a 24-point decline.

• All the increasing restrictions on lobbyists are a disincentive to be a lobbyist, and those who think they can deregister are eagerly doing so. It is creating some apparent contradictions.
• Veteran political lawyer Jan Baran • Regarding the apparent push for lobbyists to be lobbyists in everything but name. Essentially, legal restrictions on what lobbyists can do is creating something of a black market for lobbying. By leaving “lobbyist” as a hard-and-fast definition, many policy advocates choose to simply not register and avoid the oversight. Why are there always loopholes when it comes to the business of political influence? It creates vacuums like this one. source

• 
  One way to think of it … Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a.k.a. the guy who ticks us off with his useless quips, claims the Massachusetts senate race is a “referendum” on health care. It might just be, but what we’d like to see is a referendum on stalling tactics like Mr. McConnell’s.
• 
  … and another way On the other side of the aisle, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, who we’ve seen thus far as kind of a left-leaning screen chewer in the vein of a Fox News host, said that he’d “try to vote ten times” to keep Scott Brown from winning. Sorry, friends, but this isn’t cool, either. (Hat tip @jessehines)
• 
  Blast from the past For a little perspective on the state of talk show chatter, here’s a clip from Martin Luther King Jr.’s last interview with Meet the Press back in 1967. We’ve devolved far from this sort of televised debate. We’ve gone from this to crap like Ed Schultz’s blabbering. We’ve fallen far.

• Everything about the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the broadcast (and the Proposition 8 camp’s request to black out the trial in the first place) betrays a deep ambivalence about the same humble American voter whose very rights the court purports to be defending.
• Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick • Discussing the Supreme Court’s decision to ban cameras during the Proposition 8 gay marriage trial in California. Lithwick claims the trial itself is somewhat questionable, but the banning of cameras in the courtroom is beyond absurd and is completely disrespectful to the rights of the American public. She further explains: “As it explains in its order: ‘This case, too, involves issues subject to intense debate in our society’ and it ‘is therefore not a good one for a pilot program.’ So, um, we the people are only fit to watch low-profile, boring cases?” source

• Teddy always told me when you’re in a fight, there’s nobody like organized labor. You’re about the future. You’re about moving this country forward. You always have been. We can’t go backwards now.
• Vicki Kennedy • Stumping for state Attorney General Martha Coakley Saturday morning at the Dorchester headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Coakley’s in great danger of losing the race for Ted Kennedy’s old seat to Republican upstart Scott Brown. If Brown wins on Tuesday, the Democrats lose their essential 60th vote. This is a big deal for the left. source