Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) retiring.

[Donn]

Another Democrat bites the dust.

[John of Phoenix]

And Florida's moderate Republican Party chairman gets chased out the door by right wingers. Doncha just love that laser focus on "Conservative Values".

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60458520100105?type=politicsNews

[Donn]

Gotta love Reuters. Crist is a 'moderate' and Rubio is supported by the 'ultraconservatives.'

[Ian McColgin]

Donn does not approve of providing information when insinuation will do. Sen. Dorgan's announcement today was certainly a surprise to the public and, since there's not an obvious democrat of his popularity handy just now, is seen at the moment as a chance for Republicans.

Chooseing not to run is not the same as resigning from office and there's no whiff of any current scandal or political problem. I think I'll wait to hear more about why he chose not to run next year before I fabricate without evidence that he "bites the dust."

[johnw]

Not resigning, Donn. He's decided not to run again. The difference is that he'll be there to help vote the healthcare bill through.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/nd-dem-sen-byron-dorgan-retiring.php?ref=fpa

[Donn]

Donn does not approve of providing information when insinuation will do. Sen. Dorgan's announcement today was certainly a surprise to the public and, since there's not an obvious democrat of his popularity handy just now, is seen at the moment as a chance for Republicans.

Chooseing not to run is not the same as resigning from office and there's no whiff of any current scandal or political problem. I think I'll wait to hear more about why he chose not to run next year before I fabricate without evidence that he "bites the dust."

I won't bother to address your assassination of the English language, Ian, but will limit myself to the facts of the case.

Byron lost his donors. They read the polls, and decided, rightfully, to save their pennies for another battle.

Lacking backing, Byron has decided to swallow the sword, and give his conservative state back to the rightful owners.

[Donn]

That's some mighty-fine alliteration, if I do say so my own self!

Take that, McColgin, thy butcher of words!:D

[Captain Blight]

Lacking backing, Byron has decided to swallow the sword, and give his conservative state back to the rightful owners.
OH BIOYA. You mean the "rightful owners" who ELECTED him in the first place, and then did it twice more?!?! He's in his THIRD TERM, you rattle-skulled smoothbrain!!

I am getting GD sick and tired of your lies, your insinuations, and your childish insistence that your POV is the only possible one a thinking person could possibly hold, and if you're disagreed with, that makes anyone in disagreement with you by definition not as smart as you.

This is emphatically, demonstrably and provably not the case.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

That's some mighty-fine alliteration, if I do say so my own self!

Take that, McColgin, thy butcher of words!:D

Ian can put you in his hip pocket when it comes to wordsmithing they guys got 15 words for wind what do you got, spellcheck and The ObituaDonn.

Besides it's not like Dorgan pulled a Palin and resigned mid term :p

[Captain Blight]

Take that, McColgin, thy butcher of words!:DThou.

[Donn]

Thou.

Yeah, thou...as in thou crook, Chris Dodd, also, too, as well.:p

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

6 repugs have chosen not to run as well :p

[LeeG]

out with the old, in with the new. I wonder how much of the shifting is because the politicians don't want to be around as pantry runs low.

[C. Ross]

I'm always sorry to see the Democrats lose a thoughtful moderate. They need more not fewer of them.

ND will elect another centrist, but he or she will be a Republican.

[BA.Barcolounger]

He'll be pushing 70 when his term ends. Good time for retirement.

[TomF]

I'm always sorry to see the Democrats lose a thoughtful moderate. They need more not fewer of them.

ND will elect another centrist, but he or she will be a Republican.It's not obvious from here that centrist Republicans are welcome voices within the party just now, Mr. Ross. It would delight me to learn otherwise. Canada's current Prime Minister, if American, would certainly be a Republican ... but his views on health care (for instance) would make him utterly beyond the pale.

If ND wants to elect another centrist, will electing a centrist Republican result in any ND voice actually being heard? It sure looks like the current Rep strategy is to reduce the breadth of the spectrum of acceptable political views among their elected members, which argues that a centrist member would be sidelined.

[SMARTINSEN]

Yeah, thou...as in thou crook, Chris Dodd, also, too, as well.:p


Do you mean to say that Dodd is a crook--or that he is retiring?

Or both?

[Donn]

It's not obvious from here that centrist Republicans are welcome voices within the party just now..

Nor from here.

[Ian McColgin]

Firstly, Dorgan may turn out to be the only Democrat who would have had a chance. Certainly there's no obvious up-side to this from any traditional conservative, moderate or liberal perspective.

Secondly, when Donn exercises himself enough to write something more substantive than a one liner, his word-smithery is stuff I envy. Illiteracy and ignorance are not limited to Sarah Palin type conservatives and literacy manages to drift further right that William F. Buckley.

Being literately far right does not make one correct, but it makes one interesting, provocative in a good way, and fun to be around.

[Donn]

One line is frequently sufficient. Why would one waste words?

[TomF]

How frequently one line may be sufficient depends on your objectives.

[Donn]

How frequently one line may be sufficient depends on your objectives.

"How frequently," at the beginning of a sentence which is not a question, is awkward at best, and may well be incorrect.:D

[C. Ross]

It's not obvious from here that centrist Republicans are welcome voices within the party just now, Mr. Ross.

Gov. John Hoeven would not be far from Sen. Dorgan on economic issues.

The hard right is angry and defensive and loud. They own the party apparatus. The hard right in North Dakota even criticizes Hoeven! But he's popular, can raise money, and will be nominated and will win if he runs (barring scandal). I think we'll see the influence of the non-fringe Republican voter in primaries leading up to 2010.

[TomF]

"How frequently," at the beginning of a sentence which is not a question, is awkward at best, and may well be incorrect.:DVery true. Nevertheless ...

How frequently grammatical excursions are used to displace actual content may demonstrate your objective for writing one liners. :D

[Donn]

My objective in writing one-liners is to say what I want to say, succinctly.

[johnw]

I'm always sorry to see the Democrats lose a thoughtful moderate. They need more not fewer of them.

ND will elect another centrist, but he or she will be a Republican.
Yes, and he seems also to have been thoughtful and effective. But too many of these guys stay in office into old age. I suspect he wanted to stop and sniff the flowers. Retiring at 70 sounds about right to me.

I'm wondering if perhaps, once the healthcare bill is dealt with, we'll start seeing more senators working across the aisle. It seems more likely that we'll get a bipartisan solution to the need to rejigger the banking regulations. Obama chose to tackle the hardest problem first. We've been talking about healthcare reform since the Truman Administration, and it might just get done this year. I doubt anything else on the agenda is as contentious.

I'm glad to see Dodd retiring. No doubt he'll spend the rest of his term trying to fix his mistakes.

[TomF]

My objective in writing one-liners is to say what I want to say, succinctly.Sure. With subtexts that vary among humour, irritation, and stand-off-ish-ness.

Like Ian, I just like it better when your longer posts give us a better glimpse of you. By now I come here only partly for the "content;" mostly for the company. Persistent one-liner-itis often feels like a rip-off on that score, especially when there's obviously a lot more going on that isn't said.

[Captain Blight]

For a one-line post to succeed, it must needs be pithy. Mr Yeadon does this very well.

[Donn]

It's difficult to claim you've been short-changed on a free forum.

Standoffishness doesn't require hyphens, and aloof is much more eloquent.:D

[TomF]

... and succinct.

[Captain Blight]

...And leads to cries of elitism.

Are you an Eastern Elite, Donn?

[Donn]

I'm a Hoosier Elite.

[TomF]

I'm a Hoosier Elite.I was going to make a smart-ass comment about oxymorons 'till Wikipedia revealed a motherlode of outlandish stories about the term. Maybe Hoosiers (and surely elite Hoosiers) get to pick their preferred etymology?

Which is it for you, Donn? A "rough woodsman" or "hill person" in the Cumbrian dialect of England? An Indiana farmer and flat-boatman (whatever that is)? Employee of canal-builder Samuel Hoosier? A rural guy with a speech impediment (who's your pa?)? A brawling boatman, who might have taken a lesson or two from an erstwhile Mike Tyson (who's ear)? A wannabe Hussar?

I'm guessing a brawling boatman.

[Captain Blight]

Perhaps a rude mechanickal.

[Donn]

In my vocabulary, a Hoosier is a native of Indiana. I was born in Indianapolis.

[Captain Blight]

Well, I was conceived in Beirut but that doesn't make me Lebanese.

[johnw]

Now let's talk about flatboat men. Or would that be flat-boat men? One word, or compound modifier? Who's got the stylebook?

[TomF]

Yes yes, Hoosier = Indiana native.

Before leaving Indianapolis, did you get a chance to hear Janos Starker play the cello? Arguably one of the greatest cello teachers ever, and he was on faculty in Indiana for ages. Teachers of mine had studied with him, and the senior students at the Conservatory I attended were still unpacking a masterclass he'd run there a couple of years before I enrolled.

[Donn]

It was well after I left Indiana, but I've seen him perform a couple of times at IU, and once as guest soloist with the Cleveland Philharmonic. Quite a talent.

[TomF]

I'm jealous.

[Donn]

One of the performances at IU was in one of Jacobs' small recital halls. I doubt if it seated 100 people. It was remarkable.

[C. Ross]

Tom, did you study music at IU?

[TomF]

Tom, did you study music at IU?No. Studied cello and voice at the Victoria Conservatory of Music (British Columbia), and did more vocal studies later at the University of British Columbia. Ended up doing more singing than cello playing over the long haul, though I may be able to get serious about the cello again soon.

Victoria having the lovely perpetual-Spring climate it does, Starker was enticed to visit one Winter to do a few days' masterclass. My teacher (James Hunter) had been a pupil of Starker's at times, and a co-teacher with him at various festivals etc. over the years.