I guess this is FR solution to First Thoughts; Ok. Fine with me.

An Indefinable Position:

Republican Joe Barton from Texas is not alone. The more conservative Republicans feel the same way as Joe. They are pro big oil companies, pro large corporate donations to their campaign chests, they own stock in large oil companies, and they are just fine with the large profits made by BP et.al. It’s just that they are smarter than Joe and have kept their mouth shut.

Their quandary is that when BP really screws up and creates America’s largest man-made disaster, right-wingers don’t know what to say or do. Compounding their problem is our President has been working on behalf of the “Small People” so they can be compensated for their loss and may not have to go to court to fight BP, thus the conservatives have even less to say.

Republicans want to fight President Obama’s clean energy bill. They want to continue to support the oil industry with “drill, baby drill”. They want shout about the costs associated with the shift to clean energy. They will rage about the power of big government. And make no mistake about it, their goal is to defeat the President, regardless of the cost to our environment.

But now, with the country wanting BP to pay for the clean-up, with the country seeing the environmental cost of drilling for fossil fuels, it has become clear that the Republicans HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER with regard to an alternative solution.

Most Republican senators will stick to the party line and continue to vote “No”. But maybe, just maybe one or two Senators will not want to be associated with Representative Joe Barton’s comments and be willing to negotiate. It could be Brown, Lugar, Snowe, or Collins. But right now, standing with Joe Barton is an indefinable place to stand.

Mark: Surprise us Monday with big black letters so we can save our eyes and not have to write in “bold”.

Doesn't Barton qualify? I mean, he IS running for re-election this cycle. lol. How about Agent Orange's rapid backpedal from Barton yesterday... Should be fun!

'...What we do know, however, is that she and each of her sons have been accused of atrocious acts that bear a surprising family resemblance...'

'...Apparently, a staff member named Young Mi Kim was helping Whitman prepare for an online interview. Whitman seems to have been unhappy with Kim's briefing, and either shoved her, or "physically guided her" out of the room...'

A 'Dynamic CEO'
Leading by example

'...one of Whitman's sons, Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, was arrested in 2006 for battery, after breaking a woman's ankle at a bar in Palo Alto...'

'...Griff Harsh's younger brother Will, meanwhile, was supposedly banned from an eating club at Princeton, where he was a student, for using the n-word...'

Charming
the n-word

From Salon.com:

We don't know exactly what's true in the charges that have been flung against various members of Meg Whitman's family, and against the Republican gubernatorial candidate herself. What we do know, however, is that she and each of her sons have been accused of atrocious acts that bear a surprising family resemblance.

The candidate herself has been accused of shoving an employee while she was in charge at eBay. Apparently, a staff member named Young Mi Kim was helping Whitman prepare for an online interview. Whitman seems to have been unhappy with Kim's briefing, and either shoved her, or "physically guided her" out of the room. The resulting lawsuit was settled out of court and included a confidentiality agreement.

As Alex Pareene wrote yesterday, we recently found out that one of Whitman's sons, Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, was arrested in 2006 for battery, after breaking a woman's ankle at a bar in Palo Alto. Harsh, who was 21 at the time, apparently pushed Victoria Sanchez after she knocked off his hat and said, "@!$%# your fraternity." Harsh disputed the story, saying she had pushed him and then stumbled, but a security guard corroborated Sanchez's account. Whitman bailed her son out, and charges were eventually dismissed.

Griff Harsh's younger brother Will, meanwhile, was supposedly banned from an eating club at Princeton, where he was a student, for using the n-word. As it's reported, he had already been put on notice for picking a fight with a bouncer, and the racial slur was the last straw.

Obviously, we're relying on hearsay somewhat here, especially in the last case. And is it even appropriate to be talking about Whitman’s children?

I don't feel too guilty about that. Political families are generally taboo subjects because they’re vulnerable without being relevant -- in other words, easy targets for journalistic bloodsport. But the Harsh boys are neither vulnerable nor irrelevant. They're in the news exactly because they've been picking on people who aren’t their own size, and their mother has too.

The Harshes apparently had a reputation for lording it over their fellow Princeton students based on their wealth and their parentage. Whitman is Princeton's most prominent living donor. The university divides up its undergraduates into colleges, of which there were five until recently. The brand-new sixth college was funded with a $30 million gift from Whitman, and is named after her. (The dining hall is called "Community Hall," not for the university community but for the eBay community.)

So, like their mother who got sick of an employee's yapping, the Harshes seem to have thought that they owned the damn place and could do what they pleased. A sense of entitlement doesn't live in the DNA, but it sure seems to have been passed down from mother to sons.

This is important because Whitman’s entire campaign is built around her class privilege. She can’t stop talking about it, though obviously she uses different words to describe it. Whitman is constantly talking about applying her CEO savvy to run California like a business. Her campaign introduced her to voters with TV ads about her time as an executive. "People who worked with Meg Whitman trust her to lead," says one ad. A former colleague testifies, "Meg knew what she was doing." She has an ability, says another, "to figure out what the right thing to do is."

Whitman, in other words, is running on her class position. (And she's spent $91 million so far. She'll almost certainly break the record for self-funding by November.) It's literally the centerpiece of her campaign: as a really rich lady, she has access to secret knowledge about how to fix the broken state government. I see a new campaign slogan: Meg Whitman 2010 -- Putting Californians in Their Place....'

Now Meg is changing her tune on Latinos ?

She's a protege of ex-Gov Pete 'White Power' Wilson

Wilson demonized Latinos to divert attention from his failed policies (see Energy De-Regulation, Enron RIP OFF of California)

Meg Whitman's Family Values: use the n-word

What? Isn't Joe Barton running for anything this year? Well, maybe not. My prediction is that he will suddenly become VERY interested in his family. That's the only hope the GOBP has to bury those nasty soundbites.

Another great week here at First Read, the best political blog on the internet! Thanks so much to the Awesome First Read crew of Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro and Ali Weinberg for posting so many great article to comment upon this wild and woolly week in politics. Thanks to all of the great Democratic Party supporters who always post so many witty and honest comments here to beat back the lies from the limpwristed conservative crybabies and their pack of Great Right Lies. I enjoyed seeing Mark this morning on Daily Rundown doing some of the top ten verbal gaffes, more Mark and Domenico a lot less Savannah!

Laker Nation We Are the Champions, Again!

Joe Barton... the gift that keeps on giving! Watching Agent Orange yesterday was one of the funniest things I've seen in weeks!

Should have had some popcorn handy!

Mark/Domenico - thanks for working the 'kink' out! lol

What about 0bama not knowing the difference between "corpse" and "Corps?" Oh, that's right, he's not a candidate - - I keep forgetting that with all the campaigning and lack of actually accomplishing something.

Hey Eric! Congratulations. It was a fabulous series and I hate to see the season end. But hats off to you and LA. We had a lot of fun with a Lakers fan here; whenever the Lakers won, he would walk around "strutting" as he would say, giving us such a hard time. So naturally we decided that whenever the Celtics won, we made him wear a Celtics shirt. It was such a fun fun playoff run up here.

This Celtics team has gone as far as it can. Doc Rivers mostly likely will leave. End of another era here in Boston. But a thumbs up to you and Laker fans/team.

Next up: Manny. He'll be here this weekend. There was a joke going around that if the Celtics won the Finals and there was a parade here, Manny would believe it was for him.

And so – life goes on.

Martha Coakley's Schilling is a Yankees Fan: This statement in a radio interview showed that she was out of touch with Massachusetts voters. No Boston Red Sox fan would mistakenly say that Curt Schilling is a Yankee fan. This gaffe turned out to be the final nail in Coakley's coffin.

As silly as this sounds, it's true. Bob Costas and NBC were here on New Years day to broadcast the Bruins hockey game over @ Fenway. And who was shaking hands with the fans? Scott Brown. Schilling I remember was interviewed by Bob Costas. (Everybody here loved the job Bob and NBC did on that hockey game btw.) Schilling campaigned with Brown. The sports radio guys campaigned with Brown and used it and used it and used it. Brown was the topic on the sports station 24/7. Plus the health care debate if I remember was a hot topic at the time.

Everything just went Brown's way. Especially the timing. btw, his pick-up truck, where is it?

How about Obama telling students at a graduation (Kalamazoo MI) to "Not to blame others for their problems", like Obama always does.Or Joe Biden telling the world "This is a big f***ing deal". Or Obama hiring known Communists into his administration (Van Jones) or Maoist sympathisers (Anita Dunn). And even though it wasn't from 2010, who can forget Hillary "Hitting the Reset Button" with Russia, as Russia now shills for its friend Iran.

America will be hitting the Reset Button to purge the country of the leftist radicals running the Congress this fall.

SURPRISE

The American Public is SMARTER than Joe Barton and the Goopers Get the Economy going, pass additional stimulus, Get Financial Reform passed, Pass the unemployment benefits extension passed FORGET THE OTHER STUFF, Obama should have a Press Conference EXPLAINING HCR, TURN THE TIDE

From Wash Monthly:

PUBLIC BACKS ADDITIONAL STIMULUS.... As 2009 got underway, Democrats had two unfortunate messes Republicans left behind to clean up: an economy in free fall and a massive budget deficit. Dems couldn't address both at the same time -- tackling one problem necessarily meant making the other problem worse.

Republicans said the focus should be on fixing their huge budget shortfall; Democrats fortunately ignored them chose to emphasize economic growth and job creation. Their efforts didn't reduce the deficit -- they weren't supposed to -- but they did help turn the economy around.

The success of the recovery effort has, alas, not translated into a robust economy. The question, then, is what to do now. As we saw yesterday, Senate Republicans want to slam on the brakes and stop trying to improve the economy. The public prefers a different approach.

Among four pieces of legislation Congress could consider this year, Americans are most supportive of authorizing more economic stimulus spending. Specifically, according to a June 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, 60% of Americans say they would favor "additional government spending to create jobs and stimulate the economy." [...]

Stimulus spending emerges as the most widely favored proposal of the four, overall, because of support that is particularly high from Democrats (83%) and relatively high from Republicans (38%) compared with the other Democrat-favored items.

It's worth emphasizing the fact that public attitudes seem to have shifted over the last year or so. Last summer, it was still common to see polls showing Americans emphasizing the deficit over economic growth. Now, the public's support for additional stimulus is surprisingly strong.

For that matter, there's additional data that shows Americans are far more concerned with the economy than the deficit.

So, members of Congress have a choice:

1) Side with Republicans, who got us into this mess in the first place, and stop trying to improve the economy; or

2) Side with the public, who'll be voting in November, and invest in job growth.

That this is even a debate is astounding to me. That the first option is winning right now is just stunning....'

FORGET cap and trade, FOCUS on BASICS.... Get the economy going, point out to Americans that 'Balanced Budgets' STALL economic growth, the Goopers HAVEN'T BALANCED A BUDGET in 55 YEARS, that Dick Cheney said: 'Ronald Reagan PROVED that deficits DON'T MATTER'

Hey Pat, Boston - what an Awesome hard fought war last night for one of the greatest game 7's ever played ending an awesome 7 game series between two teams of champions, truly a series for the ages! Your Celtics really proved they have the hearts of champions still, they came out inspired after losing Perkins as I feared and the Lakers came out complacent as I feared. Still what a great game that went back and forth and that 4th quarter was a great battle of wills that thankfully the Lakers won. This was the series I was hoping for a year ago and now the Lakers are truly Tough Enough to beat Boston for Sweet Revenge from 2008. I remember back in the mid 70's when Boston held a 14-6 advantage in NBS titles that I hoped I would live long enough to see the Lakers catch and overtake Boston in titles and now a year from now the Lakers will probably tie the Celtics up at 17 titles. You should be proud of how well Boston fought and how close they came last night to upsetting the Lakers who couldn't hit a shot early on.

Lakers Repeat for Sweet Revenge!

4. Vaughn Ward's Puerto Rico is a country: Ward once was a front-runner, too -- in an Idaho GOP congressional primary. But after a few gaffes -- like calling Puerto Rico a country when it's a territory -- he ended up losing this primary.

This, unfortunately, is what we are in for on a large scale if people get their collective wish and congress turns over in massive numbers. The 'throw-the-bums-out' mentality may feel good on a visceral level, but in practice what it will result in is the election of large numbers of people with opinions, but little knowledge.

Americans are particularly guilty of the kind of thinking that makes them believe that certain types of jobs require only this. Think of the number of people who seemingly believe these days that they are perfectly capable of teaching their own children, despite the fact that they have no educational experience, training, and only expertise in one narrow field if that. I tend to believe that teachers and politicians are the most disrespected professions in our nation.

Alongside the notion that anyone can be a teacher lies the notion that anyone can be a politician. It requires no knowledge of civics. It requires no knowledge of current world events. It requires no knowledge of history. It requires only dogmatic adherence to a political philosophy that you may or may not even loosely understand.

Saying "I want smaller government" does not qualify you to hold political office, nor does it make you an expert on anything. Saying "I want smaller government" with a distinct policy agenda that will reach that overall political goal might, however, the major problem with movement politics is their tendency to make those who engage in them intellectually lazy. Adherents to movement politics have little more than a sort of vague faith that as long as they remain loyal to a set of pre-defined precepts, the policy will somehow take care of itself.

It really does not matter to them that they don't know the difference between a U.S. territory and a foreign nation any more that it matters to them that they do not know the difference between the political situation in the Sudan versus the political situation in Liberia. It doesn't matter to them that they could not answer as basic a question as "what is the twelfth amendment to the United States constitution?"

It does not matter to them because, in their hearts, they believe that all of these things, until they become pertinent somehow, are irrelevant, niggling little details that have no relevance to modern life.

The real danger to this, of course, is that there ARE people in the framework of their party who know these things, know why they are important, and know how to apply that knowledge to the day-to-day task of policymaking. These people are called professional politicians... the very people that the majority, seemingly, of the population want to eliminate today. So what happens if we do?

Well, the long and short of it is that we elect 535 virtual blank slates who are all to willing to be led in their voting patterns not by their own knowledge and expertise, (because they really don't have much), but by the crafters of the movement philosophy, who they presume to have greater expertise than they do.

Somehow it is to be expected that it is enough to merely vote the philosophy having absolutely no idea what the specific ramifications of any individual policy will be.

That is unfortunate, because as I've said before, philosophy without policy is nothing but empty speeching and if you can't be bothered to take the time to learn the basics and be educated enough to be an expert, then you'll end up just like the fool who decides that since he doesn't like the public education system, he has enough expertise to teach his own child with no training whatsoever.

>the U.S. DID declare war on Germany on April 4, 1917

I think you have the wrong war there...

I agree. No more Nazi comparisons. It makes a candidate sound rather unserious. Enough of it. From both parties.

Carly Fiorina said it while she was CEO of HP:

There is no job that is America's God-given right any more", said Fiorina, in a clarion call well-suited for these economic times

She then proceded to Slash and Cut HP jobs HP was famous for the 'HP Way' which VALUED its' employees and traditionally DIDN'T Slash and Cut jobs

Gnarly Carly

7. J.D. Hayworth's 'history' lesson: At a town hall, Hayworth served up this whopper: "As I recall, in MY history, Germany declared war on the United States not vice versa." In fact, as was pointed out to him by a questioner (who Hayworth didn't believe), the U.S. DID declare war on Germany on April 4, 1917.

I'm not trying to defend Hayworth since he was wrong, but I suggest that when you criticize someone about getting the facts wrong that you get your facts right. Did you watch the video? He was talking about World War II, not World War I.

Just A FEW Obamaisms:

"It's like — it was like Special Olympics, or something." — Barack Obama, responding to a question from Jay Leno on NBC's Tonight Show about his shoddy bowling game. March 19, 2009

"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings and inefficiencies to our health care system." –in remarks after a health care roundtable with physicians, nurses and health care providers, Washington, D.C., July 20, 2009

"UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? It's the Post Office that's always having problems." –attempting to make the case for government-run healthcare, while simultaneously undercutting his own argument, Portsmouth, N.H., Aug. 11, 2009

"The Cambridge police acted stupidly." —commenting on a white police officer's arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., at a news conference, July 22, 2009 after admitting he knew nothing about the situation.

"I've now been in 57 states — I think one left to go." —at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon, May 9, 2008

“There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing." --confusing German for "Austrian," a language which does not exist, Strasbourg, France, April 6, 2009

"I'm here with the Girardo family here in St. Louis." --speaking via satellite to the Democratic National Convention, while in Kansas City, Missouri, Aug. 25, 2008

"Let me introduce to you the next President -- the next Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden." --slipping up while introducing Joe Biden at their first joint campaign rally, Springfield, Illinois, Aug. 23, 2008

"Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under a McCain...administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change." --Amman, Jordan, July 22, 2008

"How's it going, Sunshine?" --campaigning in Sunrise, Florida

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" --after being asked a foreign policy question by a reporter while visiting a diner in Pennsylvania

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." --on a Kansas tornado that killed 12 people

“UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? It's the Post Office that's always having problems."
Attempting to make the case for government-run healthcare, while simultaneously undercutting his own argument, Portsmouth, N.H., Aug. 11, 2009

On his maiden Marine One trip Obama breaches protocol and makes life uncomfortable for an enlisted marine by shaking the the serviceman’s hand as he’s saluting his commander-in-chief.

The little Tea Potty landslide that COULDN'T

asked about Angle's stated position, as it appears on her website, about eliminating Social Security and Medicare. Angle replied, "You believe the Harry Reid lie."

From Wash Monthly

ANGLE BREAKS HER SILENCE (SORT OF).... Sharron Angle, the extremist Republican Senate candidate in Nevada, has been a little too embarrassed by herself to talk to the media lately, refusing all questions from local and national journalists. Yesterday, the radical conservative broke her silence. Sort of.

Angle greeted supporters at a Las Vegas restaurant, and spoke briefly to Nathan Baca, a reporter with the local CBS affiliate. Baca asked about Angle's stated position, as it appears on her website, about eliminating Social Security and Medicare. Angle replied, "You believe the Harry Reid lie."

Asked why Angle would like to eliminate the EPA, she added, "The issues are not about the EPA. The issues are homes here in Nevada."

The Republican Senate hopeful did have a 20-minute chat with a far-right local radio host. But Baca, who deserves a lot of credit for persistence, asked Angle to explain what she meant when she said, "If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking towards those Second Amendment remedies." (Given Angle's remarks about armed insurrection against the United States government, it's a relevant question.)

Angle not only refused to answer, she literally ran away from the reporter in the parking lot.

As a rule, when politicians are seen fleeing from journalists, they're either under indictment, have been caught doing something scandalous, or cowards.

After the unsuccessful effort to get answers from Angle, the right-wing candidate's campaign lashed out at the reporter, calling him "an idiot" and another term that can't be repeated.

What a political trainwreck....'

This may not be so bad an election, after all, Show clips of Joe Barton's apologies and Angle fleeing the Press

What about every tortured phrase that Sarah Palin utters?

Looks like Lady Cluck Cluck Lowdown Sue Lowden is the hands down winner of the most clueless verbal gaffe recently. Still laughing how she so royally screwed herself up with her chicken health care system joke and her illegal $100,000 campaign bus gaffe and allowed relative unknown Tea Bagger Crazy Woman Scary Sharry Angle to whip her in the primary Lowdown Sue was supposed to win handily. I voted for Lady Cluck Cluck. Still nothing compares to the many verbal gaffes of Clueless George Wrong Bush, the most arrogant ignorant lawbreaking buffoon to ever disgrace the White House.

First Read crew you really messed up not including Black Bart Jerky Joe Barton's massive verbal gaffe apology to BP Oil for President Obama's Awesome Shakedown of BP Oil, that is far more disgusting and damaging than Knarly Carly's bad hair day comment or Jerry Brown's absolutely correct assertion that Old Nag Twitwoman would run a campaign based upon Goebbel's Nazi propaganda lies. Sorry First Read but telling the truth is not a verbal gaffe and Jerry Brown will not pay the price in November for speaking the truth, just watch how dirty and nasty Old Nag Twitwoman gets when she watches her $90 million investment go up in smoke. You owe us Democrats in California a big apology for including Jerry's speaking the truth but not including the apology heard around the world from Black Bart, BP Oil's bought off henchman.

Yeah and where are the many clueless verbal gaffes from Wasilla Hillbilly Palin recently? Nothing says clueless verbal gaffe than Winky Wonka Palin, like just the other day when she said that Obama failed to ask for help from Norway and the Dutch when in fact Obama got help from both countries? Stop protecting the Wicked Witch of Wasilla like SissyChris Matthews does!

I didn't vote on this, as the biggest farce of a comment from Joe Barton was not a choice. His wife, if he's married, should have stepped up and slapped him. What in the hell were you thinking??? Perhaps the complete and utter lack of reasonable thought is the answer. Don't tell us "common folk" how you really feel here Joe. We are so sorry that that the little people are in the way of you making more money from BP and GW and Haliburton. Is there an "A$$ of the Year Award"?

It's common knowledge that Germany did declare war on the US on Dec 11th, 1941. It's often called Hitler's biggest mistake. Following is the actual declaration of war as delivered to the US.

German Declaration of War against the United States

The Government of the United States having violated in the most flagrant manner and in ever-increasing measure all rules of neutrality in favor of the adversaries of Germany and having continually been guilty of the most severe provocations toward Germany ever since the outbreak of the European war, provoked by the British declaration of war against Germany on September 3, 1939, has finally resorted to open military acts of aggression.

On September 11, 1941, the President of the United States publicly declared that he had ordered the American Navy and Air Force to shoot on sight at any German war vessel. In his speech of October 27, 1941, he once more expressly affirmed that this order was in force. Acting under this order, vessels of the American Navy, since early September 1941, have systematically attacked German naval forces. Thus, American destroyers, as for instance the Greer, the Kearny and the Reuben James, have opened fire on German submarines according to plan. The Secretary of the American Navy, Mr. Knox, himself confirmed that American destroyers attacked German submarines.

Furthermore, the naval forces of the United States, under order of their Government and contrary to international law have treated and seized German merchant vessels on the high seas as enemy ships.

The German Government therefore establishes the following facts:

Although Germany on her part has strictly adhered to the rules of international law in her relations with the United States during every period of the present war, the Government of the United States from initial violations of neutrality has finally proceeded to open acts of war against Germany. The Government of the United States has thereby virtually created a state of war.

The German Government, consequently, discontinues diplomatic relations with the United States of America and declares that under these circumstances brought about by President Roosevelt, Germany too, as from today, considers herself as being in a state of war with the United States of America.

Accept, Mr. Chargé d'Affaires, the expression of my high consideration.

December 11, 1941

How embarrassing, NV has two of the top ten with a small population. Luckily Gibbons is out and Sue (chicken) Lowden is history as well. Unfortunately, Sharron Angle is a certified nut as well. Every time someone tells me they want to get rid of Harry Reid I ask them why do you want to get rid of one of the most powerful members of the federal government considering that our other Senator is John Ensign. To date, I've never had a response that made any sense. NV is such a small state and to have Ensign and a newly elected senator representing us will be devastating.

Where were Joe Biden's often entertaining gaffes? Too many to choose?

Brian, are you kidding me???????????? Fat Limpball just joking?????????? Come on, that dirt bag railed against crack heads and all while he was a pill popping freak! The only thing that kept him off the streets was his money.