Originally published: Aug. 11, 2008
If it hasn’t already been made abundantly clear to you which side of the Russian-Georgian conflict the American media is supposed to be on, the Wall Street Journal has an opinion piece by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili entitled “The War in Georgia is a War for the West“. I’ll summarize the article for you: “I underestimated how much Russia would overreact to my country’s attempts to forcibly reclaim South Ossetia with poorly trained troops. And I thought you guys in the West would have my back. …

The Geithner authorized bank Stress Tests are the economic equivalent of a high school football coach padding the grades of his players so that they can all play in the next big game. Unfortunately for the team, a few of the players have died. But that doesn’t stop Coach from dressing them in uniform and propping their bodies up on the bench next to the Gatorade cooler.

Congratulations, Justice Sonia Sotomayor!  Sotomayor was confirmed earlier today by a vote of 68 to 31-nine Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for her.
With the ascension of one “wise Latina” to the highest court in the land, I assume the rounding up and imprisoning of whites will begin any day now, so I’ll have to celebrate while I can.

President Obama got it pretty much right the first time, before there had been a huge outcry about our President criticizing a police office.  Officer Crowley acted stupidly-and, might I add, wrongly-when arresting Professor Gates.
The important facts are these- Officer Crowley (white) responded to a potential breaking and entering complaint, found Professor Gates (black) in his own home, where had had id proving who he was and that this was his address, and, after not assaulting or in any other way posing a direct danger to Officer Crowley, was arrested …

“You can’t explain it in 30 seconds, so politicians just ignore it.”
-Rep. Bart Stupack, quoted in the Taibbi-penned Goldman Sachs article.
(Stupack, a member of the House energy committee, was specifically referring to the political misframing of the oil price bubble of last year. But that statement could apply to virtually any political action in the last twenty years.)

Just shy of eight months after Election Day, the Minnesota Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman has finally been decided. The state Supreme Court upheld Franken’s win today and Colemen conceded defeat. Gov. Tim Pawlenty was set to sign the certificate of election this afternoon and Franken will be heading to Washington next week.

In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS has reversed the Ricci case that has become a talking point for those opposed to Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination. Those in favor were Justices Kennedy, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts. The crux of their decision, per Justice Kennedy:

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) went AWOL for a week, forcing his staff to scramble to cover for him, and then had to admit that he was out of the country to see his mistress and had charged the trip to the taxpayers. The infidelity part of the story is irrelevant as they were consenting adults and it is disappointing to see outlets like TPM publish exerpts of private communications between the lovers.

If you’re considering a run for presidency, the campaign for which would start in less than two years, maybe it isn’t prudent to disappear for a number of days while leaving conflicting reports in your wake. Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) apparently didn’t get that memo.

It isn’t surprising that Obama got such strong numbers considering he’s the current president and is still polling well overall. But the majority of responders had no opinion on who spoke for the Republican Party. The strongest showing for a specified person was Rush Limbaugh, who received the nod from participants of both parties. But even Rush didn’t make it to the 50% mark. The election was seven months ago and they still haven’t secured a publicly recognized leader. The party should hire a life planner.