Snow Flaky

From POLITICO:

NEW YORK CITY – There’s nothing like a bitter winter storm to put Northeastern pols in the hot seat. And this week’s massive snowfall across much of New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic region seems to have done the trick.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent a second day Tuesday batting back questions about his administration’s response to the Christmas weekend deluge, urging citizens to stay calm while city agencies work to clear the streets.

Across the river in New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s team is struggling to explain how both the governor and his second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, ended up on out-of-state vacations during a widely forecast blizzard.

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Snow Job

A blizzard blanketed New Jersey, but no worries, kids. Governor Chris Christie knows how to deal with Snow!

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Just Desserts

From Fred Hiatt at The Washington Post:

Is Elmo a Kenyan, too? Or maybe a Socialist? He is awfully red, after all.

I ask because the Sesame Street puppet recently visited the White House to support “Let’s Move,” first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. And that campaign has become, in one of the more striking political stories of the past year, the latest battleground in the left-right culture wars.

…snip…

The obesity epidemic is a genuine public health emergency, with vast implications for the nation’s well-being, economy and even national security. And yet, could anyone really be against children eating healthier food and getting more exercise? Could anyone really object to White House assistant chef Sam Kass trying to interest Elmo in a vegetable-laden burrito?

Well, yes, if Michelle Obama is for it, someone will be against it. Someone like Glenn Beck, for example, who was moved to rail against carrot sticks, or Sarah Palin, who warned that Obama wants to deprive us all of dessert.

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Yertle the Turtle Out of His Shell

From Ezra Klein at The Washington Post (December 22, 2010):

Mitch McConnell says the darndest things

(Thank you, Ezra, for that headline! You made my life so easy today.)

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Pat Robertson Said That? He Must Be High!

From The Washington Post:

Television evangelist Pat Robertson has made inflammatory remarks in recent years that offend gays, Muslims and others, but a recent comment he made on his Christian Broadcasting Network was more notable for whom it pleased: people who want to see marijuana legalized.

“We’re locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana, and the next thing you know they’ve got 10 years,” the controversial pastor said on “The 700 Club” on Dec. 16, in a clip unearthed by bloggers this week. “I’m not exactly for the use of drugs – don’t get me wrong – but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot and that kind of thing, I mean, it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people.”

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Merry Christmas, Raisinettes!

I was busy going over to the neighbors’ houses to give the little kids their presents, so I don’t have anything prepared.  I hope you don’t mind if I dust off a few things to wish you all a happy holiday.

All the shopping is done…

The McGrinch Who Tried to Steal Christmas

I wanted to give all you dear Raisinettes a present for Christmas.  For the past 2 years, we’ve been singing the Grincheney Song, but this year, I thought there should be a new Grinch.  In fact, a McGrinch.

To the tune of You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, by Dr. Seuss, performed by Thurl Ravenscroft:

The End of DADT? That Has a Nice Ring to It!

From DNAinfo:

MANHATTAN — For Christmas this year Lt. Dan Choi got a promise ring.

Choi had sent his West Point graduation ring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to remind the senator of a promise he made to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, banning gays and lesbians from serving openly, by the end of the year.

With President Barack Obama’s signing of a law overturning the ban Wednesday, Reid made good on his promise and returned the ring to Choi, a Manhattan resident.

“Five months after I promised to repeal DADT, I’m so happy to give this West Point ring back to Lt. Dan Choi,” Reid tweeted along with a photo of the exchange in his office.

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