1,000 Words

Ahh Karen you spoil us so. I'm at work and the possibilites in this photo are endless so I'll get back to it. Or better yet get out of Sacred and Deconstructiva's way and let them have at it!

Henry Farrell reviews two new books about the netroots:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=do_the_netroots_matter

Well worth a read. Passages I found intriguing:

"The real worry for the netroots is that Obama is undermining their particular blend of online politics. He has taken the parts of netroots politics that he likes (online organizing and fundraising), while dumping the parts that he doesn't (a strongly confrontational politics and emphasis on bottom-up decision making). There isn't much room for the netroots and vigorous online partisanship in Obama's plans for the future of the Democratic Party."

"The fights over Hillary Clinton's candidacy were so bitter because members of the netroots used debating tactics against each other that they had previously reserved for external enemies. But they also potentially provide a model for a politics that can actually engage citizens. As political scientists such as Theda Skocpol and Nancy Rosenblum have argued, vigorous political contention mobilizes people and gets them involved in civil society."

As I cupped her rear....

On war profiteering, a bipartisan feature of perpetual warfare:

"A recent contract is worth up to $15 billion to two firms, DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp., to build and support U.S. military bases throughout Afghanistan."

Number of soldiers in Afghanistan (set to increase): 58,000

Number of military contractors in Afghanistan: 74,000 (also set to increase)

Number of soldiers in Iraq: 132,000

Number of military contractors: 119,000

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125089638739950599.html

Karen, thanks for the photo. I'm pondering stuff and will post. First, a technical High Sheriff question. Are replies held up when two links are included (happened earlier today)? Second, sorry for being really late to the prom on this – no doubt long-time readers will remember – but while digging for Bill C. stuff I found Jon Stewart's 1/08 interview with you: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-30-2008/karen-tumulty
Nice! Did this make you an international starlet?

I swear to God Barack, Ann Coulter's got one this long!

Th' way HILLARY would handle th' b*stards is ...

President Obama listens incredulously as Bill Clinton demonstates the width of Monica Lewinski's landing stripe.

Clinton: “Take my wife…please!”
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Clinton begs Obama for the chance to be Carla Bruni's personal escort during Sarkozy's next visit to the US.
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Clinton finally confesses that Ross Perot was the one who fixed him up with Monica.
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The real don't ask don't tell policy was supposed to be about how to hide that blue dress….
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(welcome back, pirate)

Barack, I'm serious. If Cheney can claim he thought an old lawyer was a pheasant, you can shoot Biden and say he was a duck.

Barack, the biggest mistake I ever made was telling Ted Kennedy he couldn't drive Hillary home.

Clinton knows Obama can only win a bipartisan HC solution by winning over a top Republican. Therefore, he proposes a private weekend retreat with Sarah Palin and asks Obama to make sure her husband is distracted….

You're not listening to me Barack. We've been working for over a year and we've convinced the public that Limbaugh is the voice of the republican party, Sarah is the face and now we're painting Michelle Bachman as the brains. What part of "they're dead" don't you understand? I'll sleep with Pelosi if I have to just to get you off this bipartisan bullsh!t.

Here's the plan we're working on now- we convince Palin she can save money if she gets Rudy to be her running mate. They can share the same wardrobe.

Clinton outlines his plan on bringing down the House republican leadership to President Obama "We hire a bunch of fresh-faced pages right out of the Boy Scouts. They can't resist. They eat em' like they're M & Ms".

President Obama sits there thinking he had better pick Clinton's brain before Sasha and Mahlia get any older and Michelle's ban goes into effect.

Mr. President, anyone interested in solving the country's problems are already with you. So can we just say that bipartisanship was achieved on Nov. 4th. I've been outside the bubble man and I can tell you it's not about left or right anymore -- it's about sane and not!

Hey O/T:

Did anyone see Chuck Todd get his butt handed to him by Jeremy Cahill on Bill Maher's show lastnight?

Clintons lays out his theory that Rush Limbaugh is a lifeforce draining vampire by presenting before and after pictures of Limbaugh's last two girlfriends...Amy Winehouse and Courtnry Love.

Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go.

As Clinton discusses his experiences of getting wee wee'd up, Obama learns that the term has another meaning….

As his aides take copious notes, Bill Clinton instructs Barack Obama on the finer points of White House cigar smoking.
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(okay yeah I winced too)

Uplifting is good, Barack. But sometimes too much separation... know what I mean?

"So Barack, Rahm tells me that you've got this health care thing sown up. The big health insurance people should be on board with the individual mandate...boy, you sure gave me and Hillary hell about those, haw - haw!...but there's no way that's enough of a subsidy to keep their campaign dollars coming.
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Are the funds Republicans pull in from the insurers really going to be made up for by Big Pharma's dollars...you know, 'cause of that great deal he made not to negotiate lower drug prices than they agree with?"
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"Well, Bill, Rahm's a great guy, and you know how smart and thorough he is at this business. But I'm afraid that the pharmaceutical lobby smells blood in the water, and they're pushing us to give them an even better deal, otherwise they'll keep their hands in their pockets in 2010.
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...And it seems that the insurers aren't giving us any assurances of anything, either. I guess Hillary and I really shot our mouths off during the primaries! [raucous laughter] They're demanding something really big from us --something like a cut of Medicare action. Rahm expected hardball, but not like this. They're almost as bad as the guys from Goldman were this year."
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"For God's sake, Barack! When are you going to put this public option nonsense behind us? I can't for the life of me understand why you'd be foolin' around with that...you got a deathwish? How bad do you want to lose the House next fall? 20 seats? 40? We're not going to pass a bill with no Republicans taking the hit with us, are we? Of all people, I never thought you were the one to repeat 1994 all over again."
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"Honestly, Harry Reid said over and over that he'd be able to keep the 60 vote thing going by the time this was done. Nobody expected Franken to make it here before Christmas. How could we have known that we'd have a filibuster-proof majority at exactly the wrong time, Bill?"
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"I know! I know! Can you believe it, Barack? Of all the damnedest things...And after Baucus came up with that brilliant three-of-us, three-of-them little ol' Finance Committee trick, too!"
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"I tell you, Bill...Rahm swears up and down that he can come up with some kind of legal reason why we don't really have a majority, but I just don't see how. The fact of the matter is that the Republicans can all get away with voting against this thing now, and I don't think that even dropping the public option is going to turn this around.
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I mean, we're getting word that Conrad's coop thing isn't even going to be enough for the insurance industry, to be frank. It sounded like a good way to get subsidies to them, but they ultimately get to make that call, don't they? [Clinton nods emphatically, bites lower lip sympathetically]
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"So what are we going to do, Barack? Are you really going to sign legislation with zero Republicans on board? You want them to get every dollar we lose? These health insurance guys are vindictive sons-of-b*tches, Barack.
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They poured sh*t all over my wife --and she was the First Lady! The First Lady! Can you imagine what kind of ruthless b*stards put the GOP up to holding hearings about the First Lady's old law job? They put so much money into the talk radio people's ad buys, those radio guys starting telling people Hillary murdered Vince Foster! Like she was Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct! "
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"I know, Bill...I know. Rahm's just going to have to accept the idea that we're going to forgo a lot of campaign money between now and 2010, unless he can get this thing worked out with Larry and Tim's friends soon enough.
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Anyway, I'd like to discuss the reason why I asked you to drop by, Bill. Remember when I said I'd have a favor to ask of you at a later time that day Hillary was confirmed for State?"
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"Of course..."
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"Well, I'm going get together with Jim Clyburn to try to work out how we can get those idiots in the House to back down...something about how the struggle for civil rights legislation took many years and more than one bill, something that'll shame them for demanding reform right away, that'll get those liberals looking over their shoulders before they say something that might be taken to be insensitive...you know what I'm getting at.
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Anyway, while I work on that, I'd like you to do something for Rahm..."
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"Sure thing, Barack, what's on your mind?"
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"Can you look up your wife's old friend Anthony Weiner, and make it clear to him that we're going to cut his f*cking balls off if he keeps that motherf*cking sh*t up?"
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"Jesus, Barack, calm down! I'll do it! I said I'll do it!! Stop looking at me like that, will ya? I'll do the best I can...I'll make it clear, I swear, OK? ...OK?"

Former President Clinton began the meeting by applauding himself for freeing the 2 journalists from North Korea.