Month: December 2011
It’s Been a Tough Year for Pundits
Has there ever been a worse year for the conventional wisdom in handicapping a presidential primary race? Sure, the pundit pack has been grotesquely wrong before, from over-hyping Hillary Clinton’s chances in 2008 to smugly dismissing Howard Dean’s potential to galvanize anti-war Democrats in 2004. But never have the political railbirds so frequently compounded their errors as they reeled from one smug, but erroneous, prediction to another. The list of miscues by the columnists and TV talking heads is only rivaled by Dick Cheney’s record of intelligence estimates.
— Walter Shapiro, writing in the New Republic.
A Younger Dingell Would Find Today’s Congress Nauseating
I’d probably want to go and vomit.
— Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), quoted by Roll Call, on what he would do if a version of himself from 20 or 30 years ago were suddenly transported to the current day Congress.
Cain Now Wants to Be Secretary of Defense
Because if I could influence rebuilding our military as it should be, that would be a task I would consider undertaking.
— Herman Cain, telling Barbara Walters that he would like to be Defense Secretary in the next Republican administration.
Walters reminded Cain that “it would be important to be familiar with the various countries around the world. And you have had some difficulty with that, Mr. Cain.”
Cain responded, “Yes, but I have been doing my homework ever since that difficulty.”
Marriage? Not So Much
51%
Of American adults are married, a record low. The numbers are even lower among young people. In 1960, nearly 60% of adults age 18 to 29 were married. Today, the amount is 20%. The Pew Research study doesn’t count same-sex marriage, but includes a “family” category for gay couples raising children.
Mitt’s Personhood Problem
Mitt Romney reportedly furious that Corporations are not Time’s Person of the Year.
@LOLGOP, aka comedian Pete Nicely
FOX Exploits Their Feckless Viewers by Switching Romney Picture for Obama
In what has become standard operating procedure at the so-called news organization, FOX, a graphic “accidentally” swapped out a photo of someone FOX doesn’t like and replaced it with a photo of a Democrat they like even less. Media Matters has both the original, from Wednesday, Nov. 14, and the “correction,” used later in the day.
Note to Romney: This is how you know FOX hates you. They show a picture of Obama while Megan talks about you. And then, when they announce the error, she says, “As it turns out, Romney and Barack Obama are not the same man.”
Senators Swap Secret Santa Swag
Who says bipartisanship is dead? Well, everybody — but that’s beside the point. Monday 61 senators (22 Republicans, 39 Democrats) held a secret Santa gift exchange organized by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).
The cost of gifts was limited to $10, which caused the lawmakers to get creative. Well, as creative as U.S. senators can probably get.
Read a rundown of some of the presents here.
