Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee and a key player on health care, has indicated some openness to compromising on abortion rights in exchange for Republican support for a final reform bill.
By trading away medical coverage, you get a few not-needed Republican votes and no change to Democratic "ownership" of the final legislation.
Such a move hurts the Democrats' constituents that need abortion services. Hurts Democratic politicians as a result. It's brilliant bipartisanship in action.
Someone wrote to Dreher about Palin, but also said this:
This story [regarding Palin] shows how small and "normal" our state is. Our 10 year old daughter is involved in the first ever American Heritage Girls Troop to start up in Alaska. This scouting organization is the Christian answer to the liberal agenda and changes in Girls Scouts of America.
What is the liberal agenda of the Girls Scouts?
What's their nefarious plan? Is there a mind-altering substance in their Thin Mints? Should we be worried, or extremely worried?
Via John Cole, this transcript of Anderson Cooper talking to Sarah Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapelton: (emp add)
COOPER: So, when it -- when it comes to those ethics complaints, Governor Palin said that -- she said -- and I quote -- "It is pretty insane. My staff and I spend most of our day dealing with this stuff, instead of progressing our state now. I know that I promised no more politics as usual, but this isn't what anyone had in mind for Alaska."
Is it really true she spends most of her day dealing with this stuff? And -- and, if so, isn't that what a leader is supposed to do, even in the face of frivolous charges, you know, leading?
STAPLETON: I think she is leading right now by saying, "I'm not going to do the same old thing."
I mean, you know her by now, Anderson. And you know that she is a very independent person, a very spirited person. She is not wired just to say, OK, I know that my sitting here is causing millions of dollars to go down the drain, and I know that I have got certain values and ideals that I want to progress, and I have got to spend time behind the desk, so I will just keep doing that.
What she is saying, OK, I'm not going to let any more of Alaska's dollars be wasted, any more of Alaska's time wasted. I know I'm not running for reelection. I know my lieutenant governor and I have the same exact goals. So, I'm going to...
COOPER: But what if every governor made that decision? I mean, if every politician who decided, well, I'm not going to run for reelection, so I'm just going to resign, I mean, that is not leadership.
STAPLETON: It is leadership, Anderson, because she can effect greater change, far greater change, in the United States, for the United States, and for Alaska away from the governor's seat.
Okay, I've been focusing too much on that website and will cut back, but it's so interesting to see what they do over there. This week they have a story/teaser that reads: (emp add)
President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia supporter did just that Wednesday. Fighting back tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president hugged her -- she's a volunteer for his political operation -- and called her "exhibit A" in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.
The outrage here is that Smith was a suporter of Obama. And here's how the FOX Nation titled their post:
Obama Busted Stacking Town Hall... What If Bush Had?
Yeah! What if Bush had? Because you know he never, ever stacked his meetings or barred non-supporters from key events. But, to take up the FOX News rhetorical question, if Bush had, you can be sure that Fox News would have been all over it.
The point of this is that, at least for now, the right-wing (and Fox especially) is living in an alternative-world. Past "facts" are not to be bothered with. Whatever argument you make today is sufficient, and consistency is of no value. It's pure fantasy.
Jack Shafer writes about changes in journalism: (emp add)
What [veteran journalist Mark] Sullivan got absolutely right in 1938 is that technology, culture, business, and audience tastes are always in flux, making it the job of writers young and old to grab the best available tools and get to the business of chronicling the world. If Sullivan were alive today, I'll bet he'd be encouraging journalists to study PHP and Javascript, to hone their video-cutting skills, and to learn how to manipulate databases.
Journalists getting into PHP and Javascript? Why not style sheets as well?
What is Shafer thinking? Yes, the Internet does use things like PHP, Javascript, server side includes, image compression techniques, AJAX technology and more. But unless the journalist is running his or her own website, it will be of little value. There is no way the New York Times is going to allow one of its journalists permission to wing it on a subsection of their website. No way at all.
