Elena Kagan will be the 112th justice of the Supreme Court, being confirmed 63-37, with the votes of 5 GOP senators. Unlike most conservatives, I supported Kagan's nomination; this is based primarily on by belief that a President is entitled to his choice of a qualified nominee. Moreover, General Kagan has a first-rate mind, and faithful readers will remember that my final break with the Democrats occurred with the unconscionable treatment of Robert Bork during his unsuccessful nomination to the SCOTUS. In a certain sense, I see my respectful support for her nomination as taking the higher road.
I made it clear that I would not have selected Ms. Kagan; obviously I would prefer a brilliant conservative jurist to Kagan. The reasons I opposed Justice Sotomayor didn't deal with her qualifications as an experienced jurist on the appellate court or her ethnic heritage as a Latina, but she had made a series of imprudent statements (i.e., the infamous 'wise Latina' and making policy from the bench) and I had concerns regarding how she handled the Ricci case and her suspect intellectual leadership and contribution as a federal judge.
One of the interesting things about the Senate vote is Senator Ben Nelson's (D-NE) sole Democratic vote against the nomination. I suspect that Nelson is attempting to mend fences in the aftermath of the infamous Cornhusker Kickback in the Democratic Party Health Care Bill, passed into law earlier this year. Over the past several weeks, he has become a more consistent crossover voter, particularly on issues involving federal spending.
New Nominee for 2010 Jackass of the Year: Al Franken
I already have a crowded field of nominees, including defending Jackass Alan Grayson, Michael Posner, Anthony Weiner, and John Morton. Al Franken (D-MN), best known for his stint as a comedian on NBC's SNL, barely won a disputed election in 2008, decided, while officiating the Senate as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a critical speech on the Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court (see above), started making goofy faces and gestures, which thankfully were not captured by C-SPAN cameras.
This is not the first time Al Franken has disgraced the Senate with his unprofessional behavior; it wasn't that long ago when he refused a commonly granted courtesy extension request by Joe Lieberman to wrap up his remarks. As for McConnell's confronting Franken after the speech: don't sweat the small stuff. Al Franken's behavior reflects on the judgment of those Minnesotans whom voted an intellectual vapid comedian into office. Juvenile behavior is Franken's only way of getting attention, because he has nothing of value to contribute to substantive policy discussions.
BP Finally Seals the Broken Oil Well
BP successfully completed a static kill, earlier than expected, today, which all but eliminates the possibility of future spills. The static kill, similar to the top kill procedure, plugs the pipe, but there is the possibility of leakage between the outer casing and the pipe, which is the purpose for the "bottom kill", the aim of the two relief wells.
No doubt when all is said and done, Obama will try to find some way to claim credit for stopping the oil spill by nagging BP to death, for the resignation of Tony Hayward, and for a $20B shakedown of BP. BP, nevertheless, deserves credit for devising on the fly, in full view of the world to see, a working solution to a worst-case scenario under very difficult conditions; it has repeatedly given assurances it would pay all the bills even as Obama and seemingly all of Washington engaged in demagoguery using BP as a scapegoat. Maybe I need to start my own international "apologize for Obama" tour, starting with the UK; it's unconscionable so many of my country's politicians seem to be engaging in thinly-disguised Anglophobic demagoguery over the Gulf spill.
On a side note, my British pageviewers edged past my American readers for the first time today, and Brazilians were a close third. Welcome back to all my faithful readers!
Annual Status Report on Entitlement Ponzi Schemes Not Good
Well, the annual report on Medicare and social security suggests that the Democratic Party Healthcare Law has put off Medicare's day of reckoning a dozen years to 2029, while the social security trust fund reserve exhausts itself 8 years later. This fiscal year (ending at the end of next month) and next year are expected to be the first years in decades where we've had to draw down on the social security reserve because of lost payroll tax income. I agree with Medicare actuary Richard Foster whom casts doubts on the smoke and mirrors accounting. I give HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius credit for at least questioning some of the illusory Medicare cuts (e.g., cutting payments to doctors) will ever take place.
Political Cartoon
IBD cartoonist Michael Ramirez responds to the White House's 19-month-old Bushbashery, over 308 million served. In the meanwhile, in making his own mark, Obama has reappointed Bush's original Fed Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, his Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, and, of course, in Afghanistan, he's put General Petreaus in charge (whom he barely addressed during his 2-year Presidential campaign and whose surge policy, which Obama unambiguously opposed, has made all the difference in stabilizing Iraq). Obama seems obsessed with Bush's contribution to the national debt and is on track to beat Bush's total over 8 years during his first term in office.
Quote of the Day
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
Grace Hansen
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook Series
Louis Armstrong, "Jeepers Creepers"
