The Chris Moeller Archives

After the veto

Feingold's nailed it -- Congressional Democrats have been bullied long enough by George Bush on the Iraq War. The president is behaving like a petulant child, continuing to send our soldiers to die in Iraq, against the collective will of the America people, the Congress, and the freedom-loving world, and for no other reason than that he can't take the political heat of admitting a failed policy.

The money paragraph from the Wisconsin Senator:
I won't support a supplemental spending bill that doesn't have binding language to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq. There's a lot of talk right now about Democrats getting the President to sign a bill that only has benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet. But we're long past the point when just setting benchmarks was enough. Even if funding for the Iraq government is conditioned on it meeting those benchmarks, that misses the main point -- which is that, whether or not the Iraqis meet their benchmarks, we need to get out of Iraq so that we can focus on the national security threats we face around the world. And if those benchmarks aren't binding, then they are nothing more than suggestions. The American people aren't asking us to offer suggestions to the Iraqis -- they are asking us to bring our troops out of Iraq.

There must be no war funding bill sent to the president that does establish a firm redeployment date for our military, and that redeployment date should be damn near immediate.

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No more "free labor" in college sports, demands U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago.

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Add Cardinals Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda to the list. He was arrested Tuesday after being stopped for speeding, and an officer allegedly found drugs in his car-- marijuana and perhaps methamphetamine or cocaine as well. The arrest comes two days after 29-year-old pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in a car accident, quite possibly as an inebriated driver, and pot was also found in his vehicle. Hancock's death comes less than five years after 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile died of coronary disease in a Chicago hotel room. At what point did the Cardinals become "the Kennedy family" of professional sports teams?

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The world has lost two terrific "wing men." Actor/comedian Tom Poston died Monday at the age of 85. He was best loved by everyone for his role as handyman "George Utley" on the popular television series "Newhart" from 1982 to 1990, alongside Bob Newhart and the late Mary Frann. The befuddled "George" was played to deadpan perfection by Poston, and the actor had a hilarious turn on "Just Shoot Me" in recent years as well, as the former business partner of George Segal's character. Poston leaves behind three children and his wife of 6 years, another Newhart collaborator, the lovely Suzanne Pleshette.

Johnny Carson's "Mr. Excitement," Tommy Newsom, has died also. The former "Tonight Show" saxophonist and sometime-band leader, and one-time member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, was 78. Newsom was Carson's comic foil for three decades-- perhaps more deadpan than Poston, adopting the persona of the man without a personality. Carson announced Newsom's death years ago-- "He died of natural dullness," and once quipped that "As a child, Tommy got lost, and his parents couldn't describe him to police." Upon Carson's death in 2005, Newsom performed the classic tune "Here's That Rainy Day" with "Tonight Show" alums Doc Severinson and Ed Shaughnessy on "The Late Show with David Letterman." The episode was featured at last year's Moeller Television Festival in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He's survived by his wife of 50 years and their daughter.

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Happy birthday to my baby sis. She's three-years-old today. Doesn't look a day over two-and-three-quarters.

posted by CM @ 8:26 PM