The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.comwebmaster@huffingtonpost.comCopyright 2007, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.comGood old fashioned elbow grease.Alex Remington: Of the Heart, Of the Soul, and Of the Cross: A Hip-Hop Road Not Takentag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.3666942009-11-22T07:39:49Z2009-11-22T07:39:49Z I've already written that I think P.M. Dawn is one of the great, underappreciated groups of the 1990's. They're nearly 20 years removed from...Alex Remingtonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-remington/
I've already written that I think P.M. Dawn is one of the great, underappreciated groups of the 1990's. They're nearly 20 years removed from their only #1 hit, "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss," which sampled "True" by Spandau Ballet and rode in from left field with new age philosophy, a nonviolent hip-hop influenced by De La Soul and smooth R&B. Their future albums would leave rap more or less behind, but Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross was definitely a rap album, albeit one unlike anything released in the years to come. They're hippies, and noteworthy because there really weren't any other black hippie acts in the hip-hop scene at the time. And there still aren't.
Because of their album titles, (their third album is titled Jesus Wept, rating: 75, and the fourth is titled Dearest Christian, rating: 80 -- a reference to the name of the lead singer's son), and the lyric in the album intro, "I wanna say what's up to God," P.M. Dawn is sometimes considered a Christian rap group. They are undoubtedly Christians. But the Christian themes in their music tend to be muted; most of the time, they're much more psychedelic new age new wave than overtly Christian.
Technically, Prince Be is a better singer than a rapper. He likes to ooh and ahh his way through song intros, his voice is breathy rather than forceful, and his lyrics are denser semantically than syllabically. (The opening lines to "Paper Doll": "Imagine yourself as a link on a chain, the chain is wrapped around someone's mind/If you break off, then things start to change. And then you realize that there's no time.") Unlike the spare, jazzy beats of other socially conscious groups like Tribe Called Quest, DJ Minute Mix's production is dense, synthesizer-heavy, and often moves in the major-key direction of dance electronica.
It's not surprising that they had few chart smashes, considering how hard it is to describe their style. Allmusic.com called it a "combination of classic silky soul, trip-hop, psychedelia, and pop," which comes close -- except that, of course, they were ostensibly a rap group. "Of the Heart, the Soul, and the Cross" didn't sound like anything on the radio at the time, and it still doesn't, but they proved remarkably adept at writing songs that fit the mold: pensive, thoughtful, meditative, spiritual lyrics with frequent sung breaks layered atop lush, dense beats. "Set Adrift" may be their commercial high-water mark, but Of the Heart has a number of strong songs, including the single "Paper Doll," "On a Clear Day," and "The Beautiful," which grabs a line from the Beatles' "Baby You're a Rich Man": "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?" Harder-edged tracks like "Comatose" and "Shake" aren't bad, but they feel like conscious ploys to get club play, and Prince Be just doesn't sound mean enough to take on sucker MCs.
Heard today, the album sounds like a time capsule from a more expansive era, and it stands the test of time. It's one of the beautiful albums.
90
Cross-posted on Remingtonstein.
Sacramento Fisherman Arrested In Sea Lion Shootingtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666952009-11-22T07:39:13Z2009-11-22T07:55:51ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Authorities arrested a Sacramento fisherman Saturday in connection to shooting a sea lion in the head.
California game wardens said they arrested Larry Allen Legans, 43, on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, negligent discharge of a firearm, and take of a marine mammal. Legans told authorities he grew tired of competing with the protected animals so he fired his 12-gauge shotgun at the sea lion, injuring the creature.
"He said he was tired of watching sea lions take his fish," said Warden Patrick Foy.
About a half-dozen sea lions have started to spend time farther up the Sacramento River, competing with anglers for fish as far inland as Rio Vista, just southwest of Sacramento.
An injured sea lion was first spotted on a dock in Sacramento on Nov. 12 with a wound near its right eye. A witness told authorities Legans fired on the sea lion a day earlier when it surfaced in the river near Verona.
Authorities arrested Legans at his home Saturday morning after the witness reported the suspect's license plate number to them. They recovered a shotgun from Legans' home during the arrest.
Foy said Legans has since admitted to the shooting. He allegedly told a fisherman in another boat that he "may not want to watch this," before loading the shotgun.
The animal has not been spotted since Nov. 12, but officials expect it to survive because sea lions tend to have thick skulls. Sea lions are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
There was no telephone number listed for Legans.
More on Crime
Alex Remington: Better: The Malcolm Gladwell of the Medical World Offers His Thoughts on Health Caretag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.3666932009-11-22T07:38:19Z2009-11-22T07:38:19Z Atul Gawande is a doctor who writes for the New Yorker. Or perhaps, at this point in his career, he's a journalist who also...Alex Remingtonhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-remington/
Atul Gawande is a doctor who writes for the New Yorker. Or perhaps, at this point in his career, he's a journalist who also happens to be a doctor. He joins an illustrious history of physicians in print, from Maimonides to Anton Chekhov, and he writes in very clear, concise language, following the Malcolm Gladwell paradigm of exploring Big Concepts through small anecdotes and inspiring people. As with Gladwell, the reader has a nagging suspicion that not all the proper logical lines are being drawn between the anecdotes and the argument he's trying to make, but he's certainly a pleasure to read.
In his book Better, his grand idea is no less than the systematic improvement of health care: how to better the art of making people better. His most substantive suggestion for doing so comes in a chapter called "The Score," which discusses the genesis and use of Apgar scores, a way of measuring a newborn baby's health on a 0-10 scale. In his telling, this simple numerical measure, introduced in the 1960s, had a radical and near-immediate effect: doctors tried to increase the scores of babies in their care, and neonatology was greatly improved. In general, Gawande appears to favor the notion of medicine as a science, rather than an art: while proficiency in an art cannot be systematically taught and improved, science can be taught and improved on the basis of hypothesis and data. (From the other end, David Watts is a doctor and poet who treats his calling as an art. His fine book of essays The Orange Wire Problem, rating: 79, demonstrates the holistic approach he takes with caring for his patients.) Gawande would like hospitals to open up their records and share their success with the public, so that they can learn from one another and the public can learn as much as possible from them.
But how much can health truly be improved by attaching a 0-10 score to everything? It's an attractively simple idea -- albeit one that few doctors would care for -- but it seems more like a cosmetic fix than a panacea. He discusses the tremendous difficulty of getting data. Losses are more than embarrassing, they're shameful. Because of the prevalence of malpractice suits, anyone in the business of healthcare has to scrupulously avoid anything resembling an admission of wrongdoing -- including opening the records of treating patients. Yet open records are precisely what lead to the competition in other industries that produces progress.
Medical research and technological improvements are still occurring at a breakneck pace, but few have access to the top of the line. The best way to improve health care on a grand scale, he argues convincingly, is to look at getting the most bang for your buck, rather than relying on future technology.
The ongoing debate about health care insurance reform shows both how tricky and how vital these questions are. While Gawande leaves the reader with frustratingly few satisfying answers, he presents the terms as lucidly as anyone can.
Rating: 84
Cross-posted on Remingtonstein.
More on Health Care
Revisiting The Fed's Bailout Of AIG And The Benefits For Goldman Sachstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666872009-11-22T07:12:22Z2009-11-22T07:40:20ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
A RAY of sunlight broke through the Washington fog last week when Neil M. Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, published his office's report on the government bailout last year of the American International Group.
More on Financial Crisis
Efren Peñaflorida Wins CNN Hero Of The Year 2009tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666612009-11-22T06:59:44Z2009-11-22T07:09:04ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
CNN -- Efren Peñaflorida, who started a "pushcart classroom" in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.
New Poll Measures The Hardship Of Layoffs: 52% Were Surprised By Job Losstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666602009-11-22T06:36:26Z2009-11-22T06:51:02ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
When the pink slip comes, trouble follows -- financial, but emotional as well.
Three in 10 Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they or someone in their household has lost a job in the past year -- a new high. And the impacts can be devastating: Beyond financial hardship, large numbers report anger, stress and depression as a result.
More on Economy
Frank Rich: Sarah Palin, The Pit Bull In The China Shoptag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666572009-11-22T06:12:15Z2009-11-22T06:33:14ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
AT last the American right and left have one issue they unequivocally agree on: You don't actually have to read Sarah Palin's book to have an opinion about it.
More on Sarah Palin
Thomas Friedman Explains Causes Of America's 'Sub-Optimal Solutions' (VIDEO)tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666482009-11-22T05:22:12Z2009-11-22T06:08:59ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman is worried that America is producing "sub-optimal solutions" to big problems like global warming, an education system in decline and a weak economy.
The author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded appeared on The Charlie Rose Show on Friday night to discuss President Obama's recent trip to Asia, and more specifically China. Friedman lamented the failure of US governance and the "forces of paralysis" that surround President Obama. He is worried that China's streamlined, one-party system will be in a better place to implement solutions to large global problems more quickly than the US.
Holding us back, Friedman argues is a political system too closely connected with money and well-funded interests. Gerrymandering on the part of politicians makes it so that our leaders practically pick us, not the other way around. Friedman also thinks cable news television distorts the truth and that the internet (at its worst) can be a terrible thing for our nation's politics. He also says American businesses have gone AWOL, and hover over America, participating only when it suits their industry's needs.
Friedman says that better citizens--not politicians--can solve our nation's problems.
Friedman lists
WATCH:
More on China
US Seeks Up To 7,000 More NATO Troops For Afghan Wartag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666422009-11-22T04:44:06Z2009-11-22T04:50:02ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they may get from NATO allies vary from 3,000 to 7,000. Those would complement the additional U.S. forces Mr. Obama is considering; those options range from 10,000 to 40,000, but U.S. officials have said a combination of combat troops and training forces totaling 35,000 has gained the most momentum.
More on Afghanistan
'New Moon' Crushes Box Office Recordtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666352009-11-22T04:00:51Z2009-11-22T04:09:01ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
LOS ANGELES — Vampires and werewolves have vanquished a dark knight. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" took in $72.7 million in its first day to break the single day domestic box office record previously held by "The Dark Knight," which had a $67.2 million opening day last year.
The Friday haul for the "Twilight" sequel includes a record $26.3 million from midnight screenings alone.
If "New Moon" maintains its pace, it might have a shot at the all-time best opening weekend record of $158.4 million, also held by "The Dark Knight."
"New Moon" continues the story of teen romance between a girl and a vampire (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson), with the sequel adding a love triangle with a teen werewolf (Taylor Lautner).
More on TWILIGHT FEVER
Mitchell Bard: It's Too Early to Celebrate the Senate Health Care Votetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.3666312009-11-22T03:56:38Z2009-11-22T03:56:38ZI swear, I find no no joy in being Debbie Downer. I really wish I could celebrate the Senate's 60-39 vote to begin the debate...Mitchell Bardhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/
I swear, I find no no joy in being Debbie Downer. I really wish I could celebrate the Senate's 60-39 vote to begin the debate on health care legislation, narrowly holding off the blocking tactic of the Republicans. I am 100 percent in favor of health care reform (I'm a fan of Rep. Anthony Weiner's proposal to extend Medicare to everyone). But a realistic view of what happened (and what has happened leading up to the vote) reveals far more things to be concerned about than to cheer for.
For starters, to get to an up-or-down vote on the final bill in the Senate, this 60-vote procedural hurdle will have to be jumped over again to close debate, and Sen. Joe Lieberman has already promised to join the Republicans in filibustering any bill that contains a public option. There are also several other centrist Democrats in the Senate who may not vote for cloture if there is a public option in the bill. Since the Democrats were only able to secure the minimum 60 votes to get past the Republicans this time, without Lieberman's vote (and all of the centrists'), if no Republican jumps ship, a bill containing a public option cannot get to the floor.
Also, it is easy to forget that a health care bill only barely made it through the House (220-215), and did so only after Democrats agreed to pass the bill despite the inclusion of the anti-abortion Stupak Amendment, which wouldn't just prevent the government from funding abortions, but would actually have the effect of making it harder for many women to exercise their constitutional right to choose under health care reform than it is today. True, the Senate's version has a less onerous anti-abortion provision, but if the House anti-choice Democrats stand firm again, even if a bill gets through the Senate, when it comes out of conference, the House will have two options, neither of which is good: pass the bill with the odious Stupak Amendment intact, or watch the bill go down to defeat at the hands of the anti-choice Democrats.
So what am I supposed to celebrate, exactly? That a health care bill will be debated? Even though, to get past a 60-vote cloture motion, it will have to be gutted even beyond the shadow of a bill it is now (the current bill has a weak public option, no other mechanism to really cut costs, and hands billions of dollars to the insurance companies who are a big part of the original problem)? I'm not saying I don't support this weak bill (it's better than nothing), but if it gets any weaker and cuts into the constitutional right of women to choose, really, does the good still outweigh the bad?
And the whole notion that there will be a debate is really hard to take seriously. There has been no honest health care debate up to this point. There has be a flood of outright lies from the right (two words for you: "death panels"), and if you think it's getting any better, as the vote neared, Sen. Kit Bond compared health care reform to one of the biggest Ponzi schemes ever: "Move over, Bernie Madoff. Tip your hat to a trillion-dollar scheme." This is the level of debate. Paranoid ramblings about government takeovers and hidden agendas of doing the bidding for insurance companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that line the pockets of those opposing reform. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office can report that the Senate health care bill will cut the deficit by $130 billion over the next ten years without raising taxes on the middle class, but Republicans will still scream about expanding deficits and massive tax increases. Some debate.
You know, there is one thing I really like about the health care legislation that will now be debated in the Senate, and, oddly enough, it's something that most of my fellow progressives oppose: the ability of states to opt out of the public option. Honestly, I think this part of the bill is spectacularly brilliant. Why? It's simple, actually. It's democracy at work.
Consider that in the last months since the health care debate took off, we have been treated to the following:
- Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina screamed "You lie!" during President Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress.
- Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said that passing health care reform with a public option could "cost you your life."
- Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, who, by the way, is a physician, said that health care reform with a public option "is gonna kill people."
- Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said, regarding the health care bill: "I don't have to read it or know what's in it. I'm going to oppose it anyways."
- Sen. Richard Shelby wrote to one of his constituents that health care legislation would "directly subsidize abortion-on-demand," "rations health care so that our citizens are withheld important and potentially life-saving treatments," and "requires taxpayer dollars to fund health benefits for illegal immigrants," all scare tactics that he knew (or, as a U.S. senator, should have known) is patently false.
Unfortunately, I could go on a lot longer, but you get the point. All of these politicians have many things in common, but there are two I would like to point out here: 1) They represent states that would likely opt out of a public option, and 2) they were duly elected by their constituents to serve in Congress.
Item 2 is really something important to remember. These men did not stage coups d'etat. No, they were elected by the majority of the voters of their states or districts. They were chosen by their constituents in democratic elections. And now it's time for democracy to do its job, so that the citizens of these states get exactly what they voted for. Why should we, as a country, spend taxpayer money to improve the health care of citizens who would send to Congress men capable of uttering baldfaced lies, all in the name of politics (trying to prevent the president from getting a "win") or protecting the special interests that fill their campaign accounts? And if they are telling their lies in defense of some kind of pure ideology that abhors the government's involvement in anything (except the bedrooms of its citizens, of course, but that's another issue for another day ...), well, then, let's give their constituents what they want. Hell, Shelby went after Medicare in his constituent letter, so I would be happy to let the states opt out of Medicare and Medicaid, too
In Shelby's state, Blue Cross Blue Shield controls 83 percent of the health insurance market, with more than 600,000 people living without health insurance and another more than 175,000 who cannot obtain group coverage and are forced to buy insurance on their own. Under health care reform, most would have access to health care, more than 400,000 Alabama residents would be eligible for government subsidies to help pay for health insurance, and the 175,000 plus not on group plans could get more affordable insurance. But these people also voted for Shelby. I respect the democratic process, and the people of the good state of Alabama should be free to get exactly what they voted for. I wouldn't dream of stjanding in their way. And the same can be said for the folks in South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma and all the other states who have sent representatives to Washington to obstruct health care reform.
This is the country in which we live now. This is what passes for debate. So you will forgive me if I am not optimistic that a worthwhile health care reform bill will make its way past another cloture vote in the Senate, past an up-down vote in Senate, through a post-conference vote in the House, through yet another cloture vote in the Senate, and finally through a final up-down vote in the Senate, all while the Stupaks, Liebermans, and Lincolns of the world are standing in the way, not to mention the stop-at-nothing lies and scare tactics employed by the right. I am sorry, but I am firmly in I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it mode.
The bottom line is that I don't want to be the messenger of doom. I would love to celebrate a health care reform victory. And when a real one arrives, I will.
More on Health Care
Linda Bergthold: Some Good News About Health Reformtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/theblog//3.3666252009-11-22T03:32:47Z2009-11-22T03:52:39ZYou may feel daunted by the number of pages in these health reform bills, not to mention the legislative language that is often impossible to...Linda Bergtholdhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bergthold/
You may feel daunted by the number of pages in these health reform bills, not to mention the legislative language that is often impossible to decipher. But here are some important provisions in the new Senate Health Care bill that you should know about. The White House Blog has highlighted a few, and I have made some comments in "plain English" about what they might mean for you (my comments under the highlighted White House language).
Before we get into these provisions, you should know that this is far from the final version, so don't get too excited about it. The bill will change as it is debated in the Senate and ultimately combined with the House Bill passed a few weeks ago. But the provisions mentioned here are probably going to stay in the final bill because they are so popular. Probably the biggest issue for you is that you may not see as much change immediately as you would like. Some things will go into law immediately in 2010, but a lot of the changes will take a few years to put into place. So be patient, but be encouraged by the few things mentioned below.
The White House Blog
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on November 20, 2009 at 11:30 PM EST
• On page 78 you'll learn that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ends discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.
What this means for ordinary folks is that no longer do you need to worry about whether or not you can get insurance if you lose your job or have been uninsured because of some treatment or condition you had in the past. Some insurance companies have denied access for conditions as minor as allergies or a rash. This practice has caused people to lie about their past conditions or apply for insurance and sweat it out.
• On page 17, it makes preventive care completely free, with no cost-sharing. (This might be of particular interest to those who have chosen to seize on concerns about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations on mammograms to spread baseless myths and advance their own political agenda.)
It's true that the reaction to the new guidelines for mammograms has been distorted and extreme. What has been missing from the debate is the fact that if you get a mammogram every year in your forties, you are getting a LOT of radiation for very little benefit. The only hitch here is that the preventive services in the legislation that will be covered free of charge will be services that the U.S Preventive Services Task Force has given a score of A or B, meaning the evidence supports the level of screening that is being recommended. So the new guidelines will have an impact. Most likely all the relevant childhood immunizations will be covered, and mammograms and other services will be covered for certain age groups. There will undoubtedly be controversy over this for some time to come, but the intent of the legislation is to make preventive services much more available.
• Flipping back to page 16, you'll find that insurance companies are prohibited from dropping your coverage or watering it down when you get sick and need it most.
This practice of reducing or dropping coverage when a person most needs it is one of the worst insurance practices ever. It is a shame we need to ban it. It should never have existed. But this should give people a lot of peace of mind about the coverage they have.
• Also on page 16, you might notice that it puts an end to lifetime caps on coverage.
This is a big deal. Lifetime caps are often around 1 million dollars. That sounds like a lot, but it actually is not so much if you have a serious and debilitating disease. In my career working with large employers on their benefit packages, there were times when the employer had to decide to cut someone off coverage because they had reached their million dollar limit. The family usually was in dire straits already, and the decision was very painful for the employer. But if the employer had a policy and made an exception for one individual, then it was likely the policy would have to be amended for everyone, and that would drive up costs. This absolute cap on lifetime expenses is truly important to know about. You can rest much more easily if you know that there is no arbitrary amount hanging over you or your family in case you have a catastrophic disease.
• Page 18 is where the bill extends family coverage eligibility for young Americans through the age of 26.
This provision is super important for any family with a young adult who can't get insurance coverage any other way. I personally know a family whose 24 year old son got cancer and with their current policy, he was going to be knocked off just when he needed his insurance the most. So many entry level jobs do not have insurance benefits, so this is good news for families with children in this category.
• On page 83 it requires insurance companies to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full - that means they can't refuse to renew your coverage just because you get sick.
It is important that there be a requirement that the company cannot drop you if you pay your premiums, even if you get a serious disease. This is all part of the "game" that insurance companies play with your coverage, and you really want to have government behind you in these cases.
• Page 307 is home to tax credits for small businesses to help them afford insurance for their employees.
There are quite a lot of provisions to help small businesses of fewer than 100 employees help pay for insurance coverage. Small businesses do not have to provide insurance, but if they do there are credits for doing so. The formula is pretty complicated, but if you are a small business it would be worth reading this section carefully.
• And folks looking to scare our senior citizens about what reform means for them might be interested to check out page 923 and learn that it provides a 50% discount on drugs for seniors in the so-called donut hole.
For all eligible patients, Medicare covers 75 percent of the first $2,250 worth of drugs. But after that, coverage drops to zero -- and doesn't resume until the patient hits $5,100 in expenses. Then Medicare kicks in again, paying 95 percent of costs. But it's this gap -- of almost $3,000 -- that many sick and disabled seniors call unaffordable. So this provision in the bill to cut the costs of drugs in this donut hole in half, will help a lot of poorer Medicare beneficiaries.
Bottom line? There are quite a lot of things to like about the way health reform legislation is playing out. And there are things to worry about as well. But if you are already employed or retired (and have Medicare), little will change for you. If you are, however, one of those whose insurance is precarious, have a pre-existing condition, want to change your jobs, don't have any insurance at all - what these bills will offer you next year will help a lot.
More on Health Care
Glenn Beck As Political Organizer: Fox News Host Sponsoring 7 Conventionstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666272009-11-22T03:32:11Z2009-11-22T03:41:23ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
Glenn Beck, the popular and outspoken Fox News host, says he wants to go beyond broadcasting his opinions and start rallying his political base -- formerly known as his audience -- to take action.
More on Glenn Beck
Sealed With A Kiss: Dems Unite To Beat GOP Filibustertag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666262009-11-22T03:25:42Z2009-11-22T05:02:05ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
Harry Reid sealed the biggest legislative victory of his career Saturday night with a kiss. And then a hug.
Emotionally reserved doesn't begin to describe the Senate majority leader, a Democrat facing reelection in Nevada. Yet the man was beaming as the members of his caucus left the Senate floor, each one of them having given him their support, leaving him with exactly the 60 VOTES he needed to overcome a filibuster and move to an official floor debate on landmark health care reform legislation.
Three of those votes had been uncertain up until the last two days, until Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said in floor speeches Saturday that they'd back the motion to proceed, which allows the bill to move a major step forward. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) broke what little suspense there was about his vote on Friday.
Reid approached Landrieu after the vote, smiling ear to ear and locked arms with her, gripping her right elbow as she locked his right arm in return. After the two spoke, he grasped her hand with both of his, leaned over and laid a kiss on it.
From there, he trod up the floor's risers to find Lincoln in the back row where she'd been sitting with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). Reid smiled broadly and put his two hands on her shoulders, which is typically what counts as a hug from Harry Reid. Then he went all in, wrapping her in a full embrace.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) followed Reid's lead, smothering Lincoln with both arms. Lincoln blushed as she emerged from his embrace.
Reid left the floor to speak on the phone to Ted Kennedy's widow Vickie in the Democratic cloak room; she was crying and deeply moved, he later said. As Reid returned to the floor and headed for the exit, where he'd speak to reporters, he spied Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who had shepherded the reform bill through the health committee in Kennedy's absence. Reid laid a hug on him.
Nelson was not gifted with such affection, though he had only himself to blame: as soon as the vote ended, he headed for the GOP side to chat up arch-conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
The effusive display of gratitude followed a unusually somber, silent vote. Normally, senators approach the front desk to cast their vote and chat amongst themselves. This night, each voted from his or her seat as the chamber sat in dead, eerie silence.
"I mean, it was sort of like a European parliamentary summit or something, but it was worth it," remarked Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who alternately suggested it felt like "somebody was getting impeached."
As the roll was called, senators stood and announced either "aye" or "nay." It was too much for John McCain.
"Ooooh, this is soooo tense," the Arizona Republican could be heard stage-whispering.
Nelson was seated as the roll was called and unceremoniously declared his yes vote. Landrieu and Lincoln, however, were absent at the start, as was Sen. Bob Byrd (D-W.Va.), the 92-year-old who this week became the longest-serving senator in the history of the upper chamber.
His presence is never assured at votes and his absence added an element of real suspense, McCain's mocking notwithstanding. A few minutes into the vote, Byrd was wheeled in and pointed to the sky, signaling an "aye." He pulled in next to Reid, who grasped his hand with both of his.
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), whose vote would have made the bill bipartisan just a few months ago, rose to his feet and strode over to Byrd to shake the former majority leader's hand.
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), whose route to the Senate took him through an Illinois impeachment hearing and a Senate ethics panel, stood to vote aye and, after retaking his seat, backhand slapped Joe Lieberman on his arm and flashed a wide grin. Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut, had voted yes as well, but continues to hold his vote for the final bill at bay, hoping to remove the public health insurance option.
Lieberman smiled and the two shook hands heartily. Just moments later, however, he rose from his chair and fled Burris, finding more comfortable ground next to Lincoln. The two hold-outs batted each others arms and exchanged chuckles.
As the vote tally was called in the House exactly two weeks ago, the Democratic caucus erupted in celebration. The Senate is not that sort of place. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), as presiding officer, announced the final 60-39 vote and scattered, muted "yay"s rose from the Democratic side, as the victors seemed unsure what to do. Only Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) could be seen clapping; a few tourists in the gallery booed at the chamber. (The absentee senator was Republican George Voinovich of Ohio. Brown told reporters that his fellow state lawmaker had decided to attend a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of his Cleveland mayoral election instead.)
Outside the chamber, the volume was turned up.
"It's an historic vote, a terrific vote, and one of the better moments since I've been in the Senate," Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) told HuffPost.
McCain seconded the historic sentiment. "It was the most dramatic moment in the history of the Senate," he told Huff Post. (He might have been sarcastic, or he may have been saying "traumatic"; earlier, during a floor speech, he had judged the bill "hernia-inducing.")
"We're rounding third and we're heading home," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who now chairs the health committee.
"We can see the finish line now, but we're not there," Reid told reporters after the vote.
A lone Democrat can yet derail the effort.
Before the vote, Mitch McConnell begged for such a Democratic defection.
"All it takes is one vote. Just one," said the Kentucky Republican, turning to the left side of the chamber with an outstretched palm. "The simple math is this: If there were one democrat, just one of our friends on the other side of the aisle, just one, who would say no tonight, the voices of the American people would be heard... And then we could start over with a common-sense, step by step approach."
Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) also begged for a do-over: "I still hope we can start over and get to work on a bipartisan bill."
Lieberman is among several in the caucus who have threatened to spoil the effort over the public option, and he played Eeyor again Saturday night, calling the public option "an eleventh-hour addition to a debate that's gone on for decades. Nobody's ever talked about a public option before, not even in the presidential campaign last year."
From the liberal end, Burris repeated a threat made earlier that if the public option was taken out, he's gone. "I won't vote for it," he said.
"You'll lose people on the left," confirmed Brown.
Reid, aware of the fine line he's walking, told reporters that Landrieu, Schumer and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) are working on a compromise public option, perhaps something that 60 folks could support and save face.
"Now," said Kerry, "we just have to go forward and really legislate."
Arthur Delaney contributed to this report
More on Health Care
Les Miles: "It's My Fault That We Didn't Finish First" In LSU Loss To Ole Miss (VIDEO)tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2009:/thenewswire//2.3666222009-11-22T02:46:59Z2009-11-22T08:20:09ZThe Huffington Post News Editorshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/
(AP) OXFORD, Miss. — So many unusual things happened in the final 3 minutes of Mississippi's victory Saturday against No. 10 LSU, it got confusing.
Even for the participants.
*** SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO ***
"I don't know what all happened down there at the end," Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. "I just know the scoreboard read 25-23 Ole Miss Rebels."
Nutt's confusion was nothing compared to what was happening on the LSU sideline as precious seconds ticked off the clock with less than a minute left and the game on the line.
The Tigers were divided over what plays to call, lost 17 seconds when the team tried for a timeout and didn't get it, and there was admittedly no backup plan when LSU went for the end zone on the last play of the game and came up short at the Ole Miss 6 with 1 second left.
"I can only tell you that the management at the back end of the game was the issue," LSU coach Les Miles said, later adding: "It's my fault that we didn't finish first in that game."
When reporters asked Miles which coach decided to try to spike the ball before the clock restarted rather than going for a field goal, he said he wasn't yet sure and would have to find out. Jordan Jefferson and the Tigers never got lined up anyway and Ole Miss earned its second straight win over the Tigers and the first at home since 1998.
Nutt has beaten LSU four straight times with Ole Miss and Arkansas and has never experienced anything like it.
"You were holding your breath every play," he said.
It was the first time Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) beat LSU (8-3, 4-3) in consecutive seasons since 1997-99. The win also gives the Rebels the inside track to second place in the SEC West, which could lead to a better bowl spot when invitations are handed out.
Until the final quarter it was a game only a defensive coordinator could love. But things got interesting fast.
First Dexter McCluster, who ran for 148 yards, completed the first pass of his career with a 27-yard scoring strike to a wide-open Shay Hodge, giving Ole Miss a 22-17 lead 29 seconds into the final quarter.
On their next drive, the Rebels appeared to put it away with a 15-play, 8:26 drive that ended with a short field goal to make the lead eight points.
Jefferson answered with a 10-play, 66-yard drive that ended with his second touchdown pass to Rueben Randle, a 25-yarder that left LSU with a 2-point conversion to tie it.
Ole Miss' Cassius Vaughn was called for pass interference on a fade to the left corner of the end zone, putting the ball at the 1. Jefferson made the same pass on LSU's second attempt, but was hurried by Kendrick Lewis. The ball and Vaughn arrived at the same time and Terrance Toliver couldn't make the catch.
But Brandon LaFell recovered the onside kick with 1:16 left at the LSU 42, giving the Tigers one last chance. LaFell gave his team another big boost when two plays later he took Jefferson's pass, broke two tackles and ran 20 yards after the catch to move LSU into field goal range at the Ole Miss 32.
Here's where it got sketchy for LSU. Kentrell Lockett forced Jefferson to throw his first pass away, then the quarterback was sacked by Emmanuel Stephens, a play that pushed the Tigers all the way back to the Ole Miss 41.
"We talked about runs," Miles said. "I felt like the quarterback could manage the situation. That was my mistake."
Miles said he suggested to assistant coaches that they call a run play at that point, but allowed a pass play to be signaled in. Jefferson completed a 7-yard pass to Stevan Ridley with 26 seconds left and Miles said he thought he heard timeout being called.
But the referees never got the message and 17 seconds ticked off the clock before coaches realized what was happening, leaving LSU with fourth and 26 at the Ole Miss 48 with 9 seconds left.
"The clock ran down, timeouts were being called verbally and I didn't relate that to the official apparently and that was the mistake," Miles said.
The team was going for the end zone on the last pass play, he said, and when Jefferson found Toliver in traffic at the 6 with a second left, the team was unprepared. Rather than run the field goal unit on field while there appeared to be confusion with the chain gang, Jordan tried to get the team lined up to spike the ball but never got the play off.
"I know there was a lot of confusion on the sideline," said Jefferson, who rallied the Tigers with 120 yards passing and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. "Nobody knew what to do."
Ole Miss fans rushed the field and celebrated with the Rebels while several LSU players dropped their helmets to the field in dismay.
Despite all the confusion, Vaughn said he knew exactly what was going on as the Tigers foundered making a final decision.
"You have to have a plan," Vaughn said. "I'm looking at the ref waiting for him to call the play. As soon as I hear the whistle and the clock went to zero, I threw my helmet and ran off. It felt good to beat LSU."
WATCH:
More on College Football
