Awaz Apni

Odds and ends from two days of hearings... 1.  The GOP, or at least a significant portion of it, really does appear to be becoming the party of McCoughey.  The hallmark of the McCoughey method was to read the fine print in legislation, grab something out of context, and make the strongest possible claim against it.  Such things are rather easily debunked...but they prove to be remarkably difficult to stay debunked , especially within closed media loops.  That seems to be the case, according to a nice Greg Sargent explanation , of the "veggie clip" that's being circulated by conservatives to "prove" that Elena Kagan is a totalitarian or something like that.  I think, although I don't have the patience to track it down, that the same was true about the abortion material the Republicans were pushing on the second day of questioning.  The thing is that the combination of open government and the internet really has enabled a whole army of Betsy McCougheys to hav...

Odds and ends from two days of hearings... 1.  The GOP, or at least a significant portion of it, really does appear to be becoming the party of McCoughey.  The hallmark of the McCoughey method was to read the fine print in legislation, grab something out of context, and make the strongest possible claim against it.  Such things are rather easily debunked...but they prove to be remarkably difficult to stay debunked , especially within closed media loops.  That seems to be the case, according to a nice Greg Sargent explanation , of the "veggie clip" that's being circulated by conservatives to "prove" that Elena Kagan is a totalitarian or something like that.  I think, although I don't have the patience to track it down, that the same was true about the abortion material the Republicans were pushing on the second day of questioning.  The thing is that the combination of open government and the internet really has enabled a whole army of Betsy McCougheys to hav...

Do you still remember that private members' bill by Pablo Rodriguez to legally force the government to implement Kyoto? Well, it is poised to pass the Senate today , making it law for "Canada's New Government", along with succeeding governments, to meet the Kyoto targets. Harper's government said it would not be in the interest of the country to implement Kyoto, and is willing to go to court about it (Steve sure likes going to court). So while it is a toss-up whether this bill means anything or not, it is still an achievement for Canada to have such legislation passed, and I applaud Mr. Rodriguez for drafting this bill. But if this does go to court, it might very well bring out the less-Canada oriented side of "Canada's New Government".

Do you still remember that private members' bill by Pablo Rodriguez to legally force the government to implement Kyoto? Well, it is poised to pass the Senate today , making it law for "Canada's New Government", along with succeeding governments, to meet the Kyoto targets. Harper's government said it would not be in the interest of the country to implement Kyoto, and is willing to go to court about it (Steve sure likes going to court). So while it is a toss-up whether this bill means anything or not, it is still an achievement for Canada to have such legislation passed, and I applaud Mr. Rodriguez for drafting this bill. But if this does go to court, it might very well bring out the less-Canada oriented side of "Canada's New Government".