Politics

Reading some bits on Christopher Hitchens, could not resist passing along this bon mot of his: "If [Falwell] had been given an enema, he could have been buried in a matchbox."

Ellen's Brief to the Supreme Court.

Further to the 'Idiotocracy' and related recent threads... Press corps to Woodward: Really? By DYLAN BYERS | 2/28/13 4:12 PM EST Bob Woodward has suggested that the White House threatened him. Many of his colleagues in the press corps aren't buying it. By the standards of this White House, a statement like the one senior White House official Gene Sperling wrote to Woodward last week -- "I think you will regret staking out that claim" -- is both mild and familiar, reporters who have dealt with the Obama administration say. "It's not a big deal. You've been yelled at by people in the White House, I've been yelled at by people in the White House -- I'm sure this has ha…

""Former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman confirmed Tuesday that she had signed a legal brief supporting same-sex marriage, saying her views on Proposition 8 had changed "after careful review and reflection" and that "the time has come" for marriage equality. The Hewlett-Packard CEO was one of dozens of prominent Republicans who, according to The New York Times, has signed an amicus curie brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to strike down Proposition 8, California's voter-approved state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. After years of litigation in lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments about the constitutionality o…

It is obvious to me, again, the Repubs don't want us. Saturday morning on MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes,” host Chris Hayes addressed an invitation he received to speak at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Hayes said that he would be happy to appear at the conference if the Republican LGBT group GOProud would be included among the co-sponsors of the conference. On Wednesday, spokespersons for both GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans announced that neither group would be welcomed at CPAC 2013. CPAC also declined to make room for conservative LGBT groups at the conference in 2012. “We were kicked out last year and nothing has changed and we won…

They just keep on giving. This has gotten well past embarrassing. Here is Woodward's misstep... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/sequester-david-brooks-bob-woodward_n_2759600.html?utm_hp_ref=politics IMO, this biased reporting has been going on for 18 months. It is based on the Press' buy-in to the fact that Deficits are the nation's biggest problem and pending doom. While this is a real and significant issue for the medium to long term, it is not the biggest issue in the near term -- jobs and economic recovery is. The Press has bought in to the GOP austerity meme almost exclusively while giving much less 'air-time' to the importance of getting the economy m…

His sequester column: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-the-manufactured-crisis-of-sequester/2013/02/22/d22d4466-7c81-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html

Politico Is Pretty Sure That GOP Intransigence On Sequester Fight Is Obama's Fault, For Some Reason Jason Linkins HuffingtonPost.com Read at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/obama-sequester-debate_n_2742739.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Former First Lady Laura Bush will get her wish and be removed from the marriage equality ad being run all over cable television right now. While I think it's disgusting that she's trying to run from her public statements, I'm amused that the kerfuffle probably drew more attention to the campaign that it might have gotten otherwise.

Looking forward to the next off-year election when McConnel is up... Maybe the best way to get rid of him is not to contribute to his Dem opponent but to his Tea Party primary opponent. A ground swell of TP's seem on the rise. Just a thought.

I thought this was an interesting read on a couple of levels and wanted to share. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/02/david-brooks-obama-plan-birther.html To my mind it sums up where equivocating one's argument takes you. The facts become obscured in favor of some ideological viewpoint.

I have a neighbor who complained when a Mexican family moved into my neighborhood. Not sure where she gets the idea that the neighborhood can't accept a Mexican family? A recent poll says that most people think that (illegal) immigrants should be deported.. I'm not sure what the natives will say about that? What ius illegal to one group isn't illegal in others.. Constant fight against limited resources among human beings... There must be a way that we can improve the quality of life for everyone and evolve our society into more efficient and ideal one... http://news.yahoo.com/majority-u-citizens-illegal-immigrants-deported-010930979.html

Good news, everyone! Mississippi has finally gotten around to ratifying the 13th Amendment to the constitution, so slavery is officially abolished. They actually took the vote back in 1995 (still a little late), but the Secretary of State never sent the certification in to the federal government.

Guardian's heartening account of the Warren/Brown debate in MA senate race... http://www.guardian....h-warren-debate Can't find them right now but over the last 24 hours I think I saw more than one poll suggesting she may just barely hold a greater-than-margin-of-error lead at the moment. Hope!

There are starting to be some articles on how Hillary didn't score many big spectacular diplomatic set-piece triumphs. This piece by Donna Brazile is a nice counterweight, meditating on some of Hillary's real achievements. http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/opinion/brazile-hillary-clinton/index.html?c=politics

Great article. . . http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/26/opinion/rothkopf-hillary-clinton/index.html?hpt=op_t1

Rep. Aaron Schock, who many think is gay (which is stereotyping since he's hot and goes to the gym and has interesting fashion choices), was asked about marriage equality, which he's spoken against in the past. But yesterday, he was a little more introspective about how his values on the subject came to be, and also a little more honest about where the future is going. He's not an ally by any measure, but he may be evolving, just a bit.

That was quick and painless. With a vote of 94-3, the Senate confirmed John Kerry as the next Secretary of State. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/john-kerry-confirmed_n_2576212.html

President Obama recorded a message for GLBT advocates meeting for National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. While we all would love for the president to move more forcefully on equal rights, it's still almost mindblowing to those of us of a certain age to have a sitting president directly address a conference on our rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrzaM0FOWfA&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26UO450ynw&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vna7ea9Zxq4&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1lZJ5SlQL0&feature=player_embedded Background story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/27/hitler-home-movies-eva-braun

In Arizona, Republicans have put forward a (totally unconstitutional) bill that would require graduating seniors to pledge an oath to the constitution and before God before they could receive their diplomas.

We overlooked Nixon's 100th birthday. Fortunately my fix for today didn't: they resurrected this number from their Sept. 1971 issue. Click each image to enlarge. http://www.madmagazine.com/?page=1&action=on_the_stands

I thought this was funny. Rand Paul is a nutcase and he really thinks he is presidential material. . .

I think Bohener touched her with his hand? http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SJgcTZtRvzg