ABC is reporting that two of the four terrorists who plotted the Christmas Day airline bombing had been held in Guantanamo Bay.

Then, in 2007:

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an “art therapy rehabilitation program” and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

(Unless “clockwork” means relying on a slow detonator and passengers willing to jump on the terrorist and put out the flames with their bare hands.)

ABC:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told me this morning on “This Week” that “everything went according to clockwork” in how passengers, crew and the government reacted to the attempted bombing of Flight 253.

Clockwork?

Officials now say tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly.

Bomb experts say there was more than enough explosive to bring down the Northwest jet, which had nearly 300 people aboard, had the detonator not failed, and the nation’s outdated airport screening machines may need to be upgraded.

Now there’s a bit of a backtrack:

A day after saying “the system worked” — and being pressed by CNN’s Candy Crowley about how exactly that was the case — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano changed tack Monday and said that the U.S. air-travel security net had indeed failed after a Nigerian man attempted to bring down a trans-Atlantic jetliner on Christmas Day.

Did the Senate embed language in their bought-and-paid-for healthcare bill that makes it impossible to repeal their bought-and-paid-for health care bill?

The legislation embeds itself into the arcane Senate rules, making it nearly impossible to repeal by future Congresses.

Here’s Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC):

Here’s one provision that I found particularly troubling and it’s under section c, titled “Limitations on changes to this subsection.”

And I quote : “It shall not be in order in the senate or the house of representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.”

This is not legislation.  It’s not law.  This is a rule change.  It’s a pretty big deal.  We will be passing a new law and at the same time creating a Senate rule that makes it out of order to amend or even repeal the law.

I’m not even sure that it’s constitutional, but if it is, it most certainly is a Senate rule.  I don’t see why the majority party wouldn’t put this in every bill.  If you like your law, you most certainly would want it to have force for future senates.

(emphasis added)

The process was corrupt.  The end-result is an abomination.

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has a reputation for reaching across party lines.  He’s so well-respected for his work in the Senate, he was President Obama’s first choice to become Secretary of Commerce (before he declined).

So how bad is it in Washington right now?  Here’s the normally soft-spoken Senator Gregg:

“We are now functioning under a parliamentary form of government,” says Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) in a conversation with NRO. “An ideological supermajority in Congress, along with a government run by community organizers, has taken over.”

“They’ve taken over the student-loan program, they’ve taken over the automobile system, and now they’re taking over the health-care system. There is no limit to their belief that people should be controlled by smart bureaucrats in Washington,” says Gregg. “They’re putting our country on a path that will reduce the quality of life for the next generation, undermine our nation’s wonderful exceptionalism, and Europeanize our economy to curb its growth.”

Harry Reid’s health-care bill “was purchased,” says Gregg. “Our system of checks and balances is gone. We now have a government that lurches with great speed even though our system is founded upon incremental change.”

Just to repeat: This was President Obama’s first choice for Commerce Secretary.

We’re just now learning about the size and the scope of the – for lack of a better word – “payoffs” that were required to secure 60 votes in the Senate to pass healthcare.

There’s the Louisiana Purchase, a mystery hospital… somewhere, the Nebraska Medicare buyout, and even money to Vermont to shore up the left flank.

So how bad is the bill itself?  The Wall Street Journal had an excellent analysis yesterday.  They went through the “compromise” point-by-point and their conclusion: higher costs, steep declines in choice and quality, and huge debt.

Their conclusion:

Never in our memory has so unpopular a bill been on the verge of passing Congress, never has social and economic legislation of this magnitude been forced through on a purely partisan vote, and never has a party exhibited more sheer political willfulness that is reckless even for Washington or had more warning about the consequences of its actions.

These 60 Democrats are creating a future of epic increases in spending, taxes and command-and-control regulation, in which bureaucracy trumps innovation and transfer payments are more important than private investment and individual decisions. In short, the Obama Democrats have chosen change nobody believes in—outside of themselves—and when it passes America will be paying for it for decades to come.

Other than that…

It gets even worse.  We’re paying for this, and it’s a disgrace.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a large delegation on at least two Air Force jets to Copenhagen for the climate summit — where participants harshly condemn the use of jet airplanes for the high amounts of CO2 they emit.

“This may be the largest congressional delegation I have ever heard of,” said a source at the 89th Air Wing stationed at Andrews Air Force Base of the trip to the UN summit, which is increasingly being criticized as a farce.

Using her authority as speaker, Pelosi reserved at least two jets based at Andrews AFB to fly her and her delegation to Denmark for the final days of the two-week conference.

But Republicans on Capitol Hill and the 89th Air Wing source said Pelosi actually reserved five planes to carry a delegation that includes as many as 24 Democrats and six Republicans.

At a time when Democrats are grappling with a host of major issues from health-care reform to the financial crisis, Pelosi planned yesterday to clip short the workweek to make the climate summit.

Nat Hentoff is not a conservative, by anyone’s description.  What’s his take on the proposed reform making its way through Congress?

But the cold heart of Obamacare is its overpowering of the doctor-patient relationship – eventually resulting in the premature ending of many Americans’ lives for being too costly.

Read the whole thing here.

What happens when you ask a focus group about their impression of Congress?

Politico explains:

Only one other topic animated participants to the same degree as the economy—the performance of Congress.

When asked to write down one name that represents the face of Congress, Bill Kelly, an independent who backed Obama, had a ready answer.

“Satan,” he wrote, “because I wasn’t sure of the correct spelling of Beelzebub.”

His frustration, shared by the other participants, stemmed from many factors: A conviction that Congress is dominated by career politicians, weariness over partisan bickering, and a sense that Washington isn’t focused on what’s important to ordinary people.

And that was from a focus group conducted by Peter Hart, the Democrat pollster.

It’s been only five weeks since I launched my campaign for Congress and the response has been overwhelming.

So far, I have spoken to five breakfast groups, six lunch groups, seven political events and eight living room gatherings at supporters’ homes.  That’s in addition to dozens of one-on-one meetings and hundreds of phone conversations.  We even held a “telephone town hall” last week with voters from around the district.

It’s all part of having a conversation with the activists, donors and voters who will have a very important decision to make in the coming weeks and months.  It’s a conversation I look forward to continuing.

It’s my honor to announce that I have received the endorsement of the national group Combat Veterans for Congress.

Combat Veterans for Congress has endorsed a select group of just 15 candidates around the country, including Congressman Rob Simmons in Connecticut, Congressman Duncan Hunter in California and Lt. Col. Allen West in Florida.

We’re set up to take contributions online at www.diggsbrown.com.  It’s not the easiest time of year to be raising money, but we need to put as much money in the bank between now and December 31.

If you can click on the big orange button below or visit the web site to make a contribution, thank you in advance.

We’re having a volunteer meeting on Sunday afternoon.  Please send along an e-mail if you would like to help out.

Looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve?

We’ll be at the first-ever Stomp Ball on New Year’s Eve at the Embassy Suites in Loveland.

Maybe the best thing?   No candidate speeches!  (We’ll all be there, though, so come and meet us.)   Follow the link above and check the web site for registration information.