We give the Republicans Dianne Feinstein and a PTBNL and they give us Olympia Snowe. This is a solid trade for us.

Actually, it’s a terrible trade. It’s easy to despise members of one’s own party who regularly violate what seem like core tenets of that party, and Diane regularly does really vile things. However, Progressive Punch gives her a lifetime progressive rating of 84.99, while Snowe’s is a pathetic 36.82. How exactly would having Snowe (pretend to) be a Democrat be an improvement? Her voting record is moderate compared to most of her fellow Republicans, but since they are insane that can hardly be construed as anything genuinely praiseworthy. Snowe’s rating is significantly worse than that of Ben Nelson, whose record (52.75), not surprisingly, is the worst of any Democrat.

The answer to the DiFi problem is permanent retirement. If Snowe became a Democrat and continued to vote the way she has in the past, she would be the target of constant vitriol from Democrats (and justly so). At least as a Republican, she can occasionally earn our gratitude.

Now, if you think Feinstein is sufficiently obnoxious to warrant turning her over to the Republicans, I suggest a better alternative. Harry Reid’s voting record is a fraction less progressive than Feinstein’s. Let the Republicans have him. The Democratic Party would be immeasurably better off with Reid gone, since his voting record is less important than his utter incompetence.

John, your suggestion is snarky nonsense.

[. . .] keep in mind that she’d be running against Schwarzenegger. Granted, he’s not the worst Republican out there, but he’s not even the best possible governor in the cast of Predator.

Clearly you are thinking of Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who has already proven his worth as gubernatorial timber.

Or perhaps you mean Elpidia Carrillo, anticipating the coming Latino deluge? (I saw her in a bit part on The Mentalist a few weeks ago and was simultaneously gratified and very disturbed that I remembered both her name and where I had seen her before. Why, oh, why am I not a highly paid Hollywood casting director?!)

So I say nothing except I think she has mixed up priorities.

I’m crossing my fingers that she’ll run for Governor. Her damage could then be localized to California, which would be their loss, but at the nation’s benefit.

Please, no. We’re already in enough trouble in this state. And a choice between DiFi and Meg Whitman, Prop 8 backer, would make my head explode.

@BongCrosby: If we support pedophiles, would that then make us pedophilephiles?

I’m a fan of this comment section, so I’m a pedophilephilephile.

I mean seriously. You are the most powerful man in the world. Monica Lewinsky is the best you can do?

Hey!

First, some of us think she’s a cute little voluptuous thing.

Second—you’d choose solely based on looks?

Face it—Monica had mad skillz!

I don’t know if that’s what happened or could have happened. I just know that a lot of stuff gets taken down on the basis of receiving a notice and it doesn’t mean that it is actually infringing copyright.

I think the error was in putting it back up. ;)

The California GOP is full of crazy people, that’s why.

And the Democrats aren’t any better out here.

The Cal GOP is in the pocket of the Chamber of Commerce and the Cal Dems are in the pocket of public employees unions, and both parties are in the pocket of the prison guards union.

That combined with a hopelessly flawed proposition system that has tied up the budget with mandatory spending, a spineless governor, and no one willing to take the steps necessary to fix the problem because it might piss off the interest groups means we’re completely screwed no matter what happens.

Frankly, at this point, I’m willing to trade our entire state government to any takers for a few draft picks to be named later.

I would like to propose a trade. We give the Republicans Dianne Feinstein and a PTBNL and they give us Olympia Snowe.

Seconded. Feinstein is a useless dingbat.

They’d be better off letting this one go – from my days working in the intertoobz sector I recall the rule with porn was "you monitor it, you own it." Just seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

The whole point is that they’re trying to change the rules. They want the right to block content without getting in trouble, and kiddie porn is a nice motherhood and apple pie pretext for being allowed to do so. What they’re really interested in blocking is anything that might compete with their own overpriced services like IP telephony and pay-per-view movies.

But recent news reports show the movie industry has just had a record-breaking year. The box office brought in $9.63 billion, a 5.4% increase over last year. And that’s only box office—if 2006 numbers are any indication, sales from theatrical showings will amount to just 20% or so of overall revenue.
...
It seems that the threat of piracy isn’t so great after all. As Ars Technica put it: "If piracy is killing the movie business, it’s doing so in exactly the same way that home taping killed the music business in the 1980s."

He should have at least held out for the lawnmower AND a fountain involving trout…

I always said something similar about Bill Clinton. Had I been President, it would not have been the Monica Lewinsky scandal, it would have been the Salma Hayek/Elizabeth Hurley/President John Cole love triangle.

That’d get your approval ratings UP and in all likelihood get you a third and fourth term. From Republican voters.