DC Week (6 of 8): Congressional Reps from Red States

This list of Congressional reps contains some familiar names, including Cong. James Clyburn (D-SC; pictured top) who is an assistant Democratic leader in the House and Cong. Tom Cole (R-Okl.;pictured bottom) was once head of the Republican National Committee.

Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC) won a seat in Congress_as a Republican no less_ in spite of a major sex scandal when he was governor of the Palmetto State.

Cong. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex) is the identical twin of Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio; Julian made what even non-partisan pundits considered an exemplary speech at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, NC, last year.

Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) made headlines today because of a clash with Cong. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) which went viral on the Internet, which gives us hope that someone, perhaps a bored teenager in Welch, West Virginia, might read this entry.

The middle image is of a game of chess because government shutdown seems to be a 16-day chess game which constantly ends in a stale mate.


Here is the list:

1. Mark Sanford (R-SC), 53, 1st District, Homeland Security; Transportation and Infastructre

2. James Clyburn (D-SC), 73, 6th dist., asst. Democratic leader

3.Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), 39, 20th dist., Armed services; foreign affairs

4. Kay Granger (R-Tex.), 70, 12th dist., Appropriations

5. Nick Rahall (D-WVa), 67, 3rd dist., Transportation and Infastructre

6. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), 40, 2nd district, Homeland security; Judiciary

7. Tom Cole (R-Okl.), 63, 4th dist., Appropriations; Budget; Rules

8. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), 46, 3rd dist., Homeland security; Judiciary, Oversight and Govt. Reform

9. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), 59, 5th dist., Armed Services; oversight and govt. reform

10. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), 1st district, Small Business; Veterans Affairs (his district consists of a walloping 63 counties).  

http://clyburn.house.gov/

http://www.chess.com/

http://www.thehill.com

http://cole.house.gov/

DC Week (3 of 8): Escape from DC............but, Skyline Drive is Closed Too

With images of 1) Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah, who is one of the most social media savvy members of the House), 2) The Metro line map for Washington, DC, the Red Line is the one used to get to Washington Capitals games and 3) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who will be appearing on at least one Sunday morning talk show tomorrow.

Here are the tweets:

1) The Hill: "John Boehner spokesman takes flack for calling House Dems 'hostage takers..'"

2) Huff Post Politics: "Conservative shutdown architects hosting fancy fundraiser on debt ceiling day" (which was yesterday).

3) Washington DC News: "Ted Cruz wins religious conservatives 2016 straw poll."

4) Mother Jones (a liberal publication): "Demonstrating the lies of pundits is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel."

5) Politico: "Ken Cuccinelli's campaign released its most brutal ad yet in the very nasty Virginia governor's race." (he is running against Democrat Terry McAuliffe).

6) DC United (the local pro soccer team): "Tailgate is underway. Pick up your tickets and visit the food trucks in Lot 8 as well as Nocha Latina festivities!"

http://chaffetz.house.gov/

http://www.wmata.com/

http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.motherjones.com/

http://www.politico.com

Editorial Commentary........Good Republicans/Bad Republicans

Since we think she's a bit more attractive than Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (of course, a Republican!), we thought we'd go with this patriotic image of Raquel Welch from her 1970 film "Myra Breckinridge" which Leonard Maltin claims to be 'god-awful.'

Cuccinelli is a fringe, right-winger who somehow got elected and now in addition to threatening to sue the federal government over recent health care proposals, he actually moved to cover up a breast on Virginia's state flag!

Cucinelli, who represents my home state of Virginia and is a favorite of the Roanoke Tea Party (or as we call them the Yosemite Sam crowd), draped the breast of the goddess Virtus. Of course, along with Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is also to the right of Chuck Norris, Cucinelli was in favor of Virginia's now infamous 'April is Confederacy Heritage Month" proclamation. And, we thought former Virginia governor George Allen had flown the proverbial cuckoo's nest!

But, there are some Republicans who express views I actually agree with. On his Twitter page, Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) who represents the Provo, Utah, area said: "Let's start recognizing true heroes--military, teachers, scientists, students who triumph in something other than sports."

Of course, if Cong. Chaffetz were to recognize the University of Utah gymnast Daria Bijak, who I have a bit of a crush on, I would not protest. But, the fact that she is a native of Germany may pose a bit of a problem.

Everytweet You Wanted to Know About Health Care...

Ironically I am using the images of Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) because of these tweets are from progressives and those on the center left politically (such as myself).

But, not all these tweets are in favor of health care reform, and following these tweets, most of which were posted on Saturday and Monday afternoon was at times very confusing. One reason for that is Twitter groups like "NC4HealthReform," based in Winston-Salem, NC, were actually AGAINST Obama's proposals.

There were also some who sent mixed messages, which might well be the most accurate reflection of the American mind-set regarding the Health Care that narrowly passed by a 219-212 margin late in Congress late Sunday night.

These tweets are not neccesarily in chronological order, but they do tell a story with collective voices besides my own. They came from people as far away as North Myrtle Beach, SC, and Scottsdale, Ariz:

OToole Fan: Tea Party is mainly racism cloaked as fiscal concer and selfishness masquerading as patriotism.

Virginia Foxx: Federal govt runs up $1.5 trillion deficit this year- 11 times the 10-yr "savings" Democrats claim are in the Senate bill.

ezraklein ("Washington Post" reporter): Asked WH (White House) for text on Prez's speech. They said it wasn't pre-written. It's like there's a teleprmpter IN HIS BRAIN.

LeftJabs: I am nowhere near a TV but thanks to y'all I feel the moment. I pray tomorrow is a day of celebration.

RollCall (Washington DC political newspaper): Sign up in John Boehner's window: 'Vote No Scrap the Bill.' Protesters gathering outside chanting 'Kill the Bill.'

ezraklein: The task now: convincing six or seven insured, wealthy congressmen to give 32 million uninsured people health-care coverage.

JasonChaffetz: If passed an estimated 16,500-plus IRS agents will need to make sure you have 'acceptable health insurance.'

TomPerriello (D-Va): Read letters of support for bill from Martinsville, Danville and Charlottesville hospitals.

Brad Miller (not the Dem. NC Congressman): I think Health Care reform is needed, but it needs to be done correctly. Pass a good bill, not just one to say you passed reform.

annamariecox: Should turn off Foc @ this point but then I'd miss them saying something like: "The WH took pain to say the president high-fived Emanuel."

Zippythepinhead (alternative comic book character): "I've read seven million books."

The Rock Obama Takes in Georgetown-Duke Basketball Game

It was not the actor The Rock, but rather the subject of his now famous "Saturday Night Live" skits President Barack Obama who joined Vice President Joe Biden along with other members of his inner circle to watch the Georgetown Hoyas upset the visiting Duke University Blue Devils at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, by a 89-77 score this afternoon.

When the game tipped off at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, the DC area did not yet see the incoming snowstorm which had hit much of Virginia and North Carolina (see our entry in The Daily Vampire) including the Duke U campus in Durham, NC.

During the second half, Obama made a surprise visit to the CBS booth where he joked with announcer Clark Kelogg, who was once a Big Ten basketball star, that he might have to replace Kelogg in 'three years or seven years.' Some conservative-leaning media outlets are already making the highly ridicilous suggestion that Obama was hinting that he might not seek reelection.

When the announcers asked if the left-handed Obama ever went to his right, the president again jovially said that he went to his 'right' when he met with Congressional Republicans in Baltimore on Friday.

The Baltimore gathering provided a limelight moment for Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a congressional freshman who represents the Provo, Utah, region-considered by many to be one of the most conservative areas in America.

Lee Davidson of "The Deseret News" in Salt Lake City reported that Chaffetz confronted the president for a number of verbal inconsistencies including a pledge to hold health care hearings in the public arena through C-Span.

Obama responded by telling Chaffetz that:

"That (the hearings) was a messy process. And I take responsibility for not having structured it in a way where it was taking place in one place where it could not be filmed."

Chaffetz told the SLC newspaper that he had a friendly talk with Obama afterwards:

"I think it's positive that we are able to have this kind of dialogue and hopefully move forward."

On his Twitter page, Chaffetz has voiced many political objections to the Obama administration. In one tweet, he said that he was opposed to the discontinuation of the 'don't ask, don't tell policy' regarding gays and lesbians in the military on the grounds that such measures should not be taken when the United States is involved with two wars.

As for Obama, he also met with former president George HW Bush and former Florida govenror Jeb Bush at the White House prior to the Hoyas-Blue Devils basketball game.

NPR said Obama was blackberrying throughout the game, and that he made no indication of which team he was rooting for.

It would have been interesting to hear comments from Duke's Coach K after the game. The long-time Blue Devils coach is a Republican though he is not known to use his position for campaign trail purposes (his long-time rival former UNC coach Dean Smith is a Democrat who vocally endorsed Obama in the North Carolina Primary), but one of the Duke coach's former players is a staff member for President Obama.