Sweet Caroline's good times must really have been so good.

Groucho may not have wanted to be a member of any club that would have him but, considering the den of liars, thieves and miscreants that is our current government, what skeletons must be in Caroline Kennedy's closet for her to pull her name from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton, a woman with a walk in closet worth of body parts herself, for the United States Senate. And to pull her name out under the cover of darkness in a late night announcement only serves to pique the interest of those of us vulture-like enough to want to circle this pile of bones in a death spiral of conjecture and innuendo. And the rumor mill is grinding away full speed.

The New York media is busy fleshing out these skeletons trying to make a body of concrete evidence for why she doesn't want the position. The initial word was it was a combination of taxes and nanny problems. That can't be it. If those were reasons to pull the plug, Timothy Geithner wouldn't be about to become the Secretary of the Treasury. Next we heard there were marital infidelities. That is almost a pre-requisite for running for office. It is the main reason I've not run for Congress. I can't get Mrs. Bald Man to sign off on that part of the deal so I remain unqualified. Tonight we hear the governor just didn't think she was ready or qualified for the job. Hello? Have you seen who is sitting in the Oval Office this week? Since when do qualifications count?

Some in her camp blamed Senator Ted Kennedy's recent illness and collapse but that is just plain pandering and plain wrong. In the ultimate effort to put a better face on this skeleton's skull, George Stephanopoulos says she backed off to "put family first". Isn't that special. I can't tell if the tear in George's eye is from this bit of candor or is left over from the joyous eye watering he and others in the media had during the inauguration.

All of this is an example of how, when the handlers get involved, politicians and politician wannabes end up looking even stupider than, ya know, they, ya know are. Had Mrs. Kennedy simply let the governor nominate the person of his choosing she could have simply walked away and joined her skeletons back in the ole closet. Hopefully Obama will keep her number on his super secure BlackBerry. If not I am sure the Chinese will put it in for him as soon as they hack it.

Had she been the one nominated, these issues might not have made a difference. For Democrats, not much matters. In the midst of a lawsuit over the recount, the Senate is going to try and seat Al "there are more votes in my trunk if you need them" Franken.

We have entered an age where the only thing that matters is the "agenda". More than anything I have heard recently, nothing has scared me as much as this quote from Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. In saying why he was voting to approve Timothy Geithner for his Secretary seat he said that in normal times he would oppose Geithner but "these are not normal times." Not normal times? So that means we can put ethics, justice, truth, and even the constitution aside because these are "not normal times". Unfortunately, in the coming weeks you will hear this reasoning also applied to spending bills, gun control, right to choose bills and other soon to be named restrictions on our liberties and attacks on capitalism.

The only thing not normal in all of this will be if right thinking Americans continue to idly by while the flesh of their freedoms is ripped from their bones.

I am heading to the closet to cry with my skeletons.

S2

If you aren't solid as a rock you will sink like a stone

Break out the Justin Timberlake CD because down in Georgia they are bringing Saxby back. The GOP pundits are dancing with their best White Man Overbite moves to celebrate the fact the Democrats now won’t have the desirable filibuster proof 60 seats in the Senate of the United States. Well buster, I have news for you. Like Charlie Daniels famed antagonist, the devil is in the details and here is why it doesn’t matter at all that the Republican won in Georgia.

For those of you not in the United States or if you live here but have forgotten your Civics lessons, here is a very brief and oversimplified explanation of why people feel 60 Senate seats is a magical number. One of the two parts of our Legislative branch of government is the Senate and there are 100 Senators (two from each state) in it. They pass their portion of laws by a majority vote. When a bill is being debated it comes to a vote after a cloture motion. If there is resistance, the minority can “filibuster”. That means they continue the discussion; sometimes for days, weeks or as long as San Francisco mayor Gavin “I look like the killer in the movie American Psycho” Newsom. If there are 60 votes for cloture, the ability to filibuster is overruled and the bill goes to vote. With 60 seats belonging to the Democratic Party there would be no way the Republicans could stop anything their opponents would want to push through.

I’ve got news for the media, the pundits, the GOP and the Democrats. The magic number is not 60. Assuming hell doesn’t’ freeze over or the Satans in the Senate don’t chime in, the magic number is 1. If Al “I was never really that funny or talented” Franken loses in the no holds barred, no suddenly found vote left uncounted contest in chilly Minnesocold, the number is 2.

For you see the 60 vote minimum assumes all Democrats and all Republicans will vote with their party. History indicates that is highly unlikely. For the 60 to be filibuster proof, the Harry Reid led party would have to hold to a unified position while holding their noses to avoid smelling the citizenry while they pass their stinking laws.

The idea of thinking either party will vote as a block on every issue makes about as much sense as the Big 3 Auto CEOs thinking their publicity stunt of driving to Washington, DC in Hybrids to beg for more money will be seen as anything other than exactly that; a publicity stunt. Republicans have in their ranks centrist and liberals like Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Gordon Smith and Arlen Specter who vote with the Democrats more often than with their own party.

Republican Senators take heed. For you to have any chance of stopping the Democrats from steamrolling through you faster than rumor flies through Facebook you best hold arms tighter than Mrs. Leary’s second grade class in the finals of Red Rover. Hold the line.

People complain that the filibuster is but the minority party’s way to stop government action. I fail to see the problem with that. Government inaction is much better than government in action.


S2