Senator John McCain explained on a Sunday morning chat show why the filibuster against Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel should end this coming week, along with his objections to the man who co-chaired his 2000 presidential campaign.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the intelligence and economic briefings.
He has no scheduled public events.
At 4:10 PM Pacific, the Obamas will host the 2013 Governors’ Dinner in the State Dining Room.
His week ahead looks a little incomplete, though it may just sloppy work in the White House press operation. (Now there’s a surprise.)
On Monday, Obama hosts the governors in the White House. On Tuesday, he travels to Newport News, Virginia to make the point that the sequester will hurt shipbuilding and military readiness. Then he will, ah, do something.
One can guess much of the public block schedule is around the sequester mess.
I’m sorry I can’t get too excited about the sequester issue. But then, I didn’t get too excited about the fiscal cliff, either, did I?
I’ve become more than a bit inured with and bored by the usual political ping-pong.
Speaking of which, there is a media foodfight between the Obama White House, Congressional Republicans, and Bob Woodward, with Woodward’s claim that Obama didn’t see revenues as part of the avoidance of the sequester along with cuts being embraced by Republicans.
Funny that I don’t recall what Woodward seems to think, which is that Obama embraced the conservative Republican approach. (Woodward, still not the wordsmith of Woodward and Bernstein after all these years, says the WH is “muddling” the facts. Actually, that would be “muddying” the facts, or, better yet, muddying the waters around the facts. Muddling is what Woodward does to the English language.)
Too bad Deep Throat isn’t around to tell him the real scoop.
While he’s way off on that, Woodward was right earlier in saying that the sequester concept did originate with the White House. As a disaster scenario means of forcing an actual solution, however, not as a solution in itself.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry has weighed in on the Academy Award for Best Picture, pushing Argo. Former President Bill Clinton already pushed hard for Lincoln, actually making an appearance for it, and director Steve Spielberg, at the Golden Globes.
I suppose I would pick Zero Dark Thirty, though I have a number of problems with it. You can be sure it’s too politically incorrect to win.
Though of course my real pick for movie of the year is Skyfall, which is quietly closing in on the all-time Top 5 in worldwide box office, not to mention being more insightful about the intelligence game than Argo.
Argo or Lincoln? Lincoln feels more like a “best picture,” but Argo is more enjoyable. They both have glaring factual errors that could have been avoided. I’m fine with either one.
Obama is monitoring several geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: Mali is eight hours ahead of Pacific time, the Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington.
Brown and First Lady/Special Advisor Anne Gust Brown are doing various things in Washington, where they are staying at the home of veteran former Brown aide Lucie Gikovich. She was his confidential secretary and administrative assistant during his first governorship. A very nice and capable person.
They stayed with Gikovich last year when they were in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting.
The Browns will attend the 2013 Governors’ Dinner this evening in the State Dining Room of the White House.
Tomorrow Brown joins President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for a meeting in the White House.
Brown is, of course, bouncing around doing his thing.
Meanwhile, what with talk of various not especially wildly serious Republican contenders for governor — read: any potential name — a boomlet of sorts is arising for the candidacy of one Sutter Brown for lieutenant governor of California.
That would be the First Dog, of course.
Sutter reports that he is guarding “the Ouija board” which Brown himself told Politico he did not bring to Washington, as it is inoperative there. Brown was asked about various matters, disclaiming special insights though allowing as how Hillary Clinton could clear the Democratic field for president in 2016.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
The most expensive weapons system in the history of the United States has been grounded again. The Pentagon has found another engine blade crack in its state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jet. I don’t recall hearing questions about the F-35 during the Senate confirmation hearing on Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the intelligence and economic briefings.
He has no scheduled public events.
The Obamas will host the 2013 Governors’ Dinner at the White House on Sunday.
Obama is monitoring several geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: Mali is eight hours ahead of Pacific time, the Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington.
Traveling with an entourage consisting of the first lady of California and a special advisor to the governor — who are, of course, one and the same in the person of one Anne Gust Brown (sometimes referred to here as FLOC, having previously been designated FLAG and FLO) — the governor of our youths and, ah, non-youths is in Washington for the weekend and the annual National Governors Association winter meeting, which continues early in the week.
Brown is also holding various private meetings.
Word came Friday that another Republican is edging close to running against Governor Jerry Brown. That’s Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, a Dutch-born former Orange County treasurer who is termed out of his seat on the county board of supervisors. He seems realistic about his chances.
Moorlach would join far right state Assemblyman Tom Donnelly and a very rich guy whose name escapes me at the moment. But some in Orange County say that he’s just seeking publicity, knowing he has no chance at all of beating Brown and is actually more interested in a run for another local office.
Brown may have gotten a much more significant jolt when state Senator Michael Rubio, a moderate Democrat from the Central Valley, suddenly resigned his seat on Friday to become a top lobbyist for Chevron, the big oil company.
The move came as a surprise to most everyone.
Brown had been working with Rubio, a rising moderate Democratic star, on legislation to streamline environmental regulation. The fact that Rubio, who cites family obligations, especially to a very young daughter with physical challenges, is going to work for an oil company casts his environmental reform efforts in a certain light.
Press stories today don’t go beneath the surface, focusing on the suddenness of the move, which comes not long after the family moved to the capital area to be closer to top-line Down’s syndrome programs associated with UC Davis.
Rubio’s resignation, which is already in effect, also removed the Democrats’ super-majority in the Senate, as two other Democratic senators were elected to Congress last November, leaving their seats vacant.
But Democrats will be heavy favorites in all three districts in special elections later this year. And Brown is certainly in no hurry to be jamming partisan legislation through.
Rubio, incidentally, will not technically be a lobbyist for Chevron, as he will not be directly lobbying his old colleagues. He will be head of the California government affairs department for the oil giant, thus floating free of the law which I believe prohibits lobbying for a year after leaving office.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama unsurprisingly urges Congress to avoid the federal budget sequester looming on March 1st.
** THE HAILSTORM AROUND HAGEL POINTS UP THE SYSTEM’S DYSFUNCTIONALITY. … From my February 21st essay.
** THE ANTI-HAGEL GAMBITS: CLEVER, BUT NOT REALLY THAT CLEVER. … From my February 15th essay.
** WITH LITTLE POLITICAL OR POLICY IMPACT AND DUMBED DOWN LANGUAGE, DOES THE STATE OF THE UNION EVEN MATTER? … From my February 12th column.
** JERRY BROWN FINDS FUN (IN NEW FOIL RICK PERRY) AND MORE THAN A BIT OF ILLUMINATION. … From my February 7th column.
** COME HAGEL OR HIGH WATER: IN THE SHADE OF IRAQ. … From my February 1st essay.
** THE STATE OF JERRY BROWN’S STATUS: AFTER THE STATE OF THE STATE. … From my January 30th essay.
** OBAMA’S CLEAR YET MUTED TRUMPET: HOPE’S AUDACITY MEETS LOWERED EXPECTATIONS. … From my January 23rd essay.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in major military operations in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer from the Russia Today channel. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the state-run channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed at $93.13 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $59 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down about $21 per barrel from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
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| Comments (17) |
Good bad news Al Jazeera news video on the F-35.
Good weekend speech by President Obama.
Nobody even asked Chuck Hagel about it…
Jonas says:
February 23, 2013 at 11:48 am
Good bad news Al Jazeera news video on the F-35.
Barack is on message.
Jonas says:
February 23, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Good weekend speech by President Obama.
Hahahah, I love it!!
BB:** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington.
Traveling with an entourage consisting of the first lady of California and a special advisor to the governor — who are, of course, one and the same in the person of one Anne Gust Brown (sometimes referred to here as FLOC, having previously been designated FLAG and FLO) — the governor of our youths and, ah, non-youths is in Washington for the weekend and the annual National Governors Association winter meeting, which continues early in the week.
This is weird…
BB:Rubio, incidentally, will not technically be a lobbyist for Chevron, as he will not be directly lobbying his old colleagues. He will be head of the California government affairs department for the oil giant, thus floating free of the law which I believe prohibits lobbying for a year after leaving office.
What is a problem with the most expensive warplane in history when fealty to Greater Israel is at stake, one wonders? If one is a hick United States Senator.
Good news video of John McCain on the next Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
Chuck Hagel becomes the Secretary of Defense this week!
Hahahahah, I love it! LG Sutter!!
Meanwhile, what with talk of various not especially wildly serious Republican contenders for governor — read: any potential name — a boomlet of sorts is arising for the candidacy of one Sutter Brown for lieutenant governor of California.
That would be the First Dog, of course.
Sutter reports that he is guarding “the Ouija board” which Brown himself told Politico he did not bring to Washington, as it is inoperative there. Brown was asked about various matters, disclaiming special insights though allowing as how Hillary Clinton could clear the Democratic field for president in 2016.
I like Argo, it’s fun and suspenseful.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry has weighed in on the Academy Award for Best Picture, pushing Argo. Former President Bill Clinton already pushed hard for Lincoln, actually making an appearance for it, and director Steve Spielberg, at the Golden Globes.
I suppose I would pick Zero Dark Thirty, though I have a number of problems with it. You can be sure it’s too politically incorrect to win.
The Oscars have started, live snark anybody??
Michelle named the Best Picture?? I didn’t expect that…
Rather a snorer till your First Lady made her appearance, I should think. Argo is such a very pleasant little movie.
Any crisis video today?
Sorry, all crisis cancelled.
Heh.
axel white says:
February 25, 2013 at 5:52 am
Rather a snorer till your First Lady made her appearance, I should think. Argo is such a very pleasant little movie.