The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

If John Boehner’s Lost Nick Gillespie …

Posted on | January 7, 2011 | 6 Comments

. . . well, he’s lost libertarians in leather jackets:

Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority Because You Pledged to Cut Spending and You Can’t Think of a Single Program to Cut Now, Please Go Home

That’s the headline on a Gillespie post at Reason magazine’s Hit & Run blog after Boehner’s interview with NBC’s Brian Williams:

WILLIAMS: Name a program right now that we could do without.
BOEHNER: I don’t think I have one off the top of my head.

Yeah. Kinda troubling. You know what’s also kinda troubling? The way Nick’s rattling the tip jar for Reason:

Dude, they’ve got Koch money and they’re shaking their tip jar.

I ain’t got no Koch money. You really ought to hit my tip jar. You don’t want me to get all choked up, do you?

UPDATE: Wow, you can’t say those Koch people aren’t Internet-savvy. As soon as I posted this, I noticed a Google ad in the sidebar: “Learn More About Koch,” with a link to the Web site of the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation.

Evidently they’re a wee bit sensitive about blog criticism, and they want you to know they’re against cancer.

So much for those rumors of them being pro-cancer.

Category: John Boehner

Calling the Democrats’ Bluff

Posted on | January 7, 2011 | 4 Comments

Armed with a rather bizarre CBO estimate — claiming to show that repealing ObamaCare would actually increase the deficit — the president is now trying to push Republicans off their game:

President Obama officially drew a line in the sand Thursday evening, threatening to veto House Republicans’ attempt to repeal Obama’s landmark healthcare law.
In a statement of administration policy released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the administration said that repeal would “would explode the deficit, raise costs for the American people and businesses, deny an estimated 32 million people health insurance, and take us back to the days when insurers could deny, limit or drop coverage for any American.”

Of course he would veto it — if it were to pass the Senate, which it almost certainly won’t do before 2013. The whole point of having a vote in the House on repeal now is to force Democrats to vote on it. There are still a few “moderate” Democrats in the House who got re-elected after making a big deal during the campaign about their votes against ObamaCare.

Good. Now let’s see if they’ll vote to repeal it.

Boehner’s got the votes to pass the repeal, and then it will be up to Republicans in the Senate to try to maneuver the repeal bill forward to get a vote there. It’s important to get Democrats on the record either for or against repealing this godawful unconstitutional monstrosity.

ObamaCare has never been popular, and if Democrats are the party of ObamaCare, they’ll get their asses kicked again in 2012. Republicans ought not let themselves be bluffed into folding a winning hand.


Category: Barack Obama, Congress, Health Care

LIVE AT FIVE – 1.7.10

Posted on | January 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

TOP NEWS
Voting Against Pelosi Could Have Consequences For Blue Dogs

Ex-Speaker Pelosi reacts to applause after 112th Congress convenes

Nineteen votes for other candidates most defections in House history

Gates Calls For Cuts To Army, Marines
47,000 soldiers and Marines to be cut under budget-reduction pressure from White House

President Puts Plans To Woo Business Into Gear
Appointment of Daley as adviser been as first step in bringing more pro-business voices into Obama’s circle



POLITICS
Pentagon Anticipates $78 Billion In Cuts Over Next Five Years

SecDef Gates, JCS Chairman Admiral Mullen brief the press

Most savings to come from troop cuts, civilian pay freeze, closing Joint Forces Command HQ

A Shift In Tactics, But Not Ideology?
GOP Rejects CBO Report On Cost Of Repealing Obamacare

House GOP Challenges Obama On Debt Limit

Former CIA Officer Busted For Leaking To NY Times Reporter



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Facebook Sets Stage For 2012 IPO
Dollar Steady Vs. Euro, Yen After Mixed Start
Treasuries Higher After Rise In Unemployment
CES 2011: Incremental Upgrades, Tablets mark This Year’s Show (Video)
Lady Gaga Unveils Polaroid Sunglasses Camera, Photo Printer
Stolen ITunes Accounts For Sale In PRC



SPORTS
Luck Smiles On College Football World

Stanford QB Andrew Luck

Much-touted Stanford QB stays in college

Dolphins Stick With Sparano

He Won’t Quack Under Pressure

Tiger Woods, Golf Digest Part Ways After 13 Years

After Slump, Manning’s Season Looks Up



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Raven-Symone: Only I Found Myself Attractive When I Was Heavy

Raven-Symone before & after weight loss

Strain of doing “That’s So Raven” contributed to weight problem

Jamie Pressly Busted For DUI

Felony Charges Dismissed Against Anna Nicole Smith’s Former BF Howard K. Stern

American Idol: Nobody Misses Simon

Rapper T.I. Gets Frisky With Wife, Gets Prison Punishment

Natalie Portman Shows Off Pregnancy Curves At People’s Choice Awards


Elizabeth Edwards Leaves John Out Of Her Will

Paula Abdul’s “Live To Dance” Drops 25% From Premiere



FOREIGNERS
This Christmas Solemn, Not Festive For Egypt’s Copts
Thousands of Egyptian Muslims join Copts at Mass as sign of solidarity against terror attacks; services televised nationally, attended by President Mubarak’s sons
Gbagbo Expels British, Canadian Ambassadors
Southern Sudanese In U.S. To Vote On Independence
Afghan Tribal Leader Attacked After Rallying To Coalition Against Taliban
Paki PM Pulls Petrol Price Increase On Demand By Opposition


BLOGS & STUFF
Althouse: Juan Williams Reacts To Firing Of Ellen Weiss
AmSpecBlog: ObamaCare Repeal And Fiscal Responsibility
Pirate’s Cove: Bill Introduced To Do Away With Executive Branch “Czars”
NRO: Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO To Unite Against Threat Of Infrastructure Cuts
Jennifer Rubin: Rep. Lamar Smith Issues First DOJ Oversight Letter
Blackfive: Pentagon To Cut $78, 70,000 Soldiers & Marines…But No Civilians?
Hit & Run: “No One Said Loving Free Markets Was Easy”
Doug Ross: 50 GOP Reps Sponsor Bill To Block EPA From Regulating Greenhouse Gases

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

The Burden of Young Genius

Posted on | January 6, 2011 | 8 Comments

“There is . . . a new generation of young, sophistic bloggers who offer their wisdom from the New York-Washington corridor. They are usually graduates of America’s elite colleges and navigate in an upscale urban landscape. One, the Washington Post’s 26-year-old Ezra Klein, recently scoffed to his readers that a bothersome U.S. Constitution was “100 years old” and had ‘no binding power on anything.'”
— Victor Davis Hanson, “The New Sophists,” Real Clear Politics

“The perversity I want to understand starts in the ’60s. What happened? This: intellectuals took over the elite.”
— David Gelernter, Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber

The trend toward standardized testing and a nationwide competition for admission to the most selective schools was the mechanism by which the change described by Gelernter took place. The Internet has made the effects of this change more glaring than ever, especially among young writers like Ezra Klein.

There have always been intellectual prodigies. One might say Bill Buckley was one such, achieving national fame at age 25 with his 1951 book, God and Man at Yale. But Buckley (who had served in World War II) at least had to write a manuscript and find a publisher, whereas nowadays any brainy young person with a Blogspot site can address a potentially worldwide readership instantly without intermediation or editorial supervision.

Klein became a blogger in 2003 at age 19 and, two years later, was already a well-known member of the liberal blogosphere when he moved to Washington, D.C., to join the staff of The American Prospect (a publication whose existence he discovered via a link from Instapundit). Intelligence and eloquence are very important attributes in a writer, but are no substitutes for knowledge and experience, in which even very bright young people are generally deficient. Being catapulted to such prominence — an influential voice in national politics — at such an early age inevitably encourages intellectual hubris.

It used to be that the world of journalism required a certain amount of dues-paying. In his memoir The Prince of Darkness, Robert Novak remarked that when he joined the D.C. bureau of the Associated Press at age 27 (by which time he’d been a reporter more than a decade, having begun as a sports writer for the Joliet Herald while still in high school) he was the only member of the bureau under 30. It took Novak four more years to become chief congressional correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and it was another two years after that before he began writing a syndicated column with Rowland Evans.

Dave Weigel has admitted that his early success contributed to the hubris that preceded his Icarus-like undoing in the JouroList scandal. Perhaps Ezra Klein will avoid such an embarrassment, but the perils that afflict the young and brainy in the Internet age will continue.

Category: Journalism

Herman Cain Will Speak at CPAC!

Posted on | January 6, 2011 | 6 Comments

Via Citzens4Cain on Twitter comes the latest news:

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a project of the American Conservative Union Foundation, is pleased to announce that business leader and talk radio host Herman Cain will address the event to be held February 10-12 in Washington D.C.  Mr. Cain will speak on Friday, February 11 at 4:30 p.m.
CPAC Director Lisa De Pasquale said, “Last year Mr. Cain was one of our most popular speakers.  His success in the business world and in the conservative movement makes him an enthusiastic and inspiring leader.  CPAC attendees won’t want to miss his speech this year.”
“I am delighted to address the attendees of the 2011 CPAC,” Mr. Cain said. “While we enjoyed historic victories in 2010, there is still so much work left to be done to take our country back, and it all starts at CPAC.”

CPAC starts Thursday, Feb. 10 — just five weeks from today — so you should go sign up now!

Category: CPAC, Herman Cain

BREAKING: FBI Investigates Suspected Mail Bomb Near Maryland State House UPDATE: Governor O’Malley Targeted?

Posted on | January 6, 2011 | 8 Comments

Very few details yet:

A Maryland State House mailroom employee was injured this afternoon while handling a package and the incident is being investigated by bomb squad officials, according to Annapolis city officials.
The Annapolis Fire Department’s bomb squad is investigating the incident and the state’s bomb squad and FBI officials were on their way to the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in Annapolis, where the incident took place, as of 12:51 p.m., according to Phillip McGowan, a spokesman for Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen. . . .

With so little known about the incident, we can’t speculate, but I’ll be keeping an eye on this story.

UPDATE: Fox News is reporting there were two packages which exploded a half-hour apart from each other in two different locations.

UPDATE II: It’s unknown whether there was actually an explosion. The Washington Post has more, and the Capital newspaper in Annapolis reports another suspicious package at the state department of transportation office in Hanover, Md.

UPDATE III: WTOP news radio in D.C. reports that there were no injuries.

UPDATE IV: Jeff Quinton’s Inside Charm City blog has been all over the story, and WBAL-TV reports:

Gov. Martin O’Malley told 11 News that the packages were the size of a book.O’Malley said one package was addressed to him, and the other was addressed to the state secretary of transportation.

Targeting the governor? Hmmm. We could speculate about the significance or motive, but it’s better to wait and let the police and FBI do their work.

UPDATE V: Now a Memeorandum thread, with blogging by Gateway Pundit and others. Inside Charm City’s latest update indicates there may be a third suspicious package in Annapolis Baltimore under investigation. (Just corrected this update; the address with the reported suspicious package is a government office in Baltimore.)

UPDATE VI: The Baltimore Sun has more details. It appears people are on edge over this scare.

UPDATE VII: Some indication of potential motive:

Two mail packages caused some kind of incendiary reaction when opened, burning the fingers of two employees in separate incidents at two state office buildings in Maryland at almost the same time Thursday afternoon. Officials say there is no connection to any domestic terror group and that the mailings appear to be from an angry individual who has a specific grudge against the Maryland State Goverment.
Investigators suspect the small devices were sent by someone, angry over Maryland road signs, asking motorists to report suspicious activity.
Part of a note enclosed with one of the packages read: “Report suspicious activity…total bullsh**…you have created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Signed, X”

If and when the police arrest a suspect, we’ll learn a lot more about who did this and why. In the meantime, we’ll wait to see if Charles Johnson blames it on “libertarian extremism.”

Category: Crime, Maryland

Ann Marie Buerkle Sworn In
UPDATE: Alas, Poor Marco Rubio!
UPDATE: Catching Up With Griffith
UPDATE: Interview With Renee Ellmers

Posted on | January 6, 2011 | 12 Comments

Wednesday’s trip to Capitol Hill was amazing. I spent most of the afternoon with Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, her staff, supporters and family, including a trip to the basement of the Capitol for her ceremonial swearing-in photo with Speaker John Boehner.

The lady in the middle holding the Bible is Congresswoman Buerkle’s 89-year-old mother.

I’ll be back to update with more from yesterday’s event-filled trip — including the story of how one of my Tweets started a rumor about Tabitha Hale getting married. (Don’t worry guys, she’s still available. But you’d better move fast. Once I start this matchmaking thing, sometimes girls will just marry any old random stranger so I’ll stop pestering them.)

UPDATE: While I was on Capitol Hill, the Lonely Conservative blogged John Boehner’s swearing-in, with this video via the Right Scoop:

 

When Pete Da Tech Guy and I visited Buerkle’s 25th New York district in mid-October, we crashed at the Lonely Conservative’s house. Back with more updates in a few minutes.

UPDATE II: Interview with You-Know-Who:

UPDATE III: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle:

Buerkle, a former nurse and lawyer for the state attorney general’s office, described her swearing-in as “a tremendous honor.”
“At the same time you’re humbled by the responsibility of the office and representing the district, and not wanting to let down the people who are back home in our district,” she said.
Buerkle’s family — including two brothers, two of her six children and her 89-year-old mother — came to Washington for the swearing-in ceremony. Buerkle said her family’s presence was what she most looked forward to during her first day as a congresswoman.
“I’m very proud, and her father would have been too. She’s so much like him,” said Buerkle’s mother, Sadie Colella of Auburn.
Buerkle’s younger brother, Tom Colella, who worked as a senior adviser for her campaign, said watching the ceremony was “truly historic and very exciting.”

The reporter who wrote that, Elizabeth Bewley, is with Gannett’s D.C. bureau. I was talking to her and asked her name and when she said, “Bewley,” I thought she said, “Bueller.” Of course, this immediately made me think of the movie line: “Bueller? Bueller?”

Tom Colella is a great guy. I had a chance to talk to him when Buerkle’s supporters held a reception last night at the Dubliner. More updates in a few minutes.

UPDATE IV: Regular readers will remember that the day Da Tech Guy and I arrived in Buerkle’s district was the same day a Siena College poll — front-page news in the Sunday edition of the Syracuse Post-Standard — showed Democrat incumbent Dan Maffei leading Buerkle 51-39. At Wednesday night’s reception, I had a chance to speak to Republican pollster John McLaughlin, who explained why that was a “drive-by poll”:

McLaughlin says: “They were biasing the questionnaire within a biased sample.” The Siena poll surveyed registered voters (not properly screened for likely voters) and the questionnaire began by asking a serious of questions about controversial issues (e.g., extending the Bush tax cuts) that had the effect of biasing the response to the question of how the respondent would vote in the congressional election. This demonstrates how sloppy reporting of poll data can result in journalism that is badly misleading.

UPDATE V: Mark Weiner of the Post-Standard reports on how a scheduling conflict led to Buerkle missing her first vote of 112th Congress:

About an hour after newly elected Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, administered the mass oath of office for all 435 House members, Buerkle had to rush from the House floor. She had a 3:30 p.m. appointment for a one-on-one ceremonial swearing-in for the cameras with Boehner and her family members.
By leaving the House floor, Buerkle missed the first vote on a resolution by the 112th Congress and her first as a member of the House of Representatives. She was among 20 House members (and 16 Republicans) to miss the procedural vote on adopting the rules of the new Congress.
Buerkle and about a dozen family members, meanwhile, stood for about 20 minutes under hot television lights while waiting for Boehner to arrive for the ceremony. Eventually, an aide brought water and a chair for Buerkle’s 89-year-old mother, Sadie, who made the trip to Washington from Auburn.

I’m told that Buerkle will be able to amend the record to reflect her “yes” vote on the resolution.

The first day of the new Congress was kind of a scramble, and not just for Buerkle. I got to Capitol Hill about 1:30 p.m. When I parked at the Union Station garage, my plan was to head to the Longworth House Office Building, where my friend Ericka Andersen has landed a job as press secretary to newly-elected Rep. Todd Rokita (IN-4) I figured I’d drop by and say “hi” to Ericka and then check the directory to locate other new members’ offices (the online congressional directory hadn’t been updated prior to the swearing-in).

As I walked past the Hart Senate Office Building entrance on Delaware Avenue, however, I had an idea. So I went inside and asked the security guard, “Where’s Marco Rubio’s office?” He gave me directions: Down the hall, through the tunnel to the Dirksen building, take a right through the cafeteria . . .

Alas, poor Marco! Florida’s Tea Party superstar has been stuck in a temporary office in the basement, behind the cafeteria, on a dead-dead corridor across the hall from the Senate stationery store!

The new senator himself wasn’t in — “spending some family time” after the swearing-in, his receptionist said. Rubio’s office is next door to the temporary office of newly-elected Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana. A staffer in Coats’ office explained to me that unlike the House — where departing members are whisked out of their offices and the new members whisked in before the swearing-in — the Senate gives departing members up to five months to clear out of their offices. So new senators like Rubio and Coats might not be in their permanent offices until May.

Anyway, after I’d jotted down the names of the press secretaries for these two new members (collecting such contacts being the main purpose of my trip), then I went back to the elevator to get up to the ground floor and make my way out. As I approached the elevator, I saw a familiar face.

“Senator Lott!” I said. For indeed, there was Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, former Senate majority leader, just walking down the hall. No entourage, no aides or staffers or reporters following him around — just a senator walking through the basement of the Dirksen building.

“How you doing?” said Sen. Lott, who didn’t seem to recognize me as well as I recognized him. “You having a good time?”

“Oh, yes — having a great time!” I answered. “Good to see you.”

“Thanks — good to see you, too,” he said, and off he went. Whether he was going to get some stationery or to check in on Rubio and Coats, I’m not sure.

My adventure on Capitol Hill continued, but I’ll tell the rest of it in the next update. Have you contributed to Shoe Leather Fund yet?

UPDATE VI: Leaving the Dirksen building, I continued up toward the Capitol, crossing Constitution Avenue. I walked south across the east front of the Capitol — past the rows of SUVs and town cars waiting to convey congressional leaders to their post-swearing-in destinations — and when I got to the other side, near Independence Avenue, I saw a small group of pro-life protesters:

Nearby, famous pro-life activist Randall Terry was recording his podcast/broadcast TV show:

I had a good conversation with Mr. Terry who, despite his firebrand reputation as the founder of Operation Rescue, is actually a genial and humorous fellow. While I was talking to him, I saw a familiar face coming up the sidewalk from the direction of the Longworth building:

Excuse the unfortunate shadow on the photo. That’s Deb McCown, whom I supervised when she was an intern at The Washington Times. Deb’s now an award-winning reporter for the Bristol (Va.) Herald-Courier and was in town to cover the swearing-in of Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-9), whom regular readers will remember from my final trip of the 2010 campaign season.

Deb had been to Griffith’s office (1108 Longworth), where my buddy Blake Roark is now a member of Griffith’s congressional staff. Deb said Griffith wasn’t in his office, and she had been told he was in the Capitol, so she was hurrying on her way over there to try to find him for an interview. Obviously, she succeeded, because here’s her story for the Herald-Courier:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Speaking with his family outside the House chamber, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith searched for a pen.
The only one he had was red, and he had to sign the paperwork that comes with taking office as a member of Congress: the oath of office and a pledge not to reveal any state secrets.
The Salem Republican, who unseated 28-year incumbent Rick Boucher in November’s election, was sworn in as Virginia’s 9th District Congressman on Wednesday, taking the oath along with other members of the 112th Congress.
Asked for an interview, he made an unusual request: “Let’s trade pens.”
“I’ve decided I’m not going to sign my oath in red,” he said. . . .

Read the rest of Deb’s story. It’s good to see a young journalist doing Old School reporting. Whether or not I deserve any credit for my former intern’s success, I’ll claim it anyway. And I’ll finish telling you about the rest of my day on Capitol Hill in another update but . . . hey, have you hit the tip jar yet?

UPDATE VII: OK, so Deb had to hurry off in pursuit of Griffith. I waved good-bye and headed off toward the Longworth building. The crossing light at Independence Avenue was red, so I had to wait. I glanced back toward the Capitol and did a double-take: Who was that familiar-looking lady walking down the sidewalk toward me?

It was newly sworn-in Congresswoman Buerkle, with some of her staff and family, en route to her new office which — as she informed me — was in 1630 Longworth.

Once again, I made a snap decision: I’d scratch my original plan and just shadow Team Buerkle. The new plan proved extraordinarily convenient from a journalistic perspective.

For example, when we got to the entrance to the Longworth building, there was a line to get through the metal detectors. But I was now part of a congressional entourage, you see. Buerkle flashed her membership pin and — whoosh! — we sailed right through the security checkpoint.

Kinda cool. Anyway, we went to her office and I made sure I got this photo:

That’s a photo I wasn’t sure I’d ever see. Remember that three-week vote count that didn’t end until the Democrat conceded right before Thanksgiving?  Inside her office, several of Buerkle’s supporters who had traveled from New York for the swearing-in were waiting for her.

There was coffee and cookies (I never miss a chance at free food), and I talked to some of her supporters about the amazing campaign. They asked how I’d become interested in Buerkle’s campaign. I explained that several people (including the Lonely Conservative) had urged me to write about Buerkle. My first post on NY-25 was Oct. 12 — when I was in Boston to cover the Sean Bielat campaign, and I wrote:

Pete Da Tech Guy and I are planning a r0ad trip together and hope to visit the 25th District next week. The Cook Political Report just downgraded Maffei’s seat from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat,” and if you’ll go support Ann Marie Buerkle, it might be rated a “toss-up” by the time we get there.

Well, of course, by the time we did get there — Sunday, Oct. 17 —  the situation looked bleak. Buerkle was being slammed with Democrat attack ads, and there was that Syracuse Post-Standard story about the poll showing her trailing by 12 points. That was absolutely the rock-bottom moment of the campaign and, frankly, I was a lot less confident at that point than my “landslide” prediction might have suggested.

Some of the New York folks I talked to yesterday at Congressman Buerkle’s office had been interviewed by Da Tech Guy at the Oct. 18 press conference where Ann Marie rebutted the Democrat attack ads. How weird was it — what a strange twist of fate — that out of all the congressional campaigns in the country, Pete and I just happened to show up in that district on that day? How strange that Buerkle ended up being the 242nd seat — the last Republican to clinch a win — in the biggest GOP landslide in more than 60 years?

While her supporters posed for pictures with the new Congresswoman at her Longworthy building office yesterday, her staff was busy arranging to get everyone back over to the Capitol for the swearing-in photo. They had to get a wheelchair for Mrs. Colella; it’s a long way through the subterranean passages between Longworth and the Capitol and, while Mrs. Colella is ambulatory, she walks slowly and that long trek would have been quite an ordeal for her.

Congresswoman Buerkle gave her supporters a brief speech, and then it was time for the family (and me) to depart to the Capitol with two staffers guiding the group. I’ll continue the story in the next update. And if you get the feeling maybe you should hit the tip jar . . . well, don’t fight the feeling!

UPDATE VIII: Sorry this story is taking so long to finish, but I keep getting interrupted by breaking news — a bomb scare in Maryland, Herman Cain speaking at CPAC — and so now we continue with the adventure.

We went into the catacombs beneath the Longworth Building and through a tunnel where we boarded a little subway train. I sat in the same car with Rep. Buerkle’s mother, brother and nephew. The train took us to the Capitol and we came in through the basement, until we arrived in Statuary Hall, where there was a table set up to sign in the members arriving for their photos. I took a few seconds of video:

Note Rep. Buerkle’s take-charge manner, leading the way. Also, notice her slightly exasperated expression: “Oh, no, it’s McCain with his pink camera again!” By this point, we were running a minute or two late, in part because Rep. Buerkle’s mother had to go by a wheelchair-accessible route through the underbelly of the Longworth building.

When we finally arrived in the room where they were getting the photos taken, there was a gaggle of reporters, photographers and TV cameras:

This is where the long wait began. Evidently, our delayed arrival had prompted Speaker Boehner to take a break. (I’ll just take a wild guess that he stepped out for a cigarette or two.) Meanwhile, staffers arranged Rep. Buerkle and her family for the their photo:

Speaker Boehner came in, quickly posed for photos, and left. We then exited through the other side of the room. Rep. Buerkle stopped for an interview with a reporter, and I bumped into Jon Ward of the Daily Caller. We talked a for minute, then I followed Rep. Buerkle’s part down a corridor where we bumped into yet another familiar face:

Rep. Renee Ellmers (NC-2) and Ann Marie have kind of become buddies in the 112th Congress. They both ran “outsider”-style grassroots campaigns and both had to go through extended vote-counts in close races. (Ellmers beat Bob Etheridge, who didn’t concede until Nov. 19.)

Anyway, after that surprise interview opportunity, I headed outside to check my phone calls — I’d turned my phone off while I was in the photo-op room — and then on to the evening’s celebrations. This is the part where one of my Tweets led to those Tabitha Hale marriage rumors. I’ll tell the rest of that story in the final update, but don’t you think it’s about time to hit the tip jar?

UPDATE IX: Before I split up with Team Buerkle, I made sure I got the answer to the key question: Where’s the party tonight?

It was a joyous discovery that the swearing-in reception would be held at The Dubliner, a fine establishment where I’ve enjoyed many a post-deadline refreshment. (The Dubliner is the nearest bar to the offices of The Washington Times, so that was where we’d meet for late-night beers back in the day.) And it was just three blocks away from the Union Pub, where Americans For Prosperity was hosting another reception.

As I walked back north in front of the Capitol, I did something professional D.C. journalists seldom do:

This kind of photo is a bit too tourist-y, you see. It’s weird how people take their vacations and come to Washington to see the sights that locals barely even notice. I usually come into DC via the GW Parkway and Connecticut Avenue, drive right past the Washington Monument and don’t even blink. Something else you get so used to seeing in D.C. that you don’t usually notice it:

That’s Brett Baier of Fox News doing a report in front of the Capitol. Actually, he was going over his notes prior to going on air. On days when something big like a State of the Union Address is happening, you’ll see six or eight camera crews scattered around the Capitol grounds doing what they call “stand ups.” Apparently the rule in TV news is, you aren’t really doing congressional reporting unless people can see the Capitol dome behind your head while you’re talking. I don’t think that rule applies to the Internet, but I figured I’d post that picture of me in front of the Capitol dome, just in case.

Well, I went to the Dubliner and, because I was a guest (and the beer was free) I consider the reception to be off-the-record. Let liberals imagine what they will: Lobbyists with briefcases full of unmarked bills from “secret foreign donors,” etc. In all truth, it was just a bunch of people having a party. And why shouldn’t they have a party? They won the election. I talked to some guys about the George Allen 2006 Senate campaign and one told me that Allen is definitely running in 2012. Is that some kind of “exclusive”? Don’t know. Don’t care. I was off the clock.

After about an hour, the guest of honor showed up — Congresswoman Buerkle had to go to another reception before she came to her own reception — and I stayed about another 30 minutes before leaving for the AFP blogger bash up Massachusetts Avenue at the Union Pub. That was where I found Tabitha Hale borrowing a fedora from this dude.

Tabitha (a/k/a Pink Elephant Pundit) is New Media director for FreedomWorks. She’s also from North Carolina and 25 years old — which makes her practically an old maid by down-home standards. So I started in on my usual pro-marriage encouragement harassment, telling these young folks they ought to run off and get married post-haste. And that’s when I Tweeted this:

How that blew up into a huge online controversy, I’m not sure. But if it results in Tabitha getting a diamond ring from somebody, I figure maybe she’ll finally hit my tip jar.

Category: Ann Marie Buerkle, Congress, Da Tech Guy, New York, North Carolina, Polls, Renee Ellmers, Tabitha Hale, The Lonely Conservative

LIVE AT FIVE – 1.6.10

Posted on | January 6, 2011 | 2 Comments

TOP NEWS
Boehner Sets Humble Tone As He Becomes Speaker

Speakers old and new

New Speaker aims to remind fellow Congressmen that the key word is service

Gibbs Departure Begins Retooling Of Obama Staff
Pundits, comedians hardest hit



Ballmer Does CES: Keynote Speech On Microsoft
Kinect, Widows Phone 7, Windows 7 OS cited as high points in the Microsoft year



POLITICS
GOP Takes Charge In The House

John Boehner takes charge as Speaker of the House

Party-line fight promptly erupts over rules changes

Partisan “Scar Tissue” Can’t Be Ignored in 112th Congress (Video)

Daley Rumors Feed Accusations That “Chicago Machine” Is Taking Over DC

Ga. Lawmaker Targets Birthright Citizenship



Murdered Former Presidential Aide Confused, Disoriented On Videotape



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Starbucks Cuts Name, “Coffee” From Logo; Reaction Generally Negative
Goldman Flooded With Facebook Orders
Motorola Launches Xoom Tablet With Android 3.0
AT&T Plans 20 New Phones, Heavy Android Push



SPORTS
Bert Blyleven Finally Elected To Hall of Fame; Roberto Alomar Voted In On First Ballot

RHP Bert Blyleven pitches in Game 5 of the 1987 World Series

Dutch-born pitcher once credited strong fingers of curveball hand to sticking fingers in dykes as a youth

Heisman-Winning QB Cam Newton Runs Away With It All




Celtics Survive Late Spurs Run To Win Battle Of NBA’s Best

Bulls Fall Short Against Nyets



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Camille Grammer Not Returning To “Real Housewives”

Would you?

Nicole Kidman: The Harper’s Bazaar Interview

Cops: Lindsay Under The Influence At Betty Ford

Robert Pattinson To Star In Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis”

Christina Aguilera: One Big Awkward Family

Carlos Santana Weds Drummer Cindy Blackman

Discovery Channel, Catholic Church Team Up For Exorcism Series



FOREIGNERS
Pakistani Mainstream Religious Groups Cheer Governor’s Assassination
A NEW (PRC STEALTH) CHALLENGER APPEARS
As Vote Looms. South Sudan And Renegade General Reconcile
Heavy Rains Hamper Rockhampton Recovery Efforts
ECOWAS Considering Military Options If Gbagbo Continues To Resist Stepping Down
Venezuela’s Legislative Opposition Vows To Bring Down Chavez in 2012



BLOGS & STUFF
Protein Wisdom: Pragmatism Ascending
Cold Fury: Sweet, Sweet Liberal Tears
Cubachi: Palin Gets Results – Death Panels Removed From Medicare Regulations
Gates of Vienna: More Dumb Dem Analysis
Hit & Run: The Fraud Behind The Autism/Vaccination Scare
Jawa Report: Muslim KFC Worker Flips Out Over Bacon Request
Kevin Williamson: No, Ezra, Obamacare Will Not Reduce The Deficit



— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five
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