In case you missed it, a lot of interesting things happened this week, a lot of them deserving their own posts. But, sadly, there's only so much time in the day...
Just when you thought the issues around the Flathead Lake Boat Crash couldn't get any more asinine, they do.
James Conner has the details of that night's incident - apparently Barkus thought he was heading in the opposite direction than he actually was, and was pulling a u-turn at 45 mph in the dark in treacherous waters when he struck the lake bank. Dan Testa, too, has a good roundup of that night's events - two scotches and an unknown amount of red and white wine for Barkus. Just the thing for a chilly night out on the lake.
Now Barkus' lawyer is challenging the .16 BAC results - which, I know, is his right to do and probably a smart legal maneuver. But Barkus is also planning on finishing out his Senate term, as if nothing's happened here, as if he hadn't just boozed up and almost killed himself and four others on Flathead Lake.
The crash was a good sign he's got a problem, eh? I mean, for most of us, this would be a kind of, I dunno, a wake-up call, wouldn't it?
That's the way I'd see it if it were me. I'd be apologizing my *ss off to the friends and family of those I injured through my loathsome behavior, I'd cooperate with the authorities and plea bargain my way into a just punishment, resign my public office because of the deficiency of my character, and I'd check myself into a rehab clinic, ASAP. I mean, wouldn't most people feel some remorse, and want to repent and work to rehabilitate themselves?
Instead, Barkus is still out there, still a drunk, and, probably as soon as he's walking again, back behind the wheel. And he'll be passing laws over you. So much for personal responsibility.
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As always, there's plenty of news from Hardin.
The Billings Gazette got its hands on the "memorandum of understanding" between Hardin and the APF - which it had to get by court order, apparently because it's pretty embarrassing to Hardin officials - that revealed the city did have an agreement with Hilton's company to have the APF supply Hardin with a police force for $250K. The contract toned the language down, but the memo certainly explains the Hardin Police Force decals on APF SUVs.
Naturally, with all the furor over these SUVs, Hardin is looking to start its own police force.
But the American Police Force takeover of the Hardin jail only looks dead. While Hardin put the deal with APF on hold after revelations of Michael Hilton's checkered past, a mysterious APF investor stepped forward (anonymously, of course) and noted the firm would still pursue the Hardin jail contract, only without "Captain" Michael Hilton on board.
Apparently Max Baucus put his support for the public option up for sale on eBay - free shipping! - but the sale has since been removed. Did someone select the "buy now" option?
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One of the first things that newly elected Senator Al Franken did was introduce an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would cause the U.S. government to withhold defense contracts to any company that requires their employees to sign a waiver prohibiting them to bring a suit against that company for workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination.
Sadly, this isn't some random amendment - it's in reaction to waivers signed by female Halliburton/KBR employees...who were subsequently rapedinIraq by co-workers, and denied access to justice because of the fine print in their contracts.
In the Senate the amendment passed 68 - 30 - thirty Senators voted against this bill, all Republicans, all men. The four women Senators of the GOP backed this bill.
Will the GOP soon introduce a new Constitution Amendment that reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting the ability of corporations to gang rape their employees"? Is support for corporate gang rape already in the GOP platform, or does it need to be added at their next meeting? Is there a huge corporate gang rape lobby that is funneling millions into GOP pockets, or did they vote this way out of personal conviction?
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As the US Chamber of Commerce bleeds members because of its "extremist" climate change rhetoric, it decided to shift gears and try a new way to approach the issue. And you won't believe the results!
The Administrator has thus ignored analyses that show that a warming of even 3 [degrees] C in the next 100 years would, on balance, be beneficial to humans because the reduction of wintertime mortality/morbidity would be several times larger than the increase in summertime heat stress- related mortality/morbidity.
OMG! Every day will be like the Fourth of July!
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I heart Alan Grayson, who's propelled himself into the spotlight with hard-hitting rhetoric about Republican obstructionalism on healthcare reform. This is how every Democrat should be talking about their nay-saying peers:
American understands that there is one party in this country that is favor of health care reform and one party that is against it, and they know why.
They understand that if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world the Republicans would blame him for overpopulation
They understand that if Barack Obama could somehow bring about world peace they would blame him for destroying the defense industry.
In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwhich tommorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.
But that's not what America wants, America wants solutions to it's problems and that begins with health care, and that's what I'm speaking for tonight.
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And, oh yeah, Obama won the Nobel Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people."
Wow. That doesn't happen every day.
The reactions were...well, you can probably guess. Most righties were as furious over the award as they were ecstatic Chicago lost its Olympic bid, and some liberal doves were perplexed that Obama - still pursuing war in the Middle East - should have won a "peace" award.
(Some great tweets about the conservo-sphere reaction via @markos:
@markos: "So I thought losing the Olympic bid was a big "fuck you" to Obama..."
@OldSchoolGamer: "The most angry reactions to Obama's Nobel Peace Prize - Hamas, the Taliban, and the American right."
@JC_Christian: "I hope @KarlRove doesn't ruin Obama's #nobel acceptance speech by grabbing mic and saying 'W deserved to win.'"
@mattyglesias: "They should institute a Nobel Prize for driving conservatives crazy."
@jaihind77: "@markos hitler did not win nobel roize so that means its end of nazism rhetoric for conservatives ?")
I like this from Joe Weisenthal:
He deserved it. People in the US might be jaded, but it's hard to estimate how badly America's reputation had been damaged internationally after 8 years of George W. Bush, and though Obama hasn't really done anything different, just the perception is big. And then of course there was the historic nature of his Presidency in the most important country in the world, which really shouldn't be discounted as an accomplishment - it's a lot more impressive than anything anyone's ever done in the Mideast, a region which has had its share of undeserved Peace Prizes.
But the real reason it's a brilliant choice is that when it comes to making world Peace, putting the cart before the horse is exactly the right way to go. Now Obama can sit down at the negotiating table with Ahmedinijad or Benjamin Netanyahu, and slap hisNobel Prize on the table and say: "now deal."
In other words, this Nobel Prize was an investment in future world peace - a bet that by lending some support to the leader of the free world, that leader would be able to achieve something.
