Obama vs. Mitch McConnell: Who's The Grown-Up?

In Praise of Mitch McConnell
This is not the post you probably were expecting from me given my harsh — and as always prescient — criticism of Republicans in the Lame Duck session.  I was screaming “capitulation!” before screaming “capitulation!” was fashionable. Notwithstanding the Lame Duck session, give Mitch McConnell some credit for the war which has been fought the past two years. When Obama took office, Republicans had been routed in two consecutive Elections.  With Democrats h

Capehart: Mitch McConnell's failed bid to kill DADT repeal
Yesterday, they -- the folks who want to derail the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in order to continue Discrimination in our Armed Forces -- were preparing to unveil a new weapon in their bid to defy President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the will of the American People, as expressed by the polls and by their representatives in the House and the Senate. According to sources in the Repeal movement and conf...

Obama vs. McConnell: Who's the Grown-up?
One of the reasons Barack Obama is president is because when the U.S. economy was falling off a cliff, he was the adult in the room, and John McCain wasn't. When the Stock Market imploded in September 2008, McCain, who had just earned a shoot-from-the-hip reputation for picking Sarah Palin as his Running Mate, flailed. He couldn't decide what policies to back. He put his campaign on hold, then quickly reversed himself. He was clueless. Obama, on the other hand, eschewed the drama, joined the cho...

Obamas make rare trip to church while in Hawaii (AP)
KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii – President Barack Obama and his family are making a rare Sunday trip to church. The Obamas arrived at St. Michael's Chapel mid-morning. The church is located on the Marine Corps base where Obama frequently golfs and goes to the gym during his Hawaiian Vacations. The Obamas were seated in the first row of the chapel as a band played "Joy to the World" and parishioners clapped. The celebrant said he was especially thankful this Sunday to have the Obamas in attendance. ...

Mexico Says its Troops Killed U.S. Man
Joseph Proctor told his girlfriend he was popping out to the convenience store in the quiet Mexican beach town where the couple had just moved, intending to start a new life. The next morning, the 32-year-old New York native was dead inside his crashed van on a road outside Acapulco. He had multiple bullet wounds. An AR-15 rifle lay in his hands. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize op...

Oprah: We couldve had bread lines if Obama Wasnt Elected
On President Obama: "I think that no one understands until you've been in that seat the enormous pressure to please and satisfy everybody. And I think instead of being grateful for where we are and what he has done, we've forgotten that we were on the brink of a depression when he took over this office. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expres...

Scott Brown Disappointing
Senator Scott Brown's decision to buck his party leadership in recent days on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' Military policy and on a nuclear arms treaty has set off a new wave of anger among some of the Activists who helped elect him - and renewed talk among Conservatives that he might face a primary challenge. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought,...

Man Accused of Breaking the Law after Checking Wife's E-Mail
The Oakland Press is reporting that a Rochester Hills man could face up to five years in Prison for checking his wife's e-mail on their home computer. Leon Jackson, an employee in Oakland County's IT department, didn't use any ninja skills to hack into his (now ex-)wife's computer. He already had her Password, it was a Gmail account, both of them used the Laptop and Jackson says he bought the Laptop before they were married. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intol...

Bill Clinton to campaign for Emanuel in Chicago (AP)
Chicago – Former President Bill Clinton will campaign in support of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's bid for Chicago mayor. Emanuel campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Sunday that Clinton will be in Chicago in January to appear on Emanuel's behalf. A date and place have not been determined. Emanuel formally announced he would run for Chicago mayor in November, just weeks after leaving his post as President Barack Obama's chief of staff. Before his time in the Obama adminis...

Christmas Eve Prediction: Obama Easily Re-Elected
It came to me as if in a dream. A year from now, President Obama's re-election will be assured. The GOP primary battle will be amusing, but -- like the GOP primaries in 1996 -- it will be clear that they are not nominating a President. None of their potential Candidates is remotely electable. Mitch McConnell says his #1 goal is defeating Obama. Not true. In 20 years on the Hill, it was always clear that legislators (in both parties) cared infinitely less about who becomes President than about...

This is Why We Cant Take the Media Seriously Anymore
If you’ll remember, President Obama and the Democrats took a beating in November. A “shellacking,” as the president himself called it. As is usually the case with the media and the 24 hour news cycle, pundits quickly forgot about that. Then the Lame Duck session started. In one final gasp, the Democratic Congress pushed a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the passage of the DREAM Act and a pork-laden Omnibus, sought an end to the Bush Tax Cuts for

Oh goodie! More Potemkin townhalls and television appearances
I don’t make this stuff up. Honestly, I don’t: Jarrett: Obama to spend more time outside of Washington in 2011 President Obama will spend more time outside of Washington, D.C., next year engaging with he public, according to a top White House adviser and close friend of the president. One year before Obama faces Reelection, he is expected to make a greater effort to connect with potential voters after facing charges being too aloof during his first two years in the Oval Office. The...

Sports Groupies Target Dumb Jocks For Cars
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, the NY Post was investigating the lifestyle of sports groupies, with nary a comment from any spouse. The Post has an inexplicable, but completely welcome, feature on sports groupies today, and it turns out they are a surprisingly well-organized online community who share advise and experiences on site Baller Alert. And in the shifting sands of athlete hook-ups, players today are "less likely to meet girls at a Strip Club or bar than t...

Check Out the Union Made Store for Your Post-Holiday Shopping
      Still feel the need to round out your holiday treasure trove, or plan ahead for your favorite  Activists’ birthdays—or just don’t want to face the after-Christmas crowds that will pack the malls this week? Have we got a deal for you! Take a look at the AFL-CIO Online Store—Union Made. TM Just think what the folks at your favorite gym—especially the Tea Party guy who always camps out on the curl machine—will say when you show up in a Kick

What Do Chinese People Think of Jews?
I stumbled upon this unusual video, taken by American Jews in China and narrated in Yiddish, of man-on-the-street interviews regarding perceptions of Jews and Israel. The money line is at 7:30 of the video, in which a sympathetic Chinese man wonders whether it is true that Jews control American Foreign Policy. He must be reading too many left-wing American blogs. It's actually pretty sad, if you ask me. A New York Jew in China - What Do Chinese People Think of Jews? from Forverts on Vimeo. ----...

Library-use numbers surprise Urbandale officials
A National Citizen Survey on the city of Urbandale done in 2009 showed 82 percent of people living east of Interstate Highway 35/80 had used the library at least once in the past 12 months. Only 60 percent of residents living west of the interstate had done so. The survey results surprised Urbandale Public Library officials and prompted a second survey to figure out why. More than 1,000 people responded, but only 50 were not library users. The divide between east and west residents was evenly ...

Gates of Vienna News Feed 12/25/2010
Christians all over the world were under attack on Christmas Day, mostly by Muslims. Violent episodes occurred in Nigeria, the Philippines, Iraq, and other countries. And Christians weren’t the only religious groups targeted by Muslim bombs — two houses belonging to Shi’ite Muslims were blown up in Baghdad, presumably by Sunni Terrorists. In other news, in 2010 for the first time ever China has matched the number of space launches by the United States — fifteen. Meanwhile...

Major Winter Storm bears down on East Coast:
After dropping significant show on Alabama, Georgia, South & North Carolina a major Winter Storm is bearing down on the East Coast. It may bring as much as 12+ inches of snow to New York City. Updates on this Blizzard: Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz Please Support COMMON CENTS by doing your Christmas Shopping here. Thank You!! ...

Fabulous 50
The Fabulous 50 Blogs Awards have been announced. The Awards go to the best conservative blogs in various categories, using a time-tested scientific methodology similar to that used to predict the weather. Based on scientific consensus, your humble correspondent was selected as Best Law Blogger. Remember, you can't argue with science, or consensus. -------------------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Visit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress! ...

Ticket Replay: 100 years ago reports of Mark Twain's death were no longer greatly exaggerated
During the Holiday Season, as in years past, The Ticket is republishing some of our favorite items from the previous political year. This story was originally published on April 21, 2010: You don't know about a man named Mr. Mark Twain without you have read a book called "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Or maybe "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." But that ain't no matter. Those books was made by Mr. Twain, and he told the truth mainly. There was things which he stretc...

What I Want For Christmas
Bob Lefsetz is a Music Industry observer, and publisher of the Lefsetz letter: ~~~ 1. Spotify In The States Spotify kills Piracy dead. Isn’t this what the rightsholders want? As for it being free on the computer… I hate to tell you, music is already free on the computer, ever heard of YouTube? Yes, we’re moving to streaming, and we’re moving to a mobile world. You’ve got to pay to use Spotify on your mobile, people will do it (and for those unfamiliar with Spotify...

Their first Chicago Christmas
Candice Warltier, rear, recently took newly adopted daughter Antara to her first meeting with Santa Claus. (December 4, 2010) This is a tale of two Children, one from Haiti, one from Nepal. I wrote about them both in the past year as their parents struggled to get them home to the United States. Here's an update on their first Chicagoland Christmas. Last Tuesday, when Jean Onelien took his 3-year-old daughter Maulissa to the Skokie library, she scooped up a handful of fresh snow and stuffed it ...

Lynn Sweet and David Corn on MSNBC: Lame Duck Congress Successes
Politics Daily correspondent and Daily FLOTUS writer Lynn Sweet and columnist David Corn appeared on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on Thursday to discuss the Lame Duck session of Congress and President Obama's leadership on its legislative accomplishments. Click play below to watch the video: In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers - a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey...

Bipartisan Boogie
In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers - a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss - we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive addition...

The Pathologies of Presidential Victory
Kevin Drum on why so many things had to wait for the Lame Duck: This year that dynamic turned pathological. There were, it turned out, quite a few issues that both sides really did want to address, but party discipline simply trumped everything. It wasn’t just one thing that got held up, it was nearly everything. Republicans didn’t want to hand Democrats a victory on DADT or New START or even a Food Safety bill, and Democrats were too cowardly to press for progressive tax legislati...