WHY WERE WE EVER IN IRAQ?

...................

After all these years I still have no idea what it was all about.

Even at the time conservatives would occasionally admit that the WMD rationale was horseshit. It was as if each had their own individual Great Game reason for it. There were as many reasons for the Iraq war as there were supporters of it.

I suppose, ultimately, it came down to blowing up brown people and pissing off liberals. So it was quite a success, really.

http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
British-born author, literary critic and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418

The Nays: Someone has to post this list, before posting becomes an act of terrorism

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011

The senators voting Nay on the "Indefinite Detention by the Military" bill

Because someone has to post this list, before posting becomes an act of terrorism, to be dealt with by the military only, in military court only (yes, folks, that's what this bill calls for).

Senators voting Nay on this year's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

NAYs ---13

Cardin (D-MD)
Coburn (R-OK)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Durbin (D-IL)
Franken (D-MN)
Harkin (D-IA)
Lee (R-UT)
Merkley (D-OR)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Sanders (I-VT)
Wyden (D-OR)


YEAs ---86

Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Coons (D-DE)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagan (D-NC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Portman (R-OH)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Rubio (R-FL)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)

The rest:
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00230#position
http://www.americablog.com/2011/12/senators-voting-nay-on-indefinite.html

Shutdown Averted As Dem, GOP Leaders Hash Out Payroll Tax Deal

Shutdown Averted As Dem, GOP Leaders Hash Out Payroll Tax Deal

House and Senate leaders have reached an agreement on a deal to avoid a government shutdown, and are nearing a separate deal on legislation to renew a soon-to-expire payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, and a “doc fix” measure to prevent a steep, automatic pay cut to Medicare physicians.

The breakthrough comes just over 24 hours before funding for the government was set to run out, though the principals continue to squabble over policy measures and payfors attached to the payroll bill.

Democrats have officially dropped their push for a small surtax on millionaires as one means of offsetting the cost of the bill. And it’s unclear what they got in return, aside from a pledge from Republicans not to jam Democrats with their partisan payroll tax bill.

With the millionaire surtax gone, most of the cost of the bill will likely be paid for with budget cuts agreed to in Super Committee negotiations, which ultimately failed. To make up the difference, Democrats are insisting that the GOP abandon other, conservative payfors, such as greater means-testing in Medicare. Instead, they’re pushing Republicans to accept ideas like ending a tax benefit for corporate jet owners, and counting war savings toward the cost of the bill.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/shutdown-averted-as-dem-gop-leaders-hash-out-payroll-tax-deal.php

POTUS on the GOP: 'Anything that Obama's for, we're against'

POTUS on the GOP: 'Anything that Obama's for, we're against'

In an interview with ABC News’ Barbara Walters, President Obama accused Republicans of grinding the government to a halt over personal animosity toward him — as well as an inability to compromise.

"You know, you never want to say, 'It's all them,'" the president said in a Yahoo!/ABC News interview, faulting the GOP for congressional and legislative gridlock. "But I do think that right now at least, in the Republican Party there are a couple of notions. Number one is that compromise is a dirty word. Number two, anything that Obama's for, we're against."

"If I propose a health care bill that is full of Republican ideas -- in fact, is very similar to the law that was passed by the current Republican front runner, or one of the top frontrunners and the other guy was supportive of many of the ideas as well -- suddenly, they become against it," said the president.

"I do think those dynamics are making it more difficult to get things done," Obama said. "And it's not unusual, after such a severe economic crisis like this, for the politics to be impacted by that, for people to lurch into extremes, or to get more combative."

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2011/12/potus-on-the-gop-anything-that-obamas-for-were-against-107682.html

Best Of Luck To The Iraqi People

Scott Walker's policies cost Wisconsin tens of thousands of jobs

Scott Walker's policies cost Wisconsin tens of thousands of jobs
byMark E AndersenFollowforDaily Kos Labor


http://wisaflcio.typepad.com/IWF_The%20Price%20of%20Extremism_Dec2011.pdf

MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/15/1045520/-Scott-Walkers-policies-cost-Wisconsin-tens-of-thousands-of-jobs?via=siderec

Zip, Zero, Zilch...

No Good Peace of Crap

Warren: "We must decide what kind of people we are & what kind of nation we are going to build"

Protecting and Promoting Equality
elizabethwarren | Thu, Dec 15, 2011 12:05 PM EST
Warren sets the terms of debate. - promoted by Bob_Neer

.............................

As other states grapple with whether to support marriage equality, I’m ready to move to the next step: End the two-tiered system created by the Defense of Marriage Act. Our federal government should not be in the business of selecting which married couples it supports and which it treats with contempt. States define marriage among couples, and, once married, all those couples and their families should have the same protections, the same benefits, and the same tax treatments. Fairness and equality are foundational values in our country, and nowhere is that more important than in our families.

In the workplace, people should be hired for what they can do and evaluated on their performance – period. I strongly support the fully inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act. Particularly in these uncertain times, people must have confidence that they will be judged on the merits. Again, this speaks to the fairness and equality that mark us as a people.

Finally, Massachusetts has been a leader in combating the rise of bullying. After college, I taught elementary school and saw first hand how important it is for kids to learn in a safe and welcoming environment. We need to help teachers and administrators create and foster an environment that welcomes students and their families, whether kids are being raised in a single parent household, by their grandparents, or by their lesbian moms or gay dads. All children – straight, questioning, perceived, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender – can thrive in school only when they are truly safe and secure.

This is our moment in history. From marriage equality to investing in public education, from sensible financial regulations to environmental protections, we must decide what kind of people we are and what kind of nation we are going to build. All across the Commonwealth and the country, people want to create a better future for their children and their grandchildren. They want an America in which every kid has the opportunity to succeed.

more:
http://bluemassgroup.com/2011/12/protecting-and-promoting-equality/