Politics
tlambert | November 8, 2006PZ Myers is being a bit "the glass is half empty", but Joe Barton will no longer chair the Committee on Energy and Commerce and James Inhofe will no longer chair the Environment and Public Works Committee. That's good news for science.
And I can't resist sharing John Lott's predictions:
The Republicans are going to keep the House and the Senate. My guess is that the Republicans will lose 12 seats in the House and no more than 1 in the Senate. I would not be surprised that Republicans break even or even pick up one seat in the Senate. I think that Republicans will lose Ohio, but could pick up…
grrlscientist | November 8, 2006Does anyone remember that Senator McCain promised to kill himself if the democrats regained control of the Senate in this election? It's looking like the Senate will go to the democrats , so that leads me to ask .. Senator McCain, what's it going to be; action or an apology? Or are you truly the lying scum that we all knew you are? We're waiting! We'll even let you choose your poison. You could raise much-needed money for the rethuglican party by killing yourself on pay-for-view TV. You can bet that lots of us would watch.
clock | November 8, 2006They see visions, of Heaven on Earth, or Armageddon, or whatever.
We study the way world works and identify the problems that need fixing.
They cannot fix a broken toilet - they prey to it to fix itself.
We devise solutions, test them over time, tweak them and change them until the problem is fixed.
They try to wish the world to become as they like it.
We work to change the world.
They are preachers.
We are engineers.
They are poetic speakers.
We are rocket scientists and brain surgeons.
They don't want to get their hands greasy (though oil money is OK).
We make sure that the machinery of the…
jlynch | November 8, 2006
Rummy, we unfortunately knew you.
Bush knew that Rumsfeld was going all along, even when asked last week. As the WaPo notes:
Asked about that comment, Bush said he made it because "I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign," Bush said. He appeared to acknowledge having misled reporters, saying, "And so the only way to answer that question and to get you onto another question was to give you that answer."
He added later, "Win or lose, Bob Gates was going to become the nominee."
A convenient lie from an administration that lies pathologically.
(…
pharyngula | November 8, 2006Minnesota elected a Muslim, Keith Ellison to the US House of Representatives. If he'd made his religion an issue, I'd be unhappy about this (just as I am about any other pious politician), but he didn't—even though his opposition did—so I'm not perturbed. He seems to be advocating the right stuff.
Ellison said his race and religion weren't as important as issues such as Iraq and health insurance for all. "We still have 43 million American uninsured. This is a problem for everyone in the United States," he said.
He advocates an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq along with strongly liberal…
jrosenhouse | November 8, 2006Some initial reactions to the election results:
Last night's Democratic landslide is complete, 100%, unambiguous good news. P.Z. manages to see the cloud rather than the silver lining. Not me. Even the fact that I was grading papers during much of yesterday evening could not get the smile off my face.
Hillary Clinton won with 66% of the vote. As I recall, last time around she only received 54%. That's a huge gain, and it indicates she must have gotten a lot of votes in heavily Republican upstate New York. I've been skeptical of her chances of winning a national election in 2008. I…
pharyngula | November 8, 2006Holy crap. Look at what Bush said to Speaker Pelosi:
In my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the the new drapes for her new offices.
You going to take that kind of patronizing, condescending "bipartisan" baloney from Bush, Speaker Pelosi? I hope you're getting warmed up for a good fight.
clock | November 8, 2006Environment and Public Works Committee:
Outgoing Chair: James Inhofe (OK).
Incoming Chair: Barbara Boxer (CA).
Voot!
pharyngula | November 8, 2006I'm in a Rove-induced state of total confusion. Suddenly, Rumsfeld resigns. Huh? Why now? Why not last week, when it might have affected the election? What game is going to be played here?
(Yeah, I've heard the Rumsfeld→retirement, Lieberman→Defense, Unnamed Republican appointee→Lieberman's seat triple-play to preserve the Republican majority in the Senate, but to be so blatant and do it the day after the election doesn't seem reasonable.)
(Oh...maybe my mistake is assuming "reason" in this administration. "Naked bugnut greed" is more the operational expectation.)
evolvingthoughts | November 8, 2006It has been a fascinating experience being in the US during an election. Josh Hayes, mine host in Seattle (I slept fine, thanks) took me to a polling booth, and we watched the count come in on CNN. A few observations, if I may, from a bewildered tourist.
One thing that struck me is that it is really hard to be a real liberal in the US. The Democrats aren't particularly social democratic, from an Australian (and, I warrant, European) perspective. Socialised medicine is out of the debate, for instance, although it works pretty well in most other developed nations. And the "God, guns and gays"…
jlynch | November 8, 2006Things went relatively well here in Arizona. While Jon Kyl (R) held onto his Senate seat (by a nine percent margin), JD Hayworth (R) got pink-slipped by Harry Mitchell. Thus, the AZ House contingent will be equally divided between the parties (Republicans Renzi, Franks, Shadegg, Flake and Democrats Pastor, Mitchell, Grijalva, Giffords).
At the State level, Janet Napolitano (D) got a second term as Governor as did Terry Goddard (D) as Attorney General and Tom Horne (R) as Superintendent of Public Instruction.
There were a ridiculous amount of propositions on the ballot. Here are some of the…
pharyngula | November 8, 2006I just read Jesus' General's roundup of reactions to the election from Little Green Footballs. I suddenly feel so much more jubilant that these crazy people have lost this election.
grrlscientist | November 8, 2006
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all Rethuglicans in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.
I think I can make it now, the 'thugs are gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been votin' for
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.
Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies
I can see clearly now, the 'thugs are gone,
I can see all rethuglicans in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It'…
pharyngula | November 8, 2006Democrats take back the House of Representatives and make gains in the Senate. It's good news, right? So why am I not particularly happy?
One reason is how they won. Republicans were just plain vile: they stunk up the joint with corruption, incompetence, greed, and viciousness, and they are saddled with an unpopular president and an unpopular war. They should have been easy to beat, and the Democrats relied on winning by default. There was little attempt to campaign on progressive values, just an expectation that the discontent of the Republican voters with their ugly party would scrape away…
razib | November 7, 2006It's past midnight here on the West coast, and I'm about go to sleep, so, I'm going to say something really quickly about the election. Wow. Really wow. Myself, I'm not super excited about the Democrats winning the House, and quite likely the Senate (it'll come down to the Virginia recount and Tester holding on to the lead in Montana). I'm not particularly aligned with either party, but at this point I'm mildly happy because I'm aiming for gridlock. I don't think our country is going in the right direction, or, more precisely, in any genuine direction. George W. Bush came into office in…
clock | November 7, 2006Big stories of the day:
1 - Democrats sweep the House of Representatives. Many newbies are relatively conservative - we need to start retraining them. Watch out for Lieberman and what he does.
2 - Montana and Missouri races are not over yet, but look good for Dems. Virginia still has to count some regular ballots, the absentee ballots and provisional ballots tomorrow, plus an almost inevitable recount.
3 - South Dakota anti-abortion measure failed. Sigh of relief!
4 - Socialist Saunders wins. Who said moving to the right was neccessary to win?
5 - Repubs had nothing to run on, so they…
jlynch | November 7, 2006So the House goes to the Democrats. As does the majority of Gubernatorial positions. The Senate may take longer to decide - as I type it is down to Montana, Missouri and Virginia and the pundits are predicting it may be December before we know depending on how Virginia goes. I am, however, willing to bet that if more than a third of the Senate seats were up for contest, the Dems would have clearly taken the Senate. It is clear that the people are disappointed at all levels with the Republican Party and King George.