Fuck its silent in here.......

[Quality Start Machine]

Not a fan of the pick.

Say no more.

I figured MikeC would show up with all kinds of talking points & pyrotechnics.

My basic misgiving (which has no value whatsoever) is that judges make decisions that carry ramifications. Kagan has absolutely no experience at this.

It would be tantamount to any of us, who can sit here and pontificate about baseball stats and strategy without any real experience, being appointed manager of the Cubs for life.

Over a third of the 111 Supreme Court justices in American history came to the job without prior experience as judges.

Notably: Hugo Black (lawyer and Senator), Felix Frankfurter (lawyer and one of the founders of the ACLU), Thurgood Marshall (lawyer and Chief Counsel for the NAACP), Louis Brandeis (lawyer and social activist), William Rehnquist (lawyer and US Assistant Attorney General), Earl Warren (California Attorney General, Governor of California and sleazy male stripper).

Yeah, IIRC what knocked out Harriet Miers and her makeup gun that was set to "whore" wasn't her lack of bench experience so much as she was just a lightweight who got Bush off on a DUI or some shit.  I believe it was the first, last and only time that the Cheney junta allowed Georgie to make decisions on his own.  Never.  Again.

Cheney and the GOP threw her ass under the bus before the Senate was able to her - GWB's White House Counsel - under oath. The confirmation hearings would have turned into every Democrat on the committee grilling her about everything other than the Constitution, and SCOTUS's role.

[Gilgamesh]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

[Gilgamesh]

DPD, but more Tea Partier fun:

The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.

The document calls for the elimination of the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve, demands an investigation of "collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth," suggests the adoption of "Austrian Economics," declares that "'Freedom of Religion' does not mean 'freedom from religion'" (which I guess makes atheism illegal), insists that "healthcare is not a right," calls for the abrogation of the "UN Treaty on Rights of the Child" and the "Law Of The Sea Treaty" and declares that we must resist "efforts to create a one world government."

http://www.mainepolitics.net/content/maine-republicans-adopt-tea-party-platform?page=1

The document is here: http://www.mainepolitics.net/sites/default/files/Maine_GOP_platform.pdf

Whither Collins and Snowe?

[Gilgamesh]

Last link, but an interesting rule change from our sister agency, the National Mediation Board:

The National Mediation Board, the body that oversees airline and railway labor negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, yesterday authorized changes that would in effect lower the number of votes required to form a new union. The decision could have profound effects at airlines such as Delta Air Lines and JetBlue, where unions have fought to gain a foothold.

Is there no harbor safe from Obama's tyranny?

Workers were previously required to gain a majority of the entire class of workers to win collective bargaining rights, meaning that "no-shows" counted against the union. Under the new rules workers will be allowed to organize if they win a simple majority of those who vote.

Oh.  So, those elections will be counted like every other damn election in this country.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b2d37082-5c94-11df-bb38-00144feab49a.html

[Wheezer]

Are those bears?

Senator Merlin Bartz, a Republican from Grafton, says it appears to him that the Department of Natural Resources wants to make gay couples eligible for family camping at state parks.... "A lot of the advocates of gay marriage in Iowa have said, 'It doesn't affect anything. Nothing has changed,'" Bartz says. "The reality of it is that everything is changing."

[Brownie]

DPD, but more Tea Partier fun:

The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.

The document calls for the elimination of the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve, demands an investigation of "collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth," suggests the adoption of "Austrian Economics," declares that "'Freedom of Religion' does not mean 'freedom from religion'" (which I guess makes atheism illegal), insists that "healthcare is not a right," calls for the abrogation of the "UN Treaty on Rights of the Child" and the "Law Of The Sea Treaty" and declares that we must resist "efforts to create a one world government."

http://www.mainepolitics.net/content/maine-republicans-adopt-tea-party-platform?page=1

The document is here: http://www.mainepolitics.net/sites/default/files/Maine_GOP_platform.pdf

Whither Collins and Snowe?

Are the bolded positions really that outlandish? The Dept. of Education might be the first federal department to cut out. Whom has the Dept. of Ed actually educated? Health care is a service, not a "right." The Law of the Sea Treaty has some problems with it, including the "eminent domain" provision and the levies which are a tax on U.S. interests without representation.

Austrian Economics would call for a tighter money policy, which would counter inflation and promote a strong dollar. (Sure, there are problems with the Austrian School; I subscribe to Friedman's brand of economics myself.)

I don't agree with eliminating the Fed, but the fact that it has little accountability to Congress is a little troubling, dontcha think?

[Chuck to Chuck]

Are the bolded positions really that outlandish? The Dept. of Education might be the first federal department to cut out. Whom has the Dept. of Ed actually educated?

The first one to cut is the Department of Energy.  Everything they do can be folded into Defense or Commerce.

Labor could also fit into commerce.  Interior and Agriculture could blend.  Veteran Affairs could slide into Defense.

Having national standards for education is a necessity. Not sure if it needs a whole cabinet level bureaucracy, but there is a strong national interest in education.  And there's far more waste at the Federal level in other places than in ejoocashun.

[Brownie]

Are the bolded positions really that outlandish? The Dept. of Education might be the first federal department to cut out. Whom has the Dept. of Ed actually educated?

The first one to cut is the Department of Energy.  Everything they do can be folded into Defense or Commerce.

Labor could also fit into commerce.  Interior and Agriculture could blend.  Veteran Affairs could slide into Defense.

Having national standards for education is a necessity. Not sure if it needs a whole cabinet level bureaucracy, but there is a strong national interest in education.  And there's far more waste at the Federal level in other places than in ejoocashun.

Agreed on Energy and Labor and Commerce and Interior and Ag and VA and Defense (might as well as put Homeland Security under Defense too while we're at it).

But it's one thing to have federal standards and to have a whole cabinet-level bureaucracy.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Are the bolded positions really that outlandish? The Dept. of Education might be the first federal department to cut out. Whom has the Dept. of Ed actually educated?

The first one to cut is the Department of Energy.  Everything they do can be folded into Defense or Commerce.

Labor could also fit into commerce.  Interior and Agriculture could blend.  Veteran Affairs could slide into Defense.

Having national standards for education is a necessity. Not sure if it needs a whole cabinet level bureaucracy, but there is a strong national interest in education.  And there's far more waste at the Federal level in other places than in ejoocashun.

Agreed on Energy and Labor and Commerce and Interior and Ag and VA and Defense (might as well as put Homeland Security under Defense too while we're at it).

But it's one thing to have federal standards and to have a whole cabinet-level bureaucracy.

Agreeing and augmenting.

Our only disagreement is on priority.

On Homeland, I kind of think that would fit better under Justice if you had to merge it.  But, if we are going to have that need, keep it separate from the guys buying tanks, planes and subs.

[World B Free]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

Meh, don't let science and an education get in the way of some good batshit crazy.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

Meh, don't let science and an education get in the way of some good batshit crazy.

That's why we need national standards in education.

Frankly, anyone who believes in Creationism (as in, the Earth is 4,000 years old) over evolution is not qualified for public office.  If a person can refuse to accept hard evidence and supplant that with pure belief, then that person is not qualified to make decisions for the public good.

"I don't care that the evidence says.  I believe it will work!"

That's Al Yellon.

[ChuckD]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

Meh, don't let science and an education get in the way of some good batshit crazy.

That's why we need national standards in education.

Frankly, anyone who believes in Creationism (as in, the Earth is 4,000 years old) over evolution is not qualified for public office.  If a person can refuse to accept hard evidence and supplant that with pure belief, then that person is not qualified to make decisions for the public good.

"I don't care that the evidence says.  I believe it will work!"

That's Al Yellon.

Chuck is right.

[Bort]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

Meh, don't let science and an education get in the way of some good batshit crazy.

That's why we need national standards in education.

Frankly, anyone who believes in Creationism (as in, the Earth is 4,000 years old) over evolution is not qualified for public office.  If a person can refuse to accept hard evidence and supplant that with pure belief, then that person is not qualified to make decisions for the public good.

"I don't care that the evidence says.  I believe it will work!"

That's Al Yellon.

Chuck is right.

We are all doomed.

[Yeti]

Wonderful: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/05/11/political_ad_in_alabama_mocks_evolution.html

Meh, don't let science and an education get in the way of some good batshit crazy.

That's why we need national standards in education.

Frankly, anyone who believes in Creationism (as in, the Earth is 4,000 years old) over evolution is not qualified for public office.  If a person can refuse to accept hard evidence and supplant that with pure belief, then that person is not qualified to make decisions for the public good.

"I don't care that the evidence says.  I believe it will work!"

That's Al Yellon.

Chuck is right.

We are all doomed.

Speak for yourself.

[Brownie]

Glad to see that the women's rights struggle is wrapped up that some feminists have now focused on the use of the uber-offensive term that known misogynist President Obama used to describe Elena Kagan.

Lady is offensive? Really?