I listened to the first day of the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings for a spot as a US Supreme Court justice. I was very impressed.  The three who impressed me the most were Al Franken (D-MN), Arlen Specter (D-PA), and Sotomayor herself.
Franken was very well-spoken, even inspirational in his commentary after his introductory remarks.  Specter [...]

Marshall Auerback sent me this joke about Mark Sanford.
Mark Sanford’s staff thought he was hiking in the mountains. In fairness to his aides, "I’m getting some Argentinian tail." sounds a lot like "I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail."

Share

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more questionable in Washington, then along comes this (hat tip Tom).
Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" [...]

In case you missed it, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was on Capitol Hill this morning making his case in regards to the Bank of America – Merrill Lynch deal.  The Chairman stated in unequivocal terms that he did not pressure anyone.  Rather, he stated that he cautioned Ken Lewis about the prudence of invoking [...]

Here’s a conspiracy theory for you.  As I am not much of a conspiracy theorist, I ill keep this one pretty simple. Here’s the chain of events.
Back in late September when the world was falling apart, Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner and Hank Paulson were all desperate to keep things from unravelling.  As a result, they [...]

The drama at Bank of America continues with Ken Lewis testifying before Congress today.  Most of the events surround claims by Lewis that he was coerced into doing the Merrill deal by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke.   I chronicled these events when they were made public back in April.

BofA CEO confirms government coerced him into [...]

From Charlie Rose’s site: “Reaction to President Obama’s speech in Cairo with Mohamad Bazzi, Roger Cohen, David Ignatius and Robin Wright.”

Share

This is a bombshell from the political world. I believe that means Al Franken will make Obama filibuster-proof. Obviously, this is very bad news for Republicans. I suspect that the deal is that Rendell and Casey will pull out ALL the stops to get Specter re-elected too.
Confirmed that Sen Specter will become a [...]

George H. W. Bush’s National Security Advisor talks with Charlie Rose and Carlos Pascual, Brookings Institute vice president and director of Foreign Policy. They opine on “the Obama Doctrine” as Barack Obama nears his 100-day mark in office.

Share