After months of dithering on the issue, former New York mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has decided not to run for governor of New York.  Many Republicans may be disappointed with this decision, as he is the highest profile GOP-er likely to seek the post.

It was not clear what prompted the decision, but the prospect of potentially facing Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is quietly planning his own run for governor, may not have appealed to Mr. Giuliani, who suffered a bruising defeat in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. While many political analysts believe Mr. Giuliani would have comfortably beaten Gov. David A. Paterson, he would likely have faced an uphill battle against Mr. Cuomo, one of the most popular politicians in the state.

Giulian’s camp has not confirmed the decision not to run.

No, it’s not Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Crooks and Liars, Atros, Kos, or Media Matters for America. It’s Newsmax.com, as they are gleefully blaring today.

Republicans are planning a series of delaying tactics, such as reading the entire bill on the Senate floor.  And Utah Senator Orrin Hatch says,”It’s going to be a holy war.” (h/t Americablog) And that is in spite of a number of concessions already made to conservatives:

Unlike the House bill, which would establish a national public option, Reid would give states the option to “opt out” of the government plan, a concession he made in a bid to win the support of conservative Democrats.

Reid has also been working to defuse concerns about limiting federal funding for abortion and about a new and potentially costly government program to provide insurance for long-term care.

The Senate bill would ban the use of federal funds for abortion services except in cases of rape and incest, requiring insurers that cover elective abortions to segregate money from Americans who get government subsidies.

A Lithuanian official and a former CIA official have told ABC News about a concrete structure built by the US where up to eight detainees at a time could be harshly interrogated.

“The activities in that prison were illegal,” said human rights researcher John Sifton. “They included various forms of torture, including sleep deprivation, forced standing, painful stress positions.”

As Laffy properly notes, the proper word for “harsh interrogations” is “torture.”  And see her links to more on blight in our detainee policies.

Bumper stickers and t-shirts saying “Pray for Obama Psalm 109.8″ seem to no longer be available on cafepress.  Offered by the maturely-named upyoursobama.com, Psalm 109.8 reads, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” The next verse in Psalms is, “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” As Gawker chronicles, may conservative sites believe this is thigh-slapping hilarious. Here is the cached link to the no-longer-available offering.

Still available on the Obama hate site, however, which bills itself as ”Anti Barack Obama – Pro McCain Palin”, are such classy gems as these:

Texas adopted an amendment to its constitution in 2005 to assert that marriage had to be between a man and a woman.  But the language used indicates that marriage, itself, may be illegal.

Prop. 2 – The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

Outcome: Adopted

Election date: 11/08/2005

Democratic attorney general candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky believes this language may effectively ban all marriages in the state.  She is blaming the current attorney general, Republican Gregg Abbott, for allowing this to become law. (h/t Think Progress)

Radnofsky called on Abbott to acknowledge the wording as an error and consider an apology. She also said that another constitutional amendment may be necessary to reverse the problem.

With former members of John McCain’s campaign staff taking issue with accounts in Sarah Palin’s book, McCain himself has now weighed in.

“There’s been a lot of dust flying around in the last few days and I just wanted to mention that I have the highest regard for Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace and the rest of the team … and I appreciated all the hard work and everything they did to help the campaign,” he said.

“I think it’s just time to move on,” he said.

McCain also threw some good words Palin’s way:

“I’m still really proud of her and the campaign she ran and I think it’s pretty obvious that she has a substantial base and interest out there,” McCain said.

Sarah Palin complains in her new book that Nicole Wallace pushed her to do an interview with Katie Couric because Katie “needed a career boost” and “was going through a tough time.”  Wallace says this is “a fictional description.”  Palin told Oprah it was supposed to be “an interview that was lighthearted and fun”, just “two working moms,” which is why she didn’t prepare for it.  Wallace says not true, that the interview was set up as a walk and talk in front of the UN to highlight Palin’s ability to be VP. (via TV Newser)

The conservatives at Lucianne Goldberg’s site, lucianne.com, used the story of Obama visiting his half-brother, Mark Ndesandjo (right),  while in Asia as an excuse to display vile contempt.  After posting part of the story…

Beijing – President Barack Obama said today that he met briefly with a half brother who lives in China and who recently wrote a semi-autobiographical novel about the abusive Kenyan father they share. Obama, who spent three days in China during his first official tour of Asia, acknowledged the meeting in an interview with CNN. He offered no details. An aide said later that the meeting took place Monday night after Obama arrived in

…comments kicked in.

Posted by: ribald1, 11/18/2009 9:54:19 AM

So the real reason for the China visit was to pay off another family member to keep quiet.

***

Posted by: wnaegele, 11/18/2009 10:13:17 AM

So the Chiccoms have their hands on a half-brother of the pres….

***

Posted by: caddyjak, 11/18/2009 10:39:31 AM

In the interest of economy, why not lease Yankee Stadium and he can meet all the halfs, one quarters, etc. in one place.

It’s good to know that conservatives come from such perfect families that they can pass judgment on others.

Arizona Republican John Shadegg, already infamous for dragging a baby onto the floor of the House and acting like a puppeteer, wanted to know how New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s daughers will feel when they’re kidnapped by a terrorist. Shadegg went after the mayor or, more specifically, his daughters, after Bloomberg said New Yorkers aren’t afraid of hosting terror trials.

“I saw the Mayor of New York said today, ‘We’re tough. We can do it.’ Well, Mayor, how are you going to feel when it’s your daughter that’s kidnapped at school by a terrorist? How are you going to feel when it’s some clerk — some innocent clerk of the court — whose daughter or son is kidnapped? Or the jailer’s little brother or little sister? This is political correctness run amok.”

Shadegg issued this apology: “I apologize for the insensitivity of my remarks with respect to the mayor or his family, however I think it is important to note that this decision involves potential risk to innocent people.”  To his credit, Shadegg didn’t apologize while holding a seven-month-old and making her mouth the words.