Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

We're in the last few days of 2009. I really thought that this was going to be a fun year when it came to politics. I was wrong. And, we end 2009 with terrorism as an issue in the news. There's almost nothing Republicans love more than talking terror.

Both the House and Senate are in recess. There's talk that negotiations will begin this week on how to merge the House health care reform bill with the insurance bill passed by the Senate. So, they'll talk, but the Senate bill will provide the framework. The White House brain trust, in concert with Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, among others, will make sure of that. Team Obama wants a win (as do the insurance companies and drug industry.)

Iran is experiencing mass demonstrations against the government again. This is a continuation of the post-election protests from the summer. It seems even more intense this time. And, that government is killing its citizens in cold blood on the streets -- and is making martyrs of the dead.



Let's get threading....