Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Responsibility of 60

By Fester:

Congratulations to Senator Franken. I like the sound of that because by golly, people like him.

But guess what, the Republican Party is functionally irrelevant now. There are no procedural hooks besides infinite holds that can be lifted with a party line vote that can theoretically delay legislation. There is no legitimate way to argue that the filibuster choke-point on ground changing legislation is Senator Snowe, Collins or Grassley. Democrats own the Senate now, lock, stock and barrel. Now it is time to put up or shut-up.

On healthcare the veto players for a non-reconciled bill are now explicity two Democrats; Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

On Waxman-Markley, the veto players are coal state Democrats.

On Afghanistan and Iraq policy, the veto players are the gang led by Evan Bayh.

On pretty much anything that matters, the veto players are Democrats now. It is nice to have power, but with it comes responsibility to use it wisely. And I have severe doubts that the bedwetting caucus that counts as its members most of the relevant veto players is particularly wise.



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