The Liberal Doomsayer My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but as far as I'm concerned, neither major party is perfect. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 33 0 106 4211

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (12/28/07) 2007-12-28 16:15:00 As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.HouseNew energy policies: Voting 314 for and 100 against, the House on Dec. 18 sent President Bush a bill that would raise vehicle mileage requirements by 40 percent by 2020; boost residential and industrial energy-efficiency standards; phase out the incandescent light bulbs now used in most U.S. homes; and increase production of ethanol and other biofuels sixfold by 2022.A yes vote was to pass the bill, HR 6.Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.) Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), H. James Saxton (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.).How apropos to close the year w ...

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2007 - Pt. 6) 2007-12-28 11:30:00 Not sure how close I am to the end with this, but I'm getting there (prior related posts are here, here, here, here, and here)...Do Gooder Of The Year CandidateConnecticut Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd, for putting a hold on the FISA bill that led to the eventual filibuster (way up on the list for all of this - another related post is here).Dregs Of The Year NomineeHarry Reid for this – and he and Pelosi, despite some of their legitimately good work, STILL don’t understand why Congress has lousy approval ratings.Update: Not really Reid and Pelosi's fault here, but Atrios sums it up well in a single-worded title and text link.Dregs Of The Year NomineesThe school officials in Cape May County, NJ who suspended a second grader for drawing a picture of a stick figure shooting a gun (here...and by the way, the Inquirer notes that four kindergartners were suspended for playing cops and robbers and using their thumbs and forefingers to “shoot” each other ...

A Bhutto Postmortem 2007-12-27 22:18:00 I thought this Daily Kos post from diarist DHinMI regarding the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto today made the following good point...Pakistan's government has been under the control of the military for much of its history, and often those dictatorships had the sanction of the US. Cold War politics figured heavily in to its history, and the current crisis has its roots in the US/Pakistani creation of the Mujahadeen forces that fought in Afghanistan in the 1980's against the Soviets. While it certainly has huge consequences for the US, this assassination is another chapter in the internal struggles of Pakistan.It was the creation of those forces for the Afghan war that eventually led to the rise of the Taliban, the creation of al Qaeda, and the radicalization of the mostly Pashtun peoples in the "tribal areas" of Pakistan, where Bin Laden is widely believed to have found a safe haven, most likely with the tacit acceptance of Pakistan's intelligence service, which is believed t ...

Wednesday Videos 2007-12-26 20:22:00 Dropkick Murphys ("Walk Away")......and as a tribute to jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson, here's "You Look Good To Me" recorded in 1977 with Ray Brown (first solo) and Niels Pedersen (second solo), both playing double bass, courtesy of YouTuber Doogit. ...

Wednesday Political Stuff 2007-12-26 20:14:00 Cliff Schecter and Brave New Films bring us "The Legend of Hercubush" (still in the holiday party mode I see - kind of funny)......and "The Pap Attack" takes on Pope Benny. ...

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2007 - Pt. 5) 2007-12-26 14:49:00 The beat goes on (prior related posts are here, here, here, and here)...Do Gooder Of The Year NomineeCecilia Sarokzy for telling the Bushes what they could do with their “picnic” invitation in August where hubby Nicolas attended (may be petty, but it’s nice to see SOMEBODY stand up to these people here).Freeper Love Match Of The YearTweety and Erin Burnett (don’t know much about her, though – she may be a totally innocent party in this nonsense; Matthews needs an intervention of some type, however).Dregs Of The Year NomineeBob Beckel, a “Democrat” who attacked kos in August on Hannity and Colmes, substituting for Colmes (nice to have a clue, Bob – saying that, if he’d been sitting across from Markos on Bleat The Press instead of Harold Ford, he would’ve “whipped that boy,” huh? Bring it on, old man).Most Absurd Name For A Collection Of KillersAccording to this article, the murder of Oakland, CA journalist Chauncey Bailey last summer was allegedly performed by in ...

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2007 - Pt. 4) 2007-12-26 12:49:00 Back at it (prior related posts are here, here, and here)...Tort “Reform” Hypocrite Of The YearRobert Bork (h/t Atrios)I. Lewis Libby “Amicus Brief” Hypocrite of the YearRobert Bork (h/t Atrios)The "That's Really Baaaad" CitationTrent "All These Problems" Lott (here)Racist Of The Year (Runner Up)DubyaDregs Of The Year Collective NomineesScooter Libby apologists (here also)Racist/Historical Revisionist Of The Year (Runner Up)George WillWould-Be Bad Actor Of The Year (Ex-Politician Category)Little Ricky Santorum (though, after reading some of his Inky offerings, maybe this would have been a better move...by the way, Frederick of Hollywood wins the Bad Political Actor award outright this year).A Thorough Argument In Response To The Inevitable Freeper Charge That Sandy Berger Hid National Archive Documents In His Underwear (or something)Here (h/t Atrios)Corporate Media Journo Of The YearMika Brzezinski, who refused to cover Paris Hilton’s release from jail in June (actually shre ...

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2007 - Pt. 3) 2007-12-26 10:01:00 Time for some more fun (prior related posts are here) and here)...Heretic Of The YearMichael Savage (could probably double as idiot of the milennium for this - also, smooth move here to also suggest that the Dems were somehow responsible for Hangin' Judge J.R.'s epileptic seizure).Dregs Of The Year NomineeJohn McCain (but Matt Bai says he'll rebound in the New Hampshire primary; we'll see).Some Insight Into Why Time Magazine Was Never, Ever, Ever, Ever Going To Name Al Gore As Person Of The YearCourtesy of Billmon here.Dregs Of The Year NomineeSenior Bob Reese of Brigham Young University for calling Dick Cheney “an example of success” here. (re: Cheney’s commencement speech in April)'07 Racist Of The Year (Formerly ’06 Anti-Semite Of The Year)Don ImusMost Revealing Journalistic MomentKathleen Parker’s column on John Edwards’ hair (re: that YouTube video, and no shot on a link to Parker here…dishonorable mention to Yahoo and AP News for a 4/17 “story” by Joan Lowr ...

Merry Christmas 2007 2007-12-25 08:56:00 Merry Christmas to one and all; you know how I feel about that damn Iraq war, but I thought this was too important not to post, so......and here are three past goodies once more; first, "Faux News" and their "12 Days Of Christmas"......also, "The Wet Spots" are back, whether you want them or not......and what would a Yule celebration be without "Song Of Joy" by The Burping Snowmen?...One more - here's a cover of the Kinks' "Father Christmas" by OK Go (h/t The Daily Kos; nice to see these guys off the treadmills). ...

Sunday Seasonal Stuff (Had Enough Yet?) 2007-12-23 18:30:00 This will probably about do it for the holiday stuff; here's "Weird Al" Yankovic ("The Night Santa Went Crazy")......and the granddaddy of them all from Nat "King" Cole ("The Chirstmas Song"). ...

Saturday Seasonal Stuff 2007-12-22 23:00:00 As we get closer to the big day (and no, I don't mean Iowa or New Hampshire, though they're big also), here's Bing and Bowie with "The Little Drummer Boy"......and The Killers ("A Great Big Sled"). ...

John With Some Help From His Friends 2007-12-22 22:51:00 Important stuff (and click here to help)... ...

The "Thing" That Wouldn't Leave 2007-12-22 17:43:00 You know, I wish (Don't Call Me) Frances Townsend would just go already. Don't you?I feel that way particularly after reading this apologia for her written today by David Johnston of the New York Times, which tells us...Promoted to domestic security adviser in 2004, she became a loyalist and said she was leaving wearied by the acrimony that hangs over Mr. Bush’s last year in office."I find it both offensive and crippling," she said. “When both career people and political people are worried about getting subpoenaed, it’s hard to get a lot accomplished.”What was “offensive and crippling,” dearest, was your proclamation here that Osama bin Forgotten is “virtually impotent” and “can do little more than send videotaped messages” (the post provides evidence to the contrary, by the way). She also received a pass when she rightly said, actually, that the U.S. should attack Pakistan if it meant getting bin Laden (of course, Barack Obama said the same thing and got drilled, ...

Friday Videos 2007-12-21 22:50:00 Eastern Conference Champions ("Single Sedative"; kind of a rough club version, but I like this song)......Happy belated birthday to Billy Gibbons of Z.Z. Top ("Gimme All Your Lovin' - more '80s music cliches running roughshod over human logic)......and now, seasonal stuff; a particularly demented version of "Silver Bells" by Steve Martin and Paul Simon, courtesy of Mark and Brian (kind of hard to hear)......and Josh Groban performs "O Holy Night" at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Rockefeller Center in NYC on December 4, 2002. ...

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2007 - Pt. 2) 2007-12-21 16:47:00 Time for some more (a prior related post is here)...Queasy Borderline Hetero Man Crush Of The YearRoger Simon on Mitt Romney here (courtesy of Atrios/ThinkProgress)."Romney has chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest" (and “Simon Says,” huh? How original. I guess, being a journalist of a fashion, you use the phrase “The Write Stuff” regularly also, I’m sure).Romney never served in the military, though the band at his announcement played both “Anchors Aweigh” and “The Marines’ Hymn” (to me, that’s a tremendous insult to our military, but since I’m hardly a Repug, what do I know about these things :- ).The “Next Time, Shut Your Pie Hole” CitationOn February 26th, former Fed Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said that we could be looking at a recession later this year; the next day, the Dow dropped 500 points.Political Odd Couple Of The YearAl Sharpton and Strom Thurmond (here).The ...