Make sure you let your peeps know where to find you!
Good Motley Monday morning, Mooz. I will be your host each Monday for our daily check-in and open thread. Jump in and remember: As long as you’re nice, it’s impossible to be off topic in this thread. Can’t be done.
Today, Myrlie Evers-Williams will become the first woman and the first layperson to deliver the invocation at a presidential swearing-in ceremony. Just as the use of Martin Luther King Jr’s bible is symbolic of the civil rights struggle in this country, Mrs. Evers-Williams is herself a living legacy of that struggle, which continues.
Far too many young Americans do not learn this history, nor make connections to the past as part of where we are today and what the future holds for us as a nation.
A hero left us yesterday Thursday.
Photo credit: The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore
James Hood, one of two African American students determined to attend the whites-only University of Alabama, has died at age 70.
In 1963, Mr. Hood and Vivian Malone defied Alabama’s racist governor George Wallace, and a racist power structure and populace, to avail themselves of the right to a public college education.
Happy Sunday, Bombers.
What is your favorite cookbook? What is the best recipe in it? If you could only watch one TV channel, what would it be? Do you collect anything (besides dust)? Mac or PC? What is your perfect outdoor temperature range? On a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being the highest, what is your skill level with programmable electronic devices?
Twitter Stream:
Of course I’m mad. How would you feel if all your Lance Armstrong Beanie Babies wereworthless?
— Fishgrease (@Fishbooom) January 19, 2013
I want to see a spinoff of #Undercoverboss where they make shamed executives clean bathrooms and try to live on 8 bucks an hour.
— Jesus Christ (@Jesus_M_Christ) January 19, 2013
@toure If only the dinosaurs had AR-15s then they wouldn’t have gone extinct from that asteroid.
— Jason Crawford (@jasncrawfrd) January 19, 2013
@toure If only our soldiers had assault weapons…we wouldn’t have lost so many in war..
— Don Siler (@BlackiusMaximus) January 19, 2013
VICTORY! The President is finally wearing flat front pants! OMG! #NoPleats #Progress
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) January 19, 2013
Most homophobes are secretly gay. However, most arachnophobes are not secretly spiders.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) January 19, 2013
Five people “freedomed” in the arm, leg, hand and side by liberty projectiles at three separate gun shows today.
— David Waldman (@KagroX) January 20, 2013
So #GunAppreciationDay was a blast. I hope Rick Santorum’s upcoming #UnProtectedSexAppreciationDay goes just as well.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 20, 2013
GOP says mental health care not gun safety will prevent deaths. So why are they are turning down Medicaid expansion? eclectablog.com/2013/01/what-y…
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 20, 2013
#GunAppreciationDay doesn’t hurt people. The people who think guns need appreciation do.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 20, 2013
Happy Sat– Cat– Fat? urday! (I always have a massive breakfast on Saturdays, so the latter certainly applies here.)
My nosiness knows no bounds! Today’s questions: Boxers or briefs or boxer briefs? Or for women: Granny panties, bikini briefs, butt floss, or one of those other fits? Who was the first live musical act you ever saw? What was the first play you ever saw (school plays don’t count)? What is your favorite Shakespeare play? What is your favorite cocktail? Whose poster did you have on the wall when you were a kid?
From the Twitterverse:
I corrected a listener that Sandy Hook happened to get Obama re-elected. I said it happened after. He said “That’s your opinion”. #assmonkey
— Shannyn Moore (@shannynmoore) January 17, 2013
I’m beginning to have serious doubts about my Internet girlfriend Fantasy Busty McSupermodel.
— TBogg (@tbogg) January 17, 2013
“Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown has a new novel coming out in May. You can read an advance copy by reading his last novel.
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) January 17, 2013
Of course I’d be willing to let the Postal Service continue to dope if it would speed up mail delivery
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) January 18, 2013
House Gop to offer temporary debt hike until their new budget is passed. Their old budget, of course, required… debt ceiling increase.
— David Waldman (@KagroX) January 18, 2013
Boehner will only stock House vending machines with Cool Ranch Doritos and Diet Mt. Dew until a budget is passed.
— Jesse Taylor (@jesseltaylor) January 18, 2013
The difference between George W. Bush and Lance Armstrong is that Bush never took anything that was performance enhancing.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 18, 2013
I think the TSA is getting rid of full body scanners because most American bodies are kind of gross.
— TBogg (@tbogg) January 18, 2013
Republicans are jazzed because the size of Obama’s 2nd inauguration will only double the size of Bush’s 2nd. #softbigotryoflowexpectations
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 18, 2013
Rumor: Tiffany’s to make imaginary rings.
— Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) January 18, 2013
The intellectual mismatch between left & right has now grown so great that the right is reduced to asking for more courteous beatdowns.
— David Roberts (@drgrist) January 18, 2013
Lance Armstrong’s problem is that he hasn’t mentioned Jesus. If he’d do that, he could still be the governor of Texas
— Gen JC Christian (@JC_Christian) January 19, 2013
Now, on to the history lesson!
I admit it – I am a romantic. I grew up with my view of the Senate of the United States colored by Frank Capra's tale (and Jimmy Stewart's portrayal) of the trials and tribulation of Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. This holds especially true for my view of the filibuster. Filibusters should look like what Jeff Smith did — one man, standing up in the well of the Senate for what they believe in. But, that hasn't been the case for, at a minimum, the past 4-6 years. As the Brennan Center report on Filibuster Abuse (PDF) demonstrates:
Filibuster Abuse is Rampant: As of October 2012, the current Congress has enacted 196 public laws, the lowest output of any Congress since at least World War II. This is not purely the result of divided party control of chambers. Control of the House and Senate was also divided from 1981 to 1987 and 2001 to 2003. The current Senate passed a record-low 2.8 percent of bills introduced in that chamber, a 66 percent decrease from 2005-2006, and a 90 percent decrease from the high in 1955-1956. Cloture motions — the only way to forcibly end a filibuster — have skyrocketed since 2006, creating a de facto 60-vote requirement for all Senate business. In the last three Congresses, the percentage of Senate floor activity devoted to cloture votes has been more than 50 percent greater than any other time since at least World War II, leaving less time for consideration of substantive measures. On average, it has taken 188 days to confirm a judicial nominee during the current Congress, creating 32 “judicial emergencies,” as designated by the Office of U.S. Courts. Only at the end of the congressional term in 1992 and 2010 have there been more judicial emergencies.
I'm not going to pretend to look at the issue in all its complexity here, but I do wish to look at one aspect of reform efforts that many have fixed upon — the talking filibuster — and contrast that with the proposal towards which, according to Politico , Harry Reid is leaning.
I found my way over here so I guess it would be polite to say hi. So hi everybody. I was looking at my art models to see if I have any moose or meese but all I have is mice or mousies. I’ll have to work on that.
Yo.
*No thunderstorms over the next 4-5 days.
*Snow confined to the far northern US where it’s supposed to snow in January.
*Snow showers are possible in/around DC on Inauguration Day, but it shouldn’t be anything apocalyptic.
*It’s going to be bitterly cold next week. Temperatures will struggle to break freezing during the day in most of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest starting on Monday. Low temperatures will approach single digits and subzero levels in many places the first half of the week — the Washington DC area will see temperatures in the low- to mid-teens on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.
*Auroras are possible tonight at far northern latitudes.
*An asteroid the size of a Boeing 757 will miss Earth by 21,000 miles (9% of the distance between the Earth and moon) on February 15th.
Happy Friday, F-ers! It’s so nice to see the week drawing to an end, except for the fact that we’re all a week older (which is great if you’re about to turn 21).
Questions: For the meat eaters: Rare, medium rare, or well done? Trees: deciduous or evergreen? What is your favorite kind of tree? Gilligan or Maynard G. Krebs? What do you crave more often, sweet or savory? What is your least favorite color? What song makes you run screaming from the room? If you could match up any two pundits in a cage match, which ones would you chose? Which one would win?
The Twitter Stream:
Black people need IDs to vote, but making me register my gun is unconstitutional.#GunsOverPeople
— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) January 17, 2013
Hell is other people. Specifically, Rand Paul.
— Chris Dashiell (@cdashiell) January 17, 2013
Rand Paul has figured out how Republicans can reach out to minorities: Invoke the arguments of slave owners!
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 17, 2013
The shit-heads complaining about the Obama daughters receiving Secret Service protection are the bulk of the reason they need it.
— One-Legged Sandpiper (@OneLegSandpiper) January 16, 2013
Mitch McConnell saying Obama “needs to get serious about spending” is like Charlie Sheen telling Donny Osmond to get sober.
— Miles Kurland (@Malacandra) January 14, 2013
Republicans Accuse Obama of Using Position as President to Lead Country: bit.ly/UoXKzl
— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) January 15, 2013
Everyone boarding a plane is treated as a potential terrorist, but gun buyers are to be trusted to be law abiding citizens? #p2 #tcot #nra
— Al D’Amario (@aldamario) January 17, 2013
Rand Paul: “There is no way Obama has the authority to sign Executive Orders, based on Article 1, Section 8 of World News Daily.”
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) January 17, 2013
I hope Obama doesn’t exploit the Manti Te’o story to punish us law-abiding Americans who go online & pretend to be girls.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) January 17, 2013
“We must not let this guns business distract us from our efforts to transfer all our nation’s wealth to the richest .1% of the population”.
— kara vallow (@teenagesleuth) January 17, 2013
BREAKING: Lance Armstrong admits to Oprah Winfrey that he doesn’t know what channel OWN is on.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 18, 2013
Now for the history lesson!
On the NPR blog, Robert Krullwich noticed that pictures taken at night from space of the US show a recent phenomenon — one of the brightest patches is in one of the least populated places in the US — western North Dakota.
The reason, apparently, is the boom in oil drilling. In addition to the lighting that the drillers bring with them, the drilling makes extensive use of the practice of burning off natural gas. Those flares have turned this relatively underpopulated area into an area as bright as major metropolitan areas, such as Minneapolis-St.Paul.
You can find the NPR article here.