Sunset near the Cranston/Scituate border. (Photo courtesy of @Piz816)
Barrington balked a bit in its bid to ban plastic bags last night. The Projo reports that last night “a divided council authorized the town solicitor to draft an ordinance on the use of plastic bags but was unable to define exactly what that measure would say.”
The Council will hold a workshop sometime in August to discuss the ramifications of asking people to supply their own grocery bags – here’s a cheat sheet on how that debate will go down: the environment will be a lot better off and CVS will make a tiny bit less money.
Speaking of recycling, Bradley Campell of RIPR delves deep into how the recycling process works in Rhode Island.
WPRI gives Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee some love … the PCCC called Sheldon “a rising progressive star” in an email it sent out yesterday that Ted Nesi turned around into a pretty informative post. Me, I’m not really sure how much higher his progressive star can rise … he’s introduced the best bills in Congress this year and he seems perpetually willing to stick up for the middle class. Sheldon is the number one star of the progressive movement in America.
A rising star would be more like Darcy Burner, from Seattle. Watch this woman, as she is sure to make some political waves in her career.
By the way, I want RI’s junior senator to start a giant funk band called Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Sheldon and the P Triple C, for short.
Add Projo columnist Ed Fitzpatrick to the list of journalists to take issue with Anthony Gemma’s unbelievable social networking prowess.
Hitchcock himself would have a hard time scripting a scarier trip abroad than what Mitt Romney just pulled off. He managed to make enemies with England, of all countries, before running roughshod like a bull in a china shop over one of the most delicate political situations on the planet. but Chris Cilliza of the WaPo wonders if it matters.
In his post, he quotes prominent Republican Ed Rogers who sums up everything you need to know about the presidential campaign this year: “Let’s face it,” Rogers said. “Romney can’t win, but Obama can lose.”
“Sheldon is the number one star of the progressive movement in America.”
What’s with his opposition to strengthening protections for U.S. citizens under FISA?
*** quote ***
SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN: What Senator Lee and I are trying to do is establish that there is a bright line here between what we do with those outside the United States who threaten us and what the Constitution requires of us of those within the United States.
SENATOR SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: I think that this risks being a killer amendment for this program.
*** end quote ***
That’s right, you can have FISA or the protections afforded you by the U.S. Constitution. Take your pick.
Do progressives not realize that multi-millionaire elite Whitehouse used his position as a legislator to engage in unethical insider wall street trading on multiple occassions, or do you just not care as long as he is forwarding your social agenda? He also cosponsored the corporatist PIPA bill, easily one of the worst, most anti-consumer bills of the past decade, at the behest of his major hollywood donors. Do you not care about that either?
Voted that one up, even though I’m a Whitehouse supporter. I think as progressives we demand nothing from those who lean left and therefore get exactly what we ask for.
I’d also recommend that progressives check their own infatuation with and preconceptions about Sheldon by speaking candidly with some of the attorneys who worked under him when he was United States Attorney for Rhode Island and later Rhode Island Attorney General. It’s really striking when you talk to a dozen career attorneys from all over the political spectrum and they paint exactly the same picture of Whitehouse: that he was a professional train wreck and the most unprofessional person they’ve ever worked under. They invariably described someone who was arrogant, rude to staff, legally incompetent, and ran the offices politically in all the worst ways. Don’t take my word for it – please seek out and ask these people yourselves. Most of them are still working in the offices and very eager to speak their minds about the Senator when asked.
In other words RTW, he meets all the qualification to become a politician. Note to progressives and conservatives alike, beware of lawyers in politics. There’s probably a good reason why they sacrificed their careers for politics. LMAO!
I don’t think it has anything to do with him being a lawyer. All that means is that he was trained in the law – not a bad qualification for a politician. I think it has to do with him being a person of mediocre abilities who was born into an “elite” family, which led to him growing up spoiled, rude, contemptuous, and power-hungry. But ultimately people must be held accountable for their own behavior and personal failings – unless you are a progressive in Rhode Island, in which case you get elected to higher and higher offices.