If the door breaks, nobody out here can afford to get it fixed.
Hillary Clinton has picked BFF Ellen Tauscher to be the new Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, and Tauscher’s Fellow Traveler Barack Obama has agreed.
Atrios has the killer line:
Ellen Tauscher might be thankfully raptured out of Congress.
This appointment will open up Tauscher’s House seat in CA-10 and that could be a very good thing for Progressive interests. Tauscher, like her buddies Obama and Clinton, is on balance a Centrist
Conservative with a mixed bag of positions. On some topics like single-payer and equal marriage rights she speaks out openly with a Liberal-Progressive stance, but on other issues like business versus consumers she is staunchly Reactionary. A wealthy former investment banker, she got her start in politics as first a fundraiser and then campaign manager for Diane Feinstein, subsequently buying the CA-10 seat with her own money. She had to defeat a Republican in a conservative district, but she was able to position herself as the saner person and narrowly won.
After redistricting following the 2000 census, CA-10 was redrawn and is now strongly Democratic; Tauscher has won re-election each time since by 2:1 majorities. If ever there was a district where a Progressive candidate could replace a Conservative Dem, the CA-10 is it, but Tauscher’s money – along with support due every incumbent from the Dem Party establishment – kept her in place.
Meanwhile, she has managed to earn the wrath of every Progressive activist who crossed her path. (Full disclosure, I can’t stand her personally; she is beyond smug, arrogant, self-satisfied and fully committed to squeezing every penny out of the proletariat to line the pockets of her bankster buddies.) Everyone who is anyone Progressive has wanted Tauscher replaced for a very long time.
Chris Bowers: “I am so unbelievably angry right now, and it takes a lot for me to fly off the handle like this.”
Susie Madrak: “Ellen Tauscher is Disappointed in Bloggers. Oh, boo fucking hoo.”
California NOW: “…seems more concerned with protecting the bankers and loan companies...than in helping the affected home owners in her district….”
Jane Hamsher: “Ellen Tauscher (D-BofA) Helps Bank Lobbyists Write Our Laws
D-Day: “Ellen Tauscher's Insatiable Appetite For More Homeless People”
Brian Leubitz at Calitics: Ellen Tauscher: Lies, Half-Truths and other various distortions
BooMan: “Ellen Tauscher is not a good Democrat.”
Chris Bowers: Again.
Bob Brigham, and a whole lot of others.
Politicians being what they are, the would-be successors are circling while the body is still warm. It may take a couple of months to get through the clearances and the confirmation hearing, and any public positioning by the candidates would be unseemly until Tauscher actually resigns, but that won’t keep others from speculating and promoting their favorite.
Lisa Vorderbrueggen at BayAreaBuzz has some names, the same ones being floated by Robert from Monterey at Calitics.
The plausible mentions so far are no improvement over Tauscher, and these early posts have the stink of defeat about them. Hard to believe that the cream of California Progressive politics can’t come up with a winning Progressive candidate for this seat, where Democrats out-register Republicans 47% to 29%.
Time to get cracking.
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Ellen
Don't know much about, her, though I'm aware of her bank shilling, recently. We don't need corporatist enablers like that.
But, what was with the whole "BFF" blurt? Is that Clinton Tourette Syndrome, or something? It's almost as if its involuntary, but I know that it's not. I guess the new rule is that if you dishonorably mention him that you must also her, or vice versa, right?
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
Clinton's relationship with Tauscher is probably good
It seems reasonable to assume that Clinton and Tauscher have a good relationship. My guess is that Tauscher's progressive credentials have very little to do with the job for which she has been nominated. Clinton is probably more interested in the skill set that allowed Tauscher to succeed as a banker, fundraiser and campaign manager. The characteristics that make one a good administrator are generally not well suited to the legislative process, and vice versa. The fact that Tauscher would want to make this change suggests she was not happy in the House. From this distance, it looks like a change where everyone benefits.
The Obama Administration is relying heavily on people with legislative backgrounds. So, the overall trend of staffing an administration with legislators is worrisome, but this one may be ok.
the "new rule" is that facts are facts
Tauscher was an ardent Hillary supporter, but their association goes much deeper - into AIPAC, and a loathing for Pakistan among other things.
Obama's first choice for the Arms Control post, penciled in before Clinton took the SoS position, was the truly excellent Robert Einhorn who subsequently refused to work for Clinton in that capacity - "personal reasons" is the cover story. Clinton then started pushing for Tauscher, and Obama eventually agreed.
This Tauscher appointment is a joint responsibility; both Clinton and Obama own it, and that was my point. Remember that when it all goes sour, as it will, and don't skimp on assigning the blame.
That's my question
And it is something you didn't really touch on, is what are her qualifications, or is it just that she has admin skills. All you really talked about were the opportunities available for progressives, a valid topic, but I kind of expected a very long a verbose explantion about her new job, instead of her old one.
From the comment above, I am assuming that you don't think she is suitably qualified for this. Penny for your thoughts.
He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.
- Sir William Drummond
"a very long a verbose explantion about her new job...
...instead of her old one."
Nice. And here I tried to not be my usual prolix self and do most of the verbage by links. Never good enough, never never never....
My point here was indeed the failure of the Progressive community to nurture and promote valid candidates for office, even in deeply Blue districts. We do a lousy job of that, and we need to get better at it. Soon.
Regards the new job, I intended to hold off until Obama gets the team in place; assuming he'll finish his appointments before he leaves office. Maybe then it will make some sense. Right now, unless he's planning to do all the heavy lifting on arms control exclusively within the White House and leave the AssSec (oopsie!) office strictly an administrative position, the appointment of Tauscher looks to me like a huge mistake.
She is so arrogant, so dismissive of others, so stubborn and self-centered that she will be a disaster as either a negotiator or an enforcer, and her so-called knowledge of the military and arms control is a mile wide and an inch deep because she is intellectually lazy and given to simplistic reasoning. For whatever purpose she has developed a fixation with bringing AQ Khan to book, and the Pakistanis are already on edge in that regard from Clinton's similar comments.
As much as any country in that part of the world, and more than most, we need to develop a better working relationship with Pakistan. Going after Khan will not sit well there, the actual correctness of the matter notwithstanding; he is a national hero, in many eyes the savior of the nation from Indian domination, and his feet of clay are not considered a fit topic for conversation. Clinton will find Pakistan cold and distant across the board if she presses the matter; Tauscher, after threatening to cut off military ties, will at this point find it impossible to even get a meeting much less carry on negotiations.
Sooner or later Tauscher's ego will get the better of her; she will pop off and cause a major embarrassment, at the least. I wouldn't hire her to cut my lawn.
Ha ha ha, a fat joke.
If I wanted that kind of shit, I could lap it up at Orangeville.
JFK has been shot, we miss him a lot
He always knew what to do
-- Philly Cream
I think I missed the fat joke--what is it and where? Thnx.
I hate when I can't figure out comments, so appreciate explication. Did I read too fast?
Well, the thread title is:
Followed by:
Why, her ass is so fat it would break the door, haw haw haw.
JFK has been shot, we miss him a lot
He always knew what to do
-- Philly Cream
An old joke, Randall
recycled for the occasion. The punch line this time, as obviously indicated BY THE HIGHLITED LINK, is a play on that old joke relating the inability to pay to fix a broken door to the fact that Tauscher's district has the highest rate of foreclosures of any area in the nation except for LA along with rampant unemployment and skyrocketing poverty, while she's been busy recently taking care of her bankster buddies and throwing fundraiser weekend access getaways with $1000 dollar "donation" admission fees. Broken door, broke constituents, haw haw haw - or not.
Personally I try to avoid thinking in a literal way about other people's asses,* especially the ass on an ass I don't like, so the connection you made did not occur to me - and I am glad it didn't, what a repulsive concept. YM, of course, MV; by all means feel free to fixate as much as you wish on any ass you desire.
[* except for Gisele Bundchen's ass, the wondrous perfection of which is permanently etched in my mind. h/t, MJS]
Well, you know what they say...
.... about jokes that, as here, you have to explain....
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
if I could make a living as a comedian
I'd be writing for Leno.
Thank the goddess I didn't make any cracks about Canadians and hockey.
I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a practicing DUer.
I guess my DU mentality got in the way here.
Adding to my confusion was the fact that Laura Ingraham has just recently been slammed hard for calling Meghan McCain a plus-sized model.
Sorry for the mistaken accusation.
JFK has been shot, we miss him a lot
He always knew what to do
-- Philly Cream
The rightwing attacks on Meghan McCain have angered and
shocked me. Just. Too. Stupid. And ugly, but par for the rightwads.
I haven't followed it closely, but I understand Meghan went on The View and ably defended herself.
Being more than twig-like is grounds for going after women in this society. Men have to be a bit heavier to get the same treatment, altho' I stopped watching Letterman when he couldn't stop with the heavy thigh jokes about Clinton. And then came (and still are told) the Monica jokes.... Grrrr.
And heaven help a woman who has thick ankles and/or heavy legs.
no worries, randall
I also haven't the faintest idea what Meghan McCain looks like beyond a vague impression of a pretty face; not on my radar screen. Laura Ingraham looks deranged, but based on her expressed positions I assume that is an external manifestation of the person within. Haven't paid a lick of attention to the squabble, two peripheral wingers clawing at each other does not interest.
I do try to not mock people for that which they cannot control or determine. Sometimes I fail, but I do try. With Ellen Tauscher there is a lot that I dislike, but none of it has anything to do with her anatomy. I would be repulsed by her behavior no matter the shape of the package.
Randall, I did reply to you, but for some reason couldn't link
to Corrente for awhile. (Whassup, Drupal? Or is it my PC or DSL?)
I thanked you for your explanation; felt it could be construed that way, but felt it was more a dig at CA Repubs, the Governator, and the budget messes in CA due to refusal to recognize need for revenues. That once broken, a door would be difficult to repair.
I also noted a well cushioned derriere would probably cause less damage to a door at whatever velosity it hit--heh.
And, once again, I noted how challenging it is to use humor or subtlety in commenting. With only words to look at, without expressions or tone, it's easy to miss things.
Again, thanks for your reply.
there was no fat joke, jawbone
Your problem isn't that you read too fast, but that you read for content. That habit tends to lead you away from non-existent conjectures, highly entertaining for some but bewildering to the majority.