This Just In From Packer-land

Pimpa's Paradise

I post this in honor of the fascinating in-depth coverage of Pimp-gate, wherein MSNBC talking-dufus David Shuster chose some over-used slang of the day to suggest 27-year-old Chelsea Clinton had been "pimped out" by her mom's presidential campaign. Enjoy!

Senate Grants Telecom Immunity, Gives White House Expanded Eavesdropping Powers

The Democratically controlled U.S. Senate voted 68-29 today to grant George W. Bush's eavesdropping wish list. Nineteen Democrats and one Independent joined the lock-step voting Republicans to give the White House what the New York Times called a "major victory."

From the Times:

The bill would grant immunity to phone companies from some 40 lawsuits now pending that charge the firms broke the law by taking part in (President Bush's warrantless wiretapping) program ... the bill would also widen the executive branch’s surveillance powers by allowing the National Security Agency and intelligence agencies to use broad orders — without getting court orders in advance — to eavesdrop on groups of overseas targets, rather than using individualized warrants.

Oregon's Ron Wyden voted against it. Gordon Smith approved it. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama didn't vote.

By a 67-31 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) that would have removed the telecom immunity provision. Below are the Democrats who Sen. Dodd said are "advocating this notion that you have to give up liberties to be more secure."

Baucus (MT)
Bayh (IN)
Carper (DE)
Casey (PA)
Conrad (ND)
Inouye (HI)
Johnson (SD)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Lincoln (AZ)
McCaskill (MO)
Mikulski (MD)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Rockefeller (WV)
Salazar (CO)
Webb (VA)
Whitehouse (RI)

With Democrats like these standing up for civil liberties and separation of powers, who needs Republicans.

Another fine example proving that it's not good enough to simply elect Democrats. The kind of Democrats we elect matters. Democrats control the House and the Senate, yet George W. Bush, the Republican Party and their aptly played "fear" card still control the agenda and the debate in Washington, D.C.

D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y

The roiling debate over the role that so-called "super" delegates may play in choosing the Democratic presidential nominee makes me think that there are waaaay too many (eh-hmm) progressives who need a little lesson in democracy and having faith in The People rather than the elites. The late Wayne Morse, Oregon's truly maverick senator, lays it out pretty well.

"I have complete faith in the ability of the American people to follow the facts if you'll give them."

You'll also notice that Morse actually seems (gasp) angry. Apparently he didn't get the memo.

Hooley Hoops

I've always liked Darlene Hooley, the Democratic congresswoman representing Oregon's 5th District. (Hooley said she won't seek re-election this year). She chaired the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners when I was covering that body for the Clackams Review and Oregon City News. She was always helpful and chipper. Her recent work and ongoing work on veterans affairs and military service issues has been exemplary.

But when she said recently that she gave her word to cast her "super" delegate vote to Hillary Clinton, and that she would vote for Clinton even if the district she represents voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, she seems to be forgetting her role.

Hooley says she can't break the word she gave to Clinton. But what about REPRESENTATIVE Hooley's unspoken word to her constituents that she would REPRESENT them in Washington.

When she stands by HER word to vote for Clinton no matter what the outcome of the Oregon primary, she is representing HERSELF not her constituents.

I hate to say it, but she's been in Washington too long. It is indeed time for her to go.

Brought To You By Miracle Ear

This just in from the combined offices of the WMD "Day Late" and "Dollar Short" departments:

It Ain't Over 'Til You Cross The Finish Line

This little snippet in the coverage of Rep. Darlene Hooley's (D-Ore., 5th District) resignation caught my eye:

Ironically, in a year when Democrats are expected to gain seats in the House, Hooley said she would have won if she ran and that political considerations factored into her decision.

"I think it will be easier to elect a Democrat this year, and I don't know about two years,'' she said.

Hooley reflects the conventional wisdom that 2008 is going to be a good year for Democrats.

But watching the current shenanigans over "super" delegates and the Democratic Party's presidential nomination -- while Republicans wake up and choose John McCain, the candidate who provides them with the best chance of winning in November -- I can't shake the feeling that the Democrats are going to pull one of these acts (again):

WMD Stockpiles: Willfully Ignorant

Happy Birthday, Mr. Senator ...

It's U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick's 45th birthday today. His campaign is asking supporters for a $45 donation to mark the day.

In the meantime, I hope Steve enjoys this birthday greeting:

BREAKING: Hooley Won't Seek Re-Election

Oregonian Washington, D.C., reporters Jeff Kosseff and Charles Pope are reporting today that Oregon Fifth Congressional District Rep. Darlene Hooley won't seek re-election in 2008.

Citing her 32 years of public service, Hooley told the Oregonian she was tired of the relentless travel and non-stop fund-raising involved with seeking a seventh term.

"At some point in everybody's life you have to decide, how much longer do I want to do this?'' she said."It's time to move on."

Hooley also told the newspaper that she believes it might be easier for for a new Democrat to win the seat this year than it will be two years from now.

Oregonian reporter Jeff Mapes speculates on his blog about who might step up to run for that seat now that the incumbent has bowed out:

Expect other Republicans to look at this race besides Mike Erickson, the businessman who was beat by Hooley two years ago and had signed up for another run.

...Who else might get into this? Well, you could look at every legislator and county commissioner in the 5th Congressional District for starters. You could look at the Republicans who have run for Hooley's seat in the past: State Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, Lake Oswego lawyer Jim Zupancic and Rep. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas. And I suspect I'm just starting to scratch the surface.

...Democrats haven't had time to figure out a logical replacement candidate. I immediately thought of House Majority Leader Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, a rising political figure...

Any other speculation about who may be a good candidate for Oregon's fifth now that Hooley has announced plans to take her leave?

Dubya's Final Acts of Defiance

Gordon Smith's Nightmare?

Like any cookie-cutter conservative politician worth his salt, Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith's impeccably perfect hair is his finest virtue.

If I didn't know better, I'd think he gets his haircuts at that Playdoh beauty shop where kids pump clay though holes in a tiny figurine's head and then "style" it by pressing it in a mold and cutting away any excess.

But what I'd really like to know is how Smith's fellow conservatives -- who derided John Edwards' "Breck Girl" perfect hair -- feel about Gordon's attention to his own flawless locks?

Better still, how do the conservative hacks who attacked John Edwards as a phony populist because of the personal wealth he earned after rising from his family's modest means feel about Smith's fortune, which was handed to him by his aristocratic family?

Oh, the headaches such hypocrisy must cause for those poor conservatives of Oregon's Republican Party. It's no wonder they don't have enough energy left to come up with viable candidates for statewide offices in Oregon.

But I digress. This post is supposed to be about hair. And to that end, I wonder if Gordon Smith ever wakes up in a cold sweat after having this nightmare:

WMD Stockpiles: The Administration's Behind

(January 2004)

Those 16 infamous words about Iraq allegedly trying to buy yellow cake uranium from Nigeria eventually sparked the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson affair that brought down Vice President Cheney's chief of staff Scooter "Pardon Me" Libby.

It's a Heap Year!

UPDATE, Feb. 6: I uploaded some video on YouTube.

You've got to hand it to the people at the The Old Farmer's Almanac, they sure got this one right. The Western Edition's weather prose for February:

Groundhog's shiver, stay indoors. Snow is reaching second floors! Not a good time to be a snow maker: There's two more feet on every acre! Call it a heap year!

Maybe those Almanac writers should try their hand at political prognostication.

Groundhog Day: Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton ... ...

I've been a bit remiss in failing to note that my favorite New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof, who grew up on a sheep and cherry farm near Yamhill, Ore., has recently returned to his column after an extended book leave.

Kristof has often been a solitary light in the mainstream media consistently trying to draw attention to the tragic genocide taking place in Darfur.

And you'll remember that he was one of the loudest voices in the MSM willing to question the accuracy of Bush Administration claims that Iraq posed an "imminent threat." It's certainly good to have him back. That's especially true when he writes about things nobody else wants to seriously discuss. His Jan. 31 column "The Dynastic Question" is a great example.

We Americans snicker patronizingly as "democratic" Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, India and Argentina hand over power to a wife or child of a former leader. Yet I can’t find any example of even the most rinky-dink "democracy" confining power continuously for seven terms over 28 years to four people from two families. (And that’s not counting George H.W. Bush’s eight years as vice president.)

Perhaps there is some such "democracy" somewhere: If you know of one, report it on my blog, and I’ll support you for president in eight years time ... and then your spouse ... and then your eldest child.

...We remember John Quincy Adams as intelligent and diligent, but his presidency is diminished by the hint of dynastic succession and is seen as emblematic of a parochial time when America was ruled by an incestuous elite. Some day, I suspect we may detect the same narrowness in the rise of the Bush Dynasty and, if there is one, in the Clinton Dynasty.

...Certainly, it’s easy to see why voters nostalgic for peace and prosperity might yearn for a Clinton Restoration. Maybe we want another political dynasty, but we shouldn’t back into one without discussion — again.

In a country of several hundred million people, the idea that two families are put in charge for nearly three decades really flies in the face of a populist democracy. And it doesn't speak well for the imagination of our populace or its leaders.

Maybe we ought to start calling this government a "nepocracy" and change the National Anthem to the theme from Sanford & Son.