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.

Polar Vortex Tweets: Homeless in DC; Pipes Burst in Atlanta

An NHL hockey game in Buffalo, NY, against the Carolina Hurricanes from Raleigh, NC, scheduled for tonight was postponed due to blizzard conditions. But, things were not much better south of the large city near the Canadian city. NPR reported that homeless were seeking shelter in Nashville, Tenn., as was the case in Washington, D.C.

Pipes burst in Atlanta, record-low or near record-laws were reported in Charlotte, NC, and Roanoke, Va., with the Charlotte record dating back to 1884!

Here is a look at ten tweets which tell the story:

1) Roanoke County (Va) Schools: Roanoke County Public Schools will open two (2) hours late tomorrow (Jan. 8th) due to continued cold conditions.

2) Mike Mac (a Weather Channel correspondent): You know it's bad when they cancel a Buffalo Sabres game and the police are called on snowmobiles.

3) Politics and Prose (indy bookstore in Washington, DC): DC readers if you see a person in need call 1-800-535-7252 for shelter hotline.

4) WSOC Weather (CBS tv station in Charlotte, NC): Today's low of 6 degrees breaks record set in 1884.

5) ABC_11_WTVD (tv station in Raleigh, NC): Duke Energy is asking customers to reduce their usage for the next 24 hours due to high demand for electricity because of the cold weather.

6) Capital Weather Gang (Washington, DC): Anchorage, AK, currently 19 degrees. Dulles is 10 degrees. Anchorage high is headed to the 30s.

7) Mother Jones: Temperatures ranked worst to best_ 5) Blistering heat; 4) Freezing cold; 3) A bit chilly; 4) a little warm; 5) just right.

8) Jonathan Chait (columnist for "New York" magazine): How many polar vortexes have we had before we decided to label it a 'polar vortex?' This can't be the first one.

9) National Weather Service (Blacksburg, Va, bureau): "Readings this morning were so cold, all climate sites set new record low temperatures!"

10) CBS Atlanta: "Marietta_ watch out for ice due to water main burst at Powder Springs Rd."

http://www.wunderground.com/

http://www.weather.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/

http://www.motherjones.com

Motto of the Day- Just Do Nothing

Here is our first entry in what we hope will be many "Mottos of the Day." We dedicate this one to 'our good friend' House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio):

"Do nothing_ it saves money, gas, and utilites."

(Of course, it also wastes time!)

While we want to take exclusive credit for suggesting that Republican is a 'do-nothing' organization, we must tip of hat to Jonathan Chait of "The New Republic" who illustrated how the GOP's idealism has pretty much held steady since the days of Herbert Hoover in a column he wrote a while back.

SIDEBAR: Not all things in Washington, DC, are political (well 98 percent of are) as one can see by "The Washington Post." Every week on Sundays, they have a Date Lab series in their magazine section, and this week they hooked up Ukrainian student Yuri Borovsky, 25, with Becky Strauss, 26. They met at the Persimmon restaurant in our favorite 'burb, Bethesda, Maryland. We wish them luck, but if things fall through for them Becky can always contact yours truly!

Health Care Voices-The Pundits

Dr. Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, is the most famous Turkish-American around (hopefully, one day, I will crack the top 100).

To my knowledge,like many doctors, he has not said much about the health care spat, but the same can not be said for pundits both on the right and the left.

On the far, far right, Glenn Beck, compared President Barack Obama's plan to cup-stacking, presumably suggesting that all the cups would fall down and create a mess.

Frank Livingston, a Garner, NC, resident told "The Indy Weekly" (a Raleigh,NC, alt weekly) during a Tea Party/anti-health care protest in the Tarheel State capital that the bill would somehow help Osama bin Laden take over America and convert everyone to Muslims.

The much more intelligent center-right has been cynical as well. In a June 2009 column, George F. Will said: "The president may have been too clever when he decided during an economic crisis that was sending federal expenditures soaring and revenues plummeting, to push the entire liberal agenda on the premise that every item in it is essential to combating the crisis," Will stated, adding that more federal government will escalate the problem.

Jonathan V. Last of the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard" said Obama's positive numbers were inflated because of his popularity among African-Americans.

But, a counter argument could be made that former President George W. Bush's numbers would have been even closer to the South Pole if it was not for his evangelical base whom comedian Bill Maher said would have supported Bush if he had run over child actress Dakota Fanning on the White House lawn.

However, if the right was critical, the left, which has not always supported Obama universally, called the health care bill's delivery a defining moment for the president.

Jonathan Chait of the center-left "The New Repubic" said: "Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical importance."

Lindsay Beyerstein of the more progressive journal "The Nation" said: "This legislation will extend coverage to 32 million Americans and curb the wrost abuses of the corrupt insurance industry and attmept to contain spiraling health care costs."

The measure also got anlaysis from outside the United States as indicated by this sentiment expressed by Konrad Yakabushi of "The Toronto Globe and Mail:"

"Passage of the $940 billion overhaul of the U.S. health-care system is a milestone that will change the face and character of the country."

Dead or Alive (8 of 12)- Pat Boone

Today, we focus on country/gospel singer Pat Boone whom I saw in person about ten years ago at the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Va. Like Tony Bennett and Andy Williams, Boone is one of those singers who comes to mind this time of year and if you go to Boone's web site (http://www.patboone.com), you can hear a rendition of "Christmas in LA."

But, we are asking the question is Boone alive or dead?

He was born on June 1, 1934, and he reached the height of his fame as a young man in the 1950s. He would sell more record than just about any artist of his time with notable exceptions like Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

Boone was also an actor and because of his religious/conservative view of the world, he would refuse a part with Marilyn Monroe?! He would also become very active in Ronald Reagan's run for governor. And, of course, he supported Ronnie when ran for president and made this country a mess (excuse the political bias).

Politics remains a passion for Boone as he went on Fox News to support the War in Iraq, where his record sales are probably still fairly minimal.

Conservative commentator P.J. O'Rourke, who know contributes to "The Weekly Standard" said Boone's music was one of the things he began to embrace when he went from becoming a liberal to a conservative (hmmm....I may have settled for Lawrence Welk, but since I voted for Obama, I guess I can still listen to The Clash).

Personally, I prefer "The Weekly Standard"'s rival publication "The New Republic" for those of us on the center-left. Jonathan Chait's piece on Republican nihilism (do-nothingism) is a classic!

Boone also sang along '70s cartoon character Dynomutt in a Christmas Carol for a tv special circa 1978. A hysterical Youtube video of that was available as of last Christmas. 'Ralph,' a friend of mine, who is also 39, and I discussed the possible sexual orientation of Dynomutt's sidekick The Blue Falcon. I think in retrospect he may have been gay. Ralph begs to differ.

But, Boone did surprise the record industry with a compilation of heavy metal covers, including a version of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"! Amazingly, Osbourne and Boone were also once neighbors which must have made for one very interesting block party.