Happy April's Fool

The April Fool du jour is Harry Reid who explains, with a straight face, that the US tax system is voluntary.

Geez, I was going to spend the morning straining with my taxes, but armed by this good news...

Well, Harry is a Democrat, and as we have seen with numerous Obama nominees, this notion that taxes are voluntary is common on his side of the aisle.

And the other April Fool is the Attorney General of our once viciously politicized Justice Department - apparently, per Fox, the WaPo, USA Today, and others, the DoJ will be dropping the charges against former republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.

I can't figure Karl Rove's strategy on this one, but I sense his hand here.  Or else AG Holder has an awesome sense of fun.

[end of thread]

Comments

[bad]

Well, that explains the Obama nominees. That crowd is not into volunteering.

[PeterUK]

Those hair plugs must have gone deeper than they should.

[Jane]

Does anyone else think that something smells odd in the Justice department? It seems Eric Holder would rather drop the Stevens case than reveal the whistleblower documents.

I want to see them.

And I want a new election

And let's impeach the president while we are at it.

[Pofarmer]

Dang you Jane, and here I thought I had fresh information!!!!!

And, you are correct, by the way. The SHOULD have a new election, but they won't.

Where are those torches and pitchforks?

[Jane]

Po -

Ya gotta get up pretty early in the morning...

[Ranger]

Jane, I posted that in the other thread as well. I think the way to look at this is a clear effort on Holder's part to cover up the misconduct.

First, it is clear that the misconduct was so bad that there was no way the could win a new trial (or even get a new trial).

Second, this was timed specifically to throw a federal election. It is a misuse of office of staggering effect in a democracy.

Third, the dropping of charges is clearly an effort at to cover up. In that case, Holder is effectively obstructing justice by short-circuting the discovery process of the misconduct.

[bad]

This was posted on the other thread but is more appropriate here.

Holder is a piece of dog poop.

LUN

[narciso]

Well he is a fool, but it's not limited to one day in April, see the Tommy Smother's oily gambling commissioner in Casino, that's
Reid, at his worst. So you can fix and indictment of a sitting Senator, and throw an election to the opposition; and there are no consequences, I know another one of those rhetorical questions I keep asking myself.

Po. I think Clarice has the concession on the pikes, someone else has the torches,
Ann commented late in a previous thread who has the ability to recite a speech like 'a
Time for Choosing' in the present day, without a teleprompter. i have a guess about that. The fact that's there's a mock
blog, much like "mock frog" dedicated to the One's teleprompter should induceOutrage, yet only among the ones who already
had his number

[bad]

CBS on Sebelius and her tax problems:

She also said she mistakenly paid off a home loan that included deductable mortgage interest.

Dang!!! I HATE when I do that.

[the real andrew sullivan]

WaPo also says that when Holder was told that the DC voting Bill was unconstitutional (something DoJ also told Bush) he merely reassigned the question to others there who gave him the answer he wanted. HEH

James Lewis has a winner on why the firing of Wagoner was a suicidal move by ObamaL

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/04/obamas_revenge_against_gm.html

[the real andrew sullivan]

If I were the judge I'd reverse the conviction but insist on an open hearing on the prosecutorial misconduct. Somehow.

I would not let Holder sweep this under the rug.

[RichatUF]

Good news on the Stevens front. Wasn't a big fan of his, but that was a really crappy thing the Justice Department did.

I find it amazing that Democrats can get caught with money in the freezer and going on 3 years the case is barely covered and bogged down in procedure, and a Republican might fill out a form incorrectly, the crooks running Justice go from indictments, to trial, to conviction at the speed of light.

Pretty sure Justice dropping his conviction means that Fat Pig Murtha and Jefferson will be safe from Obamajustice prosecution.

[Jane]

Ranger,

I agree with every word you said. So how do we find out what Holder is hiding?

[clarice]

Ahem--Not the real andrew sullivan..

[Pofarmer]

So how do we find out what Holder is hiding?

Shit, we can't even find out what Barack Hussein is hiding, how are you going to bore into Holder?

[Thomas Collins]

I listened to the Reid interview. The phrase "beneath contempt" must have been coined with Reid in mind. He is playing a deceptive word game that anyone with higher ethics than a con artist would condemn (I apologize to all the con artists in the world with higher ethics than Reid). What he is saying is that the initial assessment of taxes is voluntary, that is, you fill out your own return. What he willfully ignores is that even that initial assessment is not really voluntary (folks can be sent to jail for failure to file).

Reid simply didn't want to answer the interviewer's query about the fairness of extracting funds from some to give welfare to others. So, he engaged in deceptive wordplay. One of his arguments was that, because deductions are allowable, folks can engage in tax planning to reduce their taxes. If it wasn't Reid, I'd say the tape was an April Fool's joke. Then again, Reid and Pelosi are ongoing April Fool's jokes.

[clarice]

I suppose Stevens could sue the Department. I suppose the Judge could drop the conviction but demand a full and open hearing on the charges of misconduct and allow Sullivan (Stevens' counsel) to do the job DoJ should have done when Sullivan first claimed misconduct.
I suppose Stevens could file charges with the D C Bar and request a full investigation. Or do the same thing with the DoJ's Office of Professional responsibility. I want a full public hearing though. I trust OPR as much as I trust Holder or the prosecutors.(Not at all.)

One good thing about the Holder and DC voting rights story though, it appears that DoJ lawyers are leaking just as much against this administration as they did before. And now Holder knows it.

[Old Lurker]

Holder and the judge are long time pals.

[Jane]

Clarice, I guessed that was your April Fool's disguise.

If I were the judge I'd reverse the conviction but insist on an open hearing on the prosecutorial misconduct. Somehow.

IIRC the Judge didn't seem to care enough to deal with this stuff harshly during the trial - he just limped along with the Justice Dept. His outrage seemed a bit pale to me. Clearly the rules only apply to some people.

[clarice]

Listen--repeatedly during the trial the judge expressed extreme displeasure about the prosecutors. He simply cannot let them get away with lying to him and playing games in his court. He cannot even if he's friends with Holder.

[Donald]

Who is worse in these two instances? Reid or Holder? I mean it, is Reid attempting to project an aura of monstrous stupidity, or is he completely venal?

What about Holder. His past is disgusting of course, and I guess what with Stevens is gone, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie, but how can he look at himself in a mirror?

I'll say it again, from the president on down, including the judiciary, and the legislative branch, this high school graduate would turn this entire country aruond in about 20 minutes. Every single person in Washington DC (Except for maybe John Linder) should be bitch slapped, until they cry like sissies and go away.

[narciso]

So they just happen to leave out that note, indicating he wasn't willing to take a bribe, in this instance, In other interesting news, the great 'atrocity' that
the media tried to wrangle up on the eve of
the Petraeus briefing, the Blackwater incident at Al Mansour Square, they can't
match the ammo. CSI Baghdad they are not

[clarice]

narciso what the hell are you saying? In simple English please.

[clarice]

Jane, sure the rules only apply to some people--sort of. Big firms and the govt routinely get away with far more than a young solo practitioner esp one the judge has never heard of will. And reoutinely prosecutors are given more leeway under the notion that the dept maintains high professional standards. So, as long as the prosecutors came up with apologies and plausible alibis the judge followwd that give them room practice. But now the stuff hit the fan, the prosecutors were compelled to come forward and Holder has really conceded the wrongdoing.
The judge will lose all credibility if he lets it go at that.

I have what I call the "prissy" rule of law which maintains that there are somethings--like this--which no sentient judge can let pass without punishment.

[bad]

The Corner:

[Diplomatic jaws dropped across the continent yesterday when it was revealed that U.S. President Barack Obama had, once again, fumbled a routine protocal of international statecraft: finding the right gift for a foreign leader or head of state. In a private ceremony with Queen Elizabeth, Her Royal Highness bequeathed to the Obamas one of the earliest known copies of William Shakespeare's Henry V. She also presented him with the framed orginal sheet music of John Newton's "Amazing Grace." To the Obama daughters, the Queen gave a dollhouse-sized replica of Windsor Castle with a functioning train station in the year of the compound. They also received a prize Shetland pony. Mrs. Obama was given a ruby ring commissioned and worn by Queen Victoria.

The Obamas, unfortunately, did not seem prepared for the occasion despite the row set off by the exchange of gifts between Prime Minister Brown and the U.S. President barely a month ago. Mr. Obama rather unceremoniously handed the Queen a shopping bag from the Duty Free shop at Heathrow airport. It contained a signed paperback copy of Dreams of My Father, purchased at the WH Smith shop at the airport, a bottle of Johnny Walker Scotch (black label), a CD of the Swedish band ABBA's greatest hits (still in shrink wrap with a 2-for-1 sticker on it) and ten bags of M&Ms with the presidential seal on them.

The Queen responded in a rather flat: "How delightful."]

No link to a news story so I'm assuming this is an April Fools joke. But isn't it sad ya have to think about it to be sure it isn't the truth....

[Another Bob]

Regards Stevens, please recall the misconduct (whatever it was) occurred under a Bush DOJ.

I'm no fan of Stevens, but I do think we ought to know what happened and why Holder seems interested in keeping it quiet.

[Porchlight]

bad, I suspected April Fools too but had to get into the second pgh to be sure.

Speaking of April Fools, it's Palin photo day at Hot Air, apparently!

Should send the Palin-haters there around the bend.

[clarice]

Another Bob,
Here was the last blog I did on the case which details where the case was heading .

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/02/ted_stevens_prosecution_held_i_1.html>Stinking Justice

[narciso]

They tried to hang Blackwater, and by extension the US military effort in the middle of the surge, but they couldn't match the ammunition to the weapons used
by Blackwater contractors. Yet another
talking point which has been propagated into the wider media, even made it into
season of '24, no longer useful you would
think they would have come to that conclusion sometimes before a year and a half later. Much like covering up the multiple malfeasance in the Stevens trial.

[jean]

If the Bush ad. had tried to stop the Stevens trial they would have been accused of politicizing the justice dept.What an upside down world we are living in

[Thomas Collins]

Bad, I didn't figure it out until I read "2 for 1 sticker". Then I knew it was an April Fool's joke. If it had been Obama, he would have paid full price and charged it to the TARP program!

[clarice]

Thank you for clearing that up, narciso. Remember we don't all have your ability to recall every detail in history ..

[clarice]

Morrissey's comments are ridiculous, porch. He is by my reckoning the lifetime emeritus president of the clean toga club.

[Another Bob]

Thank you, Clarice. (Jeez, didn't that sound a little Hannibal Lecter-ish...)

From a quick scan, there seems a fair amount of smoke, but still no clear indication of fire?

[clarice]

If you can't see fire in Holder's latest move, Another Bob, don't work as a fireman.

[Porchlight]

He is by my reckoning the lifetime emeritus president of the clean toga club.

Yeah, pretty much. He seems like a nice guy but between the two extremes of Ed trying to keep his toga out of the mud and Allah's Palin-baiting cynicism, the site can be just about unreadable some days.

It's too bad because it is a good site for keeping up with hot topics on the righty blogs.

[Ranger]

It's amaizing that Holder can get away with announcing this and not even simultaniously announce an investigation into the misconduct by DoJ. But this statement really gives the game away:

Holder also was influenced by the age of Stevens, 85, and the fact that he is no longer in the Senate, NPR reported.

So, where is the ACLU in all of this. The people of Alaska were denied a fundimental civil right to have an election without undue interference. Stevens was also denied his civil right to run as a candidate without the state missusing it's powers to work against his election.

[clarice]

Add this, Cornell law professor William Jacobsen says:"The judge has held the prosecutors in contempt (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/14/ted-stevens-prosecutors-held-in-contempt/) and I don't see any reason why the court could not pursue the ethical issues even after the indictment is dropped. It will be interesting to see what the Justice Department does with the prosecutors." http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/04/holder-reverses-ted-stevens-conviction.html#comment-form

----

The case made no sense and when you add the charges from the FBI agent and look at the evidence we know was improperly withheld , the case was a put up job. Perhaps Ed is terminally naive, as well as suffering from spotless toga syndrome. In any even I'd like better allies.
Steve Gilbert asks why would anyone ever be a Republican given this kind of disparate treatment and the fact that it is ubiquitous. I don't know. Mabye dominatrixes are too expensive.

[MayBee]

Did Kevin ever thank TM for giving him more information about the pensions last night?

[clarice]

A commenter at AT notes that the prosecutors knew that Stevens had very excellent and expensive counsel and STILL thought they could pull this off, that this says a great deal about today's DoJ.

And I agree. It's been on a major downhill slide for years.And too many judges have been ignoring that fact.

[Rick Ballard]

"He seems like a nice guy but between the two extremes of Ed trying to keep his toga out of the mud and Allah's Palin-baiting cynicism, the site can be just about unreadable some days."

Porchlight,

Only on days ending in "y". The vision of the party expressed there can be summed up by the word "loser". A "fight fire with a hug - remember we're "better" than they are" bent is stupidity squared. This is a Chicago rules fight and if they don't care to participate then perhaps they could just shut up and watch - along with Patterico and a few others.

[clarice]

From Totenberg's article at NPR:
"The judge in the Stevens case has repeatedly delayed sentencing and criticized trial prosecutors for what he's called prosecutorial misconduct. At one point, prosecutors were held in contempt. Things got so bad that the Justice Department finally replaced the trial team, including top-ranking officials in the office of public integrity. That's the department's section charged with prosecuting public corruption cases."

The OPI is the office that handled my claim respecting the Libby case prosecution. Do you suppose they messed up on thre Stevens' case but were aok on the Libby case? Or do you suppose on both these highly political matters they acted less than professionally.

[narciso]

But Rick, they all end in . . .That's why I've leaned more with Jeff Goldstein's side
of the argument, than Patrick Frey's idealistic ethical disarmament. He's a prosecutor in L.A, where O.J. got off despite being guilty as all out, Actually Allah should change his name to Moloch, it's more his flavor

[Ranger]

A commenter at AT notes that the prosecutors knew that Stevens had very excellent and expensive counsel and STILL thought they could pull this off, that this says a great deal about today's DoJ.

And I agree. It's been on a major downhill slide for years.And too many judges have been ignoring that fact.

Posted by: clarice | April 01, 2009 at 11:18 AM

Well, first, they got away with it in the Libby case, even with exspensive defense counsel.

Second, this is part and parcial of how you do that. You pick a target that is so "bad" that no one will complain even if you do railroad them.

This is the point that William Kunstler (a huge lefty) made when he agreed to defend Randy Weaver. The state had to be put on notice that it couldn't destroy the life of an average citizen just because their aborant politics made them vulnerable.

[clarice]

Ah, Rick, that's the very point of being in the clean toga club.
If you fight to win, you'll be attacked--often unfairly--but then you cannot walk the precincts of the agora and temple in spotless robes.

A person cannot fight in D.C. for what is right and insist on immaculate togas. It is not possible.Every hard decision you make, ever tough move you make, will have people throwing mud pies at you.

One simply has to decide to accept that or stay home and write twaddle for other losers.

[Ranger]

Well, since OPI can't investigate itself. I think Republicans should ask for a very special prosecutor to investigate. And they should demand that anyone who refuses to cooperate with the prosecutor be forced to resign from office.

[bad]

Michelle Obama at a UK cancer center:

"This is pretty amazing. It's an oasis. An oasis that is necessary for people who are struggling," Mrs. Obama told the center’s staff over a cup of steaming tea."It's a quiet place that makes people feel whole."

I'm glad she feels whole at a cancer center. I wonder if her mother-in-law would have prior to her death.

LUN

[Nick]

So does that mean Obama can still select those people to his cabinet that withdrew for tax reasons? yay!

www.notoriouslyconservative.com

[Pagar]

and the fact that he is no longer in the Senate,

Is that statement saying that if Stevens has been reelected DOJ would not be dropping the charges?

[clarice]

If his net worth is less than $2 million Stevens might be able to sue for attys fees under the Hyde Amendment to the Equal Access to Justice Act; or he might be able to sue under the Federal Torts Claim Act. Maybe he can even personally sue those who lied under oath .

[Topsecretk9]

Remember there are a LOT of charges of misconduct in this case and one that gets less mention due to the more salacious inappropriate personal relationships and conduct the same as Stevens by lead FBI (gifts, favors) is the prosecutors knowingly withheld exculpatory evidence on a few occasions --which to my mind is egregious and happens WAY more than we ever know.

[clarice]

Yes, it does, ts.

[Jane]

"It's a quiet place that makes people feel whole."

The ones they let in - that is. Most die before they get there.

[will typepad accept this data?]

[Porchlight]

This is a Chicago rules fight and if they don't care to participate then perhaps they could just shut up and watch

Rick, I totally agree. Hot Air represents two distinct losing approaches - "I won't get down in the mud with the pig" (Ed) and "Let's help the Dems in their quest to divide us" (Allah) with his endless posts about Palin, atheism, etc. designed to pit the moderates against the conservatives and drive up comments.

But who is leading effectively? No offense to our esteemed host, but he is not a party leader.

[clarice]

At AT Rick Moran considers Stevens is skating despite his wrongdoing. Jonathan Turley makes a similar argument. I grant that there are some cases where the evidence of wrongdoing is so strong that one could argue that the prosecutorial misconduct let a guilty person off. Bill Ayers comes to mind.

Here, I must disagree. There is no evidence that Stevens willfully misrepresented the cost or value of the repairs..the evidence is that he sought to be billed, was and paid all bills on time. There is not a hint that he knew the work was worth more--and IIRC all that evidence came from witnesses seriously compromised by improper dealings with the prosecution and FBI and further, exculpatory evidence indicating Stevens engaged in no wrong doing and witnesses who wouod attest to that were kept hidden by the DoJ lawyers.

[MayBee]

Jane- that happens to me frequently (first at Quasiblog). Once I refresh the page, I get accepted.

[Fresh Air]

That's a nice piece at AT today on the pathological narcissist in the WH. I thought the same thing about Wagoner's firing. He wasn't even a proper scapegoat, just a toy for Zero to smash up.

[narciso]

You read between the lines well, Pagar, they suppressed how many pieces of information, from the rightly filled out forms, to the conflict of interest, ahem, with William Allen, to this exculpatory note. I'm sure 60 minutes will make a bealine to this story as they did for Siegleman right (extra dose of snark today)

But this isn't new, Fitz prosecuted Libby rather than Armitage, used Radler as a witness against Conrad Black, and where's his indictment of Blago now, and where did the pursuit of Rezko lead again. They charged Sharritt and Chessani and Wulrich (sic) on Haditha, and they covered up, actual forensic evidence at Al Mansour

[clarice]

It sure is April Fools' Day.
The Taliban call Hillary's offer of a reconciliation loony:
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/taliban-call-reconciliation-offer-lunatic>Lunatic Idea

[Jim Ryan]

What's this?

Congressional Republicans decided Tuesday to ditch the former GOP vice presidential nominee in favor of the former House speaker for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in June 8 in Washington.[SNIP] Sources familiar with the Palin snub fumed about how the governor handled this.

[clarice]

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/acorn-linked-to-illegal-aid-for-obama-campaign/>ACORN

[narciso]

This is what Rachel Lucas, the Texasblogging
transplant to the U.K. called an 'epic fail'
notice how the most brutal comments are safely anonymous. Carl Cameron is still the producer over there right. Of course actual facts and context is left out of the report
Good luck with that, how'd the Tedisco race go, better question, why were the nutroots
so willing to call this race, if the vote
ended up so tighly

[clarice]

Tedisco seems to be following the Coleman race fate--very close (about 80 ballots apart) and hundredsa of absentee and challenged ballots still uncounted.

[Jane]

Once I refresh the page, I get accepted.

Thanks for the tip Maybee. I went over to the prior thread and was able to post, so you think I would have figured that out - but noooooooooo

[f1guyus]

I'm gonna take Harry at his word, switch my party affiliation from Independent back to Democrat and quit paying. If Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle (and a host of others) can do it so can I.

[glasater]

Clarice--just now tweeted your great article at PJ.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Who is worse in these two instances? Reid or Holder? I mean it, is Reid attempting to project an aura of monstrous stupidity, or is he completely venal?

(c)

[glasater]

Kim's alive

[clarice]

Thanks, glasater.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

"This is pretty amazing. It's an oasis. An oasis that is necessary for people who are struggling," Mrs. Obama told the center’s staff over a cup of steaming tea."It's a quiet place that makes people feel whole."

Great.

I wonder if Michelle can tell us anything about the relative cancer survival rates in the US vs the UK.

I'm glad it makes them feel whole while they're getting pallative treatment only.

[clarice]

Respecting my comment that I think it wrong to suggest Stevens did wrong even though the case is being dismissed, there is this from USA Today:
[quote]Stevens' lawyers, however, issued a blistering statement, saying that the "misconduct of government prosecutors, and one or more FBI agents was stunning."

"This jury verdict was obtained unlawfully," said Stevens' attorneys Brendan Sullivan and Robert Cary. "Not only did the government fail to disclose evidence of innocence, but instead intentionally hid that evidence and created false evidence that they provided to the defense."

The government's reversal centered on prosecutors' dealings with star witness Bill Allen, the former head of an Alaska oilfield service company, Veco. Prosecutors alleged that Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers, had provided most of the gifts and home renovations to Stevens.

New details contained in federal court papers Wednesday reveal that the government never provided the defense with prosecutors' notes from an April 15, 2008, interview with Allen, who estimated the value of renovations to Stevens' Alaska chalet at $80,000 — far less than the $250,000 the government had alleged.

The notes also suggest that a key conversation between Allen and Bob Persons, a friend of Stevens', introduced at trial may not have occurred. At trial, Allen testified that Persons told him Stevens may have asked for a bill for the home renovations, but the senator didn't really want one and was trying to "cover his ass."

The prosecutors' notes, according to the court documents, indicate that Allen recalled no such conversation.

"This testimony was false," Sullivan and Cary said in their statement. "Members of the prosecution team knew that it was false. Nonetheless, it was presented by the prosecution at trial in a manner to give it maximum 'bombshell' effect."[/quote]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-04-01-stevens-charges-dropped_N.htm?csp=34

[Ranger]

Hmmm... sounds suspiciouly familure to the first conversation with Russert.

[clarice]

Doesn't it, though!
Remember they had Allen dead to rights on bribery of others and he pleaded guilty to that..he was jockeying for better treatment by the feds.(I think Russert was jockeying to keep Andrea and Gregory from having to reveal their sources.)

[bad]

From a commenter at Tigerhawk regarding the Sebelius mortgage issue?

Was this perhaps a private mortgage provided by a relative (or political supporter)?

If not, if it was a conventional bank mortgage, then how did the lien (the mortgage) get cleared in order for title to be passed?

Did a bank release the lien even though the mortgage hadn't been paid? If so, why?

Very curious.

Mr. Bad and I had the same conversation last night. How was Sebelius able to that?

[narciso]

Brendan Sullivan, Ollie's 'potted plant' at the Iran Contra hearings, that Brendan Sullivan, was the attorney of record there.
I'm flabbergasted, I shouldn't be, but I am.
I mean there has to be constitutional remedy for this level of prosecutorial abuse.

[Harrison]

Well he didn't say voluntary as in you don't have to pay. Misleading video title I think.

[PD]

is Reid attempting to project an aura of monstrous stupidity, or is he completely venal?

What do you mean, "or"?

[Thomas Collins]

Harrison, Reid did refer to the tax system as voluntary, but I think the title, if anything, was too kind to Reid. Reid simply refused to address the fairness of using the tax system to fund transfer payments. If Reid wanted to defend such payments, fine. But instead Reid went off on a hypertechnical argument that most normal people would find incredible (namely, that the system is voluntary because the taxpayer in his or her return does the initial assessment).

By the way, Harrison, that's an interesting blog in your LUN!

[Thomas Collins]

Via Drudge, see LUN for what Obama actually gave the Queen (I suppose this could be April Fools, but I doubt it).

[bad]

Hot Air says Geithnet is missing $100 billion in TARP funds.

Perhaps he mistakenly paid a bill?

LUN

[Thomas Collins]

Looks as if Turbo Tax will have to add a "TARP Calculator" feature to help out our Trez Sec!

[Enlightened]

Well well well...Bambi doesn't know his arse from a UK hole in the ground......made a big gaffe refering to "England" only as the "UK"...and then serves up an iPod to a - iPod owner....

Kind of reminds us how the left went batshit crazy saying Palin didn't know Africa was a continent or something.....

If I wasn't so worried about losing my job in the next 30 days - I might be laughing at Herr Bambi and His Gaffe-o-matic Band.

[MayBee]

Fox is currently talking about the banks trying to give funds back, and Obama refusing to take it.

[Jim Ryan]

what Obama actually gave the Queen

A used VHS cassette of Thomas the Tank Engine shows? Another U.S. DVD, this one of the first season of Miami Vice?

[hit and run]

Enlightened:
If I wasn't so worried about losing my job in the next 30 days

Really? Man, I know how that feels. I really, really hope it doesn't come to that. All the best to you, Enlightened...

[Porchlight]

From TC's link to Toby Harnden at the Telegraph:

"There's one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain, and that is the Queen," he said at the end of his joint press conference with Gordon Brown.

He didn't say "Great Britain." He said "England." I heard the audio this morning.

[Jane]

Enlightened - I'm sorry to hear that - I hope hope hope it works out.

Hit how is it going for you?

[Porchlight]

You know what, I take it back. I know he said "England" at some point in the presser (because it sounded strange to me) but it may not have been in that particular remark.
Sorry. I'll check the video again next time I'm at a computer with speakers.

[fdcol63]

" ... Mr. Bad and I had the same conversation last night. How was Sebelius able to that? ..."

"Friends of Angelo" gets special treatment, you know? LOL

[RichatUF]

Enlightened, best wishes, hope all goes well.

Well the Stevens matter works out well. Obama and Holder can now replace the current crop at the public integrity division and drop the charges against all sitting democrats (Conyers wife, Jefferson...). Problem solved.

Hummm...never attribute to malice what is better explained by stupidity

[RichatUF]

I can't believe that the President gave the Queen an iPod.

facepalm.

[Enlightened]

Tks all...it doesn't look good...Hubby and I have our contingency plan ready to go it's just the stress of really not knowing which way it will go. If I lose my job? Well Hey - there's the Change Bambi promised me...;o]

I'm ok with it - I don't mind a challenge, so job hunting isn't scaring me away - it's just the uncertainty of actually finding one....so if 6 months down the road we need to sell the house and really downsize - well that's how we'll have to roll.

At least I'm not a patient in the UK, having to suffer the "wholeness" of Mrs. Bambi.../I'm-going-to-hell snark off.......

[bad]

I'm praying for you, Enlightened.

[hit and run]

Jane:
Hit how is it going for you?

I'm supposed to hear back this week from one of the companies I interviewed with.

We'll see!

[Old Lurker]

Good attitude, Enlightened. Best of luck.

[Pofarmer]

Aye Che Wa Wa.

Got into a "conversation" that the local USDA office. Now, it's probably not the absolute best place to start into politics, but, I didn't start it. The first clue should have been when the guy said "When I got up this morning watching MSNBC". It seems that since Bush ran a deficit, it's O.K. If Barack Hussein runs a couple Trillion deficit. Did you know that the 09 deficit going from an estimated 400 Billion to over a Trillion was all Bush's fault, even though the spending that caused it was after the first of the year? Also, Barack Hussein apparently HAS to spend all this money, because, you see, the govt has to GENERATE money to get us out of this financial mess. Never mind that the goverment cannot GENERATE anything. It can only appropriate, borrow, or print. How in the world do you deal with these kinds of attitudes? I mean, you try to be cheerful, but, damn, you'd just like to smack folks with a clue bat.

[jimmyk]

the system is voluntary because the taxpayer in his or her return does the initial assessment

I suppose it's voluntary because you don't have to earn any income. Of course there's that pesky issue of sales taxes. But then, you don't have to buy anything either.

[PMII]

The white house gave me a coupon the other day to get my truck engine rebuild under their warranty program. What a great deal especially since it's a 1997 Toyota Tacoma with 246k miles.

Just kidding

[Fresh Air]

Everyone:

Kim is putting on an anti-AGW clinic in the comments to Tapper's piece. Glasater snagged the link.">http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/breakthrough-on.html#comments">link. Wow.

[Old Lurker]

Thanks FA & Glasater. Kim is kicking butt over there. Kim needs to come back here!