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Senator Arlen Specter, a longtime Republican Senator announced today that he was switching parties.  He stated that he will be running for his seat in 2010 as a Democrat. 

Here’s part of Specter’s release, excerpted from the Wall Street Journal:

I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am. I have taken each issue one at a time and have exercised independent judgment to do what I thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation.

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans. (WSJ)

While this is a major boon to the Democrats in the Senate, giving them a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority (if Al Franken ever gets sworn in), we rank-and-file Democrats will do well to remember Specter’s actual voting record and how that rarely matches the speeches and statements he has made. Too many times in the past has Sen. Specter step outside party lines to make announcements that he’s unhappy with the Republican goal, how he doesn’t think the people he represent would like him to adhere to party lines. Yet, when it was time to vote, Specter more than ofter, voted along party lines. Sen. Specter has crafter faux-outrage into an art form.

More from his annoucement:

My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.

Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy’s statement that sometimes Party asks too much. When it does, I will continue my independent voting and follow my conscience on what I think is best for Pennsylvania and America.

Admirable on the surface, but we already have more than enough Blue Dogs in the Senate.  I’m not going to get excited over this, but I will be watching Specter more closely. The last last 14 or so years, I’ve taken everything he says with a grain of salt. This change of party affliation will be no different.

IOKIYAPOW on 12seconds.tv

And apparently, that’s a-okay for a lot of people. I mean, clearly it’s a non-issue what with (yet another) religious sect in Texas and Clinton’s campaign drama taking up the news. It seems very few almost no news outlets are interested in getting into the hard work of investigating war crimes by the executive branch.

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of “combined” interrogation techniques — using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time — on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects — whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding. (ABCNews)

This is after the protestations of these same US officials that “the United States does not torture”. Granted those of us with brains and not living like ostriches were well aware that these people were lying and committing crimes and for our troubles we were called unpatriotic or treasonous by the flat-earth types who refused to allow logic to dwell in their heads.

Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post seems to be another reporter who is paying attention:

If you consider what the government did to be torture, which is a crime according to U.S. and international law, Bush’s statement shifts his role from being an accessory after the fact to being part of a conspiracy to commit.

He even points out the media’s lack of interest in this “old news”:

The mainstream media by and large seem to agree with Bush that the ABC News Report wasn’t so startling, and they have given Bush’s remarks almost no coverage. There was no mention of Bush’s admission in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Los Angeles Times. There was nothing on the major wire services. And nothing on CNN, CBS or NBC.

What kind of world do we live in when the President can get on TV, admit to high crimes and no one in the media bats an eye and Americans, by and large, are more consumed over their reality shows and campaign silliness? Still don’t care? Let’s look at it another way: I have two children who have never lived in a United States where torture was not allowed.

Sucks, don’t it?

The ACLU has called on Congress to investigate, though I’m still unclear as to why Congress feels they can’t. I understand that Nancy Pelosi must have made some strange backroom deal with Bush to remove impeachment “off the table“, but surely there are other Congressmen and women who have backbones, who believe in the ideals and moral authority of America to move this forward.

“Long after the Bush administration is history, our nation will continue to be tarnished by its record of disregard for the rule of law and human rights.

“If there is a redeeming factor, it is the exposure of these illegalities and the determined effort to prevent a recurrence.

“To that end, the American Civil Liberties Union has called on Congress to investigate.

“Given the record of the Bush administration, including the political manipulation of the Justice Department under disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the request is entirely reasonable. We urge our elected officials to embrace it - and to restore our country’s dedication to moral leadership.” (Tuscaloosa News)

I heartily agree and urge you to write your Representative and ask them to push for investigation into these heinous crimes. Do it so that I can tell me kids that the US doesn’t condone torture.  For reals.

So, I was telling him about Klepto Cindy McCain trying to pass off Food Network recipes as her own (click that link for screencaps and h/t to TPM) and I said, “You know that woman has cooked a meal in like 35 years.  Who’s she foolin’?”  Which lead me to explain to him how rich she is.  I said, “I think she’s an heiress.”

My husband replied, “Why can’t I be an heiress?”

“Um…because you’re a boy and your parents aren’t rich.”

He sighed and said, “Okay, an heirloom.”

Well, it made me laugh.

From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
Campaigning in Connecticut today, McCain pledged to have a news conference once every two weeks if elected president.

“You’ve gotta have a conversation with the American people,” he said.

Oh my goodness.  The suicide rate in this country would skyrocket if McCain forced himself on the American people every two weeks.  People don’t even want to listen to him now.  My YouTube videos would get more coverage than McCain [s]newsers.  He’s not even half as interesting as Abe Simpson either, so it would be more painful than anything.

I won’t even touch the dunderheadedness of “you’ve gotta have”.  Ugh.

h/t to The Field Negro on this one…

Seems, some asshat over at Fox has compared Sen. Obama to Hitler. Crooks and Liars gives me audio. Media Matters gives transcripts. Sullivan spends a few moments to blame the caller for the comparison. Another caller calls in to…um, call Sullivan out on his BS and part of the conversation:

CALLER: — you would compare Barack Obama to Hitler, because we need leaders that can inspire us, to hope for the future. We need people like him.

SULLIVAN: I love the — I love his speech. I told you I sat there and I went — I’m going — I’m listening to his speech –

CALLER: Why would you bring Hitler in on it?

SULLIVAN: I didn’t. The caller brought Hitler in on it. The caller said he sounds like Hitler.

CALLER: Well, why would you even pick it up? It’s denigrating his character.

SULLIVAN: No, it’s not.

That’s all we need to know. Sullivan thinks that comparing Hitler and Obama is funny. He changes his reasonings throughout the phone but ends with:

SULLIVAN: I think — don’t you think I’ve made a very good point of the difference between his leadership speaking style and Ms. Clinton’s speaking style?

CALLER: Yeah, I think you do. If you had left Hitler out of it, you’d have had a perfect show.

SULLIVAN: All right, we won’t play Hitler any more, then.

CALLER: Oh, I –

SULLIVAN: One time — oh, come on, one more time? Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won’t do it again.

Isn’t that precious?

Remember way back when Sen. Dick Durbin compared Gitmo to a gulag? The Republicans in Congress and all those dolts on Fox were besides themselves. They were pissing their pants and crying in their beers because the big meanie from Illinois upset them. Needless to say, Durbin caved and apologized. Remember all the other stupid bits of head exploding drama you’ve heard from the Republicans these past 14 years because they have no ideas and no willingness to actually make the government work for the people?

Good.

Now, I want you to remember the silence.

I almost feel for the US automotive industry. I equate their leadership and marginalization to Black people in America today. Yay you! You did something great 40 years ago, but what about today? Are you going to keep moving forward or will you rest on your laurels for another 40 years?

You have your lobbyist in Washington and you get to write legislation. You own Congresspeople. Everything you do is to benefit you. You do nothing to help the American public. Naturally, it’s hard for me to care when Michigan Republicans get pissy because the new energy bill was delivered in a Prius.

The 2008 Chevy Tahoe hybrid was named Green Car of the Year. And you’re telling me that not one Congress critter, aide or Chevy representative thought of using the car? When I read yesterday that a hybrid was going to deliver the bill, I assumed it would be the Chevy. How did all you people who make the big bucks fall down on the job? Sorry, you can get pissy at Toyota, you can be mad at Pelosi, you can whine about it being a slap in the face, but this was on you Michigan.

Take it with a grain of salt, after all this is from MSNBCs First Read:

Multiple sources tell First Read Tancredo will likely pull out of the race for the Republican nomination tomorrow. The campaign says the candidate will make a “major announcement” at 3:00 pm ET in Des Moines, Iowa. It’s unclear if he will endorse a candidate tomorrow as well.

That’s all the info, right there. But you gotta click the link just for that first comment.

photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters

That’s Tancredo at the NAACP Presidential Forum. He’s the only Republican that showed up to the forum. All the others had wonderful excuses why they couldn’t make it. Funny that.

UPDATE: Tancrazy is out and is backing Nutt Romney:

Tancredo, who entered the race to raise awareness of the immigration issue, languished at the bottom of a big Republican presidential field most of the year but said he had accomplished his task.
[snip]
He said Romney, who he met with before making his announcement, had a solid record on immigration and praised him as “the best hope for our cause.”

From CNNs Political Ticker:

Count Republican Mitt Romney among those who aren’t happy with Time Magazine’s choice of Russian President Vladimir Putin for Person of the Year.

In an interview with CNN’s Glen Beck, the presidential candidate called the choice “disgusting.”

Someone please explain to me how this is diplomacy? If Romney (heaven help us) becomes president how will he begin normal talks with someone he’s “disgusted” with? He said it on the continually low rated Klansman Show, so maybe he thought it was “safe”.

Thank you Romney for adding reason 893 to the list of Why Romney Should Never be President.

AP is reporting that Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) is endorsing McCain. Like I said, it’s not surprising he’s endorsing a Republican. But damn…Chris Dodd, his fellow Connecticut Senator is running. Dodd not only endorsed Lieberman in ego-driven campaigns for the presidency, but endorsed him even last year against the true Democrat running, Ned Lamont.

That’s gotta sting.

The adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of the formal announcement, said Lieberman would continue to caucus with Senate Democrats, and said his decision was not a reflection of any lingering tension with his old party after high-profile Democrats abandoned him when he lost the Democratic primary during his 2006 Senate re-election campaign.

Yeah right…Even though Clinton finally endorsed him in the primary, she sorta stopped after he lost against Lamont. Everyone said that they’d support the Democratic nominee. Lieberman, so desperate to stay in DC, created his own political party after he lost the Democratic primary (a party of which he was supposed to have registered under, but illegally has failed to do so) did not deserve the endorsements of the Democratic Party.

It’s obvious he likes the attention both parties give him, which is why he keeps up the lie that he’ll “continue to caucus with Senate Democrats” and probably thinks he’s like the BMOC of the Senate, but seriously Joe, just go over to the dark side already. You haven’t been a decent representative of the Democratic party in decades. We know this, you know this. Or you do you really enjoy being the token for the GOP?