Burris Doing VERY Badly Before the Impeachment Committee

On CSPAN now.

Burris is doing terribly in his testimony before the Blago impeachment Committee.

He was asked whether he talked to Lon Monk about the Senate seat. He said yes. Lon Monk is Lobbyist 1 in the Complaint, the guy who Fitz has also taped, not least in the horse-racing venture that Fitz was willing to release to the impeachment committee.

And now Durkin, the Republican ranking member on the committee, has noted that a $1.2 million donor (Telephone USA Investments/Joseph Stroud) to Burris has only given to one other politician: Blago. Burris and his lawyer are now trying to back out of answering details about this loan. Burris justgave a non-answer about whether or not the loan was "forgiven"–he basically said he had no way of repaying it, though he didn’t say the loan had been repaid.

Back on Lon Monk: "As lobbyists, we see how we can help each other."

Lots of questions from Republicans about whether or not he has been making promises not to run in 2010.

Rut roh. Now the Republicans are bitching that the draft report was released this morning.

"Those of us downstate often see more clearly because there’s not as much airpollution as there is in Chicago."

Asking about Burris’ partner talking with Patti Blago about employment gig.  Burris says he knows nothing about it.

Eddy: Why was the Governor’s criminal defense attorney calling you about the seat?

Genson: He’s not the criminal defense attorney.

Eddy: When Adams called you, in what capacity?

Burris: Adams is a good friend of my son, I helped raise him to some degree. I treated it as being counsel to governor.

Eddy: I’ve seen Adams sit in this committee as defense counsel of governor. Nothing relating to criminal complaint relating to appointment at all?

Davis: Will you get Blago’s security clearance back?

Burris: I don’t know what authority I would have. It’s something that would come to my attention–I’d check with Durbin.

Rose: "Designee Burris."

Now discussing Burris’ December 08 presser to bid for the seat.

Tracy: The 1.2 million campaign donation: what kind of business?

B: He owns TV stations.

Tracy: Does he have any contracts with the state of IL.

I see him socially.

Tracy: Is it understood it will never be repaid. 

B It has never come up since I lost the primary in 02.

Tracy: Do you recognize your appointment not under idea circumstances? What I’m trying to establish, I believe that you have qualification. What we have to consider is people of state of IL.

Bellock: Did you mean it when you assured the people of IL that Blago would not appoint?

Genson: I didn’t assure anyone.

Bellock: To hear that Adams came back to request that you have that appointment, seems highly irregular. People were assured appointment would not be made. No matter who made that statement, in testimony today, it seems highly irregular statement made and two weeks later Adams come forward.

Burris: No knowledge.

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  1. freepatriot says:

    upon further review, we can’t seat burris until we find an office that his head will fit in

    this guy must have a 5 acre hat, or something …

    • RevDeb says:

      It would seem that there will be an ongoing contest between Burrs and Harry as to which is the most embarrassing to the Senate and dem. party.

      tough contest.

  2. freepatriot says:

    this guy is too stupid to know he volunteered to stand in the strike zone, ain’t he ???

    he should fit right in with the Democrats

    he’s stupid enough to be harry’s sidekick

  3. bmaz says:

    You really think it is going that badly? Eh, the Stroud loan sounds bad, but they never got to far with it.

    Sure is a big fucking loan for a state race in 2002 though. Problem is, it has clearly been common knowledge, and on the books in Illinois, from the start. Apparently nobody thought too much of it before.

      • emptywheel says:

        Thus far they’ve established that:

        1) Some rich guy owns two and only two politicians: Burris, and Blago.
        2) Burris talked about the Senate seat with a very close associate of Blago (and failed to reveal that on his affidavit), someone who Fitz was also tapping and whose actions are the only action Fitz can release to the committee.
        3) Burris was asked to take the seat by a guy who–before Genson–had been Blago’s defense counsel on this (and note one thing Blago was doing was raising money illegally to pay his legal bills).

        That’s all very problematic to me, IMO.

        • nomolos says:

          I was amazed that anyone, other than a nutto, would have joined in this game that Blago is playing. But now, since listening to this guy, I am assured he is not a nutto but he is a bloody crook. What ever goes through the mind of these egomaniacs that they think they will be able to “get away with it”. Surely they know that there will be investigations, research, enemies etc.that will nail them. Arrogance, it seems. knows no bounds.

        • lllphd says:

          um, folks do these things precisely because they believe/hope/have evidence that they’ll get away with it.

          none of this surprises me about burris. not that i know anything about his history, but that dawgawful crypt, and his kids roland 2 and rolando…. sheez.

        • lllphd says:

          well, c’mon; i mean, george foreman has reason to boast an ego the size of a continent.

          burris, on the other hand…..

          (still, can’t say i approve of confusing one’s children with the same name, especially when it’s your own. but then, i’ve seen triplets named james 1, 2 and 3, and a girl named yllis, pronounced “phyllis” because the “ph” is silent. two others i can’t share here because seeing them ruins the impact altogether. but trust that the records keepers wondered if there oughta be a law. doncha know.)

      • selise says:

        hey! innocent until proven guilty. blago has the legal right to appoint whoever he wants to the seat and burris has the legal right to be senator. /s

        • RevDeb says:

          the reality is that no matter what he says here today he won’t see anything wrong with it. He’s been legally appointed. He will not withdraw his name—his ego won’t let him.

          So all of this is just rubbing salt in the wound.

        • bmaz says:

          Interesting, I don’t see the snark factor in that comment. That is a straight up recitation of what the Constitution demands.

        • selise says:

          no. the constitution places no such requirement on my right to call for the guy to step down or to say that he is not an appropriate appointment and should be withdrawn or that the appointment process is illegitimate.

        • bmaz says:

          Your comment @13 made no reference whatsoever to you calling for anything personally; it simply indicated snark for the Constitutional presumption of innocence and Blagojevich’s right to choose wo he wants to appoint and Burris’ absolute right to accept said appointment. I fail to see the snark in those concepts; they are all quite the case. and, again, legally and Constitutionally, Burris’ appointment certainly is legitimate from all facts currently extant. Until the Illinois Supreme Court determines otherwise, that will remain the case.

        • selise says:

          bmaz, my inititial comment was in reply to nomolos’s comment about having a problem with bribes. the sarcasm was meant to reflect what i see as the confusion between what what you think (probably rightly) ought to be the outcome of any challenge burris may face and what we can and should be saying about the appropriateness of burris and the appointment process.

        • lllphd says:

          bmaz, i appreciate how you champion the letter of the law, but i’m still with readeroftealeaves on this one; does it not irk you one iota to see the likes of these thugs manipulating that law to nefarious ends?

          i swear, to read this comment at 23, you’d think you were jonesin’ for a gig to lawyer for the mob.

        • bmaz says:

          The only ones that have been “manipulating the law” are Reid and the Dems. He may be a scuzzy asshole, but Blago made the appointment to Burris straight up under the specific edicts of Illinois law, which was promulgated in conjunction with the 17th Amendment. Further, it was done so after an express ratification of Blago’s existing legitimacy as the executive/governor of Illinois. You may not like what occurred, nor do I, but it is a flat out direct misstatement of fact to say that it was done through a “manipulation of law”; nothing could be further from the truth.

        • lllphd says:

          oh, c’mon bmaz; blago used his power to make this appointment in order to screw the dems, plain and simple. i call that manipulation of the law precisely because this was NOT done in the SPIRIT of the law’s intent. i assume the intention of the law was to allow for a timely replacement of a missing senator in order to provide the citizens a full compliment of representation in the senate, as you so eloquently noted.

          blago made this appointment without the first snoot of a hoot about the citizens of the state of illinois. much the same as bush made all those US atty appointments and firings without a snoot of a hoot about the citizens of this country. he of course had the legal and constitutional right to appoint and fire at his pleasure.

          if we are going to let this distinction hold at the letter of the law, then we’ll have to apply it to everyone, as you’ve said. that therefore goes for the W.

          so help me understand why we can be outraged and call for W’s head – along with gonzo’s and rove’s and harriet’s and bolten’s and so on – and not blago’s. and why can we not insist on monica’s resignation and not burris’s?

        • MrWhy says:

          My understanding, Blagojevich could have appointed his bank manager (or barber) to Obama’s Senate seat. We might be appalled at the appropriateness of any appointment by Blagojevich, we might be appalled at the appropriateness of appointing his bank manager (or barber), but the question in front of us is the legality of the appointment, not whether it passes every smell test we might be interested in subjecting the appointment to.

        • lllphd says:

          is there some reason why we would NOT consider ethical smell tests, even if they’re legal?

          i mean, he could have appointed himself, but that would have been no more in the interests of the people of illinois than burris.

          and that’s the point. we’ve got all manner of legal bright lines out there that any number of lawyers get paid big money to tap dance around. and they don’t even have to reinvent legal interpretation, like yoo and addington. they just expose how much you can get away with inside those bright lines. taxes are just one area, but the most obvious one.

          sure, the guy has stayed within legal lines, but it may be the only time he has. and from the burris testimony today, it’s not even entirely clear that’s the case.

    • cinnamonape says:

      $1.5 million loan “forgiven”…would this not, then, be a campaign CONTRIBUTION…and well outside of any legally limited contribution level? Sounds like a criminal act to me.

        • nextstopchicago says:

          It’s worse than that, EW. Under the rules in effect until last week, Burris could convert that to personal use. Although I’m not clear what happens if he didn’t close the committee that received it last week. In any event, you have to form a new committee to run for Federal office, so it’s quite possible that $1.2 million is just his.

          This is one reason to be very skeptical of anyone anywhere near leadership in IL. We were run quite literally by crooks. The idea that it took decades to close that “loophole” (it’s not even a loophole – it’s the front door) says to me that anyone who had any real power was, quite simply, a crook. The Senate President stepped down because if he continued to run, he could no longer convert his campaign funds! I mean, why have bribery laws at all??

  4. Elliott says:

    Joseph Stroud, an Oak Brook resident, is the president and founder of the Jovon Broadcasting Corporation and the president of Telephone USA Investments, Inc. The Jovon Broadcasting Corporation is a Tinley Park-based firm that operates WJYS-TV, the only African-American-owned television station in the Chicago area. WJYS-TV’s programming includes religious shows and infomercials. Telephone USA Investments is a telecommunications firm.

    The Jovon Broadcasting Corporation is a career patron of unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Roland Burris (D).

    From 1993 to 2001, the Jovon Broadcasting Corporation contributed $286,170 to candidates for Illinois statewide constitutional and legislative office, 100% of which was contributed to Democrats.

    Last revised March, 2003.

        • emptywheel says:

          Wow. Since I’m on a role, let me assert that Jovan was her only or one of only two non-fundie clients (the rest were part of a right wing attempt to give Christ the media).

          And she would have been repping Jovan not long before he bought Burris and Blago.

        • bobschacht says:

          EW,

          Since I’m on a role,

          Hmm, what role would that be? Sharpshooter? Deconstructionist? (tee hee)

          Oh, you meant roll? I’ll write it off to your head cold, then.

          Carry on!

          Bob in HI

  5. nomolos says:

    Is it my imagination or does EW work 24 hours a day? A tireless worker, slaving for us all, and bringing no end of interesting information.

    Thanks EW you are a gem.

  6. scribe says:

    I’m glad these characters all admit “I’m not a lawyer, but I think I’ll play like Perry Mason in the old reruns my sister still looks at, ’cause he seems to get good results”.

    Because they sure as hell don’t know how to formulate a question.

        • bmaz says:

          Heh, yeah, I agree it wasn’t real good. They had some good material to work the witness over with too. I think that is where Marcy and i are differing on how we view this. There is, as she notes, some decent dirt there; I just don’t think they went anywhere with it sufficient to 86 the Burris appointment.

        • emptywheel says:

          No, I’ve been chatting with ArchPundit during this–his take is that the Speaker (Madigan) told the Dems to just get Burris through this.

          So I agree he wasn’t badly damaged (though if you came in when I did–that was the tail end of his being totally unprepared to answer about Monk and Stroud.

        • bmaz says:

          I will have to say, what the fuck kind of state allows a 1.2 million dollar campaign loan that has no secured payback provisions??? Jeebus.

          The answer is, clearly, Illinois.

    • emptywheel says:

      How long you think until he fires his client?

      Mostly, I think he’s justifiably cranky that his client has two sets of lawyers–him, for the above ground legal stuff, and the prior team, which is still around mucking around and following Blago’s shitty ass strategy.

      • bmaz says:

        Maybe, I think he was just cranky at the worthless examination like scribe. It is hard to sit through. No firing as long as the fee is paid and/or secured up the ying yang.

  7. nextstopchicago says:

    Does anyone else think Tina Fey looks just a little like Senator Burris?

    Please, oh please?

    No? Awww, shit!

    We need SOMEbody to destroy this guy with satire. He’s a sitting duck, but I’m not sure anyone’s got their gun loaded right now, and with Bobby Rush and Diane Feinstein proclaiming we’re not in season …

  8. scribe says:

    Interesting – they are going to go forward without the tapes. As in “we have enough without having to go to the tapes….”

    Love it.

  9. MadDog says:

    Howdy all!

    Just checking in from my new Windows 7 Ultimate (Beta 1) testbed. Looks and works pretty well.

    Might be a bit tied-up with testing stuff, but I’ll join in as the system and its testing allows.

    • emptywheel says:

      Show off.

      I’m thinking of loosing my last ties to the Windows world. Is it worth one more shot? Or should I officially–but reluctantly–become a Mackie?

      • bobschacht says:

        EW,
        You could do the egg head thing and go with Linux. I haven’t done that yet, but pack rat that I am, I have a coupla 4 year old computers (I can’t bear to get rid of my old ones) that I could experiment with.

        You don’t really seem like the “Mackie” type to me. Heck, you’re the first one I’ve ever heard refer to the type as “Mackies.” If you are gonna be a bonafide apple-head you gotta learn the right lingo, y’know. *g*

        Bob in HI

      • MadDog says:

        Given that I’m handcuffed for life to Microsoft because of my occupation, I’m not able to be unbiased.

        bmaz would give a shout out for joining the Mac universe, and in putzing around with one of my brother’s Mac Powerbook recently, tis a very nice system.

        I will say that there is less reason to be fanatically religious about either a Windows or a Mac system today than in any time in the past.

        Now if you ask me about Unix/Linux systems, they’re still for the alternate universe crowd. *g*

        • MadDog says:

          I was running Damn Small Linux on my Vista system until I pulled the 2 250GB drives out and replaced them with 2 new 250GB for doing the Windows 7 Beta testing.

          DSL worked fine but I could never live there.

      • lllphd says:

        mac’s the ONLY way to fly.

        why drive a ford when you can drive a rolls?

        oops; perhaps autos were the wrong metaphor.

        • lllphd says:

          dang, too slow this evening (also head cold).

          shoulda said “wrong metaphoric vehicle,” but now it just sounds stale.

          phooey.

        • freepatriot says:

          why drive a ford when you can drive a rolls?

          dude, you might DRIVE a rolls

          but driving it is a sign that you don’t own it

          now adjust yer cap, and stop at micky d’s on the way to the opera …

          hell of a game …

        • emptywheel says:

          Actually, I DRIVE a Honda.

          Rolls isn’t my style.

          Nor is Mac. I might learn it. But as someone whose primary computer is a Mac yet is–at this second–typing on a PC, I happen to sort of prefer PCs, though an open to being convinced by PowerBooks.

          Incidentally, I don’t have familial ties to any auto manufacturer.

          I do, however, have family ties to a big computer manufacturer (which sold its PC biz to China).

        • bmaz says:

          Oh you’re just being contrary now. bmOz has deemed you a Ford gal, and so you shall remain. Honda notwithstanding. In the same vein that I am a GM boy; notwithstanding the two Bimmers in the garage.

        • lllphd says:

          i know the feeling. i cut my teeth on ibm’s in grad school, and never dreamed i’d switch.

          but those were the days of ascii and the godforsaken c prompt and bleary-eyed hours pouring over manuals. gag. helpful for writing code in the lab, but that was about it. half my post-doc was at dartmouth where they once tested macs, and i was quickly sold.

          the thing that impresses me most is that the user friendly piece (what blissfully dismissed the c prompt) is built into the operating system. for the pc with windows, it’s an overlay, which just sets up a whole nother layer the thing has to boot through. hence it’s seemingly terminal tendencies for crashes and nonsense.

          the mac is just infinitely more streamlined. it was designed to do what windows has had to with duct tape and a crow bar (in order to avoid apple’s participation in that nasty anti-trust thingy a while back; another story….).

          if you drive a honda, you’re clearly not inclined to dismiss quality for nostalgia or habit or whatever. i predict within two weeks you’ll be wondering out loud just what the hell took you so long.

          (p.s. i drive a prius. don’t get me started on that sales pitch!)

        • emptywheel says:

          I guess you missed this bit. I USE a Mac. I pretty much dislike it.

          What it does, IMO, is take control out of the hands of users and impose the slowness of mouse work on that user.

        • lllphd says:

          ah. i see. i admit; i’m a keystroke kinda gal. and there are ways to set preferences for the mouse that speed things up.

  10. Mary says:

    2 – heh

    46 – GOOD! It’s better IMO for there to be an all or nothing on the prosecutor’s evidence for that.

    I think really the point of the hearing with Burris would be whether or not they fleshed out enough to credibly indicate, not that Burris might have some squiggy things in his background,b ut whether or not he and Blagojevich involved in any trading of things of value for the seat. If they laid something out on that, they give Reid a toehold I think (maybe not even a toehold though)

    If they don’t lay that out, then all they are doing is making it look worse for when he does get the seat.

    Selise – I think everyone, everywhere pretty much called on all Dems to not accept an appointment from Blagojevich and I haven’t heard anyone argue anything other than that Burris should never have taken it and should step down – but that’s separate from the Constitutional question of whether or not he was validly appointed.

  11. bmaz says:

    GOOD! It’s better IMO for there to be an all or nothing on the prosecutor’s evidence for that.

    Exactly.

    As to Burris today, they established that he is a typical Illinois politician. Plenty of indicia of that; nothing on the current appointment that I saw.

    • emptywheel says:

      Really?

      In his affidavit he said he had not contact with any Blago people on teh appointment.

      Now we learn that he not only did, but he had that contact with one of the other guys who Fitz has got tapped.

      • bmaz says:

        As to the first part was that not the lawyer who contacted him on behalf of Blago about whether he would accept the appointment?

        As to the second part, maybe I misunderstood, but I didn’t see that as being “a blago associate” that would be contrary to the affidavit. Maybe I misunderstood though. To be honest, I kind of glazed over after a while becuse it was such monotonous lame questioning.

        And, hey, weren’t you agreeing that there was no real damage just a few minutes ago? That head cold has got ya flip flopping all over the place….

        • emptywheel says:

          I think the material that came out is damning as hell.

          I think the Dems made sure that it didn’t get very far.

          Having succeeded in producing Rod Blagojevich, America’s funniest Gov, why not produce Roland Burris, America’s funniest Senator (with all due respect to Al Franken, who is funny-laugh-with)?

        • bmaz says:

          Maybe i am too hypertechnical in the type of damning proof I was looking for. I thought there was damning stuff elicited; but I didn’t see anything that impinged substantially on the appointment. And the appointment was the standard.

  12. john in sacramento says:

    Drive by …

    Since there’s no trash talk yet and this post has gone off the rails anyway *g*

    Gators v Sooners

    Gators -5.5 or -5

    I’ve been trying to find youtubes of both teams – one especially of a Percy Harvin touchdown that I watched about a month ago. The reason I wanted to find the one, is because the video included a breakdown of the blocking on the TD – which was textbook. This is a big reason that Florida is in the championship game. All the offensive stars get the publicity but they wouldn’t have any lanes to run through or throw through without the big guys in the trenches. I’m thinking that the Gators have a distinct advantage here. It goes without saying that both teams have incredible speed on the offense but the Gators also have speed on the defense

    Both QBs are very good

    About 6 weeks ago I said it would be Florida v whoever won the Big 12 South in the BCS (even though SC would beat both of them, but that’s another story)

    I think Gators win and cover based on being more of a complete team

    • bmaz says:

      Off the rails? What? Just because Mary and I are gabbing about rodent horror movies from the early 70s (okay she brought up a remake, but same difference)?

      This is the third year in a row that USC has been shafted for a team that did not appear as strong as the Trojans. The last two years with Ohio State were downright freaking embarrassing. This year is a little more understandable, but I agree and think USC would beat them both. Not sure Utah couldn’t play with either one of them for that matter.

      Gators chomp the Freepats. Er, Sooners.

  13. radiofreewill says:

    If failure to properly vette Burris can be construed as Depriving Illinois of Honest Services, then Roland’s prior contacts with Blago should be reviewed to determine if the appointment was tainted – before, imvho, he gets seated in the Senate.

    On tonight’s National Championship Game:

    If the Gator D denies OU the long ball, then the Sooners have No Offense.

    If the Gators run up the middle, then the Sooners have No Defense.

    Go Gators! 52-10

  14. Mary says:

    65- It’s in the works – renamed, “Addington” The boy becomes a cuddly ol neocon codger who befriends a …

  15. Slothrop says:

    I hate to say it and I may be the only one on Firedoglake to say it (won’t be the first time) but I do believe Harry Reid had this guy figured from the get-go and therefore Harry Reid was right to have attempted to block Burris.

    This thing may not be over with — some ugly, bizarre momentum may be at work here.

    • emptywheel says:

      I think Reid should have–from the start–said Burris wouldn’t get any committee assignments. That’s what we do to people who are criminally tainted. Burris is not. Yet. But his appointment is.

  16. JTMinIA says:

    Burris previous provided a sworn statement that he didn’t talk to any of Blago’s people. What kind of statement was that? Did he just cop to perjury or run-of-the-mill lying?

    • lllphd says:

      no kidding. and how the hell did he get the appointment if there was no communication between the camps?

      that response instantly caught my eye, a bit of “thou doth protest too much, methinks.”

  17. JTMinIA says:

    If it isn’t an S2000, then it’s wrong-wheel-drive. Ergo, you don’t drive it. You point it in the direction that you want to go, press the pedal, and ride.

        • JTMinIA says:

          Boooooring.

          My racecar had a babyseat mounted inside the cage where the rear seats were. If we woke up to snow on a Sat or Sun (back in PA), my daughter’s first word would be “doughnuts!”

          And, no, she wasn’t a fan of Homer Simpson.

    • JTMinIA says:

      I don’t want to start another petty wording argument (since you just finished one), but the problem with WWD isn’t the feel through the steering wheel. You get the same sensation driving AWDs like Scoobies, EVOs, and old DSMs. The problem with WWD is you’re asking two tires to do too much work. It’s an exercise in futility.

      • bmaz says:

        Cars are meant to work. I don’t care what part of the car does it as long as it feels right and proper to my hands, feet and seat. I don’t like front wheel drive because it doesn’t feel right in that regard. But I am very persikity about cars and understand that other people have different things they focus on.

        And, as randiego points out, inclement weather is really not a concern here, so I have no need for FWD, AWD or 4WD.

        • JTMinIA says:

          “Cars are meant to work.”

          Likewise, a penis is meant to deliver semen to a particular location, breasts contain glands to feed offspring, and lips keep your food from falling out of your mouth when you’re chewing.

    • freepatriot says:

      sounds like yer basic drivin lesson to me:

      step 1, You point it in the direction that you want to go, press the pedal, and ride.

      step 2, when ya wanna ungo, step on the other pedal

  18. randiego says:

    Likewise, a penis is meant to deliver semen to a particular location, breasts contain glands to feed offspring, and lips keep your food from falling out of your mouth when you’re chewing.

    lol… huh? man, this convo has drifted a bit…

  19. bmaz says:

    Oh. No. She has had a Mac desktop for a bit. And boy did I hear about the reorienting qualms the first week or two she had it. I was a holdout for quite a while; just am not bright enough about computers, figured I better stay with what I knew, which was PC. Boy was that a dumb thought process. Macs not only work better, they look better and cooler.

    • emptywheel says:

      Macs “work” better. But I don’t yet buy that human interface is better on a Mac. It’s different. I don’t prefer it. Maybe with the Powerbooks–that’s at least less disruptive to keyboards. But right now, Macs just don’t do it for me.

        • emptywheel says:

          My first computer was an Apple in 1978.

          I first used a Mac when they were introduced.

          I used them intermintently in between, including being the effective IT gal for a small multimedia firm.

          And then, very recently, I bought an iMac.

        • lllphd says:

          quite mysterious. idiosyncratic, at least. especially since i haven’t heard you say anything about needing to work more closely with the hardware.

          but ya gotta be comfy with what ya use.

      • bmaz says:

        Yep, i think we touched on this when you first anted into Macworld. I have absolutely no clue and therefore accept that criticism totally. We all operate on MacBooks here; wife and daughter on MacBooks and me on MacBook Air. so, the laptops are all I know in terms of usability. Man, the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros are way bitchin though. Very cool.

      • lllphd says:

        hm. not sure how to convince you that you’re missing something somehow, but the fact is that the interface thing IS the mac design. that is precisely what makes it a superior machine. as i noted above, windows is a workaround, an overlay. as such, it makes the PC just really really klunky.

        that much at least there is just no getting around. what you’re experiencing i can’t imagine. unless it’s the resistance to the unfamiliar. we’re all prone to that (our brains our wired that way), and i know i have fits when i have to deal/fight with a PC.

        what you’re used to. like any habit, it can be replaced with a better one.

    • freepatriot says:

      the economy sucks, and this blog is trying to save a few bucks on pixels

      last week they told me I could only ust two quetion marks from now on

      what’s up with that ??

      • lllphd says:

        of course; i mighta known we could blame it on the economy.

        chintzin’ on the question marks?? whoa; does that mean we’re rationed exclamation points, too?

        • bmaz says:

          Times are tough.

          We had to ration the use of ”g”s too, because MadDogs was usin em all up.

          See, there weren’t even enough left for me to use one in “usin”.

  20. bmaz says:

    Hmmm. Just exactly where has Bummer Sooner been in the last hour or so???

    Did the wheels come off that damn wagon again?

    Why yes, yes, I think they might just have done exactly that!

  21. bmaz says:

    Okay. I want to say right here and now. The Gatorade dump is the fucking stupidest, most hackneyed and worn out tradition in sports.

    Just. Stop. It.

  22. freepatriot says:

    SEE

    tebow wasn’t even BORN IN THIS COUNTRY

    so he’s ineligible to win a national title, right ???

    (I had to try somethin)

  23. freepatriot says:

    we can throw out the results of this game, and have the Minnesota Supreme Court declare us the rightful national championship, maybe ???

    • emptywheel says:

      Well, it’s gonna be certified. And then YOU’VE got to pay for the Supreme Court fiasco.

      And meanwhile we’ll be seating Tim right next to Al and Roland.

  24. lllphd says:

    yikes.

    makes me wonder if this shortage is seeping into the word sector. i mean, could this linguistic economic downturn have anything to do with yoo’s insistence that “and” and “or” mean the same thing? why, how clever, how efficient, how …economical!

    or ridiculous; that phrase following yoo’s insistence makes no sense, but there’s no other way to put it.

    or, perhaps i could have said, “that ‘and’ OR ‘or’ mean the same thing.” now that means the same thing. we’re saving meanings already!! i feel so – so – saved. so – patriotic.

  25. lllphd says:

    oopsie, my 141 was in response to bmaz at 134. without which it makes no sense whatsoever, and with which it makes little, anyhoo.

  26. radiofreewill says:

    The game lived up to the hype, and OU’s Defense was better than I expected.

    Tebow isn’t Superman, but he was the Offensive MVP of the Game and he did carry the Team to the win in the fourth quarter when it could have gone either way – after he was dissed by OU as ‘only’ the fourth best QB in the nation…

    And, one of these days, if they try really, really hard, even teams like Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma can scale the heights of Collegiate Football Success – like the Gators! – and claim a 21st Century BCS National Championship.

    Thanks, EW and bmaz, for an Outstanding Season of Collegiate Trash Talk!

    • bmaz says:

      No no, that guy didn’t say fourth best in the country; they said Tebow would only be fourth best in their conference.

      The dude might have misunderestimated……

  27. FormerFed says:

    Geez, looks like I missed out on some fun conversation. I’ve been watching the SEC show once again that they are the best conference in the land, although I would like to see SC against the Gators.

    In regards to the Burris testimony, I was surprised by the $1.2M “loan” (wish I could get some of those you don’t have to pay back), but I’m not sure how it relates to what Burris was there to testify about. I don’t remember the R guy make any connection between Blago, Burris and the telecom guy who gave the money.

    In regards to Mac vs. PC, I am a PC user but have never had the guts to make the move to Mac. The first time I ever used a Mac was in 1990 when I had someone show me the switch to turn it on and then needed no more instruction on using it.

    I’ve had Apple stock for years and don’t know why I’m so damned lazy about switching – maybe this year – I need an upgrade and Mac’s are clearly superior in my opinion. I hate the elves of Redmond.

    • bmaz says:

      I agree completely about the 1.2 mil “loan”. Pretty suspect, but not sufficiently tied into the real issue at hand to wound him on the current appointment. There was a connection, however, the telcom guy only donated to two politicians Burris and, yes, Blago. But no connection to the instant Senate seat and it happened over six years ago.

      As to Mac, I was in exactly the same position about three years ago. Then my Dell laptop crapped out and I just said screw it, I’m replacing it with a MacBook. Total instant convert. Just a better mousetrap.