Yes, I know the teabaggers' wins are attention-worthy, but the mere thought of Paladino and O'Donnell anywhere near Washington DC turns my stomach. (And Rand Paul, and Sharron Angle, and, and, and...)

So I went looking for what's going right. To my surprise, there are good things afoot that are being buried in the never-ending Republican noise machine.

First, Elizabeth Warren is going to be appointed as a special advisor to the White House and Treasury Department for the purpose of setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This appointment is sure to raise all sorts of whining from Republicans, who will certainly bemoan their lost opportunity to stall yet another confirmation.

The appointment would place Warren in charge of the new watchdog agency she personally proposed three years ago to protect Americans against lending abuses.

The official said Obama plans to name Warren as an advisor to him and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner - giving her responsibility for shaping the consumer bureau in coming months.

The financial overhaul bill signed into law in July gives this consumer watchdog - and the person who leads it - broad autonomy to write and enforce rules governing credit cards, mortgages and other such loans.

Under the law, the Treasury maintains responsibility for setting up the new regulator until the president nominates a director, subject to approval by the Senate.

Also, the White House is implementing new policies to ensure that more contracts go to small business, and has set up a website to track that implementation.

The White House is also urging all veterans who are entitled to retroactive stop-loss back pay to apply as soon as possible. The deadline is October 21st, and any veteran who was stop-lossed is entitled to receive additional back pay for that.

Meanwhile, in Congress, Republican Senators LaMieux and Voinovich joined with the Democrats to break the filibuster on the Small Business Jobs Bill. For small businesses who are tired of beating their collective heads on bankers' doors, this is welcome news indeed.

In other Senate news, the Johanns amendment repealing the 1099 reporting provisions of the Affordable Care Act by eliminating wellness and preventative health care funding has been defeated. The White House has signalled support for softening 1099 reporting requirements, but not at the expense of wellness and prevention.

Finally, the Department of Energy announced grants to incubate new green energy industries.

It's news like this that keeps me from stabbing myself in the eye over teabaggers' antics. It would be good if our mainstream media gave at least a small amount of attention to it, too, instead of breathing heavy every time one of the idiots opens their mouth.

The White House is lining up the players for implementation of the health insurance reform provisions coming up in September.

Via the Billings Gazette:

HELENA — Liz Fowler, a key staffer for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus who helped draft the federal health reform bill enacted in March, is joining the Obama administration to help implement the new law.

Fowler, chief health counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, which Baucus chairs, will become deputy director of the Office of Consumer Information and Oversight at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Liz Fowler is an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated adviser, and while I’m very proud of her new position, she will certainly be missed at the committee,” Baucus said in a statement Tuesday.

Baucus, D-Mont., led the Democrats’ efforts in the Senate the past two years to draft and pass a major health-reform bill, which President Barack Obama signed into law March 23.

Fowler's appointment has fired up a hot discussion about her past association with Wellpoint.

Marcy Wheeler:

This is the kind of “oversight” that resulted in the BP disaster.

And remember Obama’s lobbyist restrictions? The ones that prevent someone from working in the Executive Branch on an issue that they’ve lobbied Congress on for two years? Fowler was not a registered lobbyist; rather, she was the VP of Public Policy and External Affairs. But in any case, it appears that Fowler returned to MaxTax Baucus’ staff on March 4, 2008, so nothing prevents the former VP of WellPoint from writing the “consumer and oversight” rules that are the only thing protecting Americans from policies — like WellPoint’s — that screw consumers.

Marcy is correct: Fowler was not a registered lobbyist, nor was she acting as a lobbyist in her two years with Wellpoint. In fact, if you look over Fowler's entire career, she is a career public servant. One might even argue that private industry and Ms. Fowler were not a great "fit", as noted here:

As far as I have been able to tell, she has spent most of her career in public service. She spent her early years in at Hogan & Hartson, worked for Senator Pat Moynihan, Rep. Pete Stark and Senator Max Baucus, and then later rejoined Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee in 2008.

So what exactly is the problem? She's not a lobbyist; most of her career has been spent in public service; and she was the head of a 20-person team that drafted the Senate Finance Committee version of the reform bill.

Fowler headed up a team of 20-some Senate Finance Committee staffers who helped draft the bill in the Senate. She was Baucus’ top health care aide from 2001-2005 and left that job in 2006 to become an executive at WellPoint, the nation’s largest private insurer.

It's worth noting that the Senate Finance Reform committee version was certainly included in the Senate version of what ultimately became the Affordable Care Act, but so too were provisions from the Senate HELP Committee's version. Harry Reid, as you might recall, combined pieces of both to make the Senate bill, and that version included a watered-down, ineffective public option which was ultimately stripped away from the final version because Joe Lieberman wanted to punish liberals more than he wanted to see people have access to health care.

Liz Fowler didn't take out the public option. She didn't kill it. And she didn't lobby against it. Is it possible that she simply has a different policy opinion from others? Or that she actually doesn't have a different opinion but made a calculation about what was possible with this Senate Finance Committee?

Health care, whether it's government-run single payer or covered by private insurers, is one of the most complex areas of public policy there is. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act needs policy wonks at the helm. If Liz Fowler is anything at all, she is a policy wonk, one who has earned a doctorate and a law degree, and who has spent her entire career in the policy area of health care.

Seems like a natural choice to me. Don't forget she also worked for Pete Stark (an ardent single payer advocate). Why does the Wellpoint 2 years carry more weight than the Stark/Moynihan? Because it fits the narrative or because there's evidence of malfeasance? If there's evidence, where is it? A difference of opinion over policy does not mean corruption is afoot.

Something to consider, anyway.

(h/t ThinkProgress)

Poor Michele Bachmann. She knows she lost the battle and the war, but still seems to be unaware that her one functioning brain cell ran away too. In this little audio gem, she insists that Berwick -- a champion of outcome-based health outcomes that don't threaten the doctor-patient relationship -- will be running death panels and denying us care.

Also? Honorary degrees spread egg over your face, doncha know?

BAKER: The number of people, the number of people involved in this health care plan...they seem to be big advocates of rationing!

BACHMANN: Yes, that is their foundation, and the reason why they want to ration is because they also want not just a wealth transfer, Chris, they want a power transfer. Today, if you're sick you just call up the phone [sic] make an appointment with your doctor or maybe you just walk into your doctor's office, get an appointment. They want to transfer authority for your health care to a government bureaucrat so a bureaucrat will decide if you get in to see a doctor, when you get in, and what level of care you will get.

We as individuals for the first time in America will lose control over our health care decision making and this individual who hasn't seen a patient for years, who the White House was touting as having Harvard professorships, and now the White House has egg over their face -- on their face -- he doesn't have professorships, they're honorary positions.

He's the individual with this radical, um, advocate of completely socialized medicine, government takeover, government decisionmaking, reduction of health care for all of us. He's the one now who will be in charge of implementing full scale Obamacare and he'll be in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.

BAKER: Oh boy, that's why I'm now referring to him as the chairman of the Obamacare Death Panel.

BACHMANN: That's right.

BAKER: That's my title.

BACHMANN: That's right because this is his quote. I have it right in front of me. It says "the decision is not whether we will ration health care; the decision is whether we'll ration with our eyes open." Well it's with his eyes open, because he is going to be the one who is denying people care.

There are so many lies in this two-minute segment I don't even know where to begin, but I'll try.

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{H/t Heather]

Here's a fact: Right-wing authoritarians will never accept Barack Obama as their president, even if he does everything they demand of him to the jot and tittle. Just watch Liz Cheney on Fox News Sunday today, after Bloody Bill Kristol went so far as to praise Obama for his "clear commitment" to winning the war in Afghanistan:

Chris Wallace: Liz, does Bill Kristol have it right with the appointment of Petraeus and the comments that he made that we showed about no rush for the exits in July of 2011 and late this week -- are you as convinced as Bill is that the president is "all in" in Afghanistan?

Cheney: Ah, I think that Bill is right, that the president did the right thing and that the president deserves credit. I think that he unfortunately had to relieve McChrystal -- I think that McChrystal was a tremendous general and he did tremendous things in Iraq; when the entire story of Iraq is told I think he'll get the credit he deserves there with the special forces. He had to be replaced, however, and Petraeus is the right person for the job. And I do think the president's speech announcing the change was a good speech.

Now, I don't think we know for sure that he's all in. Because Petraeus can't do it alone. And if you don't have the changes in your civilian leadership that you talked about in your interview segment this morning, it will be very difficult to get this done.

It's obvious to everyone on the planet -- except the rabid right -- that Obama is "all in" on military-industrial complex's strategy for "winning" in Afghanistan -- but it's predicated on eventually "winning" (whatever that means) and then getting out. This is what Cheney really is after: like her father, she favors an endless war in Afghanistan, one that can just roll on forever, providing an endless excuse for our military involvement in the Middle East. They're looking out for American hegemony, and too bad about that body count.

Nothing Obama does will ever satisfy the likes of Liz Cheney. Right-wing authoritarians believe above all in bowing and adhering to those in authority -- and the thought of bowing to a Democratic president, liberal or otherwise, as a legitimate president is too much cognitive dissonance for them to handle.

Y'all better watch out. Now that the 72-hour clock is ticking and Democratic representatives are falling in line behind health care reform, Tom Coburn has a message to deliver: If you're a House Democrat who voted against health reform the first time and change your vote to yes, he'll block any appointment you may receive after you lose your seat for changing your vote. (I think I have that right, but you'd better watch the video to be sure. It was, um...bizarre.)

Ummm, ok. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) could barely contain his excitement as he points to Coburn and dubs him "Holder-in-Chief" with a smirk and a sense of real excitement about watching that little side show.

Seems like the threat isn't working all that well, since Bart Gordon (D-TN) announced that he would switch from no to aye this afternoon, along with Colorado freshman Betsy Markey.

Since when is Coburn putting holds on nominees a threat, anyway? Isn't that what he's been doing for the past 15 months?

(via ThinkProgress)

I was in my then-doctor's office in Yardley, Pennsylvania, home to several of the pilots and crew members who died in the attacks. None of us knew that at the time, of course. We were just there to see the doctor.

When I walked in for my 9 a.m. appointment, they had the radio on. "A plane crashed into the World Trade Center," the receptionist told me. Weird - that's an awfully big building to miss. I assumed it was a small plane, sat down and picked up a magazine. (I think I was there for a sinus infection.)

And as we sat there half-listening, a few minutes later the weirdness replayed itself: Another plane crashed into the other building.

At this point, dread set in and we knew something really, really bad was happening.

I remember the drive home, heading south on I-95. It was completely empty, except for one state trooper I'd passed. I'd never seen that. I remember thinking it looked like the end of the world.

On the ride home, I kept trying to call the people I cared about - not to see that they were physically safe, but as an emotional touchstone. The phone lines were busy everywhere and it was hard to get through. (I remember my then-boyfriend was not all that interested in hearing from me, so something else died that day.)

My grown son was staying with me while he looked for a job and was sleeping on the couch when I came home. I flipped on the TV and it woke him up. We watched as they showed the planes crashing into the building, again and again and again.

"Turn it off," he said after an hour or so. "This is pornography, war pornography. Turn it off."

So I did.

When we have our limbic brain punched over and over again by horrific images, and those images are then used to justify more horror, there is only one solution: Turn off your TV.

My son was right: The 9/11 images were war pornography, something watched over and over as we stroked ourselves into wargasm.

In honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, comments are closed to this post. We offer this opportunity for our readers to take a moment of silence in deep respect to those whose lives were lost, both here and in Iraq.

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The Hill:

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said on Sunday that Vicki Kennedy should be considered to replace her late husband in the Senate.

Hatch, one of Kennedy's closest friends in the Senate, said on CNN's State of the Union that Vicki Kennedy is well-qualified to serve, even if only until a January special election to fill the rest of the term.

"I think Vicki ought to be considered. She's a very brilliant lawyer. She's a very solid individual. She certainly made a difference in Ted's life, let me tell you. And I have nothing but great respect for her," Hatch said on CNN.

Another close friend of Kennedy, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), acknowledged that Vicki Kennedy has not expressed much interest in filling in for her husband, but said he would support her next step.

"Whatever Vicki wants to do, I'm in her corner," Dodd said on State of the Union. "She knows that. And she's expressed to me her own sort of reluctance to [fill in for Kennedy], but she could change her mind. If she did, I'm for it. I think she'd be great."

"She brings talent and ability to it, and to fill that spot I think is something the people of Massachusetts would welcome. We could certainly use her in the Senate," Dodd said. "But I leave that up to her. She's got a lot on her mind right now, and frankly, I'll leave it up to her decision-making process."

Massachusetts lawmakers, spurred by a letter from Kennedy himself, have begun discussing new legislation that would allow Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to appoint a temporary replacement to serve until an election. State law passed when Gov. Mitt Romney (R) was in office took the power to appoint a replacement away from the Republican when Sen. John Kerry (D) appeared in strong position to win the presidency.

Kennedy was reportedly worried that the Democrats would fail in their health care reform push without that 60th vote and wanted to make sure that Patrick could appoint someone before that January special election. You gotta love that about Teddy, optimistic 'til the end that the Dems would find their spines.

Meanwhile, BoldProgressives has started the Honor Senator Kennedy petition:

PETITION TO THE SENATE: "Ted Kennedy was a courageous champion for health care reform his entire life. In his honor, name the reform bill that passed Kennedy's health committee 'The Kennedy Bill' -- then pass it, and nothing less, through the Senate."

Sign it, it's getting passed on to the Senate today as they come back from recess.

Today I had an appointment with the surgeon who I expected to do the surgery on my ankle. I presented him with the second opinion from one of his colleagues, and he agreed with it.

"Yes, you really do need this surgery," he said. "But you need someone who can do an arthroscopic exam for bone fragments and a ligament reconstruction at the same time, and I can't do that. There's only a handful of people

who do."

Is there any reason why I couldn’t have those surgeries separately? I asked.

Well, no, he said. But it really didn’t make sense to separate them and the insurance company would probably dispute it. The thing is, he knows the other orthopedic group with whom I have the appointment - one of the best in the city, he hastened to add - and he knows they have a lot of restrictions about what insurance they’ll take. He said they probably wouldn’t accept the open car insurance claim in payment.

At this point, I was almost in tears. “What are my options?” I said.

There’s this one guy over at Jefferson who does both, and he might take the insurance, he said. “And there’s another guy up in Princeton, but that’s it as far as I know.” (And by way of passing, told me he had a patient that week from 100 miles away who drove to his office with a badly broken arm because he couldn't get anyone closer to accept his Medicaid.)

So I came home and called the doctor at Jefferson. The office assistant informed me they’re no longing accepting New Jersey car insurance cases. “No, no, my health insurance is Jersey. My car insurance is Pennsylvania,” I said, desperate to get a break.

Finally, I got one. The office assistant took all my information and said she had to verify my coverage and the open claim. I told her I was on COBRA, running out of money and really needed to get this surgery done ASAP.

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Some families testified yesterday in utter despair over their loss of a son and a husband. I've written a lot about the actions of the shady Utah mine owner Bob Murray. This is a heartbreaking look at how these families are dealing with the tragic deaths that happened in part because of the incompetent actions of Bob Murray.

Download | play Download | play

Sheila Phillips - Mother of miner Brandon Phillips:

"It's just hard to have hope, and have your heart broke every day, and have your grandson grow up without a dad…And I'd like to talk a little bit about Mr. Murray -- I didn't go to very many of the meetings because I couldn't stand to listen to the man. He was talking about one day when they were moving the drill holes, and they had the pad ready for one and then they decided to drill it somewhere else, and I asked him why they didn't have two going... and he said 'we could drill you 1,000 holes and it wouldn't make any difference.' (transcripts and Digby below the fold)

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Emotions are running high right now...there's a lot of justifiable anger out in the blogosphere (or blogtopia, for skippy).  The question now falls to you how you want to manage that anger.  I see a lot of disgust that I fear will result in low voter turnout.  I see a lot of ranting and raving on comment threads.  But rather than throwing up our hands in defeat, Christy at FireDogLake has a suggestion to put our frustration into action:

Dear Elected Members of Congress:  Welcome to the "You Work For Us Summer Tour."  Coming to a public venue near you.  And that is a stone cold promise.

This is your LiLo Don't Drink And Drive Night at the minor leagues accountability moment, members of Congress.  What group am I with when I call to make an appointment for me and a few hundred of my closest friends?  I'm with "people who vote."  We are pissed off and disgusted.  And you work for us, so we'll be discussing your performance evaluation every opportunity that we get.  We'll be calling for an appointment shortly, so make a little space on your calendars.

You thought you were getting the month of August off to head out to friendly little senior centers and county fairs where you get to do your political shuck and gladhand and eat some homemade pie?  Not so fast, slick.

Now that Congress has handed over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the standard of probable cause as if they were mere wisps of nothingness that weren't hard won from Runnymede through to the American Revolution and beyond, I have to wonder what has become of the fourth amendment in all of this mess?  And, worse, whether Congressional leadership on either side of the aisle cares beyond getting the legislation out of the way so they can head out for vacation?

This is why I love the activism of the netroots.   We've been able to manifest our voices into real change in the past and we'll do it again.  I don't care if your reps are Democrats, Republicans or Joe Lieberman.  Call them.  They're at home this month.  Make an appointment.  Make them answer to you.   And if they voted on the right side of the FISA bill (as mine did), then CONGRATULATE THEM.  Positive reinforcement goes a long way.