7  8 9  10  11 12+ Hours and It’s Over…

UPDATE:  (Hufington Post) After nearly 13 hours on the Senate floor, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has ended his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“I will speak until I can no longer speak,” Paul said at the beginning of the filibuster, which he used to address concerns over President Obama’s policies on civil liberties, including the president’s controversial drone program.

Paul began the filibuster at 11:47 a.m. ET on Wednesday, and concluded at 12:39 a.m. on Thursday. After Paul ceded the floor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) filed for cloture on Brennan’s nomination, adjourning the Senate until 10 a.m. Thursday.  (read more)

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Sharyl Attkisson

What it’s like to live in the land of the perpetually aggrieved

[excerpt from PhillyMag.com]  I’ve shared my view of North Broad Street with people—white friends and colleagues—who see something else there: New buildings. Progress. Gentrification. They’re sunny about the area around Temple. I think they’re blind, that they’ve stopped looking. Indeed, I’ve begun to think that most white people stopped looking around at large segments of our city, at our poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods, a long time ago. One of the reasons, plainly put, is queasiness over race. Many of those neighborhoods are predominantly African-American. And if you’re white, you don’t merely avoid them—you do your best to erase them from your thoughts.

At the same time, white Philadelphians think a great deal about race. Begin to talk to people, and it’s clear it’s a dominant motif in and around our city. Everyone seems to have a story, often an uncomfortable story, about how white and black people relate. (more…)

Epic crunchy moment…. Sorry, I can’t enjoy it with you because I can’t stand B.O.R. either.

Summary:  No we haven’t done it, but we could, and if needed – we might.

Trying to take full advantage of a faux-crisis….

WASHINGTON DC – Never say the White House isn’t affected by sequestration. The Visitors Office just notified Congress that tours of the White House are cancelled until further notice.

“Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice,” the White House email to legislative offices explains.

“Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours. We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular Spring touring season.”  (more)

WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration denied an appeal for flexibility in lessening the sequester’s effects, with an email this week appearing to show officials in Washington that because they already had promised the cuts would be devastating, they now have to follow through on that.

In the email sent Monday by Charles Brown, an official with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service office in Raleigh, N.C., Mr. Brown asked “if there was any latitude” in how to spread the sequester cuts across the region to lessen the impacts on fish inspections. (more…)

The most transparent administration evah just can’t seem to find folks not embroiled in some sort of manipulative cover-up.   Funny that.

WASHINGTON DC – President Barack Obama tapped Environmental Protection Agency official Gina McCarthy to head the agency on Monday, but a widening probe into the use of secret email addresses by high-level EPA officials could slow her nomination and cause headaches for the administration.

Obama chose McCarthy, current assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA, to replace former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.

Jackson resigned amid growing scrutiny over her use of a secret email address to conduct official business, which watchdog groups say is a possible violation of federal record laws. (more…)

Hey Ketchup Boy, ask yourself why the democracy movement, the real freedom seekers, in Egypt were protesting your visit?    Ask yourself why is it needed for this administration to send the Muslim Brotherhood fighter jets when they have already asserted their willingness to ignore the Camp David peace accord with Israel?   Ask youself how is it possible for Iran to ship long-range rockets through Egypt to Gaza?   You are an embarassment to anyone around the world who advocates for freedom.   Go spit !

SECRETARY KERRY: No, I heard very passionate people who are deeply committed to Egypt and to their version of the democracy that they fought for in their revolution. And I completely understand that. I wanted to hear from them. I explored their strategy and thoughts. (more…)

WASHINGTON DC – The Obama administration has been better for Israel than the last eight administrations, Vice-President Joe Biden told a large crowd at the AIPAC conference Monday. “We’ve stood shoulder to shoulder over the past 40 years defending the legitimate interests of Israel,” Biden told an enthusiastic audience, “but no administration, no President has done as much to physically secure the State of Israel as Barack Obama,” Biden said.

In the midst of what Biden called “the Great Recession,” the U.S. has upped its aid to Israel, providing $1.3 billion in military aid in 2012. (more…)