OFFICIAL 110th Congress Thread (For Cube Rats)

[matcom]

Congress is about to convene. Can we have a thread that gives DETAILS about what is going on for those of us stuck at the office?

PLEASE?

[helderheid]

1. Sure. Let's make it this thread :)

:hi:

[Hugin]

3. Thirded!

I am as a mushroom.

[missingpeace]

23. Forpled

Thanks!

[matcom]

4. yay!

:hi:

[Sapphire Blue]

7. Perhaps you could change your OP subject line to include "Official Thread"?

[matcom]

10. done. great idea

[Norquist Nemesis]

55. LOL! MSNBC Breaking News: Harriett Myers resigns

:rofl:

[SharonRB]

83. Pretty funny -- Maybe she finally realized her boyfriend

has his eyes on the SOS, not her.

[ellenfl]

2. yes, please. eom

[deepthought42]

5. Yes, I'm stuck here with only computer and a lovely view...

of a hallway...fill a poor receptionist in!

[helderheid]

6. 3 more minutes...

YEAOW!

[Sapphire Blue]

8. The gavel. The wonderful sound of the gavel.

[helderheid]

9. For anyone who can stream...

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

[helderheid]

13. The house will be in order!

[coffeenap]

11. gavel and prayer

!

[Der Blaue Engel]

20. Yikes

I didn't realize our Congress started with a Christian prayer.

[Clark2008]

35. It always has.

But, maybe Keith Ellison can make an addendum to that. :)

[coffeenap]

12. delete

[mdmc]

14. kick / r

from the cube

[helderheid]

15. get this on the greatest

[itsmesgd]

16. LLLLet's get ready to rumble!!!

[helderheid]

17. I'm simply GIDDY!

[babylonsister]

18. House and Senate - praying.

This is pretty damned exciting! :bounce:

[malaise]

24. Privett from U San Francisco

special prayer for Nancy

[helderheid]

25. I wonder what the Rs are praying for??

:evilgrin:

[foreverdem]

154. They're praying this is a bad dream. n/t

[LSK]

19. both the Senate and the House are having a Prayer

[LSK]

26. Senate = Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

[LSK]

and in the House

[SharonRB]

37. Pledge in the House now

[coffeenap]

21. second prayer at request of Pelosi

ok...

[crispini]

22. Watch on C-SPAN, why not?

The Chaplain just gave the prayer.

[LSK]

hes at work n/t

[crispini]

31. C-Span streams over the internet.

Unless your company blocks streaming video. That's how I'm watching.

[LSK]

36. many companies dont have the bandwidth or block it

[The Witch]

27. OMGZ a San Francisco prayer with San Francisco values!

We're all gonna :nuke:

:sarcasm:

[LeftyMom]

28. Coulda done without all the "Lord, blah blah" crap, myself

hrmph

[LSK]

29. its common practice

[LeftyMom]

40. It hardly makes me confident they're looking out for my best interests

When they're praying to rule by the standards of a being I know to be imaginary.

It's tacky and divisive. If they want to pray, DC has plenty of churches. They can do it on their own time.

[LSK]

this is a great day

Can we try and be positive?

:shrug:

[crispini]

51. Heh. No, I got scolded on my thread about women reps,

was told that some of them are fundy batshit ppl. Uh, we have the highest number of women in the house today, EVER, why rain on my parade?

[LeftyMom]

52. Gee, I thought this was a discussion form, not a cheerleading squad.

:shrug:

[Der Blaue Engel]

146. It is a great day

But it's still wrong, and bore a brief mention.

It's a minor blip, though, and I'm enjoying the hell out of this day. :hi:

[Der Blaue Engel]

30. Yeah, me too

Blurg.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

48. Just wondering if anyone, besides me, has arranged this week's

schedule according to the opening of Congress? Had several things I needed to accomplish this week but I hurried up, got them done Tuesday and Wednesday and now I'm ready to watch gavel to gavel coverage on C-Span. Wouldn't miss this for the world.

Go Nancy, go Harry, go Dems. Let's get busy.

[Lasher]

59. Yep, me too.

I've been looking forward to this since November.

[SharonRB]

71. Wish I didn't have to be at work

At least I don't have a ton to do today, so I'm trying to watch the stream as much as I can.

[havocmom]

145. Arranged so I could have a bit of time home this AM to watch.

Figure my hoops and hollars might be annoying to others :D

[AspenRose]

32. "This one, because he needs me the most"

Story before prayer about poor woman with many children, asked which one was her favorite, did not say "I love them all" but picked up the one that had a disability and said "this one, because he needs me most."

Prayer following: For those who need us (Congress) the most in this country

[crispini]

33. On the house side... The pledge... nt

[Sydnie]

34. I am watching the Senate side

Cheney is there and you can hear the displeasure in his voice. The Chaplin had to call them to prayer TWICE and the second time he seemed to have a tone to his voice and a look of disgust on his face since they didn't want to ge quiet.

Cheney is swearing in the members 4 at a time right now.

[LSK]

39. Hey Syndie!!

Is this a great day or what??? I am so excited!!!!

:hi:

[Sydnie]

45. It's a grand and glorious day!

I am in tears ... this time ... tears of joy and relief!

:hug:

[SharonRB]

49. Hi, Sydnie!

Keep us up on what's going on in the Senate. I've got the House on. Just a lot of talking and moving about the room now. An abundance of blue ties!

[The Witch]

43. Sounds more interesting than the House right now...

If only I could hear two different things out of my two different ears....

[Sydnie]

53. Second group up now

Cheney is positively beside himself. No smiles, all smirks from him today! I am loving it!

[Sydnie]

60. they are being escorted by the other Senators from the same state

that weren't up for reelection this time. It is a sea of Dems ... all smiling and gleeful.

[Sydnie]

68. Dodd is doing the "honorable thing" and going up with

Lieberman.

[crispini]

38. Clerk is talking about certifying the election. nt

[Skidmore]

41. There is such a different tone already.

I think it is remarkable that the prayer was not for prosperity and might, but for doing right by the least among us.

[crispini]

46. That was nice wasn't it?

I liked the story he told about the mom who was asked which one of her kids she loved the most and she picked out the obviously handicapped child "because he needs it the most"

[crispini]

42. Seeing if we have a quorum using electronic voting system.

[Sapphire Blue]

44. Rep. Conyers' smile... absolutely radiant!

[myrna minx]

47. This is so amazing.

:bounce: It's a new beginning.

[LSK]

50. as Darth Vader swears them in, I cant help but hope they will put him on Trial

:evilgrin:

[The Stranger]

152. Cheney should be arrested and indicted.

[crispini]

54. They are all kind of milling around.

Lots of families and kids in the chamber

[AlCzervik]

56. No George Allen and no Santorum, this is fing wonderful!

[babylonsister]

57. Who are all those little boys in the House-future pages? Some

look none too happy to be there, history be damned! :evilgrin:

[crispini]

58. Family

This is pretty much a party day for the new reps.

[babylonsister]

74. I see that now; same w/the Senate. But there's lots to celebrate!

Happy New Year, crispini! :party: :hi:

[crispini]

61. Picture of vote tally board as they are ringing in.

Very interesting.

[LSK]

62. Nancy is making her way through the crowd

[babylonsister]

63. Nancy Pelosi looks radiant and happy! Rethugs, not so much.

:rofl:

[SharonRB]

64. Nancy's in the house now

Going around saying hello to the families. It's so nice to have a woman in charge!

[cally]

65. Byrd looks very frail and needed help

On the house side, CSPAN showed the cutest child looking around a little confused as everyone was praying.

[Norquist Nemesis]

66. How long before the Florida Republican starts screaming

about stolen elections?

:popcorn:

[AlCzervik]

67. Lieberman being sworn in now---blech.

[LSK]

70. Claire McCaskill being sworn in

[Sydnie]

75. and did you see Trent Lott

glad-handing everyone around him after the swearing in? He's a big fish in a small pond again ... and it shows on his face too.

[crispini]

69. So much fun to see them.

I hope all of our hopes are justified.

[Sugarcoated]

72. Haaay there's Russ!

I missed him! Love his the slightly skeptical look in his eye as the snarl swears them in.

[crispini]

73. Still not much going on in the House side. nt

[LSK]

76. Bernie Sanders turn

Welcome to the Senate Senator Sanders!!!

:bounce:

[AlCzervik]

yay!!!!! How great is that???

[DesertRat]

77. Here's Nancy! She looks radiant

:party:

[crispini]

79. She's wearing sort of a plum suit, right?

Looking good Nancy!

[DesertRat]

84. Love the plum suit. She is so classy.

[SharonRB]

89. She looks radiant

She has so much class. I can't wait to see her in action.

[Skidmore]

92. Not blue, not red. Plum--the color of America.

Those two colors have become so symbolic of division. I'm sure she picked the color for a reason. Nancy is no slouch.

[SharonRB]

95. Perfect choice

Not to mention that it's a great color on her.

[Cameron27]

85. She really looks stunning today.

[ronnykmarshall]

82. I saw her earlier this morning.

I love the suit she has on. She looks so happy.

[AlCzervik]

78. Jim Webb coming up!

[LSK]

80. Senators Jon Tester and Jim Webb

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[AlCzervik]

81. i can't wait to see them standing near Orrin Hatch, he must be scared shitless.

[Sydnie]

87. Now, you're just plain

talking dirty to me! :rofl: I can't stay in my seat.

Funny side note: I have guys here cleaning my oil burner. I had to warn them that if they heard hollering coming from my livingroom is was just me watching C-Span and that there was no emergency to be concerned about. They were amused. When I told them I had a bottle of bubbly to open once it was done, they offered to watch with me! :rofl:

[LSK]

90. Clerk will call the roll

What a sweet roll call this is!!!

:bounce:

[Skidmore]

86. Louise Slaughter!!! Yay, Louise.!!!

A true goddess.

[MelissaB]

88. Thanks so much for doing this!

:hi:

[SharonRB]

93. I agree

I was looking all over DU, trying to decide where to go and settle down. This gave me a home for the afternoon.

[LSK]

94. CSPAN Congress threads rule!!!

[crispini]

91. The C-Span commentators talking about changing ...

the names of the committees, it's very interesting how they will be going back to the old Dem names of many committees.

[crispini]

96. Ha! I am not represented by Jeb Hensarling anymore!

So that is NOT MY CONGRESSMAN! :woohoo: I got gerrymandered into a DEMOCRATIC seat!

[SharonRB]

97. Good for you Crispi!

[Skidmore]

Congrats!

Hensarling is an amazing piece of work.

[crispini]

103. Isn't he something?

Although I had a really great time going to one of his town halls in rural east Texas, on Social Security -- this was a really early one -- and I got to see his rural, Republican, redneck constituents RIP HIM A NEW one over the privitization (sp?) of Social Security. I really enjoyed that. That was when I KNEW that that Shrub's "reform" was going no-where. :rofl:

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

98. new camera angle in the House

directly overhead on c-span. wonder if that will be a regular thing.

[crispini]

99. They should have coffee and snacks, or something, it's like a party. nt

[Sugarcoated]

100. Doing the roll call in the Senate

People doing photo ops with Nancy. Everyone wants a piece of her!

[Sapphire Blue]

101. Senate: a quorum is present.

[LSK]

102. Majority Leader is Recognized

That would be Senator Reid!!

[Sydnie]

106. Byrd is President of the Senate for today

Cheney will have to hand over the reigns to him now!

[crispini]

104. Still chatting over on the House side. nt

[Sugarcoated]

105. Richard Gere is in the House!

Do my eyes decieve me?

[AlCzervik]

109. nope, 1 seat away from Tony Bennett.

[DesertRat]

Tony Bennett too! n/t

[LSK]

107. Action in the House now

[crispini]

108. Clerk is calling the quorum nt

[crispini]

110. Clerk is recognizing the territories delegates nt

[malaise]

126. Go Nancy!!

I'm loving this.

[LSK]

111. Nancy introduced to a standing ovation

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Sugarcoated]

I'm clappin and yelling and so's my Granddaughter!

I'm so happy I'm gonna burst!

[SharonRB]

112. Election of the speaker coming up!!!!

Cheering in the House.

[AlCzervik]

113. Nancy Pelosi gettng HUGH applause and i'm SERIES!!111

[crispini]

114. Next order of business: election of speaker! CHEERS! nt

[helderheid]

115. OKAY, I am now tearing up listening to the applause!!!

[LSK]

118. same here

[SharonRB]

122. And here

[crispini]

116. Still cheering! So exciting! nt

[Lasher]

117. Bobby Byrd is again President Pro Tempre of the Senate!

Byrd sworn in by Lord Vader, said "I do so help me God" - and get this - with his fist in the air!

[SharonRB]

120. Wish I could have seen that!

Good for him.

[underpants]

121. He makes $18,300 more than the other Senators

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore_of_the_United_States_Senate

[Maggie_May]

132. I saw it and I got up and cheered!

Oh happy day!

[Cameron27]

119. This is just wonderful

standing ovation for Nancy!

I think I'm going to cry before this is over.

[Sugarcoated]

127. Boener looking bummed

More applause!

[crispini]

123. Rahm Emanuel Nominating NANCY!

[SharonRB]

128. Now I'm really crying

There will be another standing O, I'm sure.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

124. How Awesome Was It To Just Hear That Ovation For Pelosi?

I\'m still in disbelief sometimes that we did it!

[Skidmore]

125. Nominated!!!!

[malaise]

131. How lovely to see her with her grandchildren

Oh happy day for women across the planet.

[SharonRB]

133. I wonder if her grandkids even realize how big this is

[crispini]

129. Awww, I'm gonna cry! More cheers! nt

[ronnykmarshall]

149. Me too!

I finally got a stream to work.

[dogday]

130. Very moving.... nt

[AlCzervik]

134. asshat Adam Putnum nominating Boehner to be speaker of the house.

no wild applause there at all.

[SharonRB]

136. Not much cheering

:woohoo:

[dogday]

139. That was funny

:rofl:

[Sapphire Blue]

140. I saw that. WTF?!?!?

[AlCzervik]

144. it's just procedure, nothing more. It was Awkward though wasn't it?

[Sapphire Blue]

150. May be just procedure, but this is the best they could come up with? Pathetic.

That says something for their party. :puke:

[AlCzervik]

151. well if the repubes were the majority we'd be doing the same thing but---

it just really seems assholish coming from the gop.

[crispini]

135. Nominating the Republican now. nt

[crispini]

137. Appointing tally-ers from each party. nt

[SharonRB]

143. I've never watched this process before

I'm so geeked I can't stand it.

[Sugarcoated]

138. Up yours Putnam!

How's it feel to be in the minority you arrogant puke?

[Sydnie]

141. New thread here - this one is getting pretty long for dialups

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3040883

[coffeenap]

142. I am crying--it is her!! Rahm now nominating! Here she comes!!

Go Nancy--world's most powerful WOMAN! (Sorry, just had to say it!) Rahm nominating now!

[LSK]

147. Pelosi vs Boner election

Gee I wonder who will win?

:rofl:

[GenDem]

148. I just stood in my living room...alone

clapping and crying like a baby for our new Speaker of the House!

This is a very GOOD day!!!!

:applause:

Now I have to go back to work:(

[Hugin]

153. Hooray!

Once again The People's House is a force to be reckoned with!

Hooray!
Hooray!
Hooray!

[Moderator]

155. locking due to length

Please continue here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3042093&mesg_id=3042093