Gag on your Chardonnay as you will, there are actually reasons for this:

1. Obama has said he wants Republicans like Senator Susan Collins of Maine (which has a Democratic governor), in his Cabinet, anyway; and

2. if Secretary of State is the only thing which can lure a Republican senator out of the Senate (remember that “60 votes” thing? and why not have 61 as a margin of error, even if Franken and Martin win?), maybe it’s worth it; and

3. without linking to the various pundits who think Hill as S of State is crazy: we can just common-sense it and say, “THIS WOMAN HATES YOU! WHY ARE YOU PUTTING HER WHERE SHE CAN FOO UP YOUR FOREIGN POLICY, BLAME YOU, AND RUN AGAINST YOU IN 2012??”

     Okay, maybe I’m not fully seriously for Sue C instead of Hill C at SOS. Still, opine.

     See Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press, How climate change felled the mighty John Dingell,

     He dreamed of going out the way every politician dreams of going out — gracefully, on his own terms, with the taste of victory fresh in his mouth.
     As things turned out, John Dingell’s fall from power looked more like King Kong’s roaring tumble from the top of the Empire State Building.
    And for those who like their political symbolism laid on with a trowel, it was fitting that Dingell’s ouster as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee capped a week in which lawmakers bearing torches and pitchforks all but chased the Detroit Three’s CEOs up the runways of their Gulfstream jets. …
     Sorry about that, Mr. Chairman. I guess this just wasn’t the week to be known as the congressman from General Motors. …

     Ding Kong. What a concept.
     (I thought he was supposed to be “The Bull”, not “The Gorilla”…)

     But before we get to some of the Huffington Post froth about the Dingell defeat, a quick look at the Detroit News, Waxman topples Dingell; House Dems go greener,

     …”Waxman’s victory is a breath of fresh air - of clean air. It was a stunning defeat for the corporate lobbyists on K Street,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. “It shows that a majority of the House Democrats are ready to work with the incoming Obama administration on effective global warming legislation.” …
     “This decision sends a troubling signal from a majority that has promised to govern from the center,” said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio. “They moved away from Chairman Dingell because he is committed to approaching energy and environmental issues in a manner that protects American jobs.” …

     Well, at least the GOP loves “Democrat” Dingell!!

     Anyway, from HuffPoo we see in Pete Cenedella’s Dingell to the Junk Yard: Henry Waxman Deposes John Dingell on House Energy Committee,

     Feel the balance of power shifting in the American energy debate? Bye bye MIchigan, hello  California: The House Democrats have finally cleared some old spare parts out of the way in anticipation of President Obama’s agenda. …
     Rep. Dingell’s three-decade reign has been characterized by his reliable support for the backward-looking lobbying efforts of the very auto industry giants who jetted in to DC with their hands out yesterday. It’s not a stretch to say that the Big 3’s woes, and their woeful appearance yesterday seeking a taxpayer handout, may have loomed large in Democrats’ decision today to consign Dingell to the junkyard. …

     Clank clank!

; and in Jacob Heilbrunn’s Obama’s Big Congressional Victory,

     That thunderous crash you just heard emanating from Washington, DC was Henry Waxman’s toppling of John Dingell to become chair of the energy and commerce committee. West Coast beats Midwest Coast. Good versus evil. A rotten oak has been felled.
     Whatever you want to call it, it’s a big victory for Barack Obama and liberals, as important, if not more so, than his cabinet appointments. (Full disclosure: I should mention that my significant other works for H.W., but these are my own unfiltered thoughts.)
     Dingell, as odious and bullying a legislator as there’s ever been, was essentially nothing more than a shill for the auto industry, working overtime to suppress any attempts at controlling pollution or raising mileage limits. Look where that approach got Detroit. …

     “Rotten oak”, “odious and bullying”, “shill”. Ouch!

; and finally, in Jane Hamsher’s Waxman Defeats Dingall [SIC!!!], Blue Dogs Get Spanked,

     …Anyone who thinks that other members of the House aren’t soiling themselves over this huge blow to the traditional system of seniority and entitlement hasn’t been paying attention.

     “soiling themselves”? Jane! that is disgusting! even offensive! …And who’s this “Dingall” anyway??

     Cf. Detroit News, Dingell ousted from key post.

     Thanks for all your efforts in support of Waxman!!

     It’s that simple. The Democratic Caucus vote for Henry Waxman vs. John Dingell for Chair of the House Energy/Commerce Committee today could be close, and your support could make the difference.

     Here’s a phone script, or e-mail script with some changes, for you to contact your Congressperson:

     Hi, I’m [you] and I’m calling [writing] to ask Congress[man/woman] [whoever] to affirm the Steering Committee vote and support Henry Waxman as the new Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee to provide the new leadership for change that we need. Thank you!

     The Capitol Switchboard is at (202) 224-3121, and can connect you to the office of your rep or of Nancy Pelosi (Nancy’s number as House Speaker is (202) 225-0100)
     Congressional e-mail info is here; or if you don’t have a Democratic congressperson, you can mail Nancy herself at AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov.

     Better to act than to regret you that you didn’t: a slogan to remember–and act on. Wax the environment clean and green with new leadership, starting with your leadership move of contacting your Congress right now. Thank you.

     Peep this incredible analogy made at Michigan Liberal re the auto fuel economy issue,

     …The biggest criticism you can lay at the feet of the Big Three, John Dingell, and the labor unions over fuel efficiency is that they haven’t been successful in persuading the rest of Congress to pass a gas tax. The alternative has been punative [sic] and aimed at auto manufacturers. It’s like blaming the dealer for someone’s drug addiction. The guy might bear some responsibility for providing the drugs, but ultimately the person who uses has to own up to their role in their own addiction. …

     Tax those lousy consumers! More taxes!! Don’t blame the poor little dealers, blame the stupid addicts!!!

     I guess the Dingells should be president, not Obama. Who needs 365 electoral votes when you can be a Friend of the Big Dealers.

The Lieberman debacle has traumatized many people around here, but mourning should not take the time that action should.
The vote on Henry Waxman versus John Dingell for Energy/Commerce Committee Chair occurred today in the House Steering and Policy Committee and Waxman won, though Dingell will likely challenge that and try to get the full Democratic caucus to vote on it. (See greenskeeper and Kagro X for some more details.)

Of the two “man”s, Lieberman is over, but Waxman is not, so it’s your time to have a voice and a choice, man. (Or wo-man)

Still not convinced Ding should be replaced? Read below…

See, e.g., San Diego CityBeat, The Dems, Lieberman and Dingell: House members should follow the Senate’s right decision by booting auto-industry lapdog,

…Now, John Dingell is another matter entirely. It’s Dingell, the octogenarian Democratic Congress member from Michigan whom the netroots should really be after; he’s the guy who should be ousted from his post chair of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That, unlike the threatened ouster of Lieberman, would be consistent with the message of change that so many Democrats blabbed about while stumping for Obama.
Dingell has operated as if he were a lobbyist for the big-three automakers during his 27 years as the committee’s top Democrat, long resisting calls for more fuel-efficient vehicles to help stave off global warming. His wife Debbie Dingell, was, in fact, a lobbyist for General Motors until 1981 and remains a senior executive for the company. She, wrote The New York Times’ John M. Broder, is G.M.’s “most familiar face in Washington.” …
Henry Waxman wants Dingell’s job, and the Democrats should give it to him. …

Makes sense to me.

Here’s a phone script, or e-mail script with some changes, for you to contact your Congressperson:

Hi, I’m [you] and I’m calling [writing] to ask Congress[man/woman] [whoever] to affirm the Steering Committee vote and support Henry Waxman as the new Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee to provide the new leadership for change that we need. Thank you!

You can look up Congressional e-mails here; or if you don’t have a Democratic congressperson, just mail Nancy herself at AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov.
Also, use the telephone: the Capitol Switchboard is at (202) 224-3121, and can connect you to the office of your rep or of Nancy (well, here’s Nancy’s number as Speaker, too: (202) 225-0100).

And feel free to contact Olbermann: maybe Dingell is one of the “worst people in the world” this week. countdown@msnbc.com should be the Countdown e-mail, if you want to send a version of the script above; and I hear Alana Russo at alana.russo@nbcuni.com is one of Keith’s assistants or something, if you want to cc to her.

The progressive blogoshpere took a bullet on Lieberman, but they can still be successful on something, i.e., Waxman versus Dingell. It’s up to you, and may you get the victory you deserve.

     “Moscow does not believe in tears”, the saying goes (at least Reagan saw the movie several times), but as for the present buzz, we hear that Mr. Obama has little taste for eyeballing your underwear.
     As the man himself says, see NY Post, KICK IN PANTS FROM O: ‘BROTHERS, STOP SAGGING’,

     Barack Obama has a message for America’s youth: Pull up your pants!
     In an interview with MTV’s Sway Calloway, Obama fielded a question from Eric, a Huntington Beach, Calif., man who referenced a town ordinance that tried to outlaw a street fashion trend in which young men wear their baggy pants down well below their underwear.
     Obama said such laws were “a waste of time,” but didn’t hold back on his own view on the fad.
     “Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants,” he declared. “You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What’s wrong with that? Come on.”
     “Some people might not want to see your underwear - I’m one of them,” he added. …
     “Any public official that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there,” he said. …
     After Obama’s underwear comments, Calloway asked about people who get fired for tattoos or dreadlocks.
     Calloway wears long dreadlocks, which Obama said “looked tight.”
     “It’s one thing if an employer discriminates on the basis of gender or sexual orientation or obviously, race or ethnicity,” Obama said, adding it was OK for employers to set standards.
     He noted that his daughter Malia wears twists in her hair.
     “To me, it looks great. Obviously, I would be upset if she were discriminated against on that basis,” Obama said.

     So Obama doesn’t like exhibitionism. Perhaps we have little to fear from him, then, about underwear follies, as we did have to fear with Bill Clinton…

     (And don’t forget what we said about Obama and dreadlocks!!)

     See USA Today, House Democrats battle over energy panel,

     …Dingell is scheduled to co-host a fundraiser Wednesday for incoming members at which PACs are encouraged to give $20,000, according to the watchdog group Public Citizen, which condemned the move.
     Dingell “should be aware how suspect it looks for him to be currying favor with incoming legislators the same week the freshmen and sitting members will decide his fate,” Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen, said in a statement. …
     In 1997, Dingell co-sponsored a bill designed to block Clinton administration rules tightening emissions standards for ozone and particulate matter, though the bill failed after Waxman said he had enough votes to sustain a presidential veto.
     And in recent years Dingell opposed attempts to let the EPA regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act, something Waxman supports.
     Dingell’s wife, Debbie, earns an undisclosed salary as a top executive for General Motors. …

     So what can you do about it?
     Here’s a phone script, or e-mail script with tweaking, for you to contact your Congressperson:

     Hi, I’m [you] and I’m calling [writing] to join Public Citizen in condemning the questionable ethics of Conrgressman Dingell in holding a fundraiser on Wednesday. I would like Congress[man/woman] [whoever] to vote for Henry Waxman as the new Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee to provide the new leadership for change that we need. Thank you!

     You can look up Congressional e-mails here; or if you don’t have a Democratic congressperson, just mail Nancy herself at AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov.
     Also, use the telephone: the ol’ Capitol Switchboard is at (202) 224-3121, and can connect you to the office of your rep or of Nancy (well, here’s Nancy’s number as Speaker, too: (202) 225-0100).

     Because if you don’t act, others will: cf. this embarrasing e-mail excerpt from the Michigan Democratic Party (the people who brought you the failed January primary hijack attempt…featuring the Dingells):

     …The attempt to unseat the Chairman is not only an attack on his position but on the working families and citizens he has fought to protect.
     Click here to read and sign our online petition to Speaker Nancy Pelosi…

     “Attack on working families”? What dishonest nonsense. Help fight it.

     …Actually, why not contact Olbermann, too? Maybe Dingell is one of the “worst people in the world” after all this week. countdown@msnbc.com should be the Countdown e-mail, if you want to send a version of the script above; and I hear Alana Russo at alana.russo@nbcuni.com is one of Keith’s assistants or something, if you want to cc to her.

     You may not have funds like the fat cats, but you have your valuable citizen voice. Use it well!

     See AP via Yahoo! news, Obama advisers: No charges likely vs interrogators,

     Two Obama advisers said there’s little — if any — chance that the incoming president’s Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage. …
     Asked this weekend during a Vermont Public Radio interview if Bush administration officials would face war crimes, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy flatly said, “In the United States, no.”
     “These things are not going to happen,” said Leahy, D-Vt. …
     But Michael Ratner, a professor at Columbia Law School and president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said prosecuting Bush officials is necessary to set future anti-torture policy.
     “The only way to prevent this from happening again is to make sure that those who were responsible for the torture program pay the price for it,” Ratner said. “I don’t see how we regain our moral stature by allowing those who were intimately involved in the torture programs to simply walk off the stage and lead lives where they are not held accountable.” …

     What “leadership” from Senator Leahy!
     With Joe Lieberman as the returning head of the Homeland Security Committee, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of the Clinton Global Initiative State, and now this, one wonders if we actually elected Evan Bayh as president instead of Obama…