This is the perfect metaphor for the antiwar movement’s track record for the last eight years: President George Bush shows up, does precisely what he feels like doing, and the best response that his opponents can come up is to throw a couple of shoes at him… and miss. Via Hot Air:

I mean, really. Complete tactical surprise, stationary target, aerodynamic missiles, and even a free second shot – and the reporter missed both times. ‘Course, Bush moves pretty quick for a sixty-year-old, which is actually kind of interesting: our home-grown domestic antiwar types never gave him muchof a workout. Must have been natural talent.

Moe Lane

PS: Of course I can still laugh at you. If you think that I should stop, why don’t you make me?

Via the LA Time’s Top of the Ticket, which is getting just a little tired of the way that this thing has gone from being “what could have been a one- or two-day state scandal story into nearly a week-long saga now involving a new national leader who promised to change the way the people’s business is done.” If you watch the video, you’ll see that MSNBC shares this opinion.

Yup, MSNBC.

Moe Lane

PS: We are prepared to believe that Obama’s not involved. But we are not his core supporters: that means that we will not tolerate the mushroom treatment from the next President of the United States of America. Get used to it.

More to the point, did she know about it before she initiated proceedings to have the courts remove Rod Blagojevich from office? Because if she did, then the article below:

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After reading this, can we start calling you “Clubbie” instead?

…all right if we do it anyway?

Moe Lane

PS: Seriously, tell the truth and shame the Devil: you were cooperating with Fitzgerald all the time, right? Bush’s DOJ asked you to wear a wire, and you were more than happy to help ‘em out. Democrat, shemocrat, as long as you’re all right, Jack. Know what I mean?

I think that you do.

First, it’s being reported that Rod Blagojevich and Rahm Emanuel had multiple conversations on Obama’s replacement:

(Video via Hot Air)

Second, the timing on this fundraiser was truly awful for the person it was apparently supposed to help:

Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois’ next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned.

And third: you know that you’re not having a good day when your political opposition can say “There is no way that an appointment process can be free from the stench of this corrupt Administration” and it doesn’t sound absurd.

I couldn’t pick which one was the most fun, so thoughts on all three after the fold.

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This paragraph from FirstRead (“First thoughts: So who’s corrupt now?“) (via Instapundit) has so much to play with I have to break it down. So let’s get started, yes?

*** Collateral damage: Where to begin?

Indeed, it’s a smorgasboard.

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Just in case Rep. Jackson’s talk with federal authorities gets… complicated… for him.

OK, D-35, which implies a certain uphill climb (to put it mildly): and Jackson won with 89% of the vote in 2008, which implies that said climb would be virtually vertical. None the less, at least we’re putting candidates in this district; so if Jackson’s life does get… complicated, we should keep this in mind. And so should the Illinois GOP, which badly needs volunteers.

Seriously, we need to internalize the idea that we have to target the district of any Congressman who has come under an ethical cloud. You can’t win if you don’t bloody try.

Moe Lane

PS: Yes, even if it’s for only one Congressional cycle. It disrupts seniority and keeps the rest off-balance.

Most of the thoughts in this Politico article – “Big risks for Obama in Blago scandal” – are already familiar to our readers, so I won’t review the article’s content beyond the basics: the danger for the new administration is not that they end up being directly implicated in dirty Illinois politics, but that they get associated with it. We’re already seeing a certain amount of public contradictions on just how much Obama and Blagojevich discussed the former’s replacement; and there’s going to be more of that. This is going to get tangled before the end, folks.

But I actually want to focus on these two paragraphs from the article (H/T: Instapundit):

And, in a Politico interview, Illinois state Republican chairman Andy McKenna, pressed Obama to commit to keeping U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in his post until the corruption cases run their course.

[big snip]

“What he should do tomorrow is say, ‘Patrick Fitzgerald has a job and can have for as long as he wants,’” McKenna told Politico. “Some have wondered if Barack Obama would keep Fitzgerald [as U.S. Attorney]. It would be great if he confirms that he plans to.”

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As Jake Tapper noted, Obama claim to not be involved in Blagojevich’s search for a replacement Senator:

Asked what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.”

…was a direct contradiction of what David Axelrod said earlier: “I know he’s talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them.”

As Allahpundit notes, Tapper’s promotion was well-deserved.

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Ah, Fitzmas. I don’t know what’s droller: this predictive post, or the querulous comments to it.

BlagoGate: Obama’s Burden

At a news conference just now, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald made very clear that he had uncovered no evidence of misbehavior on the part of Barack Obama. “I should be clear that the complaint makes no allegations whatsoever about the president-elect or his conduct,” he said. But he also made clear that his investigation was hardly complete. He still needed “to find out what happened.” And he said, as a policy, that the U.S. Attorney office is not in the business of “giving clean bills of health.”

That’s the reason that the fall of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to continue to haunt Obama, not to mention Chicago’s Democratic establishment where he built his roots. The President of the United States has a higher burden than just about any elected official anywhere. His staff will be called on by the press to account for all their conversations with Blagojevich and his aides. Obama will have to explain what he knew about these discussions. The bit players in the complaint, like the unnamed Senate Candidate 1 and Senate Candidate 5, will have to come forward and explain their involvement. If the investigation continues into next year, which seems likely, there may even be calls for the appointment of something like an independent counsel at the Justice Department to avoid any hint of political interference. Obama’s staff and political allies may be forced to get attorneys of their own.

Probably the latter: there’s just something inherently funny about political virginity.

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Well, I don’t like revisiting the subject. It’s easily fixed: boot the guy from his committee chairmanship.

Anyway, I missed this latest about Rep Rangel’s murky ways from last week, but (via Instapundit) the New York Post is happy to highlight it for our attention:

MORE RANGEL MUCK

The ethical clouds hanging over Rep. Charlie Rangel grow thicker by the day.

Thursday, it came to light that Rangel’s campaign committee steered some $80,000 to his son’s Internet company for work that Politico.com’s Luke Rosiak and Glenn Thrush describe as “poorly designed” and shoddy.

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Because that’s one of the only two conclusions that you can really draw from this bit of earnest fundament-covering by Madam Speaker.

As Allahpundit notes, if the money hemorrhage gets too bad for even Congress to ignore, they can either let the Big Three fail, or take them over – and letting them fail would cost the Democrats a lot of votes. So, we nationalize the Big Three.

If this sort of thing appalls you, may I suggest looking up your local/State GOP office? They’ll be happy to help you put that energy to good use.

Moe Lane

PS: The other conclusion? That Speaker Pelosi is as dumb as a box of rocks. It’s a tempting theory, but I’m not quite buying it. Senate Majority Reid, now…

What was that?  You think that the title trivializes sexual assault?  Folks, at this point the Left has already trivialized this offense down to the bedrock:

At the exact moment Jon Favreau is receiving high praise in pre-inaugural media puff pieces, the 27-year-old chief speechwriter for President-elect Barack Obama (not Jon Favreau, the Hollywood actor/ director) finds himself in a minor mess over a photo from a recent private party showing him groping the breast of a cardboard cutout of Hillary Rodham Clinton as an unnamed pal wearing an “Obama staff” T-shirt kisses and feeds her beer.

If you haven’t seen it, imagine the early stages of the barroom rape scene of “The Accused” with Jodie Foster. Or think prosecutor Mike Nifong’s graphic (though false) descriptions of the Duke lacrosse party. Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson danced to a similar tune at the 2004 Super Bowl.

[snip]

If the photo had exposed a Republican offender, there’d already be a full-bore media scandal and cascading resignations. MSNBC would be rearranging its schedules for a wall-to-wall 24/7 bonanza. Rachel Maddow would finally have her big story. Barbara Boxer, Patricia Schroeder and other righteous feminists would walk up the Capitol steps, reprising the time they tried to destroy Clarence Thomas – for nothing.

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It happened today on Fox News Sunday (via Hot Air Headlines):

…Shelby, who also voted against the $700 bailout bill for the financial industry, called it a “bridge loan to nowhere,” and said General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have to undergo a fundamental restructuring of their operations rather than look for federal help.

He also predicted auto industry executives would soon come back to Washington looking for more money, beyond any assistance they are given now.

“This is a down payment on many billions to come,” Shelby warned. “This is not something that happened overnight. This is 30 years in the making. These companies basically have failed or are failing. They probably need, according to some people, about 60 percent of the management to go, and about 40 percent downsize of the workers.”

Shelby also threatened a filibuster of any auto aid agreement, but was unsure whether he had the votes to sustain it.

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The results are in for LA-02, and it is 49.55% for Anh “Joseph” Cao and 46.82% for William J Jefferson.  First things first: my apologies to Democratic voters in Louisiana’s Second District.  I did not believe that enough of you would be willing to put aside your partisan affiliation to cast a meaningful vote against rampant corruption.  The results have proven me wrong, and I am sorry for doubting your collective judgment.  And let me be the first to remind the future Rep. Cao that his seat is a privilege, not a right: there are a lot of voters out there tonight who have taken a leap of faith in trusting that you will serve them better.  I believe you to be worthy of that trust; may I not be proven wrong on this as well.

And now that we have that painful admission out of the way… as for you, Mister Jefferson.  Mister corrupt politician, Mister divert-rescue-personnel-to-clean-out-your-office, Mister blatant-nepotist, Mister IN. HIS. FREEZER!…

(pause)

No.  You’re not worth it.

Go away.

Moe Lane

LA Secretary of State results here: while the GOP candidate is ahead in both, LA-02 only has 22 of 492 Parishes reporting.  LA-04 has it at48.5/47.9 Fleming/Carmouche with 304 of 640 reporting.

Well, I think that the question of whether Senator Clinton’s appointment to SecState was an attempt to neutralize her has been pretty much settled at this point:

Clinton looks to loyalists for State Dept. staff

WASHINGTON (AP) — Preparing for her new role as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton is moving to surround herself with a cast of die-hard loyalists and veterans of her husband’s administration to help her cope with world crises and backstage Washington power plays.

For her team of foreign policy experts, the nation’s third female secretary of state is expected to draw heavily from the staff of the first, Madeleine Albright, who was an early supporter of Clinton’s unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And to deal with internal Obama administration affairs, State Department bureaucratic politics and media pressures, the former first lady appears set to tap current Senate aides and former White House “Hillaryland” stalwarts, whose reputation for insularity and staunch protectiveness has already set off anxiety among career foreign service officers.

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“…of the Senate of the United States for any office to which you might be appointed.”  Strong words from Senator Byrd:

Link here if the YouTube doesn’t load.

Very strong words about…

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Hey, don’t scowl at me: scowl at the New York Times.  It’s their headline:

WASHINGTON – On the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to “end the war” in Iraq.

But as he moves closer to the White House, President-elect Obama is making clearer than ever that tens of thousands of American troops will be left behind in Iraq, even if he can make good on his campaign promise to pull all combat forces out within 16 months.

“I said that I would remove our combat troops from Iraq in 16 months, with the understanding that it might be necessary – likely to be necessary – to maintain a residual force to provide potential training, logistical support, to protect our civilians in Iraq,” Mr. Obama said this week as he introduced his national security team.

Publicly at least, Mr. Obama has not set a firm number for that “residual force,” a phrase certain to become central to the debate on the way ahead in Iraq, though one of his national security advisers, Richard Danzig, said during the campaign that it could amount to 30,000 to 55,000 troops. Nor has Mr. Obama laid out any timetable beyond 16 months for troop drawdowns, or suggested when he believes a time might come for a declaration that the war is over.

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It’d be a lie. Anyway, tell the truth: you saw this…

…and then you probably thought this.

Or at least now wish that you had.

Moe Lane

PS: Oh, don’t scowl, lurkers. As one of my cobloggers noted privately, at least now Martin has everything he needs to lose the Governor’s race in 2010.