As usual, Ruben Diaz is acting like a posturing jerk, but just for the record–double income, no kids upper middle class? FILE “SINGLE” while you still can and pay for a great honeymoon. Diaz Sr., Defender Of Gay Rights? capitaltonight.com
As predicted.
Query: in their efforts to constantly oppose Vito Lopes, will Diana Reyna and Nydia Velazquez now switch sides too? If instead of acting reflexively, they'd have watched what Vito did, instead of what he said, they'd be far less confused and wouldn't have ticked off so many of their Yuppie fans.Brooklyn Domino Plan Advances A Step www.nydailynews.com
Kinsley saying what Kinsley always says about Supreme Court confirmation hearings; and the more he says it, the truer it is. Bork Is Back | The Atlantic Wire www.theatlanticwire.com
Cohen nails it; money quotes:
"It's a pity that Israel, while substantially loosening its grip on Gaza, will continue to enforce a blockade when, with just a little imagination, it could insist on a deal with the activists once again steaming its way: You can proceed to Gaza if, once you get there, you demand that Hamas cease the persecution of women, institute freedom of religion, halt the continuing rocketing of Israel, release an Israeli hostage, ban torture and rescind an official charter that could have made soothing bedtime reading for Adolf Hitler. This may take some time."
"Gaza is a mean and brutal place with a totalitarian government steeped in a cult of violence and death. This hardly means that the government does not have a measure of popular support and did not, as some of the activists naively point out, come to power by democratic means. So did the Nazis."
AND
"Now is the time, I suppose, to say that Israel is not exactly perfect either. It continues to overreact, uses too much force and has often trampled on the rights of Palestinians. Still, Israel is Thomas Jefferson's idea of heaven compared with Gaza, which could serve as a seaside Club Med for Jew-haters. One country is consonant with the Enlightenment; the other is a dark place of religious intolerance where the firmest principles of anti-Semitism — not anti-Zionism or pro-Palestinianism — are embedded in the Hamas charter. The irony is that Israel is often called a colonialist power. In some sense, the charge is true. But the ones with the true colonialist mentality are those who think that Arabs cannot be held to Western standards of decency." Richard Cohen – Hamas is a threat to the Palestinian cause www.washingtonpost.com
As I pointed out last week, the GOP's "New Tolerant Intolerance" still has a big problem with immigrants, and as I pointed out months ago, it still has a tendency to "Jesus-Bait" religious minorities. What would Jesus Think? Not Off The Hook | The New Republic www.tnr.com
Now that Byrd is dead, all the Dixiecrats are Republicans. War Room: GOP Thurgood Marshall attacks in historical context www.salon.com
Stupid pro-Israel column of the day; the fact the Palestinian Authority may not be able to sell a peace plan is not an argument against talks, it is an argument for them. If a deal was reached, and the Palestinian Authority couldn't sell it to its people, Israel would still come out of it better off, as, at least for a while, the world (until it forgets again) would see who it was who rejected peace Middle East Proximity Talks: Questions for Washington :: Hudson New York www.hudson-ny.org
Alright, I was strongly critical of this woman the other day, and I’m still undecided about her, but nonetheless, I think I may be in love.
Money quotes:
SENATOR GRASSLEY: Will you look to Judge Barak’s judicial method as a model for deciding cases?
SOLICITOR GENERAL KAGAN: I will not, Senator Grassley. I do admire Justice Barak, who was, of course – was for many years the chief justice of the state of Israel. I do admire him. His is very often called the John Marshall of the state of Israel because he was central in creating an independent judiciary for Israel and in ensuring that Israel – a young nation, a nation threatened from its very beginning in existential ways and a nation without a written constitution – he was central in ensuring that Israel, with all those kinds of liabilities would become a very strong rule of law nation. And that's why I admire Justice Barak. Not for his particular judicial philosophy, not for any of his particular decisions. As you know, I don't think it's a secret I am Jewish. The state of Israel has meant a lot to me and my family. And – and I admire Justice Barak for what he's done for the state of Israel and ensuring an independent judiciary.
AND
"In a subsequent exchange with Senator Lindsey Graham – in which the Senator wanted to ask about the attempted 'Christmas Day, 2009 Terror Bombing' – the Senator asked 'where were you at on Christmas Day?' To which Elena Kagan replied (after some clarification: 'Like every other Jew, I was probably in a Chinese restaurant.'" IPA: Kagan: “I am Jewish…” www.ou.org