John McCain joins the Dems in fighting the Homeland Security Bill, mainly because it has swollen 450 pages since election day with ridiculous helpings of GOP pork. Looks like the only entities with security in Dubya’s universe are pharmaceutical companies and the anti-terrorism industry. Update: Despite McCain’s vote, the Dems lose again. (Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and Zell Miller voted with the GOP, as did Wellstone’s current replacement, Dean Barkley.)
Category: War on Terror
The Rollback begins.
An appeal court today approved broadened wiretap powers for John Ashcroft’s Justice Department. (But don’t worry…they’ll only use it on the bad people.) In loosely related news, the Dems are discovering a filibuster won’t work in stopping much of the GOP’s desired legislation, including oil and gas drilling of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Looks like things’ll be getting worse before they get better.
Speaking of big oil, I was doing some reading between classes in what passes for a student center here at Columbia and ended up sitting next to the undergraduate pro-war-in-Iraq table. (To be honest, I’m always a bit startled by the conservatism of today’s undergraduate community, although I suppose it wasn’t much different in my day – I still remember the drunken revelries all over campus that accompanied the 1994 midterms.) At any rate, I noticed the organization’s name was Students United for Victory, which would make their acronym SUV. Ah well, I presume the irony was lost on these earnest young hawks.
Trial Balloons.
After the humbling defeat of Election Tuesday, Dem presidential hopefuls start taking tentative steps down a more combative course. First Daschle rightfully questioned the terrorism initiative in the wake of the recent Bin Laden tape, and now Gore is outwardly questioning the Supreme Court for its 2000 election decision. Speaking of which, anyone hoping beyond hope for a “new” Candidate Gore in 2004 should just take note of how loudly the gears are grinding here. The Gores have two books coming out – Joined at the Heart (as a friend of mine noted, a truly awful name that conjures up visions of Chang and Eng) and The Spirit of Family – aimed at resurrecting whatever national goodwill Al managed to muster by “The Kiss” at the Democratic Convention. As usual, Gore‘s making his points ham-fistedly.
Fresh faces.
Despite a last minute op-ed gambit by Harold Ford (I thought he was making an interesting case until he conflated national security with the Iraq vote), Nancy Pelosi wins the Democratic leadership handily. Hopefully, she’ll make the most of it. On the GOP side, Tom DeLay moved up the ranks to take Dick Armey’s spot. I’d say a higher national profile for the Exterminator is a good thing. The more people get a sense of how creepy DeLay is, the more palatable the Dems will seem in contrast.
Lame Ducks and Loose Cannons.
The lame duck Congress meets in Washington to pass Dubya’s homeland security act. But will Trent Lott and the freak-show Right tie Dubya down to a host of anti-abortion bills first? That’s just the type of contentious and constrictive legislation that’ll end GOP domination of DC in 2004.
Suspicion Breeds Confidence.
With full control of Congress, the President declares homeland security his top priority, and will move on the Senate-stymied bill to create the Department of Homeland Security during the lame-duck session. Mmm, security…sounds doubleplussgood. So do I have to get my bar code on the side of my head like 12 Monkeys, or can I put it on the back of my neck or something?
State of Emergency.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. In fact, panic. And remember, if something bad happens, we told you. So it’s not our fault. Nope, no sir. Oh, and happy halloween.
The Enemy of my Enemy.
Strange times, indeed…are Bob Barr and Dick Armey our last, best hope in preventing Ashcroft’s America?
Turning America Upside-Down.
Keep listening, Dubya. You just might learn a thing or two…(This, by the way, was a photoshop.) (Via Absolute Piffle.)
Is Bush a Liar?
Well, you be the judge…check out Dubya’s 9-11 timeline, and the story behind it. Very Gore-esque. (Via Genehack from awhile ago, but I neglected to post it earlier.)