First Door on the Left

Let’s see what you got…

There is no testosterone left in the United States House of Representatives…

House bid to censure Stark falls short

Republicans failed in an effort Tuesday to have the House censure Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who said in a congressional speech last week that U.S. troops are being sent to Iraq “to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Without debate, the House voted 196-173 to kill the proposal to censure Stark for “his despicable conduct.” The vote was mostly along party lines, with all 168 Republicans on hand supporting the measure offered by Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Five Democrats joined them.

Stark, 75, stirred cries of protest Thursday during a debate over President Bush’s veto of a $35 billion increase to a children’s health insurance program. “You don’t have money to fund the war or children,” Stark said on the House floor. “But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Stark initially refused to apologize despite condemnations from GOP lawmakers and others. Moments after Tuesday’s vote, however, he addressed the House to apologize to his colleagues, “to the president and his family,” and to U.S. troops offended by his remarks.

“I hope that with this apology I will become as insignificant as I should be” in the continuing debates over Iraq and health care, he said. Boehner was among those who applauded.

Running away with one’s tail between one’s legs. What a sad way to end a career.

Minority Leader John Boehner (the “man” to whom Rep. Stark kowtowed):

Zogby Poll: Half Say They Would Never Vote for Hillary Clinton for President

While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party’s presidential nomination, half of likely voters nationwide said they would never vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The online survey of 9,718 likely voters nationwide showed that 50% said Clinton would never get their presidential vote. This is up from 46% who said they could never vote for Clinton in a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in early March. Older voters are most resistant to Clinton – 59% of those age 65 and older said they would never vote for the New York senator, but she is much more acceptable to younger voters: 42% of those age 18–29 said they would never vote for Clinton for President.

Remember, this poll is from Zogby International. I’ve never quite forgiven then nor have I regained faith in them after they published this poll back on November 2, 2004 (election day):

During Ronald Reagan’s 1966 campaign for governor of California, Republicans established the so-called Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Not that it matters much since none of them will ever be President, but the candidates for the 2008 Republican nomination held a “debate” somewhere in Florida tonight. It seems the Eleventh Commandment may have been broken several times.

The Washington Post reports:

Candidates Spar With Each Other, And With Clinton

ORLANDO, Oct. 21 — The leading Republican presidential candidates staged their most contentious and personal debate of the long campaign season here Sunday night, clashing sharply over abortion, immigration and their readiness to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in a general election.

The debate’s opening minutes included a series of personal exchanges that illustrated the growing stakes in the nominating battle and set the tone for the 90-minute encounter. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney were quickly put on the defensive, fending off criticism leveled by former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.), who questioned their conservative credentials.

Thompson raked Giuliani for having supported federal funding of abortion, voting for Democrat Mario Cuomo for governor in 1994, supporting gun control and making New York a sanctuary city for immigrants.

“He sides with Hillary Clinton on each of those issues,” Thompson said.

Giuliani then jumped on Thompson, citing his record in the Senate opposing GOP-sponsored legislation to limit costly lawsuits. “Fred was the single biggest obstacle to tort reform in the United States Senate,” he said. “He stood with Democrats over and over again.”

Within minutes, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) joined the fray, aiming his fire primarily at Romney as someone he said had repeatedly changed his own positions and was attempting to distort the records of his rivals.

“Governor Romney, you’ve been spending the last year trying to fool people about your record,” he said. “I don’t want you to start fooling them about mine. I stand on my record. I stand on my record of a conservative.”

Romney was forced to defend positions he had taken in his 1994 Senate race against Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). In that race he supported abortion rights and said he would be a better choice for gay Americans than Kennedy.

“I was fighting against the liberal lion in perhaps the toughest state in America. And I’m pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish in that race, but nothing compares to the pride I have with the work that I was able to do as a governor,” Romney said.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who has been crowding his way into the top tier of the race, stood by throughout the early exchanges. When he finally got a chance to speak, more than 15 minutes into the debate, he said he was glad to let the others shed blood onstage.

Have at it, I say. Better they destroy one another than one of them be given the opportunity to continue the damage done to our country by the current Republican administration.

The evangelical right wing of the Republican party never cared much for the Harry Potter books. I could never quite fathom why, though. It seems to me that if you are able to believe that a man who lived in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago could walk on water, turn water into wine and bring the dead back to life, you should have no problem believing in modern day wizards.

At any rate, they gained another reason to dislike the books today. It turns out that Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, was gay…

Dumbledore is gay, ‘Harry Potter’ author reveals

NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay.

J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall. After reading briefly from the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” she took questions from audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”

“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards.

The article uses the present tense, as in “is gay.” If you’ve read the books, though, you know that the proper tense to use would have been the past… as in “was gay.”

Of what is Nancy Pelosi so afraid? Why will she not stand up to George W. Bush and the Republicans? Just ten short months ago we were celebrating her election as Speaker of the House. Today, we are wishing we had somebody in that position who would stand and speak for us.

Pelosi Statement on Stark Comments

Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on comments made yesterday by Congressman Pete Stark on the House floor during debate on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program:

“Yesterday’s debate in the House to override the President’s veto of bipartisan legislation to cover 10 million children was heated on both sides. While Members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand – providing health care for America’s children.”

Rather than fearing a president whose approval rating currently stands at 24% and a political party currently in the minority in both houses of Congress (and losing influence quickly), perhaps it is time for Nancy Pelosi to start representing the people who put her in the position she now occupies.

Our weekly presentation of the week’s finest. Notice we start this week with an idiot and a dummy. It can only go up from there. This will forever be forgotten as the week that Dubya declared himself [ir]relevant. Just click on any cartoon to view it full size.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Our thanks to all the super talented cartoonists!

A Stark Remark

During the debate over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program on the House floor today, a remarkable statement came from the mouth of Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif.

“The Republicans are worried that they can’t pay for insuring an additional 10 million children,” he said.

“They sure don’t care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you’re telling us today? Is that how you’re going to fund the war?

“You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President’s amusement.”

What’s this? A Democrat with the guts to stand up and speak truth? Watch it:

The Republicans, of course, immediately condemned Mr. Stark’s remarks and demanded that he apologize. Apologize? For what? For daring to speak the truth? Why is it that the Republicans find the truth so offensive these days? Could it be because they are the party under whose leadership we are losing the war against terrorism? And who gives a damn what they condemn? They are in the minority in this democracy. They are free to voice their opinions, but they don’t matter much.

God bless Pete Stark. I hope the Democrats are able to learn from his example.

Bush Veto of Child Health Bill Sustained

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Democrats on Thursday failed to override President Bush’s veto of their pre-election year effort to expand a popular government health insurance program to cover 10 million children.

The bill had bipartisan support, but the 273-156 roll call was 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority that supporters needed to enact the bill into law over Bush’s objections. The bill had passed the Senate with a veto-proof margin.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program now subsidizes coverage for about 6 million children at a cost of about $5 billion a year. The vetoed bill would have added 4 million more children, most from low-income families, at a cost of $7 billion annually.

This is going to hurt the Republicans. Big time.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Hastert Likely to Announce Resignation

Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is expected to announce Thursday that he is resigning his seat in Congress effective later this year, eventually setting up a special election to succeed him, knowledgeable GOP sources said late Wednesday.

The Republicans are learning that playing politics isn’t much fun unless you get to be the class bully. A lot of them seem to be resigning lately.