July 01, 2009

7/1: Sixty Senators

While liberal bloggers are extremely critical of ex-Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) actions over the past eight months, they're pleased that he finally conceded and allowed Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to be seated. Now the netroots are discussing the political implications of a 60-seat majority in the Senate. On the one hand, lefty bloggers caution that the Dem majority isn't exactly filibuster-proof, since (a.) centrists like Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) have been only too willing to buck their party, and (b.) ailing Sens. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) haven't cast a vote in weeks. On the other hand, lefty bloggers are declaring that Dems no longer have any excuses for not passing legislation. Markos Moulitsas writes: "Psst, Harry [Reid]? You've got 60 Dems. No more excuses." Similarly, Atrios warns that Franken's victory means that "a new game begins -- which Dems vote against cloture." Liberal bloggers already had little patience for Dem senators who obstruct Pres. Obama's agenda; it seems likely that they'll have even less patience now.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Conservative bloggers (Malkin, Allahpundit, Antle, Steyn, Geraghty) think that SC Gov. Mark Sanford (R) further embarrassed himself with his latest comments about his extramarital affair. Liberal bloggers (Hunter, Kurtz, digby) agree.
• Conservative bloggers (Liebau, McCarthy, Ledeen) continue to criticize Obama for condemning the military coup in Honduras, which the right supports. RedState is telling its readers to call members of Congress and urge them to "support [Honduras' interim leader] Roberto Micheletti and the actions of the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress."
• Liberal bloggers (Hamsher, Scarecrow, Benen) continue to push hard for a public health insurance option. They're also criticizing senators who oppose a public option, such as Kay Hagan (D-NC), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

MN SEN: Thanks For Nothing, Norm

Liberal bloggers are pleased that Coleman finally conceded, but they're angry that it took him this long to do so:

• dday: "Norm Coleman just said he would abide by the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling and congratulated Al Franken as the newest Senator from Minnesota. I guess seven months of obstruction was long enough. What a stand-up guy!"
• Obsidian Wings' hilzoy: "Norm Coleman has dragged this out for nearly eight months. It has been clear that Franken would win at least since the three-judge panel ruled in his favor. That was on April 13th. Since then, Norm Coleman has just been trying to delay the inevitable, and denying Minnesota's voters the representation they are due in the process. I'm glad he has finally decided to end it. But he's several months too late."
• MyDD's desmoinesdem: "We can laugh at Coleman's pretzel logic during the legal proceedings, but unfortunately, his gamesmanship deprived Minnesota of full representation in the Senate for half a year. In all likelihood Franken will be stuck with less-than-stellar committee assignments. Also, the delay did lasting damage to Franken's seniority. Had he been sworn in on time, he would have outranked several fellow Senate Democrats, which could become important one or two terms down the road."

MN SEN II: The Meaning Of 60

Several liberal bloggers are arguing that Senate Dems no longer have any excuses for not passing legislation:

• Daily Kos' Moulitsas: "Psst, Harry? You've got 60 Dems. No more excuses."
• Atrios: "It's over. And a new game begins -- which Dems vote against cloture."
• BooMan: "In order for Al Franken's mere presence in the Senate to make a difference, two things need to happen. First, the Democrats will need to get both Robert Byrd and Teddy Kennedy to show up to cast a vote for cloture. That is not an easy thing to do, given their health issues. Second, the Democrats have to remain totally united. If they can do both those things, they can pass anything they want on any terms they want. [...] In reality, Franken doesn't make much difference. The real difference is that with Franken in the Senate, the Dems have no ready-made excuses for failing to pass their agenda."

Conservative blogger Carol Platt Liebau agrees with her liberal counterparts that Dems no longer have any excuses for not passing Obama's agenda: "The Democrats now have no excuse, whatsoever, for not making good on their campaign promises. They now officially have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and a solid majority in the House."

Mother Jones' Kevin Drum is somewhat pessimistic about the implications of having a 60-seat majority in the Senate: "The corruption of the filibuster into a routine requirement for 60 votes in the Senate (an arguably unconstitutional evolution, IMHO) combined with the continuing presence of half a dozen non-liberals in the Democratic caucus combined with an almost iron self-discipline within the Republican caucus -- well, all that combined means that liberals now have the illusion of control of Congress but not the reality. In a way, it's almost the worst of all possible worlds. Dem vs. Dem is now practically the only narrative that anyone will pay attention to, and since unanimous agreement is the only way for that narrative to play out well, this means it's almost always going to play out badly."

The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen agrees: "[W]hile this is an impressive milestone for the Democratic Party, it's hardly a breakthrough that will produce problem-free governing. [...] For all the emphasis Republicans put on party loyalty and discipline, the 60-seat Democratic caucus includes Ben Nelson. And Joe Lieberman. And [IN Sen.] Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, [AR Sen.] Blanche Lincoln and their merry band of Blue Dogs. And two ailing and elderly legends whose health problems makes attendance unlikely anytime soon."

MN SEN III: The Right's Worst Nightmare

Conservative bloggers absolutely despise Franken:

• Glenn Reynolds: "Caligula sent a horse to the Senate. Minnesota is just sending part of the horse."
• Michelle Malkin: It's official. The Senate gets another buffoon. Don't worry, Al. Bozo the VP Joe Biden's shoes won't be that hard for you to fill."
• Liebau: "Please, please NRSC and everyone else -- train your cameras on Senator Franken. I'll bet anyone that he's going to embarrass both himself and his state."
• AmSpec Blog's Matthew Vadum: "[F]or conservatives, it hardly needs to be pointed out that this Frankenstein is a fundamentally unserious and untested figure worthy of ridicule. After being isolated in the echo chamber of the entertainment-media-academia complex where he got nothing but praise for decades, Franken is quite unsuited for the world outside. He cannot tolerate criticism and characteristically responds to it with over-the-top vitriolic attacks. He is the living embodiment of all the horrible things that conservatives fairly or unfairly impute to DailyKos bloggers. A professional comedian originally, Al Franken remains a joke."

Several conservative bloggers think Coleman should have been declared the winner of the election:

• Vadum: "[A]s a senator Al Franken is not legitimate. The election was stolen at the precinct level, during the recount, and during the post-election litigation. Never forget the role that ACORN played in this."
• Power Line's John Hinderaker: "We are left with the realization that every Republican in a statewide race here in Minnesota starts a few thousand votes in the hole, due to the disparate standards for judging absentee ballots used in Republican-leaning versus Democratic-leaning counties. Of course, that understates the case: the Republican starts out farther behind than that, due to illegal votes that cannot be prevented because of the Democratic Party's blocking of a photo ID requirement. We have no real idea of the magnitude of this disadvantage. I have little doubt that Coleman received more legal, properly cast votes than Franken. [...] The moral of the story, I guess, is that Republican counties should loosen their absentee ballot standards; that is to say, quit following the law."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Word "Mistress"

TAPPED's Dana Goldstein thinks people should stop using the word "mistress" when referring to Sanford's lover:

"Whether it's the John Edwards saga or the Mark Sanford story, it seems a lot of folks are throwing around the word 'mistress' these days. But isn't the term hopelessly old-fashioned -- and just a little bit demeaning to the women involved? For me it fails the basic sniff test for sexism: There is no equivalent term to describe a married woman's male lover.

This is totally unscientific, but I agree with Wikipedia's description of the word: 'there is the implication that a mistress may be "kept" -- i.e., that the man is paying for some of the woman's living expenses, or provides her with an allowance.' And while this may have been true in the case of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter, it's certainly not the case for Mark Sanford's lover, Maria Belen Chapur, a former journalist who lives with her two children in a luxurious Buenos Aires apartment building. A divorcee, Belen Chapur and Sanford met first met on a trip to Uruguay, and subsequently spent time together in New York City and the Hamptons.

Then there's that other, more contemporary use of the term 'mistress' -- as a synonym for 'dominatrix,' as in S&M play. But I don't think that's what any headline writer was thinking when they chose the term!"

LEST WE FORGET: Everything You Ever Needed To Know About Ice Fishing

From Overheard in the Office:

Russian coworker: Ice fishing isn't about fishing. It's about drinking vodka.

Posted by Ian Faerstein at July 1, 2009 12:40 PM