Judd, on the Defensive

By Sniffles

We cats have yet to hear anyone mention the reason that we strongly suspect Judd Gregg suddenly decided he couldn't be Commerce Secretary. (And is it just us, or is he coming off like a total lamebrain in this whole thing?)

Yes, the pundits mention the 2010 census and how the conservative Republican Senator may have had his nose out of joint about the White House playing a big role in it. But they fail to carry that thought to its next logical step; that is, that the census determines the number of Congressional seats apportioned to each state.

There also seems to be a little cat fight between the political parties about how thoroughly the census should count minorities. You guessed it — Republicans aren't terribly eager to tally up the folks who don't support them. So that — and the prospect of some added Democratic districts for 2012 — makes it pretty clear to us.

In short, we smell a rat — but then, we cats usually do.

Surely Mitch "Amphibian Face" McConnell and John "Eyeliner Man" Boehner and Eric "AFSCME Ad" Cantor told Senator Gregg something like this: "No way, no how, can you preside — even in a titular fashion — over the GOP's continued political evisceration."

P.S. In case you think President Obama is knocked off his stride by any of this, check out his reference in last night's (absolutely terrific) speech at Springfield's annual Lincoln Day Dinner.