I think you missed the sweetest quote of the story.

"The system is working the way it is supposed to work," says state Rep. Phil King, the Republican from Weatherford who is chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee.

Posted at July 17, 2008 6:38 PM in response to The Idiocy of Deregulation

I know Bush did. I don't know about McCain, though.

Posted at July 13, 2008 6:39 PM in response to Election Central Sunday Roundup

Thanks, Twinkletoes. I was commenting on Al Gore's failure to turn his commitment to climate change into policy when Vice President, not the commitment itself. It's simply a role that didn't work for him.

Posted at July 10, 2008 12:29 PM in response to Veepstakes Open Thread

I don't know what the next president will do on taking office, other than immediately abandon ideas for a national sales tax. However, if the current president lasts out his term, I have a pretty clear vision of him popping uppers, surrounded by the federal government's top experts in ergonomics, stimulants and penmanship, burning through his final 200 hours signing thousands of presidential pardons.

Posted at July 9, 2008 4:38 PM in response to Biden to Mukasey: "You Really Are an Enigma to Me"

Well, see, nobody shot him with a phaser.
Hmmm, yes, government sponsored vacation. Catch up on the reading. Maybe lift weights and attend shiv-making classes.

Posted at June 30, 2008 3:44 PM in response to Corrupt AK Politician Waves to Commuters Before Being Hauled Off to Fed. Pen.

Thomas Kontogiannis, I was thinking of. So, six degrees of Thomas Kontogiannis? At the risk of sounding like David Horowitz, how's he connected to Yoav Boteach?

Posted at June 24, 2008 7:21 PM in response to AEY And Albanian Supplier Were On State Department Watchlist

I'd kind of like to understand the family. His grandfather is Angelo Diveroli, who took him to gun shows when he was a child. His father was Michael Diveroli, who owns AEY. Efraim took a 1 % stake in 2004 before taking it over in 2005 (roughly.) Diveroli's extended family reportedly owns several arms businesses in California and Florida.
Steve Sailer has more, linking him back to his maternal grandfather Yoav Boteach (and Michael Jackson.)
Who's that international arms dealer all TMP scandals eventually get linked to? He probably knows Yoav Boteach.

Posted at June 24, 2008 2:52 PM in response to AEY And Albanian Supplier Were On State Department Watchlist

Mimi,
Al Gore's already been Vice President. I don't recall hearing a lot from him about climate change until his movie. I think when Clinton dropped the BTU Tax, he shut climate change work down.
Gore -- and we -- are better off with him as an outside influencer.
RFM

Posted at May 28, 2008 4:08 PM in response to Veepstakes Open Thread

You're going to have to accept that whomever you support is going to be flawed. Even the Dalai Lama has his bad days.

It's unfair to ask me to explain your feelings.

I haven't followed the flag pin question closely, because it's stupid. However, I believe Senator Obama's point is that it's stupid. Do you suspect that he's lending his flag pin to Islamofascist terrorists so that they can gain access to the Senate chambers? Do you think maybe he's overcome with revulsion toward his country when he gets dressed in the morning, but recovers by the time he gets to work? What answer to the question could possibly justify having asked it?

His heartland comment is not a mistake. It's his explanation for the trouble with Kansas. And it sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

Posted at April 18, 2008 5:15 PM in response to Oh, stop it!!!

Hey, you stop it.

Thanks for the rural perspective, Mark. It's good to hear the word from the heartland. But, your post would have a little more weight if you enumerated Senator Obama's mistakes. Having a pastor -- marrying a woman -- who is willing to point out that there have been a fair number of unhappy people for a long time? Pointing out that the zeitgeist seems to have given up on looking to government to protect us from the depredations of the wealthy?

Why are these attacks fair? Why are they OK from Senator Clinton, who seems to have no chance of being her party's nominee like a hostile Kucinich? Do you feel they have a place in substantive political discourse, or that we should just abandon our desire for same?

Posted at April 18, 2008 1:24 PM in response to Oh, stop it!!!