1,000!

Believe it or not kids, this is the 1,000th post here at the Raisin. It all started on February 17, 2007. That’s when the Raisin was born, and I can’t believe how time has flown. I remember when it was just a baby, and I had no idea what direction it would take…

Oh, they grow up so fast.

Now I feel all nostalgic. Baby pictures do that to me. We’ve looked at baby pictures before. In fact, more than once, and I thought I’d comb the internets looking for more. Let’s see if you can guess who they are.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

From MEDIA MATTERS:

In recent months, Glenn Beck has repeatedly used his television show to plug gold as a way for his audience to “protect” themselves from the possible economic collapse of the U.S. dollar and economy. At the same time, several precious metals investment firms have regularly advertised on his television show, and Beck is a “Paid Spokesman” for Goldline International, which has an “exclusive” sponsorship deal with his radio show and bills itself as “Glenn Beck’s Choice for Gold.”

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Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

Uh-oh, looks like Tom Coburn is taking some time off from being John Ensign’s marriage counselor and is doing some senatorin’.

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate made little progress on a broad healthcare overhaul on Tuesday, as members battled over cuts in coverage for the elderly and failed to vote on two pending amendments.

In a sign of the long, slow path ahead, senators could not agree on a schedule for their first votes. That left plenty of time for mutual accusations of hypocrisy and scare tactics.

Republicans condemned more than $400 billion in cuts in Medicare, the health program for the elderly, and said they would eventually mean fewer services.

“What it’s going to do to our seniors, I have a message for you: You’re going to die sooner,” Republican Senator Tom Coburn said.

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(top shelf:  Chuck Yer-Ass-Is Grassley, Mitch No-Chin McConnell middle shelf:  Heady Lamar Alexander, Captain Underpants bottom shelf:  James I’m-As-Dumb-As-Coburn Inhofe)

OMG! They Killed Sanity!! You Bastards!

From The New York Times:

CHARLESTON, S.C. — When Senator Lindsey Graham joined forces last month with Senator John Kerry on a compromise to the climate change legislation known as cap and trade, it was the last straw for the Charleston County Republican Party.

The county party, which has traditionally been considered moderate, voted by a wide margin to censure Mr. Graham in harsh terms.

Their grievance list was long: it cited the senator for calling opponents of immigration law change “bigots,” holding the Republican Party “hostage” by participating in bipartisan maneuvers, voting for the Wall Street bailout and tarnishing the ideals of freedom.

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(left to right:  Joe “Kyle” Wilson, Lindseypoo “Kenny” Graham, Jim “Cartman” DeMint, Sparky Marky Mark “Stan” Sanford)

The Breakfast Schlub

From MinnPost:

Minnesota 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann will burnish her conservative standing when she appears at the 1st Annual Tea Party Convention in February. The Nashville event also will feature former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

City Pages says Bachmann will give a breakfast speech, while Palin is the keynote speaker at the Saturday evening main event Feb. 6.

Tickets for the weekend convention are now on sale for $549 but don’t include accommodations at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center.

549 bucks? They had better have something good for breakfast! Don’t worry, kids, I’m on the case! I’ll find out what the breakfast menu is. (Make your own jokes about teabaggers having a convention at the Gaylord.)

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Teabaggers Can Dream, Can’t They?

From THINK PROGRESS:

In recent days, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has indicated that she may be open to a conservative presidential dream ticket in 2012: Palin-Beck (or Beck-Palin). “I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I’m not there yet,” Palin told Newsmax. “But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He’s a hoot.” Fox and Friends plugged the idea yesterday morning and asked Palin whether she would run with Beck. She kept the door open, saying, “I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see.”

But just a few hours later on his radio show, Beck shot down the idea, saying he was “absolutely” ruling out a Palin-Beck ticket. He explained that if he had the number two job, Palin would always be “yapping” like they were in “the kitchen”:

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Keep On Truckin’, Little Ricky Goodhair

From The Houston Chronicle:

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas’ elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin’s Democratic governor.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.

But as one Democratic operative puts it: “That’s like having a party in the corral after all the horses have run out.”

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Something Stinks on the Links

From POLITICO:

By all public estimations, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a pretty good golfer.

He should be, given the $82,998 his political action committee has spent on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

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(In the golf cart, left to right:  Joseph Bruno, Jack Abramoff, Steve Buyer, Salvatore DiMasi)