It's time for...

Next week we'll wrap up 52 weeks of advice from the legendary Democrat, Adlai Stevenson. Who's next? I've got some ideas, but once again, I'd like to hear who you'd like to hear from. It has to be someone who is or was identifiably a Democrat who wrote or spoke memorably enough for a pretty high volume of preserved quotations. Wit counts, as does thematic timelessness. Who ya' got in mind?

Heh™.

Gail Collins…

Washington was immobilized by snow on Friday. This is highly unusual. Normally, Washington is immobilized by senators.

Heh™ with a sigh, perhaps, but heh™ just the same.

It is, by the way, downright balmy by February standards in the upper left.

The best random…

…is eclectic random. Like this...

The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coop
Betty Davis - If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up
Paul Revere & The Raiders - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Bing Crosby - I'm An Old Cowhand (From The Rio Grande)
Fela Kuti - Black Man's Cry
Linda Ronstadt - We Need A Whole Lot More Of Jesus
The Beatles - Getting Better
The Kinks - Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
The Byrds - You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Jimmy Bryant & Speedy West - Pickin' Peppers

The scary part is that most all the segues make some kind of sense to me.

Chart of the day.

You'll have to click it bigger to read it, but Larry Gross explains...

There’s an interesting chart on the web that compares the religiosity of the various states—based on a Gallup poll—with other factors. Based on these stats it would seem that the five least religious states are six percent more intelligent than the five most religious states. The most religious states also have 70% more poverty, 133% more murders, 57% more thefts and 33% more divorces.

How'd we do in the upper left? Pretty smart, not so religious, fairly safe. Kinda stingy, though.

Worth repeating...

...far and wide, over and over. Jed Lewison sets the bottom line...

...Richard Shelby -- a top Senate Republican -- is preparing to shut down the United States Senate to award a key military contract to a foreign company.

"Buy American" can be hard advice to follow when you're shopping for inexpensive clothing or consumer electronics. It should easy and obvious, though, when our national security is at stake.

A question…

…for the 'question time' crowd. What about the Constitution?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for Congressional caucuses, partisan and otherwise, inviting the President, any President, to join them in any event or deliberation they deem appropriate, and I'm all for Presidents accepting those invitations when they think they'll be a productive investment of time. I just don't see any way to formalize, or particularly to require the kind of question time we see in parliamentary systems given the constitutional separation of powers that we have here in the US.

Even the State of the Union address is delivered in response to a Congressional invitation. While a report to the Congress is the President's constitutional obligation, he's not compelled to deliver it as a speech to a joint session, nor is the Congress compelled to invite him. The whole business could be, and has been, handled with a written report.

President Obama's recent Q & A with the House Republicans was good theater for those of us who enjoy seeing Republican vacuity and obstruction widely displayed, but that's not sufficient ground, I'm afraid, for a permanent policy that strikes at the heart of the balance between the three branches of our government.

Those interested in fixing what's wrong with the other Washington would be better served investing their time and attention in filibuster reform and ending the ludicrous practice of allowing individual Senators to bring the appointment process to a standstill with nonsense like blanket holds when their appetite for pork isn't sufficiently sated.

From the "Since you asked…" file.

Niki Reading at The Capitol Record wonders...

Should Supreme Court races be publicly funded?

Since you asked, absolutely, if Justices have to be elected at all. The funding question's easy. The election question I'm not so sure about.

Hard to imagine the voters voting to take away their right to vote, though, so we're probably stuck with the elections.

So, sure, public funding. Absolutely.

John Cole's right...

...about John McCain.

Exactly right.

Quote of the day.

Hands down.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs Of Staff, before the Senate Armed Services Committee...

It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.

Aye, aye, Sir. Mine too.

It's nice to know…

…that the government's doing something well. It's even better when you know the news is gonna drive Dick Cheney crazy crazier. John Brennan, President Obama's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, via Jake Tapper...

"Intelligence Community assesses that 20 percent of detainees transferred from Guantanamo are confirmed or suspected of recidivist activity…

...I want to underscore the fact that all of these cases relate to detainees released during the previous administration and under the prior detainee review process. The report indicates no confirmed or suspected recidivists among detainees transferred during this Administration, although we recognize the ongoing risk that detainees could engage in such activity."

Leaves you wondering, of course, what percentage of detainees never had any terrorist history to recede to in the first place.

Darryl's right...

...about Blackwater.

Bunch of other stuff, too, of course, but he's got those cowboys nailed.

On the off chance…

…that some of y'all don't see driftglass or Blue Gal.

Which you should, both of 'em, every day, or you'll miss stuff like this...


Click to enhance awsomeness.

Map of the day.

Hat tip to Kos.