obstructionist Republicans

The senators had to stay up past their bedtimes Wednesday and Thurdsay because Miss McConnell is having another one of his pointless hissy fits. A career-long hater of democracy-- and someone who had pledged to obstruct everything President Obama set out to accomplish, including even the orderly functioning of government, McConnell has ramped up his now-failed agenda of blocking all presidential nominations but pointless delaying tactics.

This toddler baboon is presumably the older of the two half-brothers (same father, different mothers) now in residence at Brooklyn's Prospect Park Zoo.

"If a Senate majority demonstrates it can make such a change once, there are no rules which binds a majority, and all future majorities will feel free to exercise the same power, not just on judges and executive appointments but on legislation."-- Sen.

NYT caption: Robert L. Wilkins, left, with President Obama and other nominees in June, was picked to fill one of three vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."The American people and our judicial system deserve better."-- President Obama"Appointing judges to fill vacant judicial seats is not court-packing.

The Republican Party, particularly the congressional wing, has one issue they're gearing up for the midterms: Obamacare. After doing everything in their power to sabotage it, from inception to roll out, the, Republicans want to focus all their attention on howling about what a failure it is. But are people buying their message?

A few months ago, Senate Republicans agreed to start behaving and stop the ritual obstruction of all the president's judicial nominations. Basically, a handful of Republicans agreed they would help Democrats break the filibusters of routine nominees and only filibuster obviously really, really bad ones. A bunch of nominees got passed and then… the Republicans went back on the agreement.

by KenIt seems to me just a matter of time before those polls showing voters ready to punish Republicans for the antics of their farthest-right cohort start to fade.

Confirmation yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee was the second step toward the failure of Nina Pillard's nomination to the District Circuit Court of Appeals, which began with the president's announcement of her nomination.by KenI had to really scrutinize a washingtonpost.com "Fix" item the other day, "Ted Cruz vs.

When you open the right wing propaganda site, Townhall, the first thing that pops up onto your screen is the form they use to mine screen names they sell to various right-wing organizations (above). What a business model-- but it does get them the target audience of low-info/high-anger morons they're looking for.

It was very close-- and dramatic, with at least one senator, Lisa Murkowski, changing her vote at the last second, and another, Heidi Heitkamp, flying in from a North Dakota sickbed while Harry Reid held the vote open-- but the Senate shut down the Republican/NRA filibuster of Todd Jones to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The GOP and NRA have managed to prevent the appointment of a director for 7 years!