Frank Requesting To Fill Kerry's Seat Temporarily

Barney Frank has admitted he would like to fill John Kerry’s seat in Massachusetts until a special election takes place in late spring or early summer. Frank retired after a 32-year term in the House of Representatives on Thursday and doesn’t wish to run for election. He said on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe” that he had changed his mind about staying out of politics because of the upcoming votes about taxes, spending and the debt ceiling.  He's watching the Republicans already talking about taking the country hostage once again to force their austerity measures on us.  Frank's reliably liberal vote in the Senate would drive John McCain and Lindsay Graham absolutely crazy. In the House he championed the overhaul of financial institutions resulting in landmark legislation, the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection Act. He would join newly elected Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the fight for the regulation of banks. Warren is an advocate of pro-consumer banking regulations.  Gov. Deval Patrick will someone to fill the vacancy created by Kerry’s nomination to be Secretary of State. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, 32, grandson of Robert F. Kennedy was elected to fill Frank’s seat in the House. Another name mentioned for the temporary position is Vicki Kennedy, wife of the late Ted Kennedy. I like the idea of Frank. Not only would it drive Republicans up the wall, he knows his way around DC and will be a strong and vocal proponent of the Democratic agenda.

Elizabeth Warren Sworn in as Massachusetts First Female Senator

Today was a great day to be a liberal from Massachusetts!  Elizabeth Warren reclaimed the Liberal Lion's seat from placeholder Scott Brown on November 6 with an eight point cushion and we couldn't be happier.  At the Democratic National Convention, Ms. Warren accurately stated, "Wall Street C.E.O.’s — the same ones who wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs — still strut around Congress, no shame, demanding favors and acting like we should thank them."  The new Senator from Massachusetts will get a seat on the Senate Banking Committee, much to the chagrin of Wall Street.  It must also be noted that that man she handily defeated was Wall Street's favorite son in his two year stint as Ted Kennedy's replacement.  Don't get me wrong, I think Brown is going to be the equivalent of having gum on your shoe, never going away.  There's not a doubt in my mind that he will run for future Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry's Senate seat and again, it will be a two year gig.  Here's the difference, this time national Democrats are paying attention.  So far, only Rep. Ed Markey has thrown his name into the ring, but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) says they are ready to strongly defend this seat...a lesson learned from the inept campaign AG Martha Coakley ran against Brown in 2009.  And Brown has already started with the negative shots at Markey, so I'll take that as a sign he's running again.  On election night, once Warren had been declared the winner, my first thought was, "I wonder if the Republicans who were so opposed to her being appointed to lead the agency she started, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, were regretting their short-sighted decision."  At the end of the day, we have elected a warrior for the middle class and I couldn't be prouder of our state sending an unabashed liberal to Washington to fight the good fight for the people.

History Channel Losing Credibility with JFK Attack Film

Is there no level that the right wing will not stoop? Even some non-Kennedy supporters are appalled at what the History Channel is considering airing.  This is the History Channel, not Lifetime. It's supposed to be based in facts, not innuendo.  In case you missed it, on Sunday, filmmaker Robert Greenwald appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" to discuss his campaign against a proposed TV miniseries about the Kennedys, slated to appear on aforementioned History Channel.  The series is being produced by Joel Surnow, the creator of "24" and a supporter of George Bush, who Greenwald says "deliberately distorts historical fact" in order to smear the Kennedy family. "I don't care what your politics are," Greenwald says. "This is a below-the-belt trashing of a president of the United States -- not on policy, but character assassination." 



The script for the upcoming "The Kennedys" miniseries on The History Channel is right-wing character assassination, not "history." David Talbot, author of "Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years" refutes liberties taken with his book.



Tell the History Channel this belongs in The National Inquirer

Obama Finally Has His Mojo Working ... I Hope It's Not Too Late

It’s been quite a week! I have to say, as much as it still bothers me that Tea Party Express candidate Scott Brown won the Massachusetts special election to fill the remainder of Senator Ted Kennedy’s term, maybe something good will come out of it. Maybe it was the dose of reality that President Obama needed to see instead of relying on Rahm Emanual’s continuous poor advice. Massachusetts wasn’t lost because residents were against a national health care policy like conservative media is playing it. It was lost because the public option was removed, but the mandate remained. Massachusetts already has RomneyCare so it would’ve been a double-dip. When the public option was still in, so were 70% of Mass residents. On January 19th, 52% of our voters were fed up with the deal making encouraged by Emanual and they supported the guy with the truck…and five homes. Since the election, much has been written as to “what happened?” As bad of a campaign as Martha Coakley ran, the disgust with the numerous sellouts is what really happened.

One more thing about the Brown election. The loss of the super majority never bothered me because Democrats never really had it. Yeah, it looked good on paper and even on paper you were counting Joe Liebermann. He can’t be counted on for anything except serving his own ego. The reality is, those 60 votes included a bunch of conservative senators who really had no interest in voting with the majority of the Democrats on much of anything. Their little myth of 60 reliable votes led the Democrats to draft policies in a way that they thought maybe could get all of those 60 votes. Just look at the health care reform debacle. Maybe now, with that nonsense out of the way, they can actually craft bills that make sense. If senators want to filibuster, let them. Make them stand on the floor and explain why they’re against any number of policies that might come forward including a strong health insurance reform bill. Let them explain their positioning with the health insurance industry instead of tax paying Americans...who vote. The good Democrats need to stop worrying about the "threat" of the filibuster. Call their bluff and let them do it, damn it!

Now, the good part! This week, for the first time since he took office, I'm seeing the fire in Obama that most of us had hoped for initially. On Wednesday night, he took charge of the room during the State of the Union address. Granted, he said a few cringe worthy things, but I guess he felt he needed toss some bones to the conservatives. Just to jog your memory, he mentioned off-shore drilling, capital gains cuts, business tax cuts, the spending freeze, so-called “clean coal --- all Republican talking points that will do very little besides antagonize progressives. He dinged the Senate on several occasions for holding up progress. However, when he called out the senate Republicans for being obstructionists by demanding a filibuster-proof majority for every single bill, I just hoped America was listening. By the way, before someone suggests that it’s always been like this, no it hasn’t. According to the Senate historical office, the number of Senate cloture votes, which require a supermajority of 60, more than doubled — from 54 to 112 — from the 109th Congress (2005-2006) to the 110th (2007-2008). I also enjoyed him looking at the Democrats and telling them they still have a huge majority and “not run for the hills.” Of course many of the Republicans just sat there chuckling throughout because saying no and distorting facts has been working for them. I think it was very telling that the only time Republicans rose to their feet in applause was when pro-business related ideas were mentioned. Anything domestic was scoffed at. Many of the domestic ideas Obama laid out are things that working Americans want to see. On the top of my list was the fees he wants to impose on the big banks that got bailout money, but decided to give mega bonuses to their executives instead of paying taxpayers back. That's a very populist idea. The look on Republican faces said it all. Then there was his shot at the Supreme Court's disasterous decision that I wrote about last week. "With all due deference to the separation of powers, the court last week reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." The statement prompted Justice Samuel Alito to mutter, "simply not true." Right on Barack! How sad and broken are our politics when the President of the United States has to scold everyone in the room.

Then on Friday, Obama headed to the Republicans turf. He appeared at their retreat in Baltimore to take questions and give answers. He kicked ass! He did so well, Fox News discontinued coverage part way through as he destroyed talking points and their lies. By the way, since he's often mocked for his use of a teleprompter, I want to point out that there was none. The man showed them all who the smart guy in the room was. Republican aides later admitted that they shouldn't have agreed to let the cameras roll throughout. One of the senators I dislike most based on various interviews I've seen with him is Mike Pence of Indiana. He asked the first question, actually several all rolled into a statement which Obama handled masterfully. Pence said Obama was trying to defend "a so-called stimulus that was a piecemeal list of projects and boutique tax cuts." In part, Obama replied, "When you say they were boutique tax cuts, Mike, 95 percent of working Americans got tax cuts. This notion that this was a radical package is just not true." I did see a replay of the event last night and while not all the Republicans looked like complete fools, none of them had command of the very subject they asked about the way Obama did. Here's a good one: When it was over, orange House Republican leader tan-in-a-can John Boehner of Ohio issued a statement saying Obama "acknowledged the fact that House Republicans have offered better solutions over the last year." Oh my God, can these guys get any more delusional?

If you missed the Q & A, find 66 minutes of your time. It is well worth it:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quick Thoughts: North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx (R) said "Obama lectured us, but I got his autograph." Wowee! She got the autograph of a man she thinks is a Kenyan. In addition, for anyone who doesn't know what else this witch stands against, here you go: Last year she vehemently argued against the The Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. She claimed those who say Matthew Shepard was murdered in Wyoming for being gay are perpetrating a "hoax" on the American people. She claimed he was accidentally killed in a robbery gone wrong. She ended up apologizing to Shepard's mother who was at the hearings. Typical homophobic imbecile in denial who can't or won't read. The New York Times reported in 1998: "According to the local police and prosecutors, the two men lured Mr. Shepard out of a bar by saying they were gay. Then, the Laramie police say, the pair kidnapped Mr. Shepard, pistol-whipped him with a .357 Magnum, and left him tied to a ranch fence for 18 hours until a passing bicyclist spotted Mr. Shepard, who was unconscious." He later died from the injuries.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009

Way to go North Carolina. Is this really the best you can do?

Say It Ain't So, Massachusetts!

On Tuesday, the 19th of January, our little ol' state of Massachusetts will be holding a special election to replace the seat once held by Senator Ted Kennedy. Democrat Martha Coakley is in a tight battle with Republican Scott Brown. The thing is, this should've been an easy win for Coakley, but I honestly think someone was whispering in her ear that "it's in the bag" so she hadn't been doing much campaigning until the polls started tightening. Brown on the other hand has been pretty aggressive and has had money pumped into the state from outside sources. I will be shocked and dismayed if our state elects a Bush-clone to the seat once held by Kennedy.

To me, this is about so much more than the health care debate. Brown’s positions are actually lock-step with what Bush and Cheney did…tax cuts for the wealthy, protections for business, he’s against the fees Obama has proposed on big banks to get bailout money returned in entirety, health care for all as long as it’s done through private insurers, doesn’t care about the environment, etc… On gay marriage: "Marriage issues should be left up to the states, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.” In other words, keep letting the majority decide on the rights of a minority. He’s been endorsed by the hate group, MassResistance. I wonder what would’ve happened in 1967 if inter-racial marriage was put up for vote as a popularity contest? I’m a bit confused about his stance on abortion since it seems to change depending on his audience. At one point he stated: “While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion.” First, let me just say that I hate the term partial birth abortion, just as much as I resent being called pro-abortion. The anti-abortion crowd just keeps on coming out with terms to place fear in women. As a very pro-choice individual, I also recognize that late term abortions are no longer a clear cut decision between a woman and her doctor. At a certain point, you’ve taken on some responsibility whether you realize it or not. I’m not a believer that life starts at conception, rather at individual viability. That is when the decision becomes tricky since the woman has had several months to decide, life/health of the mother obviously excluded. However, Brown also sponsored an amendment to a 2005 bill on emergency contraception that would have let emergency room doctors or nurses turn away rape victims if they had religious objections to providing emergency contraception. Rape victims! They’ve already been violently victimized once and now they’re going to get victimized by the very people who are supposed to help them? My feeling has always been you need to leave your personal feelings at the door in any profession. If you can’t do your job every single day in every single way, you need to find another line of work. It’s as simple as that.

Here’s what I find somewhat interesting. In June of 1982, Scott Brown won Cosmopolitan’s “America’s Sexiest Man” contest and posed nude for the centerfold. Isn’t this the family values party? Didn’t fellow Tea-bagger Sarah Palin say her former, future son-in-law Levi Johnson was doing porn by posing in Playgirl? What’s the difference? Enquiring minds want to know. I’d also love to hear the roar if it was the Democrat who had done the nude layout. It would’ve been scandalous! What I think is mind-boggling is in their ongoing hypocrisy. Their defense is that it’s ok because he’s good looking! So what, Obama is too. The right wing went nuts over a photo just as old as this one, of Obama smoking a cigarette because of the message that it sends to the youth of America. Conservatives really are one dimensional cretins.

Today President Obama will arrive in Boston to help gin up the base to turn out on Tuesday. I’ve been getting robo-calls from Obama, Bill Clinton, Martha Coakley and sadly Scott Brown (I’d love a live call) who’s been endorsed and heavily funded by the Tea Party Express. I hope it’s not a question of too little, too late. Martha Coakley is not an exciting candidate by any stretch, but the alternative is not acceptable. What a sick twist in irony it will be when Houston, TX just elected a lesbian Mayor and liberal Massachusetts ends up with a Tea Bagger in the senate if this doesn’t go well. If that happens, I hope the Democrats find a strong candidate to run for the full term in 2012.

Limbaugh's Take on Hate-e

While this man knows no limit to the depth he’ll dive, he may have reached a level this week that even Jacques Cousteau would be jealous of. After the 7.0 Earthquake annihilated Haiti on Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh decided to make political rhetoric out of thousands of deaths to his simple minded hate-filled listeners. On Wednesday Rush declared;

"This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, "credibility" with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them. That's why he couldn't wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there." "Now, I want you to remember, it took him three days to respond to the Christmas Day Fruit of Kaboom Bomber, three days. And when he came out after those three days, he was clearly irritated that he had to do it. He didn't want to do it. He comes out here in less than 24 hours to speak about Haiti."

Where do you even begin? Is he suggesting that Obama has some kind of connection upstairs to coincide this tragedy with his falling approval numbers? And that humanitarian, compassion stuff is for sissy’s, not for real Americans. Burnishing his credibility with the black community? That one actually made me start laughing. I’m pretty sure he’s already got them sewed up. No offense to anyone meant, but really? I’m certain the black community aren’t closet McCain fans. The Christmas Day bomber? Um, thousands didn’t die. Luckily the would-be bomber was incompetent. Obama waited until he had his facts straight before speaking publicly about it. Funny how they always forget Bush waited six days after the Shoe Bomber, a virtually identical attack. Ah, but that was just the day after the quake…
On Thursday Rush told his empty headed sheep not to donate to any Haitian relief charities. You’ll love this reasoning:

“We’ve already donated to Haiti! It’s called the US income tax! There are people who do charitable work every day in Haiti. It’s not as though… it’s our fault. There are people that have been trying to save Haiti, just as we’re trying to save Africa. You just can’t keep throwing money at it, because the dictatorships there just take it all. Besides, even if the people did get the money, that would just stop them from bothering to support themselves. It’s a simple matter of self-reliance.”

There’s nothing I can say about such a mean, ignorant statement. The last two sentences are all you really need to read. Even Joe Scarborough was shocked and horrified by Limbaugh’s lack of compassion. This man is one of the most vicious hateful people ever to be given a platform. The fact that his followers actually think he is a “real American hero” is nauseating. Those are the same people who call Keith Olbermann evil and hateful because he was the first MSM personality to start reporting on Bush’s Evil Empire. These are the same people who just weeks ago attacked non-Rush fan bloggers that hoped for a poor outcome with Limpballs health scare. While I would never go there (that Karma thing), I found it amazing that the same people dancing on Ted Kennedy’s grave while cheering were appalled and downright angry at some of the non-Rush fans’ reactions. All I will say is, I wouldn’t miss him. It would actually be more satisfying if he got fired, but he brings in too much money with all these ignorant idiots tuning in.
Wait, we’re not done, Friday came…

“This is about domestic U.S. politics. Haiti is about domestic U.S. politics, in addition to the humanitarian effort that is behind this. By the -- of course, we are not suggesting that we shouldn't send soldiers to Haiti. Do not misunderstand. But why is there no concern about the cost from the White House, when there was so much concern about Afghanistan? After all, isn't the job of the U.S. military, first and foremost, to protect the national security and interests of the United States? No, it's not. The U.S. military is now Meals on Wheels. It always is with Democrat presidents.”

Those bastard Democrats. Always trying to help out the less fortunate. Especially in a time of dire need. Rush says “f**k ‘em.” He honestly thinks our soldiers should just be killing people, not helping them! Again, he’s speaking to people who can’t even spell Afghanistan or Haiti. Hell, some of them probably can’t spell America. Notice how he never mentions that it’s always the Republicans that start the wars and tension. Notice how he doesn’t mention the economic disasters are always started by Republicans and the next poor Democratic President ends up with a big hot turd in every corner to try and clean up. And when the Democrat can’t get it cleaned up within one year after an eight year (or twelve 1980-1992) reign, they’re labeled a failure.  What's worse is many dumb voters buy it!

Given their general lack of empathy, let’s be grateful Fox News isn’t even covering the event. With a tragedy so horrific just 700 miles off Florida’s coast, Fox has decided to just continue doing what they do best; their relentless journey of doing their part to destroy President Obama. They featured national security experts Liz Cheney and Sarah Palin this week. The only thing I have witnessed on Fox so far was earlier today when they were bemoaning the fact that illegal Haitians currently in the U.S. have been granted an eighteen month stay. I'm sure as this "rescue and recovery" moves forward, Fox will find stories more in line with what Limbaugh would find acceptable. The human crisis will not be witnessed by their minions. Given the mentality of an average Fox viewer, I'm betting their compassionate Christian disciples find Haitians to be sub-human anyways.

And for all the knocks MSNBC has gotten through the years for their poor weekend news coverage (which has been deserved), they have shined throughout this tragedy.  Not only did Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and Ed Schultz do two live shows per night during the week dedicated to this event, MSNBC has kept teams on it all day today as well.  They're outshining CNN in my opinion.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement of U.S. commitment was carried live. I've watched live video of some of the planes landing at Edwards Air Force Base in Homestead, Florida with passengers. I've watched interviews with evacuees. Those have been some extremely grateful people!  Only those who are U.S. residents, have green cards or some type of legal claim here, have been transported here so far. Fox will probably wait until some severely injured "aliens" are transported to a Miami hospital before they decide to cover the story.