Congressman Murtha Dies - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

Representative John P. Murtha, the longtime Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, has died at age 77.

His aides released a statement saying that he died shortly after 1 p.m. today at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Mr. Murtha had been placed in intensive care last week after complications from gallbladder surgery, his staff said then.

Given that with Teddy Kennedy's passing the Demcoratic Party lost their US Senate majority to a Republican, am naming the coming electoral fight for this seat the SENATEPOCALYPSE.

It's not going to be pretty.

Last year it was Joe Wilson screaming "you lie" to Obama. This year it's none other than allegedly impartial and free of bias Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

The example of strict constructionist judicial unbias shows his true colors to the whole world by disagreeing with Obama's criticism of the Supreme Court's decision to lift the limits on corporate political contributions by expanding the definition of corporate personhood.

Watch it!

(h/t Talking Points Memo)

Now, I am not naïve. I never thought the mere fact of my election would usher in peace, harmony, and some post-partisan era. I knew that both parties have fed divisions that are deeply entrenched. And on some issues, there are simply philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways. These disagreements, about the role of government in our lives, about our national priorities and our national security, have been taking place for over two hundred years. They are the very essence of our democracy.

But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day. We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent – a belief that if you lose, I win. Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can. The confirmation of well-qualified public servants should not be held hostage to the pet projects or grudges of a few individual Senators. Washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, is just part of the game. But it is precisely such politics that has stopped either party from helping the American people. Worse yet, it is sowing further division among our citizens and further distrust in our government.

So no, I will not give up on changing the tone of our politics. I know it's an election year. And after last week, it is clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. But we still need to govern. To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills. And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions. So let's show the American people that we can do it together.

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[ #SOTU delivered Jan. 27, 2010, as released by the White House ]

Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For two hundred and twenty years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.

It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable – that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements; our hesitations and our fears; America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, and one people.

Again, we are tested. And again, we must answer history's call.
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I just came from a wonderful talk by Nobel Prize winner Marty Chalfie at the conference I am attending at UCLA (the International C. elegans meeting...more commonly called "the worm meeting"). Hearing a talk from a recent Nobel Prize winner is always wonderful, because they usually still have a sense of wonder at not just their own accomplishments but the fact that their accomplishments are part of a flow of science that depends on past efforts and has meaning in the context of future accomplishments by hundreds of other scientists. I have to say hearing from people who have gotten their Nobel Prizes a long time ago is often less inspiring because they have come to terms with greatness and take it for granted. New Nobel Prize winners have not and so their perspective is generally most inspiring.

I work in a somewhat obscure, to most people, field studying a small worm that normally grows in soil. I can generally explain my work easily by saying that I study the role of insulin signaling in the development of the reproductive system. People understand that. But it is hard to convey just why studying a worm, a so-called "model organism," is meaningful or the intricate complexity that even this one study involves, linking to dozens of less commonly heard of signaling systems like TGF-beta, Tor/Raptor, etc. And it is even harder to convey why science is so exciting.
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Only in the United States would you have the masses rolling down in tour buses (actually, one lonely bus) to protest in front of the corporate elites' lawns. I don't expect them on horseback bearing pitchforks but for crying out loud : tour buses?