What kind of name is "Steny Hoyer" anyway?

Hoyer tapped for party's No. 2 House spot - CNN.com

Sounds like the comic relief dwarf in a bad fantasy novel.

Give a hoot: Pollute!

Scientists: Pollution could combat global warming - CNN.com

I don't believe for a second that the positives would outweigh the negatives in such a plan, but the Bush Administration is probably already planning to build the environmental section of the State of the Union around it.

He could have said that before

Shelby says Rumsfeld should have gone earlier

How's life with the Republicans now, party-switcher? Is being in the minority fun? Just wait until 2008, when you're really in the minority, and you've just spent the year campaigning on behalf of the Evil Little Troll.

From whiny creeps

Street ministry draws complaints

"Whaaaahhh! They're helping the homeless in accordance to the basic precepts of Christianity instead of shunning them and dumping them somewhere else! Whaaahhhh!"

Seriously, the Republicans have gone bananas

RedState, ladies and gents:

Endorsements.jpg (JPEG Image, 538x250 pixels)

As Scott Lemieux notes, "in terms of sheer intellectual firepower Sessions makes George W. Bush look like Oliver Wendell Holmes."

No need to thank us, America

Matthew Yglesias / proudly eponymous since 2002

Apparently Jeff Sessions wants a spot in the Republican leadership. Oh, deary deary me.

Guess which party he's in!

Gaines says ruling allows him to remain, despite defeat

I mean, if I told you that a defeated probate judge was hanging around and refused to remove himself from the canvassing board that was checking election results, while other persons, including the re-elected sheriff, had removed themselves... Well, which party do you think?

He was backing up at them suddenly, I guess

DA rules police justified for shooting man 14 times

Headline says it all, doesn't it? The dead man, a father and Navy veteran, was shot once in the face, once in the chest, and twelve times in the back. Nothing suspicious about that! To be fair, the Birmingham police can't catch all these murderers going around, so why should they be the only ones on trial for killing people?

Not good

Fighting disrupts new city school

70 students at the new Jackson-Olin (formed by the merger of the old J-O and Ensley high schools) have been arrested. Four have been expelled, and most of the rest apparently sent to alternative school. Ah, the Birmingham City School System.

The fun ends

Collins carves new Jeffco roles

While this story is basically about the bitchiness between Bettye "The Extra E Is For Extra Egregiousness" Fine Collins and Larry Langford, the real shame is that Langford's strain of insanity will be replaced on the new Jefferson County Commission by Collins' strain of loony right wingism. I think Jeffco is coming out on the losing end this time.

Well, yes, but...

Daily Kos: In Senate races, the Democrats crushed GOP in the popular vote

I haven't tallied it up, but how much of this is due to Feinstein, Clinton, and Kennedy running essentially unopposed? The Republicans didn't have any large-state Senators with no or little opposition.