Chaos in DC: Tweets from the Republican Congress Mess

Greetings to our blog readers in Serbia, Finland, and Scotland.........


Yes, it has been a full two weeks since I last posted. In the mean time, actor James Woods has reverted back to being a progressive and Susan Sarandon has become a tea partier......well, of course, neither of those things has happened, but we are still here, and we still maintain a center-left point of view.

The images pictured here are of: 1) Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is one of 46 Republicans trying to become House Speaker since Cong. Kevin McCarthy stunned the nation by dropping out of the race (in actuality, there are 10 candidates who might be speaker), 2) Bao Bao the National Zoo panda who doesn't get to vote for House Speaker, and 3) Turkish ambassador Serdar Kilic posing with President Barack Obama, the man who has replaced Thomas Jefferson on the two dollar bill. (I think we lost some conservatives in the audience with that quip).........we refer to Kilic because Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was mentioned in a tweet (see below).......

Here are 11 tweets, one for each member of the D.C. United soccer team regarding the predicament over which Republican will prevail as House Speaker in the wake of Cong. John Boehner's (R-Ohio) stunning resignation.

1)  Donna Brazile: #TheSpeakerofTheHouse is second in line after the Vice President to accede to the Presidency. This is serious.

2) The Hill: Amid chaos, Dems catch GOP off guard with Planned Parenthood vote.

3) Roll Call: One member* stomped into an elevator away from reporters with an emphatic "no!" when asked if running for speaker (*-Cong. Trey Gowdy R-SC).

4) Slate: Ted Cruz ambushed the Sierra Club's president** on climate change (**-Aaron Nair). 

5) Gawker: Dr. Ben Carson just won't quit it with the Hitler talk.

6) Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo.): "#chaosintheHouse who will be speaker?"

7) Politico: Leading Republicans to GOP conference: keep calm

8) Jonathan Chait: Biden seen ordering ice cream cone.

9) Ken Rudin: Newt Gingrich says he wouldn't rule being temp House Speaker.

10) New York Post: Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich won this year's Nobel Prize in literature.

11) The Economist: Turkey's Erdogan once visited Brussels begging for favours. The tables have turned.

Now, that we're done, we should head to the Turkish restaurant Meze http://www.mezedc.com though it is late and we don't actually live close to the nation's capital.

Top 10 Dinner Party Guests We Would Invite: Meet Bruce Bruce

Greetings to our blog readers in South Korea, France and Canada........

This is our very first entry of this kind; it is an idea that was inspired both by a regular column in the magazine "Washingtonian" http://www.washingtonian.com and the NPR show "Dinner Party Download" http://www.dinnerpartydownload.com which airs on radio stations such as WFDD (88.5FM; Winston-Salem, NC) http://www.wfdd.org

We would like to see a collection of politicians, entertainers, dignitaries and people with radically different politics, such as right-wing pundit George F. Will and liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore http://www.michaelmoore.com

Those pictured here are: 1) Film director Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights," "There Will Be Blood"), 2) stand-up African-American comedian Bruce Bruce and 3) young adult fiction writer John Green ("The Faults in Our Stars"). As it turns out, we actually know none of these people:

1) Paul Thomas Anderson

2) Bruce Bruce

3) Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)

4) John Green

5) Zola Jesus (a musician-performer)

6) Ambassador Serdar Kilic of Turkey

7) Valerie Kondos-Field, UCLA women's gymnastics coach

8) Michael Moore

9) Cong. David Price (D-NC)

10. George F. Will

The DC List (1 of 3): Meet Your Republican Congressional Members...........and, guess when they will turn 103

Greetings to our blog readers from Argentina, France and Malaysia.......we are coming to you live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, well, actually, we just said that to get your attention!

At any rate as even yack herders in Mongolia now by now there were mid-term elections to determine which party gets control of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and alas (yes, we are biased), the Republicans won. But, after watching "The Partridge Family" reruns for five straight days and getting mopped and depressed, we thought of what Mel Brooks once said: "The best way to get even with your enemies is to make fun of them."

So, as gerrymandering will assure that Republicans will hold their seats for years and years on end even if they smoke pot on a ski trip to Colorado or run over an old woman's foot with their Hummer in a Target parking lot in Florida, we thought we'd let you the voter know when your Republican Congressional member is scheduled to turn 103! Oh, and of course, we forgot to add if you are playing Angry Birds as bills are being voted on in the floor; it is actually an addictive game, we'll give you that!

And, of course, we once again, choose to make fun of our own Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) who was first elected to the House of Reps in 1992 during the infamous Newt Gingrich takeover of the house.

Here is when your rep turns 103 years old:

1) Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC, pictured top) 2046

2) Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va, pictured center) 2055

3) Cong Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) 2070

4) Cong. Martha Roby (R-Ala) 2079 (she's a young one, especially for a Republican!)

5) Cong. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla) 2066 (whew! We almost didn't spell his name right....)

6) Cong. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.) 2056

7) Cong. Tom Graves (R-Ga) 2073 (that's also the year I turn 103!)

8) Cong. Steve King (R-Iowa) 2052

9) Cong. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) 2058

10) Cong. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) 2053

http://goodlatte.house.gov/

http://foxx.house.gov/

http://chaffetz.house.gov/

http://www.c-span.org/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/

http://www.theonion.com/section/politics/

http://www.politco.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com    (for more reps who turn 103)

On Stage: Boy George is Back

Yes, Boy George, the lead singer of Culture Club, a new wave pop band from the 1980s which is also going to tour this year, will be coming to a venue near you, unless you live in rural Kentucky.

The show which caught our attention is his scheduled April 21st performance at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, which will assuredly be attended by Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Va), which reminds of the old Frank Zappa saying: "When God invented Republicans, he showed he has a sense of humor."

Culture Club, which is known for a number of top ten hits including "Karma Chameleon," has actually toured as well in recent years, including a 2011 concert in Dubai!

Boy George also sang with Bono, the lead singer of U2, on "Do They Know It's Christmas Time at Home?"....amazingly enough, both singers cite David Bowie as a major influence on them.

The lead singer of Culture Club is actually on tour with solo shows in Europe, we think he played somewhere in Belgium last night.

And, in addition to his 9:30 Club show, which costs $35, he will be at Irving Plaza in New York on the following night, April 22nd.

http://www.culture-club.co.uk

http://www.930.com

http://www.boygeorgeuk.com

DC Week (6 of 8): Cong. Reps from Blue States

Today, Cong. Chris Van Hollen (pictured top) made headlines when he was informed by Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who was presiding in the speaker's chair, that Democrats in the House could not introduce legislation to end the government shutdown. The video of the spat went viral, and the incident was subject of stories in both "The Salt Lake Tribune" and "The Baltimore Sun."

Since the government shutdown has just concluded the 15th day of deadlock, we thought we'd post two boxers as the middle image.

The first image is of Cong. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) who should be mistaken for ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham. While the House has a reputation for being a group of grumpy old men, Denham is only 46 years and there are two House members on this list who are younger than him.

Denham is also one of only 17 House members (from both parties) who lives in a competitive district, according to "The San Francisco Chronicle."

Here are 10 House members from Blue states:


1. Chris Von Hollen (D-Md.), fifth dist., 54, budget committee

2. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), 48, 23rd  district, minority whip; financial services

3. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), 35, 15th dist., energy and commerce; foreign affairs

4. Pete Welch (D-Vt.), 66, energy and commerce

5. Jim Langevin (D-R.I), 49, 2nd dist., Armed services

6. Pete King (R-NY), 69, 2nd dist., Financial services; foreign affairs

7. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) 46, 9th dist., agriculture; transportation and infrastructure

8. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), 56, 5th dist., science, space and technology; transportation and infrastructure

9.Niki Tsongas, (D-Mass.), 67, 3rd dist., Armed Services; Natural Resources

10. Michael Grimm (R-NY), 43, 11th   dist., Financial Services


http://www.baltimoresun.com/

http://www.sltrib.com/

http://denham.house.gov/

http://www.sfgate.com/news/

http://vanhollen.house.gov/

http://www.rollcall.com

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes or Less_ Our Favorite '80s High School Films

Whether you are a supporter of Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) or Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), you will probably agree that brevity is not one of our strengths.

With that, and greetings to our blog-readers in Mozambique, Venezuela and Jordan, we bring you the latest installment of Blogging in 3.5 minutes or less.

Today, we are going to list our six favorite high school films, with no order of preference, from the 1980s.

This idea came to mind when saw that The Sundance Channel, which along with IFC airs reruns of the cult tv show "Freaks and Geeks," which ran for 18 episodes in 1999, asked followers of its Facebook page what their fav high school film was. It is also Throwback Thursday here in America, and perhaps in Jordan too.

 Here are our's:

"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982; pictured_ yes, that is a year young Nicholas Cage)

"The Outsiders" (1983)

"Porky's" (1983)

"Risky Business" (1983)

"The Breakfast Club" (1985)

"Heathers" (1988, which is the year I graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland*)

*-Not really where I went to school

http://www.jasonforcongress.com

http://www.jaredpolis.com

http://www.sundancechannel.com

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org

UNC Tarheels Caught in Snowmageddon

It's been a long time since we used four images in one entry! But, the third major storm to hit the mid-Atlantic region, which has been called 'Snowmaggedon' by none other than President Barack Obama, has dumped 26.5 inches of snow in Baltimore, Md.,12.5 inches in Staunton, Va., ( a city in the Shenandoah Valley) and 10.5 inches in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., some four hours south of Washington, DC.

The storm reached as far south as Mount Airy, NC, the real-life Mayberry where Andy Griffith hails from, which reported at least three inches of snow there.

Coincidentally, this was the weekend when both the University of North Carolina's women's gymnastics team and the Tarheels' men's basketball team, coming off a heart-breaking loss to Virginia Tech by a 74-70 margin in Blacksburg, Va., (which also got plenty of snow) were both headed to College Park, Md., to compete in their respective sports with the University of Maryland Terps.

The gym meet, scheduled for Friday night, was postponed, but the UNC basketball team's plane successfully arrived at BWI Airport yesterday afternoon. So, the ACC has decided to go ahead with the UNC-UMD basketball game at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.

One DC-area tweeter said that there were 1,100 car crashes in the metro area plus there were 155,000 residents without power. The Fruit of the Spirit Baptist Church in northeast DC had a roof collapse due to the snow. NPR reported that a snowball fight arranged through a Facebook group met in Dupont Circle where hundreds of people actually showed up to hurl snow at each other.

The BBC reported that empty-shelved grocery stores in suburban communities like Arlington, Va., and Bethesda, MD., made residents think what it must have been like during food shortages in the former USSR!

But, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouir) in a rare non-political tweet said she was able to buy onions at a DC area grocery store today, which effectively made her day.

Another prominent Democratic politician House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in attendance during Georgetown University's home game with Villanova, which the host Hoyas won 103-90.

A tweet from a Hoyas Twitter page complimented the Georgetown fans who made it to the game at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC:

"A terrific effort by the Georgetown students getting here. Some drove, some walked to the Rosslyn Metro station and some just walked."

But, the most startling story I came across on Twitter was that of the UNC Men's basketball team. The defending NCAA champions have had a very harsh year as it is. They are now 2-5 in the ACC and in serious jeopardy of not making the NCAA tournament in March. Assuredly, they probably wish Ty Lawson, now a rookie with the surging Denver Nuggets in the NBA, could rejoin the team in time for the ACC tournament in Greensboro, NC.

This weekend though, the 'Heels problems were off the court. According to the Twitter page http://twitter.com/unc_Bball, the team's entrance to their hotel in Beltsville, Md., was blocked in. Then, the team was holed up in their hotel room wondering just how much snow would fall.

They would then cancel their scheduled team practice at 11 a.m. today, even though the hotel is only five miles away from College Park. The 'Heels got the cooperation from University of Maryland officials so the game could met its scheduled 2 p.m. tip-off on Sunday afternoon.

The good news is that the team was finally able to dig their team bus out from the snow a short while ago, and they will hold a practice this afternoon, some five hours later than they had initially hoped.

Assuredly, their fans back in Chapel Hill, NC, will be hoping that the team can improve its play on the court in spite of all the distractions.

But, there is one game that will not be played in the DC area. The Washington Wizards have called off their home game with the Atlanta Hawks tonight. It's the NBA's first postponement since Decemeber of 2006.

SIDEBAR: Of course, since Washington, DC, is first and fore-most a political zip code, one has to wonder if the Sunday talk shows will be affected. I, for one, would love to see the likes of Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), both of whom I follow on Twitter, defend the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gays and lesbians serving in the military on tv as they have done in Congress. The measure initiated by President Bill Clinton in the first term of his office is considered to be a political failure today. To me, nothing is more ironic than watching members of one political party defend a policy failure developed by their rival political party. If that is not funnier than the "Cathy" strip in the Sunday comics page, I don't know what is!

UPDATE: In spite of everything they endured, the Tarheels lost to the Terps by a 92-71 margin in College Park, Md., on Sunday afternoon!