Tuesday’s Mini-Report

July 31, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* NYT: “Rupert Murdoch appeared today to have gained enough support from the deeply divided Bancroft family to buy Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, for $5 billion. With verbal agreement this afternoon from a group of family trusts based in Denver that had been holding out for more money, family members and trusts representing about 40 percent of the shareholder vote have indicated they will support Mr. Murdoch’s offer, according to people briefed on the matter.”

* Arlen Specter established a 12pm deadline for an administration response on Alberto Gonzales’ lies about NSA surveillance. The White House missed the deadline by several hours, but issued a vague letter that defended the AG’s testimony. Not surprisingly, the response was incomplete, citing national security concerns.

* Ted Stevens continues to be in a world of hurt: “A Senate clerk for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has testified before a grand jury about the remodeling of the senator’s home overseen by Veco, the AP reports. The Commerce Committee clerk, Barbara Flanders, who assisted Stevens with his personal financial records, also handed over documents related to the senator’s finances and testified to what she knew about how the murky home remodeling project bills were paid.”

* Some of the president’s more sycophantic allies in Congress would have us believe Americans don’t want Dems to go to the trouble of investigating Gonzales’ mendacity. On the other hand, a new poll shows that 70% of Americans (including 49% of Republicans) think Congress is right to investigate Gonzales. His approval rating is down to 28%.

* National Review’s John Derbyshire praised Ron Paul today because he wants to “abolish the IRS and Federal Reserve; balance the budget; go back to the gold standard; pull out of the U.N. and NATO;….fence the borders; deport illegals; stop lecturing foreign governments about human rights; let the Middle East go hang.” As Kevin noted, “Have I mentioned lately that these guys are barking mad?”

* The story is a little convoluted, but it appears that Home Depot will no longer advertise on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News program.

* Remember when the Senate Ethics Committee was going to investigate Pete Domenici for pressuring David Iglesias over unwarranted prosecutions? The committee is still kinda sorta moving forward with the probe.

* Why did career DoJ lawyers and their bosses disagree over how aggressively to pursue fraud charges against the maker of the narcotic painkiller OxyContin? Hmm.

* Kevin explains (extremely well) why Democratic presidential candidates are better off going to YearlyKos than the DLC convention.

* How low can Glenn Beck’s ratings go?

* Ross Douthat is still on the eugenics beat? Time to let it go, Ross…

* Congress is debating FISA “revisions” this week, and it’s likely to be a very big deal.

* A few weeks ago, Bill O’Reilly was worried about a large number of gays gathering in one place at one time. This week, O’Reilly is worried about large numbers of Latino immigrants “clustering in neighborhoods and changing the tempo of the whole neighborhood.”

* Fred Thompson isn’t exactly raking in the dough yet, but one controversial supporter has already given the maximum legal contribution: Doug Feith.

* And the Pat Tillman controversy is anything but over for the Bush administration. Today, VoteVets.org started a new initiative to pressure the White House to drop its executive privilege claim and release pertinent materials on Tillman’s death. Stay tuned.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

Go VoteVets.org!

How low can Glenn Beck’s ratings go?

Really, I don’t know what’s more depressing the fact a major news outlet is using Karl Rove’s The Math or the fact that Nancy “Hell-Beast” Grace has good ratings.

And good ol’ Shrill never ceases to amaze. With a name like O’Reilly he must be aware that some useless twat once got his pants in a similar knot about his ancestors and used the spectre of Irish people “clustering together” to launch Prohibition.

  • Beck’s ratings? There’s a whole universe of ratings out there for him to explore. It’s just that they’re “to the left of zero on the number line”—which is about where you’ll find CNN’s collective IQ these days….

  • Ted Stevens continues to be in a world of hurt…

    Meaning, the ongoing investigation is still ongoing. Yes, it’s unusual when the FBI knocks at the door of a senior senator’s office and home; calling it a “raid” makes it sound even more dramatic. However, none of these developments are actual revelations. When the grand jury actually indicts Stevens and explains what crimes he supposedly committed — that will be news.

    I would proposed that the “world of hurt” has three layers: the light, airy clouds, the happy plane of “the FBI isn’t investigating me at all” where most of us dwell; the dirty & gritty level of “The Probe” where people with badges start asking questions; and the subterranean inferno of actually being caught doing bad deeds. No need to kick Ted Stevens into the pit until the grand jury digs the hole.

  • So has Arlen “Spineless” Specter announced yet that he now accepts all of Gonzo’s statements as true?

  • To amend my earlier statement, the “hurt” that comes from a Senate clerk testifying in the Stevens probe isn’t just a matter of, hey, one more witness. It’s the question of why a Senate committee aide is handling a senator’s personal financial affairs.

    That’s the buried lede which TPM rightly drags to the top.

  • * Fred Thompson isn’t exactly raking in the dough yet, but one controversial supporter has already given the maximum legal contribution: Doug Feith.

    In the land of the stupid, the half wit is king.

    * Why did career DoJ lawyers and their bosses disagree over how aggressively to pursue fraud charges against the maker of the narcotic painkiller OxyContin? Hmm.

    Besides the obvious (Oxy’s maker is a pal of the Repubs, ahem), what will guys like Rush use to keep high?

  • National Review’s John Derbyshire praised Ron Paul today because he wants to “abolish the IRS and Federal Reserve; balance the budget; go back to the gold standard; pull out of the U.N. and NATO;….fence the borders; deport illegals; stop lecturing foreign governments about human rights; let the Middle East go hang.”

    Why stop there? I’m surprised he didn’t call for removing fluoride from the drinking water, and carving Reagan onto Mt Rushmore.

    A few weeks ago, Bill O’Reilly was worried about a large number of gays gathering in one place at one time. This week, O’Reilly is worried about large numbers of Latino immigrants “clustering in neighborhoods and changing the tempo of the whole neighborhood.”

    Would these be clustering lesbian Latinos? It’s tough to keep up with BillO sometimes.

    Fred Thompson isn’t exactly raking in the dough yet, but one controversial supporter has already given the maximum legal contribution: Doug Feith.

    In a rational world, this should be the political equivalent of waking up with a horse head in your bed.

  • “Rupert Murdoch appeared today to have gained enough support from the deeply divided Bancroft family to buy Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, for $5 billion. With verbal agreement this afternoon from a group of family trusts based in Denver that had been holding out for more money, family members and trusts representing about 40 percent of the shareholder vote have indicated they will support Mr. Murdoch’s offer, according to people briefed on the matter.”

    Does this mean the news articles are going to start being like the editorials?

  • Ted Stevens continues to be in a world of hurt: “A Senate clerk for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has testified before a grand jury about the remodeling of the senator’s home overseen by Veco, the AP reports. The Commerce Committee clerk, Barbara Flanders, who assisted Stevens with his personal financial records, also handed over documents related to the senator’s finances and testified to what she knew about how the murky home remodeling project bills were paid.”

    . . .

    Here’s another one:

    Kevin explains (extremely well) why Democratic presidential candidates are better off going to YearlyKos than the DLC convention.

  • FISA revisions? Forget it. No more power grabs. No more rewriting laws that give immunity to those who knowingly violated prior statutes. Besides, having disregarded FISA before, what’s to say Bush will honor the revisions? Make this Dubya’s accountability moment.

    Bush to Saudis: “You’re either with us or against us. Then again, if you’re both, we can do business — but only if you agree to further destabilize the region. I’ve tried, but I just can’t do it alone.”

  • …“clustering in neighborhoods and changing the tempo of the whole neighborhood.”

    Did Papa Bear mean merengue, or was it a more conjunto thing?

  • Arlen Specter established a 12pm deadline for an administration response on Alberto Gonzales’ lies about NSA surveillance.

    lol.

    Reminds me of a snatch of dialog I heard years ago…
    back when I actually used to sometimes eat fast food corporate crap:

    Mother to son:

    I’m only going to tell you three times: Eat your french fries before you finish your McChocolate Shake!

    Arlen… perhaps you should extend your deadline.
    I don’t think you are being permissive enough…

    Like the name says:

  • Interesting how both the Republican and Democratic spin machines take shots at Ron Paul. Both established parties only want certain issues discussed and quickly pass off anyone who might think otherwise as weird and barking mad. I don’t know much about Ron Paul’s positions but I woun’t mind more discussion about the need for the Federal Reserve Bank, a good review of our need to house American soldiers in 137 countries and last but not least how about balancing the federal budget which includes our unfunded future liabilities. Nothing wrong with broading the scope of the political debate, don’t be afraid.

  • so we should engage in massive relativism, where any and all ideas are equally valid? intelligent design should get the same discussion and room in the “debate” as evolution? where do we draw the line – flat earth? sun around the earth?

    When I was in high school, “Get US out of the UN” and “abolish the Federal Reserve” were among the distinguishing positions of the John Birch Society. Until Glenn Beck swooned for them last week, the Birchers had gone underground for decades because they were so looney. So now Ron Paul stakes out a claim on the Bircher vote and we should suddenly take him more seriously or consider him more mainstream than the Birchers?

    Really?

    Calling Lyndon LaRouche: the stage isn’t crowded enough to keep answered ridiculously short. Why don’t you come join us?

  • Zeitgeist: voted Democratic all my life, come from a blue collar Democratic family- just tired of the same old nonsense really, time to open up the mind and explore other ideas in the political realm.

  • Yeah, Ron.

    It is, indeed, time to explore other ideas…
    Like, fer’instance,

    The moon: A trigger for lycanthropy OR a big ball of cheese?

    Yep, we need more new ideas like this!

  • Hairless,

    The moon is a trigger for male misery every 4 weeks. Whatever it’s made off…

  • Libra… yes!
    Which is why my first decree will be to nuke the moon!
    No more PMS!
    My plan is PERFECT!

  • Since you think Ron Paul is “barking mad”, why not post an article that tells us what policies you find erroneous and what you would do. It is easy to just engage in ad hominem — a bit harder to address the issues.

  • “It is easy to just engage in ad hominem — a bit harder to address the issues.” -jmp.

    See, normally I would agree with your sentiment, but…
    sometimes it’s just not worth it to specifically adress each and every point someone is trying to make.
    Like when they are, you know, barking mad.

  • Is “barking mad” such a bad idea?

    Look at the WHOLE quote….

    “Look at those policy positions! Abolish the IRS and Federal Reserve; balance the budget; go back to the gold standard; pull out of the U.N. and NATO; end the War on Drugs; overturn Roe v. Wade; repeal federal restrictions on gun ownership; fence the borders; deport illegals; stop lecturing foreign governments about human rights; let the Middle East go hang.”

    Conservative
    Pull out of UN
    Overturn Roe V Wade
    Repeal restrictions on gun ownership
    fence the borders, deport illegals
    stop lecturing governments on human rights

    Liberal
    End the war on drugs

    Neutral
    Balance the budget

    Other
    Abolish IRS and Fed Reserve
    Pull Out of NATO
    Let Middle East “Go Hang”
    Back to Gold standard

    This makes him less than 50% conservative.
    Would we not be overjoyed to hear any of the other Repubs endorsing a balanced budget or abandoning the 25+ year old drug war? (I wonder if the drug lords are in their “last throes” yet.)

    Obama came out for needle exchange programs and Clinton pooh-poohed the idea because she’s still tacking center to try to get reddish votes from people who think drugs will go away if she’s president. (Or something, I’ve no idea what gives people faith in law enforcement solutions to drug use.)

    When we bash the only Republican on the correct side of this argument, aren’t we aiming a militia-requisitioned firearm at our pedal extremity?

    Ron Paul is in the cellar. Would it be so horrible if he landed in 4th place and got some of the established GOP to consider his less extreme policies?

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