Jed Lewison has a video roundup of Republican refusal to extend a helping hand to the unemployed in the midst of the worst economic times since the Great Depression:

Herbert Hoover lives, and he resides in the GOP.

Speaking for me only

WaPo editor Marcus Brauchli [. . .] was pissed that Quinn's latest "Let me tell you some stuff about my family" column ran, and has now declared that in the future her column "will appear online at 'On Faith,' a section of washingtonpost.com that Sally guides."

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Apparently Quinn trashed the place. And it no longer is her place. Of course being in print at the WaPo ain't all that anymore anyway. It is ironic though that Quinn was spending a lot of time calling for the head of WH Social Secretary Desiree Rogers and it is her head that ends up rolling. The First Lady and Ms. Rogers would not be human if they were not chortling a little.

Speaking for me only

Via FDL:

Via Atrios, the Republican Party:

As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension [of unemployment insurance benefits] Thursday night, [Sen. Jim] Bunning [R-KY] refused to go along. And when Sen. Jeff Merkely (D-Ore.) begged him to drop his objection, Politico reports, Bunning replied: "Tough sh[*]t."

I had a very busy day yesterday so I saw precisely none of the health care summit yesterday. DemfromCt has a roundup of reactions and I found some of them interesting. Ezra Klein wrote:

The big story out of the summit is not that Republicans and Democrats extended their hands in friendship, but that the White House has dug its heels into the dirt. The Democrats are not taking reconciliation off the table, they are not paring back the bill, and they are not extricating themselves from the issue. They think they're right on this one, and they're going to try and pass this legislation. Today was a boost for that effort.

I'm sure for the Democrats in that room, Ezra's descriptions may be correct. But does this really signal that the Dems can get it done? After all, the views of no one in the room were really at issue. But will Bart Stupak be swayed by what happened? More . . .

Our morning open thread is full, BTD and I are still busy at our respective day jobs. Here's another open thread, all topics welcome.

Very busy today for me.

Health summit ongoing. Have no idea what is happening.

Open thread.

The Senate, on a voice vote, today extended the expiring Patriot Act provisions:

One provision authorizes court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. A second allows court-approved seizure of records and property in antiterrorism operations. A third permits surveillance against a noncitizen suspected of engaging in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.

How's this for a compromise?

In agreeing to pass the bill, Senate Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections to the USA Patriot Act.

Having a majority in the Senate doesn't seem to mean much in the age of compromise. The bill now goes to the House, which undoubtedly will do the same.

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis wrote a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the recent federal raids on medical marijuana in Colorado.

Tuesday, Polis sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to instruct agents to abide by the Justice Department's Oct. 19 directive to allow deference to state laws on legalized medical marijuana use, or to clarify the new position.

Polis sent a copy of the letter to President Obama. He posted his letter today on Square State. (Why don't they promote it to the front page from the diaries?) I'm reprinting it below: [More...]

In 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the execution of Charles Hood. Curiously, they didn't do so because it came to light that the prosecutor and judge were having an affair. It was because of a jury instruction.

In September, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled Hood had waited to long to raise the issue of the affair. The Texecution again loomed.

Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the death sentence, ordering a new sentencing hearing (but not a new trial.) Once again, no mention of the affair.

[More...]

Congrats to the TL kid who just got a not guilty verdict for a client on all charges in a domestic violence case. He's so excited, the jury came back a few minutes ago. His client testified and said he acted in self-defense.

American Idol showcases the 12 male finalists tonight. Tomorrow night, the results are announced. And, the Olympics are ongoing. Lindsay Vonn broke her finger today.

I'm writing a brief tonight, so this is an open thread, all topics welcome.

How popular is Conan O'Brien? He posted his first tweet on Twitter a little over an hour ago and already has 43,000 followers. How enlightening was his tweet?

Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me.

Over 100 people have re-tweeted it, which isn't that many. Unless they are all people like Ryan Secrest with 3 million followers, who retweeted it right before he tweeted about what he might wear on American Idol tonight.

Does Jay Leno tweet? Maybe he should. (Update: He does.)