Quickie- Stallin' the stallin': Senate Parliamentarian Derails Tom Coburn

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

Awww, did someone get obstructed?

For the second time in as many months, Senate Democrats have prevented Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) from using procedural maneuvers to stall debate, thanks to controversial rulings by the chamber’s Parliamentarian, Alan Frumin.

That was today's Quickie. Will you still respect me in the morning?

Justice Dept. OLC nominee Dawn Johnsen, still waits for confirmation, goes back to teaching

By GottaLaff

Remember Dawn Johnsen? Think back... wayyy back. The woman who could nail Bush, remember? I've posted numerous times about her impending confirmation and all the stalling. Ring a bell?

"Dawn Johnsen, whose nomination to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has stalled, reportedly has gone back to Indiana University's law school to teach a class there while Senate Democrats count and recount noses to see if they might be able to muster 60 votes for cloture. Gonna be a tough vote next month, though."
-- Al Kamen, in today's Washington Post "In the Loop" column

If you want an excellent rundown of all the nauseating details, go here

Alaska Democrats want Palin's e-mails; she's still stalling

By GottaLaff

Get out your scrapbooks, kiddies! It's time to take a fond look back at Grandma 2012's e-mail issues... again:

The Alaska Democratic Party says the state's repeated delays in providing public records it has asked for involving Gov. Sarah Palin are "excessive and unwarranted."

The state notified the Democrats earlier this week that it would likely need until the end of March if not longer to provide records first requested more than four months ago, on Sept. 22, during the heat of the presidential campaign when Palin was the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate.

In the request, Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins sought Palin's schedules and calendars between Jan. 1, 2007, and Sept. 15, 2008. The Democrats also sought various categories of e-mails for about the same time period, including:

• All those between Palin and state Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, or between Palin and state Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, with the words "abortion" or "AGIA," which is short for the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act;

• All e-mails from Palin containing the following words: babysitter, childcare, McCain, Obama, Democrat, Huckabee, Wal-Mart, Eskimo, Natives, Kuwait, passport, Ruedrich, or Kopp;

• All e-mails between Palin and her husband, Todd, with any of the following words: vote, veto, budget, oil, Monegan, or Wooten; and

• All e-mails between Palin and her sister, Molly McCann, with the words Wooten or Monegan. [...]

Kay Brown, Democratic Party communications director, said the party's request is straightforward and shouldn't be lumped in with other, bigger requests.

"These repeated delays are excessive and unwarranted. There is obvious obfuscation going on here. Sarah Palin is proving herself to be anti-transparent about her own communications and activities," Higgins said in a written statement. [...]

He said he's heard estimates that the requests may cover 50,000 e-mails, and each one must be reviewed by a state attorney to see if the information should be withheld for reasons such as executive privilege.

There's that E.P. phrase again. Bush III. Need a memory-jogger?

The process was complicated by the fact that Palin used a private Yahoo account for much state business. Technicians had to sift through e-mail accounts of 51 employees, including Cabinet members, executive staff and close aides, to look for e-mails from or to Palin. [...]

Public records in Alaska are generally supposed to be provided within 10 days, but the deadline can be extended for more complicated requests.

Q: How many investigations and ethics lapses does it take to be a Republican? A: Yes.