Archive for November, 2010

Will Scott Brown become the Fishbait Miller of the Senate?

Posted: November 8, 2010 by datechguy in politics
Tags: , ,

When heading toward re-election pols tend to take the feelings of the voters back home a lot more seriously.

In Maine for example Republicans swept statewide elections pretty solidly. It should have an interesting effect on Maine two liberal republicans and the day of their next race comes closer.

In Massachusetts the clean sweep of offices for democrats will likely not be lost on Scott Brown when election day 2012 comes around. The same turnout machine that pushed Patrick et/al will still exist, and may even be aided by national money.

But the dynamic in the Senate has changed dramatically as George Will puts it:

When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had 40 or 41 senators in his caucus, he usually had 40 or 41 votes when he felt he urgently needed them. Beginning in January, with at least 46 senators, he will always have 41 votes when he really wants them.

There are going to be times when Scott Brown is going to want to demonstrate his “independence” from the GOP caucus. With 6 votes to give McConnell will be able to do without Brown, or Collins or Snowe and still stop anything he needs to.

The question is this. Will he gain more sympathy at home opposing the GOP or not. Or to put it another way. We know the machine will be against him no matter what he does, so will he make more points with the electorate with the electorate going left or going right?

Of course he could just do the right thing and do what he thinks is right…

MSNBC gives the GOP a 3rd gift…

Posted: November 8, 2010 by datechguy in media
Tags: , ,

…by putting Olberman back on the air.

In terms of keeping his niche market happy, it’s a good move, when your entire stratagem is to keep the left happy you can’t bother to throw away one of their messiah and if some other network took Olberman he might take a good chunk of the left with him, particularly since Maddow spent her show defending him.

In terms of right and wrong, I think its fair. I think the policy is foolish in this age, Olberman’s non-disclosure earned the suspension given the policy but not a permanent one. I’d change the policy myself.

In terms of the right it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the number of people on the right who said it was unfair to boot him. I don’t expect him to have much to say on it.

Finally for the GOP it’s the third gift this week. As I said before there is absolutely no chance of Keith Olberman convincing anyone not already in the tank for the left of anything. Every there he is there is a lost chance for the left and another day that MSNBC fails to go beyond the lazy bounds they have chosen.

Update: Ed Driscoll

Limousine Leftist Keith needs MSNBC to pocket his $7 million a year. MSNBC needs Keith to keep them at the top of the bottom of the news rating heap. Rather than risk further mutual assured self-immolation, where else was either party going to go?

Oh I don’t know, try to grow beyond a niche market?

And the comments at Huffpo are interesting.

The value of a reminder

Posted: November 7, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, personal
Tags: , ,

For reasons I won’t go into I’ve been feeling low for quite a while.

Oh I’ve managed to have fun and enjoy people’s company but for quite a few weeks I’ve been kinda down and some issues that have come up lately haven’t helped.

I put up a post and wrote a review but was still angry.and I was determined to stay put Sunday or no Sunday. I could get away with it too, the wife was gone for the day, one son was at work and the other was so deep into his gaming he would never notice. I had missed confession anyways so I wasn’t able to receive so what was the difference; or so I rationalized to myself.

I had tweet deck up in the background and happened to look at my screen when suddenly a tweet came up from Father Z. I don’t remember what the tweet was but I could see his icon and the priest’s robes and it reminded me of my duty. I kept thinking to myself trying to stay angry but the image of Fr. Z in his robes holding the host wouldn’t go away. Finally 5 minutes before the start of mass, I pulled myself out of bed, dressed quickly and dashed to church sitting in the side room alone just in time to make the start of mass.

Ironically it was a commemorative mass for the Venerini Sisters. It was the mass that marked the end of their US centennial. As I sat in the el section of the church during communion (I abstained having missed confession) and watched the line of people going up to receive it occurred to me that if that tweet had been from any of the sisters in attendance I would have still been in bed. Other than my 7th grade teacher who I recognized I couldn’t tell the nuns from the little old ladies that prayed in the church as not a single one of them remained in the habit.

The sisters have done a lot of good work and do so in many countries but I couldn’t get the irony out of my head. It reminded me of a story from my youth at St. Anthony’s. My mom was coming to pick me up when one of the sisters was crossing the street. She was fairly young, not in a habit and wearing a very short skirt when a guy in a convertible came by noticed the sister and pulled over and said something to her. I couldn’t hear what he said but she got VERY angry.

As my mom pulled up, Sister still angry commented to my mother how shocked she was at what that guy had said. This was a mistake. My mother isn’t one to volunteer an opinion but if you ask her she will tell you exactly what she thinks without holding back. She had seen what happened and didn’t miss a beat.

What are you angry about? How can you expect to get the respect of a nun if you are unwilling to dress like one?

I think my mother shocked sister more than the guy in the convertible did.

When a nun in a habit enters a room everyone notices it speaks a universal message of service to Christ.

When an old lady, no matter how devout enters the room, it does not.

Did I just hear James Clyburn suggest that’s its racist to call him liberal?

Posted: November 7, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news, politics
Tags: , , , ,

Bob Schieffer just asked Clyburn if he goes higher in the leadership with Pelosi will it make the Democratic Party in the house more liberal.

Clyburn said he defied labels pointing out that he campaigned in more bluedog districts than progressive ones and said people are calling him liberal based on the color of his skin.

I guess no fact and no election will allow some people to drop the race card, let me educate the congressman (who knows these things but is spinning)

1. He was invited to more blue dog districts because those were the seats in danger.

2. He was invited to those seats to energize the black vote that is totally de-energized, so if anyone was basing their judgment of him based on skin color it was his fellow blue dogs.

3. To say in one breath that he is not liberal and then defend health coverage as a fundamental right can only be done when you have a safe seat and an interviewer who will not challenge him.

Let’s be blunt, he owes his election to the fact the district is majority minority (Whites only make up 40% of the electorate) and has the largest percentage of blacks, who vote monolithic democrat, in the state.

No wonder he plays the race card even here. Without that card ironically played by the Republicans in the statehouse to concentrate the black vote as much as possible, he likely doesn’t have the power he holds today.

What a joke.

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