More Like This, Pls.

Hang on a second, Joe. I just need to light this lamp here before I go wandering through the streets to answer your question….

Seriously, though, and you know the answer to this better than I would, but my impression (formed mostly in the 90′s) was always that our current Veep mostly caucused with the “no-bulls,” which is why his mouth usually gets him in trouble….your take?
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“No matter how cynical I get, it’s just never enough to keep up.”–Lily Tomlin

Yeah, it takes a special kind of “public servant” to conclude that the death penalty for a violent rape of an eight-year old girl is beyond the bounds of decency.

John Ashcroft. I agree with him on few things politically, but his integrity and dedication to his own moral code are matters of public record (losing an election because he pulled all his advertising after his opponent was killed, rising from a hospital bed to fight against Alberto Gonzalez’ usurption of the DoJ, etc.)
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A lot of people don’t agree with him politically, but the guy is deserving of respect.

“Are there any nominations for the no-bull caucus from the commentariat?”
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Simply appoint a “conservative” Judge. It does not matter how he or she registers to vote. I like this explanation by Star Parker, she says…
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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45447
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“However, creative judges over the years have transformed the sense of what public use is to justify taking property from one set of private individuals and turning it over to another set of private individuals who intend to use the property in a fashion that is more appealing to these judges. In this Connecticut case, that would be commercial development.”
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She also says this too…“And this decision was carried out thanks to the Supreme Court’s liberals. The conservatives voted against it. It says it all that Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion and that the NAACP was there on his side!”
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The case, “Supreme Court’s recent eminent-domain decision in the Kelo v. City of New London”.
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Put that in your happy liberal pipe and smoke on it Klein.

Dont forget, Sean D., Ashcroft also didn’t squawk about the appointment of the widow to serve the full term either . . . .

I’d like to nominate Ali Soufan,F.B.I. supervisory special agent from 1997 to 2005. His Op-Ed in the NY Times was just the nuance and clear thinking I wish more “experts” would try to emulate in front of the camera.

David Souter will be remembered (longer than he would wish to be, I’m sure) as an honorable man with roots to his home and loyalty to his nation above all.
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He did not buy into the Washington power scene during hius tenure. For that alone he deserves our thanks.
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But he also took the oath for his office oh-so-seriously. I wish him a happy retirement and hope that his replacement can fill his shoes.

Is the “no bull caucus” the same as the “never sh*t a sh*tter” caucus? Can I nominate my parole officer?

Lawrence Wilkerson, aide to Gen. Colin Powell.
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He broke with a long-time friend and associate when he began to believe that that friend’s position was at odds with his own and the welfare of the country.

What David Souter has in common with Robert Gates is lost on me.
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But if you are looking for political figures who tend to put their egos aside for the good of public service, they are clearly few and far between. But I’d nominate Al Gore and Howard Dean.
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In general, those who value government as a Good Thing and not a necessary evil, are more likely to make personal sacrifices in support of good government.

My nomination for the no bull caucus is Elijah Cummings. He consistently nails people to the wall in Congressional hearings and he doesn’t mess around. Besides that he talks in plain language and relates well to the common people that he represents in Baltimore. A lot of people over looked his questioning of the AIG CEO Liddy but he was in my opinion the only legislator that actually asked serious questions without trying to grand stand.
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He also was outstanding in the hearings about blackwater.
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I should point out that after Cummings busted the IG Krungard he came back after a recess and admitted that his brother was a member of the board of Blackwater.

Cummings is the consummate artiste de entrapment. Second.

53_3
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When he asked Krungard if he knew where his brother was I bet he sh*t a brick. Thats what you call being two steps ahead of the guy you are questioning.

As it turned out, Souter seems to have been the perfect appointment for his time, inadvertent as it may have been. His departure will be a great loss. Now that he has chosen to leave, Obmam is probably the perfect appointing authority for this time. We are lucky, but thanks to Souter for sticking around when he no doubt was on the verge of walking much sooner.

General Eric Shinseki. You didn’t hear alot about him until he disagreed with the last administration about needed troop levels. He put it all on the line got nailed for it. He was right by the way. Principles over career. I was glad to see Obama name him as head of Veteran’s Affairs.

Thats what you call being two steps ahead of the guy you are questioning.
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Don’t GOOD lawyers always know the answer to any question they ask? Or, put another way, NEVER ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.

Obama. That was a very weird typo. Obmam.

General Eric Shinseki.
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I’d “second” him too. Good choice.

Abraham Lincoln. Oh, are we only nominating living people?

Russ Feingold.

And I’ll throw in the only Republican I can think of who isn’t full of sh*t most of the time: Chuck Hagel.

I remember from a couple months ago you posted a link to that video. It was instructive to watch him calmly, yet artfully, draw the information out of him, then present him with a summary, and use it to begin a new line of questioning that left him no choice but to self-incriminate.
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It was an absolutely wonderful lesson in civics.

Kemp, of course, should be represented here, too.

I was thinking of putting Obama out there, but I was too chicken. Second.
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Remember, if those righties try to inflate a Reagan statue in here, I have an ice pick.
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Be forwarned…

David Souter: a simple man whose integrity was all.

Cummings, Dean, Shinseki, Gore, Biden, Kemp, Andrew Cuomo.

You know, there is something I don’t like about this way of thinking. Yes, Souter is to be praised for not letting his position go to his head, but are we all supposed to be satisfied with living average lives? Conspicuous consumption doesn’t bother me at all. Unequal distribution of what we’d like to consume does. Souter should be living the high life. But everyone else should be too.

One from north of the border. Tommy Douglas. In 1944, he took the Province of Saskatchewan out of pretty much third world conditions, introducing many of the reforms that would later come to be taken for granted in both Canada and the United States.

Probably too left wing for most Americans, but gets points for having started as a Baptist minister!

He never put himself ahead of service to ordinary people.

destor, it isn’t really about intrinsic wealth or consumption. It’s about honest depth of thought and contribution. Souter would be admirable even if he flew home every day in a Learjet.

Thomas could adopt Souter’s lifestyle, drive a VW, all of it, and still be a useless at best, normally destructive, not worth having around.

I agree with you, formerly. But Sullivan is kind of fetishizing Souter’s frugality. I don’t see anything so great about frugality. The way I see it, most people work way too hard and get too little in return.

Conspicuous consumption doesn’t bother me at all. Unequal distribution of what we’d like to consume does. Souter should be living the high life. But everyone else should be too.
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What exactly do you mean?

Better yet, I vote for Joe Klein to out all members of the bull caucus like he just did with Arlen Specter! For example, is Dick Cheney the reigning chief of the bull caucus or does that honor belong to someone else?

I nominate Michelle Obama
The historically lavish position of first lady, with those high heels being filled with sensible flats, a woman who makes J Crew look like a million and who is at home just as much in an organic veggie garden and the rose garden!

Is this the same Elijah Cummings who…
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“Support for gun control legislation”
Cummings cosponsored H.R. 1312 (Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005) on April 21, 2005.”
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Sun Myung Moon “coronation”
“In 2004 Cummings gave a speech at a “coronation” ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building honoring controversial spiritual leader [[Sun Myung Moon#Ceremony in a Senate office building|]]. [8] The event was ostensibly an awards ceremony for ‘peace ambassadors.’ In a speech after the awards were presented, Moon pronounced “I am God’s ambassador, sent to earth with His full authority. I am sent to accomplish His command to save the world’s six billion people, restoring them to Heaven with the original goodness in which they were created.”
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Is this the same Elijah Cummings who…
Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
Voted NO on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)
Voted NO on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
Voted NO on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage. (Sep 2004)
Voted NO on protecting the Pledge of Allegiance. (Sep 2004)
Voted NO on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
Voted NO on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. (May 1998)
Ending racial profiling is part of fight for justice. (Jan 2001)
Constitutional Amendment for equal rights by gender. (Mar 2001)
Rated 87% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 88% by the HRC, indicating a pro-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
Rated 100% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
Provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees. (Dec 2007)
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Voted YES on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
Voted YES on allowing Courts to decide on “God” in Pledge of Allegiance. (Jul 2006)
Voted YES on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges. (Mar 2006)
Voted NO on allowing school prayer during the War on Terror. (Nov 2001)
Voted YES on requiring states to test students. (May 2001)
Voted NO on allowing vouchers in DC schools. (Aug 1998)
Voted NO on vouchers for private & parochial schools. (Nov 1997)
Opposes requiring schools to allow school prayer. (Jan 2001)
Rated 100% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
Voted NO on establishing nationwide AMBER alert system for missing kids. (Apr 2003)
Voted NO on banning soft money donations to national political parties. (Jul 2001)
Voted NO on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
Voted NO on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
Voted NO on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)
Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted NO on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
Voted NO on small business associations for buying health insurance. (Jun 2003)
Voted NO on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)
Voted NO on allowing suing HMOs, but under federal rules & limited award. (Aug 2001)
Voted NO on subsidizing private insurance for Medicare Rx drug coverage. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on establishing tax-exempt Medical Savings Accounts. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on end offshore tax havens and promote small business. (Oct 2004)
Voted NO on making the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Apr 2002)
Voted NO on $99 B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts. (Oct 2001)
Voted NO on Tax cut package of $958 B over 10 years. (May 2001)
Voted NO on eliminating the Estate Tax (“death tax”). (Apr 2001)
Voted NO on eliminating the “marriage penalty”. (Jul 2000)
Voted NO on $46 billion in tax cuts for small business. (Mar 2000)
American People’s Dividend: Give $300 to every person. (Feb 2001)
Rated 20% by NTU, indicating a “Big Spender” on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by the CTJ, indicating support of progressive taxation. (Dec 2006)
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I rest my case your Honor.

The only difference between Elijah Cummings (D) Maryland and William Jefferson (D) Louisana? They haven’t looked in Cummings’ refrigerator yet!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Barbara Jordan and Millicent Fenwick, among the departed. Alice Rivlin. Max Cleland.

Patrick Fitzgerald for going after corruption no matter how big. Daley, Libby, Ryan, Blagojevich, and I’m sure the list will continue.

I second Patrick Fitzgerald

Souter was a lawless, leftist political activist who thought his job was govern the United States through the substitution of his own political preferences for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. In support of his lawlessness, the blithering idiot once wrote: ““[a]t the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life”. No wonder he’s a darling of Klein and Time magazine….

I didn’t know who Elijah Cummings was before, but after reading rusty’s list, I’m pretty sure I want to vote for him.

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I think Rusty forgot he wasn’t at RedState. Or something.

Why would anybody EVER think conservatives were racists?
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http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGRiNWZmOWJlMWQyYmMxODkxYzk2YWNiYWRmNmNlMDY=
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Gotta love that minority outreach. Stay classy GOP.

I would consider William G. Milliken, governor of Michigan from 1969 to 1983. He was a moderate Republican who really just wanted to do the best he could for the people of the state. He retired quietly to his Northern Michigan home in Traverse City. Even Democratic lawmakers and state workers respected Milliken’s dedication to public service, honesty and his humility. I don’t respect many Republican politicians, but former governor Milliken deserves respect.

Sorry, but these two nominees are a pair, they go together:
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Warren G. Magnuson
Henry (Scoop) Jackson
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This dynamic duo powered both Washingtons for over two decades.
http://www.seattlepi.com/opinion/219982_vandyk14.html

“I think Rusty forgot he wasn’t at RedState. Or something.”
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I don’t know, Yutsano. If you ask me, I think his slinger fipped.