A pair of Democratic Senators will not be running this fall.

North Dakota’s Byron Dorgan made the announcement yesterday.

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan stunned fellow Democrats when he decided not to seek re-election this fall and swung open a race that Republicans are convinced will help the GOP dent the Democrats’ fragile majority in the Senate.

Today Connecticut’s Christopher Dodd will announce his retirement.

Trouble-plagued Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who has for months been considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent seeking re-election this year, will announce Wednesday that he is ending his bid for a sixth six-year term, a Democratic source confirmed.

Dodd will make the announcement at a press conference at his home in Connecticut.

I guess this moves Harry Reid up to the “the most vulnerable Senate incumbent” spot. Unless he wants to join the departure parade.

Harry Reid says that Clinton and Obama are, ” ‘basically the same’ on every issue”, as if that’s a good thing.

With either Democrat in the White House, Reid said the first 100 days of the next Congress would bring a new energy policy, put the U.S. military well on a path out of Iraq and begin steps toward providing health care for uninsured Americans.

“Every issue, even though they talk, they are basically the same on every issue,” Reid told The Associated Press in dismissing concerns about party infighting stemming from the candidates’ criticism of each other.

In other words, with either Democrat in the White House, the first 100 days of the next Congress would bring an innovation and business crippling energy policy based on questionable science, put the U.S. military on a path toward defeat that ignores the people of Iraq, the Middle East, and the world, and begin steps toward making health care every bit as efficient as a trip to the DMV. Wonderful.

His greater point, however, is correct. There isn’t enough difference between the two to make any difference at all.

But the biggest laugh line was this one:

“Now we’re down to two — two of the smartest people, not just in the Senate, but in the country,” he said. “These are brilliant, academically talented people, … hardworking and honest.”

Yeah, and I’ve got more money than Bill Gates.

I love this quote from Harry Reid regarding his success against the White House and President Bush.

“I have tried for seven years” to reach agreements with Bush on a variety of issues, but have repeatedly failed, said Reid, a Nevada Democrat, at a news conference.

You certainly have, Sen. Reid. Every time you do fail America is a little better off.

I’m taking a look back at 2007 this week. It’s interesting to see just what I posted about, and what was going on through the year.

May — In May I celebrated my 2nd Blogiversary. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for over two and a half years.

On the 29th I looked at Hillary’s idea of economics. I particularly like this quote:

Fairness doesn’t just happen. It requires the right government policies.

Of course we’ve seen a glimpse of what those policies will be under a Hillary presidency (shudder) — Government run health care, nanny state social programs, etc.

June — Ah, the clueless hacks. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have done nothing with their new majorities, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t tried. Well, tried to insure defeat in Iraq that is.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

“As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results,” the two leaders wrote.

“The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation.

Not the only thing that duo has been wrong about in 2007

Tomorrow — July/August

Previously

• January/February
• March/April

I’m taking a look back at 2007 this week. It’s interesting to see just what I posted about, and what was going on through the year.

January — First Cup 01.20.07

This was one of my first posts detailing the devastating condition Leftourettes™

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Leftourettes™ it is a malady that affects many on the left. It manifests itself in bursts of patently ridiculous statements. Indications are they just can’t help themselves. While it may appear that it occurs most often in the leadership, that is most likely just a function of their outbursts being more often recorded and reported. Here are a few recent examples:

Gee. I didn’t think much of Reid, Pelosi and other leftard’s rhetoric back in January. Imagine that. Some things haven’t changed much at all this year.

February — Great Line of the Day

A great quote from an AP story that still rings true today.

The developments on both sides of the Capitol reflected disarray in Democratic ranks on Iraq. Swept into power by voters clamoring for an end to the war, Democrats have seen their efforts stymied under realities more complicated than they found on the campaign trail.

That’s been true all year for the left. May 2008 bring more of the same.

Tomorrow — March/April

Don Surber talking about Harry Reid:

“This guy couldn’t lead a kindergarten class to a candy store.”

Yup.

I have been listening to Rush’s show today to see the results of the bidding. The winning bid was $2,100,100.00 by philanthropist Betty Casey. Her generosity and Rush’s matching donation will mean well over four million dollars for the Marine Corp – Law Enforcement Foundation.

But I am just astounded at the brazen attempt by Sen. Harry Reid to try to inject himself into the event. Ed Morrissey has this quote (via The Corner)

This week, Rush Limbaugh put the original copy of that letter up for auction on e-bay. Mr. President, we didn’t have time, or we could have gotten every senator to sign that letter. But he put the letter up for auction on e-bay and I think very, very constructively, left the proceeds of that it go to the Marine Corps law enforcements foundation. That provides scholarship assistance to marines and federal law enforcement personnel whose parents fall in the line of duty. What could be a more worthwhile cause? I think it’s really good that this money on e-bay is going to be raised for this purpose. …
Never did we think that this letter would bring money of this nature.

Ed has the exactly right take on this outrageous grand standing play by Reid.

So now Harry wants everyone to think that he participated in the fund-raising effort deliberately. He wants to take credit for over $4 million in donations that came from two people — the bidder, and the man Reid intended to smear and intimidate. That’s not just laughable, it’s pathetic.

Totally, sickeningly pathetic.

Many of you are probably already aware that Rush Limbaugh is auctioning the letter signed by 41 U.S. members of Congress condeming Rush for remarks he didn’t make. The auction is going through the roof. Here’s some background:

You know that the proceeds here go to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which provide college scholarships for the children of Marines and federal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Here’s something to think about, though. This is a historic document, a point that I have repeatedly made over and over and over again. But, since it is historical, think about what a great investment the Harry Reid letter is for a collector.

When you think about that, think about how livid he has to be. This was the last thing he expected to happen. He probably thought that letter would never, ever been seen by anybody, even though he read the letter on the Senate floor, and even though he issued a big press release about it, he probably never expected that letter to see the light of day. Now it’s all over the place because we got copies of it, a PDF file copy on our website that anybody can download and print out for free. It’s in full color, so if you have a color printer or have a way to take the PDF file and make it a color document on paper, everything is the same except the paper that it’s on. Now, there are people that collect autographs out there, and there are people who collect historical documents. This one is a huge winner for either collector. Look at the signatures on here, 41 of them. You have Barack Obama; you have Hillary Rodham Clinton; you have Chris Dodd — presidential candidates represented. You have Ted Kennedy; you have Harry Reid, 41 Democrats on this thing. These signatures, not only are they valuable, but the buyer, the high bidder, will have the most important thing to collectors, which is the thing that proves the authenticity of the document.

Nobody will have any doubt that this is authentic. This is huge in collecting circles. The letter and the briefcase, the attaché case from Halliburton, and the pictures of me presenting the letter on stage in Philadelphia last Thursday night, and the money that is being generated already here for the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, what a package; what an absolute package.

[Note: The link to Rush's site will not be active very long.]

And the ammount? At the time I’m writing this, 11:40am EDT — less than an hour and a half before the auction ends, the current bid is:

I can assure you that I was not the one who has upped the bid. Heck, I’m still working on getting the car out of the shop. I am really looking forward to listening to today’s broadcast. It should be priceless.

Help me fix the car and get back on the road!

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fine folks have donated a total of $. $ is still needed.
Thanks!

Harry Reid is busy protecting his investment. Not in Nevada real estate, but his investment in losing the war in Iraq. He is trying to do this by picking a fight where none exists.

Senate Democratic Majority leader Harry Reid accused the White House of launching an attempt to mask candid testimony on the strategy.

“If the president is going to continue to ask American soldiers to fight in this civil war … then those closest to the situation on the ground must give Congress and the American people a frank and honest account of this war free of White House spin,” he said.

His strategy appears to be to make sure that the idea is placed in the minds of Americans that the upcoming report is flawed. He’ll get plenty of help from TOM and his fellow Surrender Monkeys. Facts are not a required part of that strategy.

But National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe denied there had been an attempt to limit testimony by Petraeus and Crocker, as reported by Thursday’s Washington Post.

“General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify to the Congress in both open as well as closed sessions,” he said in Crawford, Texas, where Bush is on vacation.

“It’s unfortunate that anyone would suggest that they would not do that; trying to start a fight where there really isn’t one, because this has always been the plan.”

Also interesting is the moaning over the report coming from the White House.

Democrats are also angry the assessment on the surge, required under US law, will be written at the White House, not personally by Crocker and Petraeus.

I guess they want the President to ignore the law as written.

The law requiring the Iraq war report by September 15 states that “the president shall submit” the assessment to Congress after consulting top military brass, the US ambassador to Baghdad and his national security team.

It does not specify that the report must be the direct work of Crocker and Petraeus.

Reid and the Surrender Monkeys must be very worried about this report containing good news. And that is sad indeed.

Remember the early days of microwave ovens? Everyone was excited about having one, but they didn’t really know how to use them. You probably know someone who tried to cook a baked potatoe (heh) in one when they first arrived in our homes. After cooking the spud too long they would cut into it and discover there was nothing inside. (I promise, this is going somewhere).

In the 2006 mid-terms the left ran on a platform with two key pillars; Cut and Run (which seems to have done a 180 this weekend) and Reform.

It appears that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have nuked the tater too long.

Some of my Senate sources have gotten a copy of the 107 page “ethics and earmark reform” bill crafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

What they are finding in it confirms what I’ve suspected for months – Reid and Pelosi are for the most gutting concrete earmark and ethics reform while preserving just enough of the appearance of reform to be able to claim to have fulfilled their 2006 campaign promises.

Put another way – it’s all a charade.

[...]

Sen. Tom Coburn’s staff has gone through the Reid/Pelosi text and compared it to the previously approved earmark reform bill adopted unanimously by the Senate in January. They put the results of their examination in a handy chart:

NZ Bear has the pdf file of the empty husk of a bill at Porkbusters.

Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Happy 1st Blogiversary to:
TexasFred’s

NOTE: We’re back! The site was down for a little more than three hours. I appreciate your patience.

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) The Inside Story On What’s Happening With The Senate Immigration Bill

First off, it does look like the Senate immigration bill is coming back. The conventional wisdom seems to be that it’s going to be brought up right before the July 4th break, so that the Senate Republican leadership can try to use that as leverage to get votes (in other words, “vote for the bill or we’ll have to waste your vacation time until you do”).

Adding on to the story I posted yesterday:

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Harry Reid Calls Military Commanders Incompetent

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid showed his support for the American military by calling two of its top leaders “incompetent”. Pandering to liberal bloggers, Reid made the comments in explaining his strategy to make Republican Senators sick of voting on the Iraq war and bludgeoning them into declaring defeat:

A while back I had this poll on the site:

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At the time Harry Reid had pulled out to an impressive lead. After this I’m wondering if it shouldn’t be a dead heat.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

“As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results,” the two leaders wrote.

“The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation.

“It has not enhanced Americas national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on US forces have increased.

“In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for US troops.

The letter appeared to preview a fresh showdown over Iraq between anti-war Democrats and the president, just a few weeks after Bush forced his foes to strip troop withdrawal timelines from a 100 billion dollar emergency war budget.

You two worthless wastes of space and air.

Bluto (The Jawa Report) has this headline: Dem Leaders Reaffirm Their Determination to Win War. The one line post nails it:

Unfortunately, they’re not on America’s side.

Mark Noonan (Blogs for Bush) has the best analogy:

This is like saying the invasion of Normandy was a failure just after the paratroopers dropped, but before the regular forces landed on the beach. Nothing so clearly illustrates the Democrats’ desperation to secure defeat in Iraq than their willingness to call ongoing operations a failure.

Again from the AFP article:

Pelosi and Reid told Bush in the letter that they planned to send him new legislation to “limit the US mission in Iraq, begin the phased redeployment of US forces, and bring the war to a responsible end.”

Here’s a concept that may be a bit too difficult for Pelosi, Reid, and their Surrender Monkey base to understand: A responsible end means victory and standing by the commitments we have made to Iraq and the Iraqi people.

The clueless hacks have a their same worn out strategy for defeat ready for another tired play.

On Tuesday, Reid said that Senate Democrats would attach troop withdrawal deadlines to a Defense Department Authorization bill, due to be debated within weeks.

I can only assume that there is a secret pool among the surendercrat set, who can get us to defeat the fastest. Winner gets to rename “Earmarks”.