Nov 21 2008

Video: Attorney General Mukasey Collapses During Speech

Category: Politics, Video — Tim @ 7:12 am

Attorney General Mukasey collapsed last night while giving a speech:

Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey was rushed to the hospital Thursday night after collapsing and losing consciousness during a speech on the war on terrorism, a Justice Department official said.

Mukasey slumped to the floor near the conclusion of his remarks before the Federalist Society’s annual dinner at a northwest Washington hotel, said Peter A. Carr, chief spokesman for the department.

Here is the video of his collapse and it is a bit disturbing:

The latest word on Mukasey is he seems to be OK, but they are keeping an eye on him:

Justice Department officials including Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip gathered at the hospital. In a formal statement released near midnight, department spokesman Peter Carr said: “The Attorney General is conscious, conversant and alert. He is receiving excellent care and appreciates all of the good wishes and prayers he has received. The doctors will keep him overnight for further observations.”

Hopefully, Mukasey will be fine and this will all be something we laugh about in the late night talk shows or Saturday Night Live in the weeks to come.

More misunderestimation

Nov 21 2008

Barack Obama’s Cell Phone Records Breached by Verizon Employees

Category: Politics, Sci/Tech — Tim @ 5:30 am

In a lesson for those who have access to personal data, Barack Obama’s cell phone records were apparently breached:

Records from a cell phone used by President-elect Obama were improperly breached, apparently by employees of the cell phone company, his transition team said Thursday.
An Obama spokesman said the transition team was told employees at Verizon Wireless looked through billing records.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the team was notified Wednesday by Verizon Wireless that it appears an employee improperly went through billing records for the phone, which Gibbs said Obama no longer uses.

In an internal company e-mail obtained by CNN, Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam disclosed Wednesday that “the personal wireless account of President-elect Barack Obama had been accessed by employees not authorized to do so” in recent months.

This goes to show you that everyone is susceptible to a breach of personal information. You take someone with the “rock star” status of Barack Obama and the temptation for employees is just too great. It’s in our nature to be curious, but it is unforgivable to invade someone’s privacy like this. Here is another example of our voyeuristic society.

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Nov 19 2008

Obama Selects Daschle to Head Health and Human Services

Category: Health, Politics — Tim @ 1:22 pm

News out of Washington today on another Obama cabinet choice:

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama’s offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

The appointment has not been announced, but these officials said the job is Daschle’s barring an unforeseen problem as Obama’s team reviews the background of the South Dakota Democrat. One area of review will include the lobbying connections of his wife, Linda Hall Daschle, who has done representation mostly on behalf of airline-related companies over the years. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorize to discuss the matter publicly.

What does the choice of Daschle indicate about the Obama Administration?

As Health and Human Services chief, Daschle will be responsible for helping set health care policy. He supports a government-funded insurance program for the nation’s uninsured.

Daschle has also been the head of the health care working group in the Obama transition team. Democratic officials shied away from a term some are throwing around — “health care czar” — but say Daschle “is likely to play a leading role in the passage of health care reform and the strategy to implement it.”

Other sources lay out substantial work being done by the incoming administration to enable health care reform, all of which indicates Obama does intend to move on this issue in spite of the monumental difficulties, including financial obstacles.

Get ready for some serious change in the health care industry. Goodness knows, we need it.

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Nov 19 2008

Al-Qaida Uses Racial Slur Referring to Obama as “House Negro”

Category: Politics — Tim @ 9:29 am

The number 2 man in Al-Qaida has the first public Al-Qaida response to Barack Obama’s presidential victory:

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has criticized President-elect Barack Obama, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that Obama is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

In an audio message which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, al-Zawahri said that Obama is “the direct opposite of honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X. He called Obama a “house negro.”

He added that Obama’s plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist.

Oh boy, you had to expect this type of insult from Al-Qaida. It makes no sense to anger the American people with such a stupid comment. Bottom line, these are people who simply hate. They hate everyone but themselves and I don’t think they are especially pleased with themselves.

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Nov 14 2008

Obama Considering Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State

Category: Politics — Tim @ 7:02 am

As Barack Obama continues to build-out his cabinet, Hillary Clinton is emerging as a candidate for Secretary of State:

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US president-elect Barack Obama is considering naming former first lady Hillary Clinton — his onetime rival for the White House — as his secretary of state, US news media reported on Friday.

Two unnamed Obama advisers told NBC News network that Clinton, now a senator for New York, “is under consideration” for the post.

According to NBC, Clinton flew to Chicago — where Obama is based — on Thursday, but an adviser said it was on personal business.

Obama sources confirmed to CNN that Clinton was being considered, but her spokesperson Philippe Reines was non-committal when asked.

If Clinton is chosen, the decision will have a major impact on foreign policy:

Her selection as top U.S. diplomat could also mean a more hawkish foreign policy than that advocated by Obama during his presidential campaign. On the campaign trail, Clinton was more reluctant than Obama to commit to a firm timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

But both Obama and Clinton were adamant about improving the image of the United States abroad and correcting what they considered the “failed policies” of the outgoing Bush administration.

It’s no surprise that Clinton will play a major role in the Obama Administration. Both Hillary and Bill provided significant and meaningful support in the late stages of the campaign and were a significant factor in Obama’s election. In the world of Washington politics, support comes with a price tag. Perhaps the price was one of the most coveted cabinet positions, Secretary of State.

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Nov 13 2008

Senator Palin, Not So Fast: Begich Leading Stevens Now

Category: 2008 Election, Politics — Tim @ 5:17 pm

The race for one of Alaska’s two Senate seats is getting tighter.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican incumbent who was convicted of corruption two weeks ago, fell behind Democratic opponent and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich in the latest vote tally in their neck-and-neck race.

After counting 60,000 absentee, provisional and early ballots on Wednesday, Begich grabbed an 814-vote lead over Stevens, the U.S. Senate’s longest-serving Republican. Stevens had held a 3,257-vote lead after a count of regular ballots cast on Election Day.

There are nearly 40,000 uncounted ballots, with a large portion classified as provisional “questioned” ballots, said Gail Fenumiai, director of Alaska’s Division of Elections.

The intriguing part would be the consequences of Stevens somehow manages to win reelection:

But the more dramatic impact is on Sarah Palin’s presidential hopes. The presumed scenario was that Stevens would be elected, then expelled from the Senate as a convicted felon - perhaps pardoned by George Bush - triggering a special election that would send Palin to Washington as Senator for Alaska. It now seems evident that is not going to happen. Since no newly elected incumbent is likely to surrender a cherished Senate seat to Sarah Palin, that will leave her to serve out her term as Governor of Alaska.

Keep your eyes up to the northwest a little longer (you know, that place just outside the windows of Russia) to see what happens next.

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Nov 13 2008

Breaking News: Sun Times Reporting Obama Will Resign His Senate Seat on Sunday

Category: 2008 Election, Politics — Tim @ 1:52 pm

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Barack Obama will be stepping-down from his Senate seat this weekend:

WASHINGTON–Barack Obama will step down from his U.S. senate seat on Sunday, the president-elect said on Thursday.

That’s all the site has, but it is an interesting development. I’ll post an update when we know more.

Update

It’s official, Obama will resign this weekend.

Under state law, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich will name Obama’s replacement for the remaining two years of his term. Blagojevich has said he expects to make a decision by year’s end, and has ruled out appointing himself. Obama, elected in 2004, is the only black senator.

Blagojevich’s appointee would serve until the next national election in 2010.

That makes it tighter for Democrats; especially if you count Joe Lieberman in the Democratic cacus.

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Nov 13 2008

Could Sarah Palin’s Path to 2012 Be As Senator Palin?

Category: Politics — Tim @ 7:08 am

Sarah Palin continues to make headlines and is not hiding the fact that she seems to want more out of her political career than being the governor of the 49th state:

She was speaking before her starring role at a conference of Republican governors in Miami where she was to discuss future policies in a move seen as building her national profile and possibly setting up a run for the presidency in 2012.

“‘I believe I have a contract with Alaskans to serve. I have two more years in my term at this point … as Governor,” she said. “If something changed dramatically and if it were acknowledged up there that I could be better put to use for my state in the US Senate, I would certainly consider it.”

The Senate route worked for Barack Obama. In fact, all the candidates in the past election were senators except Palin. It would appear she is already laying the groundwork for 2012:

She told FOX News over the weekend that she’d be delighted to “serve in a greater capacity.”

She said she’d “plow through that door” in 2012 if the opportunity presented itself.

And on Wednesday at the Republican Governors Association conference in Miami, she said a woman would be good for the 2012 Republican ticket, adding, “I would be happy to get to do whatever is asked of me to help progress this nation.”

Palin’s Thursday address could amount to her first public step toward re-building her profile ahead of a 2012 presidential run.

You have to admire Palin’s determination. Most people would crumble under the weight of criticism and scrutiny she had endured over the past few months. One thing is certain; Sarah Palin is not going away.

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Nov 12 2008

Senator John McCain Appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Last Night

Category: 2008 Election, Humor, Politics, Video — Tim @ 6:38 am

Senator John McCain on the Tonight Show last night answered some questions for Jay Leno about Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, the campaign, and his future.

Leno: “How have you been doing?”

McCain: “Well, I’ve been sleeping like a baby. I sleep two hours, wake up, and cry. Sleep two hours, wake up, and cry.”

Here are all three parts of the interview:

This interview was a nice tie-in with Veteran’s Day and reminds me just how good McCain can be with the media. This truly seems to be his home.

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Nov 11 2008

Catholic Church Gearing Up for a Fight with the Obama Adminstration

Category: Politics — Tim @ 7:29 am

The Catholic Church appears to be getting ready for a fight with the Obama Administration on several fronts:

BALTIMORE — The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops told his fellow prelates Monday that while they should “rejoice” at the election of an African-American president, they should confront him over his support for abortion rights.

“The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice,” the president, Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, said in an opening address to about 300 bishops gathered here for their national meeting. “Common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good.”

Cardinal George’s remarks were a repudiation of the “common good” approach to the abortion issue that President-elect Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders, including some prominent Roman Catholics, honed in the recent election.

Sounds like the bishops are concerned that a liberal Democrat in the White House may mean more policies that stray from Catholic teachings.

John Podesta, Obama’s transition chief, has said the president-elect is considering reversing President Bush’s limit on federal spending for embryonic stem cell research.

Catholic leaders are among those who consider destroying embryos akin to killing a fetus. Obama, along with many moderate Republicans, has supported the research in an effort to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

It’s not all bad news for Bishop George, the Proposition 8 issue in California is a victory for the Church:

George pointed to the success of Proposition 8 in California as an example that America’s emphasis on individuality has gone too far and failed.

“For me, what that confirms is the ideology of individual rights is not adequate to treating every public-policy decision that comes before the people and our legislatures,” he said.

In my opinion, the Catholic Church needs to recognize that the world has changed and continues to change. Unless they adapt their teachings, the world may just move on without them.

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