Indiana unceremoniously “retired” one of the few statesmen left in the U.S. Senate, Richard Lugar, when they decided that the Tea Party candidate had a better chance of retaining the office against the dems in the election.

Lugar had served 36 years in the Senate and was highly regarded by Washington pundits as a sensible compromiser and political centrist especially when it came to matters of foreign policy.

for this Hoosier frequently endeavored to forge bipartisan coalitions to advance national security priorities.

But the dopes in Indiana decided that what Washington needs is MORE partisanship and less compromise. So they threw out Lugar by a huge 20 point margin.

Lugar wasn’t my favorite Senator for sure. He did some bone-headed things – the kind of things a candidate does when s/he becomes complacent – ie: Lugar no longer kept his main residence in Indiana!

The senator and his wife live in suburban Washington, having sold their house in Indiana years ago.

That became an issue when election officials ruled him ineligible to vote in his former home district. The Marion County election board voted that he no longer meets the residency requirements needed to vote in the county.

Those of us who would wish that Mitch McConnell would become as complacent and therefore vulnerable to a primary challenge at first might seem heartened by the Lugar loss.

But we quickly realize that Lugar’s loss only adds power to the already Mighty Mitch McConnell, whose stated goal as leader of the Senate is to insure the defeat of Barack Obama in the upcoming election.

McConnell was instrumental in changing the Senate rules to eliminate “majority-rules” when making laws. McConnell has the power and the backing to call for a “super majority” of 60 votes in the Senate before any bill becomes law, otherwise McConnell will rally a filibuster.

McConnell is woefully out of touch with the common Kentuckians that keep re-electing him. Imagine, the tenth richest Senator in the United States represents Kentucky one of the poorest states in the union.

But with Lugar gone, the voice of moderation and reason and compromise in the Senate, McConnell can now command Lugar’s followers to get back in line behind him.

All the political chits that Lugar collected over the 36 years he served disappeared overnight, and McConnell will be there to reward his new Senate backers by doling out power and PAC money.

Lugar loses, McConnell wins.

We are residents of Costa Rica, but citizens of the United States. Some people think we have given up our citizenship and abandoned the U.S.

They are misinformed.

There is a discussion on the Costa Rica Living group about those of us who choose to live in Costa Rica abandoning the United States in its time of need.

My home is the United States.I have a business there and a couple of houses and life there has
treated me well, allowing me to come here when I get the urge to relax and play.

What prompted me to ask these questions is after hearing from a number of people
about how terrible things are in the US and that you are escaping these horrible
conditions, I also remember a comment by President Kennedy, Ask not what your
country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Do any of you feel like you have abandoned your homeland?

(You can read the thread here – requires a Yahoo Login and joining the group. Not really worth it, so you’ll have to trust that I’m not taking this yahoo out of context.)

The yahoo then rails about how the poor and the downtrodden in the U.S. deserve my support and questions if I ever feel like a traitor.

As another poster puts it…

Simple for me my friend. I am not leaving “my” country, it left me.

I agree.

Mitch McConnell, the senator from the state in which I used to reside has declared that any measure that comes to the senate has to be able to withstand a filibuster. This means it now takes 60 votes to pass a bill rather than a simple majority!

For example… a bill was labeled “defeated” even though a majority of senators voted “aye.”

…Then, starting five years ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Republican minority accelerated a preexisting trend and ramped up filibuster threats to historically unprecedented levels. … Since essentially every bill or nomination is now subject to a filibuster threat, a change of norms has de facto become a change of rules. And — as I’ve mentioned a mere four or five million times to date — the Constitution has been so thoroughly de facto amended that a sitting Supreme Court justice can say that it “takes” 60 votes to get Senate business done…

So thanks to Mitch McConnell the simple majority rules is kaput.

Lehman Brothers and all the bankers also made it easy for me to leave the United States. I wanted to retire, but because of the bank bailout and all the fiscal fiascoes related my retirement savings collapsed along with the rest of the economy. I could have continued to “coast” at my job probably for a lot more years, but I simply could not afford to retire in the United States. There are a lot of reasons under my control that were at work too, but the recession was a big culprit.

The rich guy (Cash) on the Yahoo Groups tries to lay more guilt on us expats living elsewhere while bragging:

My home is the United States. I have a business there and a couple of houses and life there has treated e well, allowing me to come here when I get the urge to relax and play.

Sounds like a 1% er to me! Owns a business and multiple houses and takes exotic vacations, but chastises me for wanting just a taste of the same lifestyle!

Hey Cash… how about you pay more in taxes or just give a cash donation to the gummit to help out?

He questions why expats volunteer outside the U.S.

I’m talking about people whose families go back generations in the US and they are still drastically poor, uneducated, unemployed, and are struggling to survive. Why does a foreign country merit your efforts more than your own country?

What a jerk! Where a volunteer spends their time and to what end is a totally personal decision.  Its not a zero sum game: people that volunteer in Costa Rica probably volunteered in the U.S. also at one time or another.

Remember too: Lobbys R Us is in charge of the United States Congress. Big money lobbyists determine who gets elected.

The SCOTUS has usurped Congress when it comes to making laws and taken the power of the people to elect a president. (Al Gore won the popular vote, remember that?)

From a political standpoint, it was easy to leave the United States, because the United States left me.

Honolulu wants people to smell artificial while riding the city buses.

Natural scents will not be welcome – unless you have deodorant up your butt.

City Council members Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia hope to pass a bill that will ban riders with “odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system, whether such odors arise from one’s person, clothes, articles accompanying animal or any other source.”

As Planet of the Chimps points out, it will take smell police to find the stinkers.

Inquiring minds are asking… would riders

• be expected to report the offense via a special “smell phone?”
• be required to rank the reek?
• Twitter the emitter?
• accuse the oozer?
• quench the stench (what about the French?)

By the way, have you been behind a bus lately?

The “Today” show has hired Jenna Bush Hager to work for them.

The twinster daughter of ex-President Bush (love how that sounds) will work on just about what ever she wants. Kind of like Luke Russert.

NBC: home of the ordinary Xers with extraordinary connections.

Jenna Bush will work out of the Washington bureau, jumped at the chance to drag down a nice salary and work in Tee Vee.

Here is the ringing endorsement of her qualifications by her new boss:

“I think she can handle it,”

Is this a dream job for Jenna Bush Hager? Hardly, she said:

“It wasn’t something I’d always dreamed to do,” “But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change.”

Jenna Bush-Hager won’t have to give up her part time teaching job. Did I mention she will be covering education?

Sound familar? It’s the same deal offered to Luke Russert, the kid of St. Tim Russert. He was supposed to offer his worldly insights on the political scene.

NBC put Jenna Bush through a rigorous audition. She walked in, stood and read from a prompter and was offered the job.

When she came here for a handful of appearances, she knocked it out of the park.” She “just sort of popped to us as a natural presence, comfortable” on the air.

I guess that’s about the same qualifications as most females of her age group that have network Tee Vee jobs. Except she is missing the beauty queen title that most hotties of the news have.

NBC: Home of the Hotties or the Unnervous.  Tee Vee news marches on.

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Obama health care proposals.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of
nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. Pathologists yelled, “Over my dead body!” while the Pediatricians said, “Oh, Grow up!”

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, “This puts a whole new face
on the matter….”

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.