Open Thread–12/16/2010

Today has been most hectic.  I got up at 4:00 AM to do laundry before the daily rush for the machines, and I have been going nonstop ever since with paperwork, volunteer work, getting a bogus charge off my credit card, online grocery shopping, catching up on comments, my daily research and now posting.  Whew!  I hope to get tomorrow’s articles up earlier, because I co-chair the CoDA meeting tomorrow night.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:13 (average 3:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Washington Post: Now that Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe have come out for the stand-alone bill in the Senate to repeal don’t ask don’t tell, there’s no longer any doubt as to whether there are the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to get this done. The only issue, Harry Reid tells us, is this: Will there be enough time to vote on repeal before the end of the lame duck session?

As a matter of fact, there is a simple way that Reid can make the time necessary to ensure this gets done, aides involved in the discussions tell me. Reid needs to schedule a debate and vote on DADT repeal beginning as soon as this weekend, once the issue over government funding is resolved. Reid can do this before New START is resolved, or at least while it’s getting resolved.

That makes it up to the Leg Hound.  With his record for spine, I’m glad I’m not a gay soldier.

From News Hounds: Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott, in discussing the extension of unemployment benefits, said "This is Christmas time. We talk about good Samaritans, the poor, the little baby Jesus in the cradle and all this stuff. And then we say to the unemployed we won’t give you a check to feed your family. That’s simply wrong." Now Bill O’Reilly loves the baby Jesus and hates all those evil non Christians who would take him off taxpayer funded property. Yet, baby Jesus BFF, Bill O’Reilly says, in his latest column, that compassion has its limits: "There comes a time when compassion can cause disaster." And invoking the Calvinist view of the world (is Bill a "cafeteria Catholic?") he says: "Personal responsibility is usually the driving force behind success. But there are millions of Americans who are not responsible, and the cold truth is that the rest of us cannot afford to support them." Bill, not a theologian, continues: " For them, the baby Jesus wants us to "provide," no matter what the circumstance. But being a Christian, I know that while Jesus promoted charity at the highest level, he was not self-destructive." [emphasis added]

Wrong Jesus, O’Lielly!  It’s Supply-side Jesus, the antichristian phony Republican Jesus, that was not self-destructive.  If the Scripture is accurate, the real Jesus knew in advance that he was going to be crucified if he went to Jerusalem, but he went anyway to sacrifice himself.  First, that’s self destructive.  Second, you’re one greedy Republican miscreant.

From Daily Kos: Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who lost his reelection bid last month in a Republican sweep of state offices, is the choice of Elizabeth Warren to lead enforcement operations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The 51-year-old Democrat has a distinguished academic and political résumé. He took an aggressive stance in a lawsuit against Bank of America Corporation over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Company, claiming it misled investors over how well Merrill Lynch was doing financially.

Elizabeth Warren remains the thing Obama did right.

Cartoon:

Thursday is have a Republican for lunch day.  Please pass the salt.