Yep, they happen to the best of us, but fortunately, we do have contingency plans in place. Everything is expected to return to normal tomorrow, featuring your regular Countdown recap hosts at your regularly scheduled Countdown recap time.
LET'S COUNTDOWN!!
(Below the jump provided by regular Countdown recap host, CityLightsLover)
November 17, 2010 Countdown
George Soros is expressing some "concern" over President Obama’s "progressive" creds & just might withhold some coin if he’s not happy with the direction in which this country is going by the time POTUS election efforts really ramp up. Here’s the money quote from Mr. Soros: "If this President can’t do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else." "Furious George" A spokesperson for Mr. Soros insists that no invitation or call for a primary challenger to President Obama was intended. Here’s another quote: Mr. Soros is "...used to fighting losing battles but doesn’t like to lose without fighting...We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line... And if this President can’t do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else." Well, I’ve got no problem with the first half! The second half, however, I’m sorry, but it does sound like Mr. Soros might be fishing for a Dem primary challenger to President Obama. Some groups to the equivalent of a benevolent progressive Anti – US Chamber of Commerce have been given a hush – hush approval to raise funds for the 2012 elections. Yep, after Citizens United and with the knowledge that Citizens United isn’t going away any time soon, ya’ gotta fight fire with fire. A whole mess of super – rich donors to Dem/progressive causes are NOT happy that President Obama has appeared to not to a whole lot to fight the GOBP. Sam Stein broke the Soros story. His take on what Mr. Soros said is that he meant that if President Obama couldn’t be the aggressive progressive defender that a whole lot of people would like him to be, then he’s willing to fork out some major dough & major messaging to be the "aggressor" FOR President Obama. Sorry, but I still think it sounds like he was fishing for a primary challenge; flame me if you must. Sam Stein is correct; the donor wave that helped propel Barack Obama to the Oval Office & pad the Dem majorities in Congress cannot be repeated in this Citizens United campaign atmosphere. E.J. Dionne is here to give his way – more – than 2 cents’ worth. He thinks/hopes that President Obama & others within his circle will make a better effort to listen to what people beyond the beltway are saying about the economy, health care, the debt, etc. Senator Max Baucus has already made up some sort of plan for the extension – temporary or otherwise – of the GWB tax cuts?! Remember how well he handled HCR??!! Ugh...time to bring this image out AGAIN. The respective party caucuses met today. The above – mentioned birthday boy is going to be Speaker of the House {insert retching here of a color not found in nature}, Rep. Eric Cantor will be the Majority "leader," a couple new freshy – Congress critter tea baggers are going to hold token leadership positions for whatever organization or committee will provide the "bags" for said tea baggers, Nancy Pelosi will be Minority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer will be the Whip, and Rep. Jim Clyburn gets a whole new position created just for him!
Rep – elect Randy "Obama care is bad for the country, but I want MY Obama care NOW!" Harris is still trying to walk back what he said. That kitty’s outta the bag, honey. A Bloomberg report has revealed just how extensive the effort was on the part of the health insurance industry to put the kibosh on HCR. AHIP sent $86.2 million to the Anti – US Chamber of Commerce during the HCR debate. Just guess how the Anti – US Chamber of Commerce used that money! Wendell Potter has reported that Cigna wanted Michael Moore’s proverbial head on a platter before Sicko was going to be released. And, Wendell Potter is here – sort of! The entire health insurance industry was out to get Michael Moore – well duh! Mr. Moore & Mr. Potter are going to be on the show together Monday evening? That’ll be a hoot; I might even stick around through it! ;D Sicko might have been more effective in bringing single – payer or Medicare for all into the HCR debate had the smear campaign against him & the movie had not worked so well. The Times published some of this stuff thinking they were from some sort of legitimate grass roots effort; it was astroturf all along. This administration got played by the health insurance industry; the tea baggers did, too!
** DAMMIT! We’re not going to have Joe Miller to kick around anymore because Lisa Murkowski is going to declare victory. So, still – Senator Murkowski will caucus with.... A CA drunk driver first put the car into "R" instead of "P" when he got stopped, and, when he tried again, he hit something. Some other driver wanted a parking spot really really really REALLY close to some place’s front door! $HIT! Penguins are subbing for reindeer in South Korea. Uh...little detail, I know, but reindeer can fly; penguins can’t! But, Opus kept trying & trying. :D **
Those GOBP Congress critters who @itch so much about cutting the deficit and cutting spending refuse to sit on the committee that will do the cutting. Here’s their intersection! ;D OK, Rep. Jack Kingston is making way way WAY too much sense. THAT’S some alien that’s taken the real Rep. Kingston up to some ship somewhere for some anal probes! Rep. Steve King & Bat$hit Bachmann have just said no to the invite to be on the Appropriations Committee. Ah...witnessing the GOBP really stand up for their campaign principles makes me sit up a little straighter; thank you for the lessons, Rich Lowry! :D Ezra Klein gets to talk up GOBP spending cutting hypocrisy. Sitting on the Appropriations Committee used to be THE hot $hit position. Now? Well...not so much. Any non – success in spending cutting will be hidden behind the Dems because they still control the Senate & the White House. One of Small Price to Pay Goldilocks’ first acts as {insert retching in a color not found in nature here} Speaker might be to cut the number of members on the House Appropriations Committee.
WPITW* OK, sorry, but TERRIBLE music!!!! BOO!!! Use "March of the Elephants" or SOMETHING! Senator Jay Rockefeller equated FAUX News with MSNBC in an appeal to the FCC. THANK YOU FOR THE ORIGINAL MUSIC!!!! Jabba the Ailes doesn’t like President Obama; what a shock. FAUX News ragged on a CHILDREN’S BOOK written by President Obama?! Well, of course they did. (1) His book probably has complete sentences & multi – syllabic words, and (2) His book isn’t My Pet Goat! AND, paint me NOT SHOCKED that FAUX News would be on the side of General Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn; General Custer graduated 2ND FROM THE BOTTOM of his West Point class! Hee...Hee...I’d love to see the FAUX News crew out at the battle site; make it in the middle of August on a REALLY hot day, and watch Jabba the Ailes be MISERABLE. I’ve mentioned here before that I’ve been there many times. Those of you on teh Twitter ask Keith if he’s ever been there! :D Pam Geller stoked fears that a mosque was being built in Phoenix; it’s a CHRISTIAN church.
"If you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested." Will this quote make the next edition of Bartlett’s? It should! I have an idea; let’s get security tips from the Israeli airline folks! How many hijackings or airline incidents have they had? ZERO! ZIP! NADA! BIG ‘OL STINKY GOOSE EGG! The TSA wants to keep the imaging & the groping BAD. Well, that might be all the action those TSA employees get. Pilots are NOT happy, either. And, those images that are supposed to be deleted immediately after scanning have seen the light of day. The Apple Daily folks have come through again! Isaac Yeffet used to be the Security Director for El Al & says all this crap isn’t effective at all. Yea, I’d say the TSA should listen to the El Al dude! Every passenger on El Al is "interviewed." Passengers get talked to while they’re standing in the ticket line. Huh...it sounds like TSA needs some working – and – playing – well – with – others lessons. Mr. Yeffet’s exactly correct. Those 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001 passed successfully through our current security measures.