Make no mistkae about it, John McCain wants to drill. And now, even Obama is open to "compromise" on this issue, despite the ecological pitfalls. Americans must make a critical decision, save a few extra gas dollars now, or face ...

It's been eight long years for Americans.  Long, difficult years.  Internationally shameful years. Environmentally wasted years.  And let's face it:  it's going to take some time—not to mention a lot of hard work on the local, state and national levels by many individuals and groups—to turn back the policies, procedures, and sociopolitical culture built by The George W. Bush Empire.  Chairman of the Board Pelosi, while otherwise saying all the right things, abdicated her responsiblity to call for a vote to oust C.E.O. Bush from his throne of expanded executive power, a power never before wielded so coldly and absolutely by a modern day vice-president, himself an ominous, seemingly sociopathic man who has, like Bush, also amazingly escaped impeachment.  But, follow me below the fold as I point out the events and contributions that I believe constitute important blows against the Bush Empire. It's my booster shot of optimism for those who hunger for, work towards and see on the horizon, progressive change.

Summary: As you almost certainly know, Rachel Maddow will be getting her own show on MSNBC.  As you probably know, there is no title yet for it.  Now, I could just run through a list of realistic titles for you to consider, but Clem Yeobright beat me to it.

So let's try something a little different, shall we?

First it was Speaker Pelosi:

Reversing course, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning energy legislation that may allow oil and gas drilling in new areas off the U. S. coast, according to a House Democratic leadership aide.

Now it's Mark Udall:

If any doubt remained that the debate over energy has shifted in Republicans’ favor, Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) ended it this week.

Udall, one of the House’s preeminent environmentalists and the Democratic nominee in a closely contested Colorado Senate race, came out in favor of a bipartisan, comprehensive energy plan that would permit additional offshore drilling — a striking departure from his past opposition to such measures.

And it's probably not just Udall. To tell you the truth, I didn't even look to see who else might be doing the same thing. Because even if it is just Udall for the moment, it won't be just Udall for long.

Why not? What's behind the opening of the floodgates?

Meteor Blades told you last week:

Republicans have an ace up their sleeve. The ban on additional off-shore leases must be renewed each year by September 30. The extension is attached as a rider to the annual appropriations bill. Senator DeMint says 36 of the 49 Republican senators have signed a letter to Senate leaders opposing a renewal of the ban. Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling is said to have gotten 136 House Republicans to sign a similar letter.

CongressDaily [now linkable] reports:

"Many people aren't aware that these bans on drilling must be renewed every year, and that all we have to do is to allow these prohibitions to expire on Oct. 1," DeMint said in a statement released Tuesday.

"In just 50 days, Americans will have the freedom to pursue their own energy resources here at home," he added. DeMint argued that it was "irrational to say 'no' to American energy" because it was needed to reduce independence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices.

That's the game, right there. The floodgates will open because they have to open. There's no way on God's green earth to find veto-proof majorities to re-up that ban, and no bill George W. Bush won't veto to stop it. Not a defense bill. Not a continuing resolution to keep the government running. Not a National Motherhood and Apple Pie Day bill. Nothing.

So it's either flip now and do what you can to save face, or stick it out to the bitter end and lose.

We know how these things go, by now.

So in today's news we learned that Nancy Pelosi and a bunch of Democrats are going to let us all down AGAIN and give consent to some offshore drilling.

Are gas prices too high?  Yes.  Is it because we don't have enough oil?  Well, I'm not too sure.

Did Exxon Mobil make its biggest profits EVER last quarter?  Sure did!

So...are prices high because there's not enough oil or are prices high because the oil companies can charge what they want and we pay them??

George W. Bush is the worst president in history! As the last months of his lame duck presidency are drawing to a close, we have and will continue to find out more that calls for his impeachment.

My thanks to Think Progress for this story:

The other day, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann told us that we don't need Nancy Pelosi to save the planet. Jesus has it covered. Here's what she said:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet. ... We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that."

It gets better.

This Country is in so much trouble.

    I'm sick of these polls asking us to pick Barack Obama's running mate, most of all because they set us up for collective let-down. Face it: The chances he's going to listen to us are nil.

    I'm an optimist by nature; I believe in community empowerment. Rethinking the question, it occurs to me that while we cannot bend Senator Obama to our will in selecting the best running mate (and thank the Lord for that!), our chances of getting him to avoid making the WORST pick are at least 50-50. (I've asked Poblano to refine that projection.)

    When Barack sends out those text messages with his choice, instead of wretching, we can then sigh in narcissistic contentment that WE were responsible for getting the worst possible VP choice not picked. Can we exert our communal influence to blackball one truly terrible VP nominee?

Here's the Shrub talking about Georgia:

After the cut: yesterday's animation--Nancy Pelosi on the View!

Nate Silver (Poblano on DKos) has explained   how Obama  can checkmate McCain.   By Obama endorsing the proposal by a Gang of Ten Senators (5 Republicans, 5 Democrats) to solve the immediate energy crisis by a combination of measures. Including a reasonable compromise on drilling. The Gang includes Sen. Lyndsey Graham of SC, one of McCain's ear-whisperers. Also Saxby Chambliss of GA. The Hill:

If McCain opposes the bill, it could appear that he is standing in the way of a compromise to soaring gasoline prices.

But if he backs it, McCain could cloud a clear distinction between the two parties on the issue that Republicans believe can swing the elections.

The Right Wingnuts  at Red State are braying for Graham's head already. Imagine what they will do if McCain backs the measure, which is the sensible thing for both sides to do.

And... now.

Reversing course, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning energy legislation that may allow oil and gas drilling in new areas off the U. S. coast, according to a House Democratic leadership aide.

Granted, Pelosi has said that she would only allow drilling if it was "not just a hoax" on the public. The trouble is any program of drilling is a hoax when it comes to improving our energy situation.

That said, it seems that for reasons that have everything to do with taking the easy path rather than the right one, we're going to hold our collective noses and jump off the more drilling bridge. The question that remains is how good a deal Democrats will manage to strike while once again giving the GOP and their allies exactly what they want.

Crossposted at Strategy08.

Now this is what I'm talking about. Nancy Pelosi has gone on the record stating that Lieberman's days as Chairman are numbered.

Regardless of whether this Arkansas shooting turns out to be politically motivated, it's become clear to me that our political climate is such that we need Hate Crime legislation for crimes perpetrated due to the political affiliation of the victims.

I'm not a lawyer, so I'm going to use wikipedia for my information on Hate Crime laws in general and in America specifically.

I think that as a community, we need to petition Nancy Pelosi to bring this before Congress, to make it safe for Democrats to be loud and proud, and to point out the chasm that exists between Democratic and Republican supporters in terms of violence.

In short, if Democrats want our support and we want good people with families to be running for office, we all need to have enhanced protections against the violence inherent in the Rightwing's political platform.

Here's actual audio of Nancy Pelosi's appearance on The View:

After the cut: McCain spokesmodel Rick Davis on Fox Newwwwwwwws...

Do we WANT to drive voters away from Barack Obama?  On the opening night of the historic Democratic convention, organizers put two of the most divisive and unpopular figures in Democratic politics on the agenda as featured turnoffs speakers.

As we have witnessed these past two elections, republicans and their allies have no line they will not cross to obtain the office of the presidency. Al Gore recieved 500,000 more votes than Bush and ABC news had called the election for Gore, enter the GOP crooks and their allies George Bush is president. All of a sudden there is a controversy in  Florida and Al Gore loses(so says the supreme court) the election by 4 electoral votes but wins popular vote by 500,00 votes. Imagine, if you will, that the republican had lost the election in these circumstances.Imagine that.

What the hell is wrong with Republicans?  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi echos Obama's position on offshore drilling (i.e. limited  drilling might be prudent if it is coupled with a comprehensive look at our energy situation) and Congressional Repugs act like they won.  Nevermind that her caveats were so strong that if the bill were presented Republican Reps would never vote on it, the fact that their demands were met by Mrs. Pelosi with a resounding "maybe, if..." was cause for much chest puffing on the part of the know-nothing Republican leadership.