Sen. Jack Reed Discusses Stimulus Bill on MSNBC

Look!! It's a real life Democrat, and he's informed!! How unusual.

Joe Biden to take last overseas congressional trip

By GottaLaff

Joe on the go:

Vice president-elect Joe Biden will travel to Southwest Asia later this week on his final overseas trip as a sitting member of Congress.

In a statement released today, Biden's office said he was traveling with the bipartisan group in his capacity as outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"The purpose of this trip is fact-finding: in the coming months both the Executive and Legislative branches will carefully review U.S. policy toward this region, and the trip will allow its participants to bring current and first-hand information to these reviews," said Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander.

Here are his traveling companions: Incoming Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, Sen. Jack Reed, Republicans Susan Collins, and Lindsey Graham.

Biden's office also said the delegation "will make it clear to foreign leaders that they are not there to speak on behalf of the U.S. government, or convey policy positions for the incoming administration."

It's good to see him staying right on top of things. Let's hope he finds the facts he's looking for.

Reachiness

By GottaLaff

Barack Obama is the reachiest outiest prez ever. Shameless flirt. Who will he end up asking to prom?

Omg, what if Michelle finds out? It's like all those sit-coms in which the guy makes dates with two girls on the same night, they discover what he did, they face off with him, and wacky, zany fun-trouble ensues.

Oh, but I'm being silly. That won't happen. Besides, from what I hear, Scowcroft looks ridiculous in a formal gown:

From NBC's Andrea Mitchell: Democratic sources say that former Bush 41 National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft is one of the people whom Barack Obama has been consulting about how to craft his national security team. Knowledgeable sources say Obama reached out to Scowcroft two days ago to discuss defense and national security issues.

Scowcroft, who first served as President Ford's national security adviser, was an early and vocal critic of the Iraq war -- starting in August 2002.

Scowcroft's already a better date than a lot of those mean girl types, like, you know, Rumsfeld and Cheney and Wolfowitz, oh my.

Scowcroft is very close to Defense Secretary Bob Gates, who is considered a possible holdover for the cabinet.

Another key adviser to the president-elect on defense matters -- Sen. Jack Reed -- is a leading member of the Armed Services Committee who traveled with Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan. Reed is also very close to Gates.

Sources say that with or without Gates in the mix, a possible national security adviser in the new Administration is Gen Jim Jones, retired Marine Commandant and former NATO Supreme Commander.

Hold the fort! That's three reach-outs. Obama better watch his step. I feel some slapstick coming on.

Another is former Clinton Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, a key Obama adviser during the campaign. Also in the mix: Former Assistant Secretary of State and close Obama adviser Susan Rice, as well as former Clinton National Secretary Council and State Department official Jim Steinberg, most recently head of the LBJ Foreign Policy school at the University of Texas.

My sides are splitting! The laugh track is going bonkers! He's way over the limit at six, count 'em six, reachies! I competely missed the call on this one! What's Scowcroft gonna say? Hoooo boy! What a fix!

But Obama is pulling it off. Everyone seems to be responding well to his overtures. What a guy. No wonder he's the leading man.

Moral of the episode: Reachiness works, but just not in sit-coms.

The whereabouts of potential veep picks

Get your final predictions in, and yes, you will be ridiculed.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and his staff had a 15-minute meeting with Obama at a hotel in Richmond, Va. The governor later joined Obama at a campaign event in Chester, Va., and said he would let the campaign speak about whether he's been asked to be the No. 2. Kaine planned to fly late Friday night directly from Virginia to Denver, where the Democratic National Convention begins Monday, according to three people with knowledge of his travel plans.

-Sen. Joe Biden had no public events Thursday, his staff said. He spent most of the day at his home in northern Delaware with his wife, Jill; son, Beau, who is Delaware's attorney general; and his niece, Missy Owens, who has worked in his campaigns.

-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius participated Thursday morning in a U.S. Energy Department contest for students at a Topeka-area high school. She later flew to Iowa to campaign for Obama in the afternoon.

-Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh was working and spending time with his family at his home in Washington, said his spokesman, Eric Kleiman.

-Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed was working and spending time with his family at his home in Jamestown, R.I., Reed spokesman Chip Unruh said. Reed told an Associated Press reporter late Thursday that he was not Obama's choice and had not been asked for any background information.

-New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spent Thursday in Florida. She addressed sheet metal workers in Lake Buena Vista and campaigned for Obama in Boca Raton and Taramac.

Hagel: Character and judgment more important than experience

By GottaLaff

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, don't you realize you're sounding more like Obama every day?

“Each candidate has strengths and weaknesses, and experience does matter,” Hagel said. “But what matters more in my opinion is character and judgment. And judgment meaning who is it that you bring around, who is it that you listen to? Can you make the right decisions for the right reasons on behalf of your country and the world?”

Both Hagel and Reed spent years in the military. Reed attended West Point and retired as an Army captain, and Hagel earned two Purple Hearts fighting in the Vietnam War. Reed recounted the experience of traveling to military posts with Obama.

“There was something that was really dynamic,” he said. “We were trying to leave the headquarters of the 101st and we couldn't get down to the car because soldiers were flocking out of their duty positions to get autographs, to say hello, to take a picture, and it was just genuine, spontaneous and very, very enthusiastic throughout the entire trip.”

No, it was a photo op. Nothing more. And that's something J Sid would never, ever do. He has too much experience to waste time on that kind of thing.... unless there's a refrigerated cheese display around.

GOP Group Criticizes Obama for Trip With GOP Senator

By Paddy


This is a head scratcher. Are they just looking to cause problems for Obama any way they can?

The Republican Jewish Coalition is criticizing Senator Obama for traveling to the Middle East with a member of the Republican Party: Senator Hagel of Nebraska. The anti-war Republican is joining Mr. Obama and Senator Reed, a Democrat of Rhode Island, on a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan later this summer. Mr. Obama is also traveling to Israel, and the Republican Jewish group yesterday called on him to jettison Mr. Hagel from that leg of the trip, citing a record that they characterized as unsupportive of the Jewish state.

There has been no indication that Mr. Hagel would be accompanying Mr. Obama to Israel, and the Obama campaign wouldn't comment yesterday. The National Jewish Democratic Council suggested the coalition's statement was bizarre. "The RJC should get its facts right. Obama is going to Iraq with Hagel, not Israel," the Democratic group's executive director, Ira Forman, said. He also voiced skepticism at the RJC's newfound criticism of Mr. Hagel. "For the past 12 years, he's been a Republican senator and they've never had a problem with his record up to now," he said.