Friday Quick Links
Mitch McConnell brought the US Senate to a standstill yesterday in retaliation for what he claims is Democratic obstructionism on confirming Bush appointments. He forced the clerks to read the entire Lieberman-Warner climate change bill aloud, all 500 pages. It took 9 hours. I can only assume the reason why Democrats did not ever take such a tact when Republicans were in charge is that we feared they would pummel us in the press for it. And yet when Republicans do it, we do not pummel them in the press for it.... McConnell is up for re-election in November, and I'm hoping Kentucky voters hear lots from his opponent about this kind of foolishness, even if our fine media doesn't seem to care.

The climate change bill, by the way, is dead. 12 votes short, though really 10 if you figure that Obama and McCain both said they would have voted yes.

Not dead? Paul Pierce. Carried off the court in the middle of the 3rd period against the Lakers last night, then carted to the dressing room in a wheelchair, Pierce determined his knee ligaments were not torn as feared and limped back through the tunnel and onto the parquet to lead the Celtics to victory in the first game of the NBA Finals a la Larry Bird against the Indiana Pacers. It was....awwwesome.

Shepherd Fairey prints for Obama are cool (here's "Progress" and "Hope".) . If you have one, hold on to it. They are limited edition, and selling for bunches on the intertube auction sites. Would love to get my hands on a poster of one, and/or a shirt, but seem hard to come by at the moment.

We could use some hope, change and progress these days. Unemployment jumped more than it has in 20 years. New figures are 5.5%.