2008 Woodie Awards
Sorry for the temporary lack of postings on this blog. This month is finals month at Princeton, so everyone is quite busy, but check back in a few weeks as the second semester will pump this place full with postings.
As for Biden, take a look at today’s Daily Princetonian article.
This just demonstrates the absolute stupidity going on in Washington in general, where politicians make ad hominem attacks and say stupid things that have nothing to do with the actual debate. Either Biden was outright lying when he gave his speech here at the Wilson School, or he was a liar in the Senate hearings. Who knows. Still it was dumb to say what he did because his like/dislike for an academic institution has nothing to do with whether Alito is or isn’t a good judge.
I’ve been following the debate here in New Jersey over who should fill the now to be emptied seat of former Senator (now Governor-elect) Jon Corzine. As The Hill reports this morning, Howard Dean and the Democratic Party brass want Corzine to name current acting governor Richard Codey to fill the seat. Codey apparently isn’t very inclined to serve, however.
The real motivation on the part of the Party is to name someone who is going to be able to win reelection in 2006 over Tom Kean, son of former governor Tom Kean of 9/11 Commission fame. Corzine should appoint someone who has earned respect from both Republicans and Democrats, who is unabashedly progressive, and who has a distinguished career of service to the people of New Jersey.
That person is Congressman Rush Holt.
Holt represents the 12th Congressional District, where Princeton is situated. Elected in 1998, he has been a tireless advocate for the well-being of New Jersey residents, and the country as a whole. Holt has taken a lead on homeland security issues, particularly with respect to preparedness against biological terrorist attacks. He has rightly called for the expeditious withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq. He has stridently opposed conservative efforts to inject “intelligent design” into classrooms around the country. He has introduced ground-breaking legislation aimed at fixing our broken elections system and restoring integrity and faith to our democratic process.
We need Rush Holt in the Senate to resist the right-wing onslaught upon our rights and liberties, and push for a more progressive America. I would hope Governor-elect Corzine would appoint Holt, the candidate most committed to continuing the progressive legacy Corzine leaves in the Senate.
From The Hill:
A leak suspected to have come from the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) complicated, confused and nearly derailed a joint effort by Senate and House Republican leaders to seek an investigation of the unauthorized release of classified information.
That’s not the Princeton way to run your office, now, is it? Frist seems to have a little problem with consistently hiring staffers who refuse to play by the rules.
That’s the question we’re looking into at TAPPED, starting today. Santorum’s people tried to distance the Senator from the comments; Hutchinson apparently agrees. Look for more beginning Monday.
After all that’s passed in the last few weeks, I think we all can agree that it would be fairly impolitic for me to show up at the event on June 13th 
That’s the future that Mark Schmitt seems to be alluding to in his analysis of the nuclear option deal negotiated among moderate Democrats. His contention is that moderates get a high from working together, and are going to want to do it more and more. The oft-described ‘moderate’ New Republic, however, appears to be up-in-arms over the brokered deal, suggesting that the moderates made things worse-off by actually moving the political center toward the Right. I would think that TNR would be praying right now that Schmitt is wrong.
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Here’s a classic example of people making way too much over a politician’s vote. So Obama voted for cloture on Owen- so did 80 other senators, with only three opposing the motion. Obama’s voted against Owen on the confirmation vote, but I don’t see why anybody would be surprised that a freshman senator who ranks 99th would side with the majority on the procedural maneuver. This wasn’t so much a ‘move to the center’ as a simple calculation that there might be costs for a Senate newbie associated with breaking with the majority on purely procedural matters. Obama doesn’t wanted to be painted as an obstructionist so early in his career. He doesn’t have the clout or authority of a Boxer, Kerry, or Kennedy yet.
I’m not surprised, and I don’t see why anyone else should be.
A compromise has been reached! Justices Owen, Pryor, and Brown will receive an up or down vote in the compromise. Frist announces he is happy on C-SPAN, and that “there is no need for a constituional option” now. The fillibuster is preserved.
Steve Clemons points out that the judicial confirmation battle is much more complicated than we’ve been making it out to be, largely because it’s occurring at the same time that the Senate is fighting over the nomination of John Bolton to be UN Ambassador.
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