Democrats Look To W. Va. To Shore Up Precarious 58-41 Majority
Now that we've all had time to mourn Robert Byrd, let's talk replacements! West Virginia's Secretary of State has stared at the confusing law-words on the subject and announced that Democratic Governor Manchin can appoint some Democrat to fill out almost the whole rest of Byrd's term; a special election will be held in 2012 to fill out the last two months of the term, for some reason, along with a real election to pick the Robert Byrd of the next fifty years. Will Manchin and his man-chin be that next Robert Byrd? He'd sure like to be![ WP ]It's actually pretty important to the Democrats that Manchin find some seat-warming yahoo who will vote the right way but won't be more popular than Manchin or run against him in 2012, because Russ Feingold won't vote for the financial regulation bill (too wimpy, says Russ) and it won't pass without that extra vote. [ Reuters ]
Dick Cheney slaked his thirst for the blood of the innocent at a Washington, D.C., Masonic lodge and emerged into the sunlight, stronger than ever. [ Fox ]
The FDA has said that maybe industrial farmers shouldn't pump healthy animals full of freakish amounts of antibiotics, just to make them fatter and more delicious! But don't worry, it's not as if they have any plans to enforce this opinion on anybody. [ NYT ]