Eating their own

Unbelievably, Utah Republicans refuse to renominate sitting Republican Senator Bob Bennett to run for reelection.

The scary thing is that all the other Republican Senators see this, and know that they can't vary even an inch from the most stringent dogmatic voting, so the atmosphere is going to get even harder.

Side bits: Bennett was actually third in the voting, and even Mitt Romney's in person speech in support in the Mormon state of Utah couldn't save him.

Wow.

Dangerously ignorant

It still has to be classed as unlikely, but there is a chance that Sarah Palin could be our (last) President.

“I think we should keep this clean, keep it simple, go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant,” she said. “They’re quite clear that we would create law based on the God of the Bible and the 10 commandments, it’s pretty simple.”

.

Three points make a line?

The bad loan/financial crisis, the West Virginia Mine Disaster, and the BP oil spill all share the commonality that they occurred, in part, because the Bush administration "relaxed" regulations on industry either through rule changes or by gutting regulatory agencies and cutting budgets.

These incidents all took place in an intentional environment, and, I'm sure if we really dug, we could find many more smaller instances and near misses.

How much economic growth have we really enjoyed from "getting the bureaucrats out of business?" How much has it cost us so far? And what on earth do we have to look forward to in the future?

And where's the voice in the media saying that?

Thought

As you read this, there may be some kid being taught that evolution is wrong....

Stock Market Drop

So, we live in a world where some guy's typo can end up costing the rest of us a trillion dollars in an hour?

In Memoriam

Eric Cantor closes the National Council for a New America.

If you'll remember, that was that failing effort a year ago by Cantor, Jeb Bush, and Haley Barbour to seize leadership of the Republican Party and "rebrand" it as moderate. Remember, they held that one "townhall" in a pizzeria in Arlington that got breathless media coverage as the revival of the serious GOP?

Guess who didn't win the Republican civil war?

(And notice that Haley Barbour defected to the Palin/Tea Party side.)

Jockeying for credit

Politico has a piece "examining" several of the key Republican strategists' efforts to help the Republicans "retake" Congress.

But, really, it reads like a Karl Rove effort to claim credit for the electoral gains the Republicans seem set for anyway.

He's starting to try to rebuild his image (and business.) His self-serving book was his relaunch. (and, of course, Politico is eating his "insider" spin up, and reporting it as literal.)

Using drones to cover asses?

The LATimes has an article talking about the increased drone activity/strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but what really intrigues me is the sourcing. Why are "current and former officials" talking about this now?

As it now appears there's a connection between the Times Square car bomber got his training from the Pakistani Taleban, are they trying to assure us that they're "doing everything they can" against the Pakistani Taleban?

With the two year backdating of the inception of the program, is this the CIA trying to say it's not their fault?

Later: As both EPM and Anonymous pointed out, there could be a linkage between the Times Square car bomb and the drones (which could be politically tricky for the Obama administration,) so the key characterization in this article may be the oft repeated emphasis that the drone campaign was designed and begun by the Bush administration.

BP's political spending

I'm not sure it's directly related, but the WaPo outlines BP's major lobbying and political spending over the past few years.

At the very least, it's going to tar anyone who appears too far up the list. (Looking at you, Sen. Landrieu.)

FoxNews ethics?

An AP writer points out that three potential Presidential candidates (Gingrich, Huckabee, and Palin) are actually on the FoxNews payroll.

Pawlenty's competence

The Supreme Court rules against Pawlenty's cuts to a food program for the elderly and disabled, dealing a blow to his budget efforts (and claims of competent governance.)

Busy today

Maybe something around lunch.

Thought

BP was allowed to operate an offshore oil rig without any preparation or plans to cap it if something went wrong?

Too close

Someone has posted the air traffic control conversation that brought the Times Square bomber back to the gate.

Thought

Someone should tell Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal that his calls for smaller government are being heeded, and his state is on its own for spill cleanup.

Who passed this?

I'd like to think Republicans are responsible for this law, but either a Democratic Congress or Clinton would likely have had to sign off on it.

The prospect of an extended leak has intensified concerns over what compensation BP is willing to pay, since a law passed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill requires companies to pay for cleanup costs but no more than $75 million for other damage.

.

Go, cops, go!

Police and the FBI have identified a likely suspect in the Times Square fizzle, a naturalized citizen born in Pakistan.

Later: They've got a guy in custody.

CNN says they actually stopped a plane on the tarmac that was headed to Dubai, brought it back to the gate and pulled the guy off.

Good to know BP is focused on the right thing.....

BP is trolling the gulf coast trying to get residents to sign a waiver of all future liability claims for the spill. This report is out of Alabama. Somewhere, I read that they were doing this in Louisiana too.

Quotes

President Obama at the Correspondents' Dinner.

“The only person whose ratings fell more than mine last year is here tonight. Great to see you, Jay,” he said to Mr. Leno.

Or maybe Leno on Sarah Palin,

If she ever wins the presidency, he said, “it would be the first time a beauty queen could actually bring about world peace.”

Politico's got more quotes and some of them are pretty funny.

"Crude" car bomb in Times Square

From the description and the materials in the "crude" car bomb that fizzled in New York's Times Square, you have to guess it was an attempt by first timers.

The question is, who was it? From the description of the bomb, it doesn't sound like anyone mainline, Muslim terror groups, white supremacists, etc which to my mind would likely have built a better bomb, so that would likely leave one of those groups of bozos that are "sympathetic" to Al Qaeda, or what is now euphemistically being called an "anti-government" person (political right winger.)

I don't know. I'll be curious.

Go FBI! Get your man!

Later: Police are looking for a 40ish white guy after a suspicious man was seen on video changing clothes in a near by alley, and the bomb was supposedly placed very near a military recruiting station, so add left wing crazy to the mix.

Thought for the Day

To equate an oil leak, no matter how bad, to Katrina is very disingenuous.
.