Tag Archive for 'Washington'

Now They'll Really Have Trouble Passing Laws: Strasburg Fever Grips DC

By: Sam, June 9, 2010 in Sports. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg shakes hands in Washington shortly after being drafted by the Nationals.

This handsome devil has thrown Washington into a tizzy. Can you blame them? Just look at that forearm...

In 2008 the Washington Nationals posted the worst record of any team in Major League Baseball. (They would go on to repeat the feat in 2009.) Their performance earned them the very first pick in the 2009 draft the following spring, which meant they had first dibs on a very sought-after prospect: Arizona State pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Despite their ineptitude on the field, the Nationals’ front office made what’s looking a lot like a very good choice when they picked Strasburg first overall. After a brief stint in the minors, Strasburg made his first major league start last night in Washington against the Pirates. It was a doozy. Strasburg threw 14 strikeouts in seven innings and walked exactly no one. His fastballs hit 100 mph on several occasions. The kid’s got the goods, and it’s enough to drive Washington to even further to distraction.

At least four local restaurants are currently offering “Strasburgers,” and one of them contains one pickle for every strikeout Strasburg threw in his debut (14!). Not to be outdone, Congress is getting in on the Strausburg love, with Senate Majority and Minority Leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell taking a break from not passing laws to finally agree, on the Senate floor, that Strasburg is awesome. Notice that Reid still calls it “the television” and that despite their agreement on Strasburg, McConnell can’t quite resist pointing out that he actually went to the game instead of watching it at home. Maybe even the magic of Strasburg isn’t enough to bring us together. Then again, somehow the Nationals are only six games out of first place…sure, that’s last place in their division, but anything can happen, right?

An Inconvenient Marriage: Al Gore and Tipper Gore Separate

By: Sam, June 1, 2010 in Celebrities and Government. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
A young Tipper Gore sits next to her husband and future VP Al Gore

The Gores in happier, slimmer times. That Tipper was a stone cold fox. Al, what are you thinking?

Cast your mind back to Washington, DC, circa 1970. Richard Nixon is in the White House, and just up the road at the National Cathedral, the senior Senator from Tennessee, one Albert Gore, Sr. is attending the wedding of his only son. That son, of course, is the man we know as Al Gore, who is marrying Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson, whom we’ll later come to know as Tipper Gore. It seemed a match made in heaven, and for 40 years it was. We say was because today Al and Tipper Gore announced they are separating. Word on the street is that neither has been unfaithful; they’ve simply grown apart as their busy lives each required more and more separate travel. Although both Al and Tipper are few years past their physical primes, they were certainly a handsome older couple, especially considering they’d been in the public eye pretty much all of their adult lives (which in turn probably explains the abundance of photos in which Tipper is sporting a dated haircut and/or “mom” jeans). As political/celebrity couples went, they always seemed much more in love than most, which makes the news especially shocking.

Previous fashion choices aside, the Gores are handling their separation with the expected amount of class and restraint, announcing the split via a joint email to friends. (Yes, we were left off the list. Again.)  Still, our hunch is that once Al gets himself a bachelor pad he’s going to realize that although he’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he’s not as trim as he used to be. Sure, Tipper’s not that young any more either, but the inconvenient truth is this point neither of them is likely to do much better.

Super Tuesday! Super Surprises!

By: Sam, May 18, 2010 in Politics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .
Indiana Representative Mark Souder

Representative Mark Souder is all about abstinence, which means abstaining from sex before you're married. Once you've tied the knot however, it's apparently open season to sleep with whoever you want. Mark Souder: Leading By Example

It’s an even numbered year again, folks, and even though we won’t be electing a president in the fall, it still means it’s once again time for a “(somewhat) Super Tuesday” of primary elections. As if the votes themselves weren’t super enough on their own, some trademark Washington-style political bombs have exploded today.

Leading off, we’ve got news that current Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who’s running to replace retiring Senator Chris Dodd on the Democratic ticket has been lying about being a Vietnam veteran. According to today’s New York Times, he kept racking up deferments from the draft throughout the late 1960′s and eventually landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve in 1970, which meant he did lots of drills and organized a Toys for Tots drive. The problem is that he now goes around talking about how he “served in Vietnam.” Blumenthal maintains that he simply misspoke and when he says he served in Vietnam, he means he served (in the Marine Reserves) during the war in Vietnam. So it’s all just a big misunderstanding right? Well, despite it being Super Tuesday we won’t really find out how voters feel about this until August 10 when Connecticut holds its primary.

The other hot political story today is another one of Congress’s surprise resignations. This time our resignee is Republican Indiana Representative Mark Souder, who’s calling it quits in now that his extramarital affair with a part time staff member has come to light. So far pretty run of the mill, right? A Sit tight though, because there’s another shoe about to drop: Rep. Souder made a video touting his struggle to promote abstinence with his mistress. A video you can watch right now, right here. A big oops to be sure, but again, nothing that impacts Super Tuesday because it will be at least 60 days before a special election can be held to replace him.

So what is actually going on today, election-wise? Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter faces a tough Senate primary in Pennsylvania against Representative Joe Sestak, and there’s a special election to replace Rep. John Murtha, who died in February. Over in Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln faces a tough primary battle against the Lt. Governor, and a field of Republican hopefuls are also duking it out to run against whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee. Finally, in Kentucky Rand Paul (yes, Ron Paul‘s son) is in a close battle with for the Republican nomination to the Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Republican Jim Bunning. Paul wasn’t the favorite initially, but with the backing of Sarah Palin and those Tea Party folks, he’s polling ahead going into today’s vote. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a big night. Our fervent hope: CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer brings back the holograms.

Search our Debates

By: Sam, March 3, 2010 in Government and Juggle.com. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning blocked unemployment benefits for millions this week, but he couldn't stop us from letting you search Juggle Debates.

Jim Bunning couldn't stop us from letting you search our debates, but he did yell at us to get off his lawn.

Despite the ardent objections of Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, the Juggle Team has managed to fight through the red tape and unveil our search feature for Juggle Debates. With the handy search bar now located at the top of all our debate pages, you can easily search our vast library of debates to hunt down the ones you’re really looking for, no matter what those fat cats in Washington try. They may be able to shutdown unemployment benefits, but they won’t take away your ability to debate them!

(Incidentally, no matter what your opinion on Congress, the President, or health care reform, we’ve got debates for you, and if you find we’re missing any, you can help us rectify the situation by suggesting a debate.)

Farewell, Charlie Wilson

By: Sam, February 11, 2010 in Government. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .
The late Congressman Charlie Wilson, of east Texas.

Charlie Wilson 1933-2010 "...the best officer at sea and undoubtedly the worst in port."

Charlie Wilson, the rogue Texas congressman who nearly single-handedly brought US aid to the  Afghan Mujahideen in their war against the invading Soviets during the 80′s, died yesterday. You may have heard of him as a result of the 2008 movie he lent his name to, Charlie Wilson’s War. “Good Time Charlie,” as he was know in Washington, was known for his carousing and occasional involvement in minor scandals, and although he was ill when the movie was released, it can’t be a bad thing to be portrayed on the screen by Tom Hanks.

The story of Wilson’s life–in particular his involvement in covertly getting aid to the Mujahideen–is a truly singular tale in the annals of US history, and if you’re even remotely interested in it, you owe it to yourself to read George Crile‘s excellent book, also titled Charlie Wilson’s War. You’ll swear it’s fiction, but Charlie Wilson was far, far stranger, and a true American original.