Cooking a NY strip and getting ready for some football. You? I’m supposed to go to a party at a friend’s house, and all the people I like will be there, but I am still looking for an excuse to not go and stay at home.
BTW- not to go all McMegan on you, but I just love this Breville convection oven
The right wing sure does love themselves freedom and liberty and avoiding oppression from an overbearing government, don’t they:
Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, has introduced a bill that would set specific “performance standards” for singing and playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at any event sponsored by public schools and state universities.
The law also would cover private schools receiving state or local scholarship funds, including vouchers.
Performers would have to sign a contract agreeing to follow the guidelines. Musicians — whether amateur or professional — would be fined $25 if it were deemed they failed to meet the appropriate standards.
***The bill calls for schools to maintain audio recordings of all performances for two years and develop a procedure for dealing with complaints if a musician is alleged to have strayed from the approved lyrical or melodic guidelines.
Idiots. Godwin aside, this is the kind of sheer idiocy you see in totalitarian regimes like North Korea. These fascists really have no problem with a minister of culture rapping people on the knuckles for insufficient or inadequate gestures of jingoism.
This is, hands down, the lamest attempt to smear someone as anti-Semitic as I have ever seen. Just pathetic.
(Pat Oliphant via GoComics.com)
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Dave Weigel at Slate reports on “the Newt Un-Campaign” in Iowa on New Years Eve:
- Gingrich’s stump speech ranges from 19 to 25 minutes. There is no script. There’s a litany of brain-enhancing policy lectures. As he closes, he either enumerates “two quick things” or “three quick things.” The last “thing,” perennially, is his promise to challenge President Obama to seven three hour debates “in the Lincoln-Douglas tradition, with a timekeeper but no moderator.” This allows him to end with a zinger, when he “concedes” or “allows” Obama to use a teleprompter. I’ve never seen less than full-on, crowd-wide chuckles at that line…
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- He sticks around. There was some “hah, hah, look at the implosion” coverage of Gingrich after his tour’s ambitions were scaled back, to three or four events a day. Gingrich uses most of the time to allow voters to meet him. He specifically reminds them, at the end of appearances, that they can get signatures or pictures with him or Callista.
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- The 80s figure high up in the Gingrich stump. “Callista and I were at the Ronald Reagan Library on Reagan’s 100 birthday,” he says, “and we had lunch with former Secretary of State George Schultz.”…
Sounds like the ever-adaptable Swollen Amphibian has accepted, barring fortuitious accidents (Willard Romney being fatally bitten by a rabid Paul supporter, for instance), that he’s off the Campaign Trail and back on the Chautauqua circuit. If he can’t look forward to lecturing every American and the entire global community for the next four years, at least he can move Gingrich product, bump up the Gingrich speaking fees come 2013, burnish the Gingrich Brand for more shelf space in the Wingnut Welfare Wurlitzer Walmart. Given yesterday’s much-ballyhooed “tearful” storefront speech to Iowa’s Moms, I suspect he dreams of a post-November call from the OWN network, as he spins fantasies of becoming the “historian” verson of Dr. Phil…
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On a less derisive note: How are plans for the upcoming calendar-change celebrations looking — or, in the case of our correspondents on the other side of the globe, proceeding?
I’ve been reading about Ron Paul. Not the newsletters. Ron Paul has such an enormous body of statements and work in the non-profit public realm that there really aren’t enough hours in the day to pursue any additional inquiry into his entrepreneurial endeavors. Because this was big news in Ohio yesterday:
The Ohio Personhood Amendment will insert Section 16(b):
“Person” and “men” defined:
(A) The words “person” in Article 1, Section 16, and “men” in Article 1, Section 1, apply to every human being at every stage of the biological development of that human being or human organism, including fertilization.
(B) Nothing in this Section shall affect genuine contraception that acts solely by preventing the creation of a new human being; or human “eggs” or oocytes prior to the beginning of the life of a new human being; or reproductive technology or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedures that respect the right to life of newly created human beings.
I was looking at this:
H. R. 2533
To provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 20, 2009
Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. BARTLETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Sanctity of Life Act of 2009′.
SEC. 2. FINDING AND DECLARATION.
(a) Finding- The Congress finds that present day scientific evidence indicates a significant likelihood that actual human life exists from conception.
(b) Declaration- Upon the basis of this finding, and in the exercise of the powers of the Congress–
(1) the Congress declares that–
(A) human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, without regard to race, sex, age, health, defect, or condition of dependency; and
(B) the term `person’ shall include all human life as defined in subparagraph (A); and
(2) the Congress recognizes that each State has the authority to protect lives of unborn children residing in the jurisdiction of that State.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON APPELLATE JURISDICTION.
(a) In General- Chapter 81 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`Sec. 1260. Appellate jurisdiction; limitation
`Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1253, 1254, 1257, and 1258, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any case arising out of any statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, practice, or any part thereof, or arising out of any act interpreting, applying, enforcing, or effecting any statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, or practice, on the grounds that such statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, practice, act, or part thereof–
`(1) protects the rights of human persons between conception and birth; or
`(2) prohibits, limits, or regulates–
`(A) the performance of abortions; or
`(B) the provision of public expense of funds, facilities, personnel, or other assistance for the performance of abortions.’
Here, from Jill Lepore’s excellent Planned Parenthood piece in the New Yorker, is what “no one wants to talk about”:
Lately, human-life amendments have been supplanted by personhood amendments, one of which appeared on the ballot in Mississippi this month. The Mississippi amendment reads, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization.” Personhood amendments could be interpreted to make several forms of birth control illegal, challenging not only Roe v. Wade but also Griswold v. Connecticut, which placed contraception under the protection of a constitutional right to privacy.
If a fertilized egg has constitutional rights, women cannot have equal rights with men. This, however, is exactly what no one wants to talk about, because it’s complicated, and it’s proved surprisingly easy to use the issue to political advantage.
She’s right. Conservatives and libertarians can seat as many round tables as they care to, but they can’t dodge this simple truth: if a fertilized egg has constitutional rights, women cannot have equal rights with men.
Because of the gross incompetence of basically the entire GOP field, the Virginia AG is stepping in to save them from themselves (careful, link to Faux News):
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is intervening in the Virginia presidential primary dispute and plans to file emergency legislation to address the inability of most Republican presidential candidates to get their name on the ballot, Fox News has learned.
Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the Virginia primary, a contest with 49 delegates up for grabs.
The failure of other candidates to qualify — notably Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry — led to complaints that the 10,000-signature requirement is too stringent.
Cuccinelli, who is a Republican, shared the concerns.
“Recent events have underscored that our system is deficient,” he said in a statement. “Virginia owes her citizens a better process. We can do it in time for the March primary if we resolve to do so quickly.”
A half a million people voted in the 2008 GOP primary there, but getting 10k signatures is too stringent? That’s pretty laughable, but, whatever. I’m in favor of more ballot access. Unfortunately, while Cuccinelli thinks millionaire Republicans need a hand, he and McDonnell still preside over one of the most onerous felon disenfranchisement regimes (.pdf), and in 2010 turned an objective process for reinstatement into a subjective mess.
I guess this really is the modern GOP at its core- one set of rules for the rich and the powerful, another set for everyone else.
Steve Benen is most likely correct when he notes the GOP “negotiators” in the Senate side of the payroll tax cut fight starting next month have no intention of extending the cut at all. Senators Crapo, Barrasso and especially Jon Kyl being involved means the Republicans are signaling that they are okay with destroying any deal in an election year.
[T]he likelihood of there even being an agreement now borders on fanciful. Republican participants won’t be willing to compromise, and most of them don’t fear failure since they oppose tax breaks for the middle class on principle.
What about the risk of being blamed? Remember, as far as GOP leaders are concerned, the process itself offers cover. Instead of last week, when House Republicans became the clear villains, when the conference committee struggles to come up with a bipartisan solution, the party will find it easier to spread the blame around.
“It’s not our fault,” GOP leaders will say. “We tried to work with Democrats on a deal, but one didn’t come together. Oh well.”
For Republicans, it’s the best of all possible worlds: middle-class taxes would go up, the economy would take a hit, public disgust for Washington would be renewed, and the media would feel obligated to say “both sides” failed to reach an agreement.
Now Benen’s scenario depends entirely on the “Earth is flat, view differ” Village “journalism” that is so pervasive in the press, and with the election season officially beginning on Tuesday in Iowa, we’re already seeing the GOP also-rans work the refs. The larger problem is that the GOP is basically trumpeting the fact they want to screw over the middle class, and the Village is more than happy to go along with the idea of “shared sacrifice.”
You have to be pretty cynical to think that the GOP will win this fight. Sadly, such a level of cynicism is not only recommended, it’s absolutely necessary.
What a load of nonsense:
With a revamped message and a significant TV presence here, Rick Perry is hoping to revive his disappointing presidential campaign with a surprise finish Tuesday.
But even as they hold out hope that Perry can find a way back into contention, some of his advisers have begun laying the groundwork to explain how the Texas governor bombed so dramatically in a race that he seemed to control for a brief period upon his entry in August.
Their explanations for the nosedive come against the backdrop of a campaign riven by an intense, behind-the-scenes power struggle that took place largely between a group of the governor’s longtime advisers and a new cadre of consultants brought on this fall. In the end, the outsiders won out — and ever since have marginalized Perry’s longtime chief strategist while crafting a new strategy in which the Texan has portrayed himself as a political outsider and culture warrior.
In a series of interviews with POLITICO, sources close to the campaign depict a dysfunctional operation that might be beyond saving because of what they describe as the political equivalent of malpractice by the previous regime.
Perry nosedived because he looked like a total idiot in multiple debate performances. Period.
Looks like we need one.
You know there’s not a whole lot going on when the biggest story you can find is that Newt Gingrich cried about his mother at an event in Iowa yesterday. But since nobody else has posted on this groundbreaking news, I bring it to you to chew over whether Newt’s tears would get in the way of a 3 AM call.
I think Willard’s kids may be just a little resentful watching him throw their inheritance down this year’s GOP Sinkhole of Fail, but perhaps the Romney Uncanny Valley affect is genetic. Per CBS News:
… At an event in New Hampshire [Friday], Romney’s adult son Matt Romney responded to a question regarding the potential release of his father’s tax returns with a joke alluding to doubts about Mr. Obama’s place of birth: “I heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as Obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long list of things, then maybe he’d do it,” he said.
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Romney’s other son, Tagg Romney, jumped in to say, “That was not my dad saying that.”…
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The Romney campaign in all likelihood would like to avoid wading into conspiracy theories that could chip away at the perception that Romney is a serious candidate, but Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign is already exploiting the gaffe.
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In an email to supporters today about the joke, Obama for America campaign manager Jim Messina wrote, “This is how the Romney campaign thinks it’s going to win the Republican primary: by pandering to the dead-ender fringe of extremists who still question where the president was born.”
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The Obama team also tweeted about the gaffe, sending its Twitter followers a link to mugs the re-election campaign is selling that poke fun at the birther issue.
Kudos to Team Obama for making a joke of these clowns. The general Media Village speculation seems to be that Romney’s shy about releasing his tax returns because he doesn’t want to give his many enemies further opportunities to point out what a low tax rate he pays on those high stacks of unearned dollars, with perhaps a soupcon of Thurston-Howell-does-not-speak-of-filthy-lucre-in-public snobbery. But I’ve seen idle rumors ranging from “He’s semi-legally offshoring millions to the Caymans” to “He’s not eager to let his fellow Mormon elders investigate whether he’s treated his religious tithing obligations as cavalierly as his obligations to the civil authorities.”…
What are the trending rumors here at the start of the year-end festivities?
As always, when irritated by you people or real life, I’ve retreated into the Cole shell, where it is only furry puppies, happy fun time, and these guys:
Don’t harsh my mellow, dicks.
There was so much offensive shit in that last open thread I took the unprecedented step of just deleting the whole god damned thing turning off the comments. I am really sick of some of you people. And I don’t just mean the trolls, I mean the people who simply can not control themselves and feed the trolls. In fact, you are almost worse. If someone says something offensive to the point you think it is worth calling them a pedophile or c-bomb, STOP BEFORE YOU COMMENT and move on.
Christ on a crutch. I feel like I am on a playground, and I don’t know what is more annoying- the troublemakers, the self-anointed hall monitors, or the people who have decided it is their job to personally take on the trolls with multiple posts calling them out, because they are some Luke Skywalker hero shit. I just want to punch every god damned one of you in the neck.
This is the fucking internet. People say offensive shit. Most of us cope and move on. For some reason, some of you need to stir shit up, and some of you simply can not stop help yourself from responding. You guys are the fucking problem, not the rest of us.
And why do I have to do this every three fucking months? Stop being douche bags. Fuckers.
I wrote here about searching for, and finding, a candidate for the state legislature:
He’s a Steelworker. He’s been married 32 years and has 4 children. He spent 2 years in the military. He worked 2nd shift his whole life, and only became politically active with the Steelworkers in 2002
I met with the candidate the day after Christmas at the law office and he chose a name for his fundraising committee, appointed a treasurer, and submitted his initial campaign finance statement. The first one was simple because it’s a waiver: he doesn’t have any campaign funds. We are relying on the Ohio Campaign Finance Handbook, which is (surprisingly!) easy to use as a reference. It even has pictures: picture of candidate at a podium, picture of stacks of cash and scattered coins, (true), picture of a calculator. Looking at the pictures we need: a guy in a suit, a big stack of cash, and a 1980′s calculator.
In our two prevous conversations he had mentioned “skeletons in the closet” so I asked him about that. Turns out “the skeletons” are a single minor misdemeanor “no contest” plea in 1989.
In my work, I have noticed that people who have a complicated past or youthful indiscretions often don’t have an accurate or rational view of the relevance or importance of those incidents. They seem to go to extremes. They either dismiss fairly serious incidents and behavior completely, or get down on their knees and beg forgiveness for minor infractions.
John takes the second approach, so I told him in my opinion he does not have to start every speech or campaign event with a full, tearful confession complete with vows to never, ever veer from the straight and narrow again. If it comes up – and I’m sure it will because everyone but me apparently already knew about it – he should just cop to what was momentary stupidity and move on.
Working in this office, and in this profession, I sometimes think half the ordinary people in this county are walking around feeling like criminals, which is interesting, because many of the most successful and celebrated people in this country don’t seem to feel they have any moral or ethical duty at all.
I had some names of local people he might want to contact or meet with, and I was pleased that he knows, or knows of, all of the names I mentioned, in that tangential way that one “knows” people: “my son’s wife works with her.” Like that. I love to talk politics, so I also had some (perhaps unwelcome) suggestions for what he might talk about in his campaign, but it turns out he has has very firm ideas of his own and his are cleaner and less complicated than mine. The first time I spoke with him he told me he wasn’t a Republican anymore because “trickle down doesn’t work” and that’s what he’s going to talk about. Sounds good to me.
His is a long shot candidacy. This is an overwhelmingly Republican district and the incumbent is a practiced pol. A culture warrior. A person who sponsored a bill last session regarding Lake Erie that was so environmentally unsound, so clearly the work of business interest lobbyists, that a former Republican Governor and US Senator testified that the bill should be vetoed by the current Governor, and it was. It’s got to be pretty bad for Kasich to veto it. This law would have both violated an agreement with Canada and destroyed Lake Erie. So we have the worst of conservatism: a guy who screams really loud about issues like ABORTION to cover the fact that he’s busy selling public assets like Lake Erie. But for the intervention of two GOP heavy-hitters, a former Senator and a former Governor, he might have succeeded.
Before he left I told John he’s already better at this than the current Governor of Texas and a certain former (disgraced, granted, but still) member of the US House, because John submitted his ballot-qualifying signatures on time. Compared to Leroy “Newt” Gingrich and Rick Perry that makes him a model of campaign professionalism his first time out.
Sweet jeebus the trolls have been busy.
Went down the street to my parent’s house for dinner, which was nice. Relaxing with three dogs on my lap and getting ready top watch some WVU basketball at nine. Really excited for the good bowl games to start soon.
Oh, and BUY A CALENDAR BUY A CALENDAR BUY A CALENDAR. Instead of us toying with your emotions begging for loot to save a desperate dog, here you can help out a dog and YOU GET SOMETHING BACK!
